A delightfully short preamble this week:
In KEITH, solvers must complete the unclued row (13, four words), and then highlight the symmetrically placed six-letter surnames of four people most closely associated with the project. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.
A little part of me is upset that I didn’t get the theme of this puzzle from its title. In hindsight, it reminded me of a Listener some years ago where the grid had to be divided into blocks, each the result of a film title read as a cryptic clue. KEITH was the result of the film we had here. It turned out to be a puzzle by Tea Leaves over ten years ago, so hardly surprising I’d forgotten it really.
After the hours that my last blogged puzzle took, I was relieved that this was a pretty quick solve and the theme popped out when I had S•ME•IK•••H•• along the bottom. SOME LIKE IT HOT was the movie, and I knew it was directed by Billy WILDER and starred Marilyn MONROE, Jack LEMMON and… now who was the other actor? Unfortunately, the little grey cells failed me, and Tony CURTIS needed to be retrieved Googlewise.
Finally, not really sure about the clue at 30dn.
Nice puzzle, thanks Opsimath.
Solving time: 45 minutes.
Legend:
Definition in clue
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | CURFEW | Scoundrel given hardly any time confined to house (6) CUR (scoundrel) + FEW (hardly any) |
|
| 6 | EURO-MP | Farage possibly keeps money in pro-EU mix-up (6) M (money) in PRO-EU* |
|
| 11 | AZOIC | Guide in charge given nothing for lifeless presentation (5) AZ (guide, as in A-to-Z rather than Azed, I think!) + IC (in charge) holding O (nothing) |
|
| 12 | REBAR | Reinforcement takes front of battalion in the end (5) B (front of Battalion) in REAR (the end) |
|
| 13 | NATRIUM | What’s in brief at number 11? (7) Cryptic definition, Natrium = Na = element 11 |
|
| 14 | LADINO | Noise in eastern language, one spoken by refugees? (6) DIN (noise) in LAO (eastern language) |
|
| 15 | CLICK | 150 unpleasant years taken to be naturally compatible (5) CL (150) ICKY (unpleasant) – Y (years) |
|
| 16 | BIDS IN | Try evil offers at auction (6, two words) BID (try) + SIN (evil) |
|
| 17 | IBOS | So ambivalent backward-looking West African people (4) (SO BI (ambivalent))< |
|
| 19 | ET AL | Letter in Greece, Luxembourg and elsewhere (4, two words) ETA (letter in Greece) + L (Luxembourg) |
|
| 21 | RYES | Whiskies, gentlemen! (4) 2 meanings |
|
| 22 | OUTSOAR | Where French town sub-office annual return is to rise even higher (7) OU (where, French) + TSO (town sub-office) + AR (annual return) |
|
| 23 | THENAR | Tehran trashed underfoot (6) TEHRAN* |
|
| 26 | ESTEEM | Set high value on Villa d’Este, emperors’ centre (6) middle of Villa d’ESTE EMperors |
|
| 28 | MATELOT | Sailor informally is a pal with many (7) MATE (pal) + LOT (many) |
|
| 31 | WHAM | London football team hit pop duo? (4) 2 meanings, first W HAM (West Ham, London football team) |
|
| 33 | SOLO | Musical performance of Napoleon, perhaps (4) 2 meanings, second reference to Napoleon Solo in TV series The Man from Uncle (I think!) |
|
| 35 | SCUM | Struggle, no rule for worthless people (4) SCRUM (struggle) – R (rule) |
|
| 37 | CORNEA | Painful wart on each horny membrane (6) CORN (painful wart) + EA (each) |
|
| 39 | COLIN | Virginian flier gets a pound in small change (5) L (pound) in COIN (small change) |
|
| 40 | NECTAR | Recant after mixing divine drink (6) RECANT* |
|
| 41 | MARTINI | Swallow one cocktail (7) MARTIN (swallow, bird) + I (one) |
|
| 42 | EQUAL | European partridge loses third of tail but is just the same (5) E (European) + QUAIL (partridge) – I (third letter of taIl) |
|
| 43 | SONDE | High altitude device nosed up (5) NOSED* |
|
| SOME LIKE IT HOT | Unclued | ||
| DOWN | |||
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | CONCUR | Politician given brief cut to assent (6) CON (politician, Conservative) + CUR(t) (brief, cut) |
|
| 2 | RETIREE | He’s stopped working on island (7) RE (on) + TIREE (island) |
|
| 3 | FARCI | Stuffed rebel group on island (5) FARC (rebel group) + I (island) |
|
| 4 | WOUWOU | Primate won over university – twice! (6) W (won) + O (over) + U (university) × 2 |
|
| 5 | ZIMB | Pest seen in half of African country (4) ZIMB(abwi) (African country, half) |
|
| 6 | ECLIPSE | Hide bits of film in the middle of reel (7) CLIPS (bits of film) in EE (middle of rEEl) |
|
| 7 | RED SEA | Revolutionary reads about English water (6, two words) READS* about E (English) |
|
| 8 | OBIIT | Following witchcraft, Italian popped it (5) OBI (witchcraft) + IT (Italian) |
|
| 9 | PROBLEM | Quietly steal the French money – that’s difficult (7) P (quietly) + ROB (steal) + LE (the, French) + M (money) |
|
| 10 | BALLYHOO | Supporter, hot in vocal disapproval, makes noisy commotion (8) ALLY (supporter) + H (hot) in BOO (vocal disapproval) |
|
| 12 | RADIOS | Spanish king announces his abdication by this means? (6) Cryptic wordplay, R (king) Adios (goodbye, Spanish) |
|
| 18 | STOLS | Promote points in timetable for aircraft requiring short runway (5) SLOTS< (points in aircraft timetable) |
|
| 20 | AFEARING | Ed’s causing scare with iron in AA group (8) FE (iron) in AA RING (group) |
|
| 23 | TISANES | Tansies boiled for herbal infusions (7) TANSIES* |
|
| 24 | ATONAL | An alto hopeless without any scale (6) (AN ALTO)* |
|
| 25 | REVERSI | Game always found in market index (7) EVER (always) in RSI (market index, Relative Strength Index) |
|
| 27 | EHRLICH | What? Rector left current church to become a scientist (7) EH (what?) + R (rector) + L (left) + I (current) + CH (church); reference to Paul Ehrlich, German scientist |
|
| 29 | AORTAE | A rehydration treatment at hospital department for vital parts (6) A + ORT (oral rehydration therapy) + A&E (hospital department) |
|
| 30 | OCTANE | Only 8th in sequence, but Clarkson might like more of it? (6) 2 meanings; first relating to 8th in alkane series, second a reference to Jeremy Clarkson, late of Top Gear and now something else |
|
| 32 | MONIST | Written piece of venom on Istanbul philosopher (6) in venoM ON ISTanbul |
|
| 34 | LOCUM | At first lots of casualties under medication getting a stand-in (5) initial letters Lots Of Casualties Under Medication |
|
| 36 | MOTET | Anthem produced in second festival (5) MO (second) + TET (festival) |
|
| 38 | AMOK | Oddly missing farm cook in a frenzy (4) fArM cOoK (minus odd letters) |
|
Thought this was lots of fun, pretty quick and breezy. The title didn’t take much hunting down, or the names in the grid either, but much like the movie this was a bit of light, welcome relief from meatier offerings.