Our Indy Good Friday crossword challenge this morning has been provided by Phi.
18 was one of the first clues that I solved, which made me suspect that there was to be an Easter theme in the grid. Having scoured both clues and grid, however, I have found nothing else, so as is customary for me, I turn to fellow solvers to point me in the direction of any theme or Nina.
Incidentally, I hadn’t come across this particular grid before, which accommodates more than the average number of clues and plenty of shorter entries. In the end, I was left with the intersecting lights at 20 and 21, and when I found one, the other revealed itself instantly. The term for a pack of hounds at 20 was new to me, as were the references at 14 and 33, where I relied on the wordplay. My favourite clues today were 13, for its smooth surface, and the aforementioned 18, not least for getting me into the mood for Easter!
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | AFTERNOON | Period of time, one not far off
*(ONE NOT FAR); “off” is anagram indicator |
| 06 | GRIEF | Trouble from Government ousting leader in short
G (=government) + <b>RIEF (=short; “ousting leader” means first letter is dropped) |
| 09 | NEPTUNE | Writer recalled melody – item by Holst?
NEP (PEN=writer, i.e. writing implement) + TUNE (=melody); the reference is to Gustav Holst’s The Planets (1918) |
| 10 | HUNTING | Rural activity’s suspended after money’s collected
TIN (=money) in HUNG (=suspended) |
| 11 | SHOW | Demonstrate second methodology
S (=second) + HOW (=methodology) |
| 12 | ACES | More than one expert finds no transactions
<tr>ACES (=finds); “no transactions (=tr.)” means letters “tr” are dropped |
| 13 | ROHAN | Home of riders where horse circles horse
H (=horse) in ROAN (=horse); Rohan is a realm in Middle Earth, famed for its horsemen, in the books by J R R Tolkien |
| 16 | CLAMOUR | Uproar beginning to cool the passion in Paris
C<ool> (“beginning to” means first letter only) + L’AMOUR (=the passion in Paris, i.e. the French for “the love”) |
| 17 | NATURE | Millions ignored by New Age temperament
N (=new) + <m>ATURE (=age, i.e. as verb; “millions (=M) ignored” means letter “m” is dropped) |
| 18 | EGG | Item of food scrounger has in bar?
Place EGG in BAR to make BEGGAR (=scrounger) |
| 20 | CRY OFF | Pack of hounds, having bad scent, back out
CRY (=pack of hounds) + OFF (=having bad scent, i.e. rotten) |
| 22 | LEONORA | Beethoven heroine tragically alone after invasion of soldiers
OR (=soldiers; i.e. other ranks) in *(ALONE); “tragically” is anagram indicator; the reference is to Leonora, the heroine of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio (1805) |
| 25 | MAGIC | Periodical, one about glamour
MAG (=periodical, i.e. magazine) + I (=one) + C (=about, i.e. circa) |
| 26 | LUCK | Fortune and bravery seeing off power
<p>LUCK (=courage); “seeing off power (=P)” means letter “p” is dropped |
| 27 | GOOD | Pleasant sentimental stuff that Director’s behind
GOO (=sentimental stuff) + D (=director) |
| 29 | OFFICES | More than one work area, not working, freezes
OFF (=not working) + ICES (=freezes) |
| 31 | EVENING | Time of day – not time for equestrian sport
EVEN<t>ING (=equestrian sport); “not time (=t)” means letter “t” is dropped |
| 32 | TASTE | Gallery enshrining singular aesthetic sense
S (=singular, i.e. in grammar) in TATE (=Gallery) |
| 33 | SAMARITAN | Old Middle East resident describing wedding mostly held in hospital
MARITA<l> (=describing wedding; “mostly” means last letter is dropped) in SAN (=hospital, i.e. sanatorium); a Samaritan is a resident of Samaria, in Palestine, cf. the Good Samaritan! |
| Down | ||
| 01 | AMNESICS | Miss cane when misplaced? They probably do!
*(MISS CANE); “when misplaced” is anagram indicator; amnesic is a synonym for amnesiac |
| 02 | TAPIOCA | Knock one over, initially charging after pudding
TAP (=knock) + I (=one) + O (=over, i.e. in cricket) + C<harging> A<fter> (“initially” means first letters only) |
| 03 | ROUT | No head on fish? That’s a failure
<t>ROUT (=fish); “no head on” means first letter is dropped |
| 04 | OVERCAREFUL | Unadventurous valuer manhandled with force
*(VALUER + FORCE); “manhandled” is anagram indicator |
| 05 | NOH | Drama in Japan ends in gargantuan sumo clash
<gargantuan>N <sum>O <clas>H (“ends in” means last letters only are used |
| 06 | GENERATION | Information supply includes electronic production
E (=electronic) in [GEN (=information) + RATION (=supply)] |
| 07 | IRISHER | Contemptuous name for European flower provided by that woman
IRIS (=flower) + HER (=that woman); Irisher is a slightly contemptuous term for an Irishman in US slang |
| 08 | FAG END | Fine list of items omitting last item? Last item
F (=fine) + AGEND<a> (=list of items, i.e. for discussion at meeting; “omitting last item” means last letter is dropped); a fag end is the end, remaining or worthless part of a thing, hence “last item” |
| 13 | SINGLE CREAM | Dairy product misrepresented in Green claims
*(GREEN CLAIMS); “misrepresented” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | MOTORCYCLE | Conservative ringing College, and College blocking spy’s vehicle
{[C (=college) in TORY (=Conservative)] + C (=college)} in MOLE (=spy) |
| 19 | CARDIGAN | Good article probing vehicle noise in part of Wales
[G (=good) + A (=article, i.e. in grammar)] in [CAR (=vehicle) + DIN (=noise)] |
| 21 | REGIFTS | Passes on, say, during disagreements
E.G. (=say) in RIFTS (=disagreement) |
| 23 | OLOGIST | Oxford’s first inclination is to involve rising energy scientist
O<xford> (“first” means first letter only) + [OG (GO=energy; “rising” indicates vertical reversal) in LIST (=inclination, i.e. leaning)] |
| 24 | IMPORT | Meaning one has money left
I (=one) + M (=money) + PORT (=left, i.e. of vessel) |
| 28 | YEAR | Time’s certainly no longer right
YEA (=certainly; “no longer” indicates term is archaic) + R (=right) |
| 30 | SIS | Girl’s nameless crimes
SI<n>S (=crimes); “name (=n) –less” means letter “n” is dropped |
Thanks RatkojaRiku
I think the opening sentence in your preamble provides you with a clue to the theme 😉 . 1ac, 6ac, 11ac, 17ac, 18ac, 26ac, 29ac, 31ac, 32ac, 33ac and maybe even 10ac can all be preceded by 27ac to give a (reasonably) common phrase.
Spotting the theme early on certainly helped with the gridfill for me. A very 27ac puzzle, I thought. Thanks, Phi and RatkojaRiku for the blog.
Thanks RR, too lazy to winkle out egg or cry-off, glad you did.
Missed the GOOD links, ho-hum didn’t need it though.
28d could give another if you’re not too tyred by now…
Another pleasant Phi puzzle, although I failed to spot the “good” theme so thanks for that Gaufrid. I couldn’t parse the clues for ACES and EGG and both went in from wordplay alone, so thanks for that RR. With “aces” I thought the “no transactions” reference might have had something to do with a card game. CRY OFF was my LOI, initially from the definition, but as I was typing it in I remembered the “hounds” connection for “cry”.
Theme went completely over my head, was half expecting one but forgot about it quickly.
16A “l’amour” in general means simply “love”. The French require the article, in this case “l'”, to precede a noun, whereas we (usually) don’t. I’m sure K’sD can expatiate further if required.
Thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku and a Happy Easter to all.
The theme seems so obvious, now that it has been pointed out to me – I am afraid I was thinking too much about Easter and not enough about GOOD Friday 😉
…..not forgetting that rarest of all rareties – good tapioca!
A very smooth puzzle and the theme wasn’t bad – quite the opposite!
Many thanks to Phi and RR of course.
I enjoyed this one. Had a vague idea that something was going on, but didn’t spot the GOOD theme, which is how it should be.
Not sure what ‘expatiate’ means, gwep, but the clue gives us ‘the passion’, and that’ll do for me for L’AMOUR. Are passion and love the same thing? Ask a French person. But you are right, the French will use the definite article where we won’t.
I’ve often wondered why it’s called GOOD FRIDAY, since it clearly wasn’t a great day for the man in question.
Joyeuses Pâques.
Ninas and themes alike usually pass me by, but is it an accident that this Easter puzzle has an 18ac in the middle?
Too late last night to complete the puzzle but enjoyed the solve this morming.
Phi back on top form with a GOOD theme. We hope he enjoyed his holiday and is now over the jet-lag!
Thanks RR.