“Despite being a 13, Gaston works at the 21 (both clued by wordplay only). All other across clues are normal, though four thematic pairs of suitably positioned entries are unclued. Wordplay in all but the final down clue leads to the answer and an additional letter not to be entered into the grid; in clue order these spell out an AIDE-MÉMOIRE to help Gaston remember the correct sequence of unclued entries. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
It turns out that, despite being a ROSBIF, Gaston works at the CAFÉ DE PARIS. His AIDE-MÉMOIRE is CHEESE COMES BEFORE PUDDING, which helps him to remember the correct sequence of courses. In The courses appear under their French names in the correct order (on the left of the grid) and with examples (again in French, this time on the right).
Unfortunately, there are two possible entries for the hors d’oeuvre. The first letter is unchecked, both TERRINE and VERRINE fit, and both are in Chambers. I couldn’t tell my terrine from elbow, but I asked an ably qualified acquaintance and she said both would be appropriate. I’m guessing that the better known word was intended, giving:
HORS D’OEUVRE – TERRINE
ENTRÉE – POISSON
FROMAGE – CHEVRE
DESSERT – CRÈME BRÛLÉE
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
CHARMS = additional letter
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | DEFER | Put off DEER (animal) [eating] F (fellow) (5) | |
| 11 | PUT-ON | PUT ON (Stage) a hoax? (5) | |
| 13 | ROSBIF | < FIB (Lie) [back] [after] ROS ([a lot of] ROSÉ (wine)) (6) | |
| 16 | BATATA | BAA (Bleat) [about] TAT (rubbish) sweet potato (6) | |
| 18 | WINNOW | Separate but WIN (woo successfully) NOW (immediately) (6) | |
| 19 | LICE | Insects C (caught) [in] LIE (animal’s lair) (4) | |
| 20 | MIMED | MIM (Prim Glaswegian) ED (editor) didn’t really sing? (5) | |
| 21 | CAFÉ DE PARIS | [Angry] FACE* [by] < {SIR (peer) APED (mimicked)} [when turned round] (11, three words) | |
| 29 | RAVEN | Bird‘s CRAVEN (cowardly); [ignoring] C (cold) (5) | |
| 30 | RAMA | RAM (Strike) A (an) incarnation of Vishnu (4) | |
| 32 | SPICKS | S (Special) PICKS (selections) of nails (6) | |
| 33 | ROUSTS | Causes stir and OUSTS (gets rid of) R (King) [first] (6) | |
| 36 | ADRIAN | |
|
| 38 | ASTER | [Regularly] rAiSe ThEiR plant (5) | |
| 39 | APRON | Edge of green garment (5) | |
| Down | |||
| C | 1 | HAREEMS | EE (Ian’s eye) [caught by] CHARMS (delights) of many available women! (7) |
| H | 2 | ODONTIC | HO (Stop!) DON’T IC (Refrain from being in charge) of teeth! (7) |
| E | 3 | REST | Don’t move in REEST (a sudden state of stubbornness) (4) |
| E | 4 | DEI | Roman Gods I (Gaston) [found under] DEE (river) (3) |
| S | 5 | OFFEND | SEND OFF (Dismiss from pitch) [when words are exchanged], and cause upset (6) |
| E | 6 | UREA | Carbamide – EURE |
| C | 7 | RURALS | Old country folk < {SLUR (mumble) [about] CAR} [turning over completely] (6) |
| O | 8 | MONACO | State COO (express surprise) [in support of] MONA (primate) (6) |
| M | 9 | UNEVEN | Rough VENUE* [played] [in] MN (Minnesota) (6) |
| E | 12 | TITI | TIE (Attach) TI (note) to tree (4) |
| S | 14 | BRIEF | Transient BRIEFS (lawyers)? (5) |
| B | 15 | ENDEARS | BEND (Flex) EARS (organs) and makes popular (7) |
| E | 16 | BO-PEEPS | Quick glances in Perth at BOPS (dances) [round] ÉPÉE (sword) (7) |
| F | 17 | TRIARCH | [Mistakenly] {CHART FIR}* as having three strands (7) |
| O | 22 | RAKER | MOONRAKER (Wiltshireman) [loses] MO (flash) N (new) gardener (5) |
| R | 23 | SERRATE | Nick and REARREST* [awkwardly} (7) |
| E | 24 | INCENSE | Anger EIN (a German) with [moving] SCENE* (7) |
| P | 25 | FRIDAY | Time when FRY (little fish) [will host] < {A DIP} (little swim) [upstream]? (6) |
| U | 26 | RAREST | RAT (Despicable person) RUES (feels compassion) [inside]? That’s quite extraordinary! (6) |
| D | 27 | MAUSER | MAD (Crazy) USER (employer) of rifle? (6) |
| D | 28 | BICARB | CARD (Amusing chap) [wears] BIB (vest) for stomach remedy (6) |
| I | 31 | MOST | MOIST (Bill’s juicy) superlative (4) |
| N | 34 | TRAM | < MART |
| G | 35 | VIAL | VI (Six) GAL (gallon) liquid container? Hardly! (4) |
| 37 | DOR | < [Climbing] ROD (stick) insect? (3) | |
Well, that was fun. I went with Verrine, being blissfully unaware of what either were and going with what looked most likely in Chambers to the (extremely) untrained eye. Never mind…
I didn’t submit my solution, but I wonder if it would have been deemed acceptable, as I had “Café des Arts” as an unclued 21 across.
Ignore comment #2. It was clued, I remember now. But I couldn’t parse “des arts”.
I can see why, now. “De Paris” was too caricatural for me to even think about it. Yet it was staring me right in the face 🙂
My guess is that VERRINE was intended as it is signalled in Chambers as an appetizer (but also as a dessert!). Not an expert on these culinary matters but I’d say TERRINE not so likely as a HORS D’OEUVRE but not, I’d say, impossible.
I had heard of TERRINE so I put that – I hadn’t heard of VERRINE until I saw it mentioned here.
TERRINE is in the printed solution with no further explanation.
Many thanks, Cap’n P’ng’n at #5, for this information.
Apologies to anyone who was confused by terrine/verrine. I’ve obviously led a sheltered life as I’ve never previously heard of verrine, and so the alternative didn’t occur to me when editing the puzzle. Next time we eat out, I’ll order verrine and see what I’ve missed out on.
Verrine is the name for the container, not for the food inside the container. Verrines look like small glasses that can contain anything from avocado and prawns to sweet pudding, as long as they are in tiny portions.
Terrine means both a container and the meat mixture that is usually prepared and served in the container. Which is why the Frenchman writing these lines ruled verrine out and went straight for terrine.
Not in English it isn’t. It is “An appetizer or dessert consisting of layers of different foods presented in a glass” (Chambers).