A fairly light puzzle from Quixote this week, though I don’t mean that in a bad way. I worked through the puzzle very quickly, for me, getting stuck on just one of the cryptic clues. This in turn meant not being able to fully resolve two of the unclued rows.

The across clues were all definition and letter mixtures, DLMs. These are not cryptic clues but, like Printer’s Devilry, make reasonably regular appearances in thematic puzzles. The extra twist here was that the letter mixture contained an extra letter, this made things a little harder. Luckily the standard constraint of the mixture starting at the start or ending at the end of a word helped. A DLM clue can have several superfluous words that lend to the surface but can create ambiguities giving more than one potential mixture. Often it isn’t worth looking at a DLM clue until you have a checking letter (20ac may have been an exception for some). One letter isn’t usually enough to pin down the exact letter mixture but the more checking letters the more you can zero in on the answer.

So, my strategy here was to first cold solve as many down answers as possible. Then, using the checking letters, identify as many letter mixtures as possible. Solve a few of these and then iterate. All the time keeping an eye on the extra letters and what they might spell. I ignored the unclued rows until I haad the theme.

The extra letters spelled out HOW MANY BOB DYLAN the response to this is, of course, that the answer is blowing in the wind. The unclued across rows were thus resolved as anagrams of synonyms of ANSWER inside names of WINDS.

In the analysis below I have not examined the DLM clues, there is no point, but simply stated the answers and extra letters. It would be interesting to know from the setter how much superfluous material can be added? Is it just to create a good surface or to deliberately create ambiguities.

This was a very clever themed puzzle, the theme of which became clear to me only at the very end.   Solving time, 51 mins

* = anagram  < = reversed

1 L EADERLESS S  (released)*

6 ADZE    As crossing letters appeared, it looked as if this was going to be the tool and I verified it using ‘reveal’.   I don’t understand the rest (this may be because, while I’m aware of the TV comedy series, I’v never watched it.)

9 FLAVOUR ENHANCER   (Channel Four rave)*

11 A (VENUE) S

12 PR I SING    The first of the themed entries which, are a ‘leaderless insurrection’ i.e. a synonym with the first letter removed, uprising here with the resulting word being a real word.

13 CALLIGRAPHER   (Archer lag lip)*     Surface suggesting you-know-who

18 IN SURRE(y) CTION   It< into con or noc<  not sure how it works - maybe an abbrev for no overall control but a quick looks in dicts did not find it.

21 A CERB IC  “Serb”   The ‘ending’ takes the final two letters, if I’ve read it right.

23 EDITION    Themed cf sedition  (No 1 tide)<

24 HIS TORIOGRAP  HER   (got a prior)*    Won’t get into the nounal anagram indicators issue.

25 WIND    Favourite clue - bloggers with recent arrivals will have had no problem with it, I guess.

28 GRANT-AIDED  (tragedian)* d (head of drama)

DOWN

1 LA FRANCE  (clean far)* (France in French) with the definite article used as they do e.g. L’Angleterre.    This took me ages and I’d niggles with it.      The hyphen in far-off was the first problem but, Eimi has said they’re not always strictly Ximenean.   However, if it had been left out, I think the surface would have been still just fine.  The second very minor niggle is the far-off as I can think of only one country nearer to the UK.

2 A (MAZE) DLY   (lady)*

3 EVOLUTION    Themed cf revolution  (violent coup)* less CP

4 LARKS   An excellent double definition - thought for ages it would start with a g = good

5 SANDPIPER    How a cockney would say ’sandpaper’ (abrasive), I think, but I really agonised with it before settling for I rather than A as the sixth letter which was not intersected by an across entry.   ‘Reveal’ confirmed I was right.

7 DECEIT   “de-seat”

8 EN (RAG) E    losing the rag

9 TAX I

14 RAUNCHIER   (hurricane)*

15 ENCHILADA   (a deli chain)*  less one (i)

16 FIN I SHED   Definition = over

17 ENSNARED   (N Red sea n)*    uses abbrev n for navy as well as Northern, I think.

19 CASH EW (first letters)

20 RE A SON    Thematic cf treason

21 B (L) OG   I confirm that we are unpaid

23 ELGIN   First letters (he of the Marbles)

A great themed puzzle from Brendan for my first blog - based around George Bernard Shaw and My Fair Lady. I really enjoyed doing this but had recourse to wikipedia for some of the characters and references, not being a massive fan of the film or Shaw.

* = anagram

Across

1 OSCARS  OS (particularly large) CARS - the film My Fair Lady won lots of them.

2 DEMIURGE  Cryptic def. a demiurge sounds like half a drive, but in fact is the limited creator of this world in Gnostic myth, who is responsible for the evil in the world.

9 RADIO TWO DOAIR* NE(TWO)RK

10 LERNER  writer of My Fair Lady - sounds like Learner.

11 HENRY HIGGINS Professor from My Fair Lady - not sure of the wordplay

13 MYNA  M(Y)NA* - Myna birds can be taught to speak

14 UNTAPPED (UN)TAP(P)ED - UN for middle of tune, TAPED outside of (without) P

17 BASS TUBA  Fish - BASS, front of area - A, round boat - TUB

18 COCK  Do East Enders call each other cock? I thought it was more a Northern thing. Not half-cocked I presume is the wordplay.

20 PRE-EXISTENCE  PRE(EXIS)TENCE - former partner one’s =EXIS in act = PRETENCE

23 LA-DI-DA  LAD + IDA

24 HARRISON  Rex Harrison played Prof. Higgins in My Fair Lady. George Harrison from famous group

26 WAGNER  Producer of the Ring Cycle, who Shaw criticised.

Down

2 SHAW  Hidden , &lit, IRI(SH A W)RITER a clever clue

3 ACIDHEADS  A CID HEADS - top detectives gathered together - but would acidheads be drug addicts? Maybe I’m being pedantic but it’s not a drug that causes addiction.

4 SATINY  Smoothly finished. A TINY after S.

5 DROP YOUR AITCHES  Eliza originally talked like this in My Fair lady - lack aspiration - the ‘h’ sound is an aspirant I think. A lovely clue which took me a while to get.

6 MELT INTO  MEL(TINT)O - cut fruit is melon without the last n.

7 UNRIG  another hidden clue - well hidden I thought

8 GREENPEACE  an environmental group GREEN = space, P(E)ACE , pace being measure

12 MY FAIR LADY  Just can’t get the wordplay here.

15 PICKERING  Colonel dramatically is another character from 12dn. I have the wordplay as PICK(ER)ING, but not familiar with ER as ‘King’ - it must be Edward Reginum?

16 PURITANS  PU(RITA)NS - did Shaw write three dramas for Puritans?

21 ELIZA  ELI(Z)A where final character = Z, Elia was an alias of Charles Lamb, an essayist

DON’T SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY, BABY. 
 
An easier puzzle after Gaufrid’s task yesterday with his Tiffany cats.  Rather a lot of anagrams again, but
 some ingenious ways of signalling them.

ACROSS

1.    GO UNDERGROUND  - (double definition)
9.    MASONIC  -  (ma-son- ic {in charge -ruling} )
10.  MODULES -  (-o-d- in ‘mules’ :mule is a term used for a person smuggling drugs on,
                                  or sometimes even in, his or her person.  Heroin or ecstasy may be swallowed.)                                  
11.  omitted
12.  SATURNINE - (s- *nature in)
13.  TALL TALE  - (t-all tail)
15.  MAKE UP -  (double definition.  Reminiscent of the Robert Frost quotation:
                                ‘Good fences make good neighbours.’ )
18.  MODERN - (mode RN)
19.  DISSECTS - (d-is-sects)
22.  GREAT BEAR - (bear - to support.  The Ursa Major constellation)
24.  POLKA  - (* lap- OK    - I felt the clue was slightly inaccurate as the  excitement of OK
                             was not actually within *lap)
25.  EQUABLE - (e-qu-able)
26.  TRUMPET - (double definition, trumpet, part of brass section.)
27.  PREVARICATION - * can top riviera
DOWN

1.   GYMNAST - (*many s, with GT - gran turismo, a high performance car.)
2.   UNSKILLED- (* kid sullen - interesting use of feral)
3.   DANCE - (alternate letters of drawn - d-a-n + ce)
4.   ROCK SALT- (double definitions, Gibraltar being known as ‘The Rock.’)
5.   REMOTE - (as in remote possibility , and the essential appendage for any husband.)
6.   UNDERPASS - ( a pass as in ‘making a pass at-’, here with some lack of enthusiasm)
7.    omitted
8    ASLEEP. - (* please - ‘out’ in two senses) 
14. TURNTABLE - (double definitions- turn as in: It’s my go now)
16.  EUCALYPTI -(*a pity clue)
17.  LIBRETTI  - *brittle + i)
18.  MAGNET -(*game without e, net to score. )
20.  SPARTAN - (spar- {to box} - tan.  As in:  The room looked rather bare and spartan.
                                The Spartans believed in physical austerity and boys were toughened up
                                 from babyhood for a military future.)
21.  GENERA  - ( Genera-{l}.       Plural of genus, classification of living and fossil organisms)
23.   EQUIP  - (e- quip - a joke or crack. Maybe to load the mule?)
24.   PAULA. - (P-a-ul-a)

A good deal harder than usual, I thought - solving time, 32 mins.

* = anagram < = reversal

ACROSS

1 GRIT This was my last entry - a tricky double definition.

4 CAS(h) T-OFF Nicely misleading as a reversal is suggested.

10 AM ERICAN EXPRESS (rare sixpences)*

11 AGE LESS

12 STERILE One of a number of ‘hiddens’ in the puzzle, but they were far from obvious.

13 S (WEE) T

14 ANDROGEN (Don anger)*

16 STAR (LE) TS

18 A ISLE Isle of Man

21 DR AS TIC

23 RAM HOME Good

24 CHIEF MAGISTRATE (Straight face me I)*

25 S (UN) TRAP

26 TARO hidden

DOWN

2 R (A1 MEN) T

3 TRA(i)NS LATE This took me ages - trains must be associated with Didcot.

4 CHE’S S

5 SUPREMO m (maiden over- cricket) in (poseur)*

6 ONE-DIMENSIONAL (as in line mode no)*

7 F EST(h)ER I think this refers to the Book of Esther (Old Testament)

8 Pablo CASALS First letters & lit

9 DEFENESTRATION (Don’t see fainter)* Rather unusual surface.

10 DISTRAI(N)T

17 ROT IFER (fire)*

18 AMMETER When you measure electric current i.e. I

19 ELEVEN The easiest hidden

20 E DICT S prime requirement = first letter

22 C(L)AMP This clue reads strangely - I wonder if there was a typo.