“A set of three small numbers is integral to the theme. These numbers taken in order identify letter-positions in successive groups of three clues, with the title regarded as the 36th and last clue for this purpose. In clue order the letters spell out an instruction to be applied to those cells which would need to contain a pair of letters if clue answers are to fit the cells available, whose number is given in brackets. These letter-pairs must not be entered. When read in conventional grid order, one letter from each spells out the originator of the theme, to be written under the grid; the others describe where it may be seen. CHOPS AND CHANGES to the completed grid are not required. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
The letter-pairs spell out:
HENRY PERIGAL
HIS TOMBSTONE
The three small numbers are 3, 4, 5 (the sides of a particular right-angled triangle). The indicated letters spell out:
CONNECT THEIR CENTRES WITH EIGHT RED LINES
The resulting pattern is shown here.
Unfortunately, I could not parse 26dn. Thank you to DocHH.
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| C | 4 | CHIEFTAINS | [Wicked] {ACT FINISHES}* [with elimination of S (society)] leaders (8) |
| O | 10 | OONT | [Reconsidered] {ON ( |
| N | 11 | WORLDS | Immense quantities of L (latitude) [in] WORDS (language) (6) |
| N | 13 | UNIT | Single person‘s T (TICKET[‘s terminal]) [after] UNI (Greenwich, say) (4) |
| E | 14 | PORTUGAL | Foreign realm PORT (left) GAUL (France once) [U (united), moving to the far left] (7) |
| C | 15 | ROO BAR | What clears euros away from < OR (gold), [backing] [old] BAR (sovereign) (6, two words) |
| T | 19 | OYSTERFARM | Situation where natives may be found [struggling] {FOR MASTERY}* (9) |
| T | 21 | MPRET | Past ruler IS [disqualified in stages from] IMPREST (eighteen) (4) |
| H | 23 | LET BE | Macpherson’s said nothing of LEE (shelter), [having contracted] TB (disease) (4, two words) |
| E | 24 | RETOUCHERS | They improve pictures from {THEIR SOURCE}*, [redeveloped] [after I ([a bit of] IMAGE) is lost] (9) |
| I | 27 | TYCOON | Businessman in charge of PROPERTY CO (company) [not PROPER (right) in] ON (allowing activity) (6) |
| R | 30 | STIPITES | Mushrooms’ stalks TIP (end) [in] SITES (spots) (7) |
| C | 32 | SIDE | Locally long border (4) |
| E | 33 | TALEAE | Repetitive patterns in TALE (story) EA (of her age)… (6) |
| N | 34 | SLOW | …boring S ([the head off] SILLY) LOW (moo) (4) |
| T | 35 | GOVERNANCE | Veteran’s behaviour [affected] {N (national) COVERAGE}* [surrounding] N (navy) (8) |
| Down | |||
| R | 1 | H-HOUR | Start of operation [moving] THROUGH* [without T G (separate limits to TIMING)] (4) |
| E | 2 | HONOURED | Respected {HOOD UN |
| S | 3 | UNIO | Mussels UNION (joining together) [without] N (number) (4) |
| W | 5 | HYPATE | {PAY [with] THE}* [ridiculously] lowest note possible… (6) |
| I | 6 | FORTH | …[some] IFOR THrew out earlier (4) |
| T | 7 | TRUFFLE | RUFFLE (Gathered material) [after] T [beginning to TAKE] rich confection… (7) |
| H | 8 | ALGA | …such as seaweed, LG (LINING [hollow]) [in] AA (volcanic rock) (4) |
| E | 9 | IDA | Crete’s mountain AID (rally round), [start to finish] (3) |
| I | 12 | SLUMBER | LUMBER (Prison) S ([van to] STOP), [anticipating] shut-eye (6) |
| G | 16 | REACT | Do again befoRE ACTually [stopping] (5) |
| H | 17 | ORTHODOX | Faithful to received wisdom X (without) [following] [endless] {HORD |
| T | 18 | IMPREST | At MPRET (twenty-one) I S (succeeded) [in arrangement] for a loan (6) |
| R | 20 | STOPPER | Barrier C ([originally] CLOSING) [off] [ugly] PROSPECT* (7) |
| E | 22 | PHYSIC | SIC (Chase) [after] PY [empty PHARMACY] [restricting] H (hospital) to obsolete medicine (6) |
| D | 25 | WILE | Dodge WHILE (during the time that) H (husband)[‘s out of the way] (4) |
| L | 26 | TITAN | WITAN (Anglo-Saxon council) [retiring] W (with) T (time) [as precedent] for anything big (4) |
| I | 28 | OILY | Servile, ONLY (just) [dropping] N (name) [to impress] I (one) (4) |
| N | 29 | NEWEL | Central part of flight from < WEN (big city), [returning] [on] EL (railroad to the Bronx) (4) |
| E | 31 | TAV | Foreign character’s tax turned up (3) |
26d WITAN is the Anglo Saxon Council. (W) is removed (retiring)and T takes precedence, leaving TITAN as the resultant light entry for the definition “anything big”.
Many thanks for the blog. It was my first crack at an EV, so nice to confirm I actually got it all right:-)
One question – could you possibly explain the straight for 23ac…is Macpherson just a generic Scottish marker, or is there something cleverer I’m missing?
Likewise, my thanks for the blog. Terete – welcome to the EV, and I hope you’ll continue to solve them. To answer your query – Macpherson is simply my Scots indicator of choice here, although as you’ll have appreciated I was constrained by the need to have an H as fifth letter.
Ifor
Thank you for the explanation, and even more for your beautiful puzzle.
I managed the next EV (and the recent jigsaw Azed was fun) but think I now probably need to get a copy of Chambers…