The monthly geographically themed crossword. Find it online at ft.com/crossword
The usual preamble:
A cryptic puzzle themed on one particular place in the world. Its name should be inserted at 8 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
Fawlty Towers and Muse led me to the place we were after pretty quickly today, though the last few answers took a fair bit of working out and I still haven’t fully worked out the parsing of 16 down but I’ve got a busy day ahead so can’t spend any more time thinking about it right now – any suggestions welcome…
Nice puzzle, thanks, Hamilton!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. Thematic clues are marked with an asterisk and have no further definition.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | PILGRIMS |
* Ghastly lager tops! (8)
|
| GRIM (ghastly) which PILS (lager) contains (tops)
The settlers who travelled to North America in 1614 aboard the Mayflower set off from Plymouth in Devon |
||
| 8 | DEVON |
[See Notes] (5)
|
| The place to which the solutions to all asterisked clues are connected | ||
| 10 | HARTLAND |
* Most important part of the country, they say (8)
|
| Sounds like “HEARTLAND”
Village in northwest Devon known for its dramatic scenery and its abbey |
||
| 11/25 | FAWLTY TOWERS |
* At worst, we fly another way (6,6)
|
| Anagram (another way) of AT WORST WE FLY
Sitcom of the 1970s set in a hotel in Torquay, Devon. The opening credits of the show featured anagrams of the hotel’s name on its sign but this is a new one |
||
| 12 | LACE |
* Scored but not rated (4)
|
| LACE[rated] (scored) less RATED
One of the products for which Devon is famous. Lace from Honiton in Devon was used to make Queen Victoria’s wedding dress |
||
| 13 | REATTACH |
Connect again with waterway in which a race is held (8)
|
| REACH (waterway) in which A + TT (race) is held | ||
| 15/27 | CLOTTED CREAM |
* Idiot on one side, top of the class on the other side of Edward (7,5)
|
| CLOT (idiot) + CREAM (top of the class) either side of TED (Edward)
Another product for which Devon is famous |
||
| 17 | ITERATE |
Repeat – cultivated head librarian sacked (7)
|
| [L]ITERATE (cultivated) with the first letter (head) of Librarian removed (sacked) | ||
| 20 | ENTANGLE |
Ravel’s star missing their piano? (8)
|
| [p]ENTANGLE (star) less P (piano) | ||
| 22 | MUSE |
* Hugged by bedroom users (4)
|
| Containined in (hugged by) bedrooM USErs
Rock band originally from Teignmouth, Devon |
||
| 26 | A LA CARTE |
Managing a claret with Amy first is on the cards (1,2,5)
|
| Anagram (managing) of A CLARET with the first letter of Amy
A very literal definition |
||
| 28 | THE MODEL |
Held me to dancing to Kraftwerk track (3,5)
|
| Anagram (dancing) of HELD ME TO
Coincidentally, as I write, another Kraftwerk track, The Robots, is playing on the radio |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TIDAL |
Left passage, going north as water levels change (5)
|
| L (left) + ADIT (passage) reversed (going north) | ||
| 2 | AGATHA |
* Sound surprised, holding revolver (6)
|
| AHA (sound surprised) holding GAT (revolver)
Novelist Agatha Christie was from Torquay in Devon |
||
| 3 | MILANESE |
Motorway and country roads east of Italian city… (8)
|
| MI (M1, motorway) + LANES (country roads) + E (east) | ||
| 4 | ISADORA |
…yes, they say, up for a lady dancer (7)
|
| SI (yes, as they say it in Italy) reversed (up) + A + DORA (lady)
Isadora Duncan was a pioneer of modern dance in the mid 20th century |
||
| 5 | SEAWATER |
Wet areas – is this what created them? (8)
|
| Anagram of WET AREAS with a sort of extended definition | ||
| 6 | NORTHCOTT |
* One leaving Corinth devastated – outrageous! (9)
|
| I (one) leaving an anagram (devastated) of CORINTH + OTT (outrageous)
Settlement in west Devon, population 26, also the name of a theatre in the county town, Exeter |
||
| 9 | OFFA |
Obviously fabulous fanfare awaited earliest ruler (4)
|
| First letters (earliest) of Obviously Fabulous Fanfare Awaited | ||
| 14 | CLANGOURS |
Sounds like mistakes led to continuous loud noises (9)
|
| Sounds like “CLANGERS” (mistakes) | ||
| 16 | TRADE WAR |
The result of arguments about vacuous administrator lead to this? (5,3)
|
| Can’t pick this apart – any ideas? | ||
| 18 | TOM DALEY |
* My old date removing top – awkward! (3,5)
|
| Anagram (awkward) of MY OLD [d]ATE less the first letter (removing top)
Olympic gold medal winning diver, originally from Plymouth in Devon |
||
| 19 | REGATTA |
* Generating great cheers (7)
|
| Anagram (generating) of GREAT + TA (cheers)
Famous annual boating event held in Dartmouth in Devon |
||
| 21 | GUST |
American sports car outside? Blast! (4)
|
| US (American0 with GT (sports car) outside | ||
| 23 | SEATON |
* Accommodation in use (6)
|
| SEAT (accommodation) + ON (in use)
Coastal town in south Devon |
||
| 24 | OTTER |
* Craftsman blows his top (5)
|
| [p]OTTER (craftsman) less the first letter (blows his top)
River and nature reserve in Devon |
TRADE WAR
I have no convincing parse, but am just sharing this in the hope that this might trigger a better thought. Sure, some have parsed this already and may come sooner or later to explain the same.
‘vacuous administrator’ is AR (or it could be something more tricky).
Assuming it’s AR, we have TRADE W to justify. Is there a way to fit in
‘WE DART’ as an equivalent of ‘The result of arguments’? Then we have
WE DART about +AR.
KVa – that’s about as far as I got as well but I couldn’t make a convincing case for WE DART – probably missing something blindingly obvious…
True
The other rabbit hole I went down for TRADE WAR is that a DEWAR flask is a vacuum flask, which leaves ART – and that could be T (start of thing) and AR, as everyone else has found – but then vacuous is being used twice.
Interesting take on Devon, as someone who grew up in Dorset and follows various people based in Devon, lots of Devonian things missing, including the Jurassic Coast.