“The unclued entry at 6 down (three words) is the title of a version – THE NORTH AMERICAN ONE – of an earlier work. Each of the first three clues is really two clues side by side but not overlapping, leading to the two numbered entries (either may be clued first). Their answers, thematically placed, hint at two opposing groups. The wordplay in 17 of the remaining across clues leads to the answer plus an extra letter not to be entered in the grid. The extra letters spell out the surnames of the two creators of the work. In the completed grid, solvers must highlight the first names of two protagonists and the place they desire. ”
I don’t know if others managed to guess that the theme was WEST SIDE STORY before looking at any clues, but that was certainly a help to me!
The opposing groups are the JETS (SPOUT, PLANE, STREAM) and the SHARKS (USURER, BEAGLE, SEA CAT).
The two creators are SONDHEIM and BERNSTEIN.
TONY and MARIA (breaching the ETHNIC DIVIDE) are looking for SOMEWHERE.
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Homophone | “WORD” |
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Paired clues | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1a, 34d | POUT (Sulky expression) [after] S (sons) pawn antique // US (American) UR |
SPOUT, USURER | |
| 12a, 37a | BEA |
BEAGLE, PLANE | |
| 43a, 2d | Group of pupils R (take) [in] [minced] MEATS*, // fish, {TEA and CAS ([half of] CAS |
STREAM, SEA CAT | |
| Across | |||
| 6 | Gets the better of < ROW (argument, backing) ST (street) S (S |
WORSTS | |
| 11 | F (Fellow) [mostly] SEN |
FENS | S |
| 13 | LEOTARDS* [torn], [having R (run) for T (the local)] food stores (7) | LARDERS | O |
| 14 | Scots aren’t able to CANE (stick) [around] NA (North America) (6) | CANNAE | |
| 15 | NACRE (Shellfish) [not RE (on)] – NOR* [bruised] fruit (5) | ACORN | N |
| 16 | SM (Sergeant-Major) DARTS (pointed weapons) and causes pain (6) | SMARTS | D |
| 17 | < SHAM (False) [returns] [concealing] LT ([containers of] L |
MALTS | H |
| 18 | OS (Bone) MEAT (beef, for example), E ( |
OSMATE | E |
| 22 | Legal owner in Ayr < IF (provided) [recalled] AR (letter) (4) | FIAR | |
| 23 | The same IDIOM (form of language) [with E (English) for O (Ohio)] (4) | IDEM | I |
| 24 | Exotic METH (illegal stimulant) NIC [drawing out HE (that man) from NICHE (alcove)] (6) | ETHNIC | M |
| 26 | BID (Propose) [to enter] DIVE (disreputable bar) and split up (6) | DIVIDE | B |
| 27 | [Uninitiated] |
TRAY | E |
| 28 | < PREEN (In Glasgow pin) [rejected] in one of Ian’s five-a-day (4) | NEEP | R |
| 33 | Charge AC (before meal) NUS (students collectively) [inside] CE (church) (6) | ACCUSE | N |
| 34 | RAH (Brief cheer) [after] [draining] S |
SYRAH | |
| 35 | WHALERS* [adapted] [with S ([last of] |
LASHER | S |
| 38 | Mineral ACE (expert) [holds in] MITT (hand) (6) | ACMITE | T |
| 39 | Awaiting supply O (of) N (new) ORE (seaweed) < RED (wine) [from the East] (7, two words) | ON ORDER | E |
| 40 | Muscles T (tense) [breaking] GLUE (stick) [in front of] I (institute) (6) | GLUTEI | |
| 41 | Other ELISE (girl, Beethoven’s dedicatee) (4) | ELSE | I |
| 42 | Want negotiable operation without German company (6) | EGENCY | N |
| Down | |||
| 3 | [Head off] |
UNROLL | |
| 4 | Makes level SEVEN (number of hills of Rome), [top to bottom] (5) | EVENS | |
| 5 | REF (Umpire) [gets hold of] ROO (jumper) – put on top covering again (6) | REROOF | |
| 7 | RE (Note) |
REAM | |
| 8 | Making better SAN |
SANATIVE | |
| 9 | [Damaged] [wingless] |
SLATTED | |
| 10 | Bard’s sightless BEES (insects) O (love) ME (Sea-kale) (7) | BEESOME | |
| 11 | (EMA |
FLAME | |
| 19 | Strain, [losing D (diamonds) from] A RIA |
ARIA | |
| 20 | O (Over) NYC (US city) HIT (come luckily upon) E (base) type of marble (8) | ONYCHITE | |
| 21 | Z (Unknown) INC (incorporated) constituent of brass (4) | ZINC | |
| 24 | Window display in Paris < [elevated] LATE (recent) AGE (season) (7) | ETALAGE | |
| 25 | Wheedling T( [primarily T |
TREACLE | |
| 29 | SPEN |
PENNES | |
| 30 | [Revolutionary] [partly] |
CRADLE | |
| 31 | God’s |
GANESA | |
| 32 | [Reportedly] “WEAR” (alter the course of a ship)? At what point? (5) | WHERE | |
| 36 | Huge being once in < |
ETEN | |
| U | S | U | R | E | R | W | O | R | S | T | S | B |
| F | E | N | S | V | E | E | B | E | A | G | L | E |
| L | A | R | D | E | R | S | C | A | N | N | A | E |
| A | C | O | R | N | O | T | S | M | A | R | T | S |
| M | A | L | T | S | O | S | M | A | T | E | T | O |
| E | T | L | O | Z | F | I | A | R | I | D | E | M |
| E | T | H | N | I | C | D | D | I | V | I | D | E |
| T | R | A | Y | N | E | E | P | A | E | C | G | W |
| A | E | A | C | C | U | S | E | S | Y | R | A | H |
| L | A | S | H | E | R | T | N | P | L | A | N | E |
| A | C | M | I | T | E | O | N | O | R | D | E | R |
| G | L | U | T | E | I | R | E | U | E | L | S | E |
| E | E | G | E | N | C | Y | S | T | R | E | A | M |
A very enjoyable puzzle. Having Sondheim appearing in extra letters put me on track for the theme relatively early, but didn’t detract from the neat construction with the sharks/jets divide and the lovers straddling it. Very clever – and an impressive debut from Sea-Kale.
An enjoyable solve. I picked up the theme relatively early, but not before answering any clues like the blogger. Bravo for that. My way in was also through Sondheim appearing in the extras. Clever grid construction with the divide and all the thematic material. Lovely stuff from Sea-Kale. Thanks to Mister Sting for the blog, I couldn’t parse Acorn so good to tie up that loose end.
Thank you so much for your kind comments which are much appreciated. Many thanks also for all the trouble taken by Mr. Sting in writing the blog. I have Lee to thank through Big Dave’s site for reminding me that Sondheim and Bernstein were keen solvers of cryptic crosswords. Sondheim was quoted in the BBC Proms Guide 2018 as saying, “At the time I was a subscriber to The Listener because of the puzzles, and introduced them to Lennie [Bernstein]. Every Thursday, when my Listener arrived, we’d spend the afternoon doing those puzzles. West Side Story might have been finished a couple of months earlier had it not been for that.”
Great fact! Thanks for sharing that Sea-kale
I enjoyed this. I also guessed WEST SIDE STORY very early, with only two letters in the light. I can’t see why, there is no obvious reason why these instructions are any more revealing than the typical IQ.
Thanks to all.
Sorry, I mean EV.
Thank you for your blog, Mister Sting. And many thanks to Sea-Kale for a very enjoyable puzzle.
Can anybody help me parse EGENCY (42a) please?
Thank you for your kind comment, Manu – I’m glad you enjoyed the puzzle. The definition for EGENCY is ‘want’; short negotiable is ‘neg’ [with the n being an extra letter]; operation is ‘agency’; ‘ag’ is a German company which is removed from ‘agency’. I hope that is clear.
Many thanks Sea-Kale. I didn’t know AG. Now it all makes sense.
A bit late tackling this. I found it a very enjoyable to solve – some lovely clues. Like others, I guessed 6d early on, but that didn’t spoil the enjoyment.
Thanks very much.