What a splendid puzzle from metagloria. This was great fun. Here is a link to the puzzle: York S&B by metagloria
The special instructions read as follows:
Four across answers are clued by wordplay only and are thematic puns. Four down clues contain an extra word to be removed to enable solving, and these will reportedly indicate the theme.
The wordplay-only Across clues thematically substitute the name of a planet for part of the title of a Shakespeare play:
1A JUPITER (Romeo and Juliet)
9A EARTH (Macbeth)
13A URANUS (Coriolanus)
27A VENUS (The Merchant of Venice)
The extraneous words in the Down clues are:
5D SHEIKH’S
6D PIER
14D INNS
16D PACE
“Reportedly,” i.e., homophonically, these render the thematic title of the puzzle:
SHAKESPEARE IN SPACE
As a further nudge toward the theme, cleverly sprinkled throughout the clues are other references to the planets and to Shakespeare’s plays:
16A As You Like It
17A Hamlet
18A Saturn
2D Mercury
3D Neptune
7D King Lear
16D Mars
19D Juliet Capulet
21D Titus Andronicus
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ROMEO AND JUPITER |
Jerome put road in complex (5,3,7)
|
| Anagram of (complex) JEROME PUT ROAD IN | ||
| 9 | MACBEARTH |
Endure time in church after first half of mass (9)
|
| First half of MA[SS] + {BEAR (endure) + T (time)} inside (in) CH (church) | ||
| 10 | GLIB |
Suave, turning away most of rubbish (4)
|
| BILG[E] (rubbish) minus last letter (most of) and reversed (turning away) | ||
| 11 | WHIP UP |
Quickly make women fashionable at university (4,2)
|
| W (women) + HIP (fashionable) + UP (at university) | ||
| 12 | GORGEOUS |
Breathtaking chasm principally overlooking entrances to underground sanctuary (8)
|
| GORGE (chasm) + first letter of (principally) O[VERLOOKING] + first letters of (entrances to) {U[NDERGROUND] + S[ANCTUARY]} | ||
| 13 | CORIURANUS |
In our car, travelling America (10)
|
| Anagram of (travelling) {IN OUR CAR} + US (America) | ||
| 16 | SUET |
Type of pudding served at finales of As You Like It? (4)
|
| Last letters of (finales of) [A]S [YO]U [LIK]E [I]T | ||
| 17 | TOWN |
Walthamstow nunnery showcasing large-scale adaptation of Hamlet? (4)
|
| Hidden in (showcasing) [WALTHAMS]TOW N[UNNERY] | ||
| 18 | LACQUERING |
Putting on coat, miss something Saturn has, reportedly? (10)
|
| Homophone of (reportedly) LACK A RING (miss something Saturn has) | ||
| 20 | TERAFLOP |
Reconfiguring part of extremely experimental metric of processing speed (8)
|
| Anagram of (reconfiguring) {PART OF + outside letters of (extremely) E[XPERIMENTA]L}, referring to computer science | ||
| 23 | REPENT |
Heartless pedant chasing limits of remorse to show sorrow (6)
|
| Outside letters of (limits of) R[EMORS]E + outside letters of (heartless) PE[DA]NT, with “chasing” indicating the order of the wordplay | ||
| 25 | GNAT |
Pest from Manhattan graciously rebuffed (4)
|
| Hidden in (from) [MANHAT]TAN G[RACIOUSLY] reversed (rebuffed) | ||
| 26 | MALKOVICH |
Fine to knock back Vichy endlessly with actor anyone can be? (9)
|
| {OK (fine) + LAM (knock)} all reversed (back) + VICH[Y] minus last letter (endlessly), referring to John Malkovich, and in particular, to the plot of the film Being John Malkovich | ||
| 27 | MERCHANT OF VENUS |
Republican slogan old fellow opposing initiation of egalitarianism slipped into restaurant’s pamphlets (8,2,5)
|
| {R (Republican) + CHANT (slogan) + O (old) + F (fellow) + V (opposing, i.e., versus) + first letter of (initiation of) E[GALITARIANISM]} inside (slipped into) MENUS (restaurant’s pamphlets) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | OOMPH |
Energy level of intense acid containing oxygen and trace of mercury (5)
|
| O PH (level of intense acid, i.e., 0 pH) around (containing) {O (oxygen) + first letter of (trace of) M[ERCURY]} | ||
| 3 | EXCEPTION |
Former company hiding record and note on Neptune’s foremost irregularity (9)
|
| EX (former) + {CO. (company) around (hiding) [EP (record) + TI (note)]} + first letter of (foremost [of]) N[EPTUNE] Note: The published grid has a typo “Nepture’s,” which does not affect the wordplay. | ||
| 4 | ATEMPORAL |
Had politician spoken outside the usual flow of events? (9)
|
| ATE (had) + MP (politician) + ORAL (spoken) | ||
| 5 | DART GUN |
Abruptly trade up sheikh’s weapon for tranquilizer (4,3)
|
| TRAD[E] minus last letter (abruptly) and inverted (up) + GUN (weapon). “Sheikh’s” is extraneous. | ||
| 6 | USHER |
Pier attendant, one selling drugs when head of police is absent (5)
|
| [P]USHER (one selling drugs) minus (when . . is absent) first letter of (head of) P[OLICE]. “Pier” is extraneous. | ||
| 7 | INGLE |
Source of warmth found in King Lear (5)
|
| Hidden in (found in) [K]ING LE[AR] | ||
| 8 | EPICUREAN |
Luxurious treatment European quietly covers, leaving out nothing (9)
|
| {E (European) + PIAN[O] (quietly) minus (leaving out) O (nothing)} around (covers) CURE (treatment) | ||
| 14 | ON ONE KNEE |
How to propose joke about working inns, keen to change (2,3,4)
|
| {ONE (joke) around (about) ON (working)} + anagram of (to change) KEEN. “Inns” is extraneous. | ||
| 15 | SQUARE OFF |
Perhaps four or five fighters initially prepare for combat? (6,3)
|
| SQUARE (perhaps four, i.e., a square number) + first letters of (initially) {O[R] + F[IVE] + F[IGHTERS]} | ||
| 16 | STRIP MINE |
Expedition pace on surface of Mars with function surrounding excavation site (5,4)
|
| {TRIP (expedition) + first letter of (surface of) M[ARS]} inside (with . . . surrounding) SINE (function). “Pace” is extraneous. | ||
| 19 | CAPULET |
Relative to Juliet covering universal grant (7)
|
| CAP (covering) + U (universal) + LET (grant) | ||
| 21 | ATTIC |
Briefly quote Titus Andronicus at first, climbing upstairs? (5)
|
| {CIT[E] (quote) minus last letter (briefly) + first letters of (at first) T[ITUS] A[NDRONICUS]} all inverted (climbing) | ||
| 22 | LEMMA |
Proposition in meadow around mid-summer (5)
|
| LEA (meadow) around middle letters of (mid-) [SU]MM[ER] | ||
| 24 | NEHRU |
Stately jacket that man aboard vessel returned (5)
|
| {HE (that man) inside (aboard) URN (vessel)} all reversed (returned) |