Back in spring, Augeas’s first puzzle for the Listener was published, and now, before summer (?) is over, Augeas appears for the first time with an Inquisitor puzzle.
Some highlighting is to be done (a character and his destination), and the character’s probable real name is to be unscrambled and written below the grid. Otherwise, the puzzle is ‘trick-free’, i.e. no extra or missing letters in the wordplay, no misprinted definitions, no unclued entries.
The clues seemed fairly easy to solve, and I’d filled the upper 75% of the grid even before I’d looked at the rest of the clues – so, not a Herculean task. A couple of the later ones delayed me (36a and 37a), and the wordplay for another few held me up (19d, 24d and 29d). Also, one or two of the proper-name references needed confirmation. Apart from that, a fairly gentle ride, and fine for a bank holiday weekend when some of us have quite a lot going on.
The title alludes to Waltzing Matilda, and the character is SWAGMAN, found upwards in the central column, nestling neatly into the appropriately shaped BILLABONG (an ox-bow lake); the shaded letters are a jumbled version of SAMUEL HOFFMEISTER.
[XYZ]! = homophone
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Answer | Wordplay |
| 1 | COSS | C(o)O(k)S + S(pecial) |
| 4 | OGHAM | [OMAGH]* |
| 8 | AMAH | AM (=in the morning) + AH (=my!) |
| 11 | OONT | (a)N(d) in TOO rev. |
| 12 | DUOMO | DUO (=couple) + MO (=very little time) |
| 13 | UEFA | Hidden: (intrig)UE FA(il) |
| 14 | OVERELABORATE | [TO LEAVE OR BEAR]* |
| 16 | BULLNOSES | NOSE (=proceed carefully) in BULLS (=games) {ref.: Morris Motor Company, Oxford} |
| 19 | SUBTRIANGULAR | [GIANT RURAL BUS]* |
| 23 | PRISE | PRE (=before) around I (=one) + S(hilling) |
| 26 | ASIDE | (b)A(r) S(w)I(n)D(l)E(s) |
| 27 | ION | IO (=Galilean moon of Jupiter) + N(ew) |
| 28 | STAGIER | STAR (=leading performer) around GIE (=karate costume) |
| 31 | ERA | R (=80) in E (=Spain) & A(dvanced) |
| 32 | TRATT | T(omato) R(adicchio) A(nd) T(agliatelle) T(oo) |
| 34 | ERBIA | [BRECCIA – C(old) & C(arbon)]* |
| 35 | HAUGH | A + U(unionist) in HIGH – I |
| 36 | RAFFLESIACEAE | [A LIFER FACES]* + AE (=aetatis, of his age) |
| 37 | STAGYRITE | ST (=saint) + A + GYTE (=child, Scots) around (ch)RI(st) |
| Down | ||
| No. | Answer | Wordplay |
| 1 | COOL | LOO (=subject to a forfeit) + C (=$100) rev. |
| 2 | SNEBBING | BENS (=mounts) rev. + BING (=Bing Crosby, “old groaner”) |
| 3 | STRUTS | STINTS (=spares) with IN replaced by RU (=rugby) {?} |
| 4 | ODE | Hidden rev.: (emp)EDO(cles) |
| 5 | GULL | GU (=old fiddle) + (wi)LL |
| 6 | AMBO | AMO (=I love, Latin) around B(ishop) {is this OK?} |
| 7 | MOO | M(erino) + OO (=wool, Scots) |
| 8 | AUREUS | A + U(tahan) + RE-UPS (=re-enlists) – P(aying) |
| 9 | MEASLIER | [MALE IS ER]* |
| 10 | HAEM | HAREM (=where concubines are kept) – R(esistance) |
| 15 | EUROCRAT | [RACE RIOT]* with U(nionist) for I(ndependent) |
| 17 | NAM | MAN rev. {ref.: Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man} {NAM =Namibia (IVR) |
| 18 | MADRIGAL | MAD (=crazy) + RIGEL (=star) with A(nswer) for E (=ecstasy, drug) {MADRIGAL: landlady in Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City} |
| 19 | SPICERY | ICE (=reserve) in SPRY (=florist) {Constance Spry: English flower arranger and cookery writer} |
| 20 | RET | RET(ima) (=switch-plant) |
| 21 | GAE | G(lasgow) A(nd) E(dinburgh) |
| 22 | REACHED | EACH (=every one separately) in RED (=owing money) |
| 24 | BARF | BAR (=meagre, maigre) + F(ellow) {BARF (N Am slang) for vomit, cat =vomit} |
| 25 | GITE | IT(alian) in GE(orgia) |
| 28 | SHIFT | Double definition |
| 29 | GAWSY | A + WS (=Writer to the Signet, solicitor) in G(allowa)Y |
| 30 | REACT | [TEACHER – HE]* |
| 32 | TALA | A(bsent) in TLA (=Three-Letter Acronym, =UNO for example) |
| 33 | THAI | [TIE]! (=restrict) |
Had BARD instead of BARF and managed to find MATILDA weaving around under the BILLABONG, so stopped looking. Completely missed SWAGMAN and also had one letter wrong for the anagram. Apart from that ….great!