The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/30006. – and Man Ray
An excellent puzzle from Paul, with a theme that even I could not miss, with artists appearing in most clues and answers – mostly painters, with a lone sculptor. Then there’s Tracey Emin – and Man Ray is known for his photography, although he considered himself primarily a painter. The crossword was definitely a puzzle of two halves for me; the upper half went in easily, the lower, not so.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | STEAM IRON |
Smoother artist after ammo initially loading type of gun (5,4)
|
| An envelope (‘loading’) of A (‘Ammo initially’) plus MIRO (‘artist’) in STEN (‘type of gun’). | ||
| 8 | WHEEL |
Turner on The Hay Wain? (5)
|
| Cryptic definition – or perhaps you mught stretch it to a double definition. Anyway, the surface refers to one of the best-known paintings. In the original clue just The Hay Wain is in italics. | ||
| 9 | RETRIEVAL |
Rescuing relative at sea, Romeo saved (9)
|
| An envelope (‘saved’) of R (‘Romeo’, NATO alphabet) in RETIEVAL an anagram (‘at sea’) of ‘relative’. | ||
| 10 | SLOOP |
Sailing boat in lottery capsized (5)
|
| A reversal (‘capsized’ – which would be more apposite in a down light) of POOLS (‘lottery’). | ||
| 12 | MANTRA |
Artist not entirely impressed by intro of traditional chant that’s sacred (6)
|
| An envelope (‘impressed by’) of T (‘intro of Traditional’) in MAN RA[y] (‘artist’) minus the last letter (‘not entirely’). | ||
| 13 | TOOL SHED |
Told hoes (or hose), or those old screws – here? (4,4)
|
| A triple anagram (‘screws’), no less: of ‘told hoes’ ‘told’ ‘hose’, and ‘those old’, with an extended definition. | ||
| 14 | KLEENEX |
Tissue cut then by artist (7)
|
| A charade of KLEE (Paul, ‘artist’) plus NEX[t] (‘then’) minus its last letter (‘cut’), | ||
| 17 | GORMLEY |
Wood nailed back by bloody artist (7)
|
| An envelope (‘nailed’) of MLE, a reversal (‘back’) of ELM (‘wood’) in GORY (‘bloody’). Anthony Gormley is a sculptor perhaps best known for the Angel of the North. | ||
| 20 | ANGELICO |
Artist in cage with lion torn to pieces (8)
|
| An anagram (‘torn to pieces’) of ‘cage’ plus ‘lion’, for Fra Angelico (Fra is a title, friar, not a name). | ||
| 22 | FERMAT |
Whistler recalled mother having little time for theorist (6)
|
| A charade of FER, a reversal (‘recalled’) of REF (referee, ‘whistler’) plus MA (‘mother’) plus T (‘little tiem’), with reference to the famous painting generally known as Whistler’s Mother, and to Fermat’s Last (but not only) Theorem. | ||
| 24 | ASIDE |
Whisper first song on record? (5)
|
| A-SIDE (‘first song on record’). | ||
| 25 | DIETITIAN |
Artist, it’s time to check out food expert! (9)
|
| DIE, TITIAN! (‘artist, it’s time to check out’). | ||
| 26 | DEGAS |
Artist burst bubble, in a manner of speaking? (5)
|
| DE-GAS. | ||
| 27 | CONSTABLE |
Artifice still for artist (9)
|
| A charade of CON (‘artifice’) plus STABLE (‘still’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ATHENA |
Goddess at one time packing case in America (6)
|
| An envelope (‘packing’ – a pistol-packin’ momma might have one on each hip) of THEN (‘at one time’) in AA (‘case in AmericA‘). | ||
| 2 | MAGRITTE |
Bottle consumed by familiar artist (8)
|
| A charade of GRIT (‘bottle’ as courage) in MATE (‘familiar, noun). | ||
| 3 | RIVERA |
Artist, artist after split (6)
|
| A charade of RIVE (‘split’) plus RA (‘artist’, the second one). | ||
| 4 | HOGARTH |
Bacon paintings hard for artist (7)
|
| A charade of HOG (‘bacon’) plus ART (‘paintings’) plus H (‘hard’). For the surface ‘Bacon’ would be Francis Bacon. | ||
| 5 | WHALES |
Wife and artist keeping pea, essentially, in pod (6)
|
| A charade of W (‘wife’) plus HALES, an envelope (‘keeping’) of E (‘pEa essentially’) in HALS (Franz the Elder, or others of his family, ‘artist’). | ||
| 6 | VERONESE |
Artist in clover, one senses (8)
|
| A hidden answer in ‘cloVERO ONE SEnses’ | ||
| 11 | POLO |
Sport in which artist has lost tie (4)
|
| A subtraction: [iie]POLO (Giovanni Battista or one of his sons Goivanni Domenico and Lorenso Baldissera, ‘artist’) minus TIE (‘has lost tie’). | ||
| 15 | LANDSEER |
Artist excited ship’s lookout? (8)
|
| LAND SEER. | ||
| 16 | EMIN |
Artist, sign unframed? (4)
|
| [g]EMIN[i] (‘sign’ of the zodiac) minus its outer letters (‘unframed’), for Tracey Emin of the unmade bed. | ||
| 18 | MORE THAN |
Manet or Hockney originally turned over (4,4)
|
| An anagram (‘turned’) of ‘Manet or’ plus H (‘Hockney originally’). | ||
| 19 | MORISOT |
Questionable claims come up briefly for artist (7)
|
| An envelope (‘claims’) of RIS[e] (‘come up’) minus its last letter (‘briefly’) in MOOT (‘questionable’) Berthe Morisot was a French impressionist. | ||
| 21 | ENDEAR |
Brow wiped of female, say, stealing a charm (6)
|
| An envelope (‘stealing’) of ‘a’ in [g]ENDER (‘female, say’) minus its first letter (‘brow wiped’). | ||
| 22 | FETISH |
Foxtrot is the dancing obsession (6)
|
| A charade of F (‘foxtrot’ NATO alphabet) plus ETISH, an anagram (‘dancing’) of ‘is the’. | ||
| 23 | ANALLY |
In a particular way, what a lone ranger might need? (6)
|
| AN ALLY. |
Ticks for KLEENEX, TOOL SHED & FERMAT which almost bisected an anagram of THEOREM.
Hopefully we won’t have too many “I’m surprised how many people haven’t heard of [insert name of personal pet painter here]” comments 🙂
Cheers P&P