Another themed puzzle from Virgilius. There didn’t seem to be anything too difficult here, especially as the theme was very clearly signposted in 15ac. I did, however, learn about a couple of previously unfamiliar types of sword.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 7 | STAGE DOOR – dd. Cleverly misleading clue suggesting a sports connection which isnt there. So this is “players” as in “actors”, and “coach” as in “stagecoach”. |
| 8 | AROSE – A ROSE. |
| 10 | FOILS – F + OILS. The most common type of sword used in fencing. |
| 11 | CUTLASSES – CUT LASSES. The shorter, broader sword favoured by pirates and other seafaring folk. |
| 12 | LURID – U R in LID. |
| 13 | RED CARPET – REDCAR + PET. |
| 15 | CROSSED SWORDS – EDS in CROSSWORDS. The enumeration of the thematic entries was a big help, if not a giveaway. They are listed in pairs of one across and one down entry, which do indeed cross. |
| 20 | ULAN BATOR – (BANAL TOUR)*. |
| 22 | EXTRA – [cont]EXT RA[ndomly]. |
| 24 | SCHLAGERS – SCH + LAGERS. Apparently Germany, among other countries, has a tradition of academic fencing, and this is the name of a type of sword still in use in some German universities. |
| 26 | BILBO – BILB[a]O. Perhaps the only Tolkien character I can name, and a sword thought to be named after Bilbao. |
| 27 | HONED – [whic]H ONE D[agger]. |
| 28 | ALEXANDER – I’m not entirely sure of the wordpay here. |
| Down | |
| 1 | RAPIER – R + A PIER. Another fencing sword. |
| 2 | BEDSIDES – D[octors] in BESIDES. |
| 3 | CONCURRENT – CON + CURRENT. The “I” for “current” is well hidden here. |
| 4 | TROT – dd. |
| 5 | KATANA – stoc]K AT AN A[rmoury]. A Samurai sword. |
| 6 | MOUSE PAD – USE in (MO + PAD). |
| 7 | SOFTLY – OFT in SLY. |
| 9 | ERSATZ – [football]ERS AT Z[aragoza]. A word that serems to have cropped up a lot in crosswords recently. |
| 14 | DISTRESSED – (DESSERTS I’D)<. |
| 16 | REACHING – EACH in RING. |
| 17 | OVERBEAR – OVER + BEAR. |
| 18 | PUTSCH – PUTS + CH. |
| 19 | LABOUR – dd. |
| 21 | BRANDS – R in BANDS. |
| 23 | TOLEDO – EL< in TO-DO. Seemingly a city known for sword-making, rather than a specific type of sword, but I expect to be corrected on that. |
| 25 | EGAD – E[n]G[l]A[n]D. |
28 Alexander…. There’s ALEXANDER POPE (writer) plus POPE ALEXANDER (several, no doubt)
Hi Simon
Re 23dn. For Toledo Chambers gives “a tapering sword or sword-blade made in Toledo, Spain” and Collins has “a fine-tapered sword or sword blade”.
Lovely puzzle, enjoyed greatly!
Yes, this was v good, not too difficult at all, esp liked RED CARPET and CONCURRENT.
Got most of this but few words I’d never heard of.7d understand how the answer is achieved but don’t understand softly? Just noticed Katana in the clue!!
Piano = Softly.Penny dropped!