Well, this was fun although our first thought was about the grid – four ‘crosswords’ in each of the corners linked by only a few clues. Not a very solver-friendly grid.
We wondered whether we had the wrong day at first – a themed puzzle on a Wednesday? A little bit of googling at the end revealed that Ulysses which was written by James Joyce (29/30ac) and was based on Homer’s Odyssey (1ac) was first published 100 years ago today at on 2nd Feb 1922.
We also puzzled over 10ac and 28a – two identical clues. Thankfully we realised that there were not two identical answers.
We hope we have highlighted the relevant characters from the Odyssey / Ulysses which feature in the grid, although since finalising the blog, we have realised that ‘Olympia’ does not seem to appear in either – we are not very familiar with the characters and assumed that the name’s Greek origins fitted the theme. Perhaps someone out there will help us out.
Thanks Methuselah. Not too much of a challenge today but some smiles along the way – particularly with the two identical clues.
By the by, it’s also an anniversary for us this week – 10 years since our first blog on fifteensquared.
gOoDbYeS (missing alternate letters or ‘oddly suppressed’) + YES (affirmative word) reversed or ‘about’
IRIS (flower – 17d) H (Henry – 9D)
HOME (in) + last letters or ‘final parts’ of touR castratI lip-synC
C (one end or ‘a side’ of arsenic) inside an anagram (‘awfully’) of SLY COP
Lady Godiva’s clothing or ‘habit’ was ‘NOT ON’ her when she rode through Coventry
Hidden (‘group invested in’) and reversed or ‘flipped over’ in icE CAP SO REAdy
First letters of Young Author Regretted Novelising
An anagram (‘sadly’) of METHUSALAh with C (cold) replacing ‘h’ (hot) – we had to use some electronic assistance to confirm this person, the son of Penelope (16d)
FINGER (index) POST (cards, maybe)
SNOG (kiss) with N (knight) moving to the right or ‘travelling east’
OP (work) PRESS (iron) OR (gold)
Y (year) inside or ‘stopping’ AB (sailor) + SS (ship)
Hidden (‘some’) in deadbEAT SOUTherner
This time it is the other side of arsenic – A inside an anagram (‘awfully’) of SLY COP
CE (church) AN (article) after or ‘on’ JOY (rapture). The famous Irish (5ac) writer is James Joyce
MET (police force) inside or ‘breaking up’ DEER (stag?)
Clue as definition – SINS (some deadly things) around or ‘captivating’ RE (middle or ‘essential’ letters of crew)
fENCEr (swordsman) without first and last letters or ‘removing sheath’ around or ‘seizing’ LAV (throne)
ROCK (Gibraltar) STAR (heavenly body)
A MOT (word or ‘term’ in French) reversed or ‘climbing up’ inside or ‘through’ SCH (school)
AS (like) SETS (‘more than a few games’, in tennis)
An anagram (‘novel’) of JEAN RHYS around or ‘inspiring’ ME (your setter)
CIRClE (social group) with L (left) missing or ‘out’
Alternate letters (‘every now and then’) in LiE lOw
ELOPE (to run away with) with PEN (writer)
A reversal or ‘upset’ of RE (about) WOoLF (Virginia Woolf, ‘modernist writer’) without middle letter or ‘losing heart’
N (new) A (Australian) PH (public house – pub) THAt missing last letter or ‘doesn’t close’
One of the Teletubbies is called PO so if they were running around the playground the others may shout PO’S IT!
CO CO (two companies) with the first reversed or ‘with conflicting directions’ under SIR (fellow)
OLYMPIAd (four years) losing D (Democrat)
GUST (bit of wind) and O (love)
A homophone (‘sounds like’) in some accents of GALLIC (French)
Thanks B & J. In the Joycean vein you could also include HENRY FLOWER (pseudonym of LEO[pold] Bloom in the novel), and DEMETER has Homeric connections.
A big congrats to B&J on your 10th anniversary at Fifteensquared.
I thought there may be two separate themes here, but knowing next to nothing about either JAMES JOYCE(‘s) Ulysses or Greek mythology I’m not surprised to be wrong. Still, a tribute to Methuselah to come up with clues which were solvable by wordplay, crossers and a bit of (not too much) guesswork and to provide some education along the way. The identically clued 10a& 28a were very clever.
Thanks to Methuselah and to B&J, including for the homework on the significance of the theme
I thought this was a great crossword – so clever to get all those themed references into the grid. Thanks to Methuselah for the crossword and to B&J for the blog – congratulations on your blogging anniversary
The Jean Rhys clue leapt out at me, so solving that first gave me a completely wrong idea about what any theme might be! It soon became apparent, though, and the rest was sheer enjoyment. Very clever – especially the twin clues. Thanks to Methuselah and thanks and congratulations to Bertandjoyce on their milestone.
Great puzzle as Ulysses uses Odyssey as a framework
Thanks to Andrew @1 HENRY FLOWER is indeed the pen name Bloom uses when communicating with Martha
I entered CALYPSO in 10 not having seen the clue appear twice and thought “this clashes with ROCK STAR”
Very cunning plan using the two ends of ARSENIC
Methuselah has just risen in my setter rating!
Thanks all
Thanks Bert and the other Joyce for the blog, and congratulations! I did worry it was unfair to expect solvers to spell TELEMACHUS but I couldn’t resist that anagram. By the way, he’s Odysseus’ son, so it’s ‘old man’ as in someone’s father. Cheers to other solvers for their kind comments too.
Brilliant, especially the clue for both 10a and 28a, and the use of Methuselah in 14a. I’m more familiar with the themesters from Homer than from James Joyce, although I have read both. Another setter who I make a point of looking out for.
appreciate the clue for IRISH even more, now that i have learned from comments here that Henry Flower is a name used in Ulysses
I really enjoyed this, though my limited knowledge of both elements of the theme meant I did need help in several places. Loved the cluing.
A quick scan through the clues suggested this might be themed around the James Joyce/Ulysses anniversary and we thought ‘Oh, not that again’ having been rather overloaded with it on Radio 3 this week and particularly this morning. Fortunately it was a bit more than that and we enjoyed the classical references, with Brewer to hand to confirm our guesses.
That being said, though, we did struggle in places, particularly with the 9dn/17dn/5ac connection till we decided that 17dn had to be FLOWER although we couldn’t parse it, and the solver-unfriendly grid didn’t help either.
But there was lots to appreciate, such as deriving TELEMACHUS from Methuselah and the two identical clues leading to different answers – great stuff.
Thanks, Methuselah and B&J
Nice.
For those interested in the Stephen/ Simon/ Poldy thing there’s a great book about all things Oedipal, especially with reference to the Romantic poets vs the likes of Milton and Shakespeare, called The Anxiety of Influence — an almost accidental mega-hit in the world of deconstruction.
It was written by a certain, well it almost had to be, Harold Bloom.
Great puzzle. As well as the twin clues, I thought TELEMACHUS was very clever. Thanks to Methuselah for the puzzle and thanks and congratulations to B and J
Good stuff. And as others have said, congrats to B&J.
Congratulations Bertandjoyce, hope for many more years of enlightenment from you both, and thanks for explaining IRISH which I entered from the definition before getting FLOWER and was still puzzling over at the end. Both ‘ends’ of the theme are well outside my GK comfort zone but a sign of the high quality of clueing is that only TELEMACHUS needed confirmation before entry, and i see I am in very good company there. Thanks Methuselah for a Reithian puzzle, ENCLAVE my pick of the many fine clues.
Ulysses is one of my favourite books so I quickly spotted the theme. But I did need a word search to get 17ac. I think I may have heard FINGERPOST before but it didn’t come to mind.
My last foreign trip before the world turned upside down was to Dublin and I visited the Martello tower in Dun Loaghaire which is where the first chapter of the book is set. I went on about the book so much, I think the staff there were getting sick of me. 🙂
We really enjoyed this crossword, as always with Methuselah! Theme was accessible and such clever clues. Like everyone else thought the identical clues were great, and the Jean Rhys anagram….thanks Methuselah and B and J