Five clues have no definition. That sounds easy, since that leaves over fifty other normal clues that presumably do. Little did I know …!
Despite seeing some 4-letter words beginning with I, a couple of them ending with O, it wasn’t until I solved FREIGHTER, seemingly a 5-letter word with 8 in it, that I finally twigged what was going on. Five 4-letter ‘words’ were dates, and, from the title, it was fairly easy to guess that they matched up with famous battles that took place in those years, and the clues led to the names of those battles. The five crossing answers that needed words to be replaced by their numerical equivalents were FREIGHTER, PUNINESS, DEIGHTON, BALFOUR and SLEIGHT. It was just a shame that EIGHT was used three times (a very minor niggle).
So, another good puzzle from Raich, and one that managed to string me along for much longer than it should have (my fault, not its). Solving time: about 2½ hours.
Legend:
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | KOPPIE | low hill in SA: sounds like COPY (something newsworthy) |
| 5 | EDNA | delightful lady (see meanings of names in Chambers: in unitED NAtions |
| 9 | LAC | large number: LACK (want) – K (thousand); a lakh/lac is either 100,000 or an indefinitely vast number |
| 12 | NEURAL | about a central system: NEU(T)RAL (heartlessly indifferent) |
| 14 | EARED | has hearers: E (ultimately tiradE) + A + RED (socialist) |
| 15 | 1690 | THE BOYNE: [ENVOY – V (very)]* after T (piece of Turgid) HEB (Hebrew); the battle between the supporters of the Protestant King William and the Catholic King James, near Drogheda in Ireland |
| 17 | ELECTRO | plate: ELECT (choose) + O (old) |
| 19 | ULRICA | German: [PECULIAR – PE (exercise)]* |
| 22 | HEIT | command (archaic): H (Henry) + EST (French ‘is’) |
| 23 | BEAR | tolerate: BEAR(D) (short hair) |
| 24 | 1870 | SEDAN: USE (avail oneself) – U (unionist) + DAN (title of honour); the battle, near Sedan in France, between the Prussians and the French, after which Napoleon III was exiled |
| 25 | AIMLESS | with no specific plan: [LASSIE’S + M (money)]* |
| 27 | OVOID | in form, like what’s laid: O (nothing) + VOID (unutilised) |
| 28 | STREETY | characteristic of way: SETTER* + Y (You initially) |
| 30 | WONGI | talk (Aust): WRONG (treat unfairly) – R (rule) + I |
| 31 | ODIST | poet: in tassO DISTtinguished |
| 33 | GABRIEL | boy: BRIE (cheese) in GAL (local girl) |
| 35 | FR8ER | US transporting agent, FREIGHTER: RE (engineers) in FIGHTER (Hurricane, plane, say) |
| 36 | OWL-EYED | with blinkers: in crOWLEY EDitor |
| 37 | 2 meanings: old coin (a halfpenny) & spot (Scot) | |
| 38 | 1314 | BANNOCKBURN: BAN (denunciation) CON< K (king) B (British) URN (vessel); battle between Scotland, under Robert Bruce, and England, under Edward II |
| 39 | WADT | ore: WAIT (delay) with D (department) for I (source of Industrial) |
| 42 | PEDLAR | seller: DL (limits to DeaL) in (block) PEAR (fruit) |
| 46 | LINDSEY | boy or girl: (SIN LED)* + Y (at first, Yes) |
| 49 | OSSA | bones: OS (sailor, Ordinary Seaman) + SA (appeal, Sex Appeal) |
| 50 | REALM | province: REAL M(ADRID) (players from abroad, not half) |
| 51 | ENDEAR | bind in gratitude (Shak): EN (letter) DEAR [how you might start one (a letter)] |
| 52 | ALB | vestment: BLA(B)< (almost let out secret) |
| 53 | 1805 | TRAFALGAR: ART< (trick) + FAL (river) + GAR (fish); between Britain, under Nelson, and France/Spain, under de Villeneuve |
| 54 | TASTES | tries: TA (soldiers, Territorial Army) + SETS< (groups); I think soldiers slinked with should read soldiers linked with! |
| DOWN | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | KNIGHTS OF MALTA | members of charitable order: [HOM(E) TALKING FAST]*; this order started in 1099 |
| 2 | PU9SS | feeble quality, PUNINESS: PUN (joke) + (F)INESS(E) (subtlety with no case, ie surroundings) |
| 3 | PROM | musical performance: PROMPT (ready for delivery) – PT (point) |
| 4 | ELUL | month: LULU (opera) with ending revised with E (English); Lulu is an opera written by Alan Berg, unfinished at the time of his death, but finished much later by Friedrich Cerha; never heard of it or them! (Now Marie MacDonald McLaughlin Lawrie I have heard of!) |
| 6 | DELI | shop: sounds like DELHI |
| 7 | NAE | not at all (Scot): (M)EAN(S)< |
| 8 | ARC | line (curved): A + RC (Latin, ie Roman Catholic) |
| 10 | ADRY | seeking a drink? (poetic): DR (a couple of DRaughts) in AY (yes) |
| 11 | CROCODILE TEARS | they’re feigned: [CORRECT IDEALS + O (love)]* |
| 13 | HERESY | contrary opinion: [RE (about) S (son)] in HEY (dance) |
| 16 | BULLETRIE | tropical grower (a tree): BULL (good shot) + ETRIE(R) (foot off ladder) |
| 18 | NEAT | elegant: A (article) in NET (court feature) |
| 20 | CROWBERRY | shrub: [BOWER* + RR (bishop)] in CY (Cyprus) |
| 21 | D8ON | author, DEIGHTON: (DOING THE)* |
| 23 | BETA | star: BA (airline) crossing ET (Egypt) |
| 24 | IVORY | tooth material: IVY (climber) collecting OR (gold) |
| 26 | MESEL | sufferer (obs for a leper): in niMES ELderly |
| 29 | BAL4 | PM, BALFOUR: FLAB< (fat) + OUR (how the Queen might say ‘My’?) |
| 32 | 1815 | WATERLOO: [FOOTWEAR with L (beginning to Last) for F (female)]*; between Britain and allies, under Wellington et al, and the French Empire, under Napoleon Bonaparte |
| 33 | GWILYM | Welsh guy: WIL(D) (tempestuous for the most part) in GYM (place for physical activity) |
| 34 | EDDY | 2 meanings: diminutive man & current, going back |
| 40 | ASSET | item of property: ASSERT (lay claim to) – R (right) |
| 41 | GIRL | maidservant: GI (soldier) + RL (game) |
| 43 | DEMO | musical recording: DEMON (person of great skill) – N (note) |
| 44 | ABET | to back up (Spenser): A BET (guess); Spenser would probably turn in his grave if he knew Raich was calling him ‘Ed’! Where will it end? It reminds me of the Python sketch where Sir Edward Ross says it’s OK for the interviewer to call him Edward or Ted or anything, but then objects when he calls him Eddie Baby! |
| 45 | MODS | faction members: MODES (ways) – E (Eastern); one half of the Mods and Rockers rivalry of the 60’s |
| 47 | DAI | guy in Cardiff: DA (knife) + I (beginning to Intrigue) |
| 48 | SL8 | cunning, SLEIGHT: sounds like SLIGHT (insult) |
No comments yet on this excellent puzzle? I found this a delight to solve, although in a couple of cases it was embarrassing to realise how rusty my history has become. The clues were excellent, as can be expected from this setter. Great stuff, thanks Raich.
Lovely puzzle. I really liked the theme.
Found the theme very original. The clues for the battle names were suitably tough and well disguised but managed to find my way in through cracking THE BOYNE. Very enjoyable and satisfying to complete.
Many thanks for blog and comments which are much appreciated and have been carefully noted. Decided not to use words eg TWO-TIME and FOURFOLD in which numbers appeared as themselves, this may have helped to lead to the three EIGHTs in the crossing entries.