Radian’s latest puzzle lay in store for us this morning, although only in the afternoon is my blog of it being posted, for which I apologise.
This was a medium-difficulty puzzle, in my view, which scored very highly in terms of entertainment value. I managed to solve it all unaided apart from 21D, where I was convinced that there had to be a kind of horse called “heroir”, with “woman” in the clue providing “her” in the wordplay; alas, the drug-related derivation of “horse” did not occur to me, although perhaps Radian could have indicated that we were dealing here with a colloquialism? Otherwise, my last one in was 6, where I thought we were looking for the name of some sea.
My favourites today are almost too numerous to mention: I really liked 3, for ingeniously sustaining the espionage reference through wordplay and definition alike; the & lit. at 6, once I had solved it; 12 for the clever subtraction of “mm”; 14 for its surface; and 25 for its surface, despite it being an intricate composite clue.
Furthermore, there seems to be a half-hidden theme here around films by Alfred Hitchcock. 7, 16 and 22D are identified as (Hitchcock) films, but other solutions also double up as Hitchcock films: 9, 11, 22A, 23A, 25 – even 8 reminds us of Rear Window!
(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 09 | BLACKMAIL | Need money in small bar at Lord’s for crime
[LACK (=need) + M (=money)] in BAIL (=small bar at Lord’s, i.e. top part of wicket) |
| 10 | AISLE | No-frills hellfire preacher’s way in church
<p>AISLE<y> (=hellfire preacher, i.e. Northern Irish politician Revd Ian Paisley, 1926-2014); “no-frills” means first and last letters are dropped |
| 11 | MANXMAN | Crew twice reserves Times for islander
X (=times, as in 6 x 8 = 48) in [MAN MAN (=crew; “twice” = x 2); a Manxman is a person from the Isle of Man |
| 12 | COERCER | He squeezes business out of 2000 roubles
CO<mm>ERCE (=business; “out of 2000 (=MM, in Roman numerals)” means the letters “mm” are dropped) + R (=roubles) |
| 13 | NOISY | Top seed Simon’s making a racket
NO 1 (=top seed) + SY (=Simon, i.e. diminutive form) |
| 14 | MOONSTONE | Poles invested in low quality gem
N S (=poles, i.e. North and South Pole) in [MOO (=low, of cattle) + TONE (=quality)] |
| 16 | THE LADY VANISHES | Film society magazine is no more
THE LADY (=society magazine) + VANISHES (=is no more); the reference is to the 1938 thriller The Lady Vanishes, directed by Alfred Hitchcock |
| 19 | SEMBLANCE | Show odd features of 20 during late get-together?
M<o>B<i>L<e> (“odd features” means odd letters only) in SEANCE (=late get-together, i.e. where people are reunited with lost (“late”) relatives, etc) |
| 21 | HAREM | Wags here are occupying monarch
ARE in HM (=monarch, i.e. His/Her Majesty); politically incorrectly, wives and girlfriends, i.e. wags, would be found in a harem! |
| 22 | REBECCA | Book about cricket club on board airline once
RE (=about, concerning) + [CC (=cricket club) in BEA (=airline once, i.e. British European Airways)]; the reference is to the 1938 novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier |
| 23 | VERTIGO | Spinning sensation extremely briefly chasing game at Oval
VER<y> (=extremely; “briefly” means last letter dropped) + TIG (=chasing game) + O (=Oval, i.e. an oval shape pictorially) |
| 24 | PILOT | Test bed with someone in it
I (=one) in PLOT (=bed, e.g. in garden) |
| 25 | SUSPICION | South American still at home harbouring old doubt
S (=South) + US (=American) + PIC (=(a) still, i.e. picture) + [O (=old) in IN (=at home)] |
| Down | ||
| 01 | ABOMINATES | Shattered Bosnia team can’t stand
*(BOSNIA TEAM); “shattered” is anagram indicator |
| 02 | JAUNDICE | Yes, a foreign gamble generates complaint
JA (=yes, in German, hence “foreign”) + UN (=a, in French, hence foreign) + DICE (=gamble) |
| 03 | SKIMPY | Philby stopped one of his sort revealing much
KIM (=Philby, i.e. Soviet spy) in SPY (=one of his sort) |
| 04 | YARN | No loose end in long story
Y<e>ARN (=long (for)); “no loose end” means letter “e”, the last letter (“end”) of “loos-e”, is dropped |
| 05 | ELECTORATE | Old prince worried voters
ELECTOR (=old prince, i.e. in Holy Roman Empire, so called because he had the right to elect the Emperor) + ATE (=worried) |
| 06 | WATERSKI | Follow boat right in its wake at sea
R (=right) in *(ITS WAKE); “at sea” is anagram indicator; & lit. |
| 07 | PSYCHO | Film ghastly chops and scary ending
*(CHOPS + <scar>Y (“ending” means last letter only)); “ghastly” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the 1960 film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock |
| 08 | REAR | Insecure Arabs? Some may do
Hidden (“some”) in “insecuRE ARabs” |
| 14 | MAYONNAISE | Mum cooked with onions, left out dressing
MA (=mum) + <l>YONNAISE (=cooked with onions; “left (=L) out” means letter “l” is dropped |
| 15 | EPSOM DOWNS | Course records by Woods playing with disheartened men
EPs (=records, i.e. extended plays) + *(WOODS + M<e>N); “disheartened” means middle letter dropped; “playing” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | ALLOCATE | Local drunk had food to share out
*(LOCAL) + ATE (=had food); “drunk” is anagram indicator |
| 18 | HORRIFIC | Dreadful writer goes in for rich novel
I (=writer, i.e. I, Radian) in *(FOR RICH); “novel” is anagram indicator |
| 20 | MOBILE | Agent imports hybrid phone
BI (=hybrid, as prefix) in MOLE (=agent, spy) |
| 21 | HEROIN | Woman harnessing king of France’s horse
ROI (=king of France, i.e. the French word for king) in HEN (=woman); “horse” is a slang word for “heroin” |
| 22 | ROPE | Film Cole Porter piece, sending it up
Hidden (“piece”) and reversed (“sending it up”) in “ColE PORter”; the reference is to the 1948 thriller Rope, directed by Alfred Hitchcock |
| 23 | VISA | Permit to enter Sweden through borders
S (=Sweden, in IVR) in VIA (=through) |
Thanks for a great blog, RR, especially since you’ve had a busy day.
What a super puzzle! How clever to fit in all those films without any hint of ‘shoe-horning’. Even with the signposted ones, I didn’t see the rest until I’d finished.
I agree with all your favourites and I also had ticks against 9, 10 [which made me laugh out loud] and 14.
And another brilliant clue involving ‘wags’! In his Crucible ‘Last Night of the Proms’ puzzle, which I remember because I blogged it, Radian clued SERAGLIO with
“Is Elgar distracted by love in rooms for wags? (8)”
Many thanks, as ever, Radian, for a hugely enjoyable puzzle.
An enjoyable puzzle and I even recognised the film titles. I did wonder if there was a significant anniversary today related to the Master of Suspense, but I couldn’t find anything via Google.
Needed the blog to understand COERCER which I got because it was the only word that would fit. But HAREM and HEROIN were my last two in when I realised that ‘wags’ wasn’t referring to jokers.
Thanks, Radian and RatkojaRiku.
The delay in posting the blog did not worry us as we’ve only just finished the puzzle – and no we’ve not been looking at it all day!
We spotted the theme which helped with REBECCA but we’d not heard of some of the films. Thanks to RR for picking them out.
Thanks Radian for a good late evening solve.
I liked the Hitchcock theme, even though I’d not heard of a few of the films. It’s not the name of a film, but PILOT at 24a reminded me of the classic scene in “North by Northwest” with Cary Grant in the field of wheat.
Thank you to Radian – always an unexpected bonus when there’s a theme I can spot – and to RatkojaRiku.
I concur fully with your appraisal, RatkojaRiku, that this was medium difficulty and hugely entertaining – perfect for my morning coffee. I wouldn’t have described Hitchcock as being all that hidden though! Perhaps that’s why you cleverly described it as being only half so?!
And some lovely clues; I double-ticked WATERSKI and EPSOM DOWNS, and PAISLEY (like Eileen, I couldn’t suppress a giggle) andYARN were also ticked. And I’m pretty sparing with my ticks!
Another great Radian, to whom my thanks – and appreciation, RR, for an excellent blog. Wx