A great thematic puzzle from Gozo, a mid-week treat!
All the undefined clues are writers. I thought this was a very well executed theme as discovering the theme did not turn the clues into write-ins, I still had to think hard to work them out. The spread across time and genre meant that the solve was not a list-ticking exercise as some themed puzzles become.
Solvers who attempt this in their commute/lunch break without access to reference materials may struggle a little though.
Thank you Gozo.
Hold the mouse pointer over any clue number to read the clue.
| Across | ||
| 1 | MALORY | MA (mother) lory (bird, type of parrot) – Sir Thomas Malory |
| 4 | CROMPTON | MP (memebr, of parliament) in ROT (decline) all inside (embraced by) – Richmal Crompton Lamburn |
| 9 | NERVAL | R (right) in VANE* than L (left) – Gerard Labrunie |
| 10 | CHANDLER | Crufts (first letter of) HANDLER (dog trainer) – Raymond Chandler |
| 12 | TROLLOPE | ROLL (bap) in TOPE (drink heartily) – Anthony Trollope |
| 13, 15 | VIKRAM SETH | VI (six) K (king) R (rex, another king) THAMES* anagram=in spate – Vikram Seth |
| 16 | ZADIE SMITH | (AZED IS)* troubled=anagram by MITH (miss, with a lisp) – Zadie Smith |
| 19 | NEVIL SHUTE | NS (partners, brige) going round EVIL (base) with HUT (shack) and E (opponent of NS) – Neville Shute Norway |
| 20 | SAKI | Saki is a type of monkey, saki is a drink made from rice, a monkey is a container for alchoholic drink. I can’t put all this together into a coherent explanation though. Hector Hugh Monro |
| 23, 25 | TOBIAS SMOLLETT | TO BIAS (prejudice) MOLL (ganster’s girl) in SETT (home for a badger, or rented property in Scotland) – Tobias Smollett |
| 27 | STENDHAL | SHETLAND* – Marie-Henri Beyle |
| 28 | COWPER | COWER (flinch) holding P (power) – John Middleton Murray Jr. |
| 29 | ANDERSEN | (ANNE’S RED) – Hans Christian Andersen |
| 30 | STERNE | ERNEST* Hemmingway, also TERN (bird) in SE (South East England, the Home Counties) – Laurence Sterne |
| Down | ||
| 1 | MINUTES | MINUTE (detailed) S (small) – definition is ‘summary’, minutes of a meeting |
| 2 | LERMONTOV | anagram of TOMe (endless) and NOVEL about R (rector) – Mikhail Lermontov |
| 3 | REALLY | RE-ALLY (group once more) |
| 5 | RUHR | RU (rugby union) HR (hour) – river in Germany |
| 6 | MANTISSA | SATANISM* – the mantissa is the fractional part of a logarithm |
| 7 | TILER | RE-LIT (started fire again) |
| 8 | NKRUMAH | HANK* around RUM (strange) – Kwame Nkrumah former leader of Ghana |
| 11 | SPLASHY | LASH (cat-o’-nine-tails) in SPY (agent) |
| 14 | BIG-TIME | cryptic definition – measured in something larger than minutes |
| 17 | IN A TEMPER | EM (printer’s measure) in PAINTER* wild=anagram |
| 18 | OLEANDER | O LEANDER (what Hero might say to Leander) – a shrub |
| 19 | NATASHA | SATAN (the devil) reversed HA (expressing surprise) |
| 21 | INTERNE | US spelling of intern, which given time becomes ‘internet’ |
| 22 | ALCOTT | COT (bed) in A LT (lieutennant, soldier) – Louisa May Alcott |
| 24 | BREAD | some of fiBRE ADded – definition is ‘money’ |
| 26 | JADE | double definition |
*anagram
Thanks Pee Dee and Gozo
Got halfway without help and was two off with it
Several authors new to me
Perhaps I need to stay in more and expand my reading list!
I’m way behind on checking this blog, but, as a Yank, I feel the need to express my disagreement with the characterization of “interne” as an American spelling. I once worked as an “intern,” and, over the years, I have had several “interns” work with and for me. But never “interne(s)”.