Enigmatic Variations No. 1739: ABC Order by Vagans

We crossword solvers like a bit of alphabetical ordering, so Vagans calling for a bit of ‘ABC Order’ should be right up most people’s street…

The preamble states that:

“The unclued perimeter is made up of eight names in ABC ORDER, starting in the top left and running in a clockwise direction. Its unchecked letters could spell WRY CRUCIFORM TYPES WIN. Extra letters generated by the wordplay of each down clue provide an instruction to continue the order. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”

A perimeter-fill usually means a few less clues to solve and parse – always an important consideration for a blogger – and the fact that only the Down clues have the ‘extra letter’ device should make things a bit simpler as well.

Nothing for it but to press on with some solving and see what pops out into the perimeter. The grid filled up at a reasonably steady rate, although there were a couple where I couldn’t fully explain things until writing up the blog – LLANELLI; LILIAN – or had to do a quick look-up in Chambers to confirm – WOOL STAPLE; BOUBOU; MONACT.

The first PDM came when I could see ‘C_GGA_’ down the right-hand side, and some vague memory suggested that there was someone famous called COGGAN, and further round along the bottom row what could be ‘_AREY’. My suspicions were confirmed by ‘_ELB_’ up the left-hand side – and a quick Wiki-oogle confirmed that COGGAN, along with CAREY and WELBY, is a former Archbishop of Canterbury.

In fact, my own memory of incumbents of the post only really goes back to Robert Runcie in the 80s, but I was able put in RUNCIE and WILLIAMS, and then e-extrapolate backwards. I was briefly confused by the ordering – obviously CAREY comes before COGGAN alphabetically, and TEMPLE, RAMSEY and FISHER spoilt that line of thought, until I twigged that the ABC was Arch Bishop of Canterbury!

[Back in the day, we used to have a family saying of an ‘ABx’ tour, as we were dragged round ABC ‘Another Bl__dy Church’, or ABM ‘Another Bl__dy Museum’. And more recently, in 2014, we had a full extended family reunion/holiday in Myanmar, before all the recent troubles there, and spent a lovely few days on an ‘ABT’ tour in the Bagan area – ‘Another Bl__dy Temple’!…]

But I digress – having teased out the perimeter, the extra letters started to take shape into the phrase ‘SHADE THE NEXT CANTUAR’, and remembering the cardinal rule of EV themes is to check the diagonals, there in the upward main diagonal was the next incumbent, (Sarah) MULLALLY. Still ‘next’ at the time, as she was only invested (or enthroned or whatever) in the week following publication of this puzzle:

Now I do know that Vagans, who has only relatively recently burst onto the barred/thematic setting scene (with various EVs, IQs and a Listener around the same time as this one), is a former/retired/unfrocked/de-frocked(?) member of the clergy of some sort, and would thus have had a vested interest in this subject. And I guess there isn’t a better way of ensuring publication than to pick a theme with a specific target date!

Overall I would say this was not the most taxing of EV solves, with some relatively gentle clueing – notwithstanding a few (to me) ‘obscurities’, as mentioned above – and a generous proportion of crossers on the perimeter, as well as the phrase of unchecked letters. But it was certainly enjoyable, and educational in adding a few names to my personal reference list of ABCs.

My thanks to Vagans, and I trust all is clear below…