This saturday was the 65th Anniversary of V.E. Day and this crossword had a WWII theme with several references in both clues and answers topped and tailed by two Vera Lynn songs.
Raich is better known to me as a setter of extremely devious Inquisitor puzzles that are too hard for me. So I was expecting a stiff challenge. But found instead a puzzle full of solid clues many of which were not too hard. In fact if had been timing myself I’m sure I filled most of this faster than a typical daily Indy. My only doubt was 26D which I left to mull over the next day. But all very pleasant to solve.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1/4/10 | WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER WHIT (Small thing) (F[ellow] SLICED OFF)* AInd: in stew. OVER (finished) |
| 11 | MOTORCADE MOT (test) OR (soldiers) CADE[t] Oh dear OR wordplay again |
| 12 | NEIGHBOURLINESS (HERO ENSIGN BUSIL[y])* AInd: Blitz. |
| 13 | OSLO OS (big – Over Size) LO (Look) Quisling was the Norwegian whose name is now synonymous with traitor |
| 14 | IDOL DO (party) inside IL (the italian) |
| 16 | LIE TO (TOILE[t])* AInd: break. When a ship stops at sea it is said to “lie to” |
| 19 | EERIE [p]EER (nobleman has no power) I.E. |
| 20 | TOYS T[w]O Y[ank]S |
| 21 | ACRE R[esistance] inside ACE (top pilot) |
| 23 | THE SILMARILLION (A HITLER MILLIONS)* AInd: battled. I tackled the two 15-letter anagrams early on. 12A Neighbourliness fell quite quickly, but this needed a fair few crossing letters and a realisation that the fodder was not S H ADOLF HITLER MM. This book was cobbled together after JRR’s death and popularly known at the time as “The Sell-a-Million” so maybe I should’ve spotted this anagram more quickly. |
| 27 | RECOUPING E[nglish] CO[mpany] UP (high point) inside RING (competitive field – e.g. boxing ring) |
| 28 | ALARM Á LA RM |
| 29/30 | WE’LL MEET AGAIN W[ar] (GET EL ALAMEIN)* AInd: struggle. And here’s a link with VL herself. I struggled to get this a bit – I always have trouble with answer phrases that include contracted words such as ‘We’ll’ |
| Down | |
| 1 | WIDEN First letters: War Invade D-day Enter Normandy |
| 2 | INVEIGLER (EVIL REIGN)* AInd: troubled |
| 3 | EARTHY HEART (courage) with H moved to end (top to bottom), then Y[ear] |
| 5 | LITERALLY LITER (US volume) ALLY (US’s war role) |
| 6 | FERVIDLY (REF)< (official set up) VID (film) L[ivel]Y |
| 7 | SHAPE Double Def. One def being S.H.A.P.E. acronym for NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, reminds me of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. |
| 8 | FREESTONE R[are] inside FEES (payments) then TONE (quality) Def: Fruit. I had to check this. I did not realise there was a term for this useful quality in certain soft fruit. |
| 9 | AMMO A[r]M[y] MO (time) |
| 13 | OVERTHROW OVERT (in public) H[igh] ROW (rank) |
| 15 | DATUM LINE (UNTIL DAME)* AInd: broadcast. A standard line that measurements are taken from. |
| 17 | ENCHILADA (HACIENDA L)* AInd: prepared. Appropriate anagram fodder. |
| 18 | RESIDUUM RES (object / thing in latin) ID U[nionist] UM (hesitation) |
| 22 | ALPACA Reverse hidden in A CAP LAncer |
| 24 | EXCEL Homophone: “XL” |
| 25 | RIGA G[ood] inside AIR< |
| 26 | NOMEN Really not sure about this but what else can it be? Definition (or is it a double-def?) is ‘Second name’, and NO MEN shows sexist discrimination. Full clue: Second name showing discrimination (5) |
I thought this was terrific.
A very comprehensive and appropriate theme using both clues and answers.
And the singer herself appeared as a proper nina in the middle…
Nice one Raich.
Thanks, beermagnet. Agree that it wasn’t as tricky as some Saturday puzzles, evidenced by that fact that I finished it (bar one clue), but it was very enjoyable with a clever theme throughout the crossword, as Ian says. SHAPE was the only one I couldn’t get, but if I’d taken the trouble to go on line I’m sure I could have found the acronym.
There were many good clues, but I especially liked LIE TO, ALARM and MOTORCADE. I agree with your parsing of 26dn.
Thank you, Raich.
My first Raich puzzle.
Yes not as tricky as some Sat puzzles but brilliant stuff.
A very good puzzle indeed, which I thoroughly enjoyed despite missing VERA LYNN and not getting SHAPE either, which I should have done.
I don’t know why on earth people think some of the Saturday puzzles are quite hard (!!)
Very good although the quibbler in me wonders whether ‘quality fruit’ means the same as ‘a quality of [some] fruit’.
Thanks Beermagnet – it was SHAPE that got me too. Chambers gives NOMEN – a Roman’s second name as in Gaius “Julius” Caesar.
Many thanks for the excellent blog and to all for the comments which are very much appreciated.
Re FREESTONE, as the blog indicates the definition is ‘fruit’ with ‘quality’ = TONE being part of the wordplay. Collins and COED also give the NOMEN ‘second name’ definition.
Well today is now the 70th anniversary of VE Day! Got most of the anagrams.Guessed at a few like 11a on the word parade alone.Never heard of 16a,8d or 15d which I got on anagram and letters I had.Liked 18d as a Latin scholar!