The Spectator setter this week is Doc, who asks us to deduce 11 lights that can precede or follow a word defined by the title ’19×24 inches’
The preamble for the puzzle stated that”Seven unclued lights (two of two words) precede and four follow a word defined by the title and all are verifiable in Brewer.”
I was vaguely aware of 19×24 inches being a size of paper, but I couldn’t remember the name associated with it. However, as the unclued lights built up their letters, it became apparent that the theme word was ROYAL. For me, PRINCESS and BATTLE were the two unclued lights that caused the penny drop moment.
Going to the dictionaries at that point, Chambers told me that ROYAL is an adjective describing writing paper of 19×24-inch dimensions and printing paper of 19×25-inch dimensions. The Shorter Oxford agrees with Chambers. On the other hand, Collins references a writing paper size SMALL ROYAL, of size 19×24 inches. The Oxford Dictionary of English measures its paper in millimetres!
Anyway, the theme word is clearly ROYAL as the unclued lights can all precede or follow it as shown below. The latest version of Brewers is the 20th Edition. I have the 18th Edition, but all the phrases are listed there. Most are self-explanatory, but a couple were new to me. ROYAL STAG is a name given to a STAG with a head of 12 or more points on its antlers. ROYAL GOATS reference the 23rd Foot, later the ROYAL Welsh Fusiliers, which has a regimental mascot, a GOAT, supplied from the ROYAL herd. The ROYAL AND ANCIENT refers to one of the oldest golf courses in the world, in St Andrews, Scotland, and to the governing body of golf. ROYAL ASCOT is an annual horse racing event in Southern England.
| Unclued light | ROYAL | Unclued light |
| ROYAL | OPERA HOUSE | |
| PRINCESS | ROYAL | |
| ROYAL | STAG | |
| ROYAL | GOATS | |
| ROYAL | AND ANCIENT | |
| CHAPEL | ROYAL | |
| CAFE | ROYAL | |
| ROYAL | ASCOT | |
| ROYAL | EXCHANGE | |
| ROYAL | ASSENT | |
| BATTLE | ROYAL |
We have the eleven unclued lights, seven in one group and four in the other. To me, it seems that seven follow and four precede ROYAL, which is the opposite of the indication in the preamble.
Crosswords are frequently a source of new knowledge. With this puzzle, I learnt about ACUTE ARCHes, the ABEGG variations and the Japanese national fruit. The KELPIES I knew about as water sprites taking the form of horses, having visited the sculpture site, but I was unaware of the additional meaning as a dog breed in Australia. All the reference books I have looked at suggest that the PERSIMMON (40 across) is the national fruit, rather than the national flower of Japan.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Last of rowers having to cut down blade (5)
SCULL (a short, light spoon-bladed oar [blade] for one hand, used in pairs) S (final letter of [last of] rowerS) + CULL (reduce the size of a herd or flock of animals by killing a proportion of its members; cut down) S CULL |
| 4 | Church feature spoilt RC chateau (5,4)
ACUTE ARCH (definition in Collins – another name for the lancet arch [a high and narrow pointed arch having two centres of equal radii], often found in churches) Anagram of (spoilt) RC CHATEAU ACUTE ARCH* |
| 9 | Unclued
OPERA HOUSE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE |
| 11 | Lectern’s Roman standard (5)
EAGLE (a representation of an eagle used as an emblem or other distinctive device [standard], especially representing power, the Roman EAGLE for example) EAGLE (a lectern in the form of an EAGLE) double definition EAGLE |
| 12 | More macho Walford family (7)
BUTCHER (more aggressively masculine; more macho) BUTCHER (surname of a prominent family in the BBC TV soap opera EastEnders, set in the fictional borough of Walford in London’s East End; Walford family) double definition BUTCHER |
| 14 | Schumann variations on four notes – one doubled (5)
ABEGG (The Variations on the name “ABEGG” in F major is a piece for piano by Robert Schumann [1810 – 1856]; Schumann variations) The distinct letters in ABEGG – A, B, E and G are all musical notes. In the name ABEGG, the G is repeated (one doubled). A B E GG |
| 15 | Italian wine store empty? (5)
SOAVE (a dry, pale white wine from a small region east of Verona in NE Italy; Italian wine) SAVE (store) containing O (character representing zero). The clue can be interpreted as SAVE (store) having nothing (O) inside. S (O) AVE |
| 16 | Sign of damage that’s nearly entirely to do with teeth (6)
DENTAL (concerned with teeth) DENT (a hollow caused by a blow; a sign of damage) + ALl (entirely) excluding the final letter L (nearly) DENT AL |
| 21 | Unclued
PRINCESS PRINCESS ROYAL |
| 22 | One going in lower, not both (7)
NEITHER (not one or the other, therefore not both) I (Roman numeral for one) contained in (in) NETHER (lower) NE (I) THER |
| 24 | Zealously disregarding odd characters last month in Israel (4)
ELUL (the twelfth and final month of the Jewish civil year) ELUL (if you exclude [disregard] Z, A, O, S and Y, the odd characters 1, 3,5, 7 and 9 of zEaLoUsLy you are left with ELUL) ELUL |
| 25 | Unclued
STAG ROYAL STAG |
| 27 | Captain who is playing in the playground (7)
SKIPPER (ship’s captain) SKIPPER (an example of someone who plays in a park, recreation area or playground) double definition SKIPPER |
| 28 | Political campaigner from later part of drama coming first (8)
ACTIVIST (a person who plays a special part in advancing a project or in strengthening the hold of political ideas; political campaigner) ACT IV (Act 4, a later part of a drama) + IST (1st; first) ACT IV IST |
| 33 | Leave standing in a Parliamentary contest (6)
UNSEAT (take the chair away from, therefore leaving someone with the option of standing) UNSEAT (win an election over the incumbent, thereby leaving the loser standing no longer) double definition UNSEAT |
| 34 | European birds in the housetops? (5)
EAVES (projecting edges of a roof; housetops) E (European) + AVES (birds as a class of vertebrates) E AVES |
| 35 | Unclued
GOATS ROYAL GOATS |
| 37 | Ban march by leaders missing collapse of law and order (7)
ANARCHY (complete absence of law or government; collapse of law and order) bAN excluding the first letter B [(eader missing) + mARCH excluding the first letter M (leader missing) + bY excluding the first letter B (leader missing) AN ARCH Y |
| 38 | Clergyman’s inconclusive part of book (5)
RECTO (right hand page of an open book; part of a book) RECTOr (clergyman) excluding the final letter (inconclusive) R RECTO |
| 39 | Unclued
AND ANCIENT ROYAL AND ANCIENT |
| 40 | Japanese national flower for every apostle, getting married (9)
PERSIMMON – (tree and plum-like fruit of the genus Diospyros) PER (for each; for every) + (SIMON [reference SIMON the Zealot, one of the apostles of Jesus] containing [getting] M [married]) PER SIM (M) ON – either M could be the one contained All the reference books I have looked at indicate that the PERSIMMON is the national fruit of Japan, rather than the national flower. Cherry Blossom and Chrysanthemum are mentioned as possible national flowers.) |
| 41 | Small sewing case – and, in France, it’s very small! (5)
ETWEE (small case for holding sewing articles) ET (French for ‘and’) + WEE (tiny; very small) ET WEE |
| Down | |
| 1 | Diehard agents, broken, and crying (8,1,4)
SHEDDING A TEAR (crying) Anagram of (broken) DIEHARD AGENTS SHEDDING A TEAR* |
| 2 | Unclued
CHAPEL CHAPEL ROYAL |
| 3 | Record recent warning car may carry (1-5)
L-PLATE (sign displayed on a vehicle indicating that the driver is under tuition and inexperienced; warning that a car may carry) LP (long-playing record) + LATE (recent) L-P LATE |
| 4 | Old discourse priest dropped can be cultivated (6)
ARABLE (fit for ploughing or crop production; can be cultivated) pARABLE (a fable or story told to illustrate some doctrine or moral point; discourse can be defined as a homily, speech or sermon, which can equate to parable) excluding (dropped) P (priest) ARABLE |
| 5 | Unclued
CAFÉ CAFÉ ROYAL (Hotel Cafe Royal London – acute, Cafe Royal Edinburgh acute) |
| 6 | Section of Mephisto – ugh! – I explain in this daily crossword (7)
TOUGHIE (The Daily Telegraph publishes a daily crossword known as the TOUGHIE) TOUGHIE (hidden word in [section of] mephisTO UGH I Explain) – Mephisto is a weekly crossword in the Sunday Times. TOUGHIE |
| 7 | Unclued
ASCOT ROYAL ASCOTthe Toughie) |
| 8 | Cavers in trouble – nearly all see deep crack (8)
CREVASSE (deep crack or split, especially applied to a cleft in a glacier) Anagram of (in trouble) CAVERS + SEe excluding the final letter (nearly all) E CREVAS* SE |
| 10 | Traverse route anew for hidden valuables (8,5)
TREASURE TROVE (ownerless objects of intrinsic or historical value found hidden ([n England gold and silver only], property of the crown; hidden valuables) Anagram of (anew) TRAVERSE ROUTE TREASURE TROVE* |
| 13 | Comes into force? (7)
ENLISTS (signs up to one of the armed forces; comes into force) ENLISTS (enrols; comes into) – double definition These two definitions are very similar, so the clue is maybe just a cryptic definition. I can’t see any additional wordplay. ENLISTS |
| 15 | Sombre at first, then dark, then bright (6)
SUNLIT (bright) S (initial letter of [at first] Sombre) + UNLIT (dark) S UNLIT |
| 17 | Stand and rebel (6)
UPRISE (stand [up]) UPRISE (arise; rebel) double definition UPRISE |
| 18 | Far from slowly, city loses north end! (6)
PRESTO (quickly; far from slowly) PRESTOn (English city) excluding the final letter N (north) (loses north end) PRESTO |
| 19 | Malign water sprites appearing as horses or Aussie dogs (7)
KELPIES (malignant water sprites haunting fords in the form of a horse) – an impressive sculpture of two KELPIES can be seen from and accessed from the M9 motorway between Edinburgh and Stirling. KELPIES (Australian sheepdogs) double definition KELPIES |
| 20 | Narrow misses by hairdressers (6)
SHAVES (narrow misses or escapes) SHAVES (action undertaken by hairdressers) double definition SHAVES |
| 23 | Unclued
EXCHANGE ROYAL EXCHANGE |
| 26 | Material for loveless travelling actor (7)
GINGHAM (a kind of cotton cloth, woven from coloured yarns into stripes or checks; material) GoING (travelling) excluding (-less) O (character representing zero or love score in tennis) (loveless) + HAM (actor who rants and overacts) GING HAM |
| 29 | Jumps the queue and interrupts, when copper isn’t out (4,2)
CUTS IN (jumps the queue and interrupts) CU (chemical symbol for copper) + an anagram of (out) I’SNT CU TS IN* |
| 30 | Unclued
ASSENT ROYAL ASSENT |
| 31 | Unclued
BATTLE BATTLE ROYAL |
| 32 | Set-up embracing naval birds (5)
TERNS (aquatic birds) SET reversed (up; down entry) containing (embracing) RN (Royal Navy; naval) TE (RN) S< |
| 36 | Italian lad decapitated with the bow (4)
ARCO (musical term indicating ‘with the bow’ at the end of a pizzicato passage) mARCO (Italian boy’s name; Italian lad) excluding the first letter (decapitated) M ARCO |