Even by Virgilius’ exalted standards, I thought this was really special – famous names reversed being a big part of it. The theme revealed itself gradually as the grid filled up.
Solving time: 31 mins
* = anagram < = reversal
ACROSS
3/1A PETER PAN From J M Barrie’s play – character who never grows up – hence play-boy.
6 TH(ieves) ROB
10/3D ALEXANDER POPE (poet) There have been eight Popes called Alexander.
12 RACE M(EMOR)Y Rome< Same meaning as folk memory.
14 E (CO) NOMIC (income)* Excellent surface.
18/15/26 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (poet) Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (composer).
20 ROSEMARY Mary Rose, KING (11) HENRY (28) VIII’s warship. “Exchanging parts”. Wondered if the 1128 was run together deliberately to look like a year. That was my first reading before twigging it referred to clue numbers.
23 MARKS W (with) OMEN Great clue.
28/11 HENRY KING Got this from the “backward” monarch – later verifying he’s a character in Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales who chewed bits of string.
30 TRY Hear (a court case). Rugby score, which the scoring team follows by getting a kick at goal to convert it (and make 5 points 7).
DOWN
4 TIA MARIA Aunt Maria in Spanish. A liqueur “that gets drunk” is definition.
8/25 BARRY JOHN Famous Welsh stand-off half (so wore No 10). Lloyd George (Welsh PM) at No 10 Downing Street.
16 ROYAL NAVY Royal blue and navy blue.
17 HOME TEAM Pleasing cryptic definition I solved first time around.
22 HORDES “Hoards”
25/8 JOHN BARRY John = gospel music – bar ry = railway.
Agree wholeheartedly with nms.
A weird idee fixe with ‘green man’ for 3/1A held me up a while.
Wot no Elton John?
Virgilius mentioned his idea to me and asked if I could think of any other people who “6 Down”. Unfortunately the only ones I could think of were a little obscure, but it’s quite a good game. Maybe readers could suggest a few more.
I came up with:
John Collins and Collins John (footballers who both played for Fulham)
King Solomon and (singer) Solomon King
and I recently came across Kiwi America’s Cup supremo Grant Dalton, a reversal of a former British high jumper Dalton Grant.
30 across – clear you’re not Rugby League fans – 5 points makes 7 indeed – southern softies !!
Touché, Ian.
Eimi: there’s Major Major who’s a character in Catch-22 who is the reversal of a character in Catch-22 who is…
Thanks Ilan, but Major Major would have to be in a different crossword, with Humbert Humbert from Lolita and Duran Duran from Barbarella. Any more?
How about King Stephen (c.1097 – 1154) and Stephen King (horror novelist)?
It’s a shame there wasn’t a King Mervyn, to go with his reversal, the current Governor of the Bank of England.
There’s the acting triumvirate of Robert Lindsay, Robert Wagner & Lindsay Wagner. Or how about Barbara Windsor, Barbara Castle and, er, Windsor Castle?