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10. Yellow flowers in a festoon from behind window ORIEL (or +
lei, rev.) The
clue is quite difficult to parse, due to the uneven lengths of the indications
of ‘or’ and ‘iel’. Not the last window in the puzzle…
14. Nightingale that sang in a tree LIND (2 mngs.) A
nicely worded definition pair referring to a another
name of the linden or lime tree, and to Jenny Lind, the 19c soprano
known as the ‘Swedish nightingale’.
16. One famously luckless where it’s easy to
get lost in rolling hills
SHLIMAZEL (maze in anag.) The solution is a Yiddish word that seems to
have no ready equivalent in English, maybe because the British response to
chronic bad luck would be “mustn’t grumble”.
29. Sea dog, possibly, endlessly roguish ARC
(arc(h)) Another
clever combination. It’s easy to assume that ARC must be an abbreviation for some
sort of mariner and then suffer the frustration of not being able to trace it.
Better to check the alternative meanings of ‘sea dog’, as one is an arc of
light on a foggy horizon, also called a ‘fog-dog’.
34. Merman e.g., tail to the fore, in river of
legend LETHE (E to end in Ethel) Another nautical theme
and another reference to a leading lady of yore, this time Ethel Merman, star of
many 1930s Hollywood musical comedies. The river Lethe in Classical myth
ran through Hades, and drinking from it induced forgetfulness.
35. It’s not far to home with Shakespeare’s Kate around? STONE’S-THROW (to nest in shrow) Find the definition ‘It’s not far’ and the
rest falls into place. ‘Shakespeare’s Kate’ is a slightly indirect way of
indicating the Bard’s alternative spelling of ‘shrew’, the one he didn’t use in
the play’s
title.
8. Male on bender (no women), not old? Fatal
weakness includes one! HEEL-BONE (he elbo(w) ne) A rather ungainly surface to combine all the
components of the charade. Beware, as ever, ‘ne’ indicated by ‘not old’. The
definition refers, of course, to Achilles’s heel.
9. One coming out laces new dress tight – it
produces slow motion ENDLESS SCREW (anag. less a) A
few possibilities need to be checked (‘ace’ for ‘one’, ‘n’ for ‘new’) before
the anagram material is verified.
25. Fell over? There’s a how-d’ye-do
HILLO (hill o) A
great choice of words embellishes the
surface of a straightforward charade.
30. She paints numbers etc
on cars REGO (2
mngs.) The
third notable woman in this month’s puzzle is Paula Rego,
the Portuguese artist who celebrated her 80th birthday this year. ‘Rego’, pronounced somewhat like Reggio, is also Aussie
slang for a registration number.
Other solutions:
Across: 1. SPLASHPROOF (anag.); 12. OLDEN (hidden
rev.); 13.
BROIDER (I’d in anag. + R); 15. CAP (2 mngs.); 20. MOIMBO (anag.);
22. REVETS (v in steer, rev.); 23. MALKIN (mal kin); 24. ORMERS (RM in anag.); 28. TRAIL-BIKE (anag.);
31. TOLL (2 mngs.); 32. BLASTER (anag.); 33. EMULE (e +
mule).
Down: 1. SUBCOMMITTEE (anag.);
2. PARÀ (2 mngs.); 3. LOOPHOLE (loo + H in pole); 4. SIDHA (anag.);
6. ROOMIER (Moor, rev. + anag.); 8.
FENESTRA; 11.
RISP (s in rip); 17.
DIADROMS (anag. in dims); 18. PROFILES (pr. + anag.);
19. BEE-EATER (bee(f)eater); 21. BILLMEN (anag.
in ben3);
26. SKATT (hidden); 27. NESH (s in hen, rev.).