NTSPP – 009 Review

NTSPP – 009 Review

Spot the Links by Tilsit

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****

Given the preamble’s listing of 7 “true” and 4 “sort of” theme answers, plus the task of identifying extra words in all but one of the clues, I feared this was going to be a nightmare to solve, but it turned into a puzzle of moderate difficulty and some exceptionally imaginative clue-writing. I really do hope Tilsit has some more puzzles in the bank because if they’re anything like this we’re in for bags of fun in the tradition of the best cryptic crosswords.

On a first read through the clues only 2d gave an immediate answer and, strangely, I didn’t even notice the extra word! This is a feature that shone through consistently – in nearly all cases those extras were well hidden. It was a closer examination of 3d that got me into the theme (cleverly alluded to in the title) and after that the fears of a monster solve proved unfounded.

My favourite clues are in blue and I’ve added extra “click to highlight” parts which will reveal the extra word in each clue.

Across

8a     Savage creature stirred near tame newborn (3-5)
{MAN-EATER} A straightforward anagram (“stirred”) of NEAR TAME, made tricky by the clever use of the extra word “NEWBORN“.

9a    One leaves one who leaves; ideally whence one leaves! (6)
{RUNWAY} A person (often a child) who suddenly leaves home could be a RUNAWAY. Subtract a single-letter word meaning “one” and you’ll see the part of an airport from which you’d leave for a flight. The extra word is “IDEALLY“.

10a    Sit alongside Little Woman in causing a commotion (6)
{ADJOIN} JO is a shortened form of a woman’s name (hence Little Woman) and this is placed inside the second of two words which can be read as “a commotion” (a lot of noise). The highly deceptive hidden word is “CAUSING“.

11a    Swallows most cash spent knowingly (8)
{STOMACHS} I like the definition “swallows” here, which is used figuratively – to swallow as in to accept. It’s an anagram of MOST CASH, with “spent” the creatively used indicator. The extra word is “KNOWINGLY“.

12a    Stunned, as Malcolm Nash was famously half-a-dozen times! (3,3,3)
{HIT FOR SIX} A fairly easy double definition but Tilsit has taken the time to offer an expansive second meaning which relates to a spectacular over of cricket. The extra word “FAMOUSLY” is of course valid as part of this second definition but isn’t a requirement.

13a    Amazingly tender topless chest (5)
{OFFER} Having just returned from Italy with a very suntanned face and neck this struck a chord! This lovely clue leads to a word which can be a verb or noun meaning “tender”, and to find it we remove the first letter of a type of chest (often associated with storing money). The extra word is “AMAZINGLY“.

15a    Title of Liberal opposition work studies? (7)
{SHADOWS} This is the only clue that left me a tad puzzled. The answer suggests two meanings; those in an opposing political party, and “studies” as in, perhaps, follows closely. Neither definition feels particularly tight and I felt I was doing a lot of lateral thinking to make the link. The extra word here is “LIBERAL“.

17a    Olive deliberately stuffed into fish… (7)
{HOYLAKE} This is superbly done. As a theme answer it has no definition and the extra word “DELIBERATELY” helps to create an amusing surface reading whose wordplay takes the surname of Popeye’s love Olive and places her inside HAKE (a type of fish).

20a    …often quietly in a timely fashion (5)
{SPOON} The occasional slip into a clueing faux pas isn’t something to be alarmed about – it happens. For this answer we place the musical abbreviation that represents “quietly” into SOON (in a timely fashion). Here, “in” is doing double duty as a container indicator and part of the definition for SOON, but I can’t imagine anyone being unduly held up by it. The extra word is “OFTEN“.

22a    It’s unusual that Juno became shy when Psyche replaced Queen (9)
{DIFFIDENT} I threw myself off the scent for intersecting answers here by opting for the wrong choice of pre- and post-wordplay answers. The actual definition is “shy” (as in “modest”); if we take the word DIFFERENT and change the part that’s an abbreviation used for “Queen” with the psychoanalyst’s word for the “psyche” we have the answer – unfortunately I did it the wrong way round! The extra word is “JUNO“.

25a    From here the reality often appeared heavenly (8)
{ETHEREAL} A nicely hidden answer in “here the reality”, with the extra word “OFTEN” doing its best to muddy the waters.

26a    Dire happenings found somewhere in California casually (6)
{LAIDLY} One obscure answer in a crossword is OK by me – it’s a new word to store in the memory bank. “Somewhere in California” refers to Los Angeles (we want just the abbreviation) and “casually” is IDLY. The answer is a Scottish spelling of LOATHLY, itself an archaic word meaning “hideous” or “loathsome”. The extra word is “HAPPENINGS“.

27a    Author and film director Lee collaborated naturally in this Asian city (9)
{PENANG} One of the trickiest clues to break down but it’s more straightforward than it looks. PEN and “author” are frequent crosswordland synonyms, and to this we add the first name of a popular film director whose surname is LEE (at least in the order in which we tend to read such a name!). For the Asian city add these two bits together (so they “collaborate”) and ignore the extra word “NATURALLY“.

28a    This form of diesel transport turned out practicable after losing broken tip (5,3)
{CABLE CAR} This one really threw me because of the extra word “DIESEL“. The answer is anagram (turned out) of PRACTICABLE after we remove the jumbled up letters of TIP.

Down

1d    Found on beach, heartless hag’s about (8)
{SANDWICH} What would you typically find on a beach? Add WITCH but remove the middle letter (so it’s “heartless”) and drop the extra word “ABOUT” to find this theme answer.

2d    Release the little French gentleman (3,3)
{LET OFF} Given how smoothly this one reads I’m surprised it was the first answer I got. The wordplay uses LE (“the” in French) and a word for a (posh) gentleman. At first I completely overlooked the extra word “LITTLE“.

3d    Turn sternwards, not having a right to young Prince William’s old haunt (2,7)
{ST ANDREWS} An anagram of STERNWARDS but without one instance of the letter R (right). The extra word here is “YOUNG“.

4d    Theoretically difficult start to suffer Rabies (7)
{BRASSIE} “Difficult” is the anagram indicator here, referring to S (the start of the word “suffer”) and RABIES, and although the surface reading isn’t great I like the way the extra word “THEORETICALLY” is used.

5d    Unfit or ideally not (5)
{TROON} Beautifully hidden anagram using no more than OR and NOT (the extra word is “IDEALLY“) to create a clue whose reading makes perfect logical sense.

6d    Peacemakers left appalling General without authority (8)
{UNLAWFUL} Another excellent surface reading with concise, absolutely straightforward wordplay which uses UN (Peacemakers), L (left) and a word meaning “appalling”. It’s a brilliant use of the extra word “GENERAL” to make this a super-smooth clue.

7d    Dish of potato pie’s evidently not soft (6)

{MASHIE} Same as for 6d – simple construction but a bang-on story with a touch of humour. Take a dish of (more specifically a way of serving) potato, then PIE but without the P (musically, “soft”). Once more Tilsit has created a clever deception by using the extra word “EVIDENTLY“.

14d    See preamble (4-5)

{GOLF-CLUBS} As will have become apparent as you solved this, the second word of this answer can be read in two ways. I’ll say no more!
16d    Maybe deacon is responsible for relating to cleric’s patch? (8)
{DIOCESAN} Marvellous anagram of DEACON IS which ties in so closely to the answer itself, defined as “relating to a cleric’s patch?” The extra word this time is “RESPONSIBLE” which, again, is very cleverly used.

18d    Play family witnessing regal disaster (4,4)
{KING LEAR} Not such a smooth reading this time but I’m only saying that because the preceding handful of clues have really sparkled. The answer (a play) consists of KIN (family) and an anagram of REGAL. The extra word is “WITNESSING“.

19d    To beat one comprehensively, after obscure point (7)
{NIBLICK} This theme answer is made up of LICK (to beat one comprehensively) after the “point” of e.g. a pen. The extra word is “OBSCURE“.

21d    Speak after start of operatic performance (6)
{PUTTER} Another really deceptive construction here where the extra word “OPERATIC” throws you off the scent very effectively. After the first letter of “performance” place a word meaning to speak or to make a vocal noise. Super surface reading yet again.

23d    Dexter’s detective followed impulse (6)
{DRIVER} Go on, admit it – you were convinced this had something to do with Insp. Morse. Well done Tilsit for a fantastic piece of devilry. Dexter in this clue refers to the right hand of something, so use the abbreviation for “right” and place it after a word meaning “impulse”. The extra word is the highly appropriate “DETECTIVE“.

24d    Woman’s satin skirt (5)
{WEDGE} And another real corker to finish. All that’s needed is the single letter abbreviation for “woman” and a word meaning the “skirt” or “border” of something. The naughty fly in the ointment is that extra word “SATIN“.

This really was a delight to solve and I’m not just saying that to “be nice” – I mean it. Almost perfect clueing throughout and as satisfying to work through before I spotted the theme as afterwards.

Great stuff Tilsit – let’s have some more!