Phi is occupying his traditional Friday slot this week.
I found this to be a harder than average puzzle by Phi standards, and I needed to put it down and come back a second time. 3 of the 4 interlocking 10-letter lights in the middle of the grid were what kept me guessing longest.
I can see that there is a theme around cartoon characters going on here, with Roadrunner, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and perhaps more being accommodated in the completed grid. Others will doubtless point out more when they comment on the puzzle below the blog.
My favourites today were 21 and 27, both for smoothness of surface.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | ROBIN HOOD | Outlaw experiencing life as a bird?
Cryptically, “robinhood” could be described as “experiencing life as a bird”, cf. adulthood, womanhood, etc. |
| 06 | DAFFY | Silly craze recalled fairly heartlessly
DAF (FAD=craze; “recalled” indicates reversal) + F<airl>Y (“heartlessly” means all but first and last letters are dropped) |
| 09 | CHARIOT | Children behaving wildly in vehicle
CH (=children) + ARIOT (=behaving wildly) |
| 10 | CAFARDS | Scoundrels accommodating remote depressive states
FAR (=remote) in CADS (=scoundrels) |
| 11 | SCHEME | Plan that is a recurring idea, but not initially
SC. (=that is, scilicet) + <t>HEME (=recurring idea; “not initially” means first letter is dropped) |
| 12 | COYOTE | Wolf, evasive, returning to back of butte
COY (=evasive) + OT (“returning to”, i.e. reversal) + <butt>E (“back of” means last letter only) |
| 15 | EDEN | Cumbrian river valley last to take prime position
DENE (=valley); “last to take prime position” means last letter moves to front of word |
| 16 | ALLURINGLY | Offering temptation, friend embraces university lecturer bearing sign of being married
{RING (=sign of being married) in [U (=university) + L (=lecturer)]} in ALLY (=friend)} |
| 18 | ROADRUNNER | Staff harbouring a fugitive? That’s cuckoo
[A in ROD (=staff)] + RUNNER (=fugitive, someone on the run); a roadrunner is a cuckoo of Californian and Mexican brushwood that can run at great speed |
| 20 | SAGA | A delightful thing recalled in story
A + GAS (=delightful thing); “recalled” indicates reversal |
| 22 | TWITCH | Tense character in Macbeth making sudden movement
T (=tense, in grammar) + WITCH (=character in Macbeth) |
| 23 | CUBITS | Measurements of length, the very thing adopted by Baden-Powell’s groups
IT (=the very thing) in CUBS (=Baden-Powell’s groups) |
| 27 | RATHOLE | Runs a decrepit hotel, home to vermin
R (=runs, in cricket) + A + *(HOTEL); “decrepit” is anagram indicator |
| 28 | RONDEAU | French verse form, right-hand page with Auden’s translation
RO (=recto, i.e. right-hand page) + *(AUDEN); “translation” is anagram indicator |
| 29 | BIRDS | Offers to cage rook or rooks?
R (=rook, in chess) in BIDS (=offers) |
| 30 | ANONYMOUS | A bit of sense, holding back my number, concealing identity
ONYM (MY + NO=number; “back” indicates reversal) in [A + NOUS (=bit of sense)] |
| DOWN | ||
| 01 | ROCK | Popular music, // something often encountered at the seaside
Double definition around “rock music” and “a stick of rock”! |
| 02 | BLANCHE | Woman to briefly boil eggs, at the outset
BLANCH (=to briefly boil) + E<ggs> (“at the outset” means first letter only) |
| 03 | NOISE | Definitely not cancelling women’s public talk
NO<w>ISE (=definitely not, in no way; “not cancelling women (=W)” means letter “w” is dropped); according to Chambers, “noise” is frequent or public talk |
| 04 | ON THE BLINK | British, in playing golf, say, mostly not going well
B (=British) in ON THE LINK<s> (=playing golf, say; “mostly” means last letter dropped) |
| 05 | DUCK | Avoid // love
Double definition: to duck is to avoid e.g. a flying object AND a duck is a zero score in cricket |
| 06 | DAFFODIL | Day off upheld in European Parliament? That’s a bloomer
[FFOD (D=day + OFF; “upheld” indicates vertical reversal)] in DAIL ((a) European Parliament, i.e. in Ireland) |
| 07 | FURLONG | Hide bit of wood about new section of course?
FUR (=hide, on animal) + [N (=new) in LOG (=bit of wood)]; a furlong is a section of a racecourse |
| 08 | YESTERYEAR | Sure injecting drug into damaged artery is history
YES (=sure) + [E (=drug, i.e. Ecstasy) in *(ARTERY)]; “damaged” is anagram indicator |
| 13 | HEART-THROB | Perhaps film-star’s hot – bother getting upset about skill
H (=hot, e.g. on tap) + [ART (=skill) in *(BOTHER)]; “getting upset” is anagram indicator |
| 14 | SUPERCARGO | Senior figure in boat group’s upset about failure in race
*(RACE) in *(GROUPS); “upset” and “failure” are anagram indicators; a supercargo is a person placed in charge of a ship’s cargo |
| 17 | GRACIOUS | Endless complaint about one supporting account? I am surprised!
[AC (=account) + I (=one)] in GROUS<e> (=complaint; “endless” means last letter is dropped) |
| 19 | AVIATOR | A first: corps replaced by Australian pilot
A VICTOR (=a first): “corps (=C) replaced by Australian (=A)” means letter “c” is replaced by “a” |
| 21 | ART DECO | Old style trade ruined company
*(TRADE) + CO (=company); “ruined” is anagram indicator |
| 24 | BUNNY | Notes brought in to purchase rabbit
N N (=2 x N (=note)) in BUY (=to purchase) |
| 25 | MELA | Hindu festival? Some time later
Hidden (“some”) in “tiME LAter”; a mela is a Hindu festival or fair |
| 26 | BUGS | Annoys German aboard vehicle
G (=German) in BUS (=vehicle) |
Tricky enough for me.. bottom left corner yielded eventually after 13dn fell into place.. not previously aware of SUPERCARGO… COYOTE is defo a cartoon character.. Robin Hood was subject of a cartoon version also..
Thanks Phi n RatkojaRiku
Not only are they cartoon characters, but they are all from the Warner Brothers studio, including Robin Hood. As is ‘Wile E. Coyote’! My favourite was ‘Tweety and Sylvester’. Haven’t seen any of them for years – must look them up. I checked out CAFARD in the dictionary, more to rule it out than in hope of confirmation. Thanks Phi for bringing back childhood memories and RatkojaRiku for the blog.
Let’s not leave out MELa BLANChe.
Glad someone spotted the voice man. I have recently completed a book celebrating the 100 greatest Warner Bros cartoons, which include ROBIN HOOD DAFFY and BIRDS ANONYMOUS, so it seemed reasonable to put a few of them into a grid.
Excellent spot Hovis @3: I’ve just come here after reading the Wiki entry on DAFFY DUCK where I noted the BLANC – but not the MEL(a) and now I see why that unusual word was clued. I haven’t encountered BIRDS ANONYMOUS but enjoyed the other references. I also have to add RO to my list of useful two letter combos – I failed to parse RONDEAU. Congrats to Phi on the overall achievement as well as the clear clueing that enabled me to solve both CAFARDS and MELA, both of which were dnk.
Thanks Phi and RR (you’re up early today 😀 )
Damn! It occurred to me that Mel Blanc provided the voices but didn’t spot the hidden references, so well done Hovis.
Put me down as another who hasn’t met, CAFARDS (have met the word FANTODS before, which I like the sound of), MELA or BIRDS ANONYMOUS.
Trickier than sometimes with Phi. We’d never heard of CAFARDS – but the alternative of ‘cufurrs’ seemed even more unlikely and ‘cafard’ was there in Chambers. And we didn’t know ‘ro’ as an abbreviation for ‘recto’ although RONDEAU was obvious from the wordplay.
We got the theme pretty quickly for once, although we didn’t spot all the thematic answers. Plenty to like, including CUBITS and ANONYMOUS.
Apart from thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku, that’s all, folks!
Great blog RR and thanks Phi.
A very wily crossword, (clearly supplied by the Acme puzzle company) which often had me suspended in mid-clue, with my brain spinning like Wily Coyote’s before he falls crashing to the ground, wondering “What’s Up (Doc)”
Too many unknowns (mela, canards, supercargo, sc) for that to be really fun for us. No idea what or who Mel Blanc is – iI guess phi has hit one of our many blind spots.
I did spot the theme, although not all the references. But the top left corner defeated me.