We were told that there were twenty-one special clues, seven with wordplay leading to the answer plus an extra letter, seven with wordplay leading to the answer with one letter missing and seven with a misprint in the definition. Using the corrected letters in the misprints, these twenty-one letters in clue order would spell out two examples of a genre. Finally, we were told that a third example and the genre itself would appear in the grid and should be highlighted.
The title – E-Numbers – had, of course, nothing to do with food additives. Instead it referred to songs (numbers) by Elvis Presley (E) early in his career.
The twenty-one letters spelt out HOUND DOG and JAILHOUSE ROCK. The first ten letters of the diagonal running NW-SE spelt out EARLY ELVIS and rows two and three revealed HEARTBREAK HOTEL.
It took me a while to get the Elvis connection as I could see HOUND and DOG developing and there was also an ALSATIAN in the grid. So, for a time, I was thinking of dogs in general. It was the J of JAILHOUSE that finally got me onto the Elvis theme.
I enjoyed the clueing and learnt a few new words from the answers. The only clue that I can’t parse to my satisfaction is 29 across – VESAK. Indeed, it was V of ELVIS in the diagonal that confirmed for me that the answer was VESAK and not WESAK which is another spelling for the Buddhistfestival.
|
Across |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Entry | Letter |
Wordplay where different |
Components of Wordplay |
| 1 | EFTS | EFFORTS (struggles) without (fleeing) FOR = EFTS (newts = amphibians) | ||
| 4 | DRAISENE | RAISE (lift) contained (in) in END (an outer district) reversed (withdrawn) = DRAISENE (dandy-horse = early bicycle without pedals) | ||
| 10 | HEAR | -H | EAR | R (rule) after (beyond) EA (local dialect for a river) = HEAR (accede to) |
| 12 | REAK | LEAK (let out) with L (left) changed to R (right), i.e. changing sides = REAK (obsolote spelling [i.e. at one time] of RECK = desire) | ||
| 13 | GERAH | O chin/coin | Hidden word (feature of) in …..stranGER A Handsome…. = GERAH (small Hebrew coin) | |
| 14 | TELL | U otter/utter | T (first letter [originally] of Tarka) + L (left) contained in EL (wing, giving a building the shape of the letter L) = TELL (utter) | |
| 15 | ORALLY | O (love) + RALLY (banter) = ORALLY (using the mouth) | ||
| 16 | IRVINE | IR (Irish) + VINE (plant) = IRVINE (reference toEddie Irvine, ex Formula 1 driver) | ||
| 18 | NOSEY | -N | OSEY | O (first letter [hint] of Orris) + YES (indeed) reversed (comes back) = NOSEY (fragrant, having a nose or smell) |
| 20 | CLIP | D holy/hold | C (Catholic) + PIL (almost all of PILl) reversed (rejected) = CLIP (firmly hold) | |
| 22 | DEAD SEA APPLE | -D | EAD SEA APPLE | Anagram of APPEAL EASED = DEAD SEA APPLE (a fruit said to be fair to look at but turning to ashes when touched; thought to be agall = an abnormal fungal or insect borne growth on a plant) |
| 23 | ASTACOLOGIST | Anagram of (versatile) COASTAL + O (old) + GIST (point [of a matter]) = ASTACOLOGIST (one who studies the science of crayfis h and its breeding) | ||
| 28 | OLEO | -O | LEO | LEO (sign of the Zodiac) = OLEO (a print, short for oleograph) |
| 29 | VESAK | HAVE + S (southern) + AK (State of Alaska) all without (cut off) A (after) = VESAK (a Buddhist festival). I obviously havent’t got this wordplay right as I still seem to have an H left. | ||
| 31 | GERMEN | -G | ERMEN | FERMENT (tumult) without the first and last letters F and T (edging to avoid) = GERMEN (an obsolete [once] meaning of shoot) |
| 33 | OPIATE | +J | JOPIATE | JO (a Scots word for a beloved one = sweetheart) + PI (confusion)+ ATE (swallowed) = (J)OPIATE (drug) |
| 35 | RIVO | +A | RIAVO | AV (Authorised Version [of The Bible]) contained in (tossed into) RIO (Spanish word for river) = RI(A)VO (a drinking cry) |
| 36 | ESSIE | -I | ESSE | ESSE (existence, being) = ESSIE (a diminutive of Esther, meaning star) |
| 37 | CEIL | L pine/line | Anagram of (gnarled) CHILE without (lacks) H (height) = CEIL (to line) | |
| 38 | ECHO | +H | HECHO | HE + C (first letter of [beginning] CRACK) + H (hard) + O (cipher) = (H)ECHO (code word for E in international radio communications) |
| 39 | OUTBREAK | +O | OUTBOREAK | OU (French for where) + BOR (neighbour) contained in (drawn into) TEAK (wood) = OUTB(O)REAK (disturbance) |
| 40 | ACNE | +U | U and ACNE | Anagram of (subtle) NUANCE without (missed) the first letter N (initially) = (U)ACNE (spots) |
|
Down |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Entry | Letter |
Wordplay where different |
Components of Answer |
| 1 | EGG ON |
E (last letter [ultimately] of TRAINEE)+ G (good) + GON (grade) = EGG ON (encourage) |
||
| 2 | FAEROESE | S inland/island | FAERO (sounds like [heard] PHARAOH [old ruler]) + ESE (sounds like EASE [facility]) = FAEROESE (islanders – reference Faroe Islands) | |
| 3 | SEALED | E (European ) + ALE (drink), contained in (in) SD (Swaziland) = SEALED (set apart) | ||
| 4 | DAHL | HAD (Scots [Aberdeen] word for hold) reversed (up) + L (last letter (ultimately) of FEEL) = DAHL (pulse) | ||
| 5 | ATTILA | AT (first letters [leaders] of ANCIENT TROY) + ALIT (settled) reversed (up) = ATTILA (old king , reference Attila the Hun) | ||
| 6 | IBERIA | P (Portugal) + E (Espana = Spain) = IBERIA (Reference Iberian peninsula comprising Spain and Portugal) | ||
| 7 | EEL | REEL (draw in) without (with no) R (resistance) = EEL (fish) | ||
| 8 | NAAN | E broad/bread | MA’AM (address to royalty) with the end letters advanced by one (M to N) = NAAN (bread) | |
| 9 | EKUELE | Anagram of (playing) UKELELE without (abandoned) L (learner) = EKUELE (former unit of currency in Equatorial Guinea) | ||
| 11 | ROYCE | ROYCE (reference Rolls Royce) thereby associated withROLLS (wads of money/notes in America) = ROYCE (engineer; partner within Rolls Royce) | ||
| 17 | IMPIS | Middle letters(essentially) of WIMPISH = IMPIS (armed South African native warriors) | ||
| 19 | SATYR | SAT (befitted) + YR (younger) = SATYR (sensualist) | ||
| 21 | ALSATIAN | Anagram (beaten off) ASSAILANT without (not) S (succeeded) = ALSATIAN (a dog that may well beat off an assailant) | ||
| 23 | ANGICO | ANC (African National Congress; the ruling political party in South Africa) containing (calling in) GI ([American] soldier) + O (old) = ANGICO (South American tree) | ||
| 24 | CLEVER | R blight/bright | EVER (always) below (south of) CL (Ceylon, old name for Sri Lanka and CL is still the International Vehicle Registration for Sri Lanka) = CLEVER (bright) | |
| 25 | OENONE | Anagram (around) of ONE + ONE (plain, unanagrammed [not around]) = OENONE (first wife of Paris of Troy) | ||
| 26 | LOOSE | LOOS (Johns in the sense of John = lavatory) + E (final letter [at last]) of NECKTIE) = LOOSE (unfasten) | ||
| 27 | GEISHA | +O | GEOISHA | GEO (George) + IS + H (hot) + A (about) = GE(O)ISHA (Eastern/Japanese girl trained to provide entertainment for men) |
| 30 | KEEVE | Hidden (to some extent) in brOKE EVEn = KEEVE (a large tub,which can hold water) | ||
| 32 | EMEU | +C | EMCEU | EMCEE (compere) with the third E (English) replaced by (for) U (first letter [starting to]) of URGE) = EME(C)U (flighltess, fast running Australian bird) |
| 34 | PECK | –K | PEC | CEP (mushroom) reversed (up) = PECK (eat) |
| 35 | RIT | RIT (sounds like [we’re told] WRIT [legal document]) = RIT (Scottish word meaning to scratch) | ||
VESAK
I’ve sent the crossword in and seem to have lost the original clues, so I’m not sure about 29ac, but isn’t it ‘ve = have, with ‘after’ merely a filler?
I liked this. Good clues, which all had decent surfaces and weren’t there simply to be got out of the way so that one could concentrate on the theme and what you have to do once the grid is filled in, as is in my opinion a criticism of a certain very popular crossword.
VESAK: Clue was (I think) “Have Southern state cut off after a Buddhist festival”.
I agree with Will Ransome the ‘VE = Have, and S = Southern, but if we take the state as AK = Alaska then the phrase “cut off after” is redundant.
However, if we take the state as ARK = Arkansas then we get VESARK, and reading “after” as the comparative of “aft” we “cut off” a letter ‘nearer the stern’ of VESARK to get the entry – that way, all words in the clue are working.
Another possible interpretation is VE S A K[s] with ‘state cut off’ being K[s] (Kansas) which is put after ‘a’ and the definition is simply ‘Buddhist festival.
Many thanks to all for blog and comments. VESAK is ‘VE S AK AK = Alaska (state cut off – from the rest of the US) – ‘after’ indicates position.
PS The clue for VESAK was “Have Southern state cut off after festival” i.e. there was no ‘a’ or indeed ‘Buddhist’
I’ve just found a scan I made of my almost (bar two lights) completed copy of this. If anyone wants to refresh their memory of the cluing/grid, email me at chris@live-dead.co.uk and I’ll send it to you (if Raich/the Independent have no objection).