“Three pairs of cells are TRAPPED by two symmetrically and thematically placed chains of 11 cells each. All 28 cells must be highlighted in the final grid to illustrate the TRAP. The three unclued entries of a kind are also thematically positioned. Two separate groups of consecutive clues (19 in total) contain a single superfluous letter in their wordplay. Reading these in clue order will give a hint as to where to find details of the TRAP. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
Sorry this was late. I really enjoyed this puzzle.
The theme is TENNYSON’S ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’, specifically the THIRD STANZA thereof:
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
The three unclued cannons are SPITFIRE, NAPOLEON, and ORDNANCE located thematically.
The six hundred, represented by three pairs of Cs, are found inside the JAWS OF DEATH and the MOUTH OF HELL.
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | < [Returning] {COL (Officer) [with] BON (good French) OM (medal)} made of one piece of material (8) | MONOBLOC | |
| 10 | Steal old tree (3) | NIM | |
| 12 | A PAT (An Irishman) HIES (urges) displays of disinterest (8) | APATHIES | |
| 13 | Leak < PEES (leaks) [back]! (4) | SEEP | |
| 14 | ET (Film) HIC (this classical) behaviour (5) | ETHIC | |
| T | 16 | Admit TOWN (those not at university) (3) | OWN |
| H | 17 | HOLE (Problem) O (over) for Marge in US (4) | OLEO |
| I | 18 | Eastern instrument and < {OT (books) OIK (boor)} [overturned] (4) | KOTO |
| R | 19 | Move quickly FLIRT (to trifle) (4) | FLIT |
| D | 21 | LOAD (Charge) F (franc) for baguette, say (4) | LOAF |
| S | 22 | Look! ECC |
ECCE |
| T | 24 | Oblivious and < FATED (bound) [to be kept back] (4) | DEAF |
| A | 25 | HEA |
HEH |
| N | 27 | Example of [ridiculous] DENIAL* (5) | IDEAL |
| Z | 29 | Lubricates < [all round]: {LIZ (Elizabeth) [stuck in] SO (well)} (4) | OILS |
| A | 31 | ACTOR (Player) [entertains] CAEN (French city) bird (8) | ACCENTOR |
| 33 | HUGH (Maybe Grant)[’s pronounced] colour (3) | HUE | |
| 34 | Watch ANAL (obsessive) |
ANALOGUE | |
| 35 | Does he give prize < [backing] REDRAWER (artist who has another go)? (8) | REWARDER | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Eyes [topless] |
OMMATEA | |
| 2 | ROUT (Thrash) H (husband) a lot in Perth (5) | ROUTH | |
| 3 | It’s usual NO MIC to be (without amplification) (5) | NOMIC | |
| 4 | A (Advanced) [rather than] O (ordinary) OBJECT (thing) is [worthless] (6) | ABJECT | |
| T | 5 | Bosses W (wife) [involved in] COST (expense) (4) | COWS |
| E | 7 | Drama NO (minus) HE (the man) (3) | NOH |
| N | 8 | Caught LASS (girl) [with] O (old) END (bit of cloth) (7) | LASSOED |
| N | 9 | CR (Councillor) has NEW (replacement) group (4) | CREW |
| Y | 11 | Pleasant and GEY (rather Scottish) < LAIN (to have been put) [up] (6) | GENIAL |
| S | 14 | < MOLE (Spy) [upset] [about] HIS (the man’s) God (6) | ELOHIM |
| O | 15 | Attractive arrangement [coupling] I (one) KEB (Scottish ewe) [with] ANOA (wild ox) (7) | IKEBANA |
| N | 20 | LEANT (Bent over) HER (that woman’s) tanned skin (7) | LEATHER |
| 23 | CIA (Agency) [with] < LAC (a lot of Indian cash) [raised] [internally] for insect (6) | CICALA | |
| 26 | FELLA (Bloke) [shunning] F (loud) girl (4) | ELLA | |
| 27 | [Some] rICH ORange juice? Divine! (5) | ICHOR | |
| 28 | ENSU |
ENSUE | |
| 30 | Function of SIGN [spoken] (signal)? (4) | SINE | |
| 32 | Unit that’s found in the Sahara (3) | ERG | |
| O | R | D | N | A | N | C | E | ||||
| M | O | N | O | B | L | O | C | ||||
| N | I | M | U | O | M | J | A | W | R | G | S |
| A | P | A | T | H | I | E | S | S | E | E | P |
| P | E | T | H | I | C | C | S | O | W | N | I |
| O | L | E | O | K | O | T | O | F | L | I | T |
| L | O | A | F | E | C | C | E | D | E | A | F |
| E | H | E | H | B | I | I | D | E | A | L | I |
| O | I | L | S | A | C | C | E | N | T | O | R |
| N | M | L | I | N | A | H | R | S | H | U | E |
| A | N | A | L | O | G | U | E | ||||
| R | E | W | A | R | D | E | R |
An enjoyable, satisfying solve. I knew the poem (who doesn’t?), didn’t know that any of the unclued entries were cannons, though cannons they must be, and was pleasantly surprised on spotting the trap in the finished grid. Nice one.
I enjoyed the theme and the thematic design of this puzzle. When I was at least two-thirds of the way through the clues I saw what the three thematic perimeter words must be, although I didn’t know until later (when I looked it up) how Napoleon was relevant. I also had the word STANZA from the extracted letters and was close to fencing off the two groups of special clues. The instruction in the preamble about that was helpful in my efforts to solve the remaining clues.
My recollection of Tennyson was that he wrote a lot of poetry not in stanzas. For some reason the Charge of the Light Brigade, which has them, came to mind quickly, probably because ORDNANCE made me think along the right lines. All was then revealed, and it was satisfying to note the placement of the three perimeter items as well as the ‘six hundred’ (six hundreds, in fact) drawn into the jaws of Death and the mouth of Hell.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Thanks to Gaston for a lovely puzzle – clever, neat, well-crafted and with some excellent clues. I love puzzles where things slot into place, one after another, that’s always very satisfying.
Thanks, Mister Sting, for the thorough blog.