Hi everyone.
The preamble:
Answers to all across clues except those to the top and bottom rows must be changed to new words or names in one of two ways. The relationship displayed by answer/entry pairs, together with four of the remaining across entries, will lead solvers to two descriptions involving DOUBLE ACTS to be written under the grid. Numbers in brackets count spaces available. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; 10 is in Collins.
Well, clearly it would be a good idea to begin with the downs (plus the top and bottom rows). This gave me a good start and it was a while before I turned my attention to the acrosses. When I did, I found PATIENT, then IN ON, needing the addition and removal respectively of an I to fit the grid. This showed me what was happening – although I did have to revisit the preamble to be reminded there were two different ways to modify the answers!
Having all but 1a in the top and bottom rows I then considered those key across entries. The double act GRIFF Rhys Jones and MEL Smith jumped out at me. The second pair didn’t.
An internet search led me to Alas Smith and Jones. My dim recollection of this series name (I was very young at the time) was incorrect as it included an extra I. In fact, this is the series the Wikipedia page helpful tells us “not to be confused with” … Alias Smith and Jones! The latter was an American Western TV series initially starring PETE Duel and BEN Murphy – our second double act.
There were some clues left to puzzle out including some trickier ones, particularly in the NW, but everything progressed smoothly. Finally, I just had to decide exactly what to write under the grid:
ALIAS / ALAS SMITH AND JONES
Thank you Ifor!
From 9am there should be a setter’s blog here.
| # | ANSWER (ENTRY) |
Clue with definition underlined |
| Explanation, with quoted indicators in italics and ANSWER letters in bold caps | ||
| Across | ||
| 1a | BEN | Better rooms in St Andrews (links maybe nearer) (3) |
| The answer straddles (links) mayBE Nearer | ||
| 4a | EPIC | Established Church concealing irrational monster (4) |
| EC (Established Church) concealing PI (irrational) | ||
| 7a | GRIFF | Accurate information following after rent figures with fixed use scrapped (5) |
| F (following) after an anagram of (rent) FIG[u]R[es] with an anagram of (fixed) USE scrapped | ||
| 11a | QUOITER (QUOTER) |
Someone pitching rings exactly right when gripping one (6) |
| QUITE (exactly) plus R (right) around (when gripping) O (one – a ring) | ||
| 12a | ANION (ANON) |
Chloride, say, often discharged, active in liquid? (4) |
| An anagram of (… liquid) OfteN without its contents (discharged), A (active) and IN | ||
| 14a | TEND (TEIND) |
Mind to be purposefully directed (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 16a | RETRAL (RETIRAL) |
Block in femoral artery reverting to the back (7) |
| A section of (block in) femoraL ARTERy going backwards (reverting) | ||
| 17a | GULE (GUILE) |
Lord Lyon’s Gold Stick moving left to right (5) |
| GLUE (stick), moving L (left) to right | ||
| 18a | ARIES (ARES) |
Late to start changes in first sign of astrologers (4) |
| Starting after its first letter (late to start), vARIES (changes) | ||
| 20a | DELIVER (DELVER) |
Supply goods from railed counter (6) |
| REVILED (railed) backwards (counter) | ||
| 21a | CONFER (CONIFER) |
Grant worked for once without opening (7) |
| An anagram of (worked) FOR and oNCE without the first letter (without opening) | ||
| 26a | RETREE (RETIREE) |
Return regularly junked freebee paper when slightly damaged (7) |
| RET. (return) + fReEbEe scrapping alternate letters (regularly junked …) | ||
| 27a | OSMIATE (OSMATE) |
Atomise complex heavy metal derivative (6) |
| ATOMISE anagrammed (complex) | ||
| 29a | TAIRA (TARA) |
Mustelid warm and dry inside hollow Tsuga (4) |
| AIR (warm and dry) inside TsugA without its middle letters (hollow …) | ||
| 31a | SENE (SEINE) |
Broken promise to quit worsened change in Samoa (5) |
| Split (broken), W-ORD (promise) leaving (to quit) [wor]SENE[d] | ||
| 32a | SORTES (SORITES) |
Divination technique keeps having time moving towards its conclusion (7) |
| STORES (keeps), having T (time) shifted towards the end (moving towards its conclusion) | ||
| 35a | IN ON (INION) |
Privy to number halving on the spot (5, two words) |
| NO (number) inserted into the centre of (halving) IN (on the spot) | ||
| 36a | AVION (AVON) |
I go to France, returning on this, possibly (4) |
| I and VA (go to France) reversed (returning) + ON | ||
| 37a | PATIENT (PATENT) |
Long-suffering father is originally lodged in temporary accommodation (6) |
| PA (father) + Is originally put into (lodged in) TENT temporary accommodation) | ||
| 38a | PETER | Safe call for Trump (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 39a | SOLA | Alone, also confused (4) |
| ALSO anagrammed (confused) | ||
| 40a | MEL | Spice, either of two, perhaps sugar substitute (3) |
| MEL (Spice, either of two – Spice Girl MEL B or MEL C) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2d | EULER | Leisure is being out and about for mathematician (5) |
| LE[is]URE, with IS being removed (out), anagrammed (about) | ||
| 3d | NORTEÑO | Single market upset US citizen from Mexico’s perspective (7) |
| ONE (single) and TRON (market) going upwards (upset) | ||
| 4d | ÉTUI | Housewife discovered duties to perform (4) |
| Lacking outer letters (… discovered), dUTIEs anagrammed (to perform) | ||
| 5d | PETRIFY | Games provided in attempt to scare rigid (7) |
| PE (games) + IF (provided) in TRY (attempt) | ||
| 6d | CHILDREN | Limits of cover held in suspect issue (8) |
| The outer letters of (limits of) CoveR and HELD IN anagrammed (suspect) | ||
| 7d | GUNGE | Nugget mostly fell in muck (5) |
| An anagram of (… fell) NUGGEt mostly | ||
| 8d | RADULA | Root potato twisted snail’s tongue (6) |
| RAD. (root) + backwards (… twisted) ALU (potato) | ||
| 9d | INN | Pub winning bar extension to premises on either side (3) |
| wINNing without (bar) the WING (extension to premises) surrounding it (on either side) | ||
| 10d | FORLESE | Destroy old reels of Alien (7) |
| An anagram of (… alien) REELS OF | ||
| 13d | GRACIOSO | Former favourite corgi accepted when barking thus (8) |
| CORGI and A (accepted) when anagrammed (barking) + SO (thus) | ||
| 15d | PERMEASE | Promoter of sugar uptake sent free sample after taking fine line (8) |
| An anagram of (sent) [f]REE SAMP[l]E after removing (taking) F (fine) and L (line) | ||
| 19d | HERESIES | Series half-right after they uncovered unorthodoxies (8) |
| SERIES, only half of which is in its original order (half-right), after tHEy without outer letters (uncovered) | ||
| 22d | OBSERVE | Comment further following outside broadcast (7) |
| SERVE (further) following OB (outside broadcast) | ||
| 23d | ETERNAL | Two networks (one local) in regression happening again and again (7) |
| The two networks are RETE and LAN (that’s the local one: local area network) and they are each in turn reversed (in regression) | ||
| 24d | ERATHEM | Geologist’s measure of earth’s evolution within extremes of ecosystem (7) |
| An anagram (evolution) of EARTH within the outer letters (extremes) of EcosysteM | ||
| 25d | CANINE | Stick around fashionable dog (6) |
| CANE (stick) around IN (fashionable) | ||
| 28d | TENOR | Note’s lost value in transactions, holding one up (5) |
| TR (transactions) holding ONE reversed (up) | ||
| 30d | RENNE | Elizabethan run kept up by shaken nerves (5) |
| The answer is held backwards in (kept up by) shakEN NERves | ||
| 33d | IOTA | One with no number, not a jot (4) |
| I (one) + without N (with no number), [n]OT + A | ||
| 34d | DOT | Small mark in one’s own standing (3) |
| TOD (one’s own) reversed (standing) | ||
A delightful puzzle, bringing back fond memories of Mel and Griff’s show which I grew up with. TV seemed much simpler and accessible then. I never really watch anything at all these days.
Wiki resolved the other show for me in the same way as Kitty.
Hats off to Ifor for using the play on alas/alias so cleverly. How he managed to get so many thematic ‘I’ words in the grid is unfathomable to me.
Thanks blogger and setter as always.
Thanks, Kitty. Did you notice that the I omitted or added is always a central letter, as in al(I)as? It’s also worth my acknowledging that there’s an unfortunate mixture of given and stage names among the characters; I decided that real-word and symmetry considerations trumped consistency.
I have seen mentioned before of a lack of responses to EV puzzles.
I always read the answer and I am impressed without fail at the ingenuity of the setter and the ability of the blogger. I do not have the time/intelligence to have a go regularly. In the far past I did occasionally try but my achievements were lamentable with only 2 successes over a five year period.
[I don’t necessarily read the absence of comments as a lack of interest. I find that the 10 days or so between solving and seeing the blog removes from my memory details of the puzzle. I read the blog intro to compare what I recall of the experience; by now I would have sorted most of the details. I recall with a laugh my memory of this puzzle: A ‘double act’ from Ifor in one weekend — I’d better put on my hard hat! In reference to the Listener, have you noticed since those blogs now appear on this site, they too have few comments. The lag with it is much longer than with the EV. Thanks to Ifor, Kitty and all the other bloggers. The EV is a fine series and I hope it continues as such.]
Thanks for the comments – it’s nice to have some! (Although I completely understand, given the time lag – I think ub @4 is right. Plus I can hardly complain when I don’t generally comment myself these days.)
Ifor @2, no, it completely went over my head that each I is central. That is very neat indeed, and very impressive. I did notice the PETE(r) peculiarity, but my only real issue was that it introduced an asymmetry to the blog, with my commentary not quite matching the highlighted grid entries. So very much a blogger problem rather than a solver problem!
Gordon @3, I’m definitely with you regarding setters’ brilliance in creating these puzzles, but I’m sure it’s only time you lack, and a bit of practice. If you have friends who also do crosswords I heartily recommend co-solving. It’s a way of cutting down the time and also increasing the fun. Quite often I solve with a friend over Teams/Zoom, which works well. There’s a bit of an art to solving with someone else but if you get the chemistry right it’s great. I used to be strictly a solo solver, but am now quite evangelical about this. 🙂