“Single-letter misprints in the definition parts of 18 clues must be corrected before solving. The correct letters, read in order, describe the DARK AND STORMY speaker of the words around the perimeter of the grid, whose name must be highlighted (11 cells). Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
The misprints spell THE LADY WITH THE LAMP, Florence NIGHTINGALE, who must be highlighted. The perimeter reads I ATTRIBUTE MY SUCCESS TO THIS – I NEVER GAVE OR TOOK ANY EXCUSE.
Sorry for the shortness of the post. Exams are looming!
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | NOSED (Sniffed) [about] BAN (Romanian bit) for part of horse’s bridle (8) | NOSEBAND | |
| T | 10 | Sea of rules CO (company) DECIDE, [taking both sides] (4) | CODE |
| 11 | Japanese art IE (that is) [bit by bit invested in] SAKI (their traditional drink) (6) | SAIKEI | |
| 12 | One purchasing preferment that’s [incorrectly presented] {IN MOSAIC} (8) | SIMONIAC | |
| 13 | Character of G (group) CLEF |
G CLEF | |
| 15 | Harmonise A T (tenor) TUNE (melody) (6) | ATTUNE | |
| H | 16 | Style of pair, [essentially] disCReet and prOPer (4) | CROP |
| E | 19 | Unfledged sora long ago, E ([last of] EYRIE), < SAY, [making a comeback] (4) | EYAS |
| 20 | Short CUT (canal) [fed by] R (river) (4) | CURT | |
| 22 | In Brooklyn once endanger LEOPARD (panther) [when J (judge) replaces L (liberal)] (7) | JEOPARD | |
| 24 | [Starting late], |
EMOTER | |
| 26 | REGRET [swapping hands] in object for decoration of limb (6) | LEGLET | |
| 27 | MA (Mother) and DEAN (cathedral dignitary) [welcoming] Z (unknown) Zoroastrian (7) | MAZDEAN | |
| L | 28 | IS (Island) AY (indeed) godly (4, two words) | I SAY |
| A | 29 | Dunce’s [bit of] tokeN ACHievement (4) | NACH |
| D | 33 | ROT (Joke) [about] R (recipe) for riotous shinty in Perth (4) | RORT |
| 34 | A TRIUM |
ATRIUM | |
| Y | 35 | S (Special) LOAN (permission to use) censure in demeaning war at Culloden (5) | SLOAN |
| W | 37 | [Surprisingly] {A SKIABLE}* type of hurst in Poland (8) | KIELBASA |
| 38 | Aussie waterhole, GIL |
GILGAI | |
| 39 | Convince someone of value of disused saddle (4) | SELL | |
| I | 40 | Ten and none more from < matiNEE – TEN INtended [to return] (8) | NINETEEN |
| Down | |||
| T | 1 | Grader of letters {AT INSTAGRAM M (marks) A (active)}* [changes] (13) | ANAGRAMMATIST |
| H | 2 | I (One) [among] < LOT (many) [turning up] for yard work (4) | TOIL |
| T | 3 | REE (Bird) and CH (gutted] CATFISH) in Glasgow’s skink (5) | REECH |
| H | 4 | African found BASE (vile) [characters from time to time in] |
BASENJI |
| 5 | Bring together FY ([extremes of] FACULTY) [propping up] UNI (seat of higher learning) (5) | UNIFY | |
| 6 | Subspecies that’ve adapted {YET SCOPE}* [to develop] (8) | ECOTYPES | |
| 7 | Shrubby area [in] MorMON TErritory (5) | MONTE | |
| 8 | {INANE DANES ARE}* [changing] legislative body (13, 2 words) | SEANAD EIREANN | |
| E | 14 | LIT (Illuminated) RE (on the subject of) S (singular) win |
LITRES |
| L | 17 | Crown PUT (placed) [on] Z (Zulu) (4) | PUTZ |
| 18 | LO (Look!) LO (Look!) [Gripping] [retreating] < GI (soldier)! Squid! (6) | LOLIGO | |
| A | 21 | Repent action [involving] ED (journalist) [in] ROUBLE (Russian capital) (8) | REDOUBLE |
| M | 23 | A (Australian) GAR (fish) product used to fire up foods (4) | AGAR |
| 25 | ENGLAND* [blundering] continuously in Scotland in the past (7) | ENDLANG | |
| 30 | HILL (Incline) and |
HILLO | |
| 31 | [Some of] [uplifting] < ariA IS SOprano’s alternative in music (5) | OSSIA | |
| P | 32 | Poet’s keen watch W (with) A (advanced) I (international) TE |
WAITE |
| 36 | AGE (Century) with E (STRIFE [ultimately]) not quite closed in some places (4) | AGEE | |
| I | A | T | T | R | I | B | U | T | E | M | Y | S | U |
| E | N | O | S | E | B | A | N | D | C | O | D | E | C |
| S | A | I | K | E | I | S | I | M | O | N | I | A | C |
| U | G | L | G | C | L | E | F | A | T | T | U | N | E |
| C | R | O | P | H | I | N | Y | L | Y | E | Y | A | S |
| X | A | C | U | R | T | J | E | O | P | A | R | D | S |
| E | M | O | T | E | R | I | E | L | E | G | L | E | T |
| Y | M | A | Z | D | E | A | N | I | S | A | Y | I | O |
| N | A | C | H | O | S | O | D | G | W | R | O | R | T |
| A | T | R | I | U | M | S | L | O | A | N | A | E | H |
| K | I | E | L | B | A | S | A | G | I | L | G | A | I |
| O | S | E | L | L | N | I | N | E | T | E | E | N | S |
| O | T | R | O | E | V | A | G | R | E | V | E | N | I |
A Nightingale special was hardly unexpected, but I didn’t see it coming from DARK AND STORMY, but I can be sure some did! I had to wait until I got ‘THE LADY WI…’ at the start of the message.
I enjoyed working through the clues. I had a bit of difficulty at the bottom of the grid and had two clues unsolved at the bottom right when I started on the endgame.
We were not told where the quotation started from or in which direction it ran round the perimeter, but even with that information I would have found it hard to guess what it said. However, I knew what name to look for, and when I filled it in I got instant help with both GILGAI and AGEE, thus filling all but the perimeter of the grid.
When I went online to find a list of the lady’s prominent sayings this one was at the top. (It’s not in ODQ, by the way.)
I liked the misprints, some of which were particularly neat.
Thanks to Chalicea for a super puzzle and Mister Sting for the blog (good luck with the exams). [In 14d, ‘wind’ becomes ‘wine’ and the ‘d’ (shown as crossed out) should be red.]
A great puzzle, as Chalicea’s always are. Pretty straightforward, with only a little difficulty at the close sorting out the quotation. I wasn’t aware that any anniversary to do with the lady in question was looming, so was somewhat surprised to find two themed puzzles on the subject in as many days. To be fair, we’ve had other things on our minds!
Many thanks to both and to Mister Sting. It was no accident that the IQ and this one came up on two consecutive days. Shark and I tested each other’s and discussed policy with regard to where to send them. Of course, in our original choice of theme he was aware of my attempt to set crosswords on ladies who have been significant and I was shocked to see only one lady in the 40 or so on the Victorian memorial in Dalton Square, Lancaster (apart from Victoria, of course) so The Lady With The Lamp was a must and we loved the story of Athena, her pocket owl.
Good luck with the exams, Mister Sting.