Quite a bit going on in this puzzle: a ‘secret’ figure to be discovered from unclued entries, three works to be deduced, two determining how two sets of clues are to be entered, and a third represented in the finished grid and requiring highlighting.
I must say that progress was relatively slow after the initial burst of about a dozen clues. It helped a bit that the lengths of four of the answers requiring treatment were given, being longer than their entry lengths. Even so, getting OESTRUM and SECURE UNIT failed to elicit any obvious link. Finally, I got all the extra letters in nine of the down clues as ODD MAN OUT, and words meaning ‘odd person’ had to be dropped before entry. Apart from being a very old (1947) film starring James Mason, this meant nothing.
So who could the mystery figure be? The two pairs of unclued entries which hinted at his name I had as ?A?P, ?AVID, HENR? and ?IXON. Now, was this a deliberate and extremely devious trap? All I could think of was CAMP DAVID, Richard NIXON and HENRY Kissinger!! DAVID NIXON even crossed my mind at one point (a great TV entertainer in my youth). It was only when the entry of the double clues revealed themselves as words for ‘journey’ inside words for ‘earth’ that JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH materialised. So it was JAMES MASON after all … ‘secret’ referring to the ‘masonic’ aspect of his name.
Now, don’t ask me why it took so long to identify the final work that was represented in the grid, but it did. Despite visiting NORTH BY NORTHWEST several times, and thinking NBYNW might appear somewhere, it took at least half an hour to spot NORTH appearing in a north-westerly direction along the main diagonal.
All in all, a fun puzzle, with good clues.
Solving time: about two hours plus at least 30 minutes trying to identify the third work. I could have saved myself a fair amount of time if I’d really used my brain. The Solving Strategies were almost as esoteric as some of the steps that they were describing, and I suspect that the beginners for whom they were written probably did not get what was hinted at by ‘not even lateral thinking will help’ … namely, diagonal thinking required!
Legend:
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
red for extra letters in down clue subsidiary indications
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SOTREKIL | spot: SO (very good) + IL (article, the, in Rome, ie Italian) drag: TRE (trio) + K (hint of knowledge) |
| 8 | WASP | Unclued: reference to the mason wasp |
| 12 | HOOVEN | describing sickly animal: HOOVER (ex-president) – R (right off) + N (name) |
| 13 | INNER | one firing arrows might hit this: SINNER (person at fault) – S (son) |
| 14 | UPTAKES | instances of understanding: PTA (educational body) in UK (this country) + E(xhibit) S(ome) |
| 15 | EX VOTO | dedicated offering: XV (rugby side) in ETO(N) (school, removing last) |
| 16 | NEAR | miserly: NER(O) (emperor, doesn’t stop) hoarding A (piece of art) |
| 18 | ORION | hunter: (M)ORION (piece of helmet, without first letter) |
| 20 | OILING | lubrication: in dipsO I LINGered |
| 21 | TAVERN | inn: TAVER (Scottish word for ramble) + N (new) |
| 22 | E CONTRA | on the other hand: ECO (Italian novelist, Umberto Eco, and still living) + RA (artist) touring NT (part of Australia) |
| 24 | PERUKES | wigs: PERUS(E) (read, mostly) about (K [king] + E [earl]) |
| 28 | MERITS | earns: R (rupees) in TIMES* |
| 32 | THROES | risky venture: homophone for THROES (pangs) |
| 35 | AREDE | interpret: A + RED (wine) + E (close to champagne) |
| 36 | TACO | Mexican food: TA (volunteers, as in Territorial Army) + CO (firm) |
| 37 | RELENT | become less severe: RE (about) L (line) + ENT (hospital department, Ear Nose and Throat) |
| 38 | GLAIVED | carrying a sword: G (german) + DEVIL< (wicked fellow) about A (adult) |
| 39 | TILER | I like to slate: TIL(L)ER (sucker, half-hearted, ie only one L not two) |
| 40 | EOZOIC | like an old fossil: E (eastern) + BOZO (dimwit) – B (British) + IC(E) (formality, a lot of) |
| 41 | HAET | not a lot (Scottish): THEA*(TRES) |
| 42 | CLWENDAY | leave: W END (London’s centre in short, ie West End) pigeon: C (heading of column) LAY (of the people) |
| Down | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SECURE UNIT | institution for offenders: (USE IN TRUCE)* | |
| 2 | TOTAL | destroy completely (US): TOT (drink) + AL (gangster Capone) | |
| 3 | O | ROARIE | noisy (Scottish): OAR (row) in ORIE(L) (large part of college) |
| 4 | D | KEEP IN | conceal something: DEEP (incomprehensible) in KIN (family) |
| 5 | INSOLE | feature of Oxford? (shoe): IN (popular) + SOLE (exclusive); Chambers specifically says that this use is without a capital letter, is that why there’s a question mark at the end? The phrase ‘Oxford shoe’ does have a capital, however! | |
| 6 | D | LUETIC | pestilential: LIC(E) (parasites mostly) around (DUET (performing couple) |
| 7 | DIXON | Unclued: reference to the Mason-Dixon line | |
| 9 | M | ANOINT | mark as successor: MAN (fellow + (P)OINT (distinctive characteristic, not initially) |
| 10 | SETOURTT | period of service: TO (near) UR (heart of suburban) mining area in Cornwall: SET T(O) (curtailed argument) |
|
| 11 | A | PRONE | lying: PAR (reasonable score) + ONE (joke, as in the one about) |
| 17 | CASEWORK | study of individuals: A + SEW (drain) in CORK (Irish city) | |
| 19 | GAEYREIA | Jane, perhaps: EYE (regard) about R (right) one admired in Greece: G (good) + AIA (nurse) |
|
| 23 | OESTRUM | heat: ROUTE’S* + M (start of Mediterranean) | |
| 25 | N | RUELLE | reception in the morning: RUN (travel) + ELLE (magazine) |
| 26 | EROTIC | amorous: ER (queen) + CITO< (quickly) | |
| 27 | O | SOLGEL | regarding alteration in states: SO (provided) + LOG (record) + EL (the in Spanish) |
| 28 | MELLOW | mature: MEL (honey) + LOW (of no great value) | |
| 29 | NUTRITION | cheer: NU (Greek character) + I (one) in TRITON (sea god) | |
| 30 | U | STODGY | very dull: GUY (chap) supporting (ie under) S (second) TOD (sly fellow, Scottish) |
| 31 | T | GARTH | yard: in bragGART THankfully |
| 33 | HENRY | Unclued: reference to Henry James | |
| 34 | DAVID | Unclued: reference to David James (a footballer, I think!) | |
Excellent puzzle. I’d noticed the ‘nominally’ from the start so I did guess James Mason once I found the film. Like you, the last step took me quite a while till I spotted it – the ONSET in the middle was tempting esp as one of his many films was ‘One Way Street’ but it did not quite fit.
I think the tribute may have been to the centenary of James Mason’s birth which was on 15 05 1909 i.e. the Friday after the puzzle appeared.
And David James is indeed a footballer, the current England goalkeeper, faute de mieux perhaps…
I had to look up faute de mieux in Chambers as I hadn’t heard it before. Made me LOL (I think!). When it comes to football I am a bit of a heathen, although I have of course heard of David James … I am a bit surprised he’s the current incumbent as he seems to have been around for decades!
And, yes, Hypnos confirms that it was the centenary of JM’s birth that prompted the puzzle. I was surprised at how few (relatively) well-known films he starred in … or should that be how few films he is well-known for starring in? But what a voice!
Thanks for the excellent blog and comments.
i see no-one sent in a correct entry for your crossword hypnos. Given this site and theanswerbank are tips of the iceberg, it just shows how many people do the EV but never send them in!
Shark, I suspect it’s an administrative error. I think that EV gets a reasonable postbag, and not everyone would have forgotten to highlight NORTH (going north-west), which it is quite possible that I did! Watch out for a correction next week.
You are most probably right, Dave. I cannot believe there were really no correct entries. We shall see
This is very surprising. I usually cannot solve the harder Listener puzzles, but I solved this – the last step did take a little while to find but not spectacularly long. I did not send in an entry.
I too definitely sent in a correct entry & with time to spare!
Its bad enough that the telegraph cannot plan out their “puzzle pullout” without clashes on reverse pages, but this “no correct entries”…..
Quality paper, what!!!