Jago has primarily been a Listener setter, with puzzles going back to 1975. He has also had one Inquisitor two years ago and one EV about twelve years back. No clueing gimmicks from him here, just a set of words that needed highlighting in the finished grid as alluded to by 3 and 27.
The preamble was fairly straightforward:
The creator of AN ALTERNATIVE SHORTLIST is to be highlighted in the grid, as are a specific number of words whose alternative meanings are alluded to by the two unclued answers to be entered at 3 and 27. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
It took me about 35 minutes to get a full grid, so an easy puzzle by anyone’s standards. Then we just had to highlight a different set of names which were alluded to by 3 27 — the SEVEN DWARFS.
Well that caused me all sorts of problems. Were we supposed to find synonyms for the names of the dwarfs immortalised in the Disney film? If so, where was a SNEEZY and what about DOC? Perhaps one was TWIT!
In fact, close reading of the preamble was what was required to come to the right conclusion. Jago says that Disney himself was the creator of the alternative list, or to put it another way ‘list of alternatives’. It didn’t take long to track down such a list. The one I saw included THRIFTY, LAZY, DOLEFUL, SILLY, WISTFUL, TEARFUL and SHIFTY, but there were others including Snappy, Cranky, Gabby, Crabby, Flabby, Awful and Neurtsy (?).
Thanks for a nice bit of fun, Jago.
Solving time: 35 minutes plus an hour of getting confused!
Legend:
Definition in clue
X = Corrections to misprints
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | PARSEC | Space disturbed around source of radiation for a great distance (6) SPACE* about R (source of Radiation, first letter) |
|
| 7 | BUTT | Fish in a barrel (4) 2 meanings |
|
| 11 | SCYE | Hole in garment used by Scot? Sigh aloud … (4) sounds like SIGH |
|
| 12 | THRIFTY | … seeing your old coat split; being frugal (7) THY (your, old) around (coating)RIFT (split) |
|
| 13 | HUMVEE | Vehicle showing beginnings of harnessing unlimited mileage – very energy efficient? (Not!) (6) first letters of Harnessing Unlimited Mileage Very Energy Efficient |
|
| 14 | OZAENA | Disgusting discharge from carrion-eater, not extremely hungry, putting on weight instead (6) HYAENA (carrion-eater) with OZ (weight) instead of HY (extremes of HungrY) |
|
| 18 | ANKER | Large amount of wine causing financier to lose his head … (5) (B)ANKER (financier, without first letter) |
|
| 20 | WHEN | … while with woman … (4) W (with) HEN (woman) |
|
| 21 | HINS | … such quantities of liquid leading to heroin and terrible sin (4) H (lead to Heroin, first letter) + SIN* |
|
| 22 | CLARINI | Stops troublesome rain with short cill (7) (RAIN CIL(L))* |
|
| 23 | LIEU | Spend the night at first-class place (4) LIE (spend the night) + U (first-class) |
|
| 25 | LAZY | Song about some unknown, being workshy … (4) LAY (song) about Z (unknown, variable) |
|
| 27 | DOLEFUL | … unhappy, but not short of State Benefit, perhaps? (7) cryptic allusion to DOLE (State Benefit) |
|
| 30 | TWIT | Idiot found within, put without (4) in puT WIThout |
|
| 31 | REPO | Take back Agent Orange initially (4) REP (agent) O (Orange, initially) |
|
| 33 | SILLY | Like 30; starting off slightly yellow, sick inside (5) SY (starts of Slightly Yellow, first letters) with ILL (sick) inside) |
|
| 34 | SEA EAR | Shellfish: quickly cook without water (6, two words) SEAR (quickly cook) outside EA (water) |
|
| 37 | NOSTOC | Algal growth found in no beds, looking back? (6) NO COTS< |
|
| 38 | WISTFUL | Yearning, with little hope: lust to tumble with wife, briefly (7) (LUST + WIF(E))* |
|
| 39 | SENA | Nurse with a paramilitary group in India (4) SEN (Sate Enrolled Nurse) + A |
|
| 40 | CYTE | Cell from a particular place, it’s said (4) sounds like SITE (particular place) |
|
| 41 | THEISM | Illness – from too many cuppas, or a belief in God! (6) 2 meanings; honestly! |
|
| DOWN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | PSHAW | Petulant person going back over husband’s impatient outburst (5) WASP< (petulant person) about H (husband) |
|
| 2 | ACUSHLA | Darling American cutie, removing bow and fluttering lash (7) A (American) CUTIE – TIE (bow, as in tie) + LASH* |
|
| 3 | SEVEN | Unclued | |
| 4 | CHEVIN | Revolutionary French wine for fish (6) CHE (revolutionary, as in Guevara) VIN (French for wine) |
|
| 5 | KROONI | Baltic currency featuring Aussie beast in upcoming print medium (6) ROO (Aussie beast) in INK< (print medium, upwards) |
|
| 6 | FIZ | Get champagne in one’s face, we hear (3) sounds like PHIZ (face) |
|
| 8 | UTE | Truck reverses into Petula (3) reversed in pETUla |
|
| 9 | TYNED | Lost in past time: refuse to return (5) T (time) DENY< (refuse, backwards) |
|
| 10 | TEARFUL | Tense, getting reprimand and becoming upset (7) T (tense) + EARFUL (reprimand) |
|
| 15 | ANIL | Trouble with nitrogen in dye (4) AIL (trouble) with N (nitrogen) inside |
|
| 16 | TEAZEL | Note: laze around – it helps with a nap (6) TE (note) + LAZE* |
|
| 17 | SHIFTY | Dubious and chary about uncertainty with time (6) SHY (chary) about IF (uncertainty) T (time) |
|
| 18 | A SALTI | Atlas I prepared in fits and starts (6, two words) (ATLAS I)* |
|
| 19 | KNIFED | Stabbed king: almost completely disconcerted Iron Duke (6) KIN(G)* FE (iron) D (duke) |
|
| 22 | CLASSIC | Group in charge of a major sporting event (7) CLASS (group) IC (in chanrge) |
|
| 24 | EUPHONS | Phone us about these instruments (7) (PHONE US)* |
|
| 26 | YALE | Defer heading north when daughter leaves college (4) DELAY< (defer, upwards) – D (daughter) |
|
| 27 | DWARFS | Unclued | |
| 28 | OILNUT | American tree makes fancy lino, note (6) LINO* UT (note) |
|
| 29 | VIEWY | Having a fanciful outlook, declare Wednesday void (5) VIE (declare) WY (WednesdaY void, ie empty) |
|
| 31 | RASSE | Small carnivore with floppy square ears (5) (S (square) EARS)* |
|
| 32 | OCCAM | Computer business coming up with computer language (5) ( MAC (computer) CO (business))< |
|
| 35 | AIT | Island spoken of by 36 (3) sounds like ATE (36dn) |
|
| 36 | ATE | Consumed a number, we’re told (3) sounds like EIGHT |
|
I enjoyed this a lot, primarily because it taught me something, in this case that the seven dwarfs of the film were not the first names that were thought of. I always consider a thematic crossword a success when it has taught me something of which I wasn’t previously aware.
No struggle here coming up with which words I thought linked to SEVEN DWARFS, but it took me a lot longer than the blogger to complete the grid.
Many thanks to Jago, and hopefully it isn’t another twelve years before he’s back in the EV. And what a great title for the puzzle. It made me laugh, anyway.
Well, that was good. 🙂 A fairly straightforward puzzle by the standards of the series, and I guessed pretty early on what I’d be looking for in the grid, but enjoyed it throughout.