Oh no – it’s a Nimrod today!
As expected, this was a serious but ultimately very satisfying challenge.
Nimrod’s clues are always inventive and it always takes us a while to get into the right mindset to solve them, so we had a slow start and were frustrated by the unusually disconnected grid – effectively four separate crosswords each connected to the next by single entries. We decided that there must be a theme for Nimrod to have adopted such a strange grid, but it took us quite a while to realise what it was.
As we gradually unearthed the various real and fictional characters who emerge from the clues, we realised that BOWLER HAT (7/15) was the key – the common factor in the various characters we had discovered. We had come across all the hat-wearing characters (mostly from the fairly distant past!) except 23/21 – The Addams Family was not essential viewing for us!
We cannot help but be amazed that Nimrod has managed to fit no less than 11 bowler hat-wearing characters into the grid (4 of them occupying two spaces) – the disconnected grid pattern is forgiven!
nOT HERe (‘having left this place’) missing the first and last letters or ‘unclad’
H (Hungary) with IS (lies) in front or ‘to the west’
OH (I see) after a reversal of OH (‘in both directions’) + A
GO Cold (cool) missing ‘old’ + HEAP (pile)
RUM (spirit of the Caribbean) BLED (was flowing freely)
H (Henry) in or ‘wrapped by’ ON (working) AND (with)
A clue-as-definition?: AS (e.g.) E R S (last or ‘final’ letters of Menace, Destroyer and Governess) after C H (last letters or ‘heels’ of optimistic bunch) – A reference to ‘The Chase’ TV programme
Double definition – the first being German for ‘good’ (enjoyable)
A reversal (‘returned’) of NIL (love) after CHAP (crack) – Charlie Chaplin was usually seen wearing a 7/15
I (international) DO (event)
OSCULAR (kissing) with S (south) moved to the right or ‘east’
Is this a triple definition? BOLT-ON could be ‘secured’ as an adjective or ‘additional part’ as a noun and BOLTON is ‘part’ of Greater Manchester – ‘part’ doing double duty
Alternate or ‘every second’ letters in tUrNoUt So UnAbLe
A homophone (‘in the auditorium’) of WHY DOUBT (‘you’ve no reason to question’) – our last one in, as we have never heard of a WIDEOUT – apparently a player in American football
QUI (French for ‘who’) + a reversal (‘turned’) of UP
Hidden (‘party to’) in joiN UNion – according to Chambers, as a noun, a ‘religious’ is a person bound by monastic vows
O (nothing) NICE (particularly good)
O (over) in or ‘taken by’ BY GEORGE (‘that surprises me!’) – the Culture Club singer usually wore a 7/15
CHICk (young thing) missing the ‘k’ or ‘Kay short’)
An anagram (‘disorderly’) of NoN-MEmBeRs without an anagram (‘poor’) of ‘some’ – a reference to a children’s cartoon character who has adventures wearing various costumes from a fancy-dress shop, but who’s ‘normal’ attire includes a 7/15
WhY (the reason) missing or ‘out of’ ‘h’ (hospital) round or ‘admitting’ I’M (one’s) P (soft)
CHURCH (Charlotte Church – Welsh singer) and HILL (Lauryn Hill – American singer) sharing the last/first ‘h’ of ‘cell’ – Clementine was Winston Churchill’s wife – he was frequently seen wearing a 7/15
An anagram (‘sacked’) of WoMaN (missing the vowels or ‘vocal elements’) and IN HOTSPOTS – the 70/80s pop band named themselves after the two cartoon detectives in The Adventures of Tintin – who both wore 7/15s
HOWLER (mistake) BAT (‘Wayne’s inspiration’ – Bruce Wayne aka Batman) with the initial letters swapped (‘clash of heads’) – in the Batman comics, Riddler wore a BOWLER HAT – the theme for the puzzle
U (universal) in or ‘parting’ ARE LAND (light) HARDLY (just) with the ‘L’ (50) moved to the front, or ‘promoted’ – both actors wore 7/15s
JOHNS (‘ladies and gents’ – toilets) TEED (‘got ready to strike’ – on a golf course) – John Steed is a fictional spy who wore a 7/15 in The Avengers TV series in the 60s and 70s
CALLUS (thick skin) round or ‘enveloping’ CU (cubic) – Professor CALCULUS is another 7/15-wearing character in The Adventures of Tintin
USIN’ (practisin’) IT (sex) in COT (bed) – a new one for us – a very hairy fictional character in the Addams Family TV and film series, often wearing a 7/15
A reversal (‘retiring’) of BOJO (Boris Johnson, former PM) ‘taking in’ D (Dutch) D (department) – the fictional 7/15-wearing henchman to Goldfinger in the James Bond novel and film
A reversal (‘up’) of A Q (‘division secretly devising gadgets’ – in James Bond novels) RUB (clean)
An anagram (‘getting hammered’) of INTO
Excellent puzzle and superb blog.
Thanks Nimrod and B&J.
My faves: CHASERS, WIDEOUT, BOY GEORGE, BOWLER HAT, LAUREL AND HARDY and ODD JOB.
BOLTON
If we consider BOLT-ON as an adjective meaning ‘additional’, then the clue works without any
double duty by ‘part’.
Some refs known but not well — all the singers, Tintin, Addams Fam — and some not at all — US footy, Chasers, cartoons (thought Tony Benn in a bowler, surely not!). Pretty hard going, watching cricket, not into pondering, so had a bit of help. Good for those needing a challeng, thx both.
I thought noun. KVa; a bolt-on = a secured additional part.
With a considerable nudge or should we say shove from the ‘hunter king’, there is another ‘bowler hat’ in the grid. J Wellington WIMPY from Popeye.
Enjoyed not being able to do this. I can add WIMPY to the themed entries, though – he was a character in the Popeye cartoons, generally eating burgers and always wearing a bowler hat. Thanks to Nimrod and B&J. Treated it as a learning exercise!