THIS is Egbert’s puzzle for the S&B in Nottingham.
Egbert’s intro says – With apologies to purists for the non-symmetrical grid and a few liberties taken with the clues! Two entries are abbreviations
It’s Joyce blogging. For those of you who are not aware, Egbert is the name Bert uses when setting crosswords.
The theme became pretty obvious early on once I had SATURDAY NIGHT. I’d also read THE LONELINESS of the LONG DISTANCE RUNNER many moons ago as well. I had never heard of The RAGMAN’s DAUGHTER or COUNTERPOINT however.
Alan Sillitoe was born in Nottingham and was one of the so called ‘angry young men’ of the 1950s – he wrote the books and/or SCREENPLAYs for the four films – makes a change from the ‘grumpy old men’ of today.
I will let others comment on the puzzle but I will say that Egbert has included many cinematic references throughout the clues and the grid. The only way he can compile crosswords is having a theme. Given the theme, it is not surprising that he had to take a few ‘liberties’.
An anagram (‘arranged’) of A LItTLE LOAN IS without or ‘getting rid of’ T (Tesla)
An anagram (‘changes’) of SEAN C (first letter or ‘initial’ of Connery) and REPLY
CIA (spies) around or ‘holding’ a reversal (‘revolutionary’) of MEN (soldiers)
DAY (as in the movie star Doris Day) with SAT (rested) UR (ancient city) at the front or ‘earlier’. This confused me a bit as I expected Sunday to be the Sabbath. Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath
An anagram (‘shot’) of N (8th letter in Tarantino) G (‘last’ letter in biG) and HIT
SAY (talk) about UN (French for ‘a’) and D (director)
If you cut MATINee by two letters (twice) you get the French for MORNING or DAWN. An Egbert puzzle would not be an Egbert puzzle if it didn’t have a clue like this – sneaky and/or self-indulgent!
LON (as in Lon Chaney) ELI (as in ELI Wallach) plus NESS (as in Elliott Ness the main character in a group called The Untouchables – he was an American Prohibition Agent who took on Al Capone). A film based on his efforts starred Kevin Costner and Sean Connery. I had no idea about the other two actors LON and ELI but as I had already solved the 4 previous across clues and I knew NESS it was a write-in.
As Bert and I enjoy watching films together, I knew straight away that he was referring to the LONG Good Friday movie. It was a hit in 1980 and starred Bob Hoskins – I hadn’t remembered that it also starred Helen Mirren.
DANCE (Billy Elliot theme) around or ‘spread over’ IST (first)
The film, Chariots of Fire was based on two athletes – Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams. We just want one of the sprinters here so we have just one RUNNER
beRGMAN (deceased Swedish director) without or ‘missing’ BrowniE (first and last letters only or ‘case’) around or ‘enthralling’ A. Younger solvers may well be unaware that the ‘Brownie ‘referred to in the clue is not chocolate cake but an old make of camera. Bert owned one when he met me in 1965.
An anagram (‘beat up’) of THE GUARD. We saw Ryan’s Daughter together back in 1970. It starred John Mills and Trevor Howard. I’d forgotten that Ryan’s daughter was played by Sarah Miles.
ER (the Queen) ‘scheduled after’ COUNT (Dracula for example)
PINTer (as in Harold Pinter, the playwright) missing ER (hesitation) around or ‘accepting O (Oscar)
I (one) C (first letter of cinematographer or ‘up front’) in LEA (field)
Hidden (‘having’) in penNILess
IT (computer equipment) in SE (south-east) D (Germany)
REaDY (prepared for) with A (America) replaced or ‘overwhelmed by’ E (drug)
S (first letter or ‘start’ to shareholders) in EC (city)
An anagram (‘getting drunk’) of KING (Charles III typically) after a reversal or ‘knocking back’ of NIP (a wee dram). I’d heard of PINK GIN but had no idea it was a Royal Navy cocktail made with Plymouth gin.
Wiki says : Pink gin is widely thought to have been created by members of the Royal Navy. Plymouth gin is a ‘sweet’ gin, as opposed to London gin which is ‘dry’, and was added to Angostaura to make the consumption of Angostura bitters more enjoyable as they were used as a treatment for sea sickness in 1824 by Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert.
The dark red bitters made the whole drink a pink colour.
Double definition
AU (gold) beneath T (Troy)
A reversal (‘up’) of aDORe (love) missing first and last letters or ‘naked’ reversed or ‘up’
A (Australian) NY (city)
NOSy (curious) missing last letter or ‘endlessly’ about OK (suitable)
First letters or ‘heads’ of Some University Organisations Meet In
A clue as definition but also hidden (‘some’) in tawNY Eggs – a NYE is a pheasant’s nest and the eggs are a pale olive-brown colour
As Egbert is the setter he is saying – AM I?
NON CE (Catholic perhaps as opposed to CE). I guessed the answer once I had some crossing letters but had not come across this meaning.
DEFER (put off) around or ‘taking’ END (aim). I did wonder whether there was a word DETENDER at one point
LiMA (South American city) with i (independent) replaced or ‘unseated by’ L (Liberal) plus A
LYNx (bobcat) missing last letter or ‘tailless’ and CheetaH (first and last letters only or ‘eviscerated’)
DIE (to stop working) around R (last letter or ‘end’ of December)
Hidden (‘shows’) and reversed or ‘uplifting’ in sONG ESsentially. A new word for me so I was glad that it was hidden in the clue.
RCU – standing for Remote control unit and hidden in lardeR CUpboard
A play on the fact that a brazil NUT comes from a large Brazilian tree
A (second letter in Hamilton) in GP (F1 race). The ‘by’ is a linking word here which is something Bert apologised for!
TU (trade union – group of workers) and I (international)
pRoUsT (even letters only or ‘oddly dismissed’)
A fine puzzle with an enjoyable theme. Thanks.
The enumeration of 1/9 had me wondering for a moment if the local writer could be D H (Dave?) Lawrence but obviously not, so it had to be ALAN SILLITOE – after which the theme was clear, altough the only two works which came immediately to mind were 11 15 16 19 and 22 24 26 27.
Well done, Egbert. for fitting in all those theme words.
I enjoyed doing this one on the train home, Egbert. I know of the playwright and two of the plays were familiar but I was unaware of the link to Nottingham. Well done one getting so much into the grid. It may be a short ‘un but NYE got my COTD.
Thanks all
An enjoyable puzzle. Did some of it with others yesterday and finished the last few at home. I was more familiar with Sillitoe as a novelist than a screenwriter, though I knew some of the books had been filmed. Thanks to all for an entertaining day.
After a busy weekend all round, I’m enjoying catching up on some of the ‘take-home’ presents from Saturday.
Egbert is completely exonerated, as far as I’m concerned, for the non-symmetric grid, which meant that he could get such near-perfect symmetry for the two books / films that I knew – like Joyce, I’d never heard of the other two, so I was even more impressed when I learned of them from the blog and noted their equally appropriate position.
I always enjoy Egbert’s puzzles and this one was right up my street. Being just a little bit older (!) than Joyce, I had heard of Lon Chaney and Eli Wallach, though never saw them and, though I’ve never seen the film of The Untouchables, I remember looking forward to the weekly TV series in the early ’60s.
Lots of lovely clues, apart from the theme: ticks for CINEMA, SATURDAY, READY, PINK GIN, NONCE (something of a favourite word of mine) and several little gems tucked away in the three-letter entries – with some nostalgic references to other films, plays and actors, making this a really enjoyable solve.
Huge thanks to Egbert for the fun solve, to Joyce for an admirably impartial blog and to you both for the splendid organisation of the do on Saturday: it was another highly enjoyable occasion – great to see a number of new faces (and, of course, the ‘old’ ones, too 🙂 ).