As July comes to a close – 5 down clues to lose letters and 5 across clues to receive the letters. All real words in the final grid and thematic items – with 2 other thematic items to be highlighted.
As the summer holiday season heads into full swing, a straight forward puzzle from Gnomie. Some obscure words which I needed to look up in Chambers was the only major hold up.
The first thematic down I found was ROBING which reduced to ROBIN and my initial guess that it was a bird related puzzle proved correct.
The lost and found letters (those migrating) being HGBR and L
The two other thematic items were both in 37 across REE and MARTIN
Many thanks Gnomie for a fun puzzle and most importantly, one not too time consuming at what is for me a busy time as I’m currently in the Northern Territory of Australia (one of the most beautiful parts of the world)
Key:
* Anagram; Rev. Reverse; DD Double definition ; Underline = definition
Across
1 Country person, affable, without a hint of learning (8)
pleasant (affable) – l (hint of learning) = PEASANT + H = PHEASANT
6 Fugitiveness regularly revealing number of Calvinist Points (4)
FugItiVenEss regularly = FIVE
9 Cut and run: lofty timber primarily lime trees going west (10, two words)
high (lofty) + t (timber primarily) + Rev. Tilia (lime trees) = HIGHTAIL IT
12 Section giving greater firmness, removing hard, central part (7)
s (section) + toning (giving greater firmness) = STONING
13 Revolutionary expenditure, in the past, for smock (7)
Che (Revolutionary) + mise (expenditure in the past) = CHEMISE
15 Add inner strengthening layer in company in France and Luxembourg (4)
CIE (Company in France) + L (Luxembourg) = CIEL
16 Adjusted teensy touch of resin for hydrocarbon basis of plastics (7)
(teensy + r (touch of resin))* = STYRENE
19 Santa repeats these, we hear, as he fills them (4)
Homonym of Hos (as in Ho Ho Ho) = HOSE (as in Stockings)
20 Note thematic items in main parts of churches (5)
N (Note) + Aves (birds – thematic items) = NAVES
22 Bumper river, one in Yorkshire (6)
r (river ) + Ouse (one (river) in Yorkshire) = ROUSE + G = GROUSE
25 Type of bean devoured by early English is no longer clean (6)
mung (type of bean) in ee (early English) = EMUNGE
27 Dead, retrograde law involving accepted South African dazed state (5)
d (dead) + Rev. (law) around a (accepted) = DWAAL
28 Room in public house is not quite empty (4)
Bare (empty) – e = BAR + B = BARB
30 Abolish army regulation for type of eclipse (7)
Annul (abolish) + ar (army regulation) = ANNULAR
33 Advance payment rejected for vessel (4)
Rev. (Ante (Advance payment)) = ETNA
34 Extremes of great hoard deviously obtained with difficulty (7)
(gt (extremes of great) + hoard)* = HARDGOT
36 Declaim about type of system of currency, weights etc. (7)
(declaim)* = DECIMAL
37 Indecent to damage container, imperfect one of two (10)
free (indecent) + mar (damage) + tin (container) = FREEMARTIN
38 Revolutionary new description of London, maybe (4)
Rev. new = WEN + R = WREN
39 Being all too obvious, straining forward with one ton removed (8)
starting (straining forward) – t (one ton) = STARING + L = STARLING
Down
1 Call around Channel Islands relating to marine mammals (7)
phone (call) around ci (Channel Islands) = PHOCINE
2 Powerful leader of Scots turns to the left in Holyrood (5)
High (Powerful) + s (leader of scots) = HIGHS
3 Feel disappointed over rot involving Greece and Spain (5)
ret (rot) around gr (Greece) + e (spain) = REGRET – R = EGRET
4 Steps up tense atmosphere on board ship? (6)
SS (ship) around t (tense) + air (atmosphere) = STAIRS
5 The dark hours, some say, turning rainy, but not initially wearing (4)
Rev. Wet (rainy) – w (initially wearing) = NITE (not sure where the in comes from)
6 Troubled francophile abandons rotten opera producing this awful response to pain (5)
(francophile – opera)* = FLINCH – L = FINCH
7 Saves an unusually colourful flier (7)
(saves an)* = VANESSA
8 Dog’s curiously agreeable with mangled ear cut (5)
(agreeable – ear)* = BEAGLE – B = EAGLE
10 That man’s occasionally impish set up (3)
Rev.(iMpIsH) = HIM
11 Paramour’s mounting incomplete rebellion (5)
Rev. Revot (rebellion) – t (incomplete) = LOVER
14 One short of eight, never capsizing, last one moving on (5)
(never)* replacing r with s (last one moving on = SEVEN
17 Intense desire for old gold coins (3)
DD YEN
18 Nag in a bad way nursing an animal disease (5)
(nag)* around an = NGANA
21 A mature composed admirer (7)
(a mature)* = AMATEUR
23 To what extent Latin produces long plaintive cry (3)
how (to what extent) + l (latin) = HOWL – H = OWL
24 Washing out with a solvent, making clearer, removing liquid acid (7)
elucidating (making clearer) – (acid)* = ELUTING
26 Range in the past of hunted wild animals encompassing miles (5)
game (hunted wild animals) around m (miles) = GAMME
27 Audience chamber, circular encampment welcoming one-time rifle brigade (6)
duar (circular encampment) around rb (rifle brigade) = DURBAR
28 Gently sprinkle couch before eastern wedding’s start (5)
bed (couch) + ew (eastern wedding’s start) = BEDEW
29 Young person isolated at first in large, bare building (5)
i (isolated at first) in barn (large bare building) = BAIRN
31 Little rodent’s shivering fit cut short before it keels over (5)
ague (shivering fit) – e + Rev. (it) = AGUTI
32 Extraordinarily boring putting on formal vestments (5)
(boring)* = ROBING – G = ROBIN
34 In Scotland, least bit of hot cha served up (4)
h (hot) + Rev. tea (cha) = HAET
35 Worship shelled beetle (3)
adore (worship) shelled – ae = DOR
Thanks, twencelas, for this. For the two thematic items I went for emu (in 25 across) and martin.
The published solution has EMU, so well done Tony at #1.
Unfortunately, like Twencelas, I also went for REE…I did think about checking a word list for three-letter bird names – OWL, JAY, KEA, AUK, DAW…but I decided that life was too short to try to check all the permutations of 3-letters in the grid – now I feel a right T1T!
Many thanks to mc_rapper67 – your blogs are always appreciated. You really shouldn’t feel a right TIT – I as the setter should be doing that as honestly, the possibility of that REE being highlighted never occurred to me (and clearly it should have done – maybe three other birds could have been highlighted). This puzzle was deliberately selected by Chris, the EV editor, as a relatively easy one to balance that one by Nimrod last week which was at the other end of the scale of difficulty indeed! I’m so glad you, and solvers elsewhere, appreciated an easy ride for once.