For the second month running, I have a crossword that hasn’t got any extra/missing letters/words or misprints. Instead, just eleven words in the perimeter and central row to identify, and something to write under the grid.
I found the puzzle pretty straightforward. As the grid was nearing completion, ECDYSIS in the top left corner of the perimeter gave the game away. Each word in turn contained successive pairs of letters of the alphabet: AB, CD, EF, etc.
The full perimeter and central row are:
| Word | Defined by | in Clue |
|---|---|---|
| SLAB | stone | 29ac |
| ECDYSIS | casting off | 17ac |
| REEF | rocks | 30ac |
| GHAT | mountain pass | 26ac |
| HIJAR | exodus | 24dn |
| FRECKLE | spot | 21dn |
| HYMNAL | songbook | 10dn |
| SYNCOPE | elision | 6dn |
| HURST | wood | 25dn |
| DUVET | quilt | 22ac |
| CORYZA | cold | 16dn |
Of course, two pairs, QR and WX were missing. I wondered if we were required to find the only words containing those letters, especially since SPQR is a well-known abbreviation. However, WX isn’t contained in any word or abbreviation that I could identify, so I surmised that just the letter pairings were required under the grid.
An entertaining puzzle from Warbler, and an ideal outing for a newcomer to the EV.
Solving time: under 2 hours.
EV gremlin: 18ac should be numbered 19ac.
Legend:
Definition in clue
Hidden definition Thematic definition hidden in clue
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 9 | ERUPT | Break through in European game training (5) E (European) + RU (game, Rugby Union) + PT (Training, Physical) |
|
| 11 | KRAUT | German king has right to seize gold (5) K (king) + RT (right) holding AU (gold) |
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| 12 | APRIL FISH | No finales for his first play sadly. Just a hoax (9, hyphenated) (HI[S] FIRS[T] PLA[Y])* |
|
| 13 | ARARS | Trees in middle of park areas short of water (5) AR (middle of pARk) + AREAS – EA (water) |
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| 14 | STAMNOI | Shattered nearly all of monastic Greek jars (7) MONASTI[C]* |
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| 15 | LORICAE | Fifty or one hundred aged leather corslets (7) L (fifty) OR I (one) C (hundred) AE (aged) |
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| 17 | TATU | [Casting off] mark of status? (4) hidden in sTATUs |
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| 18 | BAD HAIR | I had bra torn; that’s descriptive of the sort of day that gets worse (7, 2 words) (I HAD BRA)*; my favourite clue! |
|
| 20 | RED ARMY | Railway surrounding badly armed Communist forces (7, 2 words) RY (railway) around ARMED* |
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| 22 | POSS | Local way to wash [quilt] can be briefly practicable (4) 2 meanings; poss short for possible (practicable) |
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| 25 | AERATOR | What puts C02 inside regressive sheep-rot areas? (7) in sheep-ROT AREAs reversed; ‘inside’ seems to do double-duty here as part of the definition and the containment indicator |
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| 26 | HOT SPOT | Edmund’s named [mountain pass] location where trouble might flare up (7, 2 words) HOT (named, Spenser) + SPOT (location) |
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| 27 | STALE | Water bird used as decoy (5) 2 meanings; first meaning is urine |
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| 29 | EPIDERMIS | Deep rim is reshaped to form outer [stone] covering (9) (DEEP RIM IS)* |
|
| 30 | PIOYE | Up North crude firework [rocks] grandchild in confused state (5) OY (grandchild) in PIE (confused state) |
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| 31 | FLACK | US press agent voiced adverse criticism(5) sounds like FLAK (adverse criticism) |
|
| DOWN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | DRY ROT | Doctor — conservative reflected degeneration (6, 2 words) DR (doctor) + TORY< (Conservative) |
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| 2 | YUGA | Leaders of Yavatmal, Gorakhpur and Asansol preserve universal Hindu age (4) YGA (first letters of Yavatmal Gorakhpur Asansol) holding U (universal) |
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| 3 | SPIRITUAL | Religious trip cut short by series of oft repeated actions (9) SPI[N] (trip, cut short) + RITUAL (series of often repeated actions) |
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| 4 | SUPRATEMPORAL | Transcending time Pasteur sorted out member’s examination (13) PASTEUR* + MP (member) + ORAL (examination) |
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| 5 | EPITRACHELION | Stole painting mounted in impressive empty house; one in Western half of London (13) ART< (painting) in EPIC (impressive) + HE (empty HousE) + I (one) in LON (western half of LONdon) |
|
| 6 | EKLAND | With difficulty manage endless real estate [elision] for Seller’s former spouse (6) EK[E] (manage with difficulty, endless) + LAND (real estate); Britt Ekland once married to Peter Sellers, second of four wives |
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| 7 | GAINSAYS | Disputes profits involving state (8) GAINS (profits) including SAY (state) |
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| 8 | HUSOS | Heads of humanitarian union appeal to rescue sturgeons (5) HU (first letters of Humanitarian Union) + SOS (appeal to rescue) |
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| 10 | ERSE | Gaelic section of [songbook] covers Eastertide (4) in covERS Eastertide |
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| 16 | THROATILY | In consequence of [cold] Italy floundered in a guttural way (9) THRO (in consequence of) + ITALY* |
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| 18 | ADDITION | Extra person departs to India in a roundabout way (8) (D (departs) TO INDIA)* |
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| 21 | RUPEES | [Spot] Asian bread completely encircled by birds (6) UP (completely) surrounded by REES (birds); bread = money |
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| 23 | SOLACE | Comfort female alone at church (6) SOLA (feminine form of alone) + CE (church) |
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| 24 | TOPIC | Subject to sanctimonious Catholic [exodus] (5) TO + PI (sanctimonious) + C (catholic) |
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| 25 | ATMS | Weapons situated close to Belgium start to scorch [wood] (4) AT (situated) M (last letter of belgiuM) + S (first letter of Scorch) |
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| 28 | AMAH | Nursemaid takes warm bath regularly (4) regular letters of wArM bAtH |
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