A Puzzle by Chalicea
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
Chalicea’s crosswords are always an education but you do sometimes wonder whether you will ever use some of the words again in real life!
As Chalicea says, I should have noticed all the lakes and highlighted them, which I have now done
Across
1a Massages - necessities, we're told (6)
KNEADS: A homophone (we’re told) of necessities or things you can’t do without
4a Alfalfa found in boundless muck in swamp near Argos (7)
LUCERNE: The inside letters (boundless) of mUCk inserted into one of the two ways the BRB shows to spell the swamp said, in Greek Mythology, to be the home of the Hydra killed by Hercules
9a Thanks not applicable for police station in India (4)
TANA: An informal word of thanks and the abbreviation meaning Not Applicable
10a Freeing from dirt people of fashion in US capital (10)
WASHINGTON: Removing dirt (freeing) and people of fashion
11a Painful end of long drawn-out task (6)
BITTER: Double definition, the first meaning better known than the second
12a Restrain lovable person, we hear, maybe one of Santa's favourites (8)
REINDEER: A verb meaning to restrain and a homophone (we hear) of a reference to a lovable person
13a Wandering in a ripped type of trousers (9)
DRAINPIPE: An anagram (wandering) of IN A RIPPED
15a Backing place of entertainment of highest quality (4)
TOPS: A reversal (backing) of a place of entertainment
16a Somewhat contaminated one-time Ugandan head of state (4)
AMIN: Hidden in the second word of the clue
17a Lacking in jauntiness argue not so much about porkies essentially (9)
SPARKLESS: A phrase meaning argue not so much into which is inserted the ‘essential’ letter of porKies
21a Fruit containing revolutionary Spanish delicacy (8)
MANCHEGO: A type of fruit ‘containing’ crosswordland’s favourite revolutionary
22a Representative loses first half of game: wipe out! (6)
DELETE: Remove the letters GA (the first half of Game) from a representative
24a Complex and cunning treacherous person in Spain (10)
SERPENTINE: A treacherous person, IN (from the clue) and the IVR Code for Spain
25a Drink dime-a-dozen bottles (4)
MEAD: ‘Bottled’ in the clue
26a Brenda Lee 1963 hit - in the customary way (2,5)
AS USUAL: This phrase meaning in the customary way is the title of a hit record for Brenda Lee in 1963
27a Three kings embracing one European coin (6)
KRONER: Three abbreviations for king – one in chess and the others in Latin – into which is inserted (embracing) ONE (from the clue)
Down
1d German instrument for 16 down (7)
KLAVIER: An instrument played by Mozart
2d Perform punishment ultimately after rod for beating raised (5)
ENACT: The ultimate letter of punishmenT goes after a reversed (raised) rod for beating
3d Unusually worded page for this drop of moisture (7)
DEWDROP: An anagram (unusually) of WORDED PAGE – a shame part of the solution is clearly shown in the clue
5d Higher education establishment left maintaining condition for Middle Eastern peace-keepers (6)
UNIFIL: An abbreviated higher education establishment and the abbreviation for Left, into which is inserted (maintaining) a conditional word
6d Irritability with clumsy dolt holding old sharp axe, say (5,4)
EDGED TOOL: A synonym for irritability with an anagram (clumsy) of DOLT, the latter ‘holding’ the abbreviation for Old
7d Lack of remarkable things, brief illicit encounters during midday break (7)
NOONERS: NO (lack of) and an informal way of saying remarkable things
8d A troubled pastor pursued by anxiety disorder - this morbid fear of thunder and lightning (13)
ASTRAPOPHOBIA: A (from the clue), an anagram (troubled) of PASTOR and an aversion causing anxiety
14d Rainbow goddess effectively manages instruments for exhibiting prismatic colours (9)
IRISCOPES: The Goddess of the Rainbow and another way of saying effectively manages
16d Austria's prolific composer unusually amused all initially (7)
AMADEUS: An anagram (unusually) of AMUSED and the initial letter of All
18d More embarrassed about European ruminant mammal (3,4)
RED DEER: The colour one might be if more embarrassed goes about the abbreviation for European
19d Properly organised RAF site's steadily fine (3,4)
SET FAIR: An anagram (properly organised) of RAF SITE
20d His mate in returning principally abdominal medical condition (6)
HERNIA: His mate might be referred to as xxx, a reversal (returning) of IN (from the clue) and the principal letter of Abdominal
23d The French fellow is a lover (5)
LEMAN: The French male definite article and a fellow produces an archaic term for a sweetheart
For me, etc, somewhat ‘chewy’ for a Chalicea NTSPP although there were some familiar answers such as the 4a Alfalfa, and some unfamiliar ones such as the 21a Spanish delicacy but that was relatively easy to ‘put together’ from the clue. It was disappointing that 3d included a word exactly as it appeared in the answer.
Smiles for 10a, 15a, 25a, 7d, and 20d.
If there is a theme, I can’t see it.
Thanks to Chalicea and in advance to CS.
Crikey. There was nothing Floughie about this. I did enjoy a lot of it, but there were also a number of clues which didn’t float my boat with even more than the usual amount of cross-checking needed.
I suspect that there is a theme, but I have no idea what it might be. I thought at one point it might be something to do with lakes, but I could only find three which is not enough to qualify.
For 4d, Lerna (not Lerne) is the only reference I can find to a swamp near Argos which doesn’t work for the wordplay.
According to the BRB, “oner” meaning a remarkable thing in 7d is an Americanism, and the lover in 23d is archaic.
10a was my favourite.
Many thanks to Chalicea and in advance to CS.
I agree with much of what RD says. This was tough going. Although I have solved most of it myself, I have had to look up far more than I usually like to do.
I think you mean 4a RD. I couldn’t work that out either.
I also flagged 23d as archaic.
Nevertheless, there was lots here to like. I really enjoyed the 1d / 16d combo, 10a, and 20d.
Many thanks to Chalicea for the entertainment and for the mental battle.
I’m looking forward very much to your review, crypticsue. It will be much appreciated.
Yes indeed, Catnap, I did mean 4a. It’s good to know that someone reads my ramblings. 👍
RD, your ‘ramblings’ are always well worth reading.
4a has been bugging me! The closest reference I can find is in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable . ‘Hydra’ is described as being ‘a many-headed water-snake of the Lernaean Marshes in Argolis’.
Oh dear! My italics have gone awry!
4a bugged us also. The last 3 letters of 10 across was a new meaning to us, also the answer to 23d. We didn’t find a theme. Many thanks for the challenge, Chalicea, and thank you in advance to CS.
With considerable help from BRB we did eventually get a completion although we’re not sure we fully understand 11a. Really enjoyed the tussle.
Thanks Chalicea.
Lost patience & resorted to 3 letter reveals to finish. Sorry Chalicea but this one wasn’t my cup of tea. I don’t mind a bit of a dialogue with Mr G but I needed him on speed dial for this one – 1d spelling, the 9a cop shop, 8d alternative spelling, 4&23a unfamiliar etc.
Thanks anyway though.
There are many more exclamation marks than ticks on my printout today. I found the puzzle a bit heavy on somewhat obscure GK (to me, at least), and had to work hard to identify some of the references. I happened to have just finished Chalicea’s Toughie 2705 from August 2021, which I thoroughly enjoyed (only one exclamation mark required, for a type of tree bark used to make quinine) – sadly not the case in today’s puzzle. I won’t list all the exclamation marks but will acknowledge 12a, 13a & 27a as my favourites.
My thanks to Chalicea for posing the challenge, and in advance to CS.
Apologies to those who found this one rather tougher than usual and thanks, of course, to CS who didn’t mention the theme – indeed, LAKES. Some of the more difficult words were, of course, names of the ten (at least) thematic words I like to include in an NTSPP.
Many thanks for the review, CS. I hadn’t even heard of some of the lakes but no doubt Mrs Bradford knows them all!