Great stuff once again from Math. After the recent music puzzles, I was half-expecting a theme here, especially with a grid with so many 3 letter words. I spotted the 27/5/11/20 anagram fairly early on – which helped a lot – but then spent far too long seeing if TEMPLE OF DOOM or LAST CRUSADE would fit in anywhere! Some very enjoyable clues here though, and it’s reminded me to book my tickets ahead of the imminent release of 18 21 and the 1 5 9 10, so thanks again to Math.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | KINGDOM – Richard III being the trader in question |
| 9 | CRYSTAL – C (Camilla initially)+ ST in R[-o]YAL |
| 10 | SKULL – I for U in SKILL |
| 13 | OTHER – (OR THE)* – A nice &lit |
| 16 | FARES – SE + RAF rev. |
| 17 | THERMOS – (MOTHER’S)* |
| 18 | INDIANA – This has to be right, clearly, but I’m not quite sure why. Full clue is “State where William was conceived?” |
| 21 | JONES – ONE (a number) in JS (Bach) – A great clue, but made considerably easier by knowing the answer before I read it! |
| 23 | ANKLE – [-R]ANKLE |
| 24 | IGLOO – [-B]IG,LOO |
| 27/5/11/20 | RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK – *(IT STARS A HERO, FORD + ELK)* – Lovely stuff! |
| 30 | EASES – E + (SEAS)* |
| 31 | PIGSKIN – PIGS,KIN |
| Down | |
| 1 | KICK OFF – Double definition |
| 3 | DUTEOUS – (U + USED TO)* – This was my last answer. I knew it had to be an anagram, but it just looks such an odd word for some reason |
| 4 | MEL – ME,L – “One to long for…” was a nice way of doing this I thought |
| 6 | TOUT LE MONDE – TOUT,LEMON,D,E – Clue of the puzzle for me (“Flog fruit to Germany, Spain and everyone French”) |
| 12 | TARADIDDLES – (DASTARD LIED)* |
| 14 | HAT – TA,H rev. |
| 18 | IDOLISE – I DO (marriage vow) + S (last of lovers) in LIE |
| 19 | AMAZONS – OZ rev. in A MAN’S – “tough Sheilas” is a good definition |
| 21 | JEERING – JEE[-p],RING |
| 28 | ELK – EL,K – Last but not least, the missing part of our Indy anagram at 27A |
18 – I wondered about this too but could it be that Prince William was conceived “in Diana”? Bit tacky, mind.
Very nice puzzle indeed.
That was my reading of INDIANA too – thought it was very good, raised a smile. I was aware of the older film not the recent one, but previous Math puzzles and the most unusual grid made me expect a theme.
I think we got off lightly with 18ac, when you think what it could have been …
Nice puzz, Math old boy.
Ah, of course. Very nice. It’s been a while since I watched any of the films, so I did at one point wonder if if his real name was William and he was called Indiana because that was where he was conceived! It never ceases to amaze me what utter nonsense I can conjure up in my head when trying to justify answers to crossword clues!
Sounds like you’re ideally qualified to set.
His real name is actually Henry (which made me wonder whether 14D was intended as another reference) Jones Jr, but he chose to adopt the name of the family dog.
I missed the significance of KINGDOM (of the) CRYSTAL SKULL – the new film – but see it clearly now the answers are set out in order above. I thought the clue for INDIANA was great, and strangely echoes 17ac in today’s Guardian puzzle by Araucaria (see adjacent blog).