Extra letters in the wordplay spell out an instruction relating to a game – find its venue, fill in the participants and the Name of the Game. Could this be football related? – probably not!
Quite a gentle work out this week, in my opinion.
The first participant I could see forming was EEYORE. So relatively obvious where the theme was heading. There is also RABBIT, POOH, ROO and PIGLET.
The venue took the longest to find – WOODEN BRIDGE in the 7th row from the top with the ninth row to be completed with STICKS.
So Pooh Sticks was the game with Eeyore the winner by my reckoning. I did consult A A Milne’s book to confirm the instruction from the extra wordplay letters “SHADE THE FIFTH CHARACTER WHO JOINS IN GREY”
“Now one day Pooh and Piglet and Rabbit and Roo were all playing Poohsticks together. They had dropped their sticks in when Rabbit said ‘Go!’ and then they had hurried across to the other side of the bridge, and now they were all leaning over the edge, waiting to see whose stick would come out first. But it was a long time coming, because the river was very lazy that day, and hardly seemed to mind if it didn’t ever get there at all.”
‘I can see mine!’ cried Roo.’ No, I can’t it’s something else. Can you see yours, Piglet? I thought I could see mine but I couldn’t. There it is! No it isn’t. Can you see yours, Pooh?’ ‘No,’ said Pooh. ‘I expect my stick’s stuck,’ said Roo. ‘Rabbit, my stick’s stuck. Is your stick stuck, Piglet?’ ‘They always take longer than you think,’ said Rabbit. ‘How long do you think they’ll take?’ asked Roo. ‘I can see yours, Piglet,’ said Pooh suddenly. ‘Mine’s a sort of greyish one,’ said Piglet, not daring to lean too far over in case he fell in. ‘Yes, that’s what I can see. It’s coming over on to my side.’ Rabbit leant over further than ever, looking for his, and Roo wriggled up and down, calling out ‘Come on, stick! Stick, stick, stick!’ and piglet got very excited because his was the only one which has been seen, and that meant that he was winning. ‘It’s coming!’ said Pooh. ‘Are you sure it’s mine?’ squeaked Piglet excitedly. ‘Yes because it’s grey. A big grey one. Here it comes! A very – big-grey-Oh, no, it isn’t, it’s Eeyore!’
So the answer to the shading is to shade Eeyore in Grey with the other characters’ sticks before the bridge.
Thanks Chalicea a lovely representation of the game.
Key:
Underline – definition; * Anagram; DD Double definition;Rev. reverse
ACROSS
| 1 Measurement of time of rollicking rag in lively synchro hop (12) | |
| S | (rag + synchro hop)* = CHRONOGRAPHY |
| 8 Performed shuffling 30s dance bent down under pressure (6) | |
| H | DD Shagged (Performed shuffling 30s dance) = SAGGED (bent down under pressure) |
| 9 Shouts of joy: Japanese scratched from oriental monetary units (3) | |
| A | Jiaos (oriental monetary units) – j (japanes) = IOS |
| 10 Communicated feelings refer to strangeness surrounding bachelor… (5) | |
| D | Vide (refer to) + s (strangeness) around b (bachelor) = VIBES |
| 11 …preposterous superego partly revealing terrifying individual (4) | |
| E | Rev. hidden OGRE (preposterous can also mean inverted) = OGRE |
| 12 Branched out into warships (6) | |
| T | Rams (warships) around out = RAMOUS |
| 14 Rhythmic dance music in production of ‘Hair’? (3) | |
| H | (hair)* = RAI |
| 15 Shaddock, fruit of the apple family, half of pear, core of sloe (7) | |
| E | Pome (of the apple) + pe (half of pear) + lo (core of sloe) =POMPELO |
| 16 In good condition, certainly, flanked by ti tree (6) | |
| F | Fit (in good condition) + ok (certainly) in ti = TITOKI |
| 18 Hard on Ukraine at first, Russian leader returns to make change earlier (6, two words) | |
| I | H (hard) + u (Ukraine at first) + Rev. Putin (Russian leader) = HUNT UP |
| 19 Horrible new food, dull and hard (6) | |
| F | (new food)* = WOODEN |
| 22 Wrinkle in telecom company connection (6) | |
| T | Ridge(wrinkle) in BT(telecom company) = BRIDGE |
| 26 Violent siege with ash engulfing more than one protection (7) | |
| H | (siege + ash)* = AEGISES |
| 29 Plant receding in most of loose rocky mass (3) | |
| C | Rev. Scree (rocky mass) – e = ERS |
| 31 Cut seagoing vessel protecting navy (4) | |
| H | Ship (seagoing vessel) around n (navy) = SNIP |
| 33 Rube is all right in Yale, surprisingly (5) | |
| A | Ok (all right) in (yale)* = YOKEL |
| 34 Pleasure to compete in race round France (3) | |
| R | Run (race) around F (France) = FUN |
| 35 Owing much to others, Field Marshal shot eagerly, filling up hot day (12, two words) | |
| A | Haig ((Field marshal) + H d (hot day) around (eagerly)* = HIGHLY GEARED |
| DOWN | |
| 1 Dubiously wary of initially excessive CCTV in sheltered path (9, two words) | |
| C | (wary + o + e + cctv)* = COVERT WAY |
| 2 Set of poems, complicated kinaesthesia lacking sense, somehow (6) | |
| T | (kinaesthesia – sense)* = HAIKAI |
| 3 Article put up to make tight against leakage of nose (5) | |
| E | Rev. an (article) + seal (make tight against leakage) = NASAL |
| 4 Particular kind of writing central to programme (4) | |
| R | Hidden (prOGrAMme) = OGAM |
| 5 English involved in strange university war over French physicist (7) | |
| W | Rev. Rum (strange) + u (university) + war around e (English) = REAUMAR |
| 6 Bore nothing, in a state of agitation (3) | |
| H | Had (bore?) + o (nothing) = ADO |
| 7 Stop verbal test about every sixty minutes (5) | |
| O | Ho (stop) + oral (verbal test) = HORAL |
| 13 Wrecked or old jeeps having an underside of strong cord (9) | |
| J | (or old jeeps)* = ROPE-SOLED |
| 17 Bird’s sleek swirling round rocky height (7) | |
| O | (sleek)* around tor (rocky height) = KESTREL |
| 20 Moving slily around foremost of girls, eying lecherously (6) | |
| I | Oiling (moving slily) around g (foremost of girls) = OGLING |
| 21 Knight supporting fine upstanding local old duke (4) | |
| N | N(knight) + rev(fine) = NEIF |
| 23 Fishes’ insides regularly chopped (3) | |
| S | InSiDeS = IDS |
| 24 Dresser, arguing in Alaska about energy (6) | |
| I | Dicker(arguing in Alaska) around e(energy) = DECKER |
| 25 Environment-friendly Council of Europe country (6) | |
| N | Green (environment-friendly) + ce (council of Europe) = GREECE |
| 27 Feeling of dissatisfaction of international Arsenal player interminably held up (5) | |
| G | Rev. I (international) + gunner – r (Arsenal player interminably) = ENNUI |
| 28 In Holyrood flaunt having bishop welcomed by Hebridean island (5) | |
| R | Skye (Hebridean island) around rr (bishop) = SKYRE |
| 30 Obstruct common entrance performance record (4) | |
| E | Ce (common entrance) + log (performance record) = CLOG |
| 32 Hype about letter (3) | |
| Y | (hype)* = PEH |
I agree with twencelas that this was a touch gentler than normal, but no issue with me in that regard. A lovely theme, and my better half helped with some of the characters, the theme being something of a favourite of hers. Lovely puzzle, my only gripe being I couldn’t get that flaming ABBA song out of my mind…. And there it goes again!
Thanks to twencelas and Chalicea for the blog and fun puzzle.
Many thanks, Twencelas for your great blog. I am so glad this relatively gentle one pleased. Indeed, the theme is a favourite one in my family and I had to include it in a crossword. It is such a shame that more people don’t respond to the EV blogs but I am fairly sure you do have a regular body of readers.
Blimey, if this was an easy one, no wonder I can’t even start some of them. This took a few hours and a lot of google. Only time I’ve succeeded before was when off work with bad back for 3 weeks last year (eg managed the one about cocktails and most of the other two at that time); you guys must all be retired! Was not familiar with ios or rai or titoki or ers or covert way or haikai or ogam or reaumar or rope-soled or neif or skyre or peh. Perhaps I just need a bigger vocab if I am going to presume to do this puzzle; or is it normal to have to infer words you’ve never met through the clueing to quite this extent!? I would like to thank Chalicea for a puzzle that a mere mortal could complete and enjoy.
Belated reply, I’m sorry, but encouragement is never a bad thing here. I started doing EV’s in the upper 100’s, and found them impossible until one week I slved about five answers. That encouraged me to persevere, and gardually I reached the point where I was submitting completed puzzles three weeks out of five, and have a couple of pens to prove it!
Now, well over 1,000 puzzles later, they’re getting harder but keep going – this is such a rewarding exercise.