Well, this one put up a fight but I won through in the end. I guess it must have taken me about 5 hours over about 4 days.
The title and preamble didn’t give much away, we had to find eight “sets” of words. The sets were defined by extra words in eight “otherwise normal” clues. One was clued but not entered, one was entered but not clued and one was to be entered, jumbled, in unclued lights. Full analysis shows that we must be talking about sets of three!
The eight sets and how they are derived is shown below:
| Definition | Found at: | Set clued at: | Jumble | Unclued | Clued | Replacement |
| Painting | 17a | 32a | RANI | RAIN | STEAM | SPEED |
| Film | 38a | 12a | YELPED | DEEPLY | MADLY | TRULY |
| Musicians | 3d | 6a | SHAN | NASH | STILLS | CROSBY |
| Grandchildren | 11d | 25a | RAVE | VERA | DAVE | CHUCK |
| Department | 26d | 10a | ERA | EAR | THROAT | NOSE |
| Risks | 28d | 15d | RIFE | FIRE | THEFT | THIRD PARTY |
| Addressees | 34d | 28a | RANSOM | ROMANS | COUNTRYMEN | FRIENDS |
| Book | 38d | 22d | HOTLINE | THE LION | THE WARDROBE | THE WITCH |
Use the following links for more information on the sets.
Painting: Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway
Film: Truly, Madly, Deeply
Musicians: Crosby, Stills & Nash
Grandchildren: Vera, Chuck and Dave
Department: Ear, nose and Throat
Risks: Third Party, Fire and Theft
Addressees: Friends, Romans, countrymen
Book: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
| Across | |||
| No. | Extra Word(or Clued thematic word) | Entry | Wordplay |
| 6 | STILLS | CROSBY | L(och) inside SLITS (rev) |
| 9 | ENRICO | ENRICH (decorate)-H(enry)+O(ld). This one threw me for a long time as I had entered the answer as ENRICH (without full justification.) | |
| 10 | THROAT | NOSE | H(ospital) inside TROAT (bellow) |
| 12 | MADLY | TRULY | L(iberal) inside MA[n]DY (Peter Mandelson – N(ame)) |
| 13 | EARL | EARLY (soon)-Y(ear) | |
| 14 | ETAGE | GATE (rev)+[danc]E | |
| 17 | PAINTING | TAT | Double definition |
| 18 | THEBE | THEBES (Egyptian city)-S(ucceeded) | |
| 19 | TYR | TYRANT (bully)-ANT (soldier) | |
| 20 | DRATTED | D(aughter)+RATTED (was a grass) | |
| 23 | CELIA | I(ndependence) inside ALEC (anag: rejected). I’m not sure I like the indirect anagram. | |
| 24 | RIA | AIR (spread) (rev) | |
| 25 | DAVE | CHUCK | D(uke)+AVE (old greeting) |
| 28 | COUNTRYMEN | FRIENDS | UN (one)+TRY (test) inside COME (happen)+N(ovember) |
| 32 | STEAM | SPEED | T(ime) inside SEAM (bowling) |
| 33 | ALE | Interesting clue. Tipper Gore is Al Gore‘s wife and tipper is a kind of ALE. So AL+[gor]E | |
| 35 | CHAR | CHAR[y] (careful) | |
| 36 | PIN-UP | IN (home) inside PUP (young boxer [dog]) | |
| 37 | INRO | IRON (press) with N(ewton) moved nearer the front | |
| 38 | FILM | BRASS | A reference to 3 down. BRAS+S(ection) |
| 40 | ROCOCO | OR (men [other ranks]) (rev)+COCO (clown) | |
| 41 | EMPERY | MP (politician) inside EERY (strange) | |
| 42 | HIGHMAN | HIGH (drunk)+MAN (person) | |
| Down | |||
| No. | Extra Word(or Clued thematic word) | Entry | Wordplay |
| 1 | HERETIC | CITER (revisonist)+EH (what) (all rev) | |
| 2 | MUSICIANS | TREATY | AT (in) inside TREY (three) |
| 3 | LINGERIE | GERI (Haliwell [Ginger Spice]) inside LINE (chain of command) | |
| 4 | NOR | [w]RON[g] (rev) | |
| 5 | ENURED | EN ([enrolled] nurse)+RUDE (anag: doctor) | |
| 6 | CALIBRATED | TABLE+I (one)+CARD (anag). Another indirect anagram 🙁 | |
| 7 | RAY | The note before ME. Alternative spellings of RE and MI. | |
| 8 | SOAP | O(ver) inside SAP (fool) | |
| 10 | NE’ER | Reversed hidden word: [a]RE EN[titled] | |
| 11 | GRANDCHILDREN | STATE | STAT (immediately)+E(ntertain) |
| 15 | THEFT | THIRD PARTY | T(ense)+HEFT (instalment) |
| 16 | EVE | EVE[r] (always – cut short) | |
| 18 | TUAN | NAUT[ical] (half cut) | |
| 21 | ACID | A(merican)+CID (hero) | |
| 22 | THE WARDROBE | THE WITCH | [Nick] WARD inside THE ROBE (novel). Other Nick Ward’s are available! 😉Correction: ROB (nick) inside THE WARDE[n] (novel by Anthony Trollope) |
| 26 | DEPARTMENT | CALUM | U(niversity) inside CALM |
| 27 | KEEPS ON | EPSOM (racecourse)-M(oney) inside KEN (knowledge) | |
| 28 | RISKS | FRAISE | F(orce)+RAISE (stir up) |
| 29 | RAG | Double definition | |
| 30 | SERAPH | S[e]E[n]+HARP (anag: playing) | |
| 31 | ICON | C(ocaine) inside ION (not really sure of the wording here) | |
| 34 | ADDRESSEES | WRAP | RAP (monologue) (homophone: listened to) |
| 38 | BOOK | BAR | Double definition (BAR is a joke in Scotland) |
| 39 | SRI | Hidden word: [wa]S RI[ght] | |
Great blog, kenmac.
Yes, this was a super construction which took me at least as long as you to solve, maybe longer, with the theme becoming apparent only after quite a while.
My first thematic one was, I think, the addressees and the last definitely the grandchildren.
Re 6 down, I think I = one is very clear, and I think you see that from time to time rather than some other indirect anagrams which I entirely agree are unfair and a definite no-no.
The fact that the “I” is defined by “one” doesn’t make 6 down an indirect anagram as a whole. The rest of the letters – “table” and “card” – are given directly, and “one” = “I” is so obvious that it can hardly be described as indirect.
It was “third party” which suggested to me what was going on, and Vera, Chuck and Dave were the last set I twigged as well. Not because I’m not familiar with the song (I’ll be getting there myself later this year!), but because I didn’t have the correct word-lengths for the words to be replaced – they were an editorial addition to a very tricky, but very enjoyable puzzle.
22d: I think the wordplay for THE WARDROBE is ROB (=nick, steal) in THE WARDE(n) (=most of novel, the first of Trollope’s “Barsetshire Chronicles”).
And I didn’t see CELIA at 23a as an indirect anagram, but simply that “rejected” in the clue indicated a reversal, as in “rebuff, repel, drive back”.
As with NMS, I started with Addressees and finished with Vera, Chuck and Dave (having dallied with Dave Clark Five for a while).
And as Ken mentions, some reference to “sets of three” would have made the preamble a little clearer, but the puzzle not necessarily any easier.
HolyGhost, you’re absolutely right about 22d. When I came to blog it I knew that I had found it relatively easy but I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember it. Anyway, my blogged explanation works, even if I’ve never heard of Nick Ward … ! 😀
Ken: re 22d, your explanation doesn’t explain “most of” in the clue, but mine does …
The correct parsing of 22 down is nothing to do with anybody called Nick Ward, but simply ROB (“nick” in the sense of “steal*) in THE WARDE(n), Trollope’s first Barchester novel.
That’s how I read it in the first place, and how Lato intended it.
Sorry about repeating HolyGhost’s point – it’s a bit late!
Who is/are the Nick Ward(s)? Should I have heard of him/them?
A very ingenious and enjoyable puzzle, it would have been much harder without the indications of which were the thematic entries. Vera, Chuck and Dave was the first set that we spotted.
Sorry all. Blame the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. I was supposed to have been away on Thursday/Friday but I had to go on Tuesday/Wednesday instead and I had to rush a bit on Monday night to finish the blog. Yes, ROB inside THE WARDE[n] is correct and that is how I saw it when I solved it – I just couldn’t remember in my volcano induce panic.