NEO kicks off this bank holiday Monday…
A mixture of some fairly straightforward clues with a few ballets and actors I’d never heard of. I must confess to a bit of guesswork and Googling to check they existed.
Thanks NEO!
ACROSS
8/14. Doctor marries a hero: she was 10 in 6 27 (5,7)
MOIRA SHEARER
(MARRIES A HERO)* (*doctor)
She played Victoria Page in The Red Shoes
9. Disparages the writer’s excellent examples (9)
IMPEACHES
IM (the writer’s) + PEACHES (excellent examples)
11. Idiot in daily story (7)
CHARLIE
CHAR (daily) + LIE (story)
12. Sober group stows unopened wine in vessel (5)
AORTA
AA (sober group) stows [p]ORT (wine, unopened)
13. Revolutionary French ready to enlist Welsh 11 (5)
TWERP
(PRET)< (ready, French, <revolutionary) to enlist W (Welsh)
15. Academician initially drew two Roman bones (5)
RADII
RA (academician) + D[rew] (initially) + II (two, Roman)
17. Drunk tonight prefers one ballet (3,4,2,6)
THE RITE OF SPRING
(TONIGHT PREFERS + I (one))* (*drunk)
20. Fabulist once regularly made use of power (5)
AESOP
[m]A[d]E [u]S[e] O[f] (regularly) + P (power)
22. Defenceless old flame, model died (7)
EXPOSED
EX (old flame) + POSE (model) + D (died)
25. Light that warns companion leaving room (5)
AMBER
[ch]AMBER (room, CH (companion) leaves)
28/26. Male to motivate in time — time for ballet (3,8)
THE FIREBIRD
(HE (male) + FIRE (to motivate)) in (T (time) + BIRD (time))
29. In meandering defile, river and gully perhaps (9)
INFIELDER
IN + (DEFILE)* (*meandering) + R (river)
30. Scout playing field by church (5)
RECCE
REC (playing field) by CE (church)
DOWN
1. Hearty kisses from Frenchman in bed succeeded (6)
SMACKS
M (Frenchman) in SACK (bed) + S (succeeded)
2. Italian enamel is used imaginatively (8)
MILANESE
(ENAMEL IS)* (*used imaginatively)
3. Hadrian? Or Fats? (6)
WALLER
Double (cryptic) definition
4. Some spruce old actor longs to be outside (4,5)
PINE TREES
TREE (old actor, Herbert Beerbohm Tree), PINES (longs) to be outside
5. Sheridan character or mate held up in plot (8)
MALAPROP
(OR + PAL (mate))< (<held up) in MAP (plot)
6/27. Film in that respect achieves keeping quiet (3,3,5)
THE RED SHOES
THERE (in that respect) + DOES (achieves) keeping SH (quiet)
7. Taking flight from East, vocalise without beat (8)
ESCAPING
E (east) + SING (vocalise) without CAP (beat)
10. Summon boy training to be knight (4)
PAGE
16. Propose to give e.g. Badenoch money collected (9)
OFFERTORY
OFFER (propose to give) + TORY (e.g. Badenoch)
17. Spymaster in passage for broadcast (8)
TRANSMIT
M (spymaster) in TRANSIT (passage)
18. Feeble, leaderless idiots — they hinder progress (8)
IMPASSES
[l]IMP (feeble, leaderless) + ASSES (idiots)
19. Sixth sense vague where copper vanishes (8)
INSTINCT
IN[di]STINCT (vague, where DI (copper) vanishes)
21. Parodies reflected works of Shaffer primarily (6)
SPOOFS
(OPS)< (works, <reflected) + OF + S[haffer] (primarily)
23. Rock of Marseille? (6)
PIERRE
24. Every so often driver steals fuel (6)
DIESEL
D[r]I[v]E[r] S[t]E[a]L[s] (every so often)
Knew the ballets but they were far from front of mind, so a bit of a slog to get there. And had no memory at all of Ms Shearer’s name, saw the old movie long ago. Otherwise no great dramas, and Hadrian the Waller was cute. Thanks to Neo and Teacow.
Thanks for the blog , the ballets and film right up my street and perhaps the mini-theme is Stravinsky . PIERRE was clever and like Grant@1 I thought WALLER was neat , it is good when a double definition comes from totally different angles .
Thanks Teacow! I’m always excited to see a Neo puzzle on deck, and this was fun.
One thing I didn’t understand. Can someone help me see how bird=time in The Firebird? Ta
Bird is slang for a prison sentence as is time.
My problem was fitting a 3,8 solution into a 7,4 space. Fine in terms of aggregate space, but very misleading.
Thanks Neo. I couldn’t dredge up THE FIREBIRD but all else came to light in short order. Favourites included AORTA, MILANESE, WALLER, IMPASSES, and DIESLE. Thanks Teacow for the blog.
Most enjoyable, particularly as we knew both the Stravinsky ballets. The related 8/14 and 6/27 (a little before our time) soon became apparent, too. As well as those, we liked PINE TREES and MALAPROP.
Thanks, Neo and Teacow.
What Roz@2 wrote
Thanks Neo and Teacow
I wanted to say that the rock in Marseille was a bit Iffy, but, alas it wasn’t.
I still don’t understand Pierre
Pity the blogger didn’t explain it
Moly @9: The name Peter is derived from ‘petros’, Greek for rock. In French, Peter is Pierre. Pretty clever clue, I think.
Also Saint-Pierre ( Saint Peter ) is the rock of the Catholic Church .
Thanks Roz and Tony
Far far too much general knowledge in that clue.
Unfair.
And a stone in French = une pierre
Lermontov + Page = Diaghilev + Nijinsky according to some buffs.
Thanks all!
Thanks Gratinfreo
I don’t speak French so I didn’t know this, rather proving my point.
Lermontov for Diaghilev yes . Vicky Page for Nijinsky???? she does not have the defective Y-Chromosome , probably based on Diana Gould .
The whole film is very Ballet Russes and redolent of Stravinsky .
Wasn’t sure if I was doing the crossword or the polymath.
Hello Roz. Gay didn’t exist back then, so in a film you had to be Vicky, rather than Nicky. In the real world, N eventually married, and was as a result dismissed by D.