This was a good workout which I completed a shade inside 45 minutes. Some of the references were a tad obscure: or at least stuff I didn’t know, such as the book at 1 and that at 7. I was lucky enough to see what the anagram led to for 1, but the lack of wordplay in 7, 22 and arguably 16 was rather less helpful, turning them in more of less GK clues. Researching has led me into some interesting new (to me) corners of the arts world and a couple of old favourites, and there is quite a lot of popular TV programming thrown in for good measure. Here’s my take, with clues, definitions, SOLUTIONS.
Across
1 Vagrant we like prints an alternative to Robinson Crusoe and Lemuel Gulliver (5,7)
PETER WILKINS Robert Paltock’s magnum (and only) opus, published in 1751 as a cross between the two more famous earlier stories mentioned. Despite the invention of naked flying women, it is sadly monumentally dull, though it numbers Walter Scott and Robert Southey amongst its admirers. Read it here to form your own opinion. The wordplay is an anagram (vagrant) of WE LIKE PRINTS
9 Site of major work in marble and silver, by a recognized artist (4)
AGRA Location of the Taj Mahal, silver Ag and artist RA
10 Role no lady played in an inter-war tale of conspiracy (6,4)
LONELY ROAD A generously signalled (“played”) anagram of ROLE NO LADY. The novel is by Nevil Shute, Published 1932
11 Result of 5 journeys by fictitious explorer around Italy, Austria, Sweden and Portugal (8)
DIASPORA Originally the spread of the Jewish people after the Babylonian captivity ca 587 BCE, which sure is “LONG AGO”, now also applied to their current dispersion and to other peoples’. If you have (grand)children, then DORA the Explorer is a gimme. The intervening letters are provided by the IVRs of the four nations. Jason (and some others) managed to find an alternative answer to this one, which is doubtless very clever and was sanctioned by PB as suitable for competition entry, but I fear I cannot see it, or how it could possible match the wordplay. Just as well that bit about entry to competition is a fiction, or was last time I looked.
12 I start to hunt in small measure, creating much resistance (6)
MEGOHM A matter of perspective, where MM is a small measure, and our answer a large one. EGO (I) and H(unt) intervene.
13 Jane’s friends of a famous detective? (3,7)
THE WATSONS Jane as in Austen, and this an unfinished novel. The famous detective is Sherlock, and so the Watsons would be his friends.
15 The kind of music that was very influential in China 1000 years ago (4)
SONG The dynasty lasted from 970- 1269
16 What the prophet said, according to Nietzsche? (4)
THUS spake Zarathustra. I could be picky and say that it should really be ALSO.
17 Austen’s nice translation reads well (10)
ENUNCIATES An anagram (translation) of AUSTEN’S NICE
19 Shakespeare’s fools steal Caesar’s heart (6)
SNIPES Snip can give you steal if you think of bargains, and caESar’s heart provides the ending.
20 Pike’s relative swallowed fresh water – Jones remembered it (5,3)
GREAT WAR The GAR is the pike’s fishy relative, and fresh WATER gives you the REATW filing. Jones is, I think, Corporal Jones from Dad’s Army, though his memory was more usually of fighting the “Fuzzy Wuzzies” at the Battle of Omdurman 1898. For fans, it’s a nice touch to include “don’t tell him” Pike in the clue.
22 The colourful work that scandalized some late Victorians (6,4)
The YELLOW BOOK was a periodical running from 1894-7, featuring contemporary art and literature. Its reputation for scandal was primarily based on Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations, which shocked “some” Victorians.
24 A noble prisoner or depressed earl (4)
SADE A depressed Earl is a SAD E. The Marquis de Sade (yes, that one) spent almost half his life imprisoned in various institutions
25 American Getz’s arrangement included two versions of one note that’s long and flowing (7,5)
YANGTZE KIANG Tricky wordplay for the Chinese River of Many Spellings. American YANK has an arrangement of GETZ included, then there are two versions of one, I and AN, and a pick-any-one-from-7 note G. Phew.
Down
2 A wet alternative to BBC Alba or S4C? (7,7)
ENGLISH CHANNEL Alba is Scottish Gaelic for Scotland, and is the BBC’s Scottish Gaelic TV channel. S4C is Sianel Pedwar Cymru, Channel 4 Wales. So we’re looking for an alternative to these that could be thought of as wet, which rather loosely gives us our answer. I’d venture English is not an alternative for those looking for Gaelic or Welsh programming. Ach y fi!
3 The death we hear about in Under Milk Wood (5)
EVANS Speaking of which, the prevalence of Jones and Evans as surnames in Wales has developed the delightful Welsh habit of qualifying the surname with the occupation, as any devotee of Ivor the Engine will know (Jones the Steam, Dai Station, Owen the Signal). In Dylan Thomas’ epic Under Milk Wood, the undertaker is Evans, so Evans the Death. Should have been Dai.
4 Dwarves possibly seen by Toad and Badger (6,5)
WILLOW TREES Some of which are officially Dwarf, and might be seen by Toad and Badger in Kenneth Grahame’s windy world.
5 “I have forgotten everything / I used to know so —” (Christina Rossetti) (4 3)
LONG AGO Not too tricky to guess
6 The problem found with fame and fortune (3)
ILL A sort of Only Connect clue, both words can be prefaced with our answer. 3 points.
7 The manuscript found in this Spanish city was written by a Pole (9)
SARAGOSSA Count Jan Potocki (1761–1815) wrote Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse over a considerable period of time leading up to his suicide. The clue is pretty straight GK, which you’ll either know or not.
8 All I need is dispensed by a wise man – the Last Puritan’s uncle (9,5)
NATHANIEL ALDEN “Dispense” ALL I NEED and set it alongside NATHAN the Wise, a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, 1779. The Last Puritan is a philosophical novel by George Santayana, his hero Oliver, Oliver’s uncle our answer. Congratulations if you knew all that.
12 It’s clear Smike’s moved a young lady in a Dickens novel (4,7)
MISS CREAKLE from David Copperfield, an anagram (moved ) of CLEAR SMIKE’S
14 For Christopher Robin, a place not spoken about and unknown, but Hardy wrote of exploits there (4,5)
WEST POLEY “There’s the South Pole, said Christopher Robin, and I expect there’s an East Pole and a West Pole, though people don’t like talking about them” (Winnie the Pooh) . Add an “unknown” Y and you have the setting for Thomas Hardy’ s short “story for boys”.
18 Fur-lined gear for two Germans in their submarine (3,4)
UGG BOOT Product placement, I believe, as Ugg is a ®. Place two G(ermans) in U-BOOT
21 Sound pitched by Italy’s sentimental songwriter (5)
TOSTI The sound of tossed (pitched) gives TOST, and Italy supplies the I. Paolo Tosti pumps out the sentiment in such songs as Goodbye, here sung by the immortal Gigli. Undeniably sentimental, even if Tosti ended up being British.
23 Old-style big city novel’s rejected (3)
WEN Novel, New backwards for the Great WEN, William Cobbett’s disparaging nickname for London.
Marvellously, there’s a current indie band called “Evans the Death” though I’m not sure the crossover audience between their work and lovers of Dylan Thomas can be much bigger than myself.
http://www.mortels.com.au/shop/pages.php?pageid=2
Edited at 2017-02-10 03:12 pm (UTC)
I’m waiting for my free pair of woolly boots. Joke … crossword editing freebies have so far been limited to a pen from Cross and some reference books.
“Jason: your version of 11A is correct. I’m afraid I reintroduced a problem I meant to avoid – there is another answer, without “construction kit” wordplay, that has two possible spellings and the different letter unchecked”.
I think I’d like to claim that my interpretation was at least possible, and mystifying as suggested. And we still don’t enter the competiton this way.