Hi all. Chalicea’s puzzles are often reassuring for a solver and this one looks like it might be doubly so. Only one way to find out …
The preamble:
The unclued entries identify two people and two places connected with the REASSURING quotation that circles the grid in a clockwise direction beginning at the circle. Two clues contain an extra word that must be removed before solving. Their fifteen letters provide a jumble of the unchecked letters in the perimeter. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.
All proceeded reassuringly smoothly and the unclued entries presently began to suggest themselves. I then set about filling in the perimeter with the help of the extra words – HANGMAN from 8a and HELL-HOLE from 19a (not so reassuring!) – and constructed the following quotation:
ALL SHALL BE WELL, AND ALL MANNER OF THING SHALL BE WELL
This comes from the writings of the mediaeval mystic MOTHER JULIAN of NORWICH, and was used by T.S. ELIOT in the poem LITTLE GIDDING, part of his Four Quartets.
You probably won’t be surprised to learn the source of my information: further details are on the Wikipedia page here.
I would love to think that all will be well, but am not so easily reassured. However, I certainly did enjoy the puzzle. Thanks Chalicea!
If there is a setter’s blog for this puzzle it will be available after 9am here.
| # | ANSWER | Clue with definition underlined |
| Explanation, with quoted indicators in italics and ANSWER letters in bold caps | ||
| Across | ||
| 8a | LONELY | Isolated [hangman] operating in large cathedral city (6) |
| ON (operating) in L (large) and ELY (cathedral city) | ||
| 9a | A WEEK ON | Associate reported small deception in seven days’ time (7, three words) |
| A (associate) + WEEKON, sounding like (reported) WEE CON (small deception) | ||
| 11a | SICKLE | Disgusted with the French farming tool (6) |
| SICK (disgusted) with LE (the, French) | ||
| 12a | AS WAS | In a state no longer extant accepted half of fascist symbol (5, two words) |
| A (accepted) + half of SWAStika (fascist symbol) | ||
| 15 | DECADE | Rat in river for number of years (6) |
| CAD (rat) in DEE (river) | ||
| 19a | FIT IN | Harmonise [hell-hole] provided backing can (5, two words) |
| IF (provided) reversed (backing) + TIN (can) | ||
| 20a | INDRA | God of thunder and rain behind rainbow to some extent (5) |
| BehIND RAinbow to some extent | ||
| 21a | AYRE | Lay reader welcoming Elizabethan song (4) |
| Hidden, with lAY REreader including (welcoming) the answer | ||
| 23a | BEMOIL | Seethe about femme from time to time and smear with mud according to Will (6) |
| BOIL (seethe) around (about) fEmMe, taking regular letters (from time to time) | ||
| 24a | LLAMA | American mall recalled source of wool (5) |
| A (American) and MALL reversed (recalled) | ||
| 25a | UPFLOW | Run to higher ground on horseback chased by preposterous rapacious creature (6) |
| UP (on horseback) followed by (chased by) backwards (preposterous) WOLF (rapacious creature) | ||
| 28a | LOVERLY | Very jolly when naked, misbehaving once like a suitor (7) |
| An anagram of (… misbehaving) VERY and jOLLy having no outer letters (when naked) | ||
| 29a | TOMB | Grave bum-boats every now and then returned (4) |
| Regular letters of (… every now and then) BuM-bOaTs reversed (returned) | ||
| 32a | ESTH | Person from north, east and south (4) |
| E (east) and STH (south) | ||
| 34a | WHIPSAW | Political party discipline officer observed wood-cutting tool (7) |
| WHIP (political party discipline officer) + SAW (observed) | ||
| 36a | SEESAW | Treated ewes as thing to play with (6) |
| An anagram of (treated) EWES AS | ||
| 37a | EUCAINE | You beat recorded number (7) |
| Sounds like (… recorded) YOU CANE (beat) | ||
| 38a | ARERE | Some healthcare reform is backward for Ed (5) |
| Some healthcARE REform | ||
| Down | ||
| 1d | ANTIC | Caper marked with frenzy after fragment lost (5) |
| [fr]ANTIC (marked with frenzy) after FR (fragment) is lost | ||
| 2d | NETCAFE | Where people can browse piece of information turning up in need briefly (7) |
| FACT (piece of information) going upwards inside (turning up in) NEEd briefly | ||
| 3d | EYELET | The old filling set over small hole (6) |
| YE (the old) in (filling) TELE (set) reversed (over) | ||
| 4d | RAGE | Overpowering passion shown by suffragettes (4) |
| The answer is found in (shown by) suffRAGEttes | ||
| 5d | FEDARIE | The bard’s accomplice l feared quaking (7) |
| I FEARED anagrammed (quaking) | ||
| 6d | TEDS | Somewhat saturated swimmer spreads for drying (4) |
| Somewhat saturaTED Swimmer | ||
| 7d | ION | Nothing filling centre of tiny particle (3) |
| O (nothing) inside (filling) the centre of tINy | ||
| 10d | WIN ON | Obtain favour with outdated penny before word of refusal comes up (5, two words) |
| WIN (outdated penny) before NO (word of refusal) is reversed (comes up) | ||
| 13d | WIDOW | Bereaved wife’s expression of astonishment involving fish (5) |
| WOW (expression of astonishment) containing (involving) ID (fish) | ||
| 14d | ACRID | Incisive help securing credit (5) |
| AID (help) taking in (securing) CR. (credit) | ||
| 16d | NIPPY | Quick dram, pity having it gone (5) |
| NIP (dram) + P[it]Y without IT (having it gone) | ||
| 17d | XYLOL | Axes lines holding ordinary coal tar derivative (5) |
| XY (axes) + LL (lines) holding O (ordinary) | ||
| 18d | BRAVI | Support six? Well done, all (5) |
| BRA (support) + VI (six) | ||
| 22d | BARTSIA | British skills primarily identifying American herbaceous plant (7) |
| B (British) + ARTS (skills) + primarily Identifying + A (American) | ||
| 26d | FOSSIL | Geological relic special son wrapped in metallic sheet (6) |
| S (special) and S (son) wrapped in FOIL (metallic sheet) | ||
| 27d | LUTEAL | Coat with protective material almost all relating to endocrine tissue (6) |
| LUTE (coat with protective material) + almost ALl | ||
| 30d | OUSEL | Bird in Yorkshire river and lake (5) |
| OUSE (Yorkshire river) and L (lake) | ||
| 31d | OPAL | Foul play mostly in pursuit of old gemstone (4) |
| An anagram of (foul) PLAy mostly after (in pursuit of) O (old) | ||
| 32d | EWES | Sheep we raised with endless zest (4) |
| WE reversed (raised) + endless zESt | ||
| 33d | EARL | Noble almost exposed (4) |
| Without outer letters (… exposed) nEARLy (almost) | ||
| 35d | HUB | Occasionally shrubby focus of activity (3) |
| Regular letters of (occasionally) sHrUbBy | ||
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