The theme was the works of the novelist Iain Banks – in particular, his series of SF novels set in the universe of the Culture, which are actually written under the cunning pseudonym of Iain M Banks (hence the appearance of Menzies among the solutions). I’ve greatly enjoyed his work, and, in the light of his recent sad announcement about his health, this puzzle is offered up as a tribute and with thanks for that enjoyment.
The Iain M Banks novels referenced in the puzzle are Surface Detail, (The) Algebraist, Inversions and Matter.
ACROSS
1 DETAIL; TA in de(v)il
4 SURFACE; surf ace
9 GENUINE; gen U in E
10 CUPCAKE; anag. in cue
11 IRON; IR on
12 ALGEBRAIST; anag.
14 HORSESHOE; r in hoses hoe
15 BANKS; b(L)anks
17 SPEED; p in seed
19 IONIAN SEA; on in II + n in as ea
21 INVERSIONS; version in I NS
22 BALI; al(l) in B I
24 SIROCCO; sir + C C in 0 0
25 MAUDLIN; a in mud + lin(e)
26 MENZIES; men z(an)ies
27 MATTER; t for s in master
DOWN
1 DOGFIGHTS; do + g + f(l)ights
2 TANDOOR; tan door
3 IAIN; I A1 n
4 SOCIETE ANONYME; anag.
5 RUPERT BEAR; pert in rub + ear
6 ARABIAN; RA (rev.) + I in a ban
7 EVENT; even t
8 HEALTH VISITORS; it in anag.
13 PENDERECKI; anag.
16 STATIONER; station + re (rev.)
18 ENVIRON; e,n,v + iron
20 SHALLOT; all in shot
21 IN SUM; n in musi(c) (rev.)
23 CUBA; cub A
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Comments