A very enjoyable puzzle from Crosophile today: mostly straightforward but with a few challenges.
As usual on Tuesdays, we have a ghost theme: you don’t need it to solve the puzzle, but it’s an extra pleasure (or a help with the last few clues) if you can spot it. Across the top row of the puzzle we have the writer C S LEWIS, author of the NARNIA series of books (which is split across two entries in the second column). Scattered across the rest of the puzzle are references to each title in the series:
- The Lion, the Witch and the WARDROBE
- PRINCE Caspian
- The VOYAGE of the Dawn Treader
- The SILVER Chair
- The HORSE and His Boy
- The MAGICIAN’s Nephew
- The Last BATTLE
Even if you’re not a fan (and I am), there are some lovely clues here apart from the theme. I liked 16a (completely unintelligible until it’s obvious), 22a (great surface), 1d and 6d (sneaky definitions). Thanks Crosophile for a great puzzle.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | VOYAGE |
Five yoga exercises on European cruise (6)
|
| V (five in Roman numerals) + anagram (exercises) of YOGA + E (abbreviation for European). | ||
| 9 | TRANSMIT |
Broadcast mike in a van (8)
|
| M (Mike in the radio alphabet) inserted into TRANSIT (Ford Transit: the classic vehicle of the independent tradesman).
Always nice to see “broadcast” as a definition, rather than either of its two standard crossword usages (homophone indicator or anagram indicator). |
||
| 10 | OUTREACH |
Transcend extravagant endless pain (8)
|
| OUTRE (outré = extravagant or eccentric) + ACH[e] (pain; endless = last letter dropped).
Outreach as a verb = reach beyond = transcend, rather than as a noun (the act of reaching out). |
||
| 11 | DATIVE |
District attorney initially thinks I have a case (6)
|
| DA (abbreviation for district attorney = US state lawyer) + initial letter of T[hinks] + I’VE.
Dative = grammatical case used for the indirect object of a verb: Crosophile (nominative case) has created a puzzle (accusative case) for us (dative case). Many languages use different word forms to indicate these; it’s not easy to explain in English, which has mostly abandoned distinctions between cases. |
||
| 12 | SNAPPY |
Smart game to play outside (6)
|
| SNAP (a card game) + outside letters of P[la]Y.
As in a snappy dresser = someone who wears smart clothes. |
||
| 13 | HOOKWORM |
How rook flapping by motorway gets a parasite (8)
|
| Anagram (flapping) of HOW ROOK + M (abbreviation for motorway in road names, such as the M1 going north from London). | ||
| 15 | ARMY |
Like a member of the military? (4)
|
| Two definitions. The first is cryptic: arm = member = limb, so ARMY = like a member. The second requires “army” as an adjective, as in “army uniform”. | ||
| 16 | EERIE |
At any time that is weird (5)
|
| E’ER (poetic form of “ever” = at any time) + IE (i.e. = id est = that is). | ||
| 17 | LIME |
Greeny-yellow mucus after wiping top of sleeve (4)
|
| [s]LIME (mucus), removing (wiping) the S which is the first letter (top) of S[leeve]. Not a nice image. | ||
| 19 | UNGENTLE |
Half out of uniform ointment on cut leg’s rough (8)
|
| UNG[u]ENT (ointment), with one U out of the two removed (U = uniform in the radio alphabet), hence “half out of uniform”; then LE[g] (cut = last letter dropped). That was hard; one might say it was ungentle. | ||
| 21 | PLEDGE |
Security needed for place on the border (6)
|
| PL (abbreviation for place, in street maps) + EDGE (border).
Security = pledge = something handed over as acknowledgement of a debt, to be returned when the debt is repaid. |
||
| 22 | BATTLE |
Struggle to keep dry in a load of hay? (6)
|
| TT (teetotal = dry) in BALE (a bundle of hay). | ||
| 24 | EVIDENCE |
Proof of a base immorality around hideout (8)
|
| E (e = base = mathematical symbol for the base used in natural logarithms) + VICE (immorality), around DEN (hideout).
Legally speaking, evidence isn’t quite the same thing as proof, but in common parlance it’s close enough. |
||
| 25 | MIGRATES |
Russian fighter speeds and leaves country (8)
|
| MIG (Russian fighter plane) + RATES (speeds, as a plural noun). | ||
| 26 | CASUAL |
Charlie, like so often, needing us to go easy (6)
|
| C (Charlie in the radio alphabet) + AS [us]UAL (like so often) with US removed (needing US to go). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | COLUMNAR |
Like these down entries and calm our nerves, just a bit churned up (8)
|
| Anagram (churned up) of CALM OUR with the first letter (just a bit) of N[erves]. | ||
| 2 | SAPROPHYTE |
Fungus perhaps mostly evenly dispersed (10)
|
| Anagram (dispersed) of PERHAPS with the even-numbered letters (evenly) of [m]O[s]T[l]Y.
A type of fungus that feeds on decayed organic matter. (Or something like that; I’m not a biologist.) |
||
| 3 | LEGACY |
What’s left for instance in puddled clay (6)
|
| EG (e.g. = exempli gratia = for example) in an anagram (puddled) of CLAY. And, before anyone asks: “puddle” means to mix water into clay to make it runnier, so it’s a perfectly good anagram indicator. (Dimly remembered from school pottery lessons.)
What’s left to one’s heirs in a will. |
||
| 4 | ETCH |
Cut out central section of rough drawings (4)
|
| Central letters of [sk]ETCH[es] (rough drawings).
Etch = to cut out using acid, typically on a metal or glass surface. |
||
| 5 | WARDROBE |
Attire of doctor in conflict with honour (8)
|
| DR (abbreviation for doctor), in WAR (conflict) + OBE (Order of the British Empire = honour).
Wardrobe = a collection of clothes = attire. |
||
| 6 | ISN’T |
Independent’s new head of telesales? On the contrary (4)
|
| I’S (belonging to I = abbreviation for independent) + N (new) + initial letter (head) of T[elesales].
An expression of disagreement: think of small children squabbling over a toy. “That’s mine.” “No it isn’t.” “Is!” “Isn’t!” |
||
| 7 | SILVER |
A metal splinter I picked up (6)
|
| SLIVER (splinter), with the I moved one place upwards (in a down clue) = picked up. | ||
| 13 | HORSE |
Many a white one’s seen from rocky shore (5)
|
| Anagram (rocky) of SHORE.
Extended definition: white horses = waves with the crest broken into white foam, as may be seen from the sea shore. |
||
| 14 | WILDEBEEST |
Gnu edible when minced in boiled stew (10)
|
| Anagram (when minced) of EDIBLE, inside another anagram (boiled?) of STEW. | ||
| 16 | ENTREATY |
Take food into doorway for begging (8)
|
| EAT (take food) inserted into ENTRY (doorway). | ||
| 18 | MAGICIAN |
Wizard guy conceals all-American private intelligence (8)
|
| MAN (guy), containing (concealing) GI (all-American “private” = low-ranking soldier) + CIA (intelligence = US spy agency). Or perhaps “all-American” means that both the private and the intelligence are American. | ||
| 20 | NIACIN |
Vitamin in one way and another gives protection for a cold (6)
|
| IN twice, the first reversed (one way and another), containing (giving protection for) A + C (cold).
A form of Vitamin B3. |
||
| 21 | PRINCE |
Royal Navy invested in value (6)
|
| N (abbreviation for Navy) inserted into PRICE (not quite the same thing as value, but close enough).
Royal = short for “a member of the royal family”. |
||
| 23 | TERM |
It’s ending in aftermath (4)
|
| Hidden answer (in) [af]TERM[ath].
Term = the end of a period of time, especially as in “full term” = the expected end date of a pregnancy. |
||
| 24 | EAST |
Start off banquet as one at table (4)
|
| [f]EAST (banquet), with the starting letter taken off.
One of the four players at a card table. |
Enjoyable, although we struggled a bit in the NW quadrant – SAPROPHYTE took some teasing out and we spent quite a while trying to fit the letters of ‘toy’ into 12ac. We only saw the theme after spotting the nina in the top unches. Actually we thought there was a bonus thematic answer in 21ac but in checking back the horse in The Magician’s Nephew becomes ‘Fledge’, not ‘Pledge’.
No real favourite – it was all good.
Thanks, Crosophile and Quirister
For once I spotted the theme early enough for it to help me with the solving, but even so I missed the nina. Closest I got to parsing 12A was (EYE) SPY around NAP, 2D was new to me and I struggled to make sense of some of other answers so thanks to Quirister for the explanations. And thanks to Crosophile for some lovely clues.
I seem to have invented a new game – I Spy rather than EYE – Spy (Perhaps I was mentally still in cryptic mode!!)
Finished, then looked for the theme. I couldn’t see it – feeling very foolish now. I enjoyed the puzzle, NIACIN I think being my favourite clue. Thought UNGENTLE was pretty hard, and did not know the fungus, although it had to be that.
Thanks, Quirister, for a lovely blog and thanks for the various comments