This month’s globetrotting puzzle. Find it to solve online or download and print at ft.com/crossword
The usual preamble:
A cryptic puzzle themed on one particular place in the world. Its name shoudl be inserted at 16 Across. Work out the place by solving the * asterisked clues, all undefined. Their solutions have some relevance to the place, such as landmarks and language.
A good fun crossword, as is typically the case with Gozo. I happen to be quite familiar with the location that provides today’s theme so fairly breezed through this. It also helps if you speak a bit of French, as Gozo has included a few French words in the solutions, but I think even non-French speakers should be familiar with most of them.
Thanks, Gozo!
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BERET |
Basque cap with pillowcase on end of cot (5)
|
| BERE (obsolete word for a pillowcase) + last letter of coT | ||
| 4 | AEGEAN SEA |
Wild Canada geese shunning extremities of cold in European waters (6,3)
|
| Anagram (wild) of cANAdA GEESE less the first and last letters (extremities) of ColD | ||
| 9 | INVADER |
Railed against, we hear. It’s right to become attacker (7)
|
| Sounds like INVEIGHED (railed against) + R (right) | ||
| 10 | REVERIE |
Vicar on lake, musing dreamily in 16 (7)
|
| REV (vicar) + ERIE (one of the Great Lakes) | ||
| 11 | DOLL |
Puppet with the same lines (4)
|
| DO (abbreviation for ditto = the same) + L (line) + L (line) | ||
| 12 | EVADE |
Steer clear of English Channel on return (5)
|
| E (English) + DAVE (TV channel) reversed (on return) | ||
| 13 |
See 5 Down
|
|
| 16 | PARIS |
* [See Setter Notes] (5)
|
| The place to which all asterisked clues here refer | ||
| 17 | QUINCE |
Fruit, almost a pound once topped (6)
|
| QUId (a pound, almost) + oNCE with the first letter removed (topped) | ||
| 21 | RHODRI |
Awfully horrid Welsh lad (6)
|
| Anagram (awfully) of HORRID | ||
| 22/18 | ARC DE TRIOMPHE |
* Damaged car he imported (3,2,8)
|
| Anagram (damaged) of CAR HE IMPORTED
A monumental arch in Paris, found at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. |
||
| 26 | ORLY |
* Some inferior Lymeswold (4)
|
| Contained within inferiOR LYmeswold
A suburb of southern Paris best known for the airport named after it. |
||
| 27 |
See 14
|
|
| 31 | PIGALLE |
* Greedy person has to go right away in 16 (7)
|
| PIG (greedy person) + ALLEr (“to go” in French) less R (right away)
An area of Paris at the foot of Montmartre, based around the Place Pigalle. The Moulin Rouge can be found here. |
||
| 32/28 | ILE DE LA CITE |
* Two lies cadet contrived (3,2,2,4)
|
| Anagram (contrived) of An island in the River Seine in central Paris. Notre-Dame cathedral can be found here. |
||
| 33 | EVERGREEN |
Leaves Never Drop — that popular old song (9)
|
| Two definitions | ||
| 34 | SEINE |
* Leading seaman with a German (5)
|
| First letter (leading) of Seaman + EINE (a in German)
The main river that flows through Paris. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1/19 | BOIS DE BOULOGNE |
* Vile bodies’ bad smell around lounge (4,2,8)
|
| Anagram (vile) of BODIES + BO (body odour = bad smell) + anagram (around) of LOUNGE
A large park on the edge of Paris, which contains Longchamp racecourse and the Roland Garros tennis stadium. |
||
| 2 |
See 15
|
|
| 3 | TO-DO |
Faire in 16 means “trouble” (2-2)
|
| Faire is the infinitive form of the verb “do” in French | ||
| 4 | AU REVOIR |
So long in 16 for gold car coming back round Italy (2,6)
|
| AU (gold) + ROVER (car) reversed (coming back) round I (Italy) | ||
| 5/13 | GARE DU NORD |
* Undergrad with nothing wrong (4,2,4)
|
| Anagram (wrong) of UNDERGRAD + O (nothing)
One of the main rail termini of Paris – where you’ll end up if you take the Eurostar train from London. |
||
| 6 | ARVO |
Aussie PM has well under half popular vote (4)
|
| “Well under half” the letters of populAR VOte | ||
| 7 | SORBONNE |
* Brothers turned up close to north-eastern (8)
|
| BROS (brothers) reversed (turned up) + ON (close to) + NE (north-eastern)
Historical university of Paris. |
||
| 8 | ABERDEEN |
City’s Lincoln Road is even shorter (8)
|
| ABE (Lincoln) + RD (road) + E’EN (even, shorter) | ||
| 14/27 | SACRE COEUR |
* Racecourse rebuilt (5,5)
|
| Anagram (rebuilt) of RACECOURSE
A basilisk that stands at the top of Montmartre in Paris. |
||
| 15/2 | RUE DE RIVOLI |
* Regretted Olivier cracked up (3,2,6)
|
| RUED (regretted) + anagram (cracked up) of OLIVIER
Street in central Paris famous for its very expensive shops. |
||
| 18 |
See 22
|
|
| 19 |
See 1 Down
|
|
| 20 | FREUDIAN |
Kind of slip from kink fair nude (8)
|
| Anagram (kink) of FAIR NUDE | ||
| 23 | POPEYE |
Pontiff and you, once, and Bluto’s adversary (6)
|
| POPE (pontiff) + YE (you, once) | ||
| 24 | HI-DE-HI |
Twitcher’s look-out aloft, we hear, in sitcom (2-2-2)
|
| HIDE (twitcher’s look-out) + HI, which sounds like HIGH (aloft, we hear) | ||
| 25 | MENAGE |
Chaps get older in household in 16 (6)
|
| MEN (chaps) + AGE (get older) | ||
| 29 | FLAG |
Banner from Liechtenstein that’s silver (4)
|
| FL (abbreviation for Fürstentum Liechtenstein) + AG (silver) | ||
| 30 | BEDS |
Small county’s gardening areas (4)
|
| Two definitions, the first being an abbreviation of Bedfordshire |
Did anyone really know that “bere” was a piillowcase in 1A? I surely did not.
Or 12A? ‘Dave” as a TV channel?
Or 21A as a man’s name?
24D was unknown to me but gettable after the cross letters.
6D: “Arvo”. Is that meant to be an abbreviation of Albanese? If so, I am not sure that I have heard it. “Albo” yes, but never “arvo”.
25D: I only know the solution as in “menage a trois” – something that I (sadly) do not participate in very often these days.
Anyway, thank to all. It was fun.
Oops, I have just realised that the “PM” in 6D referred to “afternoon” (instead of Prime Minister), which years ago was used by Aussies who would say “arvo” as meaning “afternoon”. I think that we have moved on from that. I cannot remember when I last heard that expression.
These day we celebrate Halloween and “Black Friday” – neither of which have any relevance to Australian culture.,
[ILE DE LA CITE is an anagram of LIE LIE CADET]
Yes, FrankieG, of course it is – blog now corrected. Ta!
The Paris clues were pretty easy and fun. The straight clues were full of obscure words and a struggle in places. The silliest example being RHODRI, for which we had an anagram that gave us no idea about the order of the letters.
Thanks Gozo and Widdersbel
I loved this, one of the more accessible world puzzles, partly because I knew enough French and about Paris to breeze through this.
Rhodri as a name isn’t that unknown in the UK – particularly as Rhodri Gilbert has quite a high profile.
Thank you to Widdersbel and Gozo.
I agree with Shanne. One of my sons is called Rhuaidhri, the Gaelic version of Rhodri. Both look alien to the English but not on the Celtic fringes.
Thanks Gozo and Widdersbel.
It is ironic that the world puzzle resorts to colloquial UK names.
I wonder whether Rhodri and Rhuaidhi give their actual names when ordering take-away or resort to “Rod”
Usually Rory