It’s Friday, it’s the Indy, it’s Phi – nothing ever changes (well, only very occasionally).
This is the second time in recent weeks that I have been able to spot a Phi theme (a rarity for me). 1ac, 5ac, 29ac & 25dn are characters in Shakespeare’s Much part 10ac 2dn 11ac, which was made into a 1993 film directed by, and starring, Kenneth 1dn.
There may be more thematic material that I’ve missed because I’m not all that familiar with the play (like all of the Bard’s works) but if I have I’m sure that someone will point out my omissions.
Across
1 Shakespearean heroine to take a moment? (8)
BEATRICE – BE A TRICE (to take a moment)
5 Clergyman backed attempts to disregard old borders (6)
VERGES – REV (clergyman) reversed (backed) G[o]ES (attempts to disregard old)
10 Fruit served up by a mostly noisy party (7)
AVOCADO – A VOCA[l] (mostly noisy) DO (party)
11 Love? Turned on by slender girls primarily (7)
NOTHING – ON reversed (turned) THIN (slender) G[irls] (girls primarily)
12 A discussion about fourth dimension, mostly, or stuff with positrons (10)
ANTIMATTER – A NATTER (a discussion) around (about) TIM[e] (fourth dimension, mostly)
13 Soot or mark in formal wear I expunged (4)
SMUT – M (mark) in SU[i]T (formal wear I expunged)
15 Follow Henry in various places, avoiding river (5)
HOUND – H (Henry) [r]OUND (in various places, avoiding river)
17 Sad mistake cutting into past fruit plant (9)
BLUEBERRY – BLUE (sad) plus ERR (mistake) in (cutting into) BY (past)
18 Obstruction about to block pub trip (9)
BARRICADE – CA (about) in (to block) BAR (pub) RIDE (trip)
19 Facility of pinball machine uncovered around start of game (5)
NUDGE – NUDE (uncovered) around G[ame] (start of game)
21 Staff adopting American way (4)
ROAD – ROD (staff) around (adopting) A (American)
22 One a Latin excitedly consumed, such as pizza or spaghetti? (10)
ITALIANATE – I (one) plus an anagram (excitedly) of A LATIN plus ATE (consumed)
26 Is accepting of film star’s initial reserve (7)
ICINESS – IS around (accepting of) CINE (film) S[tar] (star’s initial)
27 Material to construct city prison in an instant (7)
MECCANO – EC (city) CAN (prison) in MO (an instant)
28 Gemstone Roman Catholic observed in the Heavenly City? (6)
ZIRCON – RC (Roman Catholic) in (observed in) ZION (the Heavenly City)
29 Shakespearean character I study recalled in current movement? (8)
BENEDICK – I DEN (study) reversed (recalled) in BECK (current movement)
Down
1 Director managed to get in shoot before end of month (7)
BRANAGH – RAN (managed) in (to get in) BAG (shoot) [mont]H (end of month)
2 Advanced attack in the offing? (5)
ABOUT – A (advanced) BOUT (attack)
3 Country free to invite in present-day soccer team (4,6)
REAL MADRID – REALM (country) RID (free) around (to invite in) AD (present-day)
4 Conservative line not considered as influence (5)
CLOUT – C (Conservative) L (line) OUT (not considered)
6 Pulses not initially seen as food (4)
EATS – [b]EATS (pulses not initially seen)
7 “I’d like to throttle Liberal” (left-winger looked dim) (9)
GLIMMERED – GIMME (I’d like) around (to throttle) L (Liberal) plus RED (left-winger)
8 Attractive and lively, ignoring priest (7)
SIGHTLY – S[pr]IGHTLY (lively, ignoring priest)
9 Wavering? Harden up with instant injection (8)
INSECURE – INURE (harden up) around (with … injection) SEC (instant)
14 Tumbledown beach manor not expensive in Nice (1,3,6)
À BON MARCHÉ – an anagram (tumbledown) of BEACH MANOR
16 Less prepared, less strong, lacking power, having skirted study (9)
UNREADIER – [p]UNIER (less strong, lacking power) around (having skirted) READ (study)
17 Annoying and bumptious about time given to revolutionary sex (8)
BRATTISH – BRASH (bumptious) around (about) T (time) and IT (sex) reversed (revolutionary)
18 German city dismissing new Australian composer (7)
BERLIOZ – BERLI[n] (German city dismissing new) OZ (Australian)
20 Detective generally satisfied about house’s chain attachment (7)
EYEHOOK – EYE (detective) OK (generally satisfied) around (about) HO (house)
23 Some of them mulled over a vulgar comment? (5)
LUMME – hidden (some of) reversal (over) in ‘thEM MULled’
24 Counters early characters about a source of illumination (5)
ABACI – ABC (early characters) around (about) A plus I[llumination] (source of illumination)
25 Girl’s getting over object of adulation (4)
HERO – HER (girl’s) O (over)
Well, just to fill in, BERLIOZ wrote a Benedict & Beatrice opera on the same theme and DOGBERRY (everybody’s favourite character, brilliantly played by Michael Keaton in the Branagh film) almost-but-not-quite appears as HOUND (blueBERRY) in the centre.
Really enjoyed this – I wrote the music for the Young Shakespeare Company’s Much Ado in ’87 – and the memories flooded back.
Thanks to Phi & Gaufrid.
This fell foul of the Independent’s restriction on multi-word answers to a maximum of two. MECCANO started out as MUCH ADO…though ADO at least still squeezed in.
I greatly enjoyed the Branagh film, but I found Keaton, while utterly memorable (I can visualise him now), completely unintelligible.
I enjoyed this but wrote BENEDICT ( as in opera and play, I think) but it doesnt quite parse-so I ended up with EYEBOLT for 20
Is BENEDICK an alt spelling. Help!
Gaufrid – One more for you. The play is set in Messina which is in Sicily which is perhaps Italianate (22 across)
Another enjoyable offering from Phi. I guessed there was a theme from 1ac, 29ac and 18dn but didn’t look any further.
copmus@3: I made the same mistake as you and wondered why I couldn’t parse EYEBOLT. My excuse is that I’m more familiar with Berlioz’s BENEDICT than the original which is (in my copy anyway) BENEDICK.
Thanks, Gaufrid and Phi.
Enjoyed this, and even saw the theme, which helped me with BENEDICK as one of my last in.
Thanks to Gaufrid for the blog and to Phi for the puzzle.6
Made a couple of errors which held me up at the end. Having spotted the theme early, I convinced myself that the character in the play must be Dogsberry and guessed that was 17ac.
Saw the Berlioz version this year in a cinema relay. I also rather like the Joss Whedon film version, made as a relaxation after filming The Avengers Assemble.