An enjoyable outing from the reliable Vigo.
The year before last, I blogged a puzzle with an Animal Farm theme. Orwell’s novel is obviously a popular one with crossword setters because this one also takes it as a theme. A number of characters (Napolean, Moses, Minimus, Squealer, Snowball, Clover and Bluebell) appear in the answers and a few others like Boxer and Old Major in the clues. The theme wasn’t imposed too heavy-handedly and, despite having blogged another crossword with the same theme, I didn’t notice it until I went looking after I’d completed the puzzle.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SYNONYMS | Church council finishing early with rousing hymns lacking hard words such as faith, religion and belief (8) |
| Syno[d] + [h]ymns* | ||
| 5 | AMIDST | In the thick of a smog across delta (6) |
| A mist across D (used in phonetic alphabet) | ||
| 10 | UNMASKS | Reveals peacekeepers beginning to make requests (7) |
| UN + m[ake] + asks | ||
| 11 | AMNESIA | Names muddled by one with a memory problem (7) |
| (Names + I)* + a | ||
| 12 | ABHOR | Wild boar drinking last of punch can’t stand (5) |
| Boar* around [punc]h | ||
| 13 | STORMIEST | Most turbulent time following lies about millions (9) |
| T(ime) after stories around m | ||
| 14 | EPAULETTE | Old Major’s decoration embroidered initially onto uniform in a range of colours (9) |
| E[mbroidered] + U(niform) in palette | ||
| 17 | SO-SO | Two, tailless pigs are OK (2-2) |
| So[w] so[w] | ||
| 19 | IOTA | Grain ration endlessly redistributed (4) |
| [r]atio[n]*, grain used in the sense of “a grain of truth”. | ||
| 21 | KING PRAWN | Two men consuming tail of lobster and other crustacean (4,5) |
| King + pawn around [lobste]r | ||
| 24 | LOATHSOME | Hateful promises concealed by corrupt mole (9) |
| Oaths in mole* | ||
| 26 | NOHOW | Person who fails to honour commitment: not special, not at all (5) |
| No-[s]how | ||
| 28 | VAINEST | Most proud of a home in top surroundings (7) |
| A + in in vest (a top) | ||
| 29 | CHELSEA | Revolutionary left main London area (7) |
| Che (Guevara) + l(eft) + sea | ||
| 30 | RASHER | Part of soap-opera’s hero is a bit of a pig (6) |
| Hidden in soap-opeRA’S HERo. | ||
| 31 | BLUEBELL | Flower in vulgar ring (8) |
| Blue(=vulgar) + ring (bell can be used to mean ring in expressions like four bells) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SQUEALER | Stamp bearing Queen and Queen Rat (8) |
| Seal around Qu + ER | ||
| 2 | NYMPH | Speed past US city as young maiden (5) |
| MPH after N(ew) Y(ork) | ||
| 3 | NOSTRIL | Opening provided by random riots in Holland (7) |
| Riots* in NL (abbrev for Netherlands) | ||
| 4 | MOSES | Leader of Exodus boarding ship to follow second prophet (5) |
| E[xodus] in SS after mo(=second) | ||
| 6 | MINIMUS | Small car problem returns for youngest family member (7) |
| Mini + sum<. Apparently, this is sometimes used as a term for the youngest child in a family e.g. Smith minimus. | ||
| 7 | DYSPEPSIA | Days without a drink lead to agonising stomach complaint (9) |
| D[a]ys + Pepsi + first letter of agonising | ||
| 8 | TRACTS | Plots removal of men from farm vehicles (6) |
| OR (ordinary ranks) removed from tractors. | ||
| 9 | NAPOLEON | French refusal to take in an Eastern European dictator (8) |
| Non around a Pole | ||
| 15 | ANOMALIES | Boxer, taking drug, interrupts moans about odd events (9) |
| Ali + E in(=interrupting) moans* | ||
| 16 | TAKEOUTS | Police surveillance exercises heading off to get fast food (8) |
| [S]takeouts, a somewhat Americanized version of what we normally call “takeaway” – but at least it’s better than being asked “Do you want that to go?” | ||
| 18 | SNOWBALL | Get bigger present after small party (8) |
| Now after s(mall) + ball | ||
| 20 | ACHIEVE | Minerva regularly gripped by desire to succeed (7) |
| Even letters of Minerva (iev) in ache | ||
| 22 | PINKEYE | Fix important Eastern complaint (7) |
| Pin + key + E | ||
| 23 | CLOVER | Forage crop left in shelter (6) |
| L in cover | ||
| 25 | EXCEL | Former faction heard to shine (5) |
| Ex + hom of cell | ||
| 27 | HASTE | Strong feeling about introduction of statutory speed (5) |
| Hate around s[tatutory] | ||
*anagram
Thanks for the blog, Neal.
What a lovely puzzle! [I’m rather ashamed it took me so long to spot the theme.]
There’s a lot of wit and ingenuity here and some splendid surfaces: my favourites were SYNONYMS [although I thought I’d had enough of them after the Guardian’s Saturday Prize puzzle], AMNESIA [which raised a very wry smile] and DYSPEPSIA.
Many thanks, Vigo, for a most enjoyable puzzle.
Great stuff, Vigo!
I enjoyed it all and can’t pick a favourite.
Thanks for the puzzle, and thanks to Neal for the blog.
Eileen and Kitty are both right. Splendid. Yes.
Thanks Neal and Vigo.
(Regular readers may be interested in a world first today. I saw the theme at around half way through the puzzle. Still feeling stunned about that, since I am the world’s worst theme spotter.)
I always enjoy Vigo’s puzzles. This took me quite a bit longer than her other crosswords with the first bit of PINKEYE proving recalcitrant.
Saw the theme very early on otherwise it might have taken a fair bit longer.
Thanks vm to Vigo and NealH
Theme sailed over my head but still enjoyable (I am a huge Orwell fan(
Very enjoyable stuff. Unlike baerchan @4, I whizzed through this until, like him, I hit ‘pinkeye’ which held me up for a good while. Lots of solid stuff and a nice ghost theme as usual with my COD going to 7d for surface and neatness of construction. Thanks to Vigo for the puzzle and to the literary genre-creating Neal ‘The Snovel’ H for the blog.
Thanks Vigo and Neal
A very enjoyable puzzle indeed, in which I was also helped by spotting the theme about halfway through.
Incidentally, PINKEYE is also a character in Animal Farm – Napoleon’s food taster.
Animal Farm was my set book for O-levels fifty years ago, so I spotted the theme very quickly, but I’d totally forgotten there was a character called PINKEYE, so that was my LOI.
@Simon S/Dormouse
I think we did Animal Farm and Brighton Rock at about the same time so I probably fused Pinkeye and Pinkie (mind not so, ahem, perky these days)
@Vigo
seen Hugh Stephenson’s latest blog in the Graun?
Not often that I stray beyond the DT but I do enjoy Vigo puzzles and thanks to Kitty for bringing this one to my attention.
Brilliantly executed as always by this setter and the fact that the theme sailed over my head didn’t matter a jot to the solve.
Top two for me were 17a & 9d.
Many thanks to Vigo and to Paul for the blog.
Oops – apologies to Neal, don’t know where the Paul came from!
Thanks Vigo; silky smooth surfaces as ever.
Thanks NealH; I, of course, missed the theme and wondered why MINIMUS was there instead of minimum, doh!
I particularly liked SYNONYMS and EPAULETTE.
@baerchen I have just read Hugh Stephenson’s blog. Good to know my gender moves me up the pile – not sure that I’d do much to lower the average age though…
Thanks for your kind words as always.
V
Thanks to NealH for the blog and to all who took the time to solve and comment. Much appreciated.
Victoria
@Vigo
I don’t think gender moves anyone up the pile, at least that’s not how I read it – more a question of how long one spends gathering dust at the top of it (having arrived there on merit!)
Anyway these issues are always a minefield even for the best communicators and Lords knows I’m not among that number