EV870 Landmark by Loda – Fifteensquared

A few misprinted letters didn’t really tell me anything but getting 5dn and a couple of the potentially intersecting across answers helped. I guessed that some squares would be left blank and looking at the few answers I had and symmetry I went for an square arch. So, Marble Arch or L’Arc de Triomphe? I didn’t worry for now but tried a few more clues and confirmed the shape quite quickly.

I then saw GRANDE stemming from 36ac and realised it was the newest arch in Paris, La Grande Arche de la Défense. Funnily enough I was in Paris a few weeks before this puzzle and visited La Grande Arche. The sides of the arch are government offices but the top is a more public space accessed by lifts in vertical glass tubes. There are spectacular views across the city and an interesting exhibition on microcomputers. I even looked at the exhibition on building the arch though I still used wikipedia to find the name of the architect, who died before it was completed.

So, the empty squares form a square arch, LA GRANDE ARCHE and PARIS appear in the lower rows of the grid. The corrected misprints spell out, F. MITTERRAND JOHANN VON SPRECKELSEN, the initiator and the architect without his middle name Otto. Excellent puzzle with one teeny weeny gripe. The Grande Arche is almost square, squarer than the arch in the grid. Well…I had to have one concern!

dd double definition
(XY Z)* anagram
X[Y]Z insertion
X[y]Z deletion
ZYX< reversal
uvwXY Zabc hidden answer
>[x]YZ[X] letter movement
X. initial letter
.X final letter
X-Y-Z alternate letters
X..Z extremes


Across
1	F	FIASCOS	IF< AS COS	flops	cos = cosine = mathematical function.
7	M	TABARD	(DR A BAT)<	armless	my partner got this one for me. I just didn’t think of tabard and couldn’t see the misprint
12	I	HAMITE	A in (I’M THE)*	Tunis	the descendants of the Hamites are said to be the North African Arabs and so Tunis should have several. Beat is the anagrind.
15		STOP	S TO [po]P
16		TEST	T E.S.T.
17		ERA	prE-RAap		here the possessive works well as a hidden indicator provide a neat surface.
18		FAG	F[l]AG		snout as in cigarette.
19		INERT	(NITRE)*
20		ELITE	ELI[a] T..E		Elia is Lamb.
21		SETA	(AT ES)<		Es as in several ecstasy tablets.
23		TRUSTS	TRUS[T]S
25		HANDICAPPED	(DEN PAID CHAP)*
28		SEEDER	SEE RED*
31		MIRE	>[e]MIR[E]
34	T	CRAVEN	(CAN REV)*	cat	craven = coward = cat (Aussie slang.)
35	T	PLANES	P[LANE]S	flat
36	E	GRAN	G-R-A-N-	bred	excellent definition of a gran.
38	R	DEAR	D EAR	cher
39	R	ATROPA	(burlAP OR TAmin)<	croak	Atropa is the nightshade family, likely to make you croak.
40	A	RISKIER	IR< S KIER	fail	a kier is a vat.
41	N	DECANE	(NEED A C)*	tenth	c = canine (tooth). Decane is the tenth in the alkane series, it has 10 carbon atoms.
42	D	EDGERS	[l]EDGERS	sides	a ledger is a flat stone laid on a grave rather than an upright headstone.
43	J	WASTERS	W TEARS* S.	reject


Down
1	O	FASTISH	(.S A SHIFT)*	Not
2	H	INTONE	INTO NE	hear	Tyneside = NE, though it’s a small part of the NE.
3	A	AVOCET	COVE* in A .T	Wader
4	N	SUPERADD	(E. DAD’S UP R)*	and	interesting word I’d not come across before.
5		CHEAPER	CHE PEAR*
6		SMART	TRAMS<
8		ATLASES	AT LAS[t] E..S		this particular definition of Atlas has a very specific plural according to Chambers, notably Atlantes rather than Atlases. I’ve not checked other dictionaries though.
9	N	BETA	>[a]BET[A]	One
10	V	ROSETTE	STORE* TE	Curve	a particular mathematical curve.
11	O	DUTIES	IT< in DUES	goads
13		ART	ART[ery]
14	N	AEGIS	EASI[n]G*	patron
16		FERAL	dd
22	S	SIENNA	(IN SEA .N)*	Soil
24	P	UPMARKET	(M AR) in P[h]UKET*	Posh
26	R	AERATED	AE RATED	charged
27	E	DESERTS	“dessert” S	Leaves
28	C	SCLAVE	S CL AVE	locked	sclave is an old word for slave.
29	K	EAGRE	E.A.G.R.E.	banks
30	E	REDRAW	WARDER<	trace
32	L	INCISE	I. SINCE*	slit
33	S	REHEAR	HER* EAR	case
35	E	PEIN	roPE INsulation	Beat	the pein is the “back” of the hammer, it’s also the verb meaning to hit with that side of the hammer.
37	N	RODE	R. ODE	on

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