I’m fond of these perimeter-quotation puzzles, although they can make things a little tricky if you can’t get a toe-hold in the centre of the puzzle. However, it’s not clear how much if any of the quotation will survive the dramatic cull proposed in the preamble (we are to delete almost three quarters of the grid once it’s been filled in). Thankfully, there are enough easy clues to get going, and I found this to be a pleasant rollick toward a full grid. The quotation starts in the SE corner, and reads:
I HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER BUT BLOOD, TOIL, TEARS AND SWEAT
It is from Churchill’s speech of 13 May 1940, his first as Prime Minister.
It’s a strange (but logical) endgame, but the preamble tells us we have to delete all but the 38 letters of the offerings. That means all of the squares are blank except for two instances each of BLOOD, TOIL, TEARS and SWEAT (one of each is from the perimeter quotation).
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 8 | AMORANCE | ROMANCE (A love affair) [turning the head]? (8) |
| 9 | BRAKE | Slow down [depositing] a K (thousand) in BRAE (Scottish bank) (5) |
| 11 | RATS | Vermin? Bother! (4) |
| 12 | WEATHER | THE (Article) WEAR (display) [outside] to suffer from exposure (7) |
| 13 | ETERNITIES | [Compound] INTEREST* IE (that is) [invested] for ages and ages (10) |
| 16 | SEESAW | SEES (Watches) A (one’s) W (weight) – it goes up and down (6) |
| 18 | SPA | Spring, Summer and, Perhaps, Autumn [at outset] (3) |
| 19 | FATAL | FAT AL (Overweight man) with dire consequence (5) |
| 21 | TITAN | Giant TIT (bird) <NA (not) [returning] (5) |
| 23 | ORA | OA [BOAT essentially] [seen around] R (river) mouths (3) |
| 25 | PUEBLO | Settlement has [sparkling] BLUE* PO (river) [surrounding it] (6) |
| 27 | SMART ALECS | Master-class mostly trained clever dicks (10, two words) |
| 29 | TOILETS | More than one can {SET TO}* [violently] [about] IL (Israel) (7) |
| 32 | BREW | <[Getting back] WE R (take) B (black) coffee maybe (4) |
| 33 | VEALE | Ed’s covering VEAL (meat) with [last of] SAUCE (5) |
| 34 | NASITEST | Most unpleasant ASTI (wine) [at home = in NEST]? (8) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | BERATE | LIBERATE (Deliver) L (pound) I [knocked off] slate (6) |
| 2 | OAKS | {ASK HOW}* [to make these with H&W] – they used to make ships (4) |
| 3 | DOZE | [Nearly] DOZEN (twelve)? Sleep (4) |
| 4 | TREAT | Deal with [Mad] HATTER*? [March = remove] H [HARE’s first]! (5) |
| 5 | OAST | What dries TOAST (brown bread’s) [last four slices] (4) |
| 6 | INCHES | PINCHES (Takes) P (power) [away] and moves slowly (6) |
| 7 | LATEST | Most LAST (final), [involving] T (time) and its [=TIME’s] [end] (6) |
| 10 | VESPA | HiVES PAradoxically [providing home for] wasp (5) |
| 14 | REAP | GatheR homE A croP [finally] (4) |
| 15 | ISLET | Offshore property IS LET (rented) (5) |
| 17 | WILL | Desire lost in Scotland (4) |
| 20 | ARSON | PARSON (Clergyman’s) P (positive) [to escape] burning (5) |
| 22 | TOERAG | Despicable person [not finishing] {TOP GEAR}* [broadcast] (6) |
| 24 | AMIDST | ADMITS* [delinquent] inside (6) |
| 26 | OCELLI | They see COLLIE* [barking] (6) |
| 28 | RESIN | RE (Sappers) SIN (wrong) to get produce from sap (5) |
| 30 | LOTO | LOT (A great deal) O (of) game involving change (4) |
| 31 | TREE | Pollard maybe contributing R (runs) [in] TEE (stand) (4) |
| 32 | BETA | ETA (Japanese menial) [after] B (bachelor’s) second class (4) |
Great puzzle, both topical and fun but, for an EV, over very quickly
A nice easy EV this week (a good thing, with some tricky puzzles before or since), and nice to see Winnie’s anniversary celebrated (he died in January 1965, so fifty years ago).
It felt a bit odd to delete so much of the grid, but the instructions were quite clear. Easier than Samson’s last EV outing, but made up for by the cluing, which I thought was excellent.
Not been doing nearly as many EVs so far this year but got into this one. Perhaps a bit too easy, but never mind as at least that ought to lead to a higher entry rate, and it filled a pleasant hour or so. Thanks Samson.