The puzzle may be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords/cryptic/25996.
A puzzle with distinctly straightforward clues, and a theme announced in 21A, of writers.There are so many in the crossword, not all of them very well known, that I would not be at all surprised to find I have left some out. I hope at least that I have not overlooked anyone’s favourite author.
| Across | |||
| 9. | Laundries unusually reliant on breeze, in the main (5,4) | ||
| UNDER SAIL | An anagram (‘unusually’) of ‘laundries’. | ||
| 10. | Return of English relation put one in good spirits (5) | ||
| ELATE | A reversal (‘return of’) of E (‘English’) plus TALE (‘relation’). | ||
| 11. | Austere Midwesterner? (5) | ||
| STERN | The mid of ‘weSTERNer’. There are writers named Stern or Sterne, but the one who comes to my mind first is Lawrence Sterne, author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. | ||
| 12. | Settled around area with good name and didn’t move (9) | ||
| STAGNATED | An envelope (‘around’) of A (‘area’) plus G (‘good’) plus N (‘name’) in STATED (‘settled’). | ||
| 13. | Food neighbour mostly located in fruit tree (7) | ||
| PABULUM | An envelope (‘in’) of ABU[t] (‘neighbour’, as a verb) cut short (‘mostly’) in PLUM (‘fruit tree’). | ||
| 14. | Dwellings for some animals — donkeys, say (7) | ||
| BURROWS | A homophone (‘say’) of BURROS (‘donkeys’). Again various choices of writers, perhaps the best known being William S Burroughs, author of The Naked Lunch. | ||
| 17. | Stream going west, then east, in general (5) | ||
| WOLFE | A charade of WOLF, a reversal (‘going west’) of FLOW (‘stream’) plus E (‘east’). The definition references General Wolfe, the victor (although he was killed in the battle) over the French at the Battle of Quebec in 1759. Perhaps Brendan’s intention id to include multiple writers’ names. I pick Tom Wolfe, author of The Bonfire of the Vanities. | ||
| 19. | The Australian yachts, primarily, that can be seen in Perth (3) | ||
| TAY | First letters (‘primarily’) of ‘The Australian Yachts’. Perth in Scotland is on the River Tay. Josephine Tey was the nom de plume of Elizabeth Mackintosh, a writer of mysteries. | ||
| 20. | Poetic section‘s specialised language adding nothing (5) | ||
| CANTO | A charade of CANT (‘specialised language’) plus O (‘nothing’). | ||
| 21. | Person who provides redress, soundly exemplified in other answers (7) | ||
| RIGHTER | Many answers are the names (or homophones of the names) of writers. | ||
| 22. | Clubs, perhaps, taking bad ref to heart too much (7) | ||
| SURFEIT | An envelope (‘taking … to heart’) of RFE, an anagram (‘bad’) of ‘ref’ in SUIT (‘clubs, perhaps’ at cards). | ||
| 24. | Performing in theatre set out in natural shade (5,4) | ||
| EARTH TONE | An envelope (‘in’) of ON (‘performing’) in EARTHTE, an anagram (‘set out’) of ‘theatre’. | ||
| 26. | Bolts securing new farm buildings (5) | ||
| BARNS | An envelope (‘securing’) of N (‘new’) in BARS (‘bolts’). The writer who comes to mind is Julian Barnes, author of Flaubert’s Parrot. | ||
| 28. | Pressure around referee, initially, to give red card (5) | ||
| HEART | An envelope (‘around’) of R (‘Referee, initially’) in HEAT (‘pressure’). There are a couple of writers named Harte, one being Jack Harte, author of Reflections in a Tar-barrel. | ||
| 29. | Man on board in total disarray gets reprimand (7-2) | ||
| TALKING-TO | An envelope (‘in’) of KING (‘man on board’ in chess) in TALTO, an anagram (‘disarray’) of ‘total’. | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Finishing touches in sketch you made — needs colours (4) | ||
| HUES | Last letters (‘finishing touches’) of ‘sketcH yoU madE – needS‘. Various writers Hughes, including Ted Hughes, the British poet who was Poet Laureate. | ||
| 2. | This part of speech invariably is (6) | ||
| ADVERB | A Yodaesque cryptic definition for ‘invariably’. | ||
| 3. | Writes poorly about broken link, most in need of press (10) | ||
| WRINKLIEST | An envelope (‘about’) of INKL, an anagram (‘broken’) of ‘link’ in WRIEST, another anagram (‘poorly’) of ‘writes’. | ||
| 4. | Way to get hostage back from Tehran, somehow (6) | ||
| RANSOM | A hidden answer (‘from’) in ‘TehRAN SOMehow’). Arthur Ransome, author of the Swallows and Amazons books. | ||
| 5. | Helper in church has to revise something that warns sailors, we hear (5,3) | ||
| ALTAR BOY | Two homophones (‘we hear’), ALTAR, for ALTER (‘revise’) and BOY, for BUOY (‘something that warns sailors’). | ||
| 6. | Intense lamentation (4) | ||
| KEEN | Double definition. Carolyn Keene was the pseudonym of the authors of the Nancy Drew mysteries. | ||
| 7. | Small tree is what damaged cape (8) | ||
| HAWTHORN | A charade of HAWT, an anagram (‘damaged’) of ‘what’ plus HORN (‘cape’at the southern tip of South America). Nathaniel Hawthorne was the author of The Scarlet Letter. | ||
| 8. | Observe what’s indicated on kind of instrument, it’s said (4) | ||
| READ | A homophone (‘it’s said’) of REED (‘kind of instrument’ in the wind section of an orchestra). There are writers Read, and Reade. | ||
| 13. | Man imprisoned, with ruler in control (5) | ||
| POWER | A charade of POW (prisoner of war, ‘man imprisoned’) plus ER (Elizabeth Regina, ‘ruler’). | ||
| 15. | Startle with piece about local turning up African mammal (4,6) | ||
| ROCK RABBIT | An envelope (‘about’) of RAB, a reversal ()’turning up’) of BAR (‘local’) in ROCK (‘startle’) plus BIT (‘piece’), for the hyrax or cony of the Bible. | ||
| 16. | Drive away on time and move fast (5) | ||
| SHOOT | A charade of SHOO (‘drive away’) plus T (‘time’). Neville Shute was the author of On the Beach. | ||
| 18. | Kind of ball one player wishes for another? (3,5) | ||
| LEG BREAK | Definition and cryptic definition – respectively cricket, and the theatre. | ||
| 19. | Aggressively solicits around vessel for lots of voters (8) | ||
| TURNOUTS | An envelope (‘around’) of URN (‘vessel’) in TOUTS (‘aggressively solicits’). | ||
| 22. | Not confident about English novel finally left in hard cover? (6) | ||
| SHELLY | An envelope (‘about’) of E (‘English’) plus L (‘noveL finally’) plus L (‘left’) in SHY (‘not confident’). Here we have the couple, Percy Bysshe and Mary Shelley. | ||
| 23. | Upset, for example, composer put in angry mood (6) | ||
| ENRAGE | A reversal (‘upset’) of EG (‘for example’) plus ARNE (‘composer’ of Rule Britannia among other works). | ||
| 24. | Nymph‘s character as communicated on radio (4) | ||
| ECHO | Double definition, not the homophone which might be expected; ECHO is the letter E in the NATO phonetic alphabet. | ||
| 25. | Part of whatever is object of loathing (4) | ||
| HATE | A hidden answer (‘part of’) in ‘wHATEver’. | ||
| 27. | Pack to put between opposing card-players (4) | ||
| STOW | An envelope (‘put between’) of ‘to’ in SW (south and west, ‘opposing card players’). My first choice was ETON (same wordplay); Eton College keeps a hunting pack of beagles. Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. | ||
Do all the writers have a missing, or extra “E”? WOLFE might be the exception, as the famous ones have an E.
Oh, and Tey, Hues and Burrows! Forget that idea.
24d Umberto Eco
Whistled through this but, apologies Brendan, couldn’t be bothered to pick through it identifying all the authors, so thanks, PeterO.
I was struck by how 7dn could have been shortened to: “What damaged cape?”
Thanks Peter. The fact they’re all homophones, none spelt as the righters, is what adds the interest. Thanks Brendan.
Whoops – Wolfe
I really enjoyed this puzzle with its theme of (homophones of) writers’ names. I particularly liked 11a, 1d, 27d, 29a, 26a & 17a and my favourites were 21a RIGHTER & 3d WRINKLIEST (last in).
New word for me today was PABULUM.
Thanks for the blog, PeterO. I was not sure how to parse 24d & 23d.
PeterO did a good job
I was thinking of Virginia Woolf — the intention was for all the “righters” to be homophones.
I recommend Molly Keane’s “Good Behaviour”
Nice puzzle.
2d – why does ‘adverb’ mean ‘invariably’?
Thanks; Brendan and Peter. BTW (13) Sir D’Arcy Power (I’m not joking) wrote articles for the Dictionary of National Biography and “A System of syphilis” (in 5 volumes). But not a homophone…
Funny how different solvers think of different writers. I thought the “obvious” Burrows was Edgar Rice, and the most obvious “Heart” Josephine. And Miss Read or Charles Reade? Good puzzle.
Martin @9, turn the clue around and you have a straight definition: “Invariably” is this part of speech.
Nicely themed crossword; good setting!
Thanks PeterO; unfortunately RIGHTER was one of the last in, although it did help with SHELLY.
If you want to get a bit obscure, Estela CANTO was an Argentinian writer, although not a homophone, and Valerie Haight is a short story writer and contemporary suspense and romance novelist [so, now you know!]
Brendan
Thanks for dropping by. Yes, Virginia Woolf of course; how did I overlook her? And in 8D I should have picked out Henry Reed, poet and author of the Hilda Tablet cycle of radio plays. So I managed to miss out two of my own favourites! With Umberto Eco – thanks PeteG – make that three (at least for The Name of the Rose).
Thanks, PeterO
Another cleverly themed puzzle from Brendan. By no means his most difficult, but certainly one of the most enjoyable. On this occasion, the theme didn’t help me to get any of the answers (apart from SHELLY, cf Robi @13), but it was fun looking for the linked ones.
Splendid and varied clueing, as ever. I especially liked 12a, 28a and 4d for their wonderful surfaces.
Thanks to PeterO for the blog. You explained a couple of cases where I had the right answer without the proper parsing.
I have a question about 2: KEEN is a verb but lamentation is a noun. This does not work for me even though I picked KEEN as the answer.
I had meant to add: I had RIGHTER but mostly failed to spot Writers 🙁
Hi chas @16
Keen is also a noun which Chambers defines as “a lamentation over the dead”.
Splendid themed puzzle once again from Brendan. You know you are in for a good time when you see his name at the top of a puzzle. Thanks to him and Peter too.
PeterO @14
I went to bed about 2am thinking this won’t be blogged before breakfast. So well done.
I’d not heard of Hilda Tablet but I remember “doing” Naming of Parts for O-level.
I sort of knew Brendan had Good Behaviour in mind. It’s very Irish and very good.
Thanks to Gaufrid for the clarification. My memory is normally pretty good for word meanings so I tend to rely on it absolutely. Silly me.
Thanks PeterO and Brendan
I was held up for a time in the W – I wanted the general to be something to do with Lee and ‘righter’ was only seen very late so I had to examine the theme retrospectively.
I ticked a few (13a, 2d, 7d, and 16d) but there were lots of good clues there in a very enjoyable puzzle.
I also liked ‘leg break’ though I wasn’t sure I could believe its apparent ‘cruelty’ not knowing the theatrical use.
Thanks, PeterO and Brendan
Would you believe it, I completely missed the theme until I came here – oh well! Finished without it, but the SW was a bit of a struggle.
Totally agree with CS @19,always love a Brendan.And Molly Keane’s Good Behaviour is a great read. Thanks to B and Peter0 for great puzzle and review.I really liked 5d,and I didn’t really get 22d until I saw it was a themed puzzle.
Could someone please explain “settled” = STATED?
And whence “SHELLY?
Surprised no mention of earlier Brendan on the theme of “raita”. Carefully avoided overlap, except homophonic WOLF/WOLFE and READ/REED.
jeceris@25 amongst other definitions stated can mean placed in a position, established, installed.
shelly is an adjective meaning having a shell
I was out early this morning and by the time I got home there was nothing left to say about this highly entertaining puzzle.
I’ve been nagged all day by a déjà vu feeling, but couldn’t place it, so I’m very grateful to Brendan @26 for the reminder of his previous puzzle
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords/cryptic/25245 with a similar theme, but completely mortified to find that I actually blogged it!
http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/14/guardian-25245-brendan/
That he can do this twice, with only a smidgeon of repetition, increases my admiration no end. Many thanks indeed, Brendan for all the fun.
Odd how when I entered Stern, Shelley and Ransom it occurred to me that they were each almost writers’ names but I didn’t put the theme together and 21a was the only solution I didn’t get. I knew there was a theme but I was looking for something a little more complicated! Tsk!
Oh and I also missed 18d but I forgive myself for not getting cricket clues- especially as I was expecting that to be a tennis clue, given the weekend’s activities!
As an extra twist to 24 dn, those of us of a certain age may remember EKCO radios.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EKCO
Entertaining crossword as ever by Brendan.
I got stuck in the SW corner for quite some time.
I was convinced that 21A was going to be ARBITER but this wouldn’t fit in with OFF BREAK which forced 21A to be REFUTER. (nothing to do with REDRESS!!!)
Couldn’t think of LEG BREAK which as a cricketer of 30 years was appalling.
My start to the puzzle was delayed an hour by a visit to the local hospital after a Jack Russel bit my stomach while trying to eat my 6 month old puppy!! (It’s a reasonable excuse I think) THe puppy is fine and I’ll live apparently 🙂
Thanks to PeterO and Brendan
By the way, off topic, but did anybody else think 9A in the Rufus on Monday should have been GUNTER? I know it doesn’t really work but it amused me!?
My favorite word today, thanks to PeterO: Yodaesque.