Clues by Curmudgeon and Grid by Chalicea
Theme: 1924 Paris Olympic Games, Chariots of Fire
The winner of the July puzzle is Ray Gallantree of Chelmsford.
Review of the July 2024 3D crossword
Curmudgeon, who also sets crosswords as Chalicea, whence the grid, (and Gnomie) is in something of a minority as a female setter. In a Guardian interview of 2017, she says she chose the alternative pseudonym Curmudgeon ‘as an irritated reaction to comments from bloggers and editors such as “Chalicea writes such sweet, ladylike things”. Nobody makes patronising comments about Curmudgeon puzzles.’ I have been warned!
To quote Big Dave’s Crossword Blog Curmudgeon/Chalicea ‘is one of the most prolific of crossword compilers, appearing regularly in the Magpie, the Listener, the Inquisitor series, and the Enigmatic Variations, as well as in Crossword magazine. Her puzzles are popular because they usually contain lots of thematic material and are not too difficult’. This July offering fits right into that description and was met with some relief, following what proved to be a major challenge last month.
I tend to assess the difficulty of a puzzle by the number of clues I can solve cold, using only the alphabetical order as my guide. Here I managed about three-quarters, helped in no small measure by the setter’s generosity in virtually ‘spelling out’ the more obscure solutions: ATHANOR, FLOKATI, KENDO, OCEANOG, TEMSE. The first of these enabled me to solve Frank Paul’s drawing (I am 6 out of 7 so far this year), taking a wrecking ball to a headless marathon — brilliant! Overall, the clueing was sound, straightforward, concise, fair and varied in the range of cryptic devices used — seeing the classic ‘number’ as a synonym of ETHER also raised a smile.
From such a helpful start, the multi-faceted theme (1924 Olympic Games, Paris, Chariots of Fire, Blake, Liddell and Abrahams — phew!) emerged rapidly. It is skilfully and richly woven into all four main tiers of the 7x7x5 grid with only a single small snake amongst the clues. This is quite an achievement. I doubt many solvers even noticed, but I can imagine Curmudgeon’s frustration that she was unable to fit the blue shaded Y in Tier 7 into Tier 3 with the others — ah, the curse of perfectionism.
As I write this review, the 2024 Paris Olympics are in full flow and are dominating the BBC TV channels, with no hint of anyone refusing to race on a Sunday. Chariots of Fire is a favourite film — I love Vangelis’s score [you can also listen to his haunting soundtrack for Blade Runner (1982) on YouTube] and Sir David Puttnam is a personal hero, not just for his outstanding filmography but also for everything he has done for education across the UK and Ireland.
To sum up, this was an accessible, fun puzzle with a broad, interesting and highly topical theme — from one former modern language teacher to another, chapeau et merci, Curmudgeon.
KM
Grid solution
Visual clue
A thematically apt clue this month with a wrecking ball swinging towards a group of headless runners. They don’t look like they’re sprinting and since we’re looking for 7 letters, this must be a marathon. Without its head, and after being wrecked, we get:
m(ARATHON)* = ATHANOR
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
| Day | Solution | Direction, Clue, Count | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ATHANOR | 28up Surprisingly ran a hot old alchemist’s furnace (7) | {RAN A HOT}* |
| 2 | BREAK-UP | 31up Drunken rake in backward pub coming apart (5-2) | PUB< round RAKE* |
| 3 | CHAIN | 21to China bringing forward a string of islands (5) | CHINA with A brought forward |
| 4 | COLDEST | 21ac Leader of clan, most aged and most spiritless (7) | C(lan) + OLDEST |
| 5 | CULOTTE | 9d Many in quaintly pleasing divided skirt (7) | LOT in CUTE |
| 6 | DANDY | 2aw Foppish fellow starts drinking and finishes tiddly (5) | D(rinking) AND (tiddl)Y |
| 7 | DUNSHED | 2d In Lanark butted dingy outhouse (7) | DUN + SHED |
| 8 | EARTHEN | 18ba During year, the news is worldly? (7) | Hidden |
| 9 | EASEL | 32to Carefully move front of loose supporting framework (5) | EASE L(oose) |
| 10 | EATABLE | 29ac Capable of being battered but not initially fit to be consumed (7) | BEATABLE less B |
| 11 | EEL | 18d Slippery fellow, devious type with no hint of honesty (3) | (h)EEL |
| 12 | ETHER | 23to Number of beheaded male sheep (5) | (w)ETHER |
| 13 | FLOKATI | 5d Greek rug’s mintmark for life regularly turning up (7) | (m)I(n)T(m)A(r)K(f)O(r)L(i)F(e)< |
| 14 | FUNEREAL | 5ac,6d-2 Dismal sport, base — concerning ball, not oddly (8) | FUN + E + RE + (b)A(l)L |
| 15 | GLOSS | 10aw Explain away superficial appearance (5) | Double definition |
| 16 | GUNBOAT | 10ac Vessel, agent of aggressive diplomacy? (7) | Cryptic ref: gunboat diplomacy |
| 17 | INSIDER | 4ba Popular drink, we’re told, for someone in the know (7) | “In Cider” heard |
| 18 | IN-TRAYS | 26ac Strain you originally dealt with where work piles up (2-5) | {STRAIN Y(ou)}* |
| 19 | KENDO | 15to Some token dodges in Japanese ritual swordsmanship (5) | Hidden |
| 20 | LIGHT | 16to Delicate glow (5) | Double definition |
| 21 | OCEANOG | 11ac With damaged canoe go back for science of the seas (briefly) (7) | CANOE* + GO< |
| 22 | ODEON | 14to Poem having for basis concert hall (5) | ODE + ON |
| 23 | OSSICLE | 7d Extremely large curved implement for cutting, it’s said, small bone (7) | OS + “SICKLE” heard |
| 24 | REGINAL | 1d In genuine container tipple of a queen (7) | REAL around GIN |
| 25 | SCOURGE | 3d Thoroughly search earth for source of affliction (7) | SCOUR + GE |
| 26 | SNORKEL | 13ac For this breathing device, south and north intermittently worry keenly (7) | S N (w)O(r)R(y) K(e)E(n)L(y) |
| 27 | TALLOWY | 30up Permit within limits of tolerably greasy (7) | T(olerabl)Y around ALLOW |
| 28 | TEMSE | 24to Items employed partly for local sieve (5) | Hidden |
| 29 | TERREEN | 27up Dish of youth under twenty embracing sin (7) | TEEN around ERR |
| 30 | TOTED | 30to Carried infant heading off for bed (5) | TOT + (b)ED |
| 31 | BLAKE* | 31to (5) | |
| 32 | CHARIOTS OF FIRE* | 9to,4d-4,7to,1ac-2 (8,2,4) | |
| 33 | ERIC LIDDELL* | 29to,25ac (4,7) | |
| 34 | HAROLD ABRAHAMS* | 17aw,22ac-2,19ac,20to-2 (6,8) | |
| 35 | OLYMPIC GAMES* | 7ac,12d (7,5) | |
| 36 | PARIS* | 8to (5) | |
| Easter egg | RACE ON SUNDAY | Anagram of blue cells (4,2,6) |
Solvers’ comments
A quick sprint this month, perhaps appropriately. The theme filled in perhaps too much of the diagram. I’ve not met FLOKATI before. The drawing doesn’t have an anagram indicator, does it? [MJ]
Lovely [RL]
Brilliant celebration of the event. [RE]
The special instructions were a lot easier to understand than those for last month’s puzzle! Some unfamiliar words – I’d not heard of flokati, for example. Thanks to Curmudgeon and Chalicea for an entertaining puzzle. [RS]
I didn’t know about not racing on Sunday — but I’ve never seen the film. [AH]
Enjoyed a quick blast through that, significantly helped by one of us spotting the theme very early and knowing the film well enough to just write down the unclued and Easter egg from the word lengths. [J&JH]
A walk in the park, or at least a sprint round the quadrangle, compared to last month’s grilling. [RP]
Another enjoyable puzzle, completed without much difficulty.👌😀 [MN]
A tale of three Harolds. After a first run through clues just before bedtime, I knew enough that 17aw,22ac-2 was probably HAROLD, and I slept on that. On waking, LLOYD came to me. Must go with Mary Pickford and United Artists; 1924 was about the right time for them, surely? Or maybe it was the birth year of PINTER … Excited, I rushed back to the grid; and rethought. (My history was all wrong anyway, I found out later.) Thankfully it wasn’t long before ABRAHAMS got dragged up, and the rest followed smoothly. Bet Chalicea was pleased though when the likes of FLOKATI turned out to be real words, not just a rubbish Scrabble row. [PA]
I never tire of telling people that every film I have ever appeared in has won the Best Picture Oscar; and this is that film. I have fond memories of being dressed in white tie and tails as an extra for matriculation photos (only used on the walls) and in the matriculation dinner (shot at Eton rather than Cambridge); and being kitted out in a cravat and Oxford boat club blazer (yes, really – the costume designer also won an Oscar) for the Societies Fair in the Cambridge Senate House. Gold medal for this! [NI]
Lovely puzzle. Realised the theme from the pre-amble (perhaps too much information was given) even before starting the crossword, which helped. A few unusual words and spellings but all was fair and fun, thanks. [JT]
Loved it! [AM]
Enjoyable solve which was slightly easier than last month’s. The picture clue put the theme idea in my head early on which helped. Fond memories of seeing the film when it first came out. Thank you. [HH]
Enjoyable puzzle – helpful theme emerged fairly quickly. A few obscure words but excellent clueing with appropriate bits of humour. [JP]
That flowed very nicely – a good selection of straightforward clues meant the theme jumped out from the grid. [DR]
Marvellous! [SW]
Compared to June this was fairly straightforward. [RC]
Pleasantly straightforward after last month! [EW]
I very much enjoyed this crossword, which is very fitting in the run-up to this year’s event in the same city. However, blatant commercialisation on this occasion may serve to devalue the experience! [SF]
Some nice new words. But I don’t care what Collins says, “oceanog” is not one of them! 🙂 Thanks to Curmudgeon and Chalicea. [JS]
We got the theme after solving days 2, 6 and 9. **Y*P*C narrowed the field somewhat and allowed us to fill in the remaining thematic words. An enjoyable puzzle with a couple of new words. Thanks Curmudgeon and Chalicea. [CW]
Very interesting topic and enjoyable solve. Never heard of ATHANOR DUNSHED FLOKATI OCEANOG TEMSE TERBEEN. Nice balance between straightforward answers and some that needed more thought. Thanks to Curmudgeon and Chalicea. [JC]
Lovely and timely puzzle. Thanks to Curmudgeon and Chalicea for the challenge. I really enjoyed solving this one. Some obscure words along the way but I hope I have managed a full solve. Good memories of “Chariots of Fire” – a marvellous film! Will never forget Vangelis’ music – very powerful. Graham Fox’s photo provided a suitable and beautiful background to my solve. [JA]
A very satisfying puzzle to solve, with plenty of thematic material to be discovered and filled into the grid. A good set of clues too, well up to the standard of these puzzles. [AB]
Great work getting so many relevant words in the grid. [PD]
Several new-to-me words but all fairly clued so a good workout-cum-education as usual. Thanks to Curmudgeon and Chalicea for the entertainment. [SC]
Fine crossword, well clued. [DM]
Intricately woven, a few really obscure words, not too difficult once the theme was found. Great fun [SB]
An enjoyable puzzle with the theme giving lots of checkers and quite a relief after last month. Looking forward to the 7ac 12d in 8to starting at the end of the month. [JB]
Perfectly timed, and an excellent treatment of the theme, though it did all fall into place quickly once it became apparent. A few new words for me, which is always a bonus. And I love Frank Paul’s very apt pictorial clue! Not at all sure about day 7, nor how it parses. [MS]
Very enjoyable, got the theme but was still struggling to get the names of the runners and obviously only used Google to check them. [GW]
I was very familiar with the easily recognizable theme so found it rather easy, but still enjoyable: admirable grid construction given the restraints, and a high preponderance of neat clues – so the small number of convoluted ones was forgivable! [EF]
My master now has his own iPad for searching. But he enjoyed it. [RG]
Beautiful puzzle, a pleasure to solve. [DB]
I have “!” annotations next to dunshed, temse & terreen—all new words to me. [RS]
Lovely theme and great timing for this one – I’m even submitting it on the opening Saturday of the Games. Good range of straightforward and difficult clues, and lots of hidden thematic answers. Well done to Curmudgeon and Chalicea. [BS]
One of the best movies ever! And a great puzzle too. [AR]
A wonderfully appropriate celebration of a remarkable event – I had not realised that it was in Paris in 1924. And a remarkable achievement to get so many references into this one grid! [SB]
Surprisingly easy, once one figured out the Olympics theme. Some unknown words, but easily constructible and verifiable from clear wordplay and checkers. MER at strained nature of day 21’s clue. [SC]
Thank you everyone for the totally positive comments. It’s always revealing and helpful to see how people’s solving is done in practice, so thank you especially PA. Thanks too to NI (whom I think I may identify) for the insights into the filming of this famous piece. We hope you all enjoy this month’s puzzle!