S & B York 2019 – Exit

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If I’m right, this is Exit’s 9th crossword for an S&B event.
For those who would still like to tackle this enjoyable crossword, don’t read any further yet.
Please, follow the appropriate link in the leading post above.


Generally, Exit’s crosswords are not too difficult, using mostly the ‘usual’ devices.
Neat and tight cluing, although one or two definitions may perhaps be less familiar.
As in most S&B puzzles, there is something going on here – however, not linked to the event.
On the left hand side of the grid, there are some words meaning, er ‘left‘ in various languages or settings.
A similar thing occurs on the right hand side.
The completed grid (at the bottom of the blog) will highlight these entries.
Many thanks to Exit for his contribution.

Across
1 LETHAL Leased 2001 computer – fatal! (6)
LET (leased) + HAL (2001 computer, i.e. the computer in the film 2001 – a Space Odyssey)
Here is our computer:  HAL 9000 .
4 ACCESSED With old credit card Edward briefly gained entry to … (8)
ACCESS (old credit card, actually one of the first) + ED (Edward, briefly)
Read all about the credit card here:  Access .
10 FUNICULAR … railway, after mishap to carful in uniform (9)
Anagram [after mishap to] of:   CARFUL IN  + U (uniform)
11 BEAUX Attractive men from Environment Agency occupying half of Buxton; … (5)
EA (Environment Agency) inside BUX[ton]
12 PEACH … attractive woman from Environment Agency found in front of parish church (5)
EA (Environment Agency) inside {P[arish] + CH (church)}
13 STEERABLE See Albert’s upset, being open to guidance? (9)
Anagram [upset] of:   SEE ALBERT
14 ENABLED Made possible what happened when Ms Sharples was cut (7)
After ENA (Ms Sharples, former character in Coronation Street) was cut, ENA BLED
16 TEA BAG Put a label round each barrel for drink producer (3,3)
TAG (put a label) around {EA (each) + B (barrel)}
19 GAUCHE Short cowboy, note, is awkward (6)
GAUCHO (cowboy) minus the O at the end, followed by E ((musical) note)
21 WORK DAY Row back on chatter about 500 returning when factory’s open? (4,3)
Reversal [back] of ROW, followed by YAK (chatter), together around D (500)
23 OVERLADEN Excessively burdened concerning the French office (9)
OVER (concerning) + LA (the, in French) + DEN (office)
25 LYRIC Your tiny hand is frozen starts to let you realise it’s cold (5)
First letters of:   let you realise it’s cold
For some perhaps a somewhat weird definition.
But it is the English translation of Che Gelida Manina , the famous aria from Puccini’s La Boheme.
The solution (‘lyric’) is in Chambers, def.2 (noun):  ‘a song’ – so, that’s all right then.
I was never really into opera unlike my late father, and so I was very familiar with the aria.
Even with the German translation: Wie eiskalt ist dein Handchen.
27 LINKS Chain securing small inkstand? On the contrary! (5)
Hidden answer [securing]:   “small inkstand” contains the definition (instead of the other way round)
28 REED ORGAN Roger Dean destroyed harmonium (4,5)
Anagram [destroyed] of:   ROGER DEAN
Roger Dean is actually a real, well-known person.
In the Seventies we all liked his artwork for several Yes albums, in particular.
Don’t know anymore when I bought them but I have (all?) four Album Cover Albums on my bookshelf.
29 SINISTER Evil one back, almost menacing (8)
SIN (evil) + I (one, 1), followed by STER[n] (back, almost)
30 GLITZY Showy German literature unknown before end of July (6)
G (German) + LIT (literature) + Z (unknown, as in mathematics) + [Jul]Y
Down
1 LIFE PEER Sugar? Look under ‘existence’ (4,4)
PEER (look) positioned under LIFE (existence)
I assume everyone knows who Lord (Alan) Sugar is and therefore no Wiki link this time.
2 TONGA Carriage in Northallerton garage (5)
Hidden answer [in]:   Northallerton garage
We see ‘Tonga’ quite often in crosswords but nearly always defined as a kingdom in the Pacific aka Friendly Islands.
This one (‘carriage’) is new to me.
According to Collins:  “A light two-wheeled vehicle used in rural areas of India”.
3 ALCOHOLIC Salmon in metallic container not encountered – could be intoxicating (9)
COHO (salmon) inside [indicated by “in … container”] METALLIC,  then MET (not encountered) removed
Not everything will jump for joy seeing the ‘container’ indicator but it’s clear what Exit wants us to do.
By the way, a ‘coho’ is a Pacific salmon, also calles ‘silver salmon’.
5 CORRECT My shock treatment by Romeo is OK (7)
COR (my!) + R (Romeo, in the phonetic alphabet) + ECT (shock treatment, electroconvulsive therapy)
6 EMBER Recall losing band in remains of fire? (5)
REMEMBER (recall) minus REM (band, that one!)
7 STARBOARD Celebrity meets directors where green light is shown (9)
STAR (celebrity) + BOARD (directors)
The wordplay is superclear but, I think, the definition is somewhat loose.
For me, it would be on the crossroads near the local pub …..
8 DEXTER Scare off around ten cattle (6)
DETER (scare off) around X (ten)
Collins:  “A small breed of red or black beef cattle, originally from Ireland”.
9 CLOSED Oddly callous journalist: “Shut up!” (6)
The odd letters of “callous“,  followed by ED (journalist, editor)
15 AGAMEMNON Among men a disturbance reveals old king (9)
Anagram [disturbance] of:   AMONG MEN A
Agamemnon, king of Mycenae , leading the Greeks in the Trojan War.
17 APRIL FOOL Distraught pair, initially loathing dessert, say: “It’s a hoax!” (5,4)
Anagram [distraught] of PAIR, followed by L[oathing] + FOOL (dessert)
18 EYE CANDY I heard vacuous Cathy’s a good-looker! (3,5)
Homophone [heard] of I, followed by what’s left of CATHY after removing the content: C[ath]Y = C AND Y
20 ENDORSE Back the last runner at ’aydock Park? (7)
The last runner at Haydock Park could be called the END HORSE.
Dropping the H, as some do, leads to ‘aydock Park and: END ORSE
For those who wish to know more about Haydock Park, it is roughly halfway between Liverpool and Manchester.
21   See 26
22 COULIS Uranium and lithium detected in lettuce purée (6)
U (uranium) + LI (lithium), together inside COS (lettuce)
24 LYSIS Sly cycling is breaking down (5)
LYS (a possible result of rotating (cycling) the letters of SLY) + IS
A noun in its own right but perhaps more familiar in combining form: paralysis, analysis etc.
26,21 RIGHT WINGER Sterling perhaps has Reg writhing in agony (5,6)
Anagram [in agony] of:   HAS REG WRITHING
Raheem Sterling is for many the star player in the current Man City squad.
However, whether he is actually a ‘right winger’ is debatable but maybe he started as one.
He is quite an all-round attacker and mostly seen in a position on the left.

3 comments on “S & B York 2019 – Exit”

  1. My grid was not far from complete when I saw what was going on here, with three examples of each side in their appropriate places.
    Just as pleasing was the neat juxtaposition of the clues for BEAUX and PEACH, which I would guess was a lucky circumstance for the setter, but one fully taken advantage of.
    I knew of Raheem Sterling and learned his (present or previous) position by solving this clue. I noted the definition-by-example indicator ‘perhaps’ in that clue, and I thought such an indicator was needed also in the clue for LYRIC.
    I liked STARBOARD, for which I thought the definition ‘where green light is shown’ was perfectly clear. DEXTER was new to me (the cricketer has probably been played too much in crosswords!).
    Many thanks to both setter and blogger, and sorry I couldn’t make it on the day.

  2. We tackled Exit’s puzzle this afternoon – all good fun, some very nice clues and the ‘left’ and ‘right’ theme worked well. We thought CORRECT could also be thematic, as another synonym for ‘right’, albeit, not in the directional sense.

    Thanks to Exit and to Sil for the blog

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