Bonjour Gaston – Extra letters in the wordplay – these give a pointer to the number, order and content of the 7 unclued entries. The ending is to highlight a character. Sounds like fun – and a French theme?
As it turned out, there was a French theme. The additional letters from the wordplay spelled out
LUNDI, MARDI, MERCREDI, JEUDI, VENDREDI, SAMEDI, DIMANCHE
The days of the week in French and SOLOMON GRUNDY became partially visible down the leading diagonal. I reread the preamble as none of the obvious rhyme words fitted – the modern ADIEU indicating that the words to be entered were synonyms of the rhyme:
Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday,
That was the end,
Of Solomon Grundy
This became:
Solomon Grundy,
Hatched on a Monday,
Called on Tuesday,
Spliced on Wednesday,
Felt rough on Thursday,
Laid up on Friday,
Croaked on Saturday,
Planted on Sunday,
That was the end,
Of Solomon Grundy
With the new words of the rhyme entered in their day order. C’est tout. I think the original scans better!
I found this very enjoyable. I do like a puzzle where the theme is known by the majority and not ultra-obscure (no reference books required). One minor quibble with 1dn as I could not justify it being Jacob’s from the clue.
Merci Gaston.
Key:
*anagram; Rev. reverse;underline definition; DD double definition
| 1 Scots write a lot when councillor wears trousers back to front (6) | |
| L | Rev. Levis (trousers) around CR (councillor) = SCRIVE |
| 11 Pair in Perth permitted to be in charge of fish roe (7) | |
| U | Oo (pair) + luit (in Perth permitted) + ic (in charge) = OOLITIC |
| 12 Granny’s nude every now and then – that’s fitting (4) | |
| N | gRaNnY s NuDe = RYND |
| 15 Push forward indistinct old part of image (5) | |
| D | Dim (indistinct) + pel (part of image) = IMPEL |
| 16 Admit to being down after trouble (5) | |
| I | Low (being down) after ail (trouble) = ALLOW |
| 18 Empire built by a lot of spiders (6) | |
| M | (empire)* + a = EPEIRA |
| 19 Make off when girl hit good shot back (6) | |
| A | Rev. (Pam (girl) + aced (hit good shot) = DECAMP |
| 20 7 perhaps returned ruined, lacking energy (4) | |
| R | Rev. (marred – e(energy)) = DRAM |
| 21 Turn steeds into small pieces of meat (9) | |
| D | (steeds into) = NOISETTES |
| 23 Annie’s oily cooking served with fried onions (9) | |
| I | (annies oily) = LYONNAISE |
| 29 Turkey came across historical allowance (4) | |
| M | Tr (turkey) + met (came across) = TRET |
| 30 Does one German Princess live here? (7) | |
| E | Ein (one German) + Diana (princess) = INDIANA |
| 32 Roar about mother’s bouquets (6) | |
| R | (roar)* + ma’s (mother’s) = AROMAS |
| 35 Give up reactionary belief in apostrophe (5) | |
| C | Rev. (cut(give up)) + ism (belief) = TUSIM |
| 37 Edge around one herbivore (5) | |
| R | Verge (edge) around I (one) = VEGIE |
| 38 Wise, perhaps, to express scepticism about rupture (6) | |
| E | Ernie (Wise, perhaps) in Ha (express scepticism) = HERNIA |
| 39 Dispatch an Indian army (4) | |
| D | Send (despatch) + a (an) = SENA |
| 40 Bring back the old cake’s tier (6) | |
| I | Rev. (ye (the old) + roti’s (cake’s) STOREY |
| Down | |
| 1 Father of twelve brought up without British music (4) | |
| J | Rev. Jacobs (Father of twelve?) – b (British) = SOCA |
| 2 Rude about the French transporters (7) | |
| E | Coarse (rude) about le (the French) = COALERS |
| 3 Gather other ranks up with everyone for check on attendance (8) | |
| U | Rev. (cull (gather) + or(other ranks)) + all (everyone) = ROLLCALL |
| 4 Challenged wife to watch (4) | |
| D | Vied (challenged) + w (wife) = VIEW |
| 5 No longer writing up when supposed to leave (3) | |
| I | Rev. (dite (writing)) = ETD |
| 6 Highest point of short break with Gaston? (4) | |
| V | Vac (short break) + me (Gaston) = ACME |
| 7 Drink with which to reward footballer (6) | |
| E | Tip (reward) + Pele (footballer) = TIPPLE |
| 8 Soften by soaking using cold watercourse in West (4) | |
| N | C(cold) + reen (watercourse) = CREE |
| 9 Naughty child hides unknown material (5) | |
| D | (child + y(unknown)) = HYLIC |
| 10 Back to school in France for course (6) | |
| R | DD Rentree (Back to school in France) = ENTREE |
| 13 River nowadays is established but at a complete standstill (7) | |
| E | Dee (river) + ad (nowadays) + set (is established) = DEADSET |
| 14 Dubliner’s spade protects embankment of sand and clay (5) | |
| D | Loy (Dubliner’s spade) around dam (embankment) = LOAMY |
| 15 Suggest I decree latest number, we hear (9) | |
| I | I + nisi (decree) + nu (new homonym) + ate (eight homonym) = INSINUATE |
| 17 The Italian leaves letter on top (4) | |
| S | Upsilon(letter) – il (the Italian) = UPON |
| 20 Passes in Glasgow, but at heart non-achievement destroys (7) | |
| A | Dees (passes in Glasgow – dies) around fail (non-achievement) = DEFILES |
| 22 Legally putting an end to old word for ‘honeyeater’ (8) | |
| M | Term (word ) + miner (‘honeyeater’) = TERMINER |
| 24 Jelly made from a harness (4) | |
| E | A + gear (harness) = AGAR |
| 25 Tudors abandoned battle (5) | |
| D | (tudors)* = STOUR |
| 26 Mistakenly said I see holiday destination (7) | |
| I | (said I see)* = SEASIDE |
| 27 Complete a honey coating (6) | |
| D | End (complete) + a + mel (honey) = ENAMEL |
| 28 Snatched old gold kept in Ed’s territory (6) | |
| I | Au (gold) in right (Spenser’s territory) = RAUGHT |
| 31 Winding up chap with short film is a no-no in Ayr! (5) | |
| M | Rev. Man (chap) + vid (short film) = DIVNA |
| 33 Churchman has meeting for addicts in study (4) | |
| A | Aa (meeting for addicts) in den (study) = DEAN |
| 34 Stick church in Indian capital (4) | |
| N | Pin (stick) around ce (church) = PICE |
| 35 Is silent when climbing to get specially-shaped piece of rubber (4) | |
| C | Rev. tacet (is silent(music)) = TEAT |
| 36 Lots of Chinese coming in. Wow! (4) | |
| H | Han (chinese) in My (wow) = MANY |
| 38 Stocking moderations (3) | |
| E | DD Hose = HOS |