“Eleven single-letter clashes mark points where a camouflaged OBSERVER infiltrates the grid, passing over wild forest glens. In the initially filled grid, her usual equipment (10) must be used to expose ten symmetrically positioned thematic characters, no longer safe in cave, sadly. All entries in the initially filled and final grids are real terms. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
As the preamble suggests, the ‘passed over’ letters in the clashes spell FOREST GLENS.
As the setter’s name suggests (!), the OBSERVER is a BIRDWATCHER.
BINOCULARS are, of course, “her usual equipment”. Those ten letters replace SAFE IN CAVE in ten entries.
The birds so revealed are: CHOUGH, SISKIN, THRUSH, DIPPER, CRANE, STORK, BITTERN, HARRIER, GANNET, CURLEW. How many of them have you seen in the wild?
I was making pretty good progress with this one until I was stopped short by a few clues in the northeast as well as 32 and – rather embarrassingly – 39 down.
I thought that “Earth” being GE rather than E (in 14 across) and “late Queen” (in 34 down) were nice misdirections.
Finally, there was none of that miserable ‘guess what I’m thinking’/grid-staring that spoils some endgames.
Thanks, Hedge-Sparrow!
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Homophone | “WORD” |
| Rejected clash | FASTING |
| Selected clash | CITTERN |
As always, please let me know if anything isn’t clear.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not eating [half of] FAGGOT (meatball), [showing inward STINT (restraint), [briefly]] (7) | FASTING |
| 6 | Shaggy dog S |
SHOUGH |
| 10 | Epic poem [recalled] < {AIL (trouble) [amongst] DI (the gods)} (5) | ILIAD |
| 11 | [Backsliding] < REV (clergyman) [adopting] [mostly] LOUD (flashy) cloth (6) | VELOUR |
| 13 | E (Earl) [tucking into] [a lot of] POTEN |
POTEEN |
| 14 | Battles [revolutionary] < SAW (experienced) [across] GE (Earth) (5) | WAGES |
| 15 | Beat [OLD (veteran) off] THRESH |
THRESH |
| 17 | [Short of T (time), {LEF |
NETFULS |
| 18 | Maybe bad Shakespearean |
EALE |
| 23 | [Flipping] < MOO (low) MORTGAGE[‘s initial] RATE [enthrals] fellow lodger at Harvard (8) | ROOMMATE |
| 25 | Stuck old LAV (WC) [inside] CE (church) (5) | CLAVE |
| 26 | Make uniform { |
STANDARDIZE |
| 28 | Utter < RAT (reprobate) [going around] [in] [jacket of] S |
STARK |
| 29 | [Retrospectively] < {ADOPT (take on) CO (company)} [embodying] O (love) for sea creatures (8) | OCTOPODA |
| 33 | Large mouldings I (one)[‘s removed from] TORII (temple gateway) (4) | TORI |
| 35 | WASHER (Cleaner), [left of] S |
SWASHER |
| 38 | Quick bouncer (6) | DAPPER |
| 40 | < DIE (Fall) [over] [in] HI (greeting) literary heroine (5) | HEIDI |
| 41 | Apply warm lotion to FT (feet), [taking OMEN (warning) on board] (6) | FOMENT |
| 42 | Trusted RED (cardinal, perhaps), [robes] ELI (priest) (6) | RELIED |
| 43 | Contradict BELIE |
BELIE |
| 44 | Be understood SIN (to offend) KIN (family) (6, two words) | SINK IN |
| 45 | More spiteful WAR (contest) SPIE (former secret agent) [enters] (7) | WASPIER |
| Down | ||
| 1 |
C
|
CITTERN |
| 2 | AHA (Expression of contempt) [masking] LP (record)’s beginning (5) | ALPHA |
| 3 | Carry TOT (child) [over] [top of] E |
TOTE |
| 4 | ID EST | |
| 5 | Small Spanish horse – [head of] G |
GENNET |
| 6 | Swing round and [pull DG (Director-General) out of] SLU |
SLUE |
| 7 | Why archaic HOO (expression of surprise) [around] < SW (Devon, say), [is on the rise] (5, two words) | HOW SO |
| 8 | Language of |
URDU |
| 9 | SS (Saints) [engaged in] HALE (robust) argument (6) | HASSLE |
| 12 | Delight in time-worn [part of] |
BELOVE |
| 16 | HEN (Faint-heart) [tackling] ADO (trouble) without compromise (6) | HEAD-ON |
| 19 | A (American) [cuts] LOTS (a great deal) for Indian copper pots (5) | LOTAS |
| 20 | Scanned V (volume), [then] |
VETTED |
| 21 | Trickle R (runs) [into] DIP (sink) (4) | DRIP |
| 22 | Instrument < {OAK (of wood) OZ (Australian) [breaks]} [up] (5) | KAZOO |
| 24 | Pacy S American native [no BOUT (contest) for] MARA |
MARA |
| 26 | [Ringing] TONE’s [hollow] S |
STONED |
| 27 | [Heart of] |
HAIRIER |
| 28 | [Cycling] ASSESS (judge) behaves impertinently in Colorado Springs (6) | SASSES |
| 30 | FEW (Not many) [supporting] CUR (scoundrel)’s restriction on movement (6) | CURFEW |
| 31 | [Reportedly] “CHILLY” (unfriendly) country (5) | CHILE |
| 32 | SEAL (Impression) [sent up] [about] M (a thousand) old-fashioned folk in the US (5) | LAMES |
| 34 | Again join RETI |
RETIE |
| 36 | Stern Scots [wresting B (book) from] |
AIRN |
| 37 | ERIN | |
| 38 | [Under] P (pressure), REP (repeat) homework (4) | PREP |
Original grid fill (with clashes resolved):
| C | A | S | T | I | N | G | S | H | O | U | G | H |
| I | L | I | A | D | V | E | L | O | U | R | B | A |
| T | P | O | T | E | E | N | U | W | A | D | E | S |
| T | H | R | E | S | H | N | E | T | F | U | L | S |
| E | A | L | E | T | E | E | V | O | D | K | O | L |
| R | O | O | M | M | A | T | E | C | R | A | V | E |
| N | S | T | A | N | D | A | R | D | I | Z | E | H |
| S | T | A | R | K | O | C | T | O | P | O | D | A |
| A | O | S | A | C | N | U | E | L | T | O | R | I |
| S | W | A | S | H | E | R | D | A | P | P | E | R |
| H | E | I | D | I | R | F | O | M | E | N | T | I |
| E | D | R | E | L | I | E | D | B | E | L | I | E |
| S | I | N | K | I | N | W | A | S | P | I | E | R |
Final grid (with letters replaced):
| B | A | S | T | I | N | G | C | H | O | U | G | H |
| I | L | I | A | D | V | A | L | O | U | R | B | A |
| T | P | O | T | E | E | N | U | W | A | D | E | S |
| T | H | R | U | S | H | N | E | T | F | U | L | S |
| E | A | L | E | T | E | E | V | O | D | K | O | L |
| R | O | O | M | M | A | T | E | C | R | A | N | E |
| N | S | T | A | N | D | A | R | D | I | Z | E | H |
| S | T | O | R | K | O | C | T | O | P | O | D | A |
| A | O | S | A | C | N | U | E | L | T | O | R | R |
| S | W | A | S | H | E | R | D | I | P | P | E | R |
| H | E | I | D | I | R | L | O | M | E | N | T | I |
| E | D | R | E | L | I | E | D | B | E | L | I | E |
| S | I | S | K | I | N | W | A | S | P | I | E | R |