“The two unclued ADVERSARIES must be changed to the phrase uttered when one caught sight of the other (creating real-word crossing entries). Single-letter clashes occur in five cells; the letters to be kept spell out who actually spoke these words. Solvers must highlight six cells in a straight line offering (overlapping) four-word confirmation of the sighting. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
In grid order, the letters to be kept from the single-letter clashes spell out (Mel) BLANC, who voiced both TWEETY PIE and SYLVESTER, the former of whom said I TAWT I TAW A PUDDY TAT – I DID! I DID!
I’m sure this was welcome relief for many who might have been expecting obscure historic, or at least “high” art adversaries.
I’m also sure that I wasn’t alone in being initially flummoxed by 15ac, which was one of the very last in – or by consulting an “aid” for 5ac. However, these were fair, unambiguous, and often creative clues.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | < [Travelling west], UNA (Irish girl) BIS (twice) leads to God (6) | ANUBIS |
| 5 | AKEDAH | |
| 9 | [Practically] FO |
FOCI |
| 11 | {VALUE Z (Zulu)}* [playing] [holding] UV (type of light) horn (8) | VUVUZELA |
| 12 | EN (Space) [is surrounded by] DIM (dark) material (5) | DENIM |
| 13 | Vessel SATANIC (of arch-enemy) [lacking] TAN [core] (function) (4) | SAIC |
| 15 | Empress‘s drum (7) | MATILDA |
| 16 | Carnivore [starts to] P |
PUMA |
| 17 | Eddy’s joke in front of troops (5) | ROTOR |
| 24 | Internal parts of RECTA |
RECTA |
| 27 | BRA (Something that holds up) E (earth) in bank of Tay? (4) | BRAE |
| 29 | ROLL (Yankee’s supply of money) [includes] AG (silver) D (penny once) for toy (7, two words) | RAG DOLL |
| 32 | [Heartless] SU |
SUER |
| 33 | MoDEL HIndu exhibits here? (5) | DELHI |
| 34 | C (Contralto) RELIANT* [on] musical instrument (8) | CLARINET |
| 35 | SEI (Whale) F (following) windy sand dune (4) | SEIF |
| 36 | Beset with bad luck, J (Jack) IN (involved) [with] ED (Edmund), [separated by] X (kiss) (6) | JINXED |
| 37 | Improper RISE (advance) [capturing] QU (Queen) (6) | RISQUE |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Mineral‘s A LUM |
ALUM |
| 2 | NO (Drama) [finding] Y (unknown) AU (gold) |
NOYAU |
| 3 | RON (Ronald) [kicked out of] MIDI |
MIDI |
| 4 | Several < NUS (Greek characters) [looking up] DRY (out of water) (6) | SUNDRY |
| 5 | Central characters in { |
AVION |
| 6 | In India, miss < {[end of] |
KUMARI |
| 7 | Struck [auditor’s] “DELT” (muscle) (5) | DEALT |
| 8 | Girl and SON (boy) [supporting] ALI (the greatest) (6) | ALISON |
| 10 | < PENT (Confined) AC (before food), [in retrospect], it attracts 16 across? (6) | CATNEP |
| 11 | VET (Examine in fine detail) [around] [borders of] L |
VELDT |
| 13 | [In conversation], “SHOOS” (drives away) creepers? (5) | SHOES |
| 14 | [Almost] CU |
CURARE |
| 16 | [Cultivation of] RIPEST* ferns (6) | PTERIS |
| 18 | Compound [fracture] SET* [in] ER (Birmingham A&E) (5) | ESTER |
| 19 | Flash ST (street) ROBE (dress) (6) | STROBE |
| 20 | GLUIER* [liquid] metals, particularly impure (6) | REGULI |
| 21 | WI druggist in YAR (Yemen) DIE (to snuff it) (6) | YARDIE |
| 22 | American meat producer VEER (to change course) [around] AL (Alabama) (6) | VEALER |
| 23 | In this, Oxbridge __s generally have above-average h__ and w____ (5) | EIGHT |
| 25 | G (Government) [is on top of] LEAN (inadequate) harvest (5) | GLEAN |
| 26 | Turn END (tail) [in support of] TR (Turkey) (5) | TREND |
| 28 | In trat, Max’s [new recipe for] PILAU* (5, two words) | AL PIU |
| 30 | Insult D (daughter) – |
DISS |
| 31 | [Regularly] |
LIFE |
| A | N | U | B | I | S | A | K | E | D | A | H |
| L | O | C | I | V | U | V | U | Z | E | L | A |
| U | Y | A | D | E | N | I | M | S | A | I | C |
| M | A | T | I | L | D | A | A | H | L | S | U |
| P | U | N | A | D | R | N | R | O | T | O | R |
| T | W | E | E | T | Y | P | I | E | S | N | A |
| E | R | P | S | Y | L | V | E | S | T | E | R |
| R | E | C | T | A | T | E | I | B | R | A | E |
| I | G | L | E | R | R | A | G | D | O | L | L |
| S | U | E | R | D | E | L | H | I | B | P | I |
| C | L | A | R | I | N | E | T | S | E | I | F |
| J | I | N | X | E | D | R | I | S | Q | U | E |
| A | N | U | B | I | S | A | K | E | D | A | H |
| L | O | C | I | V | U | V | U | Z | E | L | A |
| U | Y | A | D | E | N | I | M | S | A | I | C |
| M | A | T | I | L | D | A | A | H | L | S | U |
| P | U | N | A | D | R | N | R | O | T | O | R |
| I | T | A | W | T | I | T | A | W | S | N | A |
| E | R | P | A | P | U | D | D | Y | T | A | T |
| R | E | C | T | A | T | E | I | B | R | A | E |
| I | G | L | E | R | R | A | G | D | O | L | L |
| S | U | E | R | D | E | L | H | I | B | P | I |
| C | L | A | R | I | N | E | T | S | E | I | F |
| J | I | N | X | E | D | R | I | S | Q | U | E |
What’s up, Shark? Thank you for a clever puzzle and its salute to Mel Blanc. And to Mister Sting for sorting out EV clues every four weeks.
I always enjoy puzzles where the setter has posed him/herself a challenge and triumphantly met it. In this case it would have been easier, but far less elegant, to position S and TP away from one another in the grid; to arrange for I DID I DID to appear elsewhere (or not at all); and to derive Mel Blanc from gimmicked clues rather than constrained entries. Add these features to entertaining clueing and you have an outstanding puzzle.
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, with its highly entertaining and cleverly incorporated theme. And I agree with everything Ifor said above about this puzzle.
Maybe a ‘low brow’ subject, but given the high-brow treatment…lots of fun, and thanks to Shark and Mister Sting.
Yes, an outstanding puzzle. Thanks Shark and Mr Sting