Crossword Centre Prize Puzzle August 2023

 Right is Wrong by Flowerman

PDF version

Twenty across clues contain an extra word which must be removed before solving. Ten of these extra words contain a particular pattern of letters, with a different example in each. Several more examples of the pattern occur in clue answers. Solvers must introduce eight more examples (ie, different to those in extra words and answers) of the pattern into the perimeter by changing letters in some cells. All resulting new entries are real words, including a comparative form and an abbreviation.

Across

1 Cafe right out of pickled mushroom spread (7)

6 Duke leaving country after one took vulgar picture (6)

10 Spooner's capital gains affected policy transfer (6)

11 Dismal old tenor beginning to snore during ceremony (6)

14 Excitement in Wiesbaden for Ocker on vacation (5)

15 Some spectacular bijoux in Asian tin (4)

16 Base probing sailors' careers (5)

18 Wolfgang’s subtle about rejecting the local oils (5)

19 Extremely slack Welsh alumni are lost causes (6)

21 Types near Rajkot wearing American suits (6)

23 Are folk endlessly fanatical about coffee? (7)

24 Jack irritated after losing case to churchgoing jerk (6)

25 Dashing European men fashion top-quality swimmers (11, 2 words)

29 In retreat, US president getting abstainer in for a good meaningful talk (6)

31 Devious crones had disdained Macbeth (7)

33 Pressure sexy racing driver to return fabrics (6)

35 Birds migrating west regularly into lowveld (6)

37 Sound articles in Spanish and English about lockjaw (5)

41 Bones strewn across area not including coccyx bone (5)

43 Fools’ anecdotes disheartened geniuses (4)

44 Subordinate to heave Aussie out of church (5)

45 Change side in hunt for animal in Moray Firth (6)

46 Vehicle with revolutionary hubcaps in English town (6)

47 Deliver QR-code signal with reservation (6)

48 Releases by byzantine Greek character backing workers (7)

Down

1 Draw up chart's second key (4)

2 Tree with pliant branches on rocky rise (5)

3 City in Iran upset about 60 Minutes showing part of mosque (6)

4 Commission dismissing Britain's obligation (4)

5 Stalk in cross-section's trigonal (5)

6 Seaweed turning up in stern (4)

7 Laird ignoring a ground tremor in the Highlands (4)

8 A petition going around cheers Turkish ruler (6)

9 After estimates retain contractor (5)

12 Sire frolicking with dams gets the wrong idea (8)

13 Spectacle shortened with no grand song of triumph (5)

15 Disease of bats irregular but not unusually rare (5)

17 Top layer of coat shed by Arctic inhabitant (4)

19 Amid conflict in grammar school, new threats (8)

20 Total panic when Australian out for duck (5)

22 Release first of carp into English stream (5)

26 Retiring soldiers are sent faulty heaters (5)

27 Opponents of uprising are French (4)

28 Cut tin’s sharp without question (5)

30 Abel’s brother mostly brooded over experiences (6)

32 Country women visiting golf club (6)

33 Commendation after Rex left bread in Nepal (5)

34 Wretched Hindu shunning Indian holy man (5)

36 Philatelist finally studied stamp (5)

38 Hopeful ultimately showing up who’s outstanding (4)

39 Lambert abandoning old joint in the Dales long ago (4)

40 Aquatic bird shot in sound (4)

42 Convenors disregarding children’s voices (4)

To enter this competition, send your entry as an image or in list format, to ccpuzzles@talktalk.net before 8th September 2023. The first correct entry drawn from the hat will receive a book from the Chambers range, which has been donated by Chambers.

Crossword News July 2023

 Crossword News July 2023

The June Prize Puzzle was Full of Beans by Road Gamer. This was cleverly themed on the books of P G Wodehouse. Stories by P.G. Wodehouse about various members (referred to generically as Eggs, Beans and Crumpets) of the Drones Club see the appearance of (among others) BERTIE Wooster, BOKO Fittleworth, CATSMEAT Potter-Pirbright, TUPPY Glossop,  BARMY Fotheringay-Phipps, BINGO Little, PONGO Twistleton and STILTON Cheesewright (who thinks that Bertie is his rival for the affections of a certain young lady . Solvers had to help JEEVES take BERTIE's place in order to rescue him and  all other Drones bar STILTON (who remains unchanged), replacing them with JURA, DERMS, SORBO, JEEVES, CASEMENT, NISSE and DSOBO, all of which produce new real words in crossing entries.

Having re-populated the grid, solvers needed to highlight DOLLS (being a female synonym of crumpets) and OOLOGY (the study of eggs).

Here are some of the comments from solvers.

This was quite an interesting puzzle with a theme that will no doubt be familiar to many.  I wasn't entirely sure about the instructions initially (since theme entry clues also threw up seemingly extra words) so just decided to keep slotting them in the grid and see how the mismatches pan out.  The initial grid filling went quite fast, helped to a great extent by the generous checking and fair sprinkling of fully checked entries.  The theme also became obvious early in the process when Stilton and Catsmeat fell.  The second part took longer than expected even knowing which entries would need to undergo change, but there was a fairly obvious starting point - it was somewhat intuitive that Jeeves would come in, and only Bertie could make way for that.  Many thanks for the entertainment.  As an aside, I must say I was somewhat surprised that 'climbing' and 'up' figured as reversal indicators in across clues. 

This was fun, also a real challenge. I have always loved PG Wodehouse, and had never come across this volume (but managed to locate a pdf on the internet). I was about halfway through before the theme became apparent.  Some very tough clues and I found properly identifying the extras rather difficult, in fact although I managed to re-pair a couple of definitions and wordplay, other pairs still elude me, even though I'm pretty sure I got all the replacements correctly.  I'd never heard of Sorbo, took me ages to get it! Well done, Road Gamer!

This was a tough one - I had no idea what was going on for a long time. I think it was getting ‘Bertie’ that put me on the right track and then the internet came to the rescue. I thought reconstructing the clues would be very challenging but noting ‘valet’ in this context had to lead to 'Jeeves’ and then it was a process of elimination to complete the grid. I guess that I’m highlighting the ‘crumpets’ and the ‘eggs’ at the end.  I thought the clues were all good and it was a really enjoyable challenge.

It proved to be a tough puzzle. There were 34 entries, of which 9 were marked incorrect. The lucky winner was Tim Coates from Beecroft, Australia, who will be receiving a prize book.

There is a full solution and notes at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2023/07/solution-to-full-of-beans-by-road-gamer.html

The current Prize Puzzle is Gravest by Stick Insect and you have until the 8^th of August to email your entry.

The August Prize Puzzle will be Right is Wrong by Flowerman.

***
More sad news. We heard of the death of Margaret Irvine at the end of June. As the setter Nutmeg, she had her very first puzzle published on the Crossword Centre in 2005 to be followed by more until 2017.  We became good friends. Her clue-writing was precise and often enigmatic.

On Twitter, Haydon Bambury wrote this tribute.

She made her debut in the Guardian with a Quiptic on 8th May 2006 and would go on to provide 80 puzzles in that series. It wasn't until well over 6 years later on 20th September 2013 that she would make her daily debut, and right from the word go it was clear that she was something special. She reached the landmark of 100 daily puzzles on 13th July 2019 with her first Saturday Prize puzzle.
Her final tally of 182 puts her 23rd on the all-time list, right between two greats: Quantum and Hendra.

Adjectives that appeared in the comments underneath pretty much all of her puzzles: sparkling; immaculate. RIP.

Hugh Stephenson wrote her obituary in the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2023/jul/06/nutmeg-margaret-irvine-obituary
***
My book, The Apex Letters, has been well received by the first few readers. One of them wrote, “It has certainly stirred memories of Eric Chalkley, such a generous and thoughtful man, and the way in which he encouraged the kindred spirit among crossworders.”

You can find out more and how to order a copy at this link. https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/p/the-apex-letters.html
***
I always wondered what Stephen Sondheim’s Manhattan apartment looked like. Now that it is for sale you can get a glimpse inside.

Located at 246 East 49th Street, the late composer's townhouse "sits among the 20 historic homes that comprise Turtle Bay Gardens, the coveted enclave situated on 48th and 49th Streets between Second and Third Avenues. Created in 1920 from a collection of 1860’s townhouses, the homes share a private communal garden accessible only from one of these storied homes. Previous owners of these homes have included Katharine Hepburn, Garson Kanin, Robert Gottlieb and Maxwell Perkins, to name a few," according to the listing.

The home includes a "music studio on the second floor [that] features a music library, wood-burning fireplace and baby grand piano."

A video tour is available. https://youtu.be/ANZ3VCI8lnM and the apartment could be yours for around $7million!
***
Following the news last month that Big Dave had died, Elgar (John Henderson) has produced a tribute puzzle that is well worth trying.
https://crypticcrosswords.net/puzzles/ntspp-puzzles/ntspp-698/
***
Best wishes
Derek

Solution to Full of Beans by Road Gamer

 Full of Beans by Road Gamer - Solution

Initial Grid

Final Grid

Stories by P.G. Wodehouse about various members (referred to generically as Eggs, Beans and Crumpets) of the Drones Club see the appearance of (among others) BERTIE Wooster, BOKO Fittleworth, CATSMEAT Potter-Pirbright, TUPPY Glossop , BARMY Fotheringay-Phipps, BINGO Little, PONGO Twistleton and STILTON Cheesewright (who thinks that Bertie is his rival for the affections of a certain young lady . Solvers had to help JEEVES take BERTIE's place in order to rescue him and  all other Drones bar STILTON (who remains unchanged), replacing them with JURA, DERMS, SORBO, JEEVES, CASEMENT, NISSE and DSOBO, all of which produce new real words in crossing entries. 

Having re-populated the grid, solvers needed to highlight DOLLS (being a female synonym of crumpets) and OOLOGY (the study of eggs). 

Solution notes

Crossword Centre Prize Puzzle July 2023

 Gravest by Stick Insect

PDF version

In each clue, two letters (not necessarily consecutive) must be removed from a word before solving, always leaving a real word.  In clue order, one letter contributes to a message showing how to find a cryptic representation of the theme; the other contributes to two instructions which solvers must obey to produce the final grid, which contains all real words or proper nouns.  Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

Across

1 Pretending to piracy, perhaps not on the level (7)

7 Happen to replace panther’s head for one rousing game (6)

11 Fabric hood recycled by Tati (6)

13 Criminal inmate Mal makes propositions (7)

15 Hair-remover stung in odd application at first (5)

16 Cubicle building in ocean a U-boat periodically supplies (5)

18 Tweet seaports, not with head (4)

19 Drupel covers left shoe (4)

20 Lessee ashamed housing band (4)

21 Advanced heptads of Georgian recitals excited whistles (4)

23 Skier badly lusted for vessels (5)

25 Nine remoulades in very European French department (6)

27 Carer follows stink, finding fabulous bird (4)

29 Church half rueing of a bag in canal (5)

30 Nabobs, baron died in arrests (4)

31 American Norse disturbed about mother’s stinks (6)

34 EOKA pursuing South African piece of armour (5)

36 Lacking energy, recce west in compere’s car (4)

37 Opening by Lehar shows pace (4)

39 Complain in Scotland about obscene musical tenutos (4)

41 Look! Part of castle refound (4)

43 Ian and mate resolved to be as a friend (5, two words)

44 Baronne recruits fresh muscle (5)

45 Native American stung in Perth grasping heather (7)

46 Compounds fade and wane with entropy (6)

47 Listener entry about revolutionary (6)

48 Apparatus for webchat, perhaps, in TV farces before (7)

Down

2 With sails furled, a hand’s starting tug jettisoning pawpaw (5)

3 Singular fillies vote against you for French poems (6)

4 Scan cat, dog, head trout and sheep (8)

5 Blinks at his scent wrongly (8)

6 Expressionless, Faith and Gary less troubled,  strangely after being dumped (6)

7 Bating hot heat for Ed (5)

8 Involves one lasting in sombre novel (8)

9 Upset cleric within tannah’s eating place (7)

10 Curly with enthusiasm undressing Native American warriors (4)

12 American checks thrombi, cycling (4)

14 Bing supports male rug (3)

15 Stress amateur producer of earth in books (7)

17 Alien rent old giant (4)

22 Royal tip: back movie (7)

24 Beware Iona tin goddess hunt (8)

25 One dossing in prophet’s cave did it badly, ignoring God (8)

26 American charmed Edna, chaste for another, keeping diamonds to the end (8)

28 A Mexican polacre is blackish, Sian discovered (7)

32 Were editor’s grass (4)

33 Empty arums in thaw supply heat (6)

35 Striding in Jerusalem, Anselm finds old lovers (6)

37 Egg white dad and girl cooked (5)

38 Relabel island’s sock (4)

40 Little support for neon good for Zambian currency (5)

41 Spinal marrow is source of costal hurt initially (4)

42 Understanding martial art lacking skills (3)

To enter this competition, send your entry as an image or in list format, with an explanation of the final grid, to ccpuzzles@talktalk.net before 8^th August 2023. The first correct entry drawn from the hat will receive a book from the Chambers range, which has been donated by Chambers.

Crossword News June 2023

Crossword News June 2023

The May Prize Puzzle was Coronation by Chalicea and it was planned to coincide with the coronation of King Charles III. Extra letters gave 'Shade forty-five cells: four places and an iconic item once in each'. Solvers were required to highlight THE STONE OF DESTINY (that sits under the King's throne at the coronation) and SCONE, WESTMINSTER, ARBROATH and EDINBURGH.

Here are some of the comments from solvers.

A timely puzzle.  Pleasingly simple.  WESTMINSTER, ARBROATH and EDINBURGH were easily spotted.  A little online reading revealed the name of the stone, and there it was on the principal diagonal.  That was 41 shaded cells, so a little more reading was required to find the fourth placename.  An extra letter produced by the wordplay tends to lead to slightly too many 'anagrams plus one' or 'containers plus one', making the solution fairly straightforward.  I shouldn't complain.  It's the first CC crossword I've completed this year.

This was an enjoyable puzzle with a straightforward end (although Arbroath took a bit of finding). I liked the travelling of the stone on its journey up and down the country (it was interesting to read about it on the internet).  Thanks, Chalicea.

As always with Chalicea, an enjoyable and not too difficult solve with smooth-reading clues and a lot of thematic material both extracted from the clues and in the grid. Thanks to the Crossword Centre and Chalicea.

There were 55 entries, of which 4 were marked incorrect. The lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat, was Mark Roberts from Hostert in Luxembourg.

There is a full solution at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2023/06/solution-to-coronation-by-chalicea.html

This month you have lots of time to complete Full of Beans by Road Gamer. Note that there was an error in the preamble for the first 24 hours of publication which has now been rectified.

The July Prize Puzzle will be Gravest by Stick Insect. We have puzzles for August and September now but always welcome submissions for the autumn.
***
When solvers saw that Paul’s Guardian crossword was a tribute to a departed friend, it came as a shock to see that it was Roger Squires. Roger was a prolific crossword setter and was famous for his mentions in the Guinness Book of Records. As the setter Rufus, he delighted solvers with his Monday crosswords. I met him many years ago and was impressed by his honesty and friendliness. Afterwards, he continued to supply me with information and he wrote the page about himself. I shall miss him.
http://www.crossword.org.uk/rsquires.htm

Hugh Stephenson wrote the obituary in the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2023/jun/14/rufus-roger-squires-obituary
***
It was also sad to hear of the death of Big Dave, an influential crossword blogger and a huge personality. He set up Big Dave's Crossword Blog in 2009 and it became a popular spot for solvers seeking hints in Telegraph crosswords. He encouraged new setters and many published their first attempts on his Rookie Corner.  He will be sadly missed. 

There is a full tribute with many comments on the Big Dave site. http://bigdave44.com/2023/06/01/big-dave/
***
The 18^th June marked the 4000^th edition of the Observer’s Everyman crossword. Alan Connor wrote a tribute. https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2023/jun/18/forget-wordle-and-sudoko-how-the-observers-crossword-has-stood-the-test-of-time
***
Several people showed an interest in the book I have written on my friendship with the crossword setter, Apex. I am pleased to announce that I will be able to have the book ready for purchase on the 5^th July. A press release is available at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/p/the-apex-letters.html

If you wish to buy a copy, please email me and I can send you details of how to pay.

Best wishes

Derek 

Solution to Coronation by Chalicea

 Coronation by Chalicea - Solution

Extra letters gave 'Shade forty-five cells: four places and an iconic item once in each'. Solvers were required to highlight THE STONE OF DESTINY (that sits under the King's throne at the coronation) and SCONE, WESTMINSTER, ARBROATH and EDINBURGH.

Across: 1 Scones, 5 Rickshaw, 12 Hernia, 13 Axe, 14 Neon, 15 Articles, 17 Nannoplankton, 18 Fewest, 20 Minster, 21 Restroom, 26 Out-half, 28 Epochal, 29 Paratha, 30 Decarbs, 33 Theatral, 36 Loudens, 39 Onsets, 42 Prestigiators, 45 Selenian, 46 Fiat, 47 Din, 48 Burghs, 49 Day-sight, 50 Eatery. 

Down: 1 Sinner, 2 Ohone, 3 Ergo, 4 Snips, 5 Rialto, 6 Catnip, 7 Sects, 8 Helots, 9 Akene, 10 Wastrels, 11 Tea, 16 Rammed, 18 Feuar, 19 Erato, 22 Thar, 23 Cocas, 24 Scat, 25 Cabas, 26 Opalised, 27 Fatsia, 31 Burley, 32 Anting, 34 Hognut, 35 Lastly, 37 Opera, 38 Deeds, 40 Nitre, 41 Toise, 43 Alga, 44 Ran. 

Across: 1 S: S(i)C(k) [S]ON E(at)S, 5 H: RIC[H] + HAWKS*, 12 A: HE[A]R AN, round I, 13 D: A X E[D], 14 E: NE + ON[E], 15 F: AR I CLE[F]S, 17 O: {PLONK AT INN A NON[O] less I}*, 18 R: FE W [R]EST, 20 T: MIN[T] + STER, 21 Y: {M[Y] SO RETRO}*, 26 F: {HAUL OF[F]}*, 28 I: EP[I]C around O + HAL, 29 V: PA (t)R(e)A(t)T(o) HA[V](e), 30 E: DE[E] CAR BS, 33 C: THE [C]AT R(e)A(l)L(y), 36 E: (c)LOU(t) DENS[E], 39 L: {[L]ETS SON}*, 42 L: {GRIS[L]IEST PART round O}*, 45 S: LES[S] EN I A (unk)N(own), 46 F: FAT around I[F], 47 O: D[O]-IN, 48 U: (b)[U]G(s) in SHRUB<, 49 R: YA[R]D + SIGHT, 50 P: (s)EATE(d) + [P]RY. 

Down: 1 L: CRIMINA[L]NESS* less {I SCAM}*, 2 A: ONE around HO[A], 3 C: [C]ORE< around G, 4 E: SNIP[E]S Double definition, 5 S: O[S]T L AIR<, 6 A: CAT + P[A]IN<, 7 N: SCE[N]TS with E moving up, 8 D: HEL[D] OT S(acred), 9 A: AK[A] + first letters, 10 N: STER[N]LAWS*, 11 I: [I]T EA, 16 C: [C]RAMMED, 18 O: FEAR around [O]U, 19 N: ETO[N] around R(e)A(d), 22 I: T(angled) HA[I]R, 23 C: SAC[C]O C<, 24 I: {ACT [I]S}*, 25 T: CA BA[T]S, 26 E: O PAL[E] (d)IS(c) E(namel) (adde)D, 27 M: FAT SIA[M], 31 O: (t)R[O]UBLE(s)* + Y, 32 N: AN[N]OTATING less TAO*, 34 C: HO[C] GNU (a)T(e), 35 E: L[E]AST L(ad)Y, 37 I: Hidden (c)OP[I]ER A(dvertised), 38 N: DS around [N]EED, 40 E: NI TRE[E], 41 A: TO I(nland) SE[A], 43 C: (s)[C]AL(e) + AG<, 44 H: (p)R(e)A(c)[H](i)N(g). 

Crossword Centre Prize Puzzle June 2023

 Full of Beans by Road Gamer

PDF version

Eight members of a thematically clued subset of a tripartite set have entered the grid, with seven of them displacing normal clued entries. Definitions and wordplay of each displaced entry have been moved into clues for other entries which do not cross a thematic entry, so that all bar one of such other clues contains extra words representing either the displaced definition or its wordplay. These extra words must be extracted from clues before solving them. Having filled the grid, solvers must re-form the seven scattered clues and insert their solutions in the grid, thereby delivering seven members from the attentions of the eighth. Finally, solvers must highlight five cells in an across entry, which might provide a gender-bending synonym for a second subset, and six cells in a down entry, which might describe the study of  the third subset. All entries in the final grid are real words. Chambers is the principal reference.

Across

1 Idle fellow half-emptying ale trough (6)

5 Weapon-toting member of order in goblin throng (8)

12 Foolishly loosed brief joke about First Lady's lush toy home (10)

14 Skittle changing sides in northern sport (4)

16 Special people climbing round old Hebridean island ravines (6)

17 More strange goods supplied when king's dead (5)

18 Parent finally heading off conceited youngster who lives off others? (5)

20 Support in general for contribution from woodwinds (oboes) once fashionable (7)

21 Seniors' reels in Strathspey bringing more luck  (7)

25 Examined fourth manuscript on shrinking wine box? (5)

27 One certifying Norse seal (6)

28 Clever way to hold ball in well upset batter (5)

30 Bee's sound when bouncing over falls (5)

32 Inflatable mattress fixed up window frame in wool mill regularly (4)

33 Twitter finally engaged in barring old abusive posts (8)

35 He persuades arranger to include antique viol (6)

36 Serfdom of the whole generation, once Troy is abandoned (8)

37 Jazz fan's heard fitting old bagpipe part (8)

38 Junior employee's waffle? (5)

39 Glistening observed around hard yolk at first (6)

40 Force's units accepting rule on Sabbath's absence of alcohol (7)

Down

1 Talk at length about book (4)

2 Deva twice encompasses escape (5)

3 One leaving loo available for use (5, two words)

4 Cheers cast back some vacuous story (6)

6 Creamy desserts with fruit (5)

7 Not originally really well-behaved (4)

8 Parties for instance in union hosting South Tibetan natives (4)

9 Fix cross oddly one way, twisting aerial (7)

10 Rows after disarray in shooting galleries? (11, two words)

11 Stake in skins game ends in really unhappy experience (6)

12 Failed to force valet to accept date (5)

13 Scots leader who preceded King David? (4)

15 After excavation Barker uncovered pagan laws for display (7)

19 Bad smell of remotely controlled aircraft (5)

20 Extremely sinful sugar high lifted heart of strapping Balkan musicians (7)

22 In review briefly look into contents of bygone science of intellect (7)

23 Pitch held by native's monotonous speech (7)

24 Dirty crooks turning over smack (6)

25 Grub in church is fried bread (6)

26 One of two English pronouns (6)

29 Group of seaweeds' thematic member, some say (5)

30 Gracious following court song's burden (5)

31 Bores' spongy rubber serge pants (5)

34 Did Study In Scarlet on the radio (4)

To enter this competition, send your entry as an image or in list format, giving the highlighted entries to ccpuzzles@talktalk.net before 8th July 2023. The first correct entry drawn from the hat will receive a book from the Chambers range, which has been donated by Chambers.