’44 honoured ACCOMPLISHMENT in 1, 4, 21, 32 and 42 (all unclued); solvers must highlight one of his own. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
This was a pleasant diversion. 16 down took some time to parse, but apart from that it was quite a friendly puzzle.
The theme is ALFRED NOBEL and the Nobel prizes in LITERATURE, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, MEDICINE, and PEACE (the prize for economics is not a real Nobel prize). Nobel made a lot of money from inventions such as DYNAMITE. When his brother, Ludvig, died in 1888, a newspaper accidentally published Alfred’s obituary, eight years prematurely. The obituary was titled The merchant of death is dead, and it inspired Alfred to change his will to create a series of prizes for those who confer the “greatest benefit on mankind” in those five fields.
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LONG | Unusually, L [far] LEFT ON (working) with G (government) (4) |
| 11 | PARONOMASIA | {PARANOIA SOM |
| 12 | TEGMEN | Covering TEG (fleece) by MEN (workforce) (6) |
| 13 | NAIRA | From {IRAN A}* [fluctuating] currency unit (5) |
| 15 | NHANDU | Ostrich [occasionally] iN hUt [occupied by] HAND (worker) (6) |
| 17 | TIDE | Flood of feeling to happen in times gone by (4) |
| 19 | RAIYAT | Indian farmer’s AI (sloth) Y (RARELY [finally]) [intercepting] RAT (rodent) (6) |
| 23 | AIRDRAWN | Visionary’s AIR-DRAIN (wall cavity) having W (width) for I (mortIcing [essentially]) (8) |
| 25 | TRENDY | Latest TRY (attempt) [securing] END (desired result) (6) |
| 26 | SWAMIS | Mystics SWAM (were dizzy), with gInS [from time to time] (6) |
| 33 | RAETIAN | {AN IRATE}*, [ill-treated] central European (7) |
| 36 | YEMENI | YE (The old) MEN (people) I ([close to] SAUDI) from the Gulf? (6) |
| 38 | STIR | Rouse bird (4) |
| 39 | GAMINE | Impish girl GAM |
| 43 | DISARM | DIS (Treat with contempt) ARM (member), render defenceless (6) |
| 45 | PARSEEISM | [In] PARIS (French capital) SEE (witness) M (mass) religion (9) |
| 46 | REEL | < LEER (Smile lecherously) [in recess], resulting in clamour in Holyrood (4) |
| 2 | OPENAIR | O (Old) PEN (enclosure), AIR (warm and dry) out of doors (7) |
| 3 | GAMAY | Wine’s GAMY (sensational), [bottling] A ([ultimate of] AROMA) (5) |
| 5 | HOND | [Gutless] HOUND (dog)’s ancient forefoot (4) |
| 6 | END UP | Finish SEND UP (parody) [with S (son) gone] (5, two words) |
| 7 | MONTH | MOUTH (Spokeswoman) [with change of heart] could be May, say (5) |
| 8 | SAIDST | Declared, long ago, {IT’S SAD}* [to change] (6) |
| 9 | RIANCY | [Catching] AD (public notice), this merriment would become RADIANCY (effulgence) (6) |
| 10 | YAM | Tropical vegetable < MAY (old maid) [raised] (3) |
| 14 | REIK | Dated prank [cut short] REIKI (therapy) (4) |
| 16 | HIRE | Rent HIGHER (lift) [for dictator] (4) |
| 18 | ISOSEISMAL | {SOIL SEAM IS}* [reorganised] connecting places of equal earthquake intensity (10) |
| 20 | ARDRI | [Some] standARD RIrituals for an Irish king (5) |
| 22 | YOWIE | YOW (Scottish creature) IE (that is) a monster in Perth (5) |
| 24 | WAE | AWE* [moving] misery in Aberdeen (3) |
| 27 | MIEN | Bearing of I (one) [among] MEN (those on board) (4) |
| 28 | INNERVE | INN (Pub) |
| 29 | NAM PLA | < {ALP (Mountain) MAN} [turns up] for Thai delicacy (6, two words) |
| 30 | SESE | SE (Direction) [repeated], enough said for the bard (4) |
| 31 | ATTARS | Essential oils in [twisted] STRATA (6) |
| 34 | AREDE | Milton’s counsel AIRED (voiced) [without] I (INTEREST [initially]) by E (English) (5) |
| 35 | NGUNI | InnovatiNG UNIversity [includes] African language group (5) |
| 37 | MISER | Hoarder MIS |
| 40 | ADOS | Difficulties of < SODA (fizzy drink) [tipped up] (4) |
| 41 | WAP | SWAP (Exchange) [without] S (second) smart blow (3) |
| L | O | N | G | C | H | E | M | I | S | T | R | Y |
| I | P | P | A | R | O | N | O | M | A | S | I | A |
| T | E | G | M | E | N | D | N | A | I | R | A | M |
| E | N | H | A | N | D | U | T | I | D | E | N | I |
| R | A | I | Y | A | T | P | H | Y | S | I | C | S |
| A | I | R | D | R | A | W | N | O | T | K | Y | O |
| T | R | E | N | D | Y | A | S | W | A | M | I | S |
| U | N | S | A | R | M | E | D | I | C | I | N | E |
| R | A | E | T | I | A | N | Y | E | M | E | N | I |
| E | M | S | T | I | R | G | A | M | I | N | E | S |
| W | P | E | A | C | E | U | D | I | S | A | R | M |
| A | L | F | R | E | D | N | O | B | E | L | V | A |
| P | A | R | S | E | E | I | S | M | R | E | E | L |
This was very well-crafted and contained some interesting and unusual words but the thematic element seemed to pose far less of a challenge. I like more of a tussle on a Sunday morning!
Perfectly valid criticism taken on board, Caran. This was set when i was weary of finding misprints, extra or omitted letters etc. in every crossword I solved – and decided to set a few less complex ones with plain clues. Did you manage Auctor’s last week? I know that the editor aims to maintain a fair balance between ‘entry-level’ ones like this and the really tough ones (like that) and a number of solvers are grateful for that (or so they tell me). Thank you, Mr Sting (for the Nobel anecdote too!)