Guardian 27,036 / Brendan

It’s less than a week since Brendan’s last appearance – but I’m certainly not complaining!

A puzzle right up my street, based on one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, the 5,24 that superstition says can’t be named in the theatre [and isn’t named here, except familiarly at 6dn]. I did it for O Level and still remember a surprising amount of it, which was useful at 16dn. There are allusions to the plot of the play in many of the cleverly-written surfaces – and the three weird sisters can be found in the grid.

The whole is beautifully clued, as always – a real work of art, I think.  I enjoyed every minute of it – many thanks, Brendan.

Across

8 Convert a doubter not easily swayed (8)
OBDURATE
Anagram [convert] of A DOUBTER

9 Hag‘s warning of stormy period once engulfing monarch (5)
CRONE
CONE [warning of stormy period once] round R [king or queen]

10 State of role you reportedly rejected (4)
UTAH
U [sounds like you] + a reversal [rejected] of HAT [role]

11 Close discussions about wife showing nocturnal activity (5-5)
NIGHT-WALKS
NIGH [close] + TALKS [discussions] round W [wife] – reference to Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking

12 Referred to toil and trouble, say, sorted out in proof, finally (6)
QUOTED
Anagram [sorted] of OUT in QED [proof finally] – reference to the witches’ incantation:

‘Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.’

14 For one looking for birdies, a bad putter? (8)
TWITCHER
Amusing double definition

15 Divine female that hero meets at end of the 5 24 across (7)
NEMESIS
Double definition: the Greek goddess of retribution and ‘a rival or opponent who cannot be beaten’  [Chambers] – Macduff in the play: Macbeth had been told that he could not be defeated by a ‘man of woman born’ but Macduff reveals that he was delivered by caesarean section

17 Triumphantly elevated, presided over country riven by outrage (7)
CHAIRED
Double definition with wordplay: CHAD [country] round [riven by] IRE [outrage]

20 Helping in crime, a risky activity (8)
ABETTING
A BETTING [risky activity]

22 Bard having cast first murderer (3,3)
HIT MAN
The bard this time is [Walt] [w]HITMAN, having lost [cast] his first letter: witty use of ‘first murderer’, who  in Crosswordland is usually Cain – by coincidence, the first [and second and third] murderer featured in last night’s University Challenge, in a question about Shakespeare’s unnamed characters

23 Grumbling about couple holding hands that’s delightful (10)
BEWITCHING
BITCHING [grumbling] round EW [couple holding hands – partners in bridge]

24 Having set out after power, act (4)
PLAY
LAY [set out] after P [power]

25 Article about second chief of clan (5)
THANE
THE [article] about AN [second article] – at the beginning of the play, Macbeth is Thane of Glamis and then has the title of Thane of Cawdor bestowed on him for bravery in battle

26 Beat with cane and made a change (8)
SWITCHED
Double definition

Down

1 Monstrously stab king, and profit? It’s hard to fathom (8)
ABSTRUSE
Anagram [monstrously] of STAB + R [king] + USE [profit]

2 Exclamation from Scot pierced by end of skean-dhu that hurts! (4)
OUCH
OCH [exclamation from Scot] round [pierced by] [skean dh]U – hilarious surface!

3 Accursed like dog dismissed in dramatic scene? (6)
DAMNED
Back to the sleepwalking scene and Lady M’s famous ‘Out, damned Spot!’ [dog dismissed 😉 ]

4 Wife with some scores not easy to bear (7)
WEIGHTY
W [wife] + EIGHTY [four score]

5 Author is hard to follow, like others of his ilk (8)
SCOTTISH
[Sir Walter] SCOTT [author] IS H [hard]
A note from Collins: although the use of ilk to mean ‘a type or class’ is sometimes condemned as being the result of a misunderstanding of the Scottish expression ‘of that ilk’*, it is nevertheless well established and generally acceptable [*’of the place of the same name to indicate that the person is laird of the place named: Moncrieff of that ilk’]

6 Mac, in short, butchered for kingship (10)
MONARCHIST
Anagram [butchered] of MAC IN SHORT

7 Interrupt speech with diabolical cheek about line (6)
HECKLE
Anagram [diabolical] of CHEEK round L [line]

13 The average grade in a test for stage (10)
THEATRICAL
THE + C [average grade] in A TRIAL [a test]

16 Actions of insignificant taleteller?
IDIOCIES
Reference to Macbeth’s soliloquy:

‘Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Perhaps a bit hard for those not familiar with the text – but it’s a quite well known passage, I think

18 Established a title that’s raised issues (8)
EMANATES
A reversal [that’s raised] of SET [established] A NAME [a title]

19 Returns in a tragedy’s leading part — touching (7)
AGAINST
GAINS [returns] in A T[ragedy’s]

21 Inspiring act the Bard unceasingly revised (6)
BREATH
Anagram [revised] of THE BAR[d]

22 Among makers of awful gruel, American serving regional dish (6)
HAGGIS
GI [American serving] in HAGS – another reference to the witches’ brew

24 Caledonian featured in epic tale (4)
PICT
Contained in ePIC Tale

56 comments on “Guardian 27,036 / Brendan”

  1. Thanks Eileen – I mis-parsed 9a, having never heard of storm warning cones, and assumed it was an anagram of ‘once’. I wondered about the clumsiness of ‘period’ after the ‘stormy’ anagrind.
    I should have trusted Brendan more.

  2. Thanks Brendan and Eileen

    I usually enjoy Brendan’s puzzles, but not this one. What’s the opposite of “up my street”? Too many I had to enter from definition only, and AGAINST only because it fitted. No criticism of the puzzle intended; thanks to Eileen’s lucid explanations I can now appreciate what I was missing.

    In UTAH, in what context is “hat” = “role”?

    In BREATH (one I did understand!), I’m not sure I like “unceasingingly” for “drop the last letter”.

    I did like TWITCHER and BEWITCHING.

  3. Hi muffin – re UTAH: wearing several hats = performing different roles. ‘Unceasingly’ [= ‘without end’] works for me.

  4. I enjoyed this enormousy; like Eileen, I was given Macbeth at O-level and still remember chunks of it too. It’s not the first puzzle I’ve solved on this theme and hopefully won’t be the last – it’s a rich seam.
    I particularly enjoyed the “couple holding hands” for East and West, but I think 16d is a bit of a stretch for those unfamiliar with the work.
    Thanks to B&E

  5. As you say the three weird sisters are in the grid – along with another character. Are there any more that I have missed, I wonder?

  6. Very clever I’m sure and I would have enjoyed the theme (again having some knowledge of the play) had there not been so many virtually un-parsable clues.

    Also a lot of iffy clue in my humble opinion.

    Idiocies?

    Great if you’ve done it for A or O level

  7. We both enjoyed this, but 16d went beyond our knowledge of the play (I think the last time we saw it was over 30 years ago). Like Louise we also got stuck with CONE being an anagram of ONCE and what has the period got to do with it? As always Eileen’s explanations make it all clear.

    Alan R@7 Are you referring to the NINA, or is there another hidden character we should be able to find?

    Thank you Eileen and Brendan.

  8. This was very clever and enjoyable. There were hardly any clues that didn’t have some sort of connection to the theme, which is impressive.

    Well done baerchen and Alan R for spotting BANQUO. I’ve been trying to make something of the fact that HEC and ATES are at the top and bottom of the penultimate column, but maybe that’s just coincidence.

    I thought 3d was funny!

  9. Thank you Brendan for a super puzzle and Eileen for a great blog.

    I was another who tried to make an anagram of “once”. Last in were DAMNED, one of the best clues ever, and IDIOCIES, vague memory of my father quoting this soliloquy. I spotted BANQUO while solving, but where are the three weird sisters?

  10. Thanks to Brendan and Eileen. I missed “spot” = “dog” for DAMNED, took a while to see IDIOCIES, and last in was NEMESIS. Very cleverly done and much fun.

  11. Thank you also Eileen and Baerchen – I did look for witches briefly at first, and the coincidence of TWITCHER and SWITCHED struck me while solving, but the effort of trying finally to get IDIOCIES wiped all else from my poor mind.

  12. Thanks both,

    What a tour de force and thanks for the parsings. 16d has to be a claimant for clue of the month, if not of the year, but 3d could beat it at the post. Cookie @14: there’s a witch in ‘twitching’, another in ‘bewitching’ and another in ‘switched’.

  13. Thanks Eileen and Brendan.

    Very enjoyable if with a few quibbles:

    C=average grade? – not for me, but then the definition of an “average” is fraught with difficulties so I can see it through clenched eyelids;

    “Insignificant taleteller” might better have been “teller of non-significant tale” since in the speech it is the tale rather than the idiot which signifies nothing (and which to me is not quite the same as insignificant), but in crosswordland it just about travels.

    Like EMANATES, SCOTTISH, DAMNED and many others. Is it fair to conjoin HAGGIS with the witches’ brew? Only had it once, in a chipper in Oban if memory serves and never had the urge to re-visit – haggis that is, not Oban. Can’t see any weird sisters and hadn’t spotted Banquo.

  14. Thank you Brendan for a great puzzle and Eileen for your great blog. Macbeth one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. I saw the late great Pete Postlethwaite play Macbeth and he was fantastic. Too many good clues to pick out a favourite very cleverly devised.

  15. Lovely treat thank you Brendan – I spotted the witches and was delighted when I then found the hidden ghost. Thanks to Lucky Eileen too.

  16. Can’t add to what has already been said – another fine puzzle from Brendan. I struggled a bit, with the last two THEATRICAL and NEMESIS taking far too long, and in retrospect I don’t know why. Missed the WITCHes too.

    Thanks to Brendan and Eileen

  17. What fun and what class! Failed to parse IDIOCIES (but my idiocy, of course) and missed the rising ghost. Otherwise bewitched and enchanted throughout. Thanks to Brendan and Eileen.

  18. Couldn’t get idiocies probably because we haven’t read the Scottish play for many years. Hard work as usual from Brendan. Thanks to everyone.

  19. I may be repeating something already hinted at, but across clues are BEWITCHING PLAY and THANE SWITCHED (from Glamis to Cawdor?); and down SCOTTISH HAGGIS.

    I have often orienteered on Birnam Hill (and at Cawdor) and been atop Dunsinane which is an insignificant hill lying between Dundee and Perth.

    Thanks Eileen and Brendan.

  20. I suppose everybody is familiar with Macbeth to a greater or lesser extent. It must be over forty years since I last saw it- in Edinburgh if memories serves- and I’ve never studied it. However most of it came back:even NEMESIS which I was particularly pleased to get. And I did get IDIOCIES, although largely because of the crossers. I liked DAMNED and WEIGHTY but I did miss BANQUO.
    Beautifully constructed as we have come to expect from this setter.
    Thanks Brendan.

  21. Did anyone else put in PERU at first for 10A?
    It works at least as well as Utah, being a reverse hidden word in you reportedly.
    Slowed us down a bit!
    Enjoyed the crossword, but never saw half the clevernes revealed in the blog. Thanks Eileen.

  22. Many thanks for the links, Dave @34. I’ve seen all the landmarks when visiting my husband’s family in Dundee.

  23. [We went to Cawdor when we were staying in Nairn a few years ago (cycled there, in fact). The castle postdates Macbeth and wasn’t particularly interesting, but the woods there were possibly the most attractive we have ever visited.]

  24. Thanks Brenden for a fun puzzle.
    Thanks Eileen, and I had a sense that you might be blogging this, and will explain many clues that now I know refer to quotes and other references therefrom…for once spotted the theme and the three witches – liked 22a, 22d, 23a, 18d and 21d.

  25. I’m with muffin @2 on this one – not particularly enjoyable, especially not having any interest in Macbeth.
    16d especially impenetrable without that knowledge, but even with the explanation it doesn’t appear particularly well-constructed. In the quotation it is the tales that are insignificant, not the (tale)teller.

  26. The Hartford Stage Company here (Connecticut) does one Shakespeare production a year, and I usually find them too concept-y, but I liked the Macbeth very much. They set it in medieval Scotland, of all places, instead of some altogether different place and time that can occasionally be illuminating and is usually annoying. (The best “concept” Shakespeare I ever saw was Julius Caesar set in an unspecified Arab country, which really brought out the feeling of chaos let loose on the world, of the rules being gone and no way of knowing what would take their place. I also saw a good one set in Washington at the time of the Kennedy assassination.)

    Given that mental repunctuation is always in order, could we say, “insignificant-tale teller”? That doesn’t really work with the rest of the clue, though.

    Wonderful puzzle, excellent blog. Thanks to Brendan and Eileen.

  27. Hi ilippu @40

    Just for the record, we have a regular blogging rota, barring holidays, etc, so it’s [quite rightly] down to the luck of the draw which puzzles we get to blog [and, like you, we only see the puzzles on the day].
    Having said that, I expect you detect how thrilled I was to land this one. 😉

  28. Failed on NEMESIS and IDIOCIES, both lacking any reasonable wordplay which rather spoilt an otherwise fair puzzle. Thanks Eileen and, mostly, Brendan

  29. I couldn’t miss the theme, but it is only now, after coming here, that I can see what an achievement this crossword is. The theme has been implemented cleverly throughout. I didn’t spot the three witches, and of course the nina passed me by.

    However, as a solving experience it was, for me, not as enjoyable as last week’s Brendan. Knowing more about the play would have helped with three of the clues, and I thought the quality of some of the clues was not up to the standard of that other puzzle. However, I did enjoy 11a NIGHT-WALKS, 24a PLAY and 5d SCOTTISH particularly.

    Thanks to Brendan and Eileen.

  30. Enjoyed the puzzle but fell short of 15 and 16 and unable to parse a couple due to not getting the theme.

    For those who are familiar with the theme, is there also a nina at 13th row across? ACING IT

  31. stanXYZ @50
    No, that still implies an unwarranted degree of familiarity! How about “in a different county”?

  32. Eileen @48, thank you, my memory betrayed me [I blame it on being tired out after having, as usual, helped umpteen people label their sweet potatoes on the weighing machine in the supermarket this evening, classified as fruit here in France].

  33. Stunning crossword. Just from the first pass of the clues, and then not getting one until THANE, it made you think of the play. Even so, with the theme suggested it wasn’t a give away, at the same time fairly clued — though I expect some familiarity with the play helped. 16dn is brilliant, but although I knew the quotation, I did not know it so well to get the answer. But then chucking in Banquo up the left-hand side as well… amazing.

    Thanks to Eileen for the blog, additional insight from the comments and Brendan for a brilliant crossword.

  34. I loved it all, having taught the Scottish play to many students over the years. Many thanks to Brendan for providing such an enjoyable workout, and to Eileen for an interesting blog. Have also appreciated the fascinating additions as the forum has unfolded. What a treat to have the three witches and Banquo pointed out as hidden gems!

    The reference in 16d IDIOCIES reminded me strongly of a certain US Presidential candidate. Holding my 21d BREATH for the results.

  35. Just for the record, I still think Dave Ellison @34 might be on to something, could NEMESIS CHAIRED refer to Macduff since he triumphantly elevated Malcolm, “Hail, King! for so thou art” ?

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