For the second month in succession, I’m blogging a puzzle with no extra/hidden letters/words or misprints. There were just a couple of unclued entries to find, and they would indicate which twenty-six letters to highlight in the finished grid.
This turned out to be one of Chalicea’s easier 12ac-s, so 43ac I’m afraid if it took you over an hour to solve! I got there in about 45 minutes. HIGHEST and DEEPEST were fairly obvious, and from there it was just a question of determining whether we were talking about buildings and mines or mountains and valleys. It didn’t take long to see MOUNT EVEREST lurking in the grid, and from there the underwater trench known as the CHALLENGER DEEP was also easy to spot.
Thanks to Chalicea for a straightforward puzzle… I hope some EV newbies found it an entertaining solve.
Legend:
Definition in clue
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | INSULSE | Rarely lacking wit unless I bungled (7) (UNLESS I)* |
|
| 7 | VISITS | Goes to see half a dozen locations with no enthusiasm initially (6) VI (half a dozen, ie 6) + SITES (locations) – E (Enthusiasm, initially) |
|
| 11 | BAMPOTS | Politician, second in government, surrounded by crazy fools in Edinburgh (7) MP (politician) + O (second in gOvernment) surrounded by BATS (crazy) |
|
| 12 | OEUVRE | Old revue represented artist’s work (6) O (old) + REVUE* |
|
| 15 | NEUM | Notes sung to one syllable, not once with hesitation (4) NE (not, old word) + UM (hesitation) |
|
| 17 | SHRUG | Special hot travel wrap? (5) S (special) H (hot) RUG (travel wrap) &lit. |
|
| 18 | HIGHEST | Unclued | |
| 20 | PEON | West Indies estate retaining old labourer (4) PEN (WI estate) containing O (old) |
|
| 21 | DUCHESSE | Centrepiece of French church with inner distinctive nature (8) DU (of, French) + CH (church) + ESSE (inner nature) |
|
| 22 | SMASHED | Bottled wee drop (7) SMA (small, Scottish = wee) + SHED (drop) |
|
| 26 | COGNITIVE MAPS | Company reorganising saving time, incorporating positive schemes of how surroundings are perceived (13, two words) CO (company) + (SAVING TIME)* containing P (positive) |
|
| 31 | DEEPEST | Unclued | |
| 34 | GOALBALL | Lead with a left and dance in competitive sport (8) GO (lead) + A L (left) + BALL (dance) |
|
| 37 | ECCE | Behold base cycles from time to time (4) E (base) CCE (CyClEs, from time to time, ie alternate letters) |
|
| 38 | GOSLING | Run and hurl young bird (7) GO (run) + SLING (hurl) |
|
| 39 | DACHA | Chief academician going after deserted area for a country retreat (5) CH (chief) A (academician) after D (deserted) A (area) |
|
| 41 | TARO | Ordinary rodent knocked over plant (4) (O (ordinary) RAT (rodent))< |
|
| 43 | NOCAKE | Lack of Sachertorte, for example, in this meal (6) 2 meanings (?), one for NO CAKE |
|
| 44 | ENWOUND | Nurse with injury – did a wrapping job (7) EN (nurse) + WOUND (injury) |
|
| 45 | GEASON | Wonderful old age (not advanced) with a male child (6) AGE – A (advanced) + A SON (male child) |
|
| 46 | GANNETS | Band of delinquents interminably traps seabirds (7) GAN[G] (band of delinquents, missing last letter) NETS (traps) |
|
| DOWN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 2 | NATHEMO | Strange-looking home tan, not for poet (7) (HOME TAN)* |
|
| 3 | SMA | Scots maiden, at heart humble according to her (3) centre of scotS MAiden |
|
| 4 | UPRUNS | Approaches exceptional sunup with a hint of reverence (6) (SUNUP + R (hint of Reverence))* |
|
| 5 | LONGSHIP | Trousers on fleshy part of thigh in old craft (8) LONGS (trousers) + HIP (fleshy part of thigh) |
|
| 6 | STEED | Shakespeare’s place for horse (5) 2 meanings |
|
| 7 | VOMICA | Inconclusively vocal about mass involved originally in infected lung cavity (6) VOCA[L] about M (mass) I (Involved, originally) |
|
| 8 | SUR | In Chamonix, above us up on tip of ridge (3) US< + R (tip of Ridge); ‘sur’ is French for ‘above’ |
|
| 9 | TRESSY | With flowing locks, very sexy with old partner gone (6) TRES (very) SEXY – EX (old partner) |
|
| 10 | SEPTETS | Coteries including private groups (7) SETS (coteries) containing PTE (private) |
|
| 13 | EUGH | Huge twisted old tree (4) HUGE* |
|
| 14 | ASPS | Arsenic supplement added for these poisonous creatures (4) AS (Arsenic) + PS (supplement added) |
|
| 16 | TESTAE | Put to proof aged hard shells (6) TEST (put to proof) AE (aged) |
|
| 19 | HELM | Direct cloud on mountain top, for example, once (4) 2 meanings |
|
| 23 | AGHAST | Sanctimonious person pursuing officer is stupefied with horror (6) ST (saint, sanctimonious person) after AGHA (officer) |
|
| 24 | DID | Expired without energy – finished! (3) DIED (expired) – E (energy) |
|
| 25 | DEEP DOWN | Fundamentally tangled pondweed (8, two words) PONDWEED* |
|
| 26 | COGGING | Cheating and obstructing with no latitude (7) CLOGGING (obstructing) – L (latitude) |
|
| 27 | NULL | Non-existent kink (4) 2 meanings |
|
| 28 | PSCHENT | Parchments, when deciphered, could reveal Ram and this Egyptian crown (7) composite anagram PARCHMENTS* = (RAM + PSCHENT)* |
|
| 29 | HOOPOE | Ring old English bird (6) HOOP (ring) O (old) E (English) |
|
| 30 | KANTEN | Jelly doubtfully taken before noon (6) TAKEN* + N (noon) |
|
| 32 | PEASON | Self-conscious being with active rather than primarily regular pulse in the past (6) PERSON (self-conscious being) with A (active) instead of R (Regular, primarily) |
|
| 33 | TEAL | Hurtle left, not right, and duck (4) TEAR (hurtle) L (left) – R (right) |
|
| 35 | BILK | Elude British type (4) B (British) ILK (type) |
|
| 36 | LERNA | To find out why adult’s demoted, labourer went here (5) LEARN (find out) with A (adult) demoted (moved down) to end of word |
|
| 40 | GAS | Talk idly informally of raising spinach (3) GAS< (spinach) |
|
| 42 | DUE | Double act missing half of TV tribute (3) DUET (double act) – T (half of Tv) |
|
Er…this EV old-bie failed to spot the denouément, with the completed grid in front of me!…No cake for me then…thanks for the explanation…
Nice to have a simple offering after Nod’s puzzle the previous week. Straightforward, but a nice touch to have Everest in a mountain shape, and the deep in a valley shape.
Thanks, Dave for that gentle blog of a gentle crossword. It was set a long time ago when James Leonard was the editor and was in the batch the current editor inherited. He kindly vetted it again and used it. I have one more of those old ones in the pile (coming soon) then more recent ones might be a bit tougher for the solvers who like tough ones.