A super puzzle and an easy one if you know the theme.
The theme is the sea areas used by the UK shipping forecast radio bulletin for mariners.
For foreign solvers this might seem a particularly obscure theme and that a non-sailor might know all of these areas off-by-heart might seem very unlikely. However, in the UK shipping forecast has taken on a cultural identity extending far beyond its original use.
The radio broadcast is always preceded by the same piece of music (to aid sailors to tune in to the correct frequency) and the forecast itself follows a rigid and a precisely worded format, always using the exact names for the shipping areas in the same order. The forecast is enunciated precisely and spoken with a slow and steady cadence. For the uninitiated the result is a poetic, almost hypnotic list of mysterious places and arcane information.
The forecast used to be broadcast on Radio 4 just after midnight, preceding the National Anthem and the close of the station when it would hand over the frequency to the BBC World Service for the night. I remember as a student how listening to the shipping forecast would form a ritual close to my day after studying late into the evening.
You can hear a 1993 broadcast of the shipping forecast here.
Thank you Gozo for bringing back some fond memories.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BISCAY | Independent’s caught during recess (6) |
| I’S (independent’s) and C (caught) inside BAY (recess) | ||
| 4 | FAIR ISLE | Loud porter holding flag (4,4) |
| F (loud) ALE (porter) containing IRIS (flag, flower) | ||
| 9 | THAMES | Morning in the sticks, for starters (6) |
| AM (morning) in THE and Sticks (for starters, first letter of) | ||
| 10 | CROMARTY | About to marry anew (8) |
| C (circa, about) with anagram (anew) of TO MARRY | ||
| 12 | IRISH SEA | Man’s surroundings (5,3) |
| cryptic definition, The Isle of Man | ||
| 13 | FISHER | Woman in tree (6) |
| SHE (woman) in FIR (a tree) | ||
| 15 | TYNE | Extract from the County News (4) |
| found inside counTY NEws | ||
| 16 | FORTIES | Supporting links (7) |
| FOR (supporting) TIES (links) | ||
| 20 | FASTNET | Sporting body backing marquees (7) |
| FA (sporting body) then TENTS (marquees) reversed (backing) | ||
| 21 | SOLE | Could be Dover – or not! (4) |
| could be a Dover SOLE (a fish) or not | ||
| 25 | HUMBER | Primary element – brown earth (6) |
| H (Hydrogen, the first element, primary element) then UMBER (brown earth) | ||
| 26 | HEBRIDES | Jews out west admitting identity (8) |
| HEBREwS (jews) missing W (west) containing ID (identity) | ||
| 28 | PORTLAND | Left! Left as well! (8) |
| PORT (left) L (left) AND (as well) | ||
| 29 | VIKING | Very good hosting one family (6) |
| VG (very good) containing I (one) KIN (family) | ||
| 30 | PLYMOUTH | Lumpy, hot concoction (8) |
| anagram (concoction) of HOT LUMPY | ||
| 31 | DOGGER | Poor quality verses the Spanish lacked (6) |
| DOGGERel (poor quality verses) missing EL (the, Spanish) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BITE INTO | Poor obstetrician with cars abandoned – crunch! (4,4) |
| anagram (poor) of OBsTETrIcIaN missing CARS | ||
| 2 | STATIONS | HQs of TV channels – 17 is one (8) |
| triple definition | ||
| 3 | ALEPHS | Letters left in poor shape (6) |
| L (left) in anagram (poor) of SHAPE | ||
| 5 | ACRE | Dover-Calais’ back-up port (4) |
| found inside (‘s, belonging to) dovER-CAlais reversed (back up) – a port in Israel. I guess this definition is chosen over the more obvious unit of area to fit in with the maritime theme. | ||
| 6 | REMAINED | Principal in rush didn’t move (8) |
| MAIN (principle) in REED (rush) | ||
| 7 | SARTHE | Breaking hearts in the department (6) |
| anagram (breaking) of HEARTS – a department of France | ||
| 8 | ELYTRA | See painting about beetles’ forewings (6) |
| ELY (a see, a bishopric in eastern England) then ART (painting) reversed (about) | ||
| 11 | REVOLTS | Rises up, upsetting canonised paramour (7) |
| ST LOVER (cryptically a canonised paramour) reversed (upsetting) | ||
| 14 | UTTERED | Said a word or two – indistinctly, but not for starters (7) |
| mUTTERED (said indistinctly) missing M (not for starters) | ||
| 17 | WATERLOO | Crushing defeat later, perhaps, in court (8) |
| anagram (perhaps) of LATER in WOO (court) | ||
| 18 | CODDLING | Gently cooking apple or fish stuffed with bit of dill (8) |
| CODLING (an apple or small fish) contains Dill (first letter, a bit of) | ||
| 19 | MESSAGER | Communication that’s right for composer of Les Deux Pigeons (8) |
| MESSAGE (communication) with R (right) – André Messager, French composer | ||
| 22 | CHOP UP | Small tailless Chinese dog, apparently, cut to pieces (4,2) |
| CHOw PUP (small Chinese dog) the dog missing its last letter (tailless) | ||
| 23 | SMARMY | Ingratiating school-mistress in borders of Surrey (6) |
| MARM (school mistress) in SurrY (borders of) | ||
| 24 | ORSINO | Role of some actors in Othello (6) |
| found inside (some of) actORS IN Othello – Duke Orsino, a role in Twelfth Night or What You Will | ||
| 27 | KNOT | Naval rating’s bird (4) |
| double definition – a knot is a naval speed rating | ||
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.
My first ever FT solve, I believe: sitting in a Swiss hotel, the free copy of the pink’un was just too tempting. I have no idea whether this was a fair sample, but with IRISH SEA the second clue in, the theme was soon twigged, and all fell into place quite quickly.
Congratulations to Gozo for fitting in so many theme words. I see that he is also the Guardian’s Maskarade, famed for his bank holiday monsters. It’s nice to know he can be a bit more gentle!
Thanks PeeDee- I was suspecting that FAEROES was wrong which made 11d impossible to get.
First themer in was wrong-I put NORTH SEA but BITE INTO made me see the error of my ways.
Then it all fell into place-apart from above-mentioned.Definitely warming to Gozo.
Thanks Gozo and PeeDee
Very enjoyable. I used to have to get up riculously early, so heard the R4 6:30 am forecast every dayfor several years. As a result the sea areas are pretty much ingrained.
I could obviously work out that the theme related to the British coast and surrounding seas but didn’t spot that they all related to the shipping forecast. Maybe if ‘Rockall’ had been included I might have twigged. Still, even for a ‘furr’ner’ this was good fun and some of the down clues were also challenging, particularly CODDLING. Not knowing ‘codling’ as a small cod, I thought ‘fish’ was in the plural with COD + LING. Works either way I suppose.
Thanks to Gozo for a puzzle that made me think and to PeeDee for the blog with nice pic. and link.
Wordplodder – indeed, I thought of ling for fish at the time but did not put 2+2 together. A codling is a variety of cooking apple which almost works too, but not quite as it leaves the definition a little short.
Brilliant sutff; fantastic grid-fill, bravo.
Thanks to Gozo & PeeDee
Fabulous puzzle which did indeed bring back fond memories of listening to the shipping forecast a few decades ago on Radio Two around 2 a.m., just before the station would close down for the night.
Many thanks to Gozo for a superb construction, and to PeeDee for the blog.
I rarely do a weekday FT but I was able to pick up a complimentary copy of the paper yesterday and was so glad when I found this puzzle which proved wonderfully nostalgic for me. It may be decades since I have heard a shipping forecast but the names are very alive in my memory. Thank you Gozo and PeeDee.
Thanks Gozo & Peedee. I was tempted to try this by your recommendation on the home page. Thoroughly agree.
For 14 down I took the definition to be “Said a word”. Then the two indistinct words are “muttered” and “stuttered”, both losing their starters.
Two minor typos: In 1 across the (apostrophe) S after Independent is part of the solution. And another S has gone astray in the solution to 16 across.
Thank you psmith, fixed now.
Thanks Gozo and PeeDee
Interesting puzzle where the theme was completely lost on me throughout the solve – it was only when I googled 3-4 of the clues together nearing the end that the Shipping Forecast was revealed. It did help me get the last one in though – SOLE. A great feat to be able to populate the entire across clues with them all without leaving too many ugly words to fill the downs.
What made it so good was that even without knowing the link between all of the un-defined clues – I was still able to fill all bar one and even that one made me slap my head when I got it!!
Great setting effort !