The preamble
“A letter must fall out wherever it occurs from a thematic (or related) answer in each of the central nine columns, dropping into the bottom row to form THE AUSTRALASIAN ONE which, along with two thematic answers, is not in Chambers Dictionary (2016), which is otherwise recommended. Enumerations refer to grid entries.”
Continuing the continental series, we have THE AUSTRALASIAN ONE.
The theme is the British nuclear tests at Maralinga, which included Operations BUFFALO (involving tests ONE TREE, MARCOO, BREAKAWAY and KITE), ANTLER, TOTEM, and GRAPPLE. VIXEN trials involved safety testing.
The effects on nature and humanity were not great. As Wikipedia points out, research this year suggests that plutonium is likely to continue to be absorbed by local wildlife, and “[o]ne author suggests that the resettlement of Aboriginal people and denial of access to their traditional lands “contributed significantly to the social disintegration which characterises the community to this day. Petrol sniffing, juvenile crime, alcoholism and chronic friction between residents and the South Australian police have become facts of life.” Classic imperialism!
Despite its rather bleak theme, this was an enjoyable puzzle. I found it relatively easy, so hopefully the Enigmatic Variations continue to attract new solvers.
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Homophone | “WORD” |
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Working over < [rejected] ODE (lyric) [in] RING (band (7) | REDOING |
| 6 | Feeling V |
VIBE |
| 9 | {AREA LEVYING}* [rent] for service selection? (11) | EVANGELIARY |
| 11 | Display V (five) DE |
VIDEOTEX |
| 13 | Northumbrian catches NECK (drink) [on board] SS (ship) (6) | SNECKS |
| 14 | Production of sherry [involving] SOL (sun) and ERA (time) (6) | SOLERA |
| 17 | HOWE | |
| 18 | Preparing to shoot TEE (finial) [by] ING (meadow) (6) | TEEING |
| 19 | Turtle [on board] |
EMYS |
| 20 | [Almost] SE |
SEBUM |
| 22 | < EEN (Jock’s eyes) [rolling] in KS (Kansas) joints (5) | KNEES |
| 25 | King Edward, perhaps, [partaking of] |
SPUD |
| 27 | < FRU |
RETURF |
| 30 | …grass ALF (narrow-minded sort) A (advanced) (4) | ALFA |
| 32 | REP (Agent) AIR (to warm) to return of Shakespeare (6) | REPAIR |
| 33 | Mentions R |
REFERS |
| 36 | SCOPIA (Vision in low light) [getting] OP (work) in McGonagall’s country (8) | SCOTOPIA |
| 37 | Issued regulations PRO (for) C (college) [blocking] TOOL (instrument) LED (under control) (11) | PROTOCOLLED |
| 38 | EACH | |
| 39 | UT (As) LET (allowed) [in] OS (large) shops? (7) | OUTLETS |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Once again dresses ‘VE (have) [set in] RESTS (stays) (7) | REVESTS |
| 2 | D (Daughter) ADDLE (to go off) rustic hand (6) | DADDLE |
| 3 | ENTER* [breaking] [into] OE (old English) sole source of paper? (6, two words) | ONE TREE |
| 4 | Stravinsky, for one, is GO (success) [in] IR (Ireland) (4) | IGOR |
| 5 | Valleys [regularly perceived in] GoLdEnNeSs (5) | GLENS |
| 6 | Tod’s < EX (former partner) [coming round] [under the influence of] VIN (wine) (4) | VIXEN |
| 7 | BREAK (Cleave) A WAY (path) to make escape (6) | BREAKAWAY |
| 8 | Young hawks, AS (when) [in] EYES (old broods) (6) | EYASES |
| 10 | Old flare-up in INCOME (revenue) [I (institute) becoming A (active)} (6) | ANCOME |
| 12 | Respected figure TOT (summing) < ME [up] (4) | TOTEM |
| 15 | [Occasionally], tRuIsMs have the edge (3) | RIM |
| 16 | LEARNT* [elaborate] stag’s horn (5) | ANTLER |
| 21 | BUFF (Expert) [taking] A LO (look) at bovine (6) | BUFFALO |
| 22 | KIT (Fox cub) I ([initially E |
KITE |
| 23 | [Unlimited] |
E-FIT |
| 24 | Makes wider ranches for Jonathan (7) | SPREADS |
| 25 | RAP (Charge) [through] [rough] SEA* for Mexican blanket (6) | SARAPE |
| 26 | PA (Secretary) [concealing] [broken] RULE* in delicate matter (6) | PLEURA |
| 28 | Close {OR PULL}* [out] (6) | UPROLL |
| 29 | Get a hold of GR (Greek) APPLE (fruit) (6) | GRAPPLE |
| 31 | MO (Doctor) [outside] ARCO (with the bow) in Antipodean test area (5) | MARCOO |
| 34 | Balt [found in area of] |
ESTH |
| 35 | Hamish’s to walk unsteadily having S ([at first] S |
STOT |
| R | E | D | O | I | N | G | V | I | B | E |
| E | V | A | N | G | E | L | I | A | R | Y |
| V | I | D | E | O | T | E | X | N | E | A |
| E | T | D | T | R | S | N | E | C | K | S |
| S | O | L | E | R | A | S | H | O | W | E |
| T | T | E | E | I | N | G | E | M | Y | S |
| S | E | B | U | M | T | K | N | E | E | S |
| S | P | U | D | R | E | T | U | R | F | P |
| A | L | F | A | M | R | E | P | A | I | R |
| R | E | F | E | R | S | S | R | P | T | E |
| A | U | L | S | C | O | T | O | P | I | A |
| P | R | O | T | O | C | O | L | L | E | D |
| E | A | C | H | O | U | T | L | E | T | S |
| M | A | R | A | L | I | N | G | A |
Another educational EV – the clue to 31 was a very helpful pointer to the theme and “fall out” in the preamble was a neat if rather more obscure hint. A nice set of clues too making for a fun challenge overall. Thanks Eclogue and Mister Sting.
I liked the thematic design of this puzzle very much, even the fact that not all the dropped letters could be known without knowing the name along the bottom row. It was hard to find that name, simply because I didn’t know it and didn’t know what I was looking for. It was only when the unfamiliar name MARCOO came up that I connected all the names and filled in MARALINGA. A very satisfying conclusion.
It was a good set of clues, ranging from easy to tough, with everything in between. HOWE was my last to solve: it was an unfamiliar word, and the clue allowed either the attack or the tumulus to be the word whose first and last letters would be lost. I guessed that ‘shower’ once had the meaning of ‘attack’, and HOWE was indeed the answer.
Thanks to Eclogue and Mister Sting.
Just catching up! thanks to Eclogue and Mr Sting — I thought this was surprisingly accessible though I had to resort to electronic help to make sense of the “fallout” (I only noted the preamble mention ex post facto, likewise when I solved MARCOO I had already landed on the theme) — the wiki page made for some fascinating and disturbing reading. Apparently, atomic weapons are dangerous.