“Clues are presented in conventional order. Solvers should initially add vertical bars. The four answers to obelised clues stand for two words from a traditional saying. Two adjacent words (ten cells) from this saying can be found in the grid. Solvers must remove two vertical bars, add an extra one, and alter the contents of eight cells to reveal the ANTHOLOGY. Two examples (3 and 3) must then be highlighted at the beginning and end of the ten cells along with seven other examples (in all, 45 cells).”
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
Sorry it’s late!
The obelised clues indicate winds and showers – two words from the saying “March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers”.
MARCHAPRIL (at the start of the middle row) is to be replaced with MAYFLOWERS.
MAY and ERS are highlighted, along with SELFHEAL, CLARY, ROSE, CROWFOOT, STATICE, ASTER, and DAISY.
Charybdis is always good for an enjoyable puzzle, and this was no exception.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| * | Swagger BLUER (further down) ST (street) [to pop in] † | BLUSTER |
| * | Fix SCRAP (fight) [ending in] |
SCRAPE |
| * | Little grey cells < [recalled] AR |
CINEREA |
| * | Police force THEME (subject) [against] [back of] |
THE MET |
| * | Perfect fifth H (husband) {LEO I AIM}* [to spoil] | HEMIOLIA |
| * | Daphne’s family member, A GILA (monster lizard) | AGILA |
| * | AG |
AGISTS |
| * | I [dipped into] HER (lady’s) TABLE (dresser) that is meant to be left | HERITABLE |
| * | Radical AMY (beloved girl) and L (liberal) | AMYL |
| * | Little reptile C (caught) ROC (huge bird) | CROC |
| * | < TALE (Story) [about] I (one) [backing] Red Sea resort | EILAT |
| * | Spoil [early stages of[ MAR |
MAR |
| * | Cheek shaver | CHAP |
| * | Put out and |
RILE |
| * | Surprised reactions [off and on] |
AHAS |
| * | 72 gallons [fat = 9 bushels = 9 x 8 gallons] gross | FAT |
| * | YALU | |
| * | Feature of rentinG A LEt † (gale = a periodic payment of rent) | GALE |
| * | Press [capturing] R (rector) [in] THONG (skimpy attire) | THRONG |
| * | Long ago fresh pack of hunting dogs set out again | RELAY |
| * | STORE* [dilapidated] old instruments | ROTES |
| * | A |
LAITH |
| * | HOSTAGE (Prisoner) [gives up] HO (hostilities only) for the theatre | STAGE |
| * | E (Energy) [fed into] SON’S (lad’s) sound units | SONES |
| * | SCOUT (Spy) HER (that girl’s) burn in Ayr † | SCOUTHER |
| * | Publicly set up PORT (opening) [in] S (special) ED (education) | SPORTED |
| * | It’s reckless [moving R (right) to near end of] RUNWAY (landing strip) | UNWARY |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Subject of LIE (story) by GE |
LIEGEMAN |
| 2 | Free of muck {MY RUIN}* [is transformed] (6) | UNMIRY |
| 3 | Lawyer’s put in possession of IS (island) [in] SEE (diocese) (5) | SEISE |
| 4 | T. ROTH (Reservoir Dogs actor)’s old-fashioned faithfulness (5) | TROTH |
| 5 | Fish, HEELS -> ‘EELS (those not far from soles) [at Billingsgate?] (4) | EELS |
| 6 | { |
STATIC |
| 7 | Pure C (cocaine) and HASTE (speed) (6) | CHASTE |
| 8 | AM I ABLE (Have I what it takes) to be kind? (7) | AMIABLE |
| 9 | Hide and bombard (4) † | PELT |
| 10 | Arsenal APE (take off) [after] [start of] E |
ETAPE |
| 11 | Gather < PORC (what Norman charcuterie offers) [up] (4) | CROP |
| 12 | [Fancy] LADY* [collects] I (paper) (this one’s sister?) (5) | DAILY |
| 13 | GG (Gee-gee) R (runs) [with] ASS (donkey) [to eat] A M (mass) [that’s essentially] |
GAMA GRASS |
| 14 | Wipe records from [beginning to] R |
ERASE |
| 15 | CHARYBDIS (I’m this cautious with [dodgy] [final] BIDS*) (5) | CHARY |
| 16 | [Empty] T |
THUGGERY |
| 17 | Vermin from [top half of] RAT |
RAT |
| 18 | One inspected stuff L (left) in AN AGE (a long while) [on top of] R |
ALNAGER |
| 19 | One makes good DEALER (card player) [leading with H (hearts) not D (diamonds)] (6) | HEALER |
| 20 | < {TOO (Extremely) F (feminine)}, [up] for a bit of poetry (4) | FOOT |
| 21 | Our circulation depends on this 12 (6, two words) | THE SUN |
| 22 | < [Upbringing] of {P (Prince) SEA (Caspian, say)}, [receiving] O (Oscar) for tale teller (5) | AESOP |
| 23 | < {ON (Regarding) ALL (everything) [being topsy-turvy], it’s plain (5) | LLANO |
| 24 | O (Old) < {A (Australian) HAM (actor)} [turned up] in US city (5) | OMAHA |
| 25 | RISE | |
| 26 | TU (Trade Union) [has HO (house) in] old address (4) | THOU |
| B | L | U | S | T | E | R | S | C | R | A | P | E |
| C | I | N | E | R | E | A | T | H | E | M | E | T |
| H | E | M | I | O | L | I | A | A | G | I | L | A |
| A | G | I | S | T | S | C | T | S | D | A | T | P |
| G | E | R | E | H | E | R | I | T | A | B | L | E |
| A | M | Y | L | C | R | O | C | E | I | L | A | T |
| M | A | R | C | H | A | P | R | I | L | E | A | H |
| A | N | A | H | A | S | F | A | T | Y | A | L | U |
| G | A | L | E | R | E | O | T | H | R | O | N | G |
| R | E | L | A | Y | R | O | T | E | S | M | A | G |
| A | S | A | L | A | I | T | H | S | T | A | G | E |
| S | O | N | E | S | S | C | O | U | T | H | E | R |
| S | P | O | R | T | E | D | U | N | W | A | R | Y |
| B | L | U | S | T | E | R | S | C | R | A | P | E |
| C | I | N | E | R | E | A | T | H | E | M | E | T |
| H | E | M | I | O | L | I | A | A | G | I | L | A |
| A | G | I | S | T | S | C | T | S | D | A | T | P |
| G | E | R | E | H | E | R | I | T | A | B | L | E |
| A | M | Y | L | C | R | O | C | E | I | L | A | T |
| M | A | Y | F | L | O | W | E | R | S | E | A | H |
| A | N | A | H | A | S | F | A | T | Y | A | L | U |
| G | A | L | E | R | E | O | T | H | R | O | N | G |
| R | E | L | A | Y | R | O | T | E | S | M | A | G |
| A | S | A | L | A | I | T | H | S | T | A | G | E |
| S | O | N | E | S | S | C | O | U | T | H | E | R |
| S | P | O | R | T | E | D | U | N | W | A | R | Y |
Very hard work but a lovely denouement. However, in my view slightly spoiled by the tricky wording of the endgame – why must we ‘remove two vertical bars and add another’ after having hughlighted MARCH and APRIL, when the bars are then in the wrong place for MAY FLOWERS?
I also didn’t think highlighting MAY and ERS was necessary despite them being flowers, when it all the other ones were beautifully created by changing CHAPRIL to FLOWERS.
But, a fun workout with beautiful grid construction, so thank you.
After skipping the previous week’s Playfair – as always on the rare occasions it turns up, here and from Azed – I thought this was in the Goldilocks zone, ‘just right’ in terms of difficulty and interest. Nice mix of familiar and unfamiliar flower names. Nearly two weeks on, I don’t recall enough to engage with the mild reservations of Arnold @1, but did not have a problem at the time, and I second his thanks to setter and blogger.
I did not bother with the bars, but when I retrieved my grid to try to answer the question by @1arnold, I only confused myself. I thought I understood the instruction at the time. Still I agree it was a most enjoyable puzzle. I did not know that an ‘anthology’ could be a collection of flowers, but looking up the title word beforehand confirmed the endgame for me. Thanks to setter and blogger.
Agree with @3ub that ‘anthology’ was neat. It suddenly clicked for me via the memory of ‘Other Men’s Flowers’, the great anthology of poems compiled in 1944 by the then very active Field Marshal (later Earl) Wavell.