Well, if you’d told me I’d published a puzzle called ‘Layettes’, I wouldn’t have believed you. Yet here it is, and it seems a reasonable sort of thing. Given the fact that I’d almost completely forgotten about it, there isn’t going to be much to say about where the idea came from. It clearly helps that PINK is one of the words in Chambers that has eight separate entries (did you know that pink is a shade of yellow?) – MULL is another, as is PORT. There may be others. I was intrigued to see that I allowed myself two five-letter words with two unchecked letters each – not sure I’d do that now, and a little surprised I did it then. In my defence, there is only one word that will fit the checked letters in each case.
‘Blue for a boy, pink for a girl’ governed the substitutions. In across answers, synonyms of ‘blue’ replaced boys’ names; in down answers, synonyms of ‘pink’ replaced girls’ names.
ACROSS
1 PARADISEAN; PARADIGLUM; para + is in Dean
11 ALURE; a(L)lure
12 SMITH; smit h
13 SUBUCULA; cub (rev.) in anag.
15 SLOP; sl(0)op
16 SARI; ras (rev.) + I
17 MINT-MARK; MINTANIL; t mar in mink
18 SKYE; ‘sky’
19 STOLA; a lots (all rev.)
21 LOES; E in los
23 CLOT; cf. colt
24 TELIC; anag. – fe
25 ASKS; (m)asks
27 TRUMPETER; TRUMBICE; MP in true t(I)er
30 BUNK; 2 mngs.
33 INNS; (F)inns
34 ANATOMIC; ANASADIC; m in a + anag.
35 UNITE; initial letters
36 HALVA; hal(e) VA
37 GERRYMANDER; CYANMANDER; err + my (rev.) in gander
DOWN
1 PAST; PA’s t
2 ALUNITE; unit in ale
3 ARUM; mura(l) (rev.)
4 DECCA; C in aced (rev.)
5 INURN; R in I nun
6 GALLIOT; Galli(c) + to (rev.)
7 LEMMA; LSAMLET; m,m in lea
8 MISALLIED; MILAKELIED; anag. & lit.
9 STORY; ‘s Tory
10 CHALICE; CHPIERCE; chal ice
14 BRITANNIC; BKNOCKNNIC; n in anag. – E
17 MAGNESIUM; MSTABIUM; anag.
20 ALTHAEA; h a in a l tea
21 LORGNON; lor! + nong (rev.)
22 FICTIVE; I c t in Five
26 SUNNI; in NUS (all rev.)
28 UNARM; hidden
29 MUSHA; ‘ush in Ma
31 NAAN; an (rev.) + an
32 SCAR; 3 mngs.
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