An excellent themed puzzle by Radian, timed, I expect, to coincide with Sebastian Faulks’ new James Bond book on the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, I think. I got the theme almost instantly with the Czech town, BRNO, 24 across, making me look at 19 down and seeing DR NO. Solving time, 21 mins, most completed in about 11 mins, with the last three or four taking a while to track down.
* = anagram
1 FLANDERS The muddy battlefield of World War I and the Flanders and Swann duo (had to verify the latter).
5/10 12 is BOND CA SIN O\R O YALE
9 AR M (b)AND S Marks and Spencer
12 BOND(I) Beach In Australia
13 WATER-SKIE R (wake tires)* R &lit
15 SEC RET S ER (VIC) E
18 LIV (Ullmann) E AND LET DIE (delineated)*
22 G (OLD F) INGER
24 BRNO B for D in DR NO
27 BI (R) DER Good – bide = wait
28 BAZOOKAS “Centurions knocked out by them in Jordan’s front line?” Understand they could knock out the the Centurion tanks, but don’t get the reference in the rest.
29 EDWARD Bond, playwright
30 ETON CRO P (coronet)*
DOWN
1 F LAM (B) E
2 A M MAN Capital of Jordan and M is Bond’s boss
3 DRAX A X for NO in DR NO Character in 26/25
4 RED TAPE “Paperwork’s reduced with part-exchange” I don’t understand this, though the letters of ‘part’ are in there.
6 AT (O) MS Nothing in the cash machines
7 IT ALIC (IS) E Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland
8 ONE-ARMED Got this straightaway from ‘bandit’ and enumeration i.e. slot machines. Guess the rest refers to an event in one of the books/films but did not check it out.
11 Rudolf HESS Nazi leader who flew to Scotland in World War II
14 UCLA Hidden
15 SAVILE ROW (Oliver was)*
16 REDS Does not refer to clue 15 but to the number of red balls in snooker (frame). Also to ‘reds under the bed’ from the Cold War era in which Bond operated.
17 ELIGIBLE Hidden – she’s a character in the books, I think
19 DR NO R = ringleader in (b)OND (reversed)
20 ELEGANT Ga (Georgia) for me in element
21 G (OS SI) P ‘is so’ uppity i.e. reversed in a down clue contributing to a good surface
23 FREYR (ferry)* Norse god
26/25 MOONRAKER (Rank Moore)* Appropriate fodder as Roger Moore played Bond.
28 – well, maybe I have a smutty mind but I took this to be a reference to the model Jordan (aka Katie Price), famous for her large – you know. BAZOOKAS is slang, I believe, for, you know – them.
Same theme in the Times crossword today
NmSindy: Thanks for the compliment – glad you enjoyed it.
1 Ac. Flanders is where Flemings come from. A possible ref to Moll would have exceeded my editor’s quota of suggestiveness
4 old chestnut – tape + red
8 poor Felix lost an arm and a leg, making him slightly less effective than Bond
11 Fleming is alleged to have played a part in the conspiracy to persuade Hess to defect
27 Fleming got his hero’s name from author of Birds of the West Indies
28 smutty minds think alike, Neildubya
30 Eton was Fleming’s alma mater
Unsuspected riches in there, Radian – would have been excellent material for an advanced themed puzzle.
As a lifelong Bond fan, I enjoyed this one a lot. For reasons unknown (and this is the honest truth) I was thinking of Moonraker when I walked to the bus this morning, and 26D was one of the first clues I looked at!
Some really good stuff in here I thought, particuarly the reference to Felix Leiter’s shark attack (which, having never read Live And Let Die, I always assumed was a Licence To Kill moment!). Nice Jordan clue too!
I have to admit that still don’t understand RED TAPE even with Radian’s explanation! Could some explain it a little more fully for me?
Otherwise an excellent puzzled. I too saw BRNO immediately and worked backwards via DRNO to BOND.
Did you know that Stephanie Flanders, the BBC’s economic editor, is FLANDERS’ daughter?
S’okoy, just got it TAPERED -> REDTAPE. Doh!
Nmsindy: What’s an advanced theme puzzle?
I’d have in mind as advanced themed puzzles the Inquisitor series in the Saturday Indy, Enigmatic Variations (EV) in the Sunday Telegraph, and of course the Listener in the Times every Saturday.
Thought so. Thanks but no thanks – not unless I’ve 2/3 weeks to spare on the trot. They’re altogether different barrels of fish.
Radian doesn’t appear in the guide to setters, does s/he appear elsewhere..?
I think Radian is a relatively new setter – I think this is only the second Radian Indy puzzle. Not sure if Radian appears elsewhere.