“Clues to perimeter entries comprise wordplay only. Each contains an extra word. Reading either the second or penultimate letters of these in clue order, followed by the alternative choices, gives a two-word phrase identifying the 34 contiguous cells containing seven names to be highlighted, thus showing a central figure in tune with the theme. Two of the perimeter entries are a forename and surname of someone associated with a thematic group; solvers must name another of this group’s works under the grid, using DYNAMO as a prompt. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
The forename and surname are LIAM STERNBERG, who wrote WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN, which was performed by The Bangles, who also performed ETERNAL FLAME MANIC MONDAY (which is – thank you, Tyro – an anagram of DYNAMO, and is to be written under the grid).
The second and penultimate letters of the extra words spell THEMATIC PANTHEON, the seven members of which are ISIS, RA, BASTET, HORUS, THOTH, OSIRIS, and HATHOR, who form the ‘figure in tune with the theme’.
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Homophone | “WORD” |
| Extra word | word |
As always, please let me know if anything isn’t clear.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Attempt [revision of] DEAL* (4)
|
LEAD |
| 4 | {SIP IS FROM}* [cracked] phial (9) | PISIFORMS |
| 10 | N (A large number) [invading] I (island) <ROOD (cross) [over] under cover (6) | INDOOR |
| 11 | < TENNOS (Divine leaders) [making a comeback] in short verse (6) | SONNET |
| 12 | Arab eminence <LET (permitted) [to travel to the West] (3) | TEL |
| 13 | [Hack] {USES BRUIN}*, a bit like Paddington (9) | SUBURSINE |
| 15 | MEM |
MELISMA |
| 18 | One from [reformed] USSR*? (4) | RUSS |
| 20 | One of Ra’s manifestations [imprisoned by] HaTHOR ONce (6) | THORON |
| 21 | In {THE MO |
AT HOME |
| 22 | SA mammal [wildly] A |
TAYRA |
| 24 | Permit LE |
LET |
| 26 | Hide tent [in] larGE Rucksack (3) | GER |
| 28 | More Scots < |
MAE |
| 31 | Gaping W (wide), [exiting] { |
HIANT |
| 33 | Bright Chap[‘s first] LEVER (prize) (6) | CLEVER |
| 34 | Despite the fact that O (nothing) [comes afterwards], EVENS (quits) (6, two words) | EVEN SO |
| 35 | CH (Check) ID (papers) ticked off (4) | CHID |
| 38 | < [Rejected] {PART (concern) TAR (set on)} unpleasantly restrictive situation (7, two words) | RAT TRAP |
| 40 | Most slimy {LIARS GET}* [infuriated] [masking] I (ego) (9) | GLAIRIEST |
| 41 | He didn’t look back a great deal (3) | LOT |
| 42 | [Half-baked] |
LAKSAS |
| 43 | L (Line) [from] HEL |
HELPER |
| 44 | SCALE* [flexible] <ROTA (cycle of seagoing duty) [back] 9) | ESCALATOR |
| 45 | CEDE | |
| Down | ||
| 1 |
Caught <MAIL (post) [turning up] (4)
|
LIAM |
| 2 | Understanding of N (Nationalist) [boring] ENTÊTÉ (opinionated French) (7) | ENTENTE |
| 3 | Noble girl { |
ADELE |
| 4 | SUM (Amount) [held by] POSS (possible) aids to manage disability (7) | POSSUMS |
| 5 | Old Yemenis < {À BAS} (down in Marseille) [travelling north] (4) | SABA |
| 6 | FOR (In favour of) W (week) [each side of] H |
FORWHY |
| 7 | NatiON STaking [claims] on one occasion in province (4) | ONST |
| 8 | Coach ME |
MENTOR |
| 9 | STERN (Back) street BERG (growler) (9) | STERNBERG |
| 14 | Religious clothing, [occasionally] wItH [torn] ARM* (5) | IHRAM |
| 16 | Formality of STAR CHAMBER (old court) [ignoring] AMBER (cautionary signal) (6) | STARCH |
| 17 | B (Book) {ALLEGED A}* million [wounded] (9, two words) | BALD EAGLE |
| 18 | Sandwich [fillings in] { |
ROTI |
| 19 | Signs over staff NOS (numbers) [under] SEG (sole protection) (6) | SEGNOS |
| 23 | Regretted [finishing up in] RUDE (rough) (4) | RUED |
| 25 | THE (So much) TA (expression of gratitude) in letter (5) | THETA |
| 27 | Chip [left in Bag’s] LITTER (rubbish) (7) | BLITTER |
| 29 | Excited, [bending] EAR* [over] [casual[ DATE* (7) | AERATED |
| 30 | USUAL* [changes] [restricting] V (very) fleshy bodies (6) | UVULAS |
| 32 | Stellar <ARTS (tricks) [picked up] [in] A (acting), [last of] alL (6) | ASTRAL |
| 36 | Figure of speech < [put up], <PORT (left) [on] purposE [in the end] (5) | TROPE |
| 37 | Travel document‘s VISA |
VISA |
| 38 | Let rip (4) | TEAR |
| 39 | [Some] scans sPY REad (4) | PYRE |
| L | E | A | D | P | I | S | I | F | O | R | M | S |
| I | N | D | O | O | R | A | S | O | N | N | E | T |
| A | T | E | L | S | U | B | U | R | S | I | N | E |
| M | E | L | I | S | M | A | S | W | T | H | T | R |
| B | N | E | R | U | S | S | T | H | O | R | O | N |
| A | T | H | O | M | E | T | A | Y | R | A | R | B |
| L | E | T | T | S | G | E | R | B | U | M | A | E |
| D | U | H | I | A | N | T | C | L | E | V | E | R |
| E | V | E | N | S | O | C | H | I | D | T | R | G |
| A | U | T | V | T | S | R | A | T | T | R | A | P |
| G | L | A | I | R | I | E | S | T | L | O | T | Y |
| L | A | K | S | A | S | W | H | E | L | P | E | R |
| E | S | C | A | L | A | T | O | R | C | E | D | E |
| MANIC MONDAY | ||||||||||||
Thank you for the detailed blog. I submitted MANIC MONDAY – the latter being an anagram of DYNAMO. I could be wrong though
Oh no, you are 100% correct! I did not give that anything like enough thought!
Wow – I had a full grid, the Bangles link-man and the ‘manic’ Monday, but more than a week of grid-staring had me nowhere near finding the ‘pantheon’…closest I got was looking for gods for days of the week – THOR, WODIN, TYR, etc. – wrong mythology!
Chapeau to Mister Sting for spotting them/it, and Ifor for the ultimately impenetrable challenge…grrr…
If it makes you feel better, I was having difficulty coming to the correct total (there’s a tempting ATEN that would make something like a wand in the left – or possibly right, depending on perspective – hand). It finally turned out that it was just RA missing, which I really should have spotted immediately.
Thanks, Mr Sting – your grid-staring abilities must be finer-tuned than mine! I guess knowing BASTET down the middle as an Egyptian god would have helped as a starter for (A)ten……
It would also have helped if I hadn’t fixated on the Manic Monday and had thought about other works from the Bangles’ oeuvre. I do have a couple of 12″ vinyl singles of ‘Walk Like…’ with several different versions which pop up regularly on my playlists, so I can’t claim ignorance on that front…
Thank you, all. Mc-R; I’m sorry about your fruitless search. I hope you won’t mind my saying that the ingenuity that solvers can sometimes display in misleading themselves never fails to amaze me. The coincidence of Monday plus the “sevenness” of the pantheon had not occurred to me or my testers. The appearance of Ra and Hathor in one of the clues might have served as a pointer?