Two disappointing weeks in a row, let's see what the next challenge brings. "Yes" by Lato. I've only tried one Lato puzzle before, "4", in which I got a few grid entries but didn't come close to the theme. What's in this one...
Eleven entries associated with members of a group. Extra words in eleven clues - hmmm, I like extra words, but finding just eleven of them will be tricky. Seven-letter word that completes assocation. I hope it's an obvious word.
I got my hopes up quickly here - I started this one on the plane on the way back from my New Jersey/New York trip, and without any aids at all, I had a good third of the grid filled in, and a couple of obvious extra words. The clues appear to be around my level, and rather fun. 10ac being s(ANRDA) Bullock with OR in to make ANDORRA is a very amusing construction, as is 15ac.
13ac gives me my first extra word - COCKATOO, 26ac my second - FILM. Films about cockatoos? The clues retain their surface after removing the extra words, so pretty good stuff here.
Even before I got stuck in to the dictionaries, I spotted a likely contender. I have COCKATOO, and there's -I-CHELL. Good Aussie lad that I am (or was), I know a MAJOR MITCHELL when I see one! -AY is ingering tantalisingly in the NE corner. There's eleven entries. I now have DEPRESSING PLACE IN SOMERSET from the entries lacking definition (not 100% on DEPRESSING, but it seems to be the only thing that fits. Googling the phrase brings up Peter Roebuck's tour diaries, which means -AY has to be Peter May and we're looking for cricketers. OK, where's the Bothams, Larwoods, Olds, Snows... ummm... they're nowhere.
Bugger.
And for a week I had a grid that was complete except for 34ac and 37ac, and MAY and MITCHELL written in before I knew any better.
Deeper searching on the phrase brings up DOWNING STREET as a possibility. AHA - it's not the MITCHELL that is the parrot, it's the MAJOR. The current prime minister is BROWN, and BROWN BETTY is a PUDDING. We're off again! It's still MAY, but we're it's MAGGIE (Thatcher) MAY, the Song by that old Scots git. Final confirmation here came from looking up "Grouse" on wikipedia and finding that a HEATH HEN is a type of grouse. Working backwards through Prime Minsters, I have a full grid and a relieved expression. The slide is stopped at 2!
Oh, I almost forgot, the extra word is PROJECT for the TONY BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. It might have been a better film that way. Nice puzzle, Lato, you held me up for a long time there, however a last-minute gasp victory for George.
Current tally: George 13, Listener 10. Current streak: George 1.
2 comments:
Nicely done George- my grid was complete, apart from a few of the words which needed deducing, but after hours of sifting through places in Somerset along the lines of Blue..., ....Down, I gave up.
I was nearly there, I'd be surprised if this was doable by luck without getting the Downing Street reference.
I see that I also didn't pick up on that there were 12 members of the second set (the Prime Ministers), and that EDEN PROJECT (which I had never heard of) was the end of it. More preambly woes.
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