Hi everyone. I get a Kcit EV to blog about once annually and Kcitmas this year has fallen in May.
The preamble:
All clues are normal. Eighteen lead to answers too long to fit into the space available (given by enumerations; indications such as “two words” refer to the clue answers) without one to four (consecutive) letters being removed. The removed letters can be grouped into three sets according to the number removed: single letters; two letters; three and four letters. Treating the longer removals as blocks, each set can be arranged to give the same name to be written below the grid, thereby exemplifying the unusual MARTYRDOM involved, and resolving any ambiguities in the grid. 11 is usually preceded by an indefinite article. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.
I didn’t find this the easiest solve, but filled the grid fairly steadily with the left hand side holding out a bit longer than the right.
Not knowing the book, and not being the most proficient anagram unscrambler, I waited until I had plenty of checkers before tackling the EMINENT VICTORIANS. I also used the knowledge that the full length was probably 17: I had calculated we would need ten single letter omissions, five pairs, two block of three and one block of four, and by this time I was on the hunt for the largest block.
Cross referencing with the pairs of letters to identify the correct four-letter block to combine with the three-letter ones enabled me to assemble all the different sized bits:
SAI NTVI DAL / SA IN TV ID AL / S A I N T V I D A L
From the preamble I gathered that the gimmick used would somehow represent what happened to the martyr – and so it proved: the myth is that Vidal’s body was cut into multiple pieces and dispersed, but all miraculously found each other and reformed back into a whole body. His body was then supposedly cut up again two more times with the same result.
It was a very neat way of mirroring the three separate dispersals and reconstitutions of Vidal in the letterplay. So I will forgive the setter for not giving me anything in the grid to colour in! Thanks Kcit.
| # | ANSWER | Clue with definition underlined | |
| Explanation, with quoted indicators in italics and ANSWER letters in bold caps | |||
| Across | |||
| 1a | PETITS MAÎTRES | Dreadful misstep with attire will do for fops (13, two words) | |
| An anagram of (dreadful) MISSTEP with ATTIRE | |||
| 11a | RAW DEAL | Untreated wood? It’s a poor lookout (6, two words) | L |
| RAW (untreated) DEAL (wood) | |||
| 12a | AILMENT | Excellent, fast, covering miles in condition (7) | |
| AI (excellent) + LENT (fast) around (covering) M (miles) | |||
| 13a | IDEALOGUE | Goalie due to be replaced? Fervent follower mistaken in print (8) | A |
| GOALIE DUE to be anagrammed (replaced) | |||
| 15a | VOLOST | The left side attracting confused Soviet (6) | |
| VO (verso, the left side) by LOST (confused) | |||
| 16a | JETLINER | Black eye make-up – something associated with de Havilland? (6) | IN |
| JET (black) + LINER (eye make-up) | |||
| 17a | VICES | Bad habits and loveless states? (4) | V |
| V[o]ICES (states) missing O (loveless …) | |||
| 19a | RECCES | Surveys cut in Parliamentary time off after Conservative intervenes (6) | |
| A shortening of (cut in) RECESs (Parliamentary time off) after C (Conservative) enters (intervenes) | |||
| 21a | SNIDEY | Agreed about noise, echoing, being malicious (4) | ID |
| YES (agreed) around (about) DIN (noise), going backwards (echoing) | |||
| 24a | DALASI | Greens from Africa, greens brought over to Italy (3) | DAL |
| SALAD (greens) reversed (brought over) + I (Italy) | |||
| 25a | SATEEN | Glossy fabric, article used in lining (4) | SA |
| A (article) used in STEEN (lining) | |||
| 27a | SOLVENT | Fluid volume in English Channel? (6) | S |
| V (volume) in SOLENT (English Channel?) | |||
| 29a | EPEE | Rear of Ennerdale Water revealing weapon (4) | |
| The last letter of (rear of) EnnerdalE + PEE (water) | |||
| 32a | RESTEM | Bard’s to force back source of sense in revolutionary American poetry (6) | |
| The first letter of (source of) Sense) in backwards (revolutionary) METER (American poetry) | |||
| 33a | SUNLIT | Legal case involving Netherlands is not shady (6) | |
| SUIT (legal case) involving NL (Netherlands) | |||
| 35a | CONCISER | Moulded cornices covering less space? (8) | |
| An anagram of (moulded) CORNICES | |||
| 36a | TO KALON | Classic American vineyard? Certainly kept in stock (7, two words) | |
| OK (certainly) kept in TALON (stock) | |||
| 37a | RETILE | Surface again, taking copper from small bag (6) | |
| We are taking (removing) CU (copper) from RETI[cu]LE (small bag) | |||
| 38a | EMINENT VICTORIANS | EV contains merit in representing this classic biography (13, two words) | NTVI |
| An anagram of (… representing) EV CONTAINS MERIT IN | |||
| Down | |||
| 1d | PROVISO | Supporting six to get very good qualification (7) | |
| PRO (supporting) + VI (six) + SO (very good) | |||
| 2d | EAMONN | No name arranged here? Surely not! (6) | |
| NO NAME anagrammed (arranged) | |||
| 3d | TWILT | Inclination to accommodate wide local coverage? (4) | T |
| TILT (inclination) containing (to accommodate) W (wide) | |||
| 4d | IDIOCY | Institute will have nothing invested in risky stupid act (6) | |
| I (institute) + O (nothing) invested in DICY (risky). (I can’t find support for this spelling of DICEY in the main dictionaries) | |||
| 5d | TENSE | Succeeded in blocking grief, no longer stressed (5) | |
| S (succeeded) in blocking TENE (grief, no longer) | |||
| 6d | MALADJUSTMENT | Reduction in sickness only achieved after absorbing new turn for the worse? (11) | AL |
| A shortening of (reduction in) MALADy (sickness) + JUST MET (only achieved) after taking in (absorbing) N (new) | |||
| 7d | ILLITES | Clay minerals, poor things, lacking mass (6) | I |
| ILL (poor) + ITE[m]S (things) lacking M (mass) | |||
| 8d | REGENCE | Former Government information presented during almost half of reception (6) | N |
| GEN (information) found in (presented during) almost half of RECEption | |||
| 9d | ENURE | The old practise, last to do without degree (5) | |
| EN[d]URE (last) to do without D (degree) | |||
| 10d | STEW | Be worried broadcast will out Republican (4) | |
| ST[r]EW (broadcast) will remove (out) R (Republican) | |||
| 14d | EERIE | Parliamentarian giving up power – that is very odd (5) | |
| [p]EER (parliamentarian) giving up P (power) + IE (that is) | |||
| 18d | SATES | Lack of pressure in floods in gorges (5) | |
| An absence of (lack of) P (pressure) in S[p]ATES (floods) | |||
| 20d | SNATHES | Handles Southern and Northern European city? Not Northern (7) | |
| S (Southern) + N (Northern) + ATHE[n]S (European city) not N (Northern) | |||
| 22d | EVENKI | Siberian tribe, still on island supporting King (6) | |
| EVEN (still) on I (island) which is under (supporting) K (King) | |||
| 23d | UNTILE | Strip of slabs up to the time of collapse, ultimately (6) | |
| UNTIL (up to the time of) + collapsE, ultimately | |||
| 25d | TENUTI | Held notes clear up a lot of din on the Shakespearean stage (6) | |
| NET (clear) reversed (up) + a lot of UTIs (din on the Shakespearean stage) | |||
| 26d | ETIOLIN | River dweller upset to receive current yellow pigment (6) | I |
| NILOTE (river dweller) reversed (upset) taking in (to receive) I (current) | |||
| 28d | SAILROOM | Marine storage project having berth turned over (5) | SAI |
| SAIL (project) having MOOR (berth) turned over | |||
| 30d | PAUPER | One in rags, perhaps, has you at last in rag (5) | A |
| The final letter of (… at last) yoU in PAPER (rag) | |||
| 31d | ACTED | Made a move, climbing about, and brought up detective (4) | D |
| Reversed (climbing) CA (about) + reversed (brought up) TEC (detective) | |||
| 34d | LATVIA | A source of entertainment I found in the French country (4) | TV |
| A, TV (source of entertainment) and I found in LA (the, French) | |||
There’s a setter’s blog at https://phionline.net.nz/setters-blogs/martyrdom/