“Ten answers must undergo a REALITY CHECK before entry in the grid. Numbers in brackets show entry lengths. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
The ten thematic answers are the pen names of authors. These are to be replaced with their ‘real’ names.
This was a relatively easy little ramble, but no less the pleasant for that. It took me much longer than it should have to twig (especially given that I saw SAKI/MUNRO), but I got there in the end. I thought SMITH might hold me up as a back-solve, but then I saw that the clue was one of the gentle anagrams that helped populate the grid.
Thanks Opsimath!
I’ve given 27dn as an &lit below. I know you could argue for it either way.
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Answer/Clue entry | SAPPER/MCNEILE |
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SAP (Vital juice) PER (for a) trench digger (7) | SAPPER/MCNEILE |
| 6 | Plain PAM (woman in Dallas?) PAS (Not in Paris) (6) | PAMPAS |
| 11 | Prickly thing U (“you”) [told] LEX (Luthor, perhaps) (4) | ULEX |
| 12 | Salzburg lad [sees] OZ (Aussie) [in] MART (market) (6) | MOZART |
| 13 | Training of R (dog letter) UNTRUE*, [ridiculous] (7) | NURTURE |
| 14 | ROOF* [replaced] [over] L (learner)? Rather the opposite (5) | FLOOR |
| 15 | Replants [new] {TREES FOR S (son)}* (9) | REFORESTS |
| 19 | SWEETS |
SWEETSOP |
| 22 | Examination of A (adult) LEVEL (height) (6, two words) | A LEVEL |
| 23 | Scots knew this was used for leaping ditches in Ayr (6) | KENT/REEMAN |
| 24 | [Cooking], {I DICE SEASONAL}* dish (13, two words) | SALADE NIÇOISE |
| 26 | Freeman [of] DuisBURG, ESSen (6) | BURGESS/WILSON |
| 29 | CAR (Vehicle) TEL (number) for group of firms (6) | CARTEL |
| 30 | Candied roots having {ENERGY SO}* [dissipated] (8) | ERYNGOES |
| 35 | Jazz violinist [upset] {APPLE GIRL}* (9) | GRAPPELLI |
| 38 | < |
LUCRE |
| 39 | NAIL (Fix) RO |
NAIL-ROD |
| 40 | VenICE MANiac [hides] killer (6, two words) | ICE MAN |
| 41 | Girl < [returned] [some] fALSIes (4) | ISLA |
| 42 | Stylish PORT (wine) [in] SY (Seychelles) (6) | SPORTY |
| 43 | V (Very) IN (popular) E (European) grape producer (7) | VINE/RENDELL |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Alcoholic drink made from S |
SAKI/MUNRO |
| 2 | Guiding thread here! (4) | CLUE |
| 3 | Praise EX (former) TOL |
EXTOL |
| 4 | {l END RUN}* [injured] and put in tomb (7) | INURNED |
| 5 | Previously, teaching LE (the French) [about] OR (their gold) (4) | LORE |
| 6 | HEN (Female) RY (railway) unit (6) | HENRY/PORTER |
| 7 | Ester , [set up] ETA LAM |
MALATE |
| 8 | P (Power) ROW (line) for front of ship (4) | PROW |
| 9 | Skunk found in A TO K (first eleven) (4) | ATOK |
| 10 | {HER PLANS}* [scattered] bits of shell (8) | SHRAPNEL |
| 16 | SWAN (Bird) [on] SEA (the tide) in British port (7) | SWANSEA |
| 17 | Suffolk river OR WELL (spring) (5) | ORWELL/BLAIR |
| 18 | J (Judge) ELL (measure of length) Y (unknown) for sweet dessert (5) | JELLY |
| 20 | [Bum] {STEER FOR}* woodsman (5) | FORESTER/SMITH |
| 21 | Fertile spots OAS (French settlers) [start to] E |
OASES |
| 22 | No less than A SWELL (dandy) [and] AS (Norse god) (8, three words) | AS WELL AS |
| 25 | Sea ASP (snake) [in] CIA N (navy) (7) | CASPIAN |
| 27 | Noisy person having [runny] {NOSE [with] [empty] R |
SNORER |
| 28 | SHUT (Closed) [top of] E |
SHUTE/NORWAY |
| 31 | FE (lron) LID (cover) for cat (5) | FELID |
| 32 | BO (Bad smell) X (by) pigeonhole (5) | BOX/VIDAL |
| 33 | QUI (Who, in France), P (quietly) makes clever remark? (4) | QUIP |
| 34 | Here we are, |
ECCO |
| 36 | By the leave of step (4) | PACE |
| 37 | Dangle DOLL (puppet) [initially] [D (500 -> L (50) reduced by 90%]? (4) | LOLL |
| M | C | N | E | I | L | E | P | A | M | P | A | S |
| U | L | E | X | N | O | M | O | Z | A | R | T | H |
| N | U | R | T | U | R | E | R | F | L | O | O | R |
| R | E | F | O | R | E | S | T | S | A | W | K | A |
| O | B | J | L | N | S | W | E | E | T | S | O | P |
| A | L | E | V | E | L | A | R | E | E | M | A | N |
| S | A | L | A | D | E | N | I | C | O | I | S | E |
| W | I | L | S | O | N | S | C | A | R | T | E | L |
| E | R | Y | N | G | O | E | S | S | F | H | S | V |
| L | Q | E | O | G | R | A | P | P | E | L | L | I |
| L | U | C | R | E | W | N | A | I | L | R | O | D |
| A | I | C | E | M | A | N | C | A | I | S | L | A |
| S | P | O | R | T | Y | R | E | N | D | E | L | L |
Inspired by the dedicated work both of setters and of bloggers, I am getting nicely into the rhythm of doing this puzzle most weeks, trying to finish on Sunday, or at least crack the theme then and not have far to go. This was a Sunday finish: as Mister Sting says, it was relatively easy by EV standards but no less pleasant. I can’t have been alone in finding a way in via Orwell/Blair, and Shute/Norway soon confirmed the pattern. Many thanks to Mr S and of course to Opsimath. And to all those authors for making it all possible.