There are four unclued answers, all fairly long, and all made up of multiple words. It seems that our setter, Loda, takes these four phrases seriously. Then there are six symmetrically placed answers that have to be thematically altered in one of three ways. Remaining clues have an extra word, the first letters of which, give the source of the theme.
As so often seems to happen, with me anyway, I solved this one largely from the bottom up. This ensured that I spotted the originator of the piece fairly early. Once I’d found him, the rest was pretty much plain sailing.
So, the initial letters reveal THE POLITICS OF ECSTASY
BY TIMOTHY LEARY. This leads to the quote:
MY ADVICE TO PEOPLE TODAY IS AS FOLLOWS: IF YOU TAKE THE GAME OF LIFE SERIOUSLY, IF YOU TAKE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM SERIOUSLY, IF YOU TAKE YOUR SENSE ORGANS SERIOUSLY, IF YOU TAKE THE ENERGY PROCESS SERIOUSLY, YOU MUST TURN ON, TUNE IN, AND DROP OUT.
so the four unclued answers are (a1)SENSE ORGANS, (a2)ENERGY PROCESS, (e2)GAME OF LIFE and (a12)NERVOUS SYSTEM. And the six thematic answers were: ON was TURNed to NO in 6a & 36a, AIR (TUNE) was placed IN 17a & 28a and OUT was DROPped from 21a & 24a.
Thanks Loda and I’m glad to see you take those four things seriously, as do I 😉
| Across | ||||||
| No. | Answer | Entry | Extra Word | Letter | Definition | Wordplay |
| 1 | STRAUSS | TENT | T | Andrew and Richard eg |
ART (trick) (rev: flipping) inside SUSS (find out) |
|
| 6 | FONDUE | FNODUE | Sauce of cheese and wine | FOUND (anag: out)+[bordelais]E (finally |
||
| 13 | SHAH | HALF | H | Eastern king | [i]S (not half)+HAH[a] (a laugh cut) |
|
| 14 | MOTTE | EARTH | E | Tumulus | OTT (too much) inside ME (note) | |
| 15 | SIRE | PIGEONS | P | Father | [p]ERIS[hed] (hidden: some) (rev: going westwards) |
|
| 16 | EERIE | OPTIMISTIC | O | Unsettling | EER (ever)+IE (that’s) | |
| 17 | DIES | DAIRIES | Suffers | DIES[el] (the (in Spanish)) | ||
| 19 | SKIDDER | LAUNCH | L | One failing to control motor | KIDD (pirate) inside SER(ies) |
|
| 21 | ROUTING | RING | Roaring (Scottish) | (double def) Going to receptions | ||
| 22 | FLITS | INTERNATIONAL | I | Transfers | LIFTS (centre: F forward to leader) |
|
| 24 | SOUTARS | SARS | Cobblers (Scottish: to Ian) | UT(ah) inside SOARS (flies high) | ||
| 25 | GNARLED | TRAPPER | T | Rugged | RANG (called) (rev: back)+LED (was the first one) |
|
| 28 | GLED | GLAIRED | Kite (up north) | [tan]GLED (beat off) | ||
| 30 | VETCH | IRON | I | Plant | VET (investigate)+CH (Switzerland) |
|
| 31 | NADA | CAT | C | Nothing | N[e]A[r]D[e]A[d] (odd letters) | |
| 33 | FOLIE | SCIENTIST | S | Madness (to French) | O(xygen) inside LIFE (anag: active) |
|
| 35 | DATA | OVERDUE | O | Computer’s input | A TAD (little) (rev: regressive) | |
| 36 | BRONZE | BRNOZE | Third-rate | BR(idge)+ZONE (anag: for redevelopment) |
||
| 37 | ETCHERS | FREQUENTLY | F | They eat out | CHEERS+T(ourist) (anag: cook) | |
| Down | |||||
| No. | Entry | Extra Word | Letter | Definition | Wordplay |
| 2 | REGARD | ESSAY | E | Consider | R(ule)+GRADE (anag: wrong) |
| 3 | ARCHING | COLLEGE | C | Bending over backwards | CHIN (feature) inside RAG (anag: bending) |
| 4 | SYNODAL | SKINT | S | Clergyman’s council payment | LADY+SON (anag: supply) |
| 5 | SPOT | TOKEN | T | See | S(on)+POT (spliff) |
| 6 | FRATI | APPRECIATE | A | Friars | FR(equently)+AT (100th of a KIP (Laos currency))+I (one) |
| 7 | OCAS | STORE | S | Edible plants | OC (overcharge)+A+S(second) |
| 8 | DEFIED | YOUNGSTER | Y | Dared | F(emale)+I inside DEED (act) |
| 9 | USERS | BHANG | B | Addicts | [ab]USERS (they swear) (ignoring A B(lack)) |
| 10 | CHEVIN | YELLED | Y | Fish | CHE (I in Looe (Cornwall)) |
| 11 | DERISIVELY | TALKING | T | In a mocking way | I (one)+IS+VERY+LED (anag: astray) |
| 12 | MEERSCHAUMS | INN | I | Pipes | MEERS (pools) (old: disused)+A(ccepted) inside CHUMS (friends) |
| 18 | ASIDE | MILITARY’S | M | Apart from | AIDES (anag: redeployed) |
| 20 | ERECTS | OPHITIC | O | Puts up | ER (hesitation)+SECT (anag: strange) |
| 23 | TIDIEST | TENEMENT | T | Most orderly | DIES (languishes) inside TIT (bird) |
| 24 | SWEDISH | HOODIE | H | Language | ED(ucated) inside SWISH (smart) |
| 26 | ALDERN | YACHT | Y | Related to the birches | AL[a]N (A(dult) replaced by DER (the in German) |
| 27 | STACTE | LIT | L | Old incense ingredient | S[mell]+T[errible]+ACT (turn)+E[nd] |
| 28 | GAPER | EACH | E | Mollusc | GAP (opening)+E[xtende]R (edges of) |
| 29 | ROGUE | ANOTHER | A | Cheat | G(ramme) inside ROUÉ (debauched man) |
| 32 | ARVO | REMEMBER | R | Afternoon (Australian: in Perth) | A[s]+[f]R[esh]+[lo]V[ers]+[str]O[king] (progressively) |
| 34 | LOSE | YOUTH | Y | Fail | LO[o]SE (unattached) (disheartened) |
I have to admit that I didn’t see how the unclued phrases linked with the theme until I read in the blog that they were from a quote by the man we (affectionately) referred to as “Timwy” (owing to his supposed inability to sign his own name when under the influence) – so, thankyou Ken.
Also, I was a bit surprised (and slightly let down) by the fact that this puzzle had a theme very close to the one used in Inquisitor 43 “NAIRO” (=turn ON, TUNE in), also by Loda, about 4 years ago. Is he forgetful, or hoping that we are?