Fun geographically themed puzzle from Peto. Find it to solve online or download and print at ft.com/crossword
The monthly World puzzle returns with the usual preamble:
A cryptic puzzle themed on one particular place in the world. Its name should be inserted at 25 across. Work out the place by solving the * asterisked clues. Their solutions have some relevance to the place, such as famous people, locations and culture
I got the theme very quickly today with 1 across but some of the other thematic solutions were more of a test of my knowledge of Wales. Very pleased to see a current Welsh music star included in the grid alongside the more established names. Peto does like to test our general knowledge beyond the theme, with Godfrey Kneller being unfamiliar to me, but I was able to reverse engineer the parsing from the solution, with assistance from Wikipedia.
Very enjoyable puzzle, thanks, Peto!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. Thematic clues are marked with an asterisk and have no further definition.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TOM JONES |
* Jerry’s rival succeeded without Darby’s wife in recital (3,5)
|
| TOM (Jerry’s rival) + S (succeeded) surrounding (without) a soundalike (in recital) of “JOAN” (Darby’s wife)
Veteran Welsh crooner |
||
| 5 | DWYFOR |
* Terribly rowdy female entering (6)
|
| Anagram (terrible) of ROWDY which F (female) is “entering”
River and district in northwest Wales. Notable for being the last stronghold of the Sabbatarian temperance movement in Wales, according to Wikipedia |
||
| 9 | AP GWILIM |
* Wimp Gail’s unreliable (2,6)
|
| Anagram (unreliable) of WIMP GAIL
Dafydd ap Gwilim (or Gwilym) was a 14th-century Welsh poet, regarded as one of the great European poets of the Middle Ages |
||
| 10 | CORWEN |
* ‘My wife’ in French (6)
|
| COR (‘my!’, as an exclamation) + W (wife) + EN (‘in’ in French)
Town in north Wales, notable as the birthplace of Owain Glyndŵr |
||
| 12 | LLEYN |
* Shout back at Nationalist leader (5)
|
| YELL (shout) reversed (back) + N (Nationalist)
Anglicised spelling of Llŷn, a peninsula in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, which is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty |
||
| 13 | IRONWORKS |
* Employment in clubs (9)
|
| WORK (employment) in IRONS (clubs)
Blaenavon Ironworks in Wales was a pioneer in industrialising iron manufacture in the 18th century and is now a museum and UNESCO World Heritage site |
||
| 14 | BRECON |
* Note on British semiologist and writer (6)
|
| N (note) on BR (British) + ECO (semiologist and writer Umberto Eco)
Town in mid Wales which lies just north of the Brecon Beacons mountain range and within the Brecon Beacons National Park |
||
| 16 | BARGOED |
* Plot involving mythical ship (7)
|
| BED (plot) containing (involving) ARGO (mythical ship)
Coal mining town in south Wales |
||
| 19 | PEN Y FAN |
* Fellow finds article on heartless girl (3,1,3)
|
| F (fellow) + AN (article) on PE[n]NY (girl) with middle letter removed (heartless)
Highest peak in the aforementioned Brecon Beacons range |
||
| 21 | BASSEY |
* Fool interrupting old Turkish governor (6)
|
| ASS (fool) inserted in (interrupting) BEY (old Turkish governor)
Shirley Bassey, another veteran Welsh singer |
||
| 23 | LUKE EVANS |
* Value Ken’s cunning (4,5)
|
| Anagram (cunning) of VALUE KEN’S
Welsh actor and singer, best known for his appearances in various musicals |
||
| 25 | WALES |
[See Notes] (5)
|
| The place to which solutions of all asterisked clues are connected | ||
| 26 | GWENNO |
* Information about women facing denial (6)
|
| GEN (information) about W (women) + NO (denial)
A more up-to-date Welsh music reference and one I’m a big fan of – Gwenno Saunders is a Welsh-Cornish singer and she’s flipping brilliant, I highly recommend checking her out. Here she is singing in Welsh: Y Gath (which means The Cat) |
||
| 27 | BARA LAWR |
* Bank on a solicitor you once ignored (4,4)
|
| Welsh delicacy, known as laverbread in English, made from a type of seaweed (laver) and a traditional feature of a Welsh breakfast, fried and served with bacon and cockles | ||
| 28 | AMLWCH |
* American visiting oddly neglected small western church (6)
|
| A (American) + [s]M[a]L[l] (with the odd letters ‘neglected’) + W (western) + CH (church)
Port town in Anglesey, northwest Wales |
||
| 29 | BETHESDA |
* These bad riots (8)
|
| Anagram (riots) of THESE BAD
Town in Gwynnedd, north Wales, known for slate mining |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TRAILS |
Follows when right about troubles (6)
|
| RT (right) reversed (about) + AILS (troubles) | ||
| 2 | MAGNETRON |
Get Norman trained as a maker of microwaves (9)
|
| Anagram (trained) of GET NORMAN | ||
| 3 | ONION |
The head barrister’s advice? Not good (5)
|
| O[pi]NION (barrister’s advice) less PI (good) | ||
| 4 | EDITION |
Particular instance of TV show’s rabble-rousing society rejected (7)
|
| [s]EDITION (rabble rousing) less S (society) | ||
| 6 | WOODWORMS |
Destructive larvae work slowly in forests (9)
|
| WORM (work slowly) in WOODS (forests) | ||
| 7 | FEWER |
Less found in fine jug (5)
|
| F (fine) + EWER (jug) | ||
| 8 | RINGSIDE |
It affords a good view of cracks in ridges (8)
|
| Anagram (cracks) of IN RIDGES | ||
| 11 | TOMB |
Featured in custom-built vault (4)
|
| Hidden (featured) in cusTOM-Built | ||
| 15 | CAFFEINIC |
Inefficacy not entirely reproduced when relating to stimulant tin tea (9)
|
| Anagram (reproduced) of INNEFFICAC[y] less the last letter (not entirely) | ||
| 17 | OVERLOADS |
Gives excessive information concerning charges (9)
|
| OVER (concerning) + LOADS (charges) | ||
| 18 | APOLOGIA |
Written defence of game soldier blocking motorists (8)
|
| POLO (game) + GI (soldier) inserted in (blocking) AA (motorists) | ||
| 20 | NEAT |
Deftly executed by orderly (4)
|
| Two definitions | ||
| 21 | BUS LANE |
Misery around American canal ultimately caused by transport efficiency aid (3,4)
|
| BANE (misery) around US (American) + last letter (ultimately) of canaL | ||
| 22 | ISTRIA |
Current evidence of glaciation found in part of Croatia (6)
|
| I (current) + STRIA (evidence of glaciation) | ||
| 24 | KNELL |
Old queen leaving court painter with warning of the end (5)
|
| ER (old queen) leaving KNELL[er] (Godfrey Kneller, court artist to Charles II and George I) | ||
| 25 | WRATH |
Ghostlike image I dismissed in angry indignation (5)
|
| WRA[i]TH (ghostlike image) with the I dismissed |