A very enjoyable puzzle, and I was pleased to finish this one unaided, which isn’t something I manage often.
There does seem to be some correlation between taking Beelzebub to the pub and solving success. This is an area which I’ll selflessly continue to research, purely in the name of science.
This week it was Lowlander and two or three hopelessly strong Dutch and Belgian beers. Needless to say, I can quite clearly chart my progress through the grid by the decreasing quality of the handwriting.
28 across still requires some explanation.
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | RECEPTIBILITY – (CELEBRITY I TIP)*. |
| 10 | IGOR – GO in [a]RI[a]<. Apparently Prince Igor is an opera by Alexander Borodin. |
| 12 | LESOTHO – SO in (LET + HO). |
| 13 | TYMPAN – (P + MY)< in TAN. |
| 14 | PARSEC – PARSE + C. |
| 15 | UPPER TEN – PERT in (U + PEN). |
| 17 | ASIDE – A-SIDE. |
| 19 | TOLEDO – TOLED + O[pponent]. |
| 20 | AD ASTRA – ADA + ARTS<. Ada is a programming language from the 70s. It was still being taught when I was a student in about 1999, thought I’m not sure it’s used a great deal in the real world these days. |
| 22 | IPECAC – ACE< in IPC. IPC publish things like the NME and Woman’s Weekly, which it’s technically impossible to mention without thinking of Victoria Wood. Ipecac I primarily know of through Family Guy. |
| 24 | AZOLE – OZ< in ALE. |
| 25 | TROCHAIC – CHA in TROIC. |
| 27 | TIDBIT – (DB + I) in TIT. |
| 28 | TRENTO – Church not seen in 14th-century Italian city. |
| 29 | ILEITIS – I in (I + LET + IS). |
| 30 | KEEN – double definition, I think. |
| 31 | CATTY-CORNERED – (A CONCERTED TRY)*. |
| Down | |
| 1 | RITUALISTIC – (I + ST) in (I CURTAIL)*. |
| 2 | COMPILER – (M + PILE) in COR. |
| 3 | PEAR – PEAR[l]. |
| 4 | TANTRA – TAN + T[o] R[estore] A[we]. |
| 5 | IL PENSEROSO – (SOON REPLIES)*. |
| 6 | ISADORA – IS + ADORA[ble]. At least I guess it’s from “adorable”. The dancer I take to be Isadora Duncan. |
| 7 | LORAL – [f]LORAL. |
| 8 | THEODOLITE – THE + (I in TOLEDO*). |
| 9 | YOCTOSECOND – (TYCOON’S CODE)*. |
| 11 | GYPSOPHILA – PHI in (POSY GAL)*. |
| 16 | BEMOANER – MO in BEANER[y]. |
| 18 | EDAGITY – GIT in (E + DAY). |
| 21 | TOOTER – TOO + TER. |
| 23 | CUBIT – CUB + IT. |
| 26 | CRAN – CRAN[e]. |
I thinks it may be TRECENTO less CE, Simon.
Simon, respect. I couldn’t do it. Although to be honest I haven’t tried your prescription. That way failure would at least be enjoyable! I do sometimes attempt it on my allotment, devoid of aids, although I don’t enter everything until I get back home for the pre-prandial G&T and access to the BRB.
You beat me to it Niall. I had just realised that I forgot to deal with the point and came back to find you had already done so.
That Beelzebub eh? Some guy.
Thanks, chaps.
Glancing at the grid again, I wonder if there is some significance to the names Lola and Amos appearing in the middle row.
10ac was my first one in. Saw “Operatic prince” and immediately thought IGOR before reading the rest of the clue. Famous now mainly for the Polovtsian Dances, that gave the tune for the song Stranger in Paradise in the musical Kismet.
I was working for the CEGB in the late eighties when they investigated using Ada as a programming language for their process control work and was involved in a pilot project. We finished the project at which point the CEGB was privatised and split up and I never used it again.
Maybe it was the fourth ESB but couldn’t quite see the last few, thanks Simon.