Tuesday is theme day in the Independent, so I went looking for one in Radian’s puzzle
I didn’t get it immediately as drama is not one of my strong points. However, I had a niggling feeling that there might be something Shakespearean going on. A little bit of googling threw up In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act II, Scene 2, “O what a rogue and peasant slave am I. There are a number of words from that SPEECH in the grid and in the clues.
Feel free to try and identify all the references. Perhaps though the DAGGER comes from another of Shakespeare’s works?
As I proved, this is a puzzle that can be solved without knowledge of the theme. That’s the way a themed puzzle should be in my view.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 | Go into school to get lines (6) |
PEE (urinate; go) contained in (into) SCH (school) S (PEE) CH |
SPEECH (lines from a play can be delivered as a SPEECH) |
|
4 |
Camera’s calibrated to catch villain (6) |
RASCAL (hidden word in [to catch] CAMERA’S CALIBRATED) RASCAL |
RASCAL (villain) |
| 8 | I hand down clothes for sort of play (7) |
PASS ON (hand down) containing (clothes) I PASS (I) ON |
PASSION (religious drama representing the sufferings and death of Christ; sort of play) |
| 9 | Create cast to tour north and perform again (2-5) |
Anagram of (cast) CREATE containing (to tour) N (north) REE (N) ACT* |
REENACT (perform again) |
| 11 | Glum local hymn played with energy (10) |
Anagram of (played) LOCAL HYMN and E (energy) MELANCHOLY* |
MELANCHOLY (glum) |
| 12 | European certainly has views (4) |
E (European) + YES (certainly) E YES |
EYES (looks at; views) |
| 13 | Part of act speaker’s observed (5) |
SCENE (sounds like [speaker’s] SEEN [observed]) SCENE |
SCENE (part of an Act in a play) |
| 14 | Amusing exploit without a purpose (8) |
FUN (amusing) + ACTION (exploit) excluding (without) A FUN CTION |
FUNCTION (purpose) |
| 16 | Reply to gift of tissue during short trip (5,3) |
HANKY (handkerchief, possibly in tissue form) contained in (during) TOUR (trip) excluding the final letter (short) R T (HANK Y) OU |
THANK YOU (a reply to receipt of a gift) |
| 18 | Wraps carbon copies (5) |
C (carbon) + APES (copies) C APES |
CAPES (coverings for the shoulders; wraps)
|
| 20 | Guys hold this view: tablet has been nicked (4) |
TENET (any opinion, principle or doctrine which a person holds or maintains as true; view) excluding (has been nicked) E (ecstasy tablet) TENT |
TENT (portable shelter held firm by guy ropes [guys]) |
| 21 | Superfluity embarrassed duke in posh French city (10) |
RED (embarrassed) + U (posh) + (D [duke] contained in {in} NANCY {French city}] RED U N (D) ANCY |
REDUNDANCY (superfluity) |
|
23
|
Call in agent to supply elastic (7) |
RING (call) contained in (in) SPY (secret agent) SP (RING) Y |
SPRINGY (elastic) |
| 24 | Elaborate play with ten might be fine (7) |
Anagram of (elaborate) PLAY and TEN PENALTY* |
PENALTY (a FINE is a PENALTY payment)
|
| 25 | Like Dirk the German astride a horse (6) |
DER (one of the German forms of the English word ‘the’) containing (astride) (A + GG (gee-gee; childish name for a horse) D (A GG) ER |
DAGGER (a DIRK is a Highland DAGGER) |
| 26 | It could be plain one’s naked without one (6) |
STITCH (a plain STITCH is an example of the most basic complete movement of the needle in sewing or knitting) STITCH |
STITCH (reference the phrase ‘without a STITCH‘ describing someone with no clothes on; naked) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Somewhere to go in Kent, say, to find addict (5) |
LAV (lavatory; somewhere to urinate; somewhere to go) contained in (in) SE (Kent is the County in the South East part of England) S (LAV) E |
SLAVE (an addict, to a drug for instance) |
| 2 | Trap Poles smuggled over into heart of Greece (7) |
(N [north {pole}] + S [south {pole}] giving poles + RAN [smuggles] reversed [over]) contained in (into) EE (middle letters of [heart of] GREECE) E (N S NAR<) E |
ENSNARE (trap)
|
| 3 | Privates and sentry occasionally cross (9) |
CROTCH (human genital area; privates) + ETY (letters 2, 4 and 6 [occasionally] of SENTRY) CROTCH ETY |
CROTCHETY (short-tempered; cross) |
| 5 | Mimic’s job, one for each play finally (5) |
A (one) + PER (for each) + Y (last letter of [finally] PLAY) A PER Y |
APERY (the job of a mimic) |
| 6 | Osric once (I think) displays vanity (7) |
CONCEIT (hidden word in [displays] OSRIC ONCE I THINK) CONCEIT |
CONCEIT (vanity) |
| 7 | Left city celeb, American, debauched (9) |
L (left) + EC (post code of the City of London) + HERO (illustrious person; celebrity) + US (United States; American) L EC HERO US |
LECHEROUS (debauched) |
| 10 | Puzzles turned up to occupy fools (9) |
FOUND (discovered; turned-up) contained in (to occupy) CONS (tricks; fools) CON (FOUND) S |
CONFOUNDS (perplexes; puzzles)
|
| 13 | Small children jumped, talked and moved with effort (9) |
S (small) + CH (children) + LEPPED (sounds like [talked] LEAPT [jumped]) S CH LEPPED |
SCHLEPPED (journeyed [moved] involving great difficulty) |
| 15 | Plea in court when match is abandoned (2,7) |
NO CONTEST (nolo contendere [an American legal plea by which the accused does not admit guilt, but accepts conviction {eg when wishing to avoid lengthy legal proceedings}, the charges being deniable if referred to in a separate case] NO CONTEST |
NO CONTEST ( decision by the referee to declare a boxing match invalid on the grounds that one or both of the boxers are not making serious efforts; match abandoned) double definition |
| 17 | Love recording absorbing Beethoven’s Fifth (7) |
NOTING (recording) containing (absorbing) H (fifth letter of BEETHOVEN) NOT (H) ING |
NOTHING (zero; love score in tennis) |
| 19 | Game hard going for field worker (7) |
PHEASANT (example of game [birds]) excluding (going) H (hard in pencil lead descriptions) PEASANT |
PEASANT (field worker)
|
| 21 | Four rake round top of garden (5) |
ROUÉ (profligate; rake;) containing (round) G (first letter of [top of] GARDEN) RO (G) UE |
ROGUE (RASCAL [entry at 4 across]) |
| 22 | Pick up this clue for Heller work (5) |
CATCH (reference the Joseph Heller novel – CATCH 22. The number of this clue is 22) CATCH |
CATCH (hear; pick up)
|
I thought there might be “something theatrical” going on but I couldn’t get any further than that and didn’t spot the theme. Enjoyable nonetheless, with some clues that needed a bit of thought. I ended up not being able to parse TENT which I entered from the def.
I liked the ‘Glum local hymn played with energy’ and the CONCEIT hidden. Don’t know if ‘go’ in both 1a and 1d was deliberate, but one eventually did help the other, with SPEECH, my last in.
Thanks to Radian and to Duncan.
I am famed for not noticing themes or Ninas and today was no exception to that ‘rule’
Tricky in places but enjoyable as a whole. I particularly liked 22d
Thanks to Radian and to Duncan
We solved this quite quickly (not quite as quickly as yesterday’s) – and, like Duncan, proved that this is a puzzle that can be solved without knowledge of the theme. Last ones in were CONFOUND and FUNCTION. We guess the device may have been used before but CATCH as 22 was new to us and our CoD. We also liked MELANCHOLY, THANK YOU and STITCH.
So 16ac to Radian and Duncan.
Thanks Duncan for uncovering the theme – we looked but couldn’t find one. Given that it was from a soeech in Hamlet, we are not surprised that we missed it.
Enjoyable solve though – 22d was clever – but all well crafted.
Thanks Radian.