This EV seems to have a lot going on. There’s a work of some kind spelled out by extra letters, which are indicated by extra words in eighteen clues. The work ‘suggests’ a number of grid entries that have two components – one of which is ‘derived’ from the answer, the other of which ‘is to be deduced’. There’s also an unclued entry.
The title of the work, spelled out by the letter in common between the extra words and the grid entries is A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY by TURGENEV (7dn).
There are 12 thematic entries – one for each calendar month. The thematic components to be deduced are abbreviations for MONTHS, which are IN COUNTRIES. The countries are the other thematic components. These are derived from the answers to the corresponding clues, which are the corresponding capital cities.
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
compiling = extra word
BAGHDAD (IRAQ) + FEB = capital city (country) + month
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IRFEBAQ | BAGHDAD (IRAQ) + FEB | BAG (Catch) DAD (father) [on] H (heroine) (7) |
| 7 | TOAPRGO | LOMÉ (TOGO) + APR | LOVE (Charity) [has] M (money) [for] V (Victor) (7) |
| 13 | ESAU | Biblical hunter S (is) [found in] EAU (water) (4) | |
| 14 | LEDUM | Plant {M |
|
| 15 | UNACTED | [Half of] {CAN |
|
| 16 | REMAKES | RE (Are) MAKES (partners no longer) compiling new versions? (7) | |
| 17 | LENTOR | Old sloth R (runs) [after] LENT (fast) O (duck)! (6) | |
| 18 | OEUVRE | Work {OVER |
|
| 19 | RESINATES | Salts {IN A pot [mixed with] ESTERS}* (9) | |
| 24 | INTARSIA | Decorative work IN (consisting of) TARSI (bones) [by] A (anonymous) monk (8) | |
| 26 | NAMERS | They christen N (new) AMER (American) S (sons) (6) | |
| 28 | ERHUS | [Some of] hER filthy HUSband’s instruments (5) | |
| 30 | OSSIE | [Topless] COSSIE (swimming attire) banned from Launceston? (5) | |
| 32 | IN-CALF | Copper expecting [to take] IN CALF (a lout) (6) | |
| 35 | ARRIEROS | Mule drivers [mostly] ARRIÉR |
|
| 38 | ENFEEBLED | Weakened FÉE (fairy) [held by] N (nurse) BLED (lost blood) (9) | |
| 39 | ACTURE | A CT (court) U (united) [by] submission RE (concerning) Will’s performance (6) | |
| 42 | IN-JOKE | Jock’s bar appreciated by some IN (trendy) J (judge)? OKE (Yes) (6) | |
| 45 | CHANOVD | N’DJAMENA (CHAD) + NOV | N (New) DJ (disc jockey) [with] A [fancy] NAME* (7) |
| 46 | ASIANIC | A SIAN (Welsh girl) IC (in charge) of some languages (7) | |
| 47 | AIDAN | AID (Help given) [by] A N (northern) Irish missionary (5) | |
| 48 | AITU | Half-god deserts AIT (island) U ([close to] PERU) (4) | |
| 49 | LAOMARS | VIENTIANE (LAOS) + MAR | [Spurious] INVITE* [by] ANE (one from Perth) (7) |
| 50 | MAMAYLI | BAMAKO (MALI) +MAY | B (Belgium) [and] A (Austria) MAK (at Ibrox score) O (nil) (7) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | IJULRAN | TEHRAN (IRAN) + JUL | TEHR (Goat) [with] A (adult) N (name) (7) |
| 2 | RUNE | RUN (Average) E (English) song (4) | |
| 3 | FLAN | Metal disk L (left) [in] FAN (cooler) (4) | |
| 4 | EOCTIRE | DUBLIN (EIRE) + OCT | DUB (Local pool of foul water) [by] LIN (waterfall) (7) |
| 5 | BETONY | Cajuns BET (gamble) ON Y (unknown) medicinal plant (6) | |
| 6 | QADI | Q (Question) A (advanced) [by] DI (detective) baffles magistrate (4) | |
| 7 | TURGENEV | ||
| 8 | OLEO | A print O (of) LEO (stars) (4) | |
| 9 | ALMEH | MEAL* [cooked] [by] H (Henry) honouring an African dancer (5) | |
| 10 | PEAUGRU | LIMA (PERU) + AUG | I’M A (active) [on] L (loch) (7) |
| 11 | GUERRILLA | [Fickle] IRREGULA |
|
| 12 | OMSEPAN | MUSCAT (OMAN) + SEP | MUS (Musical) CAT (jazz fan) (7) |
| 20 | SIMORG | Fabulous monster <IS [turning] [on] MOR (Norfolk girl) [with] G (good) neckline (6) | |
| 21 | AESIR | Gods A (are) <RISE (to be cheered) [up] (5) | |
| 22 | ASSAIL | A S (special) SAIL (project) to attack (6) | |
| 23 | BATRACHIA | Amphibians BATCH (collect in groups) [around] R (river) A (before) <AI (sloth) [turns up] (9) | |
| 25 | TRIPE | Poor stuff RIPE (fit for use) [after] vast T (time) (5) | |
| 27 | LEONIDAS | <{SAD (Mournful) NOEL (song) [about] I (one)} [assurgent] Spartan king (8) | |
| 29 | CARACAL | Fur RACA (worthless) [in] CAL (California) (7) | |
| 31 | SIJUNAM | BANGKOK (SIAM) + JUN | BANG (Explosion) KO (to knock out) K (king) (7) |
| 33 | CUBJANA | HAVANA (CUBA) + JAN | H (Hot) AVA (drink) NA (not available) (7) |
| 34 | FIDECJI | SUVA (FIJI) + DEC | [Short] SUAV |
| 36 | XENIUM | <{MU (Greek character) IN (during) long EX (excursion)} [returned] a present (6) | |
| 37 | KRONA | K (King) [and] R (Queen) [agreed] ON (upon) A silver coin (5) | |
| 40 | EVER | Always |
|
| 41 | KAIM | KIM (Novel) [about] A (Australian) bank (4) | |
| 43 | ONLY | Just O (old) greys L ([start to] LANGUISH) [in] N (new) Y (year) (4) | |
| 44 | KILL | American river ice (4) | |
I didn’t do this and am just checking in to see what the puzzle was about. It is such a shame that this series gets so few comments; this looks like another terrific puzzle and some of the clues are just wonderful. I don’t think I have come across the gimmick in the clue/answer before either.
Nice clear blog that is easy to follow too.
This was indeed a terrific puzzle – challenging, but very rewarding. Heaven only knows how Oxymoron managed to fit all twelve thematic entries into the grid. Great stuff.
Another very fine EV puzzle, which is on a current run of quite superb head-scratchers. I struggled with this one before eventually hitting upon Turgenev. I’d heard of him but not his works, so it required some research to come up with a likely title of one of his works. Then the answers started to flow. The SE corner was the most problemmatic with those collection of 4 letter words being my last bunch in.
Thanks to Mister Sting for the blog – it cleared up a couple I couldn’t parse (16A and 27D). I had deduced the ‘M’ from Month was within 16A but couldn’t see why. All clear now.
And of course many thanks to Oxymoron for the lovely puzzle, with lots going on.