Another stylish puzzle by Pabulum
The instructions tell us: a ship is the theme. Clockwise round the perimeter from 39 appear a type of event followed by the names of three such events she attended with distinction and the name of her most famous passenger (6,3,8,5,2,4,3,4,9,8). Unclued lights give her nickname (a pair) and her final role.
The ship of the rubric is the HMS Bellerophon, so-named after the Corinthian hero, son of Poseidon and Eurynome, who rode on Pegasus and slew the monster Chimera. Commissioned in 1786, the Bellerophon enjoyed a distinguished career over 40 years, taking part in the Glorious First of June, the Battle of the Nile and Trafalgar. She collected the defeated Napoleon from the port of Rochefort on 15th July 1815. Napoleon believed he was being granted asylum in Britain but he was taken on the Bellerophon to Plymouth where, after two weeks’ deliberation and to his utter chagrin, the British decided to exile him to St Helena. He was transferred to the HMS Northumberland for the journey – I spent a long time fruitlessly trying to make the latter fit the rubric … The Bellerophon had already had a brief commission during the Spanish and Russian armaments before being commissioned to take part in the French Revolutionary and then the Napoleonic Wars. She was stripped of her masts in many of her famous engagements, necessitating hundreds of thousands of pounds in repairs, but soldiered on into the 1820’s when she became a prison hulk and was eventually broken up and sold in 1826 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_(1786)
Consequently, the perimeter, reading clockwise and starting at 39, reads BATTLE, THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE, THE NILE, TRAFALGAR, NAPOLEON – as the rubric prescribes: a type of event, the names of three such events she attended with distinction and the name of her most famous passenger. Unclued lights are 11 and 14a BILLY RUFFIAN, the nickname sailors gave to the figurehead and stern carvings of the hero Bellerophon and which became the name by which the ship was familiarly known in preference to its formidable real name – and 25d HULK – the ship’s eventual destination (role).
As for the solve, there was a lot of very easy clueing; a number of words unknown to me but clearly indicated. Battle and Napoleon appeared quite early on the perimeter and I was able to call upon my history master’s lectures for A-Level specialisation in the Napoleonic period for the rest … though that was more than half a century ago …
I think the title refers to the fact that the Bellerophon was classed as a third-rate ship of the line, meaning she had between 64 and 80 guns. But that she had a first-rate lifetime.
Across
12 Jug of cool Pepsi (4)
OLPE
Hidden in coOL PEpsi. An olpe is a small Greek ceramic vase or jug
13 Not quite the reverse of natural affection for caves (5)
GROTS
STORG(e) is a word for natural affection. With the last letter remove (not quite) and reversed it becomes a word for caves
15 Clumsiness of tepid tune I composed (10)
INEPTITUDE
Anagram (composed) of TEPID TUNE I
17 Type of bone second pair of coyotes buried outside (5)
HYOID
OY (second pair of letters in COYOTE) inside HID (buried). The hyoid is a U-shaped bone in the neck which supports the tongue
20 Poet talked sport continuously (8)
TENNYSON
Homonym (talked) of TENNIS (sport) ON (continuously)
21 Aunt trained children in dancing display (6)
NAUTCH
Anagram (trained) of AUNT + CH (children). Nautch is an Asian dance performed by professionals
23 Long account hack abridged (4)
ACHE
AC (account) + HE(w) – hack without last letter (abridged).
26 Sons rent warehouse (5)
STORE
S (sons) + TORE (rent, in the sense of torn)
27 Dogs herding a thousand young sheep (5)
LAMBS
LABS (short for Labradors – dogs) around (herding) M (a thousand in Latin numerals)
28 Some jongleurs are stars (4)
URSA
Hidden in jongleURS Are
30 A little tiffin with some bread and fishes (6)
TROLLS
T (a little tiffin) +rolls (bread). Trolls as a verb means fishes by drawing the lure through the water
31 Books of words free to French abstainer in fact (8)
LIBRETTI
LIBRE (free, in French) +TT (abstainer) + I (in fact)
36 Punch-up and fighting over in British Library (5)
BRAWL
Reverse (over) of WAR (fighting) in BL (British Library)
38 What fracturing Celia with baton could be (10)
ACTIONABLE
Anagram (fracturing) of CELIA and BATON
39 City of much spirit with large numbers coming back (7)
BRISTOL
BRI(o) = spirit + STOL (lots – large numbers) reversed (coming back)
40 Middle Temple admits Isaiah (5)
WAIST
WAT (temple) around (admits) IS (Isaiah)
41 Dominant idea of half bumbling inspecteur (4)
CLOU
First half of CLOUSEAU (the bumbling inspector played by Peter Sellers). The clou of something is its central or chief attraction
42 Flash bird snubbed magnate (5)
MOGUL
MO (short for moment – flash) + GUL (gull shortened – snubbed)
Down
2 Moneyless monodist chewed with uniform teeth (7)
ISODONT
Anagram (chewed) of ONODIST (Monodist without M – money)
3 By the way, supply of food contains fish, and is to be had (10)
OBTAINABLE
OB, short for OBITER means passing, or by the way + TABLE (supply of food) around AI (fish) + N (and, as in fish’n’chips). Ai is an alternative spelling of ayu –
a small edible Japanese fish (Plecoglossus altevis) (also called sweetˈfish). I had not come across this before and am grateful for help on the chatroom.
4 Views of mid-Atlantic on board ship (6)
SLANTS
LANT (middle letters of Atlantic) in (on board) SS (steamship)
5 Swift ships hurriedly leave on time (5)
FLEET
FLEE (leave)+ T time. A double definition (FLEET = swift and ships).
6 Rakes investing money in comedy acts (8)
ROUTINES
ROUES (rakes) around (investing) TIN (money)
7 Mystic active in city (5)
SOFIA
SOFI (a practiser of Sufism) + A (active)
8 Couple in omnibus taking more dope (5)
OPIUM
PIU (Italian for more, used in music) in (taking) O …M two letters from omnibus
10 Hardy sergeant besieged city (4)
TROY
Double definition – Sergeant Troy in Far from the Madding Crowd and the besieged city in The Iliad.
16 Boring sandwiches executive committee condemn (5)
DECRY
DRY (boring) around (containing) EC (executive committee)
18 Expert malik won out (4)
ONER
I think this is OWNER (malik in India) minus W (won)
19 Chubby chap and nanny sometimes dance (10)
BUTTERBALL
BUTTER – a (nanny) goat that butts + BALL (dance). I hadn’t heard of the term which means a podgy person
22 Hero comes up clutching Arabic antique coin (5)
DARIC
(El) CID (hero) reversed (comes up) around (clutching) AR (Arabic). A coin issued by Darius, king of Persia
24 A son pickled in fizz becomes lady-killer (8)
CASANOVA
SANO (anagram – pickled- of A SON) in CAVA (fizz)
29 Parts of flowers sustained energy (7)
STAMINA
Double definition: plural of stamen (part of a flower) and sustained energy
32 A bugle blowing fish (6)
BELUGA
Anagram (blowing) of A BUGLE
33 Photo gin maker’s gear as before (5)
STILL
Triple definition: a still is a photo, it’s also a process for making gin, and means as (things were) before
34 Game sheep showed a leg (3,2)
GOT UP
GO (game) + TUP (sheep)
35 Hate a pain in the ears (5)
ABHOR
Homonym ((in the ears) of A BORE … does no-one pronounce the H?
37 Petulant person used to live quietly (4)
WASP
WAS (used to live) + P (quietly, in music)