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Enigmatic Variations No. 485 – solution

I thought I should revive this in the anniversary year.  As You Like It is a play I haven’t seen enough yet.  I occasionally have visions of filleting it for an opera libretto (as Pears and Britten did with A Midsummer Night’s Dream).  Plenty of comic business and two significant arias for Jaques and Touchstone (though otherwise they’re fairly minor characters).

I remember watching at Stratford while Touchstone worked his way through his disquisition on lies stepping diagonally across the stage from rear left to front right.  Both his and Jaques’ speeches have seven components, which may one day find its way into a revisiting of the theme.

The grid shows I’m not averse to asymmetry when it is forced on me (but why couldn’t Shakespeare have given her a 7-letter name and pseudonym?).  Nor even two unchecked letters in five – but the two examples here are such that there are very few alternatives.

TPTTsol

The Play in question is As You Like It. 

  • The removal of AYLI from GRAYLING and DAYLIGHT;
  • Perimeter words are the seven ages of man in Jaques’ speech;
  • Redundant words in clues are the adjectives from Touchstone’s speech about lying;
  • ROSALIND (at 27 across) spends much of the play disguised as GANYMEDE, and the encoding was simply R -> G, O -> A etc.

ACROSS

10           SILD (>NEME); is (rev.) L d

11           BORDEL; l for r in border

14           OILS (>AEMN); (t)oils

15           DUBAI; a bud (rev.) + I

16           REGO; hidden

17           FROTHY; anag. in fry

19           GOSPEL; go spel(ling); COURTEOUS

20           TUNA-FISH; NA(A)FI in tush!

23           IHRAMS; ram in anag; MODEST

25           NIELLI; ill ein (all rev.)

26           GR(AYLI)NG; r in gay ling

27           ROSALIND;

28           SEE; 2 mngs.

29           SOLIDS (>NAMEEN); olid in SS

32           INSTAR; anag.

35           RESTAGED; rest aged

36           IBIDEM; I bide m

39           AMADOU; a mad ou(t)

42           VERY; ve(st)ry; CHURLISH

43           CIGGY; I in c,g g,y

44           TOTS; stot (rev.)

45           SHTCHI; ch in anag.

46           ADIT; d in ait

DOWN

1              SEER; ‘s e(v)er (or e’er)

2              HENT; he n(o)t; VALIANT

3              OLDHAM; old ham; QUARRELSOME

4              LOBO; b in loo

5              BRASSY; ass in br y

6              ADORNS (>YEAGDN); rod (rev.) in ans.

7              OERSTEDS; 0 + anag.

8              VEEPS; v + spee(d) (rev.)

9              DARI (>EYGE); cf. arid

12           DISHELMS; dish elms

13           LOOK-IN; loo kin

18           OURN; hidden; CIRCUMSTANTIAL

20           THRAW; R in thaw

21           INSTRUCT; in + anag. inc. c

22           PLEAD; P lead

24           ORDINALS (>AGEEDYMN); din in orals

27           REVERS; ever in (tailo)rs

28           STED; st(art)ed

30           NYMPHO; ny MP ho!

31           VESICA; anag. & lit.

33           SOLANO (>NAMYDA); a N in solo

34           VIRGO; VI r go

37           BEEB; be + be (rev.)

38           D(AYLI)GHT; ‘dey’ + light

40           ATAP; a tap; DIRECT

41           OTIC; initial letters
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This is the website of Paul Henderson, who sets crosswords for The Independent (London) under the pseudonyms Phi, for the Daily Telegraph (London) under the pseudonym Kcit, and anonymously for The Times (London) amongst many other outlets. For a more detailed biography see the About Me page.

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