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.
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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