It has been a while since I blogged about anything, if my records are to be believed I haven’t written about crosswords since December.
I have been solving them though, in addition to the Guardian and The Times, I have diversified into the Indy and the Telegraph on occasion. I have come across a delightful online community of crossword solvers, among home there are actual people who set crosswords for the aforementioned newspapers. Fascinating to see that crossword setters are just ordinary people like you and me. One of them was 18 years old, who had published a crossword at 16, Wow! I have participated in some group solves using video sharing apps, and found them very enjoyable, not least in learning new things everyday.
While I have found several interesting crosswords in the meantime, today’s appeared particularly intriguing after a casual glance at the clues. I was convinced that this will turn out to be highly education, and before long, I had taken up the challenge. I was right, I learnt a lot of history.
Across
9 Plant, during historical period, run inside spy organisation (9)
A glance at the clues had revealed many numbers that appeared to be historical dates, so the use of “historical period” links up pretty neatly with the theme.
A well known spy organisation is CIA. A historical period could be ERA, during means IN and R is a short form for run, in cricket, for example.
Putting them altogether, we get CINERARIA. I admit guessing that the definition is a plant, and putting them in a form of a scientific name, then verifying the result via Google.
Read all about this plant, here
10 See 20
11 Source of news heard in 1045 and 1115, for instance (5)
I could not get this straightaway. As mentioned previously, an initial dekko over the clues, seemed to indicate that the theme for today is “historical years”, and the presence of two such numbers from the earliest part of the millennium left me scratching my head, but after a long time it struck me that this could be a clever misdirection, they are not years, but times, in which case the penny suddenly dropped – Source if news is TIMES, the newspaper of that name.
12 See 26
13 They’re out every year, you said, breaking records (7)
ANNALS is a word meaning records, and “U” sounds like “you” (said). The “breaking’ indicates that U gets put in between ANNALS,
ANNUALS are publications which are “out every year”.
14 Opening of games at Scottish town that got off to flying start in 1930 (7)
Very interesting clue – I quickly determined that the Opening of Games signifies the letter G, so it was either a place or a name beginning with G – I idly thought of track athletes in some sort of games held in 1930, but I knew the Olympics couldn’t have been then. I remembered a Scottish town called WICK, and it became clear – G AT WICK –
Gatwick Airport according to Wikipedia was started in 1920, and had commercial flights since 1933, so it is not clear what happened in 1930 exactly, so please educate me , if you know.
17 Noted runners from previous era hurrying back (5)
The only reference to the theme is the inclusion of “previous era” here,
An examination of previouS ERA Hurrying back, reveals the presence of HARES written backwards, and these are proverbial fast runners.
19 In 2001 he computed a bit less than 45 minutes? (3)
This appears to be a reference to 2001- A Space Odyssey. I haven’t seen the movie myself, but I am aware of the existence of HAL, a super computer. It took me a long time to work out that a HALF of a football match is 90 minutes, HAL is a little bit of that word.
20, 10 Agreement commemorated in 2015 revised as act (anagram) (5,5)
An angram of “as act anagram” quickly reveals itself as MAGNA CARTA. Magna Carta, which means ‘The Great Charter’, is one of the most important documents in history as it established the principle that everyone is subject to the law, even the king, and guarantees the rights of individuals, the right to justice and the right to a fair trial, this document was established in 1215, and had an anniversary in 2015.
21 Lecherous racist misbehaving around end of century (7)
A word play involving RACIST and end of Century, Y, reveals SATYRIC, a word meaning Lecherous.
22 From 2020, produces scores in sections over short time (7)
I solved this, even worked out the word play – sections could be BITS around a short time or SEC – I had to ask my new internet friends about the rest of the clue, and sure enough they gave me the answer – if you BISECT 2020, you get 2 20s or scores.
24 Fun starting in 1913 irritated a lot left out (9)
I enjoyed this clue a lot.
Irritated = CROSS
A lot could mean the WORLD, but with the L for left, out.
Answer – CROSSWORD
The first known published crossword puzzle was created by a journalist named Arthur Wynne from Liverpool, and he is usually credited as the inventor of the popular word game. December 21, 1913 was the date and it appeared in a Sunday newspaper, the New York World.We certainly consider this activity to be a lot of fun.
26, 12 Dispersed in mass burial in 1666 (5,9)
Dispersed indicates an anagram of “in mass burial in” – took me a fair amount of time to work it out to be ANNUS MIRABILIS.
The rest is in the hands of Google -“This is the first year to be designated as an Annus mirabilis, in John Dryden‘s 1667 poem so titled, celebrating England’s failure to be beaten either by fire or by the Dutch.” The Queen, memorably designated a later year as her Annus Horribilis.
28 MP in 1983, initially, he was recalled for 1984 (5)
1984, the year immediately brings to mind the book by George Orwell by the same name. George Orwell was the nom de plume of Eric BLAIR. A quick Google search reveals that Tony of that variety got elected to Parliament in 1983, so it seems pretty clear that the answer is BLAIR.
29 Eve of historic event in 1916, for which date’s varying with year (6,3)
A very cryptic definition along with helpful anagram fodder – “dates” and “year” reveals EASTER DAY, which is probably a reference to the Easter risings in Ireland.
Down
1 Historical tax for one joining union in 1707 (4)
The United Kingdom was set up after Scotland joined in 1707, and this appears to be a cryptic reference to this historical fact. Also a SCOT is a variety of tax.
2 Call number set up, like a momentous step taken in 1969? (3-3)
The second part of the clue recalls irresistibly the memorable words of Neil Armstrong in 1969 – A small step for one man, but a Giant leap for mankind.
Call = NAME
Number – NO
These two set up reveals the answer to be ONE MAN.
3 France’s extremely dated monarch, unwelcome visitor (10)
Extremely in French is TRES, dated would be PASSE, and R would be an indicator of Monarch.
A TRESPASSER is an unwelcome visitor.
4 Prepares for 2027 and 2029, for example (6)
In this case, 2027 and 2029, appear to be years, but turn out to be another misdirection. PRIMES is a word that means “prepares” and these two numbers are both examples of Prime Numbers.
5 16th-century music distracted capital over half a century (8)
Distracted – MAD
Capital. – RIGA , capital of Latvia.
Half a century = Fifty, and L is the Roman character for this number.
A MADRIGAL is an example of a type of music that originated in the 16th century.
6 Article penned by second-century bishop, one undermining union (4)
Second – S
Century – C
Bishop – B
The above is penning an article A – This leads indisputably to SCAB
It didn’t seem to match the definition, so I went out and checked a few dictionaries – it turns out one of the meanings of this word is
“a person who refuses to strike or join a trade union or who takes the place of a striking worker.” so a SCAB undermines union.
7 Military exercises that started to link two countries in 1988 (8)
This appears to be a reference to the Eurotunnel linking England and France. Drilling for the tunnel commenced in 1988, as I know, and DRILLING is an example of Military Exercises.
8 Parts of every year produce confusion, so to speak (4)
A cryptic definition for DAYS as parts of very year – and it sounds like DAZE – to produce confusion.
13 Since 1882, it marks success in tests for trees (5)
This is a reference to the ASHES test series between England and Australia, which commenced in 1882, although the name wasn’t coined until a few years later, ASHES are also types of trees.
15 Properties split among people in 1117 (10)
Another classic misdirection, which had me scratching my head for ages, untill finally the penny dropped 1117 is not a year, but references to 11 ac and 17 ac of this crossword, which are TIMES and HARES respectively.
TIMESHARES are properties split among several people.
16 Takes off a Romantic author (1795-1821) (5)
An anagram of Takes – gives KEATS , a romantic author whose lifetime spanned the period specified.
18 Like some numbers, within moderation always (8)
The word RATIONAL jumps out from within modeRATION ALways, and Rational numbers are a type of number than can be made by dividing two integers.
19 Male, having no heart about middle of 60s, was intimidating (8)
Male – HE
Having no heart – CORED
Middle of 60s(sixties) – T
HECTORED – was intimidating.
22 Like hundreds of dates accepted by male singer, American tough guy (6)
Male Singer – BASS
Hundreds of Dates – AD a cryptic way of describing calendar dates,
BADASS – an American term for a tough guy.
23 Preserve commercial area in country since 1867 (6)
Preserve – CAN
Commercial – AD
Area. – A
A quick google search reveals Canada came into being in 1867 as the country we know now.
24 Hint, having book set in 1728, say (4)
Hint – CUE
Book- B
Gives CUBE – once again the 1728 is not a year, but an example of a Cube (12 x 12 x 12)
25 Small rescue vessel, in 1945, liberated part of the British Isles (4)
Small – S
Rescue vessel – ARK.
SARK is one of the islands that are governed by the UK and were liberated from German occupation in 1945
27 By the sound of it, a Channel Island providing oversea refuge in 1746 (4)
An island providing refuge – SKYE, part of the Scottish Islands. It appears that after the failure of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, Flora MacDonald became famous for rescuing Prince Charles Edward Stuart from the Hanoverian troops, so this could probably be the reference to the “refuge”
And SKYE sounds like a TV Channel ie Sky TV.
cryptathon 