An ominous title to this EV. Will Chalicea leave me in the Dark?
I needn’t have worried. It’s a straightforward (which is not to say unenjoyable) solve, and the message is steadily revealed. It reads:
INVERT TWO LETTERS TO SHOW ONE AND TWENTY DOWN
1 and 20 dn read SOLAR ECLIPSE, so I’m looking for something that will show that in the grid.
As has happened a few times recently, the steady solving comes to an abrupt halt at this point, and I have to put down the puzzle and return to it later.
However, fresh eyes spot the solution quickly. An O and M are to be inverted such that the centre of the grid reads:
SUN
MOON
EARTH
A period of lightness on a dark Sunday. Thank you, Chalicea.
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
XXX = unused letter(s)
WAIT=extra thematic letter
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | SWAT | Second ambush it may be fatal for some aerial intruders? (4) | it may be fatal for some aerial intruders: S (second) WAIT (ambush) |
| N | 5 | PREPARE | Train standard groom outside (7) | train: PAR (standard) PREEN (groom) outside |
| V | 11 | OATERS | People who express choice hosting American Wild West films (6) | Wild West films: VOTERS hosting A (American) |
| E | 13 | APEX | Tip: imitate one with previous marital experience (4) | tip: APE (imitate) EX (one with previous marital experience) |
| R | 14 | ACCOLADE | Embrace pilot fixing old car inside (8) | embrace: ACE [fixing] OLDCAR* inside |
| T | 15 | AVERT | Prevent pub not closing before time (5) | prevent: TAVER |
| T | 16 | RHIME | Hermit revised archaic verse (5) | archaic verse: HERMIT* [revised] |
| W | 17 | REN | Tiny bird to chase once (3) | to chase once: WREN (tiny bird) |
| O | 18 | SUNGAZER | Lizard, cold and wet holding newt’s head with fixed look (8) | lizard: SOUR (cold and wet) holding N (Newt’s head) with GAZE (fixed look) |
| L | 20 | ERATO | Source of inspiration ragged later on (5) |
source of inspiration: [ragged] LATER* O (on) |
| E | 21 | ONCUS | Single oath cut short. It’s bad in Perth (5) | bad in Perth: ONE (single) CUS |
| T | 22 | BOHEA | Branch office to warm up low-grade tea (5) | low-grade tea: BO (branch office) HEAT (to warm up) |
| T | 24 | THOSE | All of them entertain in half-built tent (5) | all of them: HOST (entertain) in TE (half-built TEnt) |
| E | 26 | LIVE A LIE | Suppress a shameful truth about very unpleasant trimmed mealies (8, 3 words) | suppress a shameful truth: [about] <VILE (very unpleasant) [trimmed] |
| R | 27 | RAM | Warship to equip with weapons after start of refit (3) | warship: ARM (to equip with weapons) after R (start of Refit) |
| S | 29 | SIDHA | Hasids have embraced one who has attained perfection (5) | one who has attained perfection: haSIDSHA |
| T | 31 | TIMBÓ | Insecticide optimal essentially with parasitic maggot (5) | insecticide: opTIMal [essentially] with BOT (parasitic maggot) |
| O | 32 | PLOSIONS | Consonantal sounds soon spoilt when clipped and transposed (8) | consonantal sounds: SOONSPOIL |
| S | 33 | SLIM | Attractively thin girl about to drink head of lager (4) | attractively thin: <MISS (girl) [about] to drink L (head of lager) |
| H | 34 | TATLER | Old gossip that the French relished originally (6) | old gossip: THAT LE (the French) R (Relished originally) |
| O | 35 | EYE-SHOT | Brood pursued by fire as far as one can make out (7, hyphenated) | as far as one can make out: EYE (brood) pursued by SHOOT (fire) |
| W | 36 | IURE | With Cable’s protection, united by Right (4) | by right: ins. of [with protection of] U (united) in WIRE (cable) |
| Down | ||||
| O | 2 | ATHENA | Curse boundlessly venal goddess (6) |
goddess: OATH (curse) [boundlessly] |
| N | 3 | TETRATHEISMS | Beliefs maybe started with something apart from God, somehow? (12) | beliefs: [maybe] STARTE |
| E | 4 | BRAT | Badly behaved child cut short life (4) | badly behaved child: [cut short] BREAT |
| A | 6 | RACH | Worthless and ultimately foolish streak (4) | streak: RACA (worthless) and H (ultimately foolisH) |
| N | 7 | ELOIGN | Dubiously beginning to go on-line to get away from it all (as it were) (6) | to get away from it all (as it were): [dubiously] [G (beginning to Go) + ONLINE]* |
| D | 8 | PALMA CHRISTI | Clumsy pharmacist idly clipped castor oil plant (12, two words) | castor oil plant: [clumsy] PHARMACISTIDL |
| T | 9 | REDRESSABLE | Drab treeless. unkempt, capable of being remedied (11) | capable of being remedied: DRABTREELESS |
| W | 10 | EXEDRAE | Columned recesses were axed erroneously (7) | columned recesses: WEREAXED* [erroneously] |
| E | 12 | ADVERBIALLY | Devising a verb ideally in a lexically modifying manner (11) | in a lexically modifying manner: [devising] AVERBIDEALLY |
| N | 16 | RUMAL | Headcloth to spread sickness (5) | headcloth: RUN (to spread) MAL (sickness) |
| T | 19 | NORIA | Irrigation system not protecting drowned valley (5) | irrigation system: NOT protecting RIA (drowned valley) |
| Y | 23 | EADISH | He is confused about 24-hour rotation for old country pasturage (6) | old country pasturage: HEIS* [confused] about <DAY (24-hour) [rotation] |
| D | 25 | ORMOLU | Metallic ware, gold on recast mould (6) | metallic ware: OR (gold) on [recast] MOULD* |
| O | 28 | MOIRÉ | Watered heathland keeping iodine in earth (5) | watered: MOOR (heathland) keeping I (iodine) in E (earth) |
| W | 30 | HOBO | Homeless person who died after returning (4) | homeless person: WHO <OB (died) [after returning] |
| N | 31 | TSAR | Despot drowning head of Stasi in small lake (4) | despot: [drowning] S (head of Stasi) in TARN (small lake) |
Thank you for your blog Mr Sting. I have read one or two where you ‘damned by faint praise’ and was afraid you would find this too easy. I believe the editor scheduled this one for this date as there was an eclipse somewhere in the other hemisphere on that date or thereabouts. I would have had to have waited a long time for the next significant one in our hemisphere.