A tough puzzle from GAFF today.
FF: 7 DD:10+
If the theme is correct, then it has to do with the 69th anniversary of the Bannau Brycheiniog ( Brecon Beacons ) National Park. I had no clue and googled to get here and also needed help from the internet to fully solve this. Multiple references within the puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BRAND NEW |
Unused iron with directions (5-3)
|
| BRAND ( iron ) NEW ( North East West, directions ) | ||
| 5 | FOREST |
Perhaps Nottingham’s king captured by enemies last night (6)
|
| [ R ( king ) in FOES ( enemies ) ] T ( nighT, last letter of ) | ||
| 9 | ON EARTH |
Another problem in the world (2,5)
|
| [ ANOTHER ]* | ||
| 10 | BEACONS |
Section of what maybe a constant line of signals (7)
|
| hidden in “..mayBE A CONStant..” | ||
| 11 | DODO |
Eccentric double act (4)
|
| DO DO ( act, twice ) | ||
| 13 | UMBER |
Don’t start to charge the earth (5)
|
| nUMBER ( charge, without first letter ); wiki | ||
| 14 | LAKE |
Regularly clean keel with water (4)
|
| “..cLeAn KeEl..”, alternate letters of | ||
| 17/23 | BLOODSTAIN |
Doctor obtains old evidence of injury (10)
|
| [ OBTAINS OLD ]* | ||
| 18 | COLOSSAL |
Huge failure to divide fuel (8)
|
| LOSS ( failure ) in COAL ( fuel ) | ||
| 22 | DISTRICT |
Cop gets tough neighbourhood (8)
|
| DI ( cop ) STRICT ( tough ) | ||
| 26 | LIDO |
Top ball in pool (4)
|
| LID ( top ) O ( ball ) | ||
| 28 | SOUTH |
Pole dancing’s hot with a tiny bit of underwear (5)
|
| [ S ( from the ‘S of dancing ) HOT ]* containing U ( Underwear, a tiny bit of i.e. first letter ) | ||
| 29 | PEAK |
Best to look sound (4)
|
| sounds like PEEK ( look ) | ||
| 32 | TOWPATH |
Track where horsepower is supported by bank (7)
|
| cryptic def | ||
| 33 | GHOSTLY |
Taken in by cheating host lying about spirits (7)
|
| hidden in “..cheatinG HOST LYing..” | ||
| 35 | RESIDE |
Live deer is shot (6)
|
| [ DEER IS ]* | ||
| 36 | PARKLAND |
Fourth best option is keeping boat in open space (8)
|
| ARK ( boat ) in { PLAN D ( fourth best option ) } | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BROADS |
US women’s little ways (6)
|
| cryptic def; read as B ROADS ( little ways ) | ||
| 2 | ACE |
One great card (3)
|
| triple def | ||
| 3 | DART |
Jazz up seam (4)
|
| reverse of TRAD ( jazz ) | ||
| 4 | EXHUME |
Recover body of drone in river (6)
|
| HUM ( drone ) in EXE ( river ) | ||
| 6 | OVAL |
Only very agricultural labour leaders like eggs (4)
|
| starting letters of “Only Very Agricultural Labour..” | ||
| 7 | EBOLA |
Virus is an electronic weapon (5)
|
| E ( electronic ) BOLA ( weapon ) ; wiki | ||
| 8 | TESSELLA |
Two girls featured in piece of mosaic (8)
|
| TESS ELLA ( two girls ) | ||
| 10 | BRECON |
Business leader gets brief survey of Welsh town (6)
|
| B ( Business , first letter ) RECON ( brief survey, short for RECONnaissance ) | ||
| 12 | DALES |
Drink in extreme distress in valleys (5)
|
| ALE ( drink ) in DS ( DistresS, end letters of ) | ||
| 15 | MOORS |
Ties up African people (5)
|
| double def | ||
| 16 | NORTH |
A star turn no longer meant much, finally (5)
|
| end characters of “..turN nO longeR meanT mucH..” | ||
| 19 | SHIRE |
Administration in quiet rage (5)
|
| SH ( quiet ) IRE ( rage ) | ||
| 20 | IDOLATER |
Vow dead ringleader’s a heretic (8)
|
| I DO ( vow ) LATE ( dead ) R ( Ring, first letter of ) | ||
| 21 | J-CLOTH |
Religious leader, initially unwilling cleaner (1-5)
|
| JC ( religious leader, initially i.e. initials of Jesus Christ ) LOTH ( unwilling ) | ||
| 24 | STIGMA |
Stain where fertiliser is put (6)
|
| double def | ||
| 25 | OKAYED |
Approved of girl’s name being included in dictionary (6)
|
| KAY ( girl’s name ) in OED ( dictionary ) | ||
| 27 | DOWNS |
Leading detective has some clues (5)
|
| D ( Detective, first letter ) OWNS ( has ) | ||
| 30 | LAND |
Achieve touch-down for country (4)
|
| triple def | ||
| 31 | YORK |
Most of delivery for city (4)
|
| YORKer ( delivery, most of ; cricket ) | ||
| 34 | TEA |
Meal of trimmed duck (3)
|
| TEAl ( duck , without last letter ) |
The Peak District National Park dates from 17 April 1951. There are several other National Parks in the answers.
National Parks generally – there’s Brecon Beacons, Peak District, Lake District, New Forest, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire Moors, the South Downs, Exmoor and Dartmoor also hidden. Which I spotted and helped a lot. I thought it was the law agreeing their foundation we were celebrating
Thank you to Oriel and Gaff
I missed the Broads – it helps being a walker and having walked a lot of these. They were legally designated in 1949 following a 1945 White Paper according to Wikipedia.
I tend to agree with Andrew@1 , there has been a lot of fuss about the Peak District 75 today , special bell ringing across many churches .
Gave up with three to go.
Would never, ever have got Umber
Should’ve got York and Parkland
But got bored with it.
After completing the puzzle, which I had the rare opportunity of doing on my dad’s pink printed copy, I looked up Gaff. …known for his themed crosswords… it said. I looked again and there it blatantly was. I’ve visited most of these places and live on the edge of one, but as usual I’d been oblivious.
Fun times were had though. I liked J CLOTH, PARKLAND, BLOOD STAIN, COLOSSAL and SOUTH.
PS. I thought it was Lumber not Number.
Thanks Gaff, Turbolegs (and Shanne)
Moly – UMBER is part of three answers making up NORTHUMBERLAND (another NP).
Thanks for the blog , a great effort to include so many National Parks and not have lots of obscure words to join it all together .
I also had (l)umber not (n)umber but think it’s a lousy choice for ‘charge’. Lumbering after something seems a bit different than charging after them imo. Didn’t spot the neat NORTH UMBER LAND though.
Very enjoyable. “Umber” still doesn’t make a lot of sense, although it had to be answer. Parkland, although gettable is somewhat convoluted. Kudos to Gaff on a excellent themed crossword.
I also had (L)UMBER with the sense of to burden , one of the meanings of charge .
I also liked PARKLAND for the PLAN D , I like this technique .
Good clean fun and tricky, but not a dd10 by any means IMO.
Liked on earth, towpath, reside, parkland, tea, and the theme.
Thx both.
Yes, I had the same meaning of L[UMBER] as Roz. It was my last one in.
My heart usually sinks slightly when I see a Gaff anniversary puzzle, as I often miss the anniversary references completely, but this was right in my comfort zone as I am familiar with the National Parks and got the theme very early on, so it all went in quickly. I have to admit that I didn’t spot the very ingenious Northumberland but got the rest and Gaff even managed to squeeze in a couple of other outdoor references – TOWPATH, FOREST. A very enjoyable exercise – thanks to Gaff.
Didn’t think of that meaning for (l)umber. Perhaps (c)umber fits that meaning as well?
For those interested in a bit of history, attached is a summary from Google of the events of the Mass Trespass in 1932 in the Peak District that contributed to the creation of Britain’s National Parks.
The Mass Trespass of Kinder Scout was a pivotal act of civil disobedience that took place on April 24, 1932, in the Peak District, Derbyshire, involving approximately 400 ramblers who defied private property rights to protest restricted public access to moorlands used for grouse shooting. Organized by Benny Rothman, the secretary of the British Workers’ Sports Federation and a member of the Young Communist League, the event coordinated groups from Manchester and Sheffield to converge on the plateau of Kinder Scout.
The protest resulted in violent scuffles with gamekeepers and the subsequent arrest of five men, including Rothman, who received prison sentences ranging from two to six months for riotous assembly and incitement. While the immediate legal outcome was punitive, the harsh sentencing sparked widespread public outrage and sympathy, significantly amplifying the campaign for open access rights.
The legacy of the trespass is credited with catalyzing the passage of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949 and eventually the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act of 2000, which secured the “right to roam” for the public. Although some historians debate the immediate effectiveness of the event or whether the trespassers reached the summit, it remains a symbol of the working-class struggle for access to the countryside versus the exclusive rights of wealthy landowners.
Location: Kinder Scout, Peak District, Derbyshire.
Key Figure: Benny Rothman (20-year-old leader).
Immediate Outcome: 5 arrests, prison sentences, and a subsequent rally of 10,000 people at Winnats Pass.
Long-term Impact: Established the foundation for the Peak District National Park and modern access laws.
Commemoration: Annual walking events and a plaque at Bowden Bridge quarry near Hayfield, the starting point.
I found this difficult and living in the US I was unlikely to stumble upon the theme. In fact for a long time I thought it had to do with Twin Peaks! The strange and wonderful TV show from 1990s. What with blood stains, peak, dale (Cooper), a lake, forest, ghostly, stigma exhumation, etc or sounded more like the setting of a ghostly murder story. Anyways… Thanks all