Hurrah! There are no extra letters or clashes to contend with in this puzzle, so thanks to Syd for that. It makes writing the blog so much easier. Instead there are three ‘Cluster’ clues containing the subsidiary indications to eight unclued entries which should enable 5dn to be revealed.
The first thing I noticed was that 5dn only had two checked letters, from 12ac (3) and 48ac (3), and this effectively cut the grid in half and made two (almost) separate parts of the puzzle. It turned out not to be too much of a problem as both halves got solved pretty quickly.
The two unclued entries which gave the game away for me were 28ac EXALTATION and 31ac UNKINDNESS, and 5dn was thus COLLECTIVE NOUN. The cluster clues gave animals (or types of animal) which were ‘collected’ by the unclued entries. Chambers Crossword Dictionary has a good list of collective nouns, as does Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (listed under ‘nouns of assemblage’). However, Chambers seems to have been the primary reference here (almost!).
I had a quibble with the letter lengths in brackets for the cluster clues: two were given as (5, 6, 9; 2 wds) and (5, 6, 8; 2 wds). 5dn was given as (14, 2 wds). I couldn’t help but think that the word count in the cluster clues somehow covered all the letters since the semicolon divorced it from the individual letter count. The cluster clues, in my humble opinion, should have been noted as, for example, (5; 6; 9, 2 wds). This may seem trivial, but it irked me!
Solving time: another easy one … about 90 minutes.
Legend:
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| CLUSTERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| I-a | BIRDS | BIRD (sentence, as in prison) + S (has) |
| I-b | CHICKS | CHIC (style) + K (a thousand) + S (singular) |
| I-c | GAME BIRDS | (BIG DREAMS)* |
| II-a | GEESE | GEES (goes, US) + E (eastern) |
| II-b | GOLDFINCHES | (SECOND FLIGHT – T)* |
| III-a | LARKS | 2nd meaning (frolics) |
| III-b | RAVENS | RAVE (extravagantly enthusiastic) + NS (partners at table, ie bridge); yes, well … I’ve mentioned the commas and semicolons in the cluster clues, so I might as well gripe about the fact that ‘extravagantly’ and ‘enthusiastic’ were separated by a semicolon here! [Frolics extravagantly; enthusiastic partners …] |
| III-c | WILD FOWL | WILDE (as in Oscar) – E (energy) + WOLF* |
| ACROSS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SORTES | serendipitous divination: SORES (young hawks) have (hold) T (time) |
| 5 | CHARM | collection of GOLDFINCHES (or just finches) |
| 11 | PORT | 2 meanings: carry & bag (Australian) |
| 12 | ION | particle: I + ON (agreed upon) |
| 14 | OAKS | trees: CROAKS (kills, US) – CR (crown) |
| 15 | ARSON | old saddlebow: PARSON (rector) – P (priest) |
| 16 | FLOCK | collection of BIRDS (or sheep) |
| 17 | REP | cloth: PER< (for a) |
| 18 | REEN | watercourse (in Somerset): NE’ER< (surely not, contracted); another bit of interfering punctuation (question mark) |
| 20 | WIBBLE | speak foolishly: WILE (beguile) hiding BB (books) |
| 22 | COVEY | collection of GAME BIRDS (or just partridges) |
| 24 | LAR | god: LARBOARD (left, nautical) – BOARD (table) |
| 25 | BELFRY | tower: BEL (measure, of sound) + FRY (young salmon) |
| 27 | BREEDS | generates: RE (ray) in BEDS (river channels) |
| 28 | EXALTATION | collection of LARKS |
| 31 | UNKINDNESS | collection of RAVENS |
| 33 | CUCKOO | silly: CU (copper) + COO (expression of surprise) around K (king) |
| 34 | RIYALS | money in Qatar (eg Dubai): [S (son) + LAIR (flashily dressed man in Oz)]< having Y (yen) |
| 36 | AIR | look: AI (Japanese fish) + R (starting to Rise) |
| 38 | WEDGE | collection of WILD FOWL |
| 40 | PRESTO | quickly: PREST (lend, old) + O (nothing) |
| 43 | AWNY | bristly: (Y)AWNY (showing signs of boredom, failing to start) |
| 44 | EKE | 2 meanings: in addition, once & supplement (Scottish) |
| 45 | BROOD | collection of CHICKS (or chickens or hens); however, this is not specifically mentioned in Chambers |
| 46 | PRIDE | beauty displayed: PR (prince) + IDE (fish) |
| 47 | REDO | further attempt: CREDO (belief) – C (Catholic) |
| 48 | LUD | judge: LU (metallic element, lutetium) + D (electric flux) |
| 49 | INGS | riverside meadows: (L)INGS (heather, with first cut) |
| 50 | SKEIN | collection of GEESE |
| 51 | SASSES | behaves impertinently: ASS (fool) in SE (southeast) S (Sweden) |
| DOWN | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SCARAB | dung beetle: SCRAB (scratch, in some places) around A (area) |
| 2 | ROSELLA | Australian bird: ROSE (paragon) + ALL< (ie from the south) |
| 3 | TRONC | tips (ie gratuities) share-out system: TRON (Scottish market place) + C (conservative) |
| 4 | SIFT | sprinkle: IF (though) covered in ST (stone) |
| 5 | COLLECTIVE NOUN |
unclued thematic entry |
| 6 | ASCI | cells: (F)ASCI(A) (tissue ensheathing muscle) |
| 7 | ROK | legendary bird: R (take) + O (old) + K (king) |
| 8 | MARBLES | game: MAR (spoil) + BLES(S) (almost thrash) |
| 9 | AKELA | adult pack leader: A (adult) + (PACK LEADER – REDCAP)* [Thanks to Newboy’s comment below]; this is meant to be an &lit, but the definition really can only be the first bit |
| 10 | ASPERSES | bespatters: (SAS SPREE)* |
| 11 | PRETEXT | excuse (noun): P (priest) + RE (religious education + TEXT (bible, Shakespeare) |
| 13 | NOWY | has a convex curvature: NOW (at present) + Y (unknown) |
| 19 | PORTNOY | complainant: PORT (left) NOY (hurt, Spenser); as in Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth |
| 21 | BLENNY | slimy fish: BENNY (as in Goodman) holding L (fifty); Benny Goodman, American jazz musician |
| 23 | PRODIGY | monster: P (power) R (electrical resistance) OD (force) I (one) GY (grey) |
| 26 | FLUKES | 2 meanings: flounders & achieves accidental success |
| 28 | ESCAPERS | runners: E (European) SS (boat) holding CAPER (frolic) |
| 29 | ISLANDS | cut off areas: [SAND SIL(T)]*; cut off should be hyphenated, no? |
| 30 | SCREEDS | borders: SCREE (sloping mass of loose rock) + DS (outskirts of DaleS) |
| 32 | EARWIGS | eavesdrops: EAR (till, as in plough) + WI (women’s organisation, ie Women’s Institute) + GS (starts to Get Suspicious) |
| 35 | SAYERS | author (ie Dorothy L): STAYERS (those with stamina) – T (time) |
| 37 | IRKED | annoyed: SHIRKED (acted evasively) – SH (shorthand) |
| 38 | WOOL | fibrous material: WOO (seek to gain) + L (line) |
| 39 | EARNS | merits: EARS (organs) having N (new) |
| 41 | TRUE | genuine: T (to) RUE (regret) |
| 42 | ODDS | scraps: O (old) + DD (theologian) + S (sabbath) |
| 45 | BOK | antelope: BOK(O) (nose) |
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the blog.
Although I completed this puzzle, I was not overly happy. There was a lot of wordplay/and odds here I didn’t understand. I managed to solve – in a quick crossword kind of way – pretty much by all the definition part’s for entry but the cryptic/rest I was blank minded on – so thanks for a very informative walkthrough.
Who is Syd Lexis?
Though not tough, I found a very odd crossword. Still nice though, with OED Thesaurus kindly providing the theme.
Thanks for the blog, Dave.
Although I got the answer to 9D I did not fully understand the wordplay.
I think that you probably have to bring in another A (for adult) into the anagram.
Best wishes
You’re quite right, Newboy. I think that’s how I did it when I solved the puzzle, but obviously not when I wrote the blog. Thanks.
Dave.