“All clues are normal, but a letter must DROP out wherever it occurs before entry in each down answer. Dropped letters, in clue order, spell two phrases pinpointing a year when an event befell the unclued entry. In the final grid, the event must be re-enacted by replacing one entry with another leaving empty cells. All entries are real words or names at every stage (ignoring gaps).”
This was a fun puzzle. I cannot do it justice today – November 5th – partly because I am exhausted, and partly for the more prosaic reason that it was quite a while ago that I actually completed it!
The dropping motif ties in nicely with your friend and mine, ISAAC NEWTON (actually, not a very friendly man, but fond of fruit). He had a rather noteworthy 1666.
I found the endgame very pleasing. Partly because – at least for me, and I hope for you – there wasn’t a whiff of ‘guess what I’m thinking’ in it, and partly because… well it’s a falling APPLE!
Thanks, proXimal!
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Homophone | “WORD” |
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eager desires of PI (Greek character) [after] AS (seeing that) RATIONS (food) (11) | ASPIRATIONS | |
| 8 | SH (Quiet) [going round] PL (place) OS (opening) humorous display prominently (6) | SPLOSH | |
| 9 | Cite AD (bill) [put before] DUCE (wartime leader) (6) | ADDUCE | |
| 13 | < (Backing) {EU (confederation) IN} island country (4) | NIUE | |
| 14 | Author |
BLYTON | |
| 15 | COY (Evasive) [bears] [start to] LOOK weary (4) | CLOY | |
| 16 | OMBRE | ||
| 18 | Blag HOIST (lift), [getting |
HEIST | |
| 22 | B |
BESS | |
| 23 | IN DAB (touch) with < SA (South Africa) [about] concerns there (7) | INDABAS | |
| 25 | Patch up I (island) [shed] in SOLD |
SOLDER | |
| 27 | SATIRE’S* [cast] and KING (Rex) is starring (11) | ASTERISKING | |
| 30 | Chemical compounds [start to leave] |
ESTERS | |
| 33 | EEK (I’m frightened) [to feed] BITE (smart) bird of prey (7) | BEEKITE | |
| 34 | {SA |
SAAR | |
| 35 | Base unit MET (was introduced to) R |
METRE | |
| 38 | Extreme LT (officer) [in] U (uniform) [beside] RA (gunners) (5) | ULTRA | |
| 40 | PEEP |
PEEP | |
| 41 | Stuff in ship’s hold truSTEE VExedly protects (6) | STEEVE | |
| 42 | Secure E (base) [moved to far side of] TEAK (wood) (4) | TAKE | |
| 43 | RE (About) [to thread into] TORT (wrong) ring on harness (6) | TORRET | |
| 44 | Lecturer TA (thanks) LIKER (admirer) [without] I (ego) (6) | TALKER | |
| Down | |||
| T | 1 | APPLET | |
| H | 2 | [Brief] PHON |
PHONY |
| E | 3 | HE (That man)[‘s covered in] RUM (weird) mucous discharge (5) | RHEUM |
| G | 4 | GAME (Sport) BAGS (trousers) which stalker might fill (8, two words) | GAME BAGS |
| R | 5 | Reluctant worker |
IDLER |
| E | 6 | < {ELY (See) DO (complete)} [revolutionary] force, purportedly (5) | ODYLE |
| A | 7 | Nodded NUT (head) AT ED (journalist) (7) | NUTATED |
| T | 8 | [Ragged] |
SHTCHIS |
| P | 10 | Body of R (queen) [found in] COPSE (dense thicket) (6) | CORPSE |
| L | 11 | Supplies END (region) [in] LS (Lesotho) (5) | LENDS |
| A | 12 | Escapes from {S (special) OVA (cells) [blocked by] < DI (inspector)} [turning up] (6) | AVOIDS |
| G | 17 | Comparatively dull “GROCER” (shopkeeper) [in conversation] (7) | GROSSER |
| U | 19 | Cook quickly SALUTE (greeting) [bar] LANDLADY [at first] (5) | SAUTE |
| E | 20 | [Engineer] {ALTERS A}* driveable road surface in NZ (7, two words) | TAR SEAL |
| A | 21 | Roused A (American) and E (European) [to capture] WOK (vessel) (5) | AWOKE |
| N | 24 | BEE (Flying beast) [circling] [outskirts of] R |
BERNE |
| N | 26 | Compare “LICHEN” (fungus and alga living symbiotically) [in auditorium] (5) | LIKEN |
| U | 28 | [Almost] RETINU |
UNITER |
| S | 29 | < REP’S (Agent’s) [about] [to secure] WEE (small Scottish) defender (7) | SWEEPER |
| M | 31 | Coloured glass SO (well) [filled with] MALT (liquor) (6) | SMALTO |
| I | 32 | [Somehow] STRIVE* [to host] A (Australian) raves in Perth (7) | TAIVERS |
| R | 33 | Marsh bird BITTER (extremely cold) [close to] |
BITTERN |
| A | 34 | SAINT (Virtuous person) [having N -> S reversal of direction] speaks to Milton (5) | SAIST |
| B | 36 | BORE (Had) [to abandon] O (old) MEN (fellows) somewhere in Germany (6) | BREMEN |
| I | 37 | SERAI | |
| L | 38 | [Revised] VALUE* of organ part (5) | UVEAL |
| I | 39 | Furious |
IRATE |
| S | 40 | Inferior wheat SuPpEr LaTe [regularly] (5) | SPELT |
Before changes:
| A | S | P | I | R | A | T | I | O | N | S | ||
| S | P | L | O | S | H | M | A | D | D | U | C | E |
| H | P | V | N | I | U | E | B | L | Y | T | O | N |
| C | L | O | Y | O | M | B | R | E | L | T | R | D |
| H | E | I | S | T | T | A | O | W | B | E | S | S |
| I | N | D | A | B | A | S | S | O | L | D | E | R |
| S | A | S | T | E | R | I | S | K | I | N | G | W |
| E | S | T | E | R | S | B | E | E | K | I | T | E |
| S | A | A | R | E | A | I | R | M | E | T | R | E |
| I | L | V | S | U | L | T | R | A | P | E | E | P |
| S | T | E | E | V | E | T | A | K | E | R | M | E |
| T | O | R | R | E | T | E | T | A | L | K | E | R |
| I | S | A | A | C | N | E | W | T | O | N |
After changes:
| S | P | I | R | A | T | I | O | N | S | |||
| S | L | O | S | H | M | A | D | D | U | C | E | |
| H | V | N | I | U | E | B | L | Y | T | O | N | |
| C | O | Y | O | M | B | R | E | L | T | R | D | |
| H | I | S | T | T | A | O | W | B | E | S | S | |
| I | N | D | A | B | A | S | S | O | L | D | E | R |
| S | A | S | T | E | R | I | S | K | I | N | G | W |
| E | A | T | E | R | S | B | E | E | K | I | T | E |
| S | P | A | R | E | A | I | R | M | E | T | R | E |
| I | P | V | S | U | L | T | R | A | P | E | E | P |
| S | L | E | E | V | E | T | A | K | E | R | M | E |
| T | E | R | R | E | T | E | T | A | L | K | E | R |
| I | S | A | A | C | N | E | W | T | O | N |
There is a Setter’s Blog for this crossword here:
https://bigdave44.com/2024/11/07/ev-1666-setters-blog/#more-206939
Thanks proXimal. I was fortunate enough to guess ‘Isaac Newton’ along the bottom row relatively early and that was a big help. Still tricky to finish, although I did make things more difficult for myself by failing to take on board the guidance that real words featured at all stages 🙁
I liked “event beFELL” in the preamble
Thank you proXimal and MisterSting.
Being French (and over 40), this puzzle was guaranteed to make me smile.
Isaac Newton and the apple were a regular feature of a French comic strip, la Rubrique A Brac, by Gotlib. Poor Isaac Newton was often depicted dizzy, with a bump on the top of his head, after being hit by an apple (and by gravity). An exaggerated take on history, I heard.