This was a fairly straightforward puzzle
from Elfman. It had the look of a letters latent puzzle, however the wordplay
pointed to the entire word and the solver had to deduce the omitted letter by
cross-checking. The letters omitted from answers, in clue order, spelt
–
“I keep six honest serving men
They
taught me all I knew”
This from The Elephant’s Child by
Rudyard Kipling. The verse continues –
“Their names are What and Why and
When
And How and Where and Who.”
Solvers had to highlight the six names
placed symmetrically in the grid, thus determining the central letter as
W.
1 Dramatic merchant loses nothing taking a female name (7)
ANTONIA
ANTONIO (ref. The Merchant of Venice) less O + A
7 Cambodia and native
Chinese destroyed region governed by prince (7)
KHANATE K + HAN + ATE
(destroyed)
11 Romance around a smooth shoal produces the main chance
(15, three words)
LOAVES AND FISHES A in LOVE + SAND (to smooth) +
FISHES
12 Lines with vassal replacing Prince in Indic language (7)
ROMANES
ROPES less P replaced with MAN (vassal)
13 Prime red coloured protective
covering (8)
PERIDERM Anagram PRIME RED
14 Fish I found during mission in
choppy sea (10)
SERRANIDAE Anagram SEA containing ERRAND
15 Hit low
trajectory shot not caught sloping at end (6)
HIPPED CHIPPED less C
(caught)
20 Army character that's Greek chief (8)
TAXIARCH TA (Territorial
Army) + XI (Greek character) + ARCH (chief): & lit.
22 Gods flush out
everything in vessel (7)
DISHFUL DI (gods) + Anagram FLUSH
23 Irish
leaving in a plane behaved as before (6)
ABORNE AIRBORNE less IR
Irish
25 Go regularly to batten down hatches? (6)
ATTEND Hidden
26
Siren summoned when learner's in back (7)
DELILAH L (learner) in HAILED
(reversed)
28 Cavalry accepting many a Frenchwoman (8)
HORTENSE TEN in
HORSE
32 In addition, article reminiscent of the past's not right
(7)
THERETO THE + RETRO less R
34 Disbanded soldiers from SA rode off
(10)
REFORMADOS Anagram FROM SA RODE
37 Basic libation turned up
unexpectedly in exotic tea (9, two words)
TABLE WINE Anagram TEA
containing BLEW IN
38 Paris without sun and rain splashing about on the Rive
Gauche? (8)
RIPARIAN Anagram PARI(S) + RAIN less S (sun)
39 Disastrous
rains veiled sun and stellar system (14, two words)
ISLAND
UNIVERSE Anagram RAINS VEILED SUN
40 Elastic band found in watch
(7)
SPRINGY RING in SPY
41 Something emitting a deep sound good for bass
musical instrument (7)
GITTERN (B)ITTERN replacing B (bass) with G
(god)
Down
1 Rule in land's acceptable yet less acceptable
(7)
ALRIGHT R (rule) in ALIGHT The definition indicates that this is a less
acceptable spelling of ALL RIGHT!
2 Athenian going north must exchange lira
for marks in Greek province (5)
NOMOS SOLON reversed with M replacing L
3
Wild primates, higher than lower animal, show cooperative disposition
(10, two words)
TEAM SPIRIT Anagram PRIMATES above IT
4 Legally
substitute debts from tax missing on drug? (6)
NOVATE No VAT (therefore TAX
missing) + E (drug)
5 Continuously but with difficulty (10, three
words)
AT A STRETCH 2 definitions
6 Take in bomb without top around
what may be dynamite stick (6)
INHERE (m)INE containing HE (high explosive) +
R (take)
7 Head dressed with dead tree and crowned with a wreath of ivy
(9)
HEDERATED Anagram HEAD + D (dead) + TREE
8 What won't cuckoo do? I
find little yen for building (6)
NIDIFY Anagram I FIND + Y (yen)
9 Tried
to like juvenile delinquent (6)
TASTED T (to) + AS (like) + TED
10 Gypsy
girl has in gem a ... (9)
ESMERALDA ‘S (has) in EMERALD + A
16 ...
worthless distraction, an embedded stone containing black in gold (7)
PABULUM
PLUM containing B in AU
17 Smoke a hundred and one fish (5)
CIGAR CI (101)
+ GAR
18 What follows baby confused Brit father (10)
AFTERBIRTH Anagram
BRITFATHER
19 Plant producing resin discharging a not quite recently
discovered hydrocarbon (6)
BUTENE BUTE(a) less A + NE (not)
21 Like foam
up north - inclined to have mass instead of density (5)
REAMY READY replacing
D (density) with M (mass)
23 Draw attention to queen taking time in counsel
(9)
ADVERTISE ER + T (time) in ADVISE
24 Depositing in secret screen
(8)
HOARDING 2 definitions
27 In a rather wet way, smell's deadly? Not
half with iodine inside! (7)
HUMIDLY HUM + (dea)DLY containing I
(iodine)
29 What may take away damaged old English liner (7)
ELOINER
Anagram OE LINER
30 Expose as a lie old European from the south being ancient
Greek (6)
EOLIAN NAIL O E (reversed)
31 Tree growth from a knot in surface
(6)
OAKNUT A KN in OUT
33 High-flyer's using energy for power in
object in orbit (6)
ELANET E for P in PLANET
35
Magnetic flux density in antenna is not so strong (7)
FEEBLER B in
FEELER
36 What may be found at the foreparts of haulers above water sailors
employ (5)
HAWSES Initial letters Haulers Above Water Sailors
Employ
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