‘ordeal, horror, torment, torture, trial, calamity, agony, anguish, awful experience’.
That’s how Chambers describes a nightmare. Oh goody…
Of course, this is not the work of a cacodemon. Having an anagram in each clue that is to be solved prior to solving is an unusual device (although I’m sure not without precedent). However, a judicious bit of pre-solving of anagrams allows one to flesh out the definition of 6dn.
I was only acquainted with the literary half, but some internet searching confirmed the following:
ACTOR WHO PLAYED CHIEF INSPECTOR FRED ENDEAVOUR
The Chief Inspector in Endeavour is, I am informed, called Fred THURSDAY. He was played by ROGER ALLAM, who straddles.
The missing word (and the crossing letter in 17dn, which I originally thought was a mistake) led to GK CHESTERTON for 23ac.
I was unaware that the full title of one of Chesterton’s works is ‘The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare’, which is a very nice sort of nightmare to have.
In that book, Thursday is a man named GABRIEL SYME, which is to be inserted in 6dn.
NOTATION
definition
(charade definition)
[anagram/homophone/container/etc. indicator]
{ANAGRAM}*
< reversal
PURRINGS = grid entry
circles = unscrambled single word
clerics = anagrammed word or phrase
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | arrest |
1 | SUSS | Starer – that’s US (one to the Queen) [amongst] S (Southern) S (Society) (4) |
| C | circles |
4 | PURRINGS | PUR (Jack no longer) [leading] RINGS (clerics) in expressions of pleasure (8) |
| T | tans |
10 | TRAPANS | Discarded snares with STAN [in] RAP (charge)? [Au contraire!] (7) |
| O | one |
12 | ONION | NEO [repeatedly] [clipped] [entertaining] I (international) head (5) |
| R | round |
14 | FLAN | Do run blank piece AN (if once) [following] FL (florin) (4) |
| W | watered | 15 | GOMBO | In US tarweed soil having GOO (sticky stuff) [comprising] MB mud bath [initially] (5) |
| H | heads | 16 | LIPS | Lightly touches LIPS [shade of] lilac in paint store (5) |
| O | odists | 18 | SERE | To sots I’d become dry having R [last of] beer in SEE (view) (4) |
| P | paces | 20 | LIMP | L [Initially] lameness IMP (impeded) malefactor’s scape – caused by this (4) |
| L | literary | 21 | GARNERS | It rarely accumulates RN (main body) with E (base) R (recipe) in GAS (froth) (7) |
| 23 | G K CHESTERTON | Unclued | ||
| A | agreed | 26 | YAOURTS | <AY (Gear Ed) [returned] with [topless] COURTS (bars’) fermented milk (7) |
| Y | yard | 29 | AYRE | YR (Dray) [splitting] AE (a) forgotten form of burden (4) |
| E | earth | 31 | MOOL | <LOOM (Appear threatening) [on the way back] to heart of Scotland (4) |
| D | direct |
32 | BOS’N | NOBS* [ordered] one to credit crew (4) |
| C | certainly |
33 | PARDI | In Spenser inert clay DI (gods) [beyond] PAR (the norm) (5) |
| H | hautboy |
35 | LILL | Feature of a hot buy for Ian to alter pitch – L (length) ILL (incorrect) (4) |
| I | invokes |
36 | PREYS | Predates PRAYS (voe sink) [it’s said] (5) |
| E | effulgent |
37 | LEAMING | Feet flung apart {I (one) MAN}* [round] [in] LEG (support) (7) |
| F | Flemish | 38 | SEMITISM | [Curtailed] MITE (bit of himself) in SEISM (unusual shake-up) characteristic of Jews (8) |
| I | Irish | 39 | SCYE | Hole in garment of Northern Rishi [invoking] SIGH (sound of dejection) (4) |
| Down | ||||
| N | naughty |
1 | STALAG | [Any thug] GALS* [grasp] TA (thanks) to holding area for other ranks (6) |
| S | sauce |
2 | SALPICON | Mixture of ingredients in cause [curtailed] PICK (choice) [in] SALON (reception) (8) |
| P | pinheads |
3 | SPAS | Health establishments <SAPS (deanship) [promoted] (4) |
| E | erratic |
4 | PANSPERMIST | [Cartier] PENTAPRISMS* for believer in extraterrestrial bugs (11) |
| C | cribbage |
5 | UNPEG | Remove markers in big brace, EG (for example), [under] UN (one local) P (power) (5) |
| 6 | ROGER ALLAM | Unclued | ||
| T | time |
7 | NIM | Once take <MIN (brief item) [back] (3) |
| O | over |
8 | GOBI | O (Rove) in BIG* [wild] desert (4) |
| R | ranges |
9 | SNOWS | They may be found crowning serang NOW (currently) [aboard] SS (steamship) (5) |
| F | fabric |
11 | SURAT | TAURUS* [strangely] [not] A (acceptable) if Crab is one that’s inferior (5) |
| R | rule |
13 | NORN | Tongue in Northern Isles NON (not) with R (lure) [involved] |
| E | each |
17 | ILKA | Scots ache ILK A (one, kind of) (4) |
| D | disport |
19 | PETROLIC | FROLIC (Tripods) [not opening] [below] PET (neck) of fuel in motor (8) |
| E | eglantine |
22 | ROES | Female deer, ROSE (perhaps inelegant) [sounding] (4) |
| N | nabs |
24 | STOOL | Passé void <LOOTS (bans) [reversed] (5) |
| D | development |
25 | NONAGE | State of early event Pom led N (north) ON (against) AGE (time) (6) |
| E | elastic |
26 | YAPPS | SAPPY* [latices] overlapping book bindings (5) |
| A | australia |
27 | URDY | UR (Ancient city), with A (Saturnalia) [forgotten] in DAY (time), could have a point or two? (4) |
| V | violated |
28 | SOKES | SKEOS* [dovetail] rights to hold court (5) |
| O | oarweed |
30 | VARE | Hispanic measure C (Cuba) [cut from] VAREC (wee road, say) (4) |
| U | ultimate |
32 | BIMS | Bajans BI [mutilate characters from] Carib and Haiti with MS [tips of] machetes (4) |
| R | radiation |
34 | REM | Old aria I don’t measure RE (with reference to) M (metres) (3) |
I’m sorry to see no comments on the blog for Nightmare, as I thought this an excellent puzzle. Great work on behalf of the Eclogue pairing to spot the thematic Thursday link, even better work to execute a very challenging clue gimmick so well, and wonderful to have such a long replacement in the final grid resulting in all real words. Excellent stuff!