Today is election day in the UK. The country is grapping with a lot of really sensitive issues and the lead up to polls have been pretty nauseating in terms of he usual shenanigans that politicians, the press and people on social media get up to. So it was with some relief that I greeted the arrival of the actual election, hoping for some respite from all the noise. And it was with greater anticipation that I read the special instructions to this one.
Special instructions: An election puzzle: 12 solutions contain a word from a group, not further defined in their clues.
Not much to go on there, it could be anything – a group of recent politicians from one or more parties, or, God Forbid from the entire gamut of the history of the UK, or it could be political terms or slang or anything.
So on with the solution, it took me a solid 5 hours of work, and I had got 9 of the 12 without realising. I was stuck on one quadrant of the crossword for ages, but once I knew the little artifice that was used and what Picaroon was on about, it only took a few more minutes to complete the grid.
Across
1 Journalist cuts article and stories from Italy (3,9)
This was the one which actually led me to the theme, and I didn’t get this one until the end of hour 4.
I had got as far as
Journalist – ED
Article – THE,
And was struggling to know what to do next, till I got a whole lot of crossing letters.
It suddenly flashed on me – THE DECAMERON, could easily be described as stories from Italy.
So CAMERON was not at all defined in the clue.
Thankfully, CAMERON was an item of recent General Knowledge, and easily identified as an ex-Prime Minister of the UK. So the theme appears to be “Ex Prime Ministers of the UK” and their names aren’t defined in the clues.
9 Admit a lot of vice (5)
A lot of vice – A GREE(d) – Greed is a vice, and we only take 4 letters of it.
Definitoin – ADMIT
Answer – AGREE
10 Cent remains in fund for incidental expenses (5,4)
Cent – C
Remains – ASH
Fund for incidental expenses – PETTY CASH
That leaves PETTY undefined, and it turns out to be Wiiliam Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
11 Narcotics, one ingested by Roundheads? (7)
Round – O
Heads – PATES
One – I
Narcotics = OPIATES
12 Popular government’s leader is showing age (7)
Popular – IN
Government’s leader – G
Showing age – GREYING
That leaves GREY undefined, and it turns out to be, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, incidentally Earl Grey tea is named after him.
13 Wear a boring Briton’s garment (6,4)
Wear - SPORT Briton - SCOT A- A
Garment – SPORTS COAT
15 Jailed Liberal group? (4)
Jailed Liberal – L in CAN or CLAN, which is a group. A link to the political theme, as there used to be a Liberal party, and even now we have the Liberal Democrats.
18 Uncovered soy sauce (4)
Uncovered soy – O
Sauce – MAYO
This leaves MAY undefined, and again, I didn’t need to google or anything as Theresa May was our Prime Minister only a few months ago.
19 Fried food is a pig’s ear — and then seconds! (4,6)
A pig’s ear – a phrase meaning to make a mess or HASH
Seconds – S
Fried food could be HASH BROWNS
This leaves BROWN undefined, and I didn’t need to google or anything as Gordon Brown was our Prime Minister a few years ago.
22 Saw media manipulation across Britain (7)
Media manipulation – PR
Across – OVER
Britain – B
Saw = PROVERB
24 VIP discussed problem about English (7)
Problem – SUM
About ON
English E
SUMONE sounds like (discussed) SOMEONE, and a VIP could be described as being SOMEONE
25 Direction to Pole back in quiet street abroad (4,5)
Back in quiet – T (the last letter or the ‘back’ of the word)
Street abroad – RUE (French for street)
Direction to Pole – TRUE NORTH
This leaves NORTH undefined, and this turns out to be Lord Fredrick North
26 Figure scoffed loudly (5)
Scoffed = ATE sounds like EIGHT(loudly) which is a Figure.
27 Drops sound of glib talk after ruler (6-6)
Glib talk – PATTER
Ruler – ER (Elizabeth Regina)
Drops sound or sound of raindrops – PITTER PATTER
This leaves PITT undefined, and this turns out to be William Pitt ‘The Elder’, 1st Earl of Chatham
Down
1 Land’s politician admitting slip before Congress (9)
Politician – TORY
Slip – ERR
Congress – ‘IT’ (The sexual act)
Land – TERRITORY
2 Country’s leader going to display sloth, say (8)
Country – STATE – leader going – so remove the S, leaving TATE
A little bit of googling with the word “SLOTH” revealed the word EDENTATE
a mammal of an order distinguished by the lack of incisor and canine teeth, including the anteaters, sloths, and armadillos, all of which are native to Central and South America.
This leaves EDEN undefined, and this turns out to be Sir Anthony Eden
3 Displays awkward pose capturing vote (5)
Awkward – POSE – An anagram of POSE capturing vote which is usually marked by X – a link to the polling theme
Displays – EXPOS.
4 Sign that a group’s forgotten tango dancing (9)
This clue indicates an anagram of “that a group” with T for Tango taken out.
Sign = AUTOGRAPH
5 English city, spot where head of state dwells (6)
English City -ELY
Spot – SEE
ELYSEE (Palace) is where the head of the French State lives.
6 Statesman, something of an egomaniac (5)
The word egOMANIac, contains the word OMANI, a cryptic definition Statesman for a man belonging to the state of Oman.
7 South Wimbledon and the like? (6)
South – S
Wimbledon and the like are known as the MAJORS.
So, This leaves MAJOR undefined, and no googling was required to identify John Major.
8 Leader, a swine defended by right-wing tabloid (6)
Swine – HOG
Rightwing tabloid – SUN
Leader – SHOGUN
14 Awful career, not a person heading for the top (9)
Awful Career, not a, seems to indicate an anagram for CREER,
So by looking at the rest of the clue and crossing letters I plumped for CLAMBERER – this means a person climbing to the top.
So, This leaves LAMB undefined, and it turns out to be William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
16 Many to quit country after day for poor counsel (9)
Spent quite a time on this one, the answer was unfamiliar to me, I filled it in based on some crossing letters and guessing, and parsed it later
LAWMONGER, is a word for an inferior lawyer.
Country is GERMANY, but MANY is to quite – that leaves GER.
Day – MON.
That means LAW is undefined. This turns out to be Andrew Bonar Law
17 Wobbly tum bared to reveal tattoo (8)
Wobbly indicates an anagram of “TUM BARED” to get DRUMBEAT. Tattoo also means drumbeat.
18 Plan working out capital for Africans (6)
Plan – MAP
Working out – an anagram of out – UTO
MAPUTO is the capital of the African country of Mozambique
20 Lead in shoplifting case (6)
Lead in Shoplifting is S
SHEATH could be a Case.
That means LAW is undefined. I happened to know about Edward Heath
21 Exercise fan consuming a snack (6)
Exercise – PE
Fan – NUT
A – A
PEANUT – Snack
23 Round openings with no actual fit, regularly (5)
nO aCtUaL fI – The regular letters highlighted reveal OCULI or Round openings.
24 WC has to be fixed and sound (5)
I guess this one was only included to somehow fill the grid, I puzzled about it for a while, as it didn’t seem to make any sense, but finally decided that it can’t be anything else
An anagram of WC has gives SCHWA, which presumably is a sound made when you touch a hot plate with a wet finger.
The highlighted portions of the grid reveal the 12 ex Prime Ministers of UK cunningly included in the solutions along with the odd electoral phrasing in the clues.
cryptathon 