Nimrod is also the editor of the Inquisitor series and tends to set challenging crosswords, so this was always likely to be a difficult solving experience.
The preamble stated: that he wordplay in each clue leads to the answer plus an extra letter. In order, these letters spell the names of four thematic individuals. Two (from the across clues) are associated with one context suggested by the puzzle’s title and one down answer whose clue lacks a definition. Two (from the down clues) are linked to another context suggested by the puzzle’s title, with a further hint (6 letters) appearing in one of the across rows; its letters are ignored by wordplay in the relevant across clue(s). In the completed grid, solvers should highlight the name of a fifth individual together with two clues to his present location, 26 cells in total. One answer is an abbreviation.
Well, there’s obviously a lot going on. My usual policy is to dive into the clues and see if the preamble makes more sense later on.
In the end, the clues weren’t as impenetrable as I feared and the extra letters fell quite steadily. It was the significance of the individuals that gave me the greatest trouble until an internet search came to the rescue. The first name to be obvious was STEPHEN KING from the down letters. I have heard of the author STEPHEN KING, but have never read any of his work or seen any of the films based on his work. Horror has never been my book or film topic of choice. The second surname from the down clues looked like it was going to be TORRANCE but apart from the golfer SAM TORRANCE, the name initially meant nothing to me. From the across extra letters I could deduce BRIAN as the first forename and FLETCHER began to look like a possibility for his surname. TOMMY emerged as the second forename and the link to the racehorse RED RUM became apparent. Further research showed that DANNY TORRANCE was a character in the KING‘s third novel The Shining. TORRANCE has psychic powers (the Shining of the title) and scrawls the word REDRUM on a bathroom door in the hotel that is central to the plot. REDRUM is MURDER spelled backwards and it is the letters of the word MURDER seen in the top row of the grid that are ignored in the wordplay for 1 and 5 across. This made both of those clues tricky to solve given that there was already a twist in the wordplay generating an extra letter
It is RED RUM that links everything together as BRIAN FLETCHER, first of the names from the across clues, was the jockey in RED RUM‘s first two Grand National wins in 1973 and 1974 before riding the horse to second place in 1975. FLETCHER upset RED RUM‘s trainer Ginger McCain and was replaced by TOMMY STACK, the second name from the across clues for RED RUM‘s third win in 1977.
It is the entry at 17 down, SUCCESSES that is the undefined entry referred to in the preamble.
In summary therefore, the thematic material derived (or ignored by the clues) is:
Across individuals – BRIAN FLETCHER and TOMMY STACK linked to the undefined SUCCESSES at 17 down. The title GLITTERING CAREER in this context relates to the racehorse RED RUM.
Down individuals – STEPHEN KING and DANNY TORRANCE linked to the letters in the hint MURDER ignored by the wordplay in 1 and 5 across. The title in this context relates SHINING to GLITTERING, I think. I believe DANNY TORRANCE re-appeared in a later KING novel, still having the SHINING powers.
Finally the preamble asked us to highlight a fifth individual together with two clues to his present location – 26 cells in total. The first word I spotted was AINTREE (7 letters) , centrally placed in the bottom row. It took a surprisingly long time to home in on RED and RUM (3 plus 3 letters) centrally placed in rows 10 and 11. That gave us 13 letters, thereby leaving another 13 letters to find. I had read that RED RUM was buried under the winning post at AINTREE so there was a fruitless search for FINISHING POST (13 letters) before I realised that GRAND NATIONAL also had thirteen letters and they were present in the grid in a shape that resembles part of the winning post at AINTREE.
With so much going on with the thematic material, it could be easy to ignore the clues, but Nimrod always gives us clues to remember. I particularly liked the quirky ones in this puzzle , such as the use of ‘tinned’ to indicate ‘contained by SN, the chemical symbol for tin at 15 across. Tin wasn’t the only element that featured in the clue, as AT, the definition for ASTATINE at 32 across was well disguised. 25% consumed at 8 down was a new way of indicating excluded letters for me at 8 down leading to EDGER and I thought the treatment of CHAMOIS leading to CAM at 23 across was very good.
The grid was built up as shown in the animation below. Note that the ‘hint’ MURDER in row 1 did not need to be highlighted.
I
The title GLITTERING CAREER is explained in two contexts earlier in the blog.
| No | Clue | Wordplay |
Extra letter |
Entry |
| Across | ||||
| 1 |
Sound of water flowing from East Midlands city (6) |
BRUM (informal term for the English Midlands city of Birmingham) reversed (from the east) MUR< – the other three letters of the entry, also MUR are unclued as part of the 6 letter hint (MURDER) appearing in top line of the grid |
B |
MURMUR (low, indistinct sound, like that of running water) |
| 5 |
Supporters of dead competitive games (7) |
BIERS (stands or frames of wood for carrying a dead person to the grave; supporters of dead) – the first three letters of the entry, DER are unclued as part of the 6 letter hint (MURDER) appearing in the top row of the grid. BIES |
R |
DERBIES (competitive games between neighbouring teams) |
| 10 |
Fanciful viands, including seaweed that’s edible (4) |
ULVIA (hidden word in [including] FANCIFUL VIANDS) ULVA |
I |
ULVA (kind of edible seaweed.) |
| 11 |
In Southern Region, a group of people performing dance tune (9) |
(A + BAND [group of people]) contained in (in) (S [Southern] + AREA [region]) S AR (A BAND) E |
A |
SARABANDE (slow Spanish dance or dance tune;) |
| 12 |
Tenants start to seek backing in the absence of opposition (6) |
S (first letter of [start to] SEEK) + NEM CON (nemine contradicente; of one mind; without dissent; in the absence of opposition) reversed (backing) S OCMEN< |
N |
SOCMEN (feudal tenants of lands by service fixed and determinate in quality) |
| 15 |
Trace tinned tropical fruit? (4) |
FIG (tropical fruit) contained in SN (chemical symbol for tin) so that one can say the FIG is tinned S (IG) N |
F |
SIGN (hint; trace) |
| 16 |
Agents need less cutting, one of them having infiltrated compounds (8) |
(LESS contained in [cutting] SPIES [{secret]}agents]) with I [Roman numeral for one] moving into (infiltrated) LESS) SP (E I SS) ES |
L |
SPEISSES (mass of arsenides and commonly antimony compounds) |
| 17 |
Licensee has trouble getting customer’s last gag (8) |
Anagram of (trouble) LICENSEE + R (final letter of [‘s last] CUSTOMER) SILENCE* R |
E |
SILENCER (something put into the mouth or over it to enforce silence; gag) |
| 21 |
Take property in Scotland, for the most part dry with top interior (7) |
CAP (top) contained in (interior) (USU [usually; for the most part] + TT [teetotal; dry]) USU (CAP) T |
T |
USUCAPT (Scottish law term meaning to take property by long possession and enjoyment) |
| 22 |
Tracked vehicle steers to the left to have an effect (6) |
CONS (directs the steering of) reversed (to the left) + ACT (to have an effect) SNO C< AT |
C |
SNO-CAT (type of motorized, tracked vehicle for use on snow.) |
| 23 |
Nothing is filtered from greyish-brown English river (3) |
CHAM CAM |
H |
CAM (river that flows through the English town of Cambridge) |
| 24 |
War, that’s my intention, after running round park (7) |
REC (recreation ground) reversed (running round) + I MEAN (that’s my intention) CR< I MEAN |
E |
CRIMEAN (reference the CRIMEAN war [1853 – 1856] in which Russia lost to an alliance made up of the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, Sardinia and France) |
| 26 |
A world I charm (3) |
ORB (world) + I OB I |
R |
OBI (fetish or charm) |
| 27 |
Reactionary just managed clubs, having engaged researcher’s top robot (6) |
(GOT BY [just managed] + C [clubs]) reversed (reactionary) containing (having engaged]) R(first letter of [top] RESEARCHER) C YBO (R) G< |
T |
CYBORG (robot made of biological and machine components.) |
| 29 |
Lubricate one’s rear with it – I initially suspect inner swelling (7) |
OIL (lubricate) + E (last letter of [rear] ONE) + IT + I + S (first letter of [initially] SUSPECT) IL E IT I S |
O |
ILEITIS (inflammation of the lower part of the small intestine; inner swelling) |
| 32 |
At one place to take in Augusta’s round figure! (8) |
MAINE (one of the towns / cities named Augusta in America is located in the State of MAINE) containing (round) STAT (statistic; figure) A (STAT) INE |
M |
ASTATINE (AT is the chemcial symbol for the element ASTATINE) |
| 34 |
Regal setter that is at first part red (8) |
SC (scilicet [Latin]; namely; that is [to say]) + ME (the setter) + PT (part) + RED – ‘that is’ is qualified by ‘ at first’ so SC comes before ME SC E PT RED |
M |
SCEPTRED (regal) |
| 37 |
Starchy food to order as starter? (4) |
SAY GO (what a starter may do to set a race in motion) SA GO |
Y |
SAGO (nutritive cereal substance produced from the pith of the SAGO palm; starchy food) |
| 38 |
Periodical head that old people found attractive? (6) |
MAG (magazine) + NESS (headland; head) MAG NES |
S |
MAGNES (archaic [used by old people] word for lodestone [form of magnetite which exhibits polarity, behaving, when freely suspended, as a magnet [attracts]; something attractive) |
| 39 |
Again and again at Roland Garros summer match, service breaks (9) |
RN (Royal Navy, armed service) contained in (breaks) (ETE [French for ‘summer. ‘ Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France is the location of the French Open Tennis tournament,] + TALLY [ agree; match]) ETE (RN) ALLY |
T |
ETERNALLY (forever; again and again) |
| 40 |
Distinctive character enveloping mass pilgrimage (4) |
AURA (distinctive character) containing (enveloping) M (mass) U (M) RA |
A |
UMRA (the lesser Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca) |
| 41 |
Pressure of poet’s set task to fix damaged car (7) |
STINT (set task) containing (to fix) an anagram of (damaged) CAR ST (RA*) INT |
C |
STRAINT (Spenserian [poet’s] word meaning pressure) |
| 42 |
Stubborn Scots make smoky bacon supplier’s bed? (6) |
REEK (emit smoke; make smoky) + STY (home for a pig [bacon supplier]) REE STY |
K |
REESTY (Scottish word for stubborn) |
| Down | ||||
| 1 |
An umbrella term for starfish adds up (4) |
(H [last letter of {term (terminal for)} STARFISH] + SUMS [adds]) all reversed (up; down clue) (MUS H)< |
S |
MUSH (slang for an umbrella) |
| 2 |
Reparation process after operation’s thwarted in St Louis (6) |
Anagram of (thwarted in; set crosswise in) ST LOUIS ULOSIS* |
T |
ULOSIS (formation of a scar; reparation process) |
| 3 |
Fruit image put about on internet covers a base (5) |
(MEME [an idea or question that is disseminated via the Internet and changes in form during the course of being passed on; image put about on internet]) containing (covers) A) + E (base of natural logarithms) M (A) ME E |
E |
MAMEE (a fruit of the West Indies and surrounding regions) |
| 4 |
Moved swiftly to support university cast-off (4) |
U (university) + SPED (moved swiftly) As this is a down clue, the letters in SPED are supporting the letter U U SED |
P |
USED (cast-off) |
| 5 |
Cloth Ed used to cover the spotted one up (6) |
(THE + PARD (leopard; spotted one]) all reversed (up; down clue) (DRAP ET)< |
H |
DRAPET (Edmund Spenser’s [poet’s] word for a cloth covering) |
| 6 |
We hear support’s put in for restaurant clientele (6) |
TEE (support) contained in (put in) EARS (organs of the body that hear) EA (TE) RS |
E |
EATERS (restaurant clientele) |
| 7 |
Prohibitions imminent? Blow me! (7) |
BANS (prohibitions) + SOON (in the near future; imminent) BAS SOON |
N |
BASSOON (a wind instrument; an instrument that is blown) |
| 8 |
Fish dish only 25% consumed makes you trimmer (5) |
KEDGER EDGER |
K |
EDGER (device for trimming lawns) |
| 9 |
In classes it is, in essence, written about to promote awareness (9) |
SENISITISE (hidden word reversed in (in … written about) CLASSES IT IS IN ESSENCE SENSITISE< |
I |
SENSITISE (render more sensitive; promote awareness) |
| 13 |
Stars of Irish apostle (7) |
COLUMBAN (descriptive of Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries) COLUMBA |
N |
COLUMBA (one of the southern constellations; stars) double definition |
| 14 |
Flycatcher’s leg taking time for helper in ascent to bandage (7) |
(ON [leg side in cricket] + AGE [period of time]) contained in (in) AID (helper) reversed (in ascent; down clue) DI (ON AE) A< |
G |
DIONAEA (the Venus flytrap) |
| 17 |
Something to chew over, $100 in previous taxes (9) |
(CUD [food brought back from the first stomach of a ruminating animal to be chewed again] + C [$100]) contained in (in) SESSES (obsolete word for [previous] taxes) S (UC) ESSES |
D |
SUCCESSES – this is the down entry without a definition as referenced in the preamble |
| 18 |
After an upset – mistakes reversing order of extremists – recount (7) |
AN + ERRATA with the outer letters (A and E reversed; reversing order of extremists) to form ARRATE N ARRATE |
A |
NARRATE (recount) |
| 19 |
Chip and pin not now the way to gauge inflation (3) |
C CPI |
N |
CPI (consumer prices index, a tracker used to indicate the rate of inflation) |
| 20 |
Churn contains what’s rarely from Islay? (7) |
Anagram of (churn) CONTAINS SCOTIAN* |
N |
SCOTIAN (rarely used word that is descriptive of a Scot. Islay is an island in Scotland) |
| 24 |
A crook from down under turns up after my literary collections (7) |
COR! (COR blimey!; my!) + (A + ROPY [slightly unwell; in Australia and New Zealand, {down under}, crook has a similar meaning]) reversed (turns up; down clue) COR (POR A)< |
Y |
CORPORA (literary collections) |
| 25 |
Young Piggy regularly lost the plot (3) |
TELT (excluding [lost] letters 2, 4 and 6 [regularly] T ELT |
T |
ELT (young sow; young piggy) |
| 28 |
Complain about a run for horse at Ayr? (6) |
GROAN (complain) containing (about) (A + R [run]) G (A R) RAN |
O |
GARRAN (small type of horse, used especially in Ireland and Scotland [Ayr]). |
| 29 |
Aroused lover, not done, is true tragic lover (6) |
Anagram of (aroused) L ISEULT* |
R |
ISEULT (the story of Tristan and Iseult is a tragedy about the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess ISEULT) |
| 30 |
Turn eating very spicy terrine, not quite finishing (6) |
Anagram of (spicy) TERRIN IN (V) ERT* |
R |
INVERT (turn) |
| 31 |
Thanks supporting cast for organising retrospective tribute (5) |
Anagram of (for organising) CAST + TA (thanks) – down entry so T supports the letters SCAT SCAT* T |
A |
SCATT (historical [retrospective] word for tribute) |
| 33 |
Catch big fish (5) |
TONGUE (catch of a buckle) TOGUE |
N |
TOGUE (gigantic salmonid of North America; big fish) |
| 35 |
Upstairs in secrecy, a brief dip in 16th Century poetry? (4) |
BAYCE (hidden word reversed in (upstairs in; down clue) SECRECY A BRIEF) BAYE< |
C |
BAYE (Edmund Spenser’s [poetry] word for bathe; Spenser lived from 1552 – 1599, 16th century) |
| 36 |
My word is rarely “occasionally”! (4, 2 words) |
ISAY (letters 1, 2, 4 and 8 [occasionally] of IS RARELY) I SAY |
E |
I SAY (my word!) |
My thanks to Nimrod and duncanshiell. STEPHEN KING and Glittering/Shining provided my way in too — many reviews of the book mentioned the “redrum” reversal. Unfortunately the only letter I had at that point for the second down-clues name was A, and I got fixated on JACK NICHOLSON, who starred in the film: trying to persuade e.g. 36D to yield a surplus N was of course futile.
But eventually seeing RED RUM non-reversed in the grid put me on the right track, confirmed by looking up the jockeys’ names. Challenging and with some very tough clues (or so I thought), but all the more satisfying when it all worked out.
The ages I spent vainly searching for FINISHING POST before spotting GRAND NATIONAL took the shine of this excellent puzzle a bit. I’m also not sure that AINTREE is a clue to Red Rum’s present location; isn’t it more of a statement? That aside I very much liked the link with The Shining, which was my way into the puzzle. I’m Stephen King’s number one fan, and so the REDRUM/MURDER connection fell into place quickly. Just as well as I know nothing about horse racing. Thanks to Nimrod for the entertainment.
Most of my solving time was spent parsing the clues that would lead to the two jockeys, the links to The Shining elsewhere having fallen pretty quickly (perhaps helped by my greater familiarity with the source material!) Some would argue that I should have made the logical leap from the REDRUM of the book to the horse sooner, but I didn’t until it was right in my face. Oh well, it proved to be a useful exercise in unpicking Nimrod’s clues, and I got there in the end. Nice puzzle overall.
One other thing.
The publication date (October 18th) is the anniversary of Red Rum’s death, in 1985.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
This was quite a bit above my pay grade so I am most grateful for duncanshiell’s blog on this briliiant puzzle
I filled most of the grid and got an idea what might be going on but I fear that time is running out for me ever to quite get to that level of solving
Thanks to blogger for parsing entries I got stuck with…I failed to sniff out the chamois…and to the setter for the challenge. The Shining was on BBC the day of the solve…which reminded me of the key role of the SNO-CAT in the plot. One of the roles in the film is played by SCAT(T)man Crothers, and Maine is very important to the author. Maybe there’s some more thematic material hidden there, too, but I don’t want to spend too much time looking ‘cos all work and no play makes Phil a dull boy.
Well, arguably 34a’s ‘regal’ is King-like, but perhaps that’s a stretch too far.
Feel rather pleased with myself for almost finishing (I couldn’t see Grand National, and like cruciverbophile@2, was rather thrown by the literalness of ‘Aintree’, although now I see the point). Having seen the film too many times, the word ‘murder’ always carries the ghost of Red Rum, so that helped, though it took ages before I saw him. A search engine supplied the jockeys.
Many thanks to Nimrod and duncanshiell
(I had a problem accessing this website at my first attempt to post a comment, and that comment was wiped out.)
The main thing I wanted to say was that I thought this was an excellent puzzle. I particularly liked the way the extra letters were woven into the wordplay of the clues, making them both rewarding and challenging to solve.
I found all the thematic items relating to Red Rum and The Shining except one. I guessed RED RUM (further down the grid) was the fifth individual, and I saw AINTREE, but I didn’t know enough about the subject to get the other clue to the location.
Thanks to Nimrod and Duncan.
Surprised I’d been able to complete this after just 2 sessions, considering who the setter was. However, as usual with JH, I was unable to parse a few, viz 12a, 23a, 27a, 32a, 3d, and 5d, if I remember correctly.
I knew absolutely nothing about Stephen King, but Red Rum was familiar although I’m not interested in horse racing.
Took me a while to find GRAND NATIONAL in the completed grid.
I am no great fan of horse-racing or horror books/films but, nevertheless, enjoyed completing the grid and finding the links fairly easily on the internet. As expected, some tough but very fair clues from Nimrod and I needed to anticipate some missing extra letters to allow me to parse the last few. My experience was pretty similar to Duncan’s but, having spent ages trying to spot FINISHING POST in the completed grid, I fell just before reaching it. I don’t think I would have looked for GRAND NATIONAL in a million years.
Thanks to Nimrod for an excellent puzzle and to Duncan for a ditto blog.
This was a DNF – our first in ages. We completed all the grid, found RED RUM but then hit a brick wall. We then spent a lot of time staring at the grid. Perhaps our time would have been better spent researching the theme. We had no idea where RED RUM was buried.
Having said that we are not sure we would ever have located GRAND NATIONAL!
The solve was enjoyable though, so no complaints there.
Thanks to Duncan and Nimrod
Like others, a technical DNF as I didn’t find GRAND NATIONAL (not that I was looking for it…)
Enjoyed the bits I did though