I made heavy weather of the left hand side of this mostly because of two references that I had to look up – one I think at the end I had heard of (Marie Stopes), the other one seemed extremely obscure to me (Sir Ben Ainslie) though if he’s been knighted he must be famous if not infamous (apologies to Sir Ben if you’re reading the blog to see if anyone got your clue).
Found the right hand side of this far easier than the left – the right was almost complete with very little poking its way to the Western hempisphere.
Away we go…
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | STOPES: Marie Stopes rang a bell from somewhere, and it was a Mephisto puzzle from three years ago |
| 5 | SCUL,PT |
| 10 | AURICULA: I,CUL |
| 12 | SIC,CAR |
| 13 | SMEARY: M in SEAR then |
| 14 | THATCHERISM: an unlikely anagram of IT’S THE CHARM |
| 15 | NEED-BE: NEE then DBE (Dame of the British Empire) |
| 18 | YGOE: anagram of GOODBYE without BOD |
| 20 | AIDAN,T |
| 22 | NEBRIS: a reversal of SIR BEN AINSLIE |
| 26 | PLEA: hidden in simPLE Answer |
| 27 | GELADA: A,DALE,G |
| 28 | ALENDRONATE: (RANTED,ON)* after ALE |
| 30 | SERAIL: another term for seraglio, and SE RAIL |
| 31 | SUTTLE: SCUTTLE without C |
| 32 | SHATOOSH: (SO,HOT,HAS)* |
| 33 | MENHIR: sounds like MEN HERE – a word I suspect most of us learned from the Adventures of Asterix the Gaul |
| 34 | SEROSA: A SORE’S all reversed |
| Down | |
| 1 | SASINE: SAE(so) surrounding SIN |
| 2 | OR,CHEL |
| 3 | PICA,DOR: I was sure this was a container, but there’s a longish definition for PICA and DOR is the beetle |
| 4 | SURCEASE: CRUS(leg) reversed then EASE |
| 6 | CAME,LINE |
| 7 | USER: hidden in hoUSE Regularly |
| 8 | PER(a),SON(disciple),A |
| 9 | THYME: hidden in earTHY MEss |
| 11 | TAIGA: take HE’S out of THE SAIGA |
| 16 | BRINDISI: anagram of (IE,SING,DRINKING,BEER) less (GREENE,KING) – this clue won the Azed competition for puzzle 2200 |
| 17 | MARGOSAS: GO in MARS, then AS |
| 19 | HELLENE: HE containing ELLEN TERRY |
| 21 | DILATOR: sounds like DIE LATER |
| 23 | BEERY: BY containing EER |
| 24 | TATT,O,O: the O’s are the circular pieces |
| 25 | PAKEHA: A,K, and HE reversed in PA(a Maori fort) |
| 26 | PASHM: SH in PAM |
| 29 | NACH |
The sailor Ben Ainslie won many Olympic gold medals and is now connected with the America’s cup. Far less obscure than some of the cricketers that appear here from time to time. He lives not far from me in Lymington
I found the overall puzzle quite easy. 16D is a cracker of a clue.
And Ben Ainslie might be the greatest yachtsman the world has ever seen. An absolute hero of mine. Never lived anywhere near me, but Ellen Terry lived just down the road, at Smallhythe..