Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 095
A Puzzle by Hieroglyph
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Welcome back to Hieroglyph with an excellent crossword. All the across clues have a theatrical theme in the wordplay (if not in all of the answers). Knowing the theme is not essential to solving the clues themselves.
My favourites are highlighted in blue below.
Across
1a Actor’s an old clubber? (6)
{PLAYER} – Another name for an actor is also the surname of an old golfer (clubber).
5a Actor with panties strewn around his head (8)
{THESPIAN} – Another name for an actor is an anagram (strewn) of PANTIES around the first letter (head) of his.
9a/10a Act, and do Bard’s theatre whilst drunk (5,3,6)
{TREAD THE BOARDS} – A phrase that means act is an anagram (whilst drunk) of DO BARDS THEATRE.
11a Actors’ masked production said to lack operation?
(3,7) {NOH THEATRE} – A form of Japanese acting where the players wear masks comes from a homophone (said to) of lack followed by a synonym of operation (or where it takes place in a hospital).
12a As an actor might emerge from the wings and continue? (2,2)
{GO ON} – A double definition. What the actor does when he emerges from the wings also means to continue.
13a Actor’s instructor distressingly cried “Out!” – Not the done thing, right? (8)
{DIRECTOR} – The name of the person to tells actors what to do comes from an anagram (distressingly) of CRIED OUT without the letter U (not the done thing) followed by the abbreviation for right.
16a Actor’s time on stage makes sense, snorting cocaine (6)
{SCENES} – A description of the actor’s time on stage comes from an anagram (makes) of sense with the abbreviation for cocaine within it.
17a Actors’ tetchier extremes before publisher’s direction? (6)
{TROUPE} – A collective term for a group of actors comes from the outer letters (extremes) of tetchier followed by the abbreviation for the Oxford University Press (publisher) followed by one of the points of the compass (direction).
19a/25a Actors’ holy grail possibly revives wife with art (4-4,6)
{FIVE-STAR REVIEW} – That which an actor would like to receive from the critics comes from an anagram (possibly) of REVIVES WIFE ART.
21a Actor ultimately starts to sing very poorly in response (4)
{RSVP} – An abbreviation meaning a response (or request for one) comes from the final letter (of ultimately followed by the initial letters (starts to) of sing very poorly.
22a Actors’ run to cast in the Lords? (10)
{PERFORMERS} Another word for actors comes from the abbreviation for run together with a word meaning cast (as in mould) put inside a word for lords.
25a See 19a
26a Actors, after work, enrolled nurse in mine? (4-4)
{OPEN-CAST} – A phrase for a type of mine comes from a word for actor after a two letter abbreviation for work and the abbreviation for an enrolled nurse.
27a Actor at last in dubious Early English stage displays (8)
{ETAGERES} – A word for displays (or the furniture in which things are displayed) comes from an anagram (dubious) of EE (the abbreviation for early English) and STAGE with the last letter of actor inside.
28a Acted badly in good Yeats production (6)
{STAGEY} – A word meaning acted badly comes from an anagram (production) of YEATS with a G (good).
Down
2d Popular government is inherently slow (5)
{LARGO} – A word meaning slow is hidden inside (inherently) in popuLAR GOvernment.
3d Brewing agent, when in still (5)
{YEAST} – A brewing agent comes from a word meaning when inside a word meaning still.
4d Soldiers to pay for retirement (7)
{RETREAT} – A word for retirement comes from the abbreviation for Royal Engineers (soldiers) followed by a word meaning to pay for (as you might say when paying for a meal or round of drinks).
5d Networker’s quaint time cut short? (7)
{TWEETER} – A networker familiar with hashtags and saying things in not more than 140 characters comes from a word meaning quaint followed by a word for time (at school) with the final letter removed (cut short).
6d Allegories’ memorableness, recollected without possible reason (7)
{EMBLEMS} – A word for allegories comes from an anagram of MEMORABLENESS from which the letters of REASON have been removed. The fact that the letters to be removed are not in order has been correctly indicated by the indicator possible.
7d Audience’s drive-in 1s (4-5)
{PLAY GOERS} – A phase for the audience comes from the answer to 1 across followed by an S with a two letter word meaning drive inside.
8d Stars additional city-father (9)
{ANDROMEDA} – These starts (forming a nebula) comes from a word meaning additional followed by the name of an Italian city and a word for a father.
14d Strangely prescient and showing due deference (2,7)
{IN RESPECT} – A word meaning due deference comes from an anagram (strangely) of PRESCIENT.
15d Fitting – he’s half joking (9)
{EQUIPPING} – A word meaning fitting comes from half of the word he followed by a word meaning joking.
18d Enable European parliamentarian to contract debt restructuring, to begin with (7)
{EMPOWER} – A word meaning enable comes from the abbreviation for European and the abbreviation for a parliamentarian followed by a word meaning to contract debt and the first letter (to begin with) of restructuring.
19d Pelt one with donuts, oddly missed, getting angry (7)
{FURIOUS} – A word meaning angry comes from a word for pelt (as in hairy skin) followed by an I (one) and the even letters (oddly missing) of dOnUtS.
20d Bloomers when Labour leader’s entertained by Soviet revolutionary (7)
{VIOLETS} – These bloomers comes from an anagram (revolutionary) of SOVIET with the first letter of Labour inside.
23d A short time for tea and coffee? (5)
{MOCHA} – A type of coffee comes from a word for a short period of time followed by a synonym for tea.
24d Watch repeat performances on the waves, say? (5)
{RESEE} – A word meaning to watch repeat performances comes from a two letter word meaning on or about followed by a homophone of sea (waves say).
Very enjoyable thank you Hieroglyph – just the right amount of difficulty for a tired solver. More please. Thanks to Prolixic too for the usual entertaining explanations.
Thanks crypticsue – glad you enjoyed it – and thanks to Prolixic for the usual excellent write-up. I set this one for a friend of mine – can you guess his profession? Hope to be back on these pages before long.