You can never be sure who’ll have set the Tuesday puzzle, but a theme of some description is almost guaranteed. Radian does not disappoint us today.
For an ophidiophobe like myself, this puzzle certainly gave me the creeps/willies. Thankfully, my torture was fairly short-lived, as I found my way into the theme quite early on, thanks to 9 and 4, soon confirmed by 21 and 22D. The last ones in were 5, which was new to me, and 17, which I could only half-remember; con for steer in 8 was also new as a verb; 2 held me up as I was expecting something to do with shedding skin, sloughing.
Radian cleverly uses snakes not just as noun definitions, but also in the wordplay, e.g. as an anagram indicator at 16 and as a verb in 7, etc. My favourite clue today was 23 for its surface reading and neat construction.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues; to assist reading, the words cross-referenced from other entries have been given in brackets in each clue
| Across | ||
| 08 | ANACONDA | 1 of 21 (=snakes) and one that eats a steer
[A + CON (=steer, as in conning tower)] in [AND + A (=one)] |
| 09 | ADDER | Summer, 1 of 21 (=snakes)
A “summer” is one who adds up, hence “adder” |
| 10 | NEST | Not all of one’s traditional home for 22D (=vipers)
Hidden (“not all of”) in “oNE’S Traditional” |
| 11 | SIDEWINDER | Team watch part 1 of 21? (=snakes)
SIDE (=team) + WINDER (=watch part, i.e. part of watch) |
| 12 | POISON | Postal order is paid for by 9 (=adder)’s defence
PO (=postal order) + IS + ON (=paid for by, as in the drinks are on me) |
| 14 | ROOMIEST | In recession, tie up disputed site, none wider
ROOM (MOOR=tie up; “in recession” indicates reversal) + *(SITE); “disputed” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | AS A RULE | 26 (=normally), none straighter
A rule(r) is the straightest of objects, hence “none straighter” |
| 17 | OPHIDIA | Ring setter here, getting help in return for 21 (=snakes)
O (=ring, i.e. pictorially) + PHI (=setter here, i.e. crossword compiler on the Indy) + DIA (AID=help; “in return” indicates reversal); Ophidia are snakes as an order of reptiles |
| 20 | ASPERITY | 1 of 21 (=snakes) burst tyre crossing island? That’s rough
ASP (=1 of 21) + [I (=island) in *(TYRE)]; “burst” is anagram indicator |
| 22 | VISHNU | 5 Hindus ordered to forsake one god for another
V (=5, in Roman numerals) + *(HIN<d>US); “to forsake one god (=d for dominus)”, means letter “d” is dropped; “ordered” is anagram indicator; the definition is “another (god)” |
| 23 | BATTLESHIP | Dreadnought? British PM’s rebutting Spain with it
B (=British) + ATTL<e>E’S (=PM’s; “rebutting Spain (=E)” means letter “e” is dropped) + HIP (=with it, i.e. trendy) |
| 24 | BITE | Puncture by 9 (=adder)? It blew oddly at rim
IT in B<l>E<w> (“oddly” means odd letters only are used) |
| 25 | ERNIE | Section of drive-in restaurant given over to milkman
Reversed (“given over”) and hidden (“section of”) in “drivE IN REstaurant”; Ernie is The Fastest Milkman in the West in the song by Benny Hill |
| 26 | NORMALLY | New and old gather round Mike as usual
M (=Mike, i.e. in radio telecommunications) in [N (=new) + O (=old) + RALLY (=gather)] |
| Down | ||
| 01 | ENVENOMS | Seven managed to collect no money for 12s (=poisons)
[NO + M (=money)] in *(SEVEN); “managed” is anagram indicator |
| 02 | SCAT | Caught during the weekend, it’s dropped by 21 (=snakes)
C (=caught) in SAT (=weekend, i.e. Saturday); a scat is an animal-dropping, hence “it’s dropped by snakes” |
| 03 | UNISON | Son’s covered by marriage agreement
S (=son) in UNION (=marriage) |
| 04 | LADDERS | Go up them on board large 9s (=adders)
L (=large) + ADDERS; you go up ladders in the board game snakes and ladders |
| 05 | WAR WHOOP | Women who work are mostly trapped in havoc!
AR<e> (“mostly” means last letter is dropped) in [W (=women) + WHO + OP (=work)]; war whoop and havoc are both war cries |
| 06 | IDENTIFIES | Fine diet is designed for fingers
*(FINE DIET IS); “designed” is anagram indicator |
| 07 | CREEPS | 21 (=snakes) // willies
Double definition: to snake is to creep, crawl; to give someone the creeps is to give someone the willies |
| 13 | SERPENTINE | London water feature // like 21 (=snakes)
Double definition: the Serpentine is the lake in London’s Hyde Park |
| 16 | LOITERED | Did tarry oil deter 21 (=snakes)?
*(OIL DETER); “snakes” is the anagram indicator |
| 18 | INNATELY | How kids react in pub at place near Cambridge
INN (=pub) + AT + ELY (=place near Cambridge) |
| 19 | PYTHONS | Idle lot, 21 (=snakes)
The reference is to The Pythons, i.e. the members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, who included Eric Idle |
| 21 | SNAKES | Go down them on board // 7 (=creeps)
Double definition: you go down snakes in the board game snakes and ladders; to snake is to creep, crawl |
| 22 | VIPERS | 21 (=snakes), 6 for each square
VI (=6, in Roman numerals) + PER (=for each) + S (=square) |
| 24 | BOAS | 21 (=snakes) crow with no tail
BOAS<t> (=crow, i.e. brag); “with no tail” means last letter dropped |
I thought this was an excellent puzzle, and RR summed up why I liked it so much in the first sentence of the final paragraph of his preamble.
SERPENTINE was my LOI after the WAR WHOOP/ROOMIEST crossers.
Thanks R and RR, I did expect to see more 4Ds to make it a snakes and ladders board. When I got 4 Esses on the bottom line I wondered if they all would be for a snakelike hiss.
Not my favourite today. Don’t mind a themed puzzle, but when you’ve gone round the grid once and been sent back to where you started by the interlinked clues, then enthusiasm (well, mine anyway) begins to wane. Gave up with about a third unfinished, even when I’d got SNAKES and guessed CREEPS.
Whatevs, thanks to S&B.
Thought I wasn’t going to be able to start this, let alone finish it but after what seemed a very long time, the clue for 19dn chimed with the news report I’d just seen that the Pythons are going to reform and after that it wasn’t an easy solve, but I got there in the end.
@k’s d wasn’t that bad once I was going but I nearly gave up before I did. I really dislike these hunt round the houses that seem to run in circular paths.
Yes I agree with Flashling and K’s D — I’m not at all keen on these crosswords with a whole lot of interlinked clues. But although that’s my feeling and certainly was at the start — hardly any clues fell at first — I enjoyed this. It was a good crossword and fortunately not too difficult.
One thing I wondered though: several clues referred to 1 of 21 — either envenoms of snakes or one of snakes, neither of which seems to make sense when so far as I could see they simply referred to names of snakes. What am I missing?
Wil@6 – when the 1 is included it’s just a singular snake but when 21 is on its own it’s a plural.
We don’t particularly enjoy the circular references but in this case when we realised what the theme was it fell into place despite the various misdirections.
Thanks to S&B.