Clues by Vlad and Grid by Gin
Enter the prize draw by 31 July.
Please note that in the printed calendar, the clue for Day 9 belonged to an earlier version of the grid and was included in error, for which we apologise — please ignore it.
The background for this puzzle is a SounderBruce photo of a cinerama cinema.
This puzzle by Vlad uses an unconventional seven dials grid by Gin and commemorates the birth of a great actor on the world stage. Antagonists at the birth are interlocked at 19C-3 and 1d (3,7). The central cell of each level must be filled with two letters, but on levels 1-6 half of the entries use either of the two letters and the other half use both; the fourteen letters thus derived can be formed into two events of the same kind, affecting that birth, occurring eighteen months apart, suggested here by wordplay only. Solvers must include the antagonists and the two events with their entries. Clues are numbered in alphabetical order of their solutions.
The wordplay only clues for the two events (whose 14 letters fill the central cells) are:
Scotsman, he is always so upfront (7)
River running (7)
When all clues are solved, five unclued three-letter items can be found in the grid. Because of some overlapping, they occupy thirteen cells, but the five words together could be reformed to make PAST GLORY, WAY AGO.
The description great actor on the world stage is metaphorical.
The two events were early engagements in the struggle surrounding the birth. Both answers are place names, and one is rather unfamiliar.
Solvers confused by the reference to the five unclued three-letter items may be reassured to know that these are required neither for the grid, nor for the entry form. I suspect that these were included as part of the grid designer’s self-imposed constraint that every cell in the outer rings of layers 1,3,5 and 7 should be part of a word (either an answer to one of the Days, or one of these five unclued three-letter words). Careful examination of the grid will reveal that every such cell appears in an answer to a Day, except for a single cell in level 5 and three consecutive cells in levels 3 and 7. Adding the neighbouring cells gives three consecutive cells (forming a three-letter word) in level 5 and five consecutive cells (forming two overlapping three-letter words) in each of levels 3 and 7.
Vlad has constructed a witty puzzle from Gin’s ingenious grid to celebrate an important episode in history. Any struggles that solvers may have are minor in comparison with the tumultuous events in question.
In the (imagined) words of one of the antagonists:
Oceans rise, empires fall
We have seen each other through it all
And when push comes to shove
I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!
Day 10
Woods played here with singer getting birdie – lots of energy surprisingly (7,5)
The splendid surface misleadingly suggests golf. You need to take the assumed first name of a famous popular singer (or crooner) and insert the name of a bird (one representing wisdom). Surprisingly suggests an anagram of all but the last letter of energy. The solution is a lawn for playing a game involving woods, and is also a location where a statue of one of the antagonists was toppled, shortly after the birth of the great actor. [NI]
Day 11
Fellow briefly May’s strike partner (5)
May’s strike partner suggests cricket, but here you want a famous old British match manufacturer. May was one of the names in the title, but you need all but the last letter of the other name. The answer is a man’s forename, and is a homophone of the first name of a famous guitarist called May, but you need to enter the spelling as it comes from shortening the name of the match entrepreneur. [NI]
Day 15
Surprise call from wife visiting one desperate Romeo – help! (4,4)
For the first word, you need a letter for wife inserted in (visiting) the name of a desperate cartoon character. The second word is a letter for Romeo followed by a word for help. The whole is a surprise call, typically by the police searching for criminals or evidence. [NI]
Day 16
Call up gardener to take care of hollow tree? (5)
Your gardener is a short biblical name, in which you insert the first and last letters of a 3-letter tree to give a word meaning call up or awaken memories. [NI]
Day 18
High-rise accommodation sounded weird for many (5)
Sounded indicates a homophone. You need a word for high-rise accommodation (for birds) sounding like a word for weird, both 5-letters. You need to submit the word meaning high-rise accommodation. [NI]
Day 29
Local colour I missed in heroic remake (5)
Remake suggests an anagram of heroic, after I has been missed out. The answer is an appropriately American spelling for a colour. [NI]
Day 30
Work with old Wimbledon favourite, one offering the best conditions (6)
Take the usual very short word for work and add the name of the leading male British tennis player for many years before the arrival of Andy Murray, and a letter for one. The whole is the plural of the Latin word for the best (note that this is a neuter word, so pluralises appropriately). [NI]
Day 33
Snip reduces deficit? (4,4)
A question mark often suggests some bending of the rules. In this case the whole answer can be interpreted as a cryptic clue to snip. The definition here is “reduces deficit” (against an opponent). [NI]
Day 35
Marshy ground ultimately stops horse (5)
Take a letter from ground ultimately and insert it in a word for a small horse to give a word meaning marshy. This word is not in Chambers, but is just the result of adding y to a suitable noun. [NI]
Day 36
Creep spoke about president’s birthplace (5,5)
About is an anagram indicator. The answer is a somewhat unfamiliar location: the birthplace of one of the antagonists. [NI]
Event 1
Scotsman, he is always so upfront (7)
Take a short word for a Scotsman and follow it with the initial letters (upfront) of the next 4 words. The answer is an unfamiliar location: a battle shortly before the birth of the great actor. [NI]
Event 2
River running (7)
You need a 5-letter river and a word for running to give the location of a pivotal battle not long after the birth of the great actor. This location is now the capital of one of the great actor’s constituent parts. [NI]
I am grateful to the other members of the Hints & Tips team: Garry Stripling (Gin) and Jim Pennington (Philostrate).
Happy solving!
Nick Inglis (etc)
Subscribe to receive Hints & Tips by email.