I’m posting this one in a bit of a rush, I’m afraid. The deadline for entering the competition is the 7th, so I thought I had more time, but our esteemed site administrator tells me that the Guardian have published the answers already, and people are asking for this post. This was a big, themed bank holiday puzzle by Maskarade. There was lots to enjoy here, although I found myself annoyed by the imprecision with how the rubric was written…
The rubric read as follows:
A theme word is missing from the wordplay of 30 clues; with three further clues two theme words are missing; with four more clues the solution is a theme word. (Five of the theme words are used twice.)
That wording (“A theme word is missing from the wordplay of 30 clues”) I immediately interpreted to mean “you should insert a theme word into the wordplay part of the clue, and then solve it”. However, what it actually meant was that a theme word needed to be inserted into the result of solving the wordplay part of the clue! So I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out what was indicating insertion in the first few themed clues I got. I’ve solved other puzzles that used this device that expressed this unambiguously.
Update: Thank you to everyone in the comments who worked out that there are actually either 5 clues where the answer is a theme word – two of them have a definitions in the clue, the other three don’t.
That aside, I found this quite tough going overall, although I like the theme, and I appreciated that the rivers weren’t too obscure. Thank you for the challenging puzzle, Maskarade!
Across
1. Old bird became indignant (6,4)
BOILED OVER
BOILER = “Old bird” (Chambers says: “A (usu old) fowl, best cooked by boiling”)
Definition: “became indignant”
6. District official backing little country relative (5)
*** AMMAN
‘NAM (Vietnam) = “little” (i.e. abbreviated) “country” + MA = “relative” – Thanks to Flavia for pointing out that this is also a theme word answer
Definition: “District official” (Chambers says that “amtman or amman” is “In Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, a district magistrate”)
9. It’s black in London with patches on a page (6)
FRIARS
Double definition: “It’s black in London” referring to Blackfriars and “patches on a page” – one definition of Friar in Chambers is “A pale patch on a printed page”
15. Small amount beginning to dissolve (7)
DRIBBLE
D[issolve] = “beginning to dissolve”
Definition: “Small amount”
16. Goddess’s butter substitute (5)
FLORA
Double Definition: “Goddess” and “butter substitute”
17. Plundered finer points on the way back (9)
SPOLIATED
DETAILS = “finger points” reversed (“on the way back”)
Definition: “Plundered”
18. The Ring o’ Bells on extremes of peninsula (9)
!! CAMPANILE
P[eninsul]A = “extremes of peninsula”
Definition: “The Ring o’ Bells” – a campanile is a bell tower, but I get the sense I’m missing a reference here
19. Heart of a dynasty’s ancient Roman protective screen (7)
TESTUDO
[t]UDO[r] = “Heart of a dynasty”
Definition: “ancient Roman protective screen” – the thing where they made a tortoise out of their shields
20. Tune during middle of dinner (5)
*** NAIRN
AIR = “Tune” during middle of dinner
Definition: [one of the three clues where a theme word is the answer, and the definition is omitted]
21. Blue spiraea almost wholly pruned (4)
SAXE
S[piraea] = “spiraea almost wholly pruned”
Definition: “Blue” (“Of a deep shade of light blue” according to Chambers)
23. Had eg surgery on ulna oddly (9)
UNDERWENT
U[l]N[a] = “ulna oddly”
Definition: “Had eg surgery”
24. Letter is material (7)
TAFFETA
ETA = “Letter”
Definition: “material”
26. Rarely easy sorting out youth (5,5)
EARLY YEARS
(RARELY EASY)*
Definition: “youth”
28. Prevents rash returning (5)
STOPS
SPOTS = “rash” reversed (“returning”)
Definition: “Prevents”
30. Culmination of time of a country dance (6)
HEYDAY
A “hey” is a country dance, so a HEY DAY might be the time of that dance
Definition: “Culmination”
33. One of 9 has a roll of sheep’s wool cut (10)
SAVONAROLA
TODOThanks to Tim C for explaining this one: S = “has” (like apostrophe-S) + A + ROLA[g] = “sheep’s wool cut”
Definition: “One of [FRIARS]” – referring to Girolamo Savonarola
36. Multinational company backs show out East (8)
UNILEVER
REVU[e] = “show” without E (“out East”) reversed (“backs”)
Definition: “Multinational company”
37. Dreadful British promotion (3)
BAD
“B = British” + AD = “promotion”
Definition: “Dreadful”
40. Antics now and again of friendly goblin (3)
NIS
[a]N[t]I[c]S = “Antics now and again”
Definition: “friendly goblin” – Chambers has: “A friendly goblin or other benevolent creature” from Scandinavian folklore
41. Actors Robert and Oliver continued unchanged (8)
REMAINED
REED = “Actors Rober and Oliver”, referring to Robert Reed and Oliver Reed
Definition: “continuing unchanged”
42. Lectern was wrecked (2,8)
*** ST LAWRENCE
(LECTERN WAS)*
Definition: [one of the three clues where themed words are the answer, and the definition is omitted]
43. Sappers by city house come back again (2-4)
RE-ECHO
RE (Royal Engineers) = “Sappers” + EC = “city” + HO = “house”
Definition: “come back again”
44. Horse, so to speak (5)
*** RHONE
Sounds like “roan”
Definition: [one of the three clues where themed words are the answer, and the definition is omitted]
45. Cryptic clues honed as expected (2,8)
ON SCHEDULE
(CLUES HONED)*
Definition: “as expected”
50. Pruned tidily, adorned (7)
TRIMMED
Double definition: “pruned tidily” and “adorned”
52. Dairy product from cask after churning (9)
BUTTERFAT
BUTT = “cask” + (AFTER)*
Definition: “Dairy product”
54. Outlay — just a shilling (4)
EXES
S = “just a shilling”
Definition: “Outlay” – “exes” is apparently short for “expenses”
56. Eastern ruler backing some agreement (5)
EMEER
Hidden reversed in [ag]REEME[nt]
Definition: “Easter ruler”
57. Don holding covers of horticultural magazine? (7)
MONTHLY
MONTY = “Don” (referring to the Gardener’s World presenter) around H[orticultura]L
Definition: “magazine”
58. Wine waiter’s recliner? (9)
SOMMELIER
LIER = “recliner?”
Definition: “Wine waiter”
60. Sleuth not working, having time for female (9)
DETECTIVE
DEFECTIVE = “not working” but with T = “time” instead of F = “female”
Definition: “Sleuth”
61. Surrey and WI cricketer is one in the swim (5)
*** ROACH
Double definition: Surrey and WI cricketer and “one in the swim”
62. Dressing for roulette? (7)
RUSSIAN
Double definition: “Dressing”, referring to Russian dressing and “roulette?”, referring to Russian roulette
63. Manuscript from Kincardineshire, formerly (6)
MEARNS
MS = “Manuscript”
Definition: “Kincardineshire, formerly”
64. Long ridge at end of the river (5)
ESKER
[riv]ER = “end of the river”
Definition: “Long ridge”
65. Miller’s wheel where dinners got cooked (10)
GRINDSTONE
(DINNERS GOT)*
Definition: “Miller’s wheel”
Down
1. Chap’s cool top (6)
BODICE
BOD = “Chap” + ICE = “cool”
Definition: “top”
2. Man holding girl, in a manner of speaking (5)
IDIOM
IOM (Isle of Man) = “Man” around DI = “girl”
Definition: “a manner of speaking”
3. Court corruption of supporter caught blocking board (9)
EMBRACERY
BRA = “supporter” + C = “caught” in EMERY = “board”
Definition: “Court corruption”
4. A very small amount of time (3,6)
ONE MINUTE
ONE = “A” + MINUTE = “very small”
Definition: “amount of time”
5. Keen officer led out odd members on royal bike (7)
ENFIELD
[k]E[e]N [o]F[f]I[c]E[r] L[e]D = “Keen officer led” without the odd letters (“out odd members”)
Definition: “royal bike”
7. Plan to confess in financial assessment (5,7)
MEANS TESTING
MEAN = “Plan” + SING = “confess”
Definition: “financial assessment”
8. Attack a sailor, reportedly (7)
ASSAULT
Sounds like “a salt”
Definition: “Attack”
10. Heard shower frequently fault period of the French Revolution (5,2,6)
REIGN OF TERROR
REIGN sounds like “rain” = “Heard shower” + OFT = “frequently” + ERROR = “fault”
Definition: “period of the French Revoltion”
11. Fred Basset appearing regularly (7)
ASTAIRE
[b]A[s]S[e]T
Definition: “Fred”
12. Remaining unmoved at railway station first (9)
SEDENTARY
STA = “station” + RY = “railway”
Definition: “Remaining unmoved”
13. Street carriage (7)
!! POSTURE
ST = “Street”
Definition:
14. Only half tolerable, and more of the same (2,5)
SO FORTH
SO[-so] = “Only half tolerable”
Definition: “more of the same”
22. A striver, I fancy? (9)
ARRIVISTE
(A STRIVER I)*
Definition: the whole clue – this is a nice &lit
25. Surrounds tailless deer (4,2)
HEMS IN
Sorry, I can’t parse this one – Thanks to Tim C for explaining – I hadn’t spotted that EMS is a river. The rest is: HIN[d] = “tailless deer”
Definition: “Surrounds”
27. Elizabethan favourite at demo, we’re told, for some (7)
RALEIGH
Sounds like “rally” (“or demo”) for some – that’s acknowledging that some people pronounce it RAH-lee and some say Rally
Definition: “Elizabethan favourite”
29. Old foot soldier’s pack (7)
PELOTON
Oops, I missed a river here thanks to not being able to spell “peloton” (!), which Flavia kindly pointed out in the comments: PEON = “Old foot soldier”
Definition: “pack” (the pack in cycling races like the Tour de France is known as the peloton)
31. Security blanket’s tip (9)
!! DEBENTURE
[blanke]T = “blanket’s tip”
Definition: “Security”
32. Luvvie oddly wiped a layer in the eye (4)
UVEA
[l]U[v]V[i]E = “Luvvie oddly wiped” (i.e. “luvvie” without the odd numbered letters) + A
Definition: “layer in the eye”
34. Corn Iran distributed to Yank (5,8)
NORTH AMERICAN
(CORN IRAN)*
Definition: “Yank”
35. Rough time outside capital (4)
ROME
RO[ugh ti]ME = “Rough time outside”
Definition:
38. Writer or bird become stronger (6)
DEEPEN
PEN = “Writer” or “bird” (an adult female swan)
Definition: “became stronger”
39. Much Binding star is very hard on the department (7,5)
KENNETH HORNE
HH = “very hard” (as in pencil classification) + ORNE = “deparment”
Definition: “Much Binding star”
43. Right, mother! Here’s a large port! (9)
ROTTERDAM
R = “Right” + DAM = “mother”
Definition: “a large port”
46. Misery man’s boat (9)
CATAMARAN
(James) CAAN = “Misery man” (he was one of the stars of the film “Misery”)
Definition: “boat”
47. Two sets of opponents snack (9)
ELEVENSES
ELEVENS (in cricket) and E and S (East and North in bridge) are opponents Although this parsing works, I think, Tim C correctly points out that to get the count of this type of clues right, this must be LEVEN (the river) in ES ES (two sets of East and South – opponents in bridge)
Definition: “snack”
48. See you tomorrow in the heart of hell (1,6)
A DEMAIN
[h]ADE[s]
Definition: “See you tomorrow”
49. Hogmanay is close (3,4)
NEW YEAR
NEAR = “close”
Definition: “Hogmanay”
51. Reserve rearranged date for drink (4,3)
ICED TEA
ICE = “Reserve” + (DATE)*
Definition: “drink”
52. Cockney woman’s standards (7)
BANNERS
‘ERS = “Cockney woman’s”
Definition: “standards”
53. Champion on board mostly passionate about school (7)
FISCHER
FIER[y] = “mostly passionate” around SCH = “school”
Definition: “Champion on board”
55. Thirty abroad — one working out (6)
TRENTE
[on]E = “one” but without ON = “working”
Definition: “Thirty abroad” = TRENTE is 30 in French
59. Architect announcing his entrance (5)
INIGO
IN I GO! might be someone announcing their entrance
Definition: “Architect”
Wordplay for 33 across S(AVON)AROLA is S(has) A(a) ROLA(g), a rolag being a roll of combed sheep’s wool ready for spinning.
I finished all but a couple of clues then put it aside meaning to come back to it but never did. So thanks for filling in the blanks for me mhl.
25 down H(EMS) IN is HIN(d) for tailless deer, where EMS is the river.
18A uses both CAM and NILE.
CAMPANILE. The rivers Cam and Nile?
[Snap Flavia@3. And I didn’t even get that far in the crossword. 🙂 ]
Sorry, I see that was indicated by the double exclamation marks.
There were supposed to be four clues where the answer was a theme word, but it didn’t explicitly say there was no definition in the clue (as for NAIRN, ST LAWRENCE and RHONE). Your fourth was ROACH, but mine was AMMAN (in Wales).
Except Flavia @6, AMMAN, although it’s also a river, it is defined by “district official”, whereas the other four are not defined (except for the preamble saying they are theme words).
61A ROACH is also defined. I can’t find a fourth without counting one or other.
There are times when I am very grateful that I do not possess a printer, and they all seem to coincide with Maskarade setting a Bank Holiday Weekend Prize crossword. What remains of my life is too short.
Enjoyed this one. Reminiscent of a Christmas Maskarade a couple of years ago where the missing wordplay led to many fish.
Agree with TimC on the parsing of 33a and 25d.
I counted 29 single-themers, 6 double-themers and 5 where the answer is a theme word. 40 in all, but not quite what the preamble suggests.
The theme words that are used twice: PO, URE, TEST, MAIN and NILE.
Answer as a theme word: ST LAWRENCE, RHÔNE, ROACH, NAIRN and AMMAN.
Thanks to Maskarade and to mhl for the blog.
You left out 29D, which is PELOTON (‘pack’ in cycle racing), i.e. river LOT (in France) inserted in PEON.
Good point, Flavia @8.
There’s also the LEVEN in ELEVENSES which isn’t highlighted. I get 14 across (1,15,17,19,21,23,24,33,36,41,54,58,63,64) and 16 down (7,11,12,14,25,29,34,38,39,43,46,47,48,49,52,55) which make 30.
Jay @10, which 3 extra “doubles clues” did you have?
LEVEN in 47D both resolves and adds to the problem with counting, as it doesn’t have to be added to the existing elements of the clue! (And is it maybe a bit obscure for Europeans?) ((I was waiting for the URAL to make an appearance.))
I parsed it differently Flavia @13, with the wordplay giving ESES (two sets of opponents), which solves the problem. I wouldn’t have thought the Leven flowing from Loch Lomond to the Clyde would be any more obscure than others (like the Ribble which I only got because I was born in Preston).
There’s also another Leven in Fife.
Tim, YES, that does resolve it nicely. And spot on with the Scottish LEVEN(s); I was thinking of the one here(ish) in Tasmania.
Thanks for a very clear and mammoth blog, I too was a bit annoyed with the rubric, it is quite easy to get these right. Theme word solutions are 3 or 5 depending on if you allow the extra definition , but not 4. I am firmly for LEVEN in ELEVENSES , bridge is far superior to cricket .
Overall I really enjoyed it , the clues are generally neat and precise and alao very concise. You cannot write much when there are so many clues, I also thought the amount of obscurity was very low for a puzzle of this size.
Tim C @12, apologies if I wasn’t clear, I meant 6 theme words contained in double clues (of which there are 3). I had the same as you with the exception of LEVEN which takes me to 30 singles, 6 more in the doubles and 5 where the answer is a theme word. I wonder if AMMAN wasn’t intended as it’s fairly obscure. We’d then tie back to the preamble perfectly.
Will look at the blog later. Didn’t finish the puzzle. I find these “specials” tedious. As Balfour@9 says, life’s too short. Thanks to mhl in anticipation.
Thanks for clarifying Jay @18
Thanks to everyone for the corrections and additions – I’ve updated the post with those! I’ve also changed the colour I used for highlighting the rivers from dark magenta to red, since it seems like the former didn’t have enough contrast.
I’ve now read the blog and at least understand a few more parsings. Also know a few more rivers I’d never previously heard of, plus several other obscurities.
Thank you. Like Tim C@1, I meant to come back to finish this but never did. Missed out with 6 and 54 – would never have thought of “exes” anyway. I believe Raleigh could also be pronounced Raw-lee back in the day.
Thanks, Maskarade and mhl! Thanks to Tim C and Flavia for your useful inputs.
A couple of minor points:
ESKER
end of th-E+R(iver)
POSTURE and ROME
The def’s left blank inadvertently.
I always enjoy these brain teasers by Maskarade even if I can’t parse them all. I missed Amman (hadn’t heard of the River or district just the city) and Unilever (no excuse, Duh!). Kept looking for this post for several days as was intrigued to discover the parsing so many thanks not just to M and m, and also the various contributors above who helped with some of the trickier ones.
I really like that Maskarade does these, I look forward to them even, but found this one a bit of a grind. Too much looking up short words to see if they were rivers. Missed SAXE, didn’t know the colour or the river. Didn’t have a problem with the instructions, though.
Tried for too long to interpret Kincardineshire as THE MEarns, which would have been a delightful bit of self-reference if it had only worked.
Aargh! I missed LEVEN in ELEVENSES, otherwise all ok. I too identified five, not four, clues whose complete answers were rivers, as discussed above. Two of these (AMMAN and ROACH) had definitions as well as wordplay, and the other three (ST LAWRENCE, NAIRN and RHONE) had only wordplay.
Thanks to Maskarade for an entertaining puzzle chock full of thematic names, and to mhl for all the work that went into the blog.
ORNE in KENNETH HORNE is a river as well, but clued as “department”. Wonder why that wasn’t clued to make another double-river work?
Well, if ROLA(G), a Scottish Gaelic word, is acceptable without any indication for ‘sheep’s wool’, then I claim 40a NIS as a theme word: it’s the Scottish Gaelic spelling of the River Ness (as in Inbhernis=Inverness).
On the way back from the paper shop on the Saturday I glimmed the rubric and thought, “that’s got to be rivers”. But as others have pointed out, there were more rivers than the setter bargained for!
The prize conditions also stated that entries had to be in by 7th September and the solution would be published on the 11th. Are neither of these true?
I had a big gap in the NW sector, which BOILE[D OVER] might have released (or lanced 🙂 ), but despite having seen DOVE this one escaped me. BODICE and EMBRACERY seem to have been blind spots for me. Is it too late to learn?
Thanks to Maskarade and mhl – sterling effort(s)!
At 14d I had GO FORTH, which made sense to me as ‘half tolerable’=GO(od); ‘…and more of the same‘ seemed to point in the direction of “go forth and multiply“.
With 68 clues, who’s got time to parse every one?
I didn’t notice the rubric and jumped straight in. The theme dawned on me after completing 42 (ST LAWRENCE), puzzling why the anagram in 34 (NORTH AMERICAN) was missing THAME from the clue, and deciding that 58’s wine waiter must be SOMMELIER. I’m not convinced it would have been better to read the rubric before starting.
Has an error crept occurred in the highlighting of the river in 58A? I don’t think LIER should be in red.
I made an unenthusiastic start to this. Then the heavens opened and my paper got drenched. Some sort of unconcious cosmic ordering maybe?
I adored this. Rivers … especially UK rivers … are my thing. I thoroughly enjoyed the solve. A great BH challenge which took me quite some days.
I was very happy with the rubric. It gave enough help. I counted NAIRN, ST LAWRENCE, RHONE and ROACH as my four solutions that are theme words.
I ruled out AMMAN because it was fully clued, though I guess that was a fifth. Likewise, I didn’t consider LOT as a river in PELOTON because the clue seemed to work as a double-defintion, albeit in French.
The River Leven I was thinking of is the one in N Yorkshire. Floodwise, I think it is the most interesting hydrologically. But that may be the Yorkshireman coming out. My absolute favourite clue was 11D for ASTAIRE, with AIRE in red.
My parsing errors were to mark up VER rather than DOVE as the river in BOILED OVER … thinking that the leftovers were an anagram of OLD BIRD … and not to diagnose the ROLA(G) in SAVONAROLA.
Great thanks to Maskarade for the entertainment and to mhl for coping with a really tricky puzzle to blog.
I found this blog rather late as assumed it wouldn’t go
Out until prize entries were closed.
Some. Great rivers and clues in there as well as some that (imo) weren’t that great. dRIBBLE CAMpaNILE caTAMARan neWYEar were all fantastic. DEbEN-TURE, a deMAIN and some others where it felt like a shoe-horn was being applied less so. I’ve given up
Counting the numbers per rubric, it just always seems to be wrong.
I missed out sAXE — a bit hard with -A-E and didn’t write in hEMS-in (though the river here is fair!).
Mostly very enjoyable. thanks Maskarade and mhl for the mammoth blog and to all other learned contributors!
I alway look forward to Maskarade’s Bank Holiday puzzles and I usually complete them after much pondering. However I was unable to complete this one, getting bored after three days and deciding to cheat for the remaining solutions – think DanWord etc. If I recall correctly the Easter puzzle was a DNF for me too, so I have come to the conclusion that these puzzles are getting harder ! But I shall keep on, despite this and despiter the downright awkward grids which Maskarade insists on using – and of course the Guardian’s inability to print said grid large enough to write legibly in !!
Thanks to Maskarade and to mhl
Is the tip of a blanket “t”? (31ac). It had to be debenture but I could not parse the rest of the letters around b (which I took to be tip of blanket).