“For 10 clues the entry is either the answer IN PART or vice versa (five cases of each), and in each of these clues an extra word, to be removed before solving, provides another version of one of these entries. In each of the remaining 24 clues an extra letter, which is not to be entered, is indicated by the wordplay; in clue order, these letters provide a message from which solvers can find a further trio to be written beneath the grid. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
The answers to and entries for the ten thematic clues are actors and their characters (in either order). For example, the answer to 24ac is (Sigourney) WEAVER; its entry is (Ellen) RIPLEY from Alien. Anagrams of the extra words give the entries, which may or may not be for the entry related to the clue the extra word is found in.
The extra letters give THIRD LETTERS OF THESE CLUES, which in turn give LAWRENCE / EVERDEEN / VENEERED, to be written under the grid.
| Actor | Character | Film |
| Heath Ledger | Ennis Del Mar | Brokeback Mountain |
| Harrison Ford | Han Solo | Star Wars |
| Russell Crowe | Wendell “Bud” White | L.A. Confidential |
| Sigourney Weaver | Ellen Ripley | Alien |
| Meryl Streep | Joanna Kramer | Kramer Vs. Kramer |
| Christopher Lloyd | Dr. Emmett Brown | Back to the Future |
| Jeff Bridges | Starman | Starman |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | Laurie Strode | Halloween |
| Montgomery Clift | Holland Perce | The Misfits |
| Tom Hanks | Woody | Toy Story |
| Jennifer Lawrence | Katniss Everdeen | The Hunger Games |
I thought this was a nice idea with a different approach to what I might vaguely call the norm.
Thanks Miles!
What do you think of the various films/actors? Perhaps controversially, I am not a fan of The Misfits. Less controversially, I adore Alien.
P.S. I don’t care that that’s not Star Wars’ full title.
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Homophone | “WORD” |
| Extra letter | BITS |
| Extra word | Pester |
| Rearranged extra word | STREEP |
| Solution/entry | LEDGER/DELMAR |
As always, please let me know if anything isn’t clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| T | 1 |
Splinters (BITS) Kansas (KS) pottery (5)
|
BISKS |
| STREEP | 5 | Pester LEGER (swindler) [to conceal] D (date) in record of transactions (6) | LEDGER/DELMAR |
| H | 10 | ASH (Fraxinus), ARUM (cuckoo pint), wild ginger (6) | ASARUM |
| I | 12 | ALI (As was Clay) with VIE (struggle) breathing (5) | ALIVE |
| SOLO | 13 | Wade across F |
FORD/SOLO |
| R | 14 | CORS |
SIROCS |
| D | 15 | Spenser’s movements [revealed by] naSTY RED Skid (6) | STYRES |
| CROWE | 16 | Innocent WE (people in general) cower [receiving] HIT (painful blow) (5) | WHITE/CROWE |
| L | 18 | CON (Convict) with DATA (information) [about] <MOLLY (Ms Malone) [getting back] warts (11) | CONDYLOMATA |
| E | 22 | ALE (Alcoholic drink) < [set back] HAM (clumsy) Egyptian dancer (5) | ALMAH |
| STARMAN | 24 | Mantras E (echo) [getting WAVER (to vacillate) around] nest-builder perhaps (6) | WEAVER/RIPLEY |
| T | 26 | Feeling of loss GRE |
REGRET |
| T | 27 | Previously name MN (two central characters) [on] NET (WWW) (4) | NEMN |
| E | 28 | ISA (Savings account) ACE (fab) for Hebrew patriarch (5) | ISAAC |
| R | 29 | Czech composer [entertaining V (very) O (old) R (king) in] DARK (secret) (6) | DVORAK |
| RIPLEY | 30 | <REMARK (Comment) ripely [about] Aerosmith band member (6) | KRAMER/STREEP |
| S | 31 | PEN (Person writing) [enters] SOS (plea to salvage) golf tournaments (5) | OPENS |
| Down | |||
| O | 1 |
Rudimentary BOA (feathered scarf) SIC
|
BASIC |
| F | 2 | IRON (Steel constituent) [casing] SOFT (diffused) particle accelerator (7) | ISOTRON |
| T | 3 | Piercing weapon {ALSO TRAPS MEN}* [unfortunately] (11, two words) | SALMON SPEAR |
| H | 4 | Language R (Queen) [inserted in] <HOOK (song’s catchy phrase), [uplifting] (4) | KROO |
| E | 6 | [Lively] THEA |
EARTH |
| HANKS | 7 | BR (Brother) OWN (to have) roast shank (5) | BROWN/LLOYD |
| S | 8 | Electrical current unit in {O (ordinary) PRIMERS CAME}* [to require revising] (11) | MICROAMPERE |
| E | 9 | [Wingless] |
RED SEA |
| C | 11 | Inexpertly performed Y (unknown) [in] MISPLACED (Lost) (9) | MISPLAYED |
| L | 14 | < [Elevated] YELL (funny person)’S interlacing material (4) | SLEY |
| LLOYD | 17 | Königsberg’s 7 features G (German) dolly [amongst] BRIDES (female union members) (7) | BRIDGES/STARMAN |
| CURTIS | 18 | Rustic DORSET* [vagrant] took long steps (6) | STRODE/CURTIS |
| U | 19 | OUST (Fire) [consumes] A drying house (4) | OAST |
| E | 20 | Predominantly marine organisms A <EAGLE (bird) [picked up] (5) | ALGAE |
| PERCE | 21 | CLIFF (Perhaps Richard) [is finally] T (tense) in steep rock face creep (5) | CLIFT/PERCE |
| DELMAR | 23 | WOO (Court) DOORWAY[‘s edges] consisting of medlar timber (5) | WOODY/HANKS |
| S | 25 | Bud of old <{SON (seed) [in] PK (park)} [ascending] (4) | KNOP |
| B | I | S | K | S | D | E | L | M | A | R |
| A | S | A | R | U | M | A | L | I | V | E |
| S | O | L | O | S | I | R | O | V | S | D |
| I | T | M | O | L | S | T | Y | R | E | S |
| C | R | O | W | E | P | H | D | O | S | E |
| C | O | N | D | Y | L | O | M | A | T | A |
| U | N | S | A | P | A | A | L | M | A | H |
| R | I | P | L | E | Y | S | K | P | R | A |
| T | R | E | G | R | E | T | N | E | M | N |
| I | S | A | A | C | D | V | O | R | A | K |
| S | T | R | E | E | P | O | P | E | N | S |
| LAWRENCE / EVERDEEN / VENEERED | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|