Thanks, Gozo, for a clever crossword with some good clues.
All the across answers and three of the downs were characters in plays by Shakespeare. Some of them were a tad obscure (at least to us) but the wordplay was clear. 23 down was a super clue.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DIOMEDES |
Greek leader’s misdeed – nothing changed (8)
A Greek prince in Troilus and Cressida. An anagram (changed) of MISDEED and O representing zero or nothing. |
| 5 | SCROOP |
Lord knocks back inferior cider and scrumpy for starters (6)
Lord Scroop (Henry V) POOR (inferior) plus C plus S (first letters of cider and scrumpy) reversed (knocked back) |
| 9 | RODERIGO |
Venetian gentleman travelled with Stravinsky, cycling (8)
A character in Othello. RODE (travelled) plus an anagram (cycling) of Stravinsky’s given name, Igor |
| 10 | HECATE |
Tom East’s weird sister (6)
The weird sisters are the witches in Macbeth. Hecate is one of them. A tom is a HE (or male) CAT. Add E for East. |
| 12 | AGAMEMNON |
A courageous military leader – not French – Greek (9)
The leader of the Greek forces in Troilus and Cressida. A plus GAME (courageous) plus M (first letter of military) plus NON (French negaitive). Clever clue. |
| 13 | POINS |
Eastcheap rogue cuts half the garden flower (5)
Ned Poins is a highwayman in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. Scenes in which he appears are set in Eastcheap. The first half of poinsettia, which we’d think of as a houseplant as far as UK readers are concerned, as it doesn’t tolerate frost. |
| 14 | IRAS |
Dress returned to 6 down’s attendant (4)
Iras is an attendant on Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra. She dies following a kiss from Cleopatra. That must have been a wicked curry. The wordplay is a reversal (returned) of sari. |
| 16 | ANTENOR |
A new singer for Trojan commander (7)
In Troilus and Cressida. A plus N for new plus TENOR |
| 19 | ESCALUS |
Clauses rewritten for Italian prince (7)
Prince of Verona in Romeo and Juliet. An anagram (rewritten) of clauses. |
| 21 | LEAR |
Royal castle. Arundel? In part (4)
Contained in the second and third words of the clue |
| 24 | FLUTE |
Instrument. Loud one (5)
F (musical direction forte) plus LUTE, another instrument. Also a character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Clever. |
| 25 | CYMBELINE |
Award nicely laid out for king (9)
In the play of the same name. An anagram (laid out) of MBE (an award) plus nicely |
| 27 | CHIRON |
Tamora’s son from Chinese press (6)
Not only her son but her dinner, in Titus Andronicus. CH for Chinese olus IRON (press) |
| 28 | MAECENAS |
Roman officer with mother, creating a scene (8)
In Antony and Cleopatra. MA (mother) plus an anagram (creating) of A and Scene |
| 29 | STRATO |
Loyal servant knocking back round confectionery items (6)
In Julius Caesar. O (round) plus TARTS (confectionery items) reversed (knocking back) |
| 30 | MENELAUS |
Spartan king with workers on English landaus, joiner missing (8)
In Troilus and Cressida. MEN (workers) plus E for English plus LAUS (landaus with and, a conjunction, removed) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | DORCAS |
Dead whales for shepherdess (6)
In The Winter’s Tale. D for dead plus ORCAS |
| 2 | OLDHAM |
Mature hock in northern town (6)
OLD (mature) plus HAM (hock) |
| 3 | EYRIE |
Lofty dwelling that’s strangely frightening, reportedly (5)
The nest of an eagle and similar birds. Sounds like eery. |
| 4 | ENGINES |
Drivers seen in smash, holding drink (7)
An anagram (in smash) of SEEN, with GIN inserted. |
| 6 | CLEOPATRA |
Heartless Capulet or a devious Queen (9)
In Antony and Cleopatra. An anagram (devious) of Capulet minus its central letter, OR and A |
| 7 | ORATIONS |
Allowance gien in big discoursess (8)
OS (an abbreviation of outsize) with RATION (allowance). We took the strange spellings as misprints since the clue works. |
| 8 | PLEASURE |
Excuse bound to be a source of gratification (8)
PLEA (excuse) plus SURE (bound, or certain) |
| 11 | ANNA |
Records of events lost pounds and shillings – and this (4)
An anna was a currency unit in India and elsewhere. ANNALS minus L for pounds and S for shillings, which are other currency units. |
| 15 | ROLLED OUT |
Launched – the carpet? (6,3)
A cryptic definition |
| 17 | RED FACES |
Revised screed about feminine middleman causes signs of embarrassment (3,5)
An anagram (revised) of SCREED, F for feminine and A, the middle letter of man |
| 18 | OCCUPIER |
Tenant upset company trophy. That is right (8)
OC (reversal – upset – of Co for company) plus CUP (trophy) plus IE (id est, or that is) plus R for right |
| 20 | SACK |
Fire and pillage (4)
Double definition |
| 21 | LIMEADE |
Fruit drink – one of honey – in lounge (7)
MEAD, a drink made from honey, in LIE or lounge |
| 22 | BIANCA |
Shrew’s sister could be the studio presenter on the radio (6)
In The Taming of the Shrew. Sounds like (on the radio) “be anchor” |
| 23 | CENSUS |
Count disapproves, about to be dropped (6)
CENSUreS, with RE, or about, removed. This was an excellent clue that had us trying to think of noblemen in Shakespeare plays until the penny dropped. |
| 26 | EMCEE |
Eleven hundred spoken of as presenter (5)
Sounds like (spoken of) MC, the Roman numeral for 1100 |
I agree with the bloggers that this was a clever crossword, and one that stretched my knowledge of the bard’s work to its limit – and sometimes beyond! The general focus on the classical and history plays did help me a bit. My last one in was 23D, which was cunning indeed.
I had fun with this so thanks setter – and bloggers for a lucid and detailed explanation of the answers.
Steven 23 across was our last, too. A really clever but utterly fair misdirection.
Or 23 down for that matter.
I’m sure some will have enjoyed this, but I didn’t. I needed reference aids to confirm a lot of the answers, and I got fed up with it with four or five still to go. Just not my tankard of mead, I’m afraid.
I had the Wikipedia list of Shakespearean characters open throughout. I had never heard of most of the characters before.
I agree with Tom_I totally. I found it less than enjoyabl.e
I’ve used this site for years, but this is my first post. The puzzle was so good that I had to join in the discussion! Like others, however, I failed to get 23D.
I have a certain degree of sympathy with Tom-I’s comment, although it was a cleverly constructed puzzle.
Another Gozo puzzle comprising almost all Proper Nouns.
So it was one of those where I needed to spend most of my time on Wikipedia.
All very clever, and so respect to Gozo. But if like me you tend to do puzzles on the train – and hence are beholden to an intermittent signal – it all ends up rather tedious.
Perhaps Gozo just wants to do more Polymaths?
All fairly clued though and my only failure was POINS.
Thanks for the blog D&L.
Thanks Gozo and D&L
Late to do … and late to post. Enjoyed it … found that even though I also needed to have the Wiki list of Shakespearean characters open, it was only used to check off the names as they presented from the clear wordplay. Didn’t help myself by writing in AERIE at 3d initially, but soon enough fixed.
Also finished up with the very clever CENSUS.
Wouldn’t like to see one of these type of puzzles every day, but they are an interesting variation of the diet from time to time.