A bit easier than the past few weeks, including lots of anagrams, but I hope your knowledge of the arts & literature is up to scratch with 2 plays (12ac, 5dn), a film (1dn), a greek goddess (7dn), a writer (1 ac) and an artist (22 dn) all answers, and a reference to another writer in another clue (16dn) as well as mentions of Pinter and Coward as red herrings in other clues.
Overall, very sound clueing with no complaints I can think of and a couple of (just about) &lits in 1dn and 7dn.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | OSBERT – (BREST)* after O. Osbert Sitwell was one of a family of famous British writers |
| 4 | HAS WORDS – H + S around A SWORD |
| 9 | TWO – hidden in scarleT WOmen |
| 10 | PORTMANTEAU – PORT = left + MANTEAU = gown |
| 12 | BEDROOM FARCE – (BOREDOM)* + C(oward) in FARE. Bedroom Farce is an Alan Ayckbourn play as well as a generic term for a particular type of British comedy. |
| 15 | REPRINTED – (REDPINTER)* |
| 17 | ACORN – COR = goodness! in AN |
| 18 | KIROV – IR = Irish in KO = knockout + V |
| 19 | COHERENCE – (CRECHEONE)* |
| 20 | GRANDMASTERS – cd |
| 24 | OLIVE BRANCH – OLIVE + BRANCH |
| 25 | AGA – A(ugusta) + GA = Georgia State. I can only assume this refers to Aga Khan the hereditary title of the Imam of the Nizari Muslims, unless anyone has any better ideas. |
| 26 | ADAM’S ALE – (ALASMADE)* |
| 27 | ABATED – AB + (DATE)* |
| Down | |
| 1 | OCTOBER SKY – (ROCKETBOYS)* &lit. October Sky was based on the memoir Rocket Boys (I guess because it was an anagram of the name)- I know a memoir and a novel aren’t really the same, but when the clue is this nice I’m willing to let it go, particularly as they only need to be synonymous in the &lit reading. |
| 2 | BLOOD SPORT – PORT = opening, after BLOOD = claret + S(eason) |
| 3 | REPRO – REP = agent + R(uns) O(ff) |
| 5 | ARMS AND THE MAN – (NHSDRAMAMEANT)*. Arms and the Man is a George Bernard Shaw comedy. |
| 6 | WING CHAIR – WING + I in CHAR |
| 7 | RHEA – (HERA)* &lit |
| 8 | SLUG – hidden in captain’S LUGer |
| 11 | REMOTE CONTROL – cd |
| 13 | COUNTERACT – COUNTER = bar + ACT = turn |
| 14 | UNDERSTAND – UNDER = down + STAND = station. Dig is slang for understand. |
| 16 | INVERNESS – IN + VERNE’S (Jules Verne – French novelist) + S(edate) |
| 21 | SAHIB – (HAS)* + I + B. Sahib was a form of respectful address for a European man in colonial India. I knew it from reading novels set in India which seem to be full of the word! |
| 22 | GOYA – (ra)Y in GOA |
| 22 | VISA – IS in VA = Virginia State |
Common crossword abbreviations this week:
husband – H
son – S
knockout – KO
Irish – IR
victory – V
sailor – AB (for Able Bodied Seaman. Sailor can be many other things including ‘tar’ and ‘salt’ too)
one = I (This one appeared last time and at least twice in this crossword)
popular = IN (Home, as in “He’s home” is also used for IN)
bishop = B
In 21dn, “has upset” may also be interpreted as a reversal indicator.
Bit too general knowledge based for me. I looked up OSBERT and OCTOBER SKY. I liked BEDROOM FARCE and ARMS AND THE MAN clues.
To clarify Comment #1, in 21dn, “has upset” yields SAH not only by anagram but also by reversal, “upset” being a reversal indicator.