A tricky puzzle today from Wanderer that I had to attempt a few times to get through. Yet another crossword where the parsing for many clues took longer than the solve itself. Thanks Wanderer, for a brisk workout!
I figured O stands for Overture based on the clues, and there are a few of them sprinkled around the grid.
FF: 9 DD: 9
| Across | ||
| 1 | HEBRIDES | O, an archipelago with endless birds and sheep running wild (8) |
| double def; BIRDs SHEEp* (endless) – hebrides overture / islands | ||
| 5 | ASHORE | A playwright some would say is no longer at sea? (6) |
| A SHORE (sounds like SHAW, playwright) | ||
| 9 | SHILLING | Sore head that’s no longer tender (8) |
| S (Sore, first letter) represents SHILLING | ||
| 10 | RIDING | Up in an old part of Yorkshire (6) |
| double def | ||
| 12 | OFFER | O, even less fresh? (5) |
| cryptic def; read as OFF-ER (something more OFF); O stands for Overture | ||
| 13 | BLACKLIST | Boycott bowled? Need 50 first (9) |
| B (bowled) LACK (need) L (fifty) IST (first, 1st) | ||
| 14 | LASSIE | Story about Wally seeing the Dog Star (6) |
| LIE (story) around ASS (wally) – clever clue | ||
| 16 | PRELUDE | O, at first perhaps representing “duck”? (7) |
| P (Perhaps, first letter) R (Representing, first letter) ELUDE (duck) | ||
| 19 | OPENING | O, rock pigeon without name or number (7) |
| PIGEON* around N (name) – could mean both overture or a song | ||
| 21 | LADDER | Large snake, one going the other way (6) |
| L (large) ADDER (snake) | ||
| 23 | IMPOLITIC | Wanderer’s meeting current Labour leader – sex with current Conservative leader being unwise (9) |
| I’M (wanderer’s) PO (current, river) L ( Labour, leader – first letter) IT (sex) I (current) C (Conservative, leader – first letter) | ||
| 25 | PAPAW | Paired starter with fruit (5) |
| PAPA (nato alphabet for P – first letter of Paired) W (with) | ||
| 26 | LENTIL | Heads for illicit lovemaking, with initially fast pulse (6) |
| LENT (fast) IL (starting letter of “..Illicit Lovemaking..”) | ||
| 27 | PROPOSAL | O for a flower girl (8) |
| PRO (for) PO (flower) SAL (girl); O for Overture. | ||
| 28 | NICKER | One wrongly pocketing 20 9s (6) |
| 20 shillings (answer to 9ac) is a pound, also known as nicker | ||
| 29 | BEGRUDGE | Resent tablet after request (new drug) (8) |
| BEG (request) [DRUG]* E (tablet, ecstacy) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | HUSTON | Director in hotel beside unopened station (6) |
| H (hotel) eUSTON (station, without starting letter) | ||
| 2 | BRIEFCASE | Place for keeping documents in short jacket or suit (9) |
| BRIEF (short) CASE (jacket or suit) | ||
| 3 | IDLER | Comedian, right good-for-nothing (5) |
| IDLE (comedian, eric) R (right) | ||
| 4 | ENNOBLE | Give a title to elevated part of Kiel, Bonn etc. (7) |
| hidden, reversed in “..kiEL BONN Etc” | ||
| 6 | STICKY END | Kill by stabbing, then deny awfully unpleasant death (6,3) |
| STICK (kill by stabbing) [DENY]* | ||
| 7 | ORIBI | One writer raised as African native (5) |
| I (one) BIRO ( writer), all reversed | ||
| 8, 22 | EIGHTEEN TWELVE | Two different sorts of O here, O many years ago (8,6) |
| 1812 is tchaikovsky’s concert overture; answers to 18d and 12a represent two different meanings for the word ‘overture’; 1812 also could refer to the year (which would be many years ago) | ||
| 11 | WASP | Buzzer didn’t make a loud noise (4) |
| WAS P (piano, didnt make a loud noise) | ||
| 15 | STILL LIFE | Art form not dead yet? (5,4) |
| cryptic def | ||
| 17 | UNEXPOSED | Banker into nude sex, poorly protected (9) |
| PO (banker, river) in NUDE SEX* | ||
| 18 | CORIOLAN | O my! A satellite network showing 80% of Shakespeare’s tragedy |
| double clued ; O stands for Overture; [COR (my!) IO (satellite) LAN (network)] / 80% of CORIOLANus (shakespeare’s tragedy) | ||
| 20 | GOTH | Rude person irritated husband (4) |
| GOT (irritated) H (husband) | ||
| 21 | LUCERNE | Uncle treated outside emergency room in Swiss resort (7) |
| UNCLE* around ER (emergency room) | ||
| 22 | See 8 | |
| 24 | PANIC | Pussy’s first returning home, through a just opened cat flap (5) |
| P (Pussy, first letter) [ NI (home = IN, reversed) in A C (Cat, opening letter) ] | ||
| 25 | PIPER | Musician with piano in support (5) |
| P (piao) in PIER (support) | ||
*anagram
Thanks Wanderer and Turbolegs
Stymied myself in the NE but having BEEP for 11 – a different buzzer and the same P.
I can’t make up my mind whether having PO as part of the wordplay in three clues is a neat trick or not.
Thanks to Wanderer and Turbolegs. I got CORIOLAN early on so 1812 Overture and HEBRIDES followed as did the other senses of O, but PANIC gave me trouble, even with all the crossers, and I still don’t understand “one wrongly pocketing” in NICKERS.
ACD
To nick is to steal, so ‘one wrongly pocketing’ (ie someone stealing) would be a NICKER.
Took me ages to complete but did so eventually, but had one error, HESTON for HUSTON (thought of Charlton Heston who was better known as an actor) COD ORIBI.(It’s me the Kenyan)
Got the theme in the end. although the specific musical items I know little about. Enjoyed the crossword.
People who identify as Goths may take offence at being called ‘rude’. Some young people I know are quite cultured and polite.
Thanks Wanderer and Turbolegs
This was a tough puzzle from Wanderer that took nearly 2 hours to nut out over 3-4 sittings and required quite a bit of referential help. New terms included the HEBRIDES overture, John HUSTON and the CORIOLAN overture. Didn’t help matters early on by writing in BLACKBALL at 13.
Thought that the EIGHTEEN TWELVE clue was very good an that the O=overture theme cleverly exploited with both the musical and other meanings of it. The three different allusions to the River PO was a little confusing at first but an interesting mini-theme of wordplay – gave it a tick.
Finished in the SW with PANIC (tricky definition of flap), NICKER (good double definition) and that CORIOLAN the last of all.