Back to normal (I hope). After last week’s monster, and the confused endgame after a tough solve the week before, a puzzle from Schadenfreude – always firm but fair – is a welcome sight.
Preamble: Corrections to single-letter misprints in the definition parts of eleven clues spell X, the name of a film character played by 2. Four other clues contain an extra word, the initial letters of which spell Y. Answers to another ten clues are to be singularly treated in the manner of Y, 23, 42 and the film title.
First up was 16a CLOMPING which had a 4-letter entry, and then 32a SEBASTIAN CABOT which had to lose 5 letters. Getting the normal 26d RITALIN made me realise that the latter could be entered as [s]EBASTIAN C[abot], and then also the former as [clo]MPIN[g]. 
So, shoes or other footwear had to be omitted from ‘special’ answers to form the entry. A “barefoot” theme?
Clues fell at a regular pace, some ‘specials’ easier than others to dig out – 29d [ge]NS TOGA[ta] (easy), 1d [mu]SEUM BEET[le] (harder). I was thinking of the film “Barefoot in the Park”, but that led nowhere as I soon had enough to guess AVA GARDNER as the entry at 2a. A search of that + BAREFOOT yielded “The Barefoot Contessa” (a 1954 film) in which the main character is MARIA VARGAS (=X). 
Pursuing the “barefoot” theme, I could see that SANDIE SHAW was a prime candidate for 42a.
Knowing that the misprints spelt MARIA VARGAS certainly sped things up, and it seemed clear that the initial letters of the 4 redundant words were LUCY (=Y). But I had a quite empty SE corner for a while, and later it was finally all done apart from the unclued 23d (_OL_BUD_) and the shoeless 11d (_ETT). OK – focus hard: 23d is ZOLA BUDD; mull things over & let the brain chug away in the unconscious background … yep, 11d is [wad]SETT[er].
I was still having a problem with the fourth member of the Female Quartet being LUCY: the bones of a skeleton of the early hominin found in Ethiopia 40 or so years ago seemed the most obvious (and least worst) option. (No mention in “L. in the Sky with Diamonds” of being barefoot – never mind. Lucille Ball of “I Love Lucy” fame doesn’t seem a contender; nor does St.Lucy …) So I guess I’ll go for Lucy Australopithecus afarensis.
I’m sure that new i-solvers will be relieved. Thanks Schadenfreude.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Answer/ Entry |
Correction/ Extra word |
Wordplay | |
| 2 | AVA GARDNER | see preamble | ||
| 12 | EVACUEE | M | someone moved | (j)E(z)E(b)E(l) around VAC (clean) U(niform) |
| 13 | GOGGLE | A | stare | L(ecturer) in EG (for example) GOG (giant) all< |
| 14 | UPLAND | U(niversity) + PLAN (design) D(epartment) | ||
| 15 | INTREAT | R | poet’s pray | TREAT (free entertainment) after IN (popular) |
| 16 | [clo]MPIN[g] | C(onservative) O(ld) MP (politician) in LING (heather) | ||
| 17 | SCEATT | I | old silver | C(harlie) in SEA (South China perhaps) TT (tease, homophone) |
| 20 | [da]YLIGHT LAM[p] | [A LYMPHATIC GLAND − CAN]* | ||
| 21 | EIGHTEEN | HEIGHT (maximum) − H (200) E’EN (even) | ||
| 24 | EDWARD | A | man | D(ied) WAR (fighting) in E(ast) D (Germany) |
| 27 | ORSINO | V | Viola’s lover | N(ote) in (t)ORSIO(n) (strain) |
| 30 | THEATRAL | TAL(e) (story) around HEAT (passion) + R(omeo) | ||
| 32 | [s]EBASTIAN C[abot] | [IN B(ritish) SEA BOAT CAST]* | ||
| 36 | MOSTAR | MOST (nearly all) AR(abic) | ||
| 37 | NIMB | NIB (important person) around M(oney) | ||
| 38 | PAROLES | PROLES (poorest people) around A(dvanced) | ||
| 39 | INGÉNU | INGE (Dean I.) + NU (Greek letter) | ||
| 40 | ORIGIN | L | languid | O(hio) RIG (cook) IN (at home) |
| 41 | ANEARED | A NEAR (direct) ED(ucation) | ||
| 42 | SANDIE SHAW | see preamble | ||
| Down | ||||
| No. | Answer/ Entry |
Correction/ Extra word |
Wordplay | |
| 1 | [mu]SEUM BEET[le] | USE (take drugs) in MUM (parent) BEETLE (project) | ||
| 3 | VALID | D(irector) after VALI (governor) | ||
| 4 | ACANTHA | A(ctive) CANT (lively, Scot) H(usband) + A | ||
| 5 | GUNNY | A | sack | FUNNY (joke) with G(ood) for F(ine) |
| 6 | AEDILE | A(cademy) ELIDE< (suppress) | ||
| 7 | REIKI | RE (concerning) I (one) KI(d) (child) | ||
| 8 | NOTCHER | R | scorer | CH(ampion) in NOTE (characteristic) R(un) |
| 9 | EGRETS | EG (such as) [REST]* | ||
| 10 | PLATANNAS | U | unused | P(arking) + LA(ne) TANNAS (police stations, India) |
| 11 | [wad]SETT[er] | W(ith) A D(eposit) SETTER (me) | ||
| 18 | ALBI | C | classy | (dism)AL BI(stro) |
| 19 | SIDEBOARD | SIDE (long, Shakesp) + [BROAD]* | ||
| 22 | [t]ECH[ie] | (de)TEC(tive) HI (greeting) E(lectronic) | ||
| 23 | ZOLA BUDD | see preamble | ||
| 25 | [sho]WCAS[e] | O (eleven) W(omen) after SH (quiet) CASE (display) | ||
| 26 | RITALIN | R + ITALIAN (European) − A | ||
| 28 | STENGAH | G | stinger | HAG (old woman) NETS (catches) all< |
| 29 | [ge]NS TOGA[ta] | [A GANG SET TO]* | ||
| 31 | ENGINE | A | banker | [N(ewton) (t)EEING]* |
| 33 | ASSAI | Y | young | double definition |
| 34 | CANES | S | stems | CAN (dismiss, N Am sl) E(uropean)’S |
| 35 | [boo]DIE-RA[t] | BOO (show disapproval) + DIE (stop working) + RAT (strike breaker) | ||
| 36 | [tra]MPOL[iner] | TRAMP (live as a vagrant) + O(rdinary) LINER (fishing boat) | ||
|
|
||||
There was a rumour that Ava’s real name was LUCY.
And I found an obscure song called Put Your Shoes on Lucy by Petula Clarke.
Could they be significant?
I now have a niggling feeling of trilbyism about this Lucy thing. Paranoia, I’m sure.
We were also puzzled over the barefoot Lucy. After an internet search we did wonder whether she was one of the characters in the Narnia series who preferred going barefoot.
Apart from that, our route in seemed very similar to your experience HolyGhost. We didn’t know anything about Ava Gardner whose name we guessed fairly early on but resisted searching her character until we were really stumped. It was a great help when we did, especially when we linked it with a search for synonyms of shoe.
Anyway, we enjoyed the solve and as we were busy we were glad that it didn’t take too long!
Thanks to S&B.
I enjoyed tackling Schadenfreude again.
I assumed Lucy referred to one of the Lucy poems by Wordsworth, or his Lucy Gray which mentions footprints in the snow, though whether those feet were bare or not is unclear.
Zola Budd took me far too long to remember!
This was certainly a lot more accessible than the previous week’s. I guessed 2ac pretty quickly, as that corner of the grid fell quite early, and with a few clues solved it wasn’t a particularly big leap in the dark to get the name of her character. That said, I failed at the last, but wish I’d persisted for a bit longer. My only criticism would be that my pen didn’t show up particular well on the red bits of the grid. 🙂
Could Lucy be this one?
http://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Letcher/e/B001JSC1WW/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
Yes, this was the sort of IQ we all love … unambiguous, challenging, but ultimately solvable.
I guessed Ava Gardner, from just three letters, which was a huge help to understanding what was going on.
.
Like others above, I was puzzled by LUCY, and spent a long time looking for her in the grid.
I did find, on Google, a Lucy Barefoot, of Watford, who had blogged about holistic therapy, but then sadly died aged 44, in 2015. So I concluded that our Lucy might have been a character in some obscure 70s pop song … but I think HG’s suggestion of an unshod African Lucy is brilliant, and probably what Schadenfreude intended ?
In my house at school, in the late 40s, there was a skinny youngster called Bruce Tulloh, who, as I recall, was not particularly athletic. However, a few years later, he took the international distance running world by storm, winning major titles IN his BARE FEET. Last October he celebrated his 80th. birthday by walking the 80 miles from Marlborough to London. So I had no problem remembering his much later imitatrix, Zola Budd !
As a final comment, I spend 99% of my current life barefoot … since hip surgery in 2006, and a stroke in 2011, putting on socks has been beyond me. I can just manage to put on a pair of slippers with my long-handled shoehorn, if we have visitors, or need to leave the house.
Almost a relief to have a Schadenfreude to tackle after the previous two IQs. I didn’t have too much trouble other than the SE corner taking longer than it should. I’d not heard of banker for engine and the Dean reference completely went over my head for ingenu. Thanks to HolyGhost for clearing that one up for me.
Like others, the Lucy reference also left me a bit baffled. I’d found some of the other people and references suggested by others and lean towards the Petula Clark song being the link. Though I have a niggling doubt at the back of my mind that OPatrick @2 may have a point.
The Barefoot Contessa film I’d not heard of but it did clear up some lingering curiosity about the naming of an American cookery programme on TV which my wife watches.
Thanks to setter and blogger for the entertainment.
Finally, a lovely nugget there from Murray about his former school companion. Thanks for sharing.
I considered a few options for Lucy before stumbling on the skeleton, including Lucy Letcher, a long-distance walker on the same Wiki page as Sandie Shaw and Zola Budd. I was immediately happy that the skeleton must be the one as the other three in the puzzle gave full names. Very gentle but very enjoyable as always from Schadenfreude.
Like others, I managed to finish this one, except for the LUCY connection, relatively quickly. It really helped that the ‘shoes’ wrapped themselves around the rest of the answers (deliberately so I presume ?) otherwise I think I would have been really stuck on a few of the more obscure forms of footwear.
Once the barefoot connection was obvious I thought immediately of Sandie Shaw, who I had seen (ogled ?!)on TV as an adolescent but forgot about Zola Budd. Americans recoil whenever her name is mentioned as she is blamed for tripping up their darling, Mary Decker, at the LA Olympics in 1984
I err with one or two others towards the Petula Clark song as the inspiration behind LUCY.
Many thanks Schadenreude, a really fun puzzle with a bit of intrigue and a feast for foot fetishists everywhere ! Thanks too to HG for the blog.
Like others, we were relieved to see Schadenfreude’s name next to the puzzle after Nimrod’s mega-tough one and the one with the misleading introduction the week before, about which the nice people who contribute to this forum were remarkably polite. We were miffed to find we had completed it correctly as we hadn’t submitted it, on the assumption that there was more to do than simply blank out the clashes. Anyway, that’s history now and thanks are due, as always, to Schadenfreude for an excellent puzzle; as HG says, “always firm but fair”.
Our solving experience was probably what the setter was aiming for, i.e. a steady gridfill from NW to SE until we were left with the two unclueds in the SE corner. The division of labour was typical for this household: me filling most of the grid and Mrs T coming up with the PDMs: 1. “It will mean removing shoes” (although it was a while before we realised that letters had to be removed from each end of the affected answers) and 2. “It’s Sandie Shaw and Zola Budd” (after I’d spent ages staring at the unclueds). We never worked out who Lucy is or was, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
I filled half the grid very quickly, guessing 1a from just the V and the first R. By that time the thematic treatment was clear. The other unclued items made filling the rest of the grid a bit harder. I saw the possibility of Sandie Shaw but didn’t remember her as a barefooter. Lucy was a tease. Like Murray, I found the Watford Lucy Barefoot, who seemed ideal, but she was too obscure. I also wondered if there was a Lucy who refused to wear shoes in one of Hillaire Belloc’s humorous verses.
A fairly typical Schadenfreude with rigorous clues, and very enjoyable.
Just to expand on my comment @1, which was done way too early and on a tablet.
Ava:
Check out item 3 on this page: http://www.avagardner.org/index.php/2013-02-06-14-58-47/faqs-about-ava
Petula:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petula_Clark#Other_noteworthy_recordings
I was very happy with Lucy the skeleton until I saw ‘Put your shoes on Lucy’!
I shared the general sense of relief after being reduced to blankness (of mind and, mostly, grid) by IQ’s farewell to the printed Independent. Very similar experience to HG: CLOMPING, SHOWCASE and BOODIE-RAT were the first themed clues to succumb, leading fairly quickly to the footwear-removal thing and — full confession here — a fruitless search for something along the lines of Sea-cLIPPER or Steam-cLIPPER. Didn’t get WADsettER until the very end, though. “It is better to travel hopefully to arrive,” but only up to a point, and better still to arrive at a satisfying solution. Good for Schadenfreude!
There’s another Lucy for consideration – Lucy Burke, who sings “Walking without Shoes” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcbxCBDgH2Q
Too many Lucy’s for comfort!
The evidence in this thread suggests that the pointer to LUCY is too vague, apart from it being someone known simply by that forename – no title, no surname – and that rules out a number of the suggestions here.
There is a guessing game called Botticelli: one player thinks of a famous person and the others try to guess the identity. “This person should be someone that that player … is very confident that the other players will all have heard of; obscure identities make for frustrating game play, …”
If it is the Lucy in that obscure song by Petula Clark, then I’ll be rather disappointed.
Well, just to disappoint you, HolyGhost, it is Petula Clark’s Lucy. However, as far as I can see it could be any of the other Lucy’s suggested above, unliess there is something else connecting those four females.
What a relief to get a puzzle that I could finish (more or less) in a day. I am now getting nearer to catching up on the Inquisitor series again rather than falling even further behind.
I have no more idea that anyone else which Lucy is being referred to.