EV 1539 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1539(Hints)

Recovery by Eclogue

Hints and tips by The Numpties

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Eclogue set crosswords for all the thematic crossword outlets. This is their thirteenth in the EV series.

Preamble: This puzzle is based on a notable theft and RECOVERY (or two). 16 answers are too short for their allotted number of cells, leaving some cells empty. These empty cells must be filled with the title of the stolen work and its creator, resulting in real words and proper nouns throughout. Numbers in brackets refer to final entry length.  Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

A nicely succinct preamble with no complicated device signaled. We speculate that the empty cells are going to appear in a block or in two series or blocks since they will be filled by a work and its creator, and we realize that we will need to identify lots of the answers (almost certainly both across and down) that are too short for the allotted number of cells in order to place this empty block (or these blocks).

Across

11a         Ed’s quiet account by company of soldiers (5)
The two elements of the wordplay were evident but the Spenserian word was new to the Numpties.

15a         The old satisfy American plan indeed (4)
As in the above hint, the two elements of the wordplay gave us an archaic word we didn’t know.

16a         Steep sum of money given back (6)
The solution was an unexpected word for ‘steep’, not one suggesting that the sum was excessive.

32a        Name coarse person scruff (4)
As I write these hints, Eclogue continues to raise a smile for the lovely way he uses double meanings of words like this ‘scruff’.

38a        Beehive made of straw stalks kept covered up (4)
Eclogue gives us a generous clue for a word that is rare.

Down

1d           Turkish attendant having sparkling wine on steamer (6)
Here we put together the name of a type of sparkling wine and the abbreviation for the steamer .

5d           Scots removed sport taking large number for money (6)
We reminded ourselves that some answers are too short for their allotted number of cells.

7d            It’s acceptable being involved in the old union (4)
A short term that says ‘it’s acceptable’ goes into an old word for ‘the’.

20d         Musical inspiration getting evangelical union to peter out (7)
An abbreviation is needed here before ‘peter out’ in order to produce a classical name for that musical inspiration.

26d         Confine criminal men with shorn sheep (5)
The surface reading produces a smile. The solution, made of two wordplay elements, is an old word.

30d         Ham, say, with junior US airman on RAF aircraft (6)
The definition puzzled us here but we put an abbreviation for that airman on a familiar term for the plane.

37d         Power corrupting one minor pen pusher (4)
One is ‘corrupted’ here after the ‘power’.

Generous clues and intersecting acrosses and downs quickly gave us some of the short answers and showed us where we needed to find the creator and his work. There seemed to be a range of possibilities for some of the letters we needed to complete but others gave only one possible word and, from those, we were able to confirm what we had suspected when we first read the preamble.

Do please send in your entry and add your comments here and to the setters’ blogs that are appearing on Big Dave’s site on Thursdays and to the detailed blogs that also appear on Thursdays on  fifteensquared.

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