EV 921 Gang Of Four

[AndrewG-S]

All very quiet today - surely you have not all started watching football - or maybe you have left the country? Slow progress today, about 3/4 done on the grid and not making much progress on the theme - top left hand corner proving particularly irksome.

[dr b]

Hi Andrew, this one is killing me; I had hoped the theme was Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen, but apparently not. I have a nearly full grid, most of the unclued lights, but only 4 (maybe 5) extra words and only 12 misprints! Not enough to start Googling possibilities. Hopefully it is not some obscure group of 4 Brits, but I fear the worst.

[turnerjmw]

Yes, this was a bit tricky, and you're right to be fearful, dr b. I'm afraid the extra words are unlikely to be the way in. The misprints will probably be the key. Finding the work is not helped by the top left corner being the hardest, so the starting letters are elusive.

I'm a bit Hypnos-ed out, as he also provided yesterday's Inquisitor. Tough, but perfectly fair clueing, though.

[AndrewG-S]

I think I have 5 of the unclued, but only 8 clashes - I agree the clashes look to be the way in - I was thinking we were dealing with nationality as the last word but no joy on google

[dr b]

Ah. Went through the clues more closely looking for misprints and found the first one, which "cracked the code". Clear sailing now.

[novalis]

Have spent the day reading exam scripts in preparation for tomorrow's and Tuesday's meeting. Have looked at this and have all but 6 answers in ( including two unclued ). 11 & 16 across and 4 & 12 down are proving elusive at the moment but doubt I'll have the opportunity to finish it now.
Dr. B. I thought your team might have gone through to the quarter-finals but they did your country proud.

[dr b]

Novalis, yes, it's funny how it all must be filtered through one's expectations. Identical results for both USA & England - 1-1-2 records - but a disaster for England, a triumph for us. That said there are plenty of calls from the "serious soccer press" (such as it is) for the coach's head, and a feeling that this was a real missed opportunity for us - it was *Ghana*, for Pete's sake.

[midazolam]

enjoyable solve that took me right to the end to work out the theme. Hadn't heard of it before, so it is always nice to learn something new

[AndrewG-S]

Still slow progress, any hints on how to break into the top left hand corner gratefully received...

[Mampara]

I'm also making slow progress but I think I know the 'Gang'.

In the centre of the grid in the bottom half I have OLI?EA but cannot find a word and therefore the relevance to the theme.
Can anyone confirm my letters as I am beginning to think I've made an error.

Thanks

[dr b]

Mampara, check that E (note that 39a is plural).

AG-S, 1a really helped open things up for me. The answer (last 4 words of clue) is a word that no one could have ever possibly heard of unless they were a ranch hand in the Southwest US 100 years ago. Wordplay is pretty transparent (think of most obvious synonyms for region and soft earth.)

[Mampara]

Thank you dr b for pointing out the error with the E.

I must be as thick as mud as even after substituting S for E i'm still left with a 'non-word'.

Can you please put me out of my misery?

Cheers

[Mampara]

Sorry it's the heat!

Forget my previous post.

[Jogler]

We are currently enjoying the sea breezes in Devon - long may the good weather last.... please. The h-g got 1 across straight away - he was muttering something about JT Edson or was it Zane Grey or the immortal Louis L'Amour! A misspent youth I fear. The misprints were certainly the way in and a couple of them were key to an early finding of the gang. We still have a few clues to fully finish - some of the wordplay is proving elusive.

[AndrewG-S]

Thanks dr b, I now have one across, in the end I got there by getting 2d and 3d first and unlike joglers not a word I had heard of before. Still battling with the misprints up to 13 now and reviewing answers to find more...

[AndrewG-S]

Finally got there this morning, was missing the first misprint which slowed up getting the theme. Just 4d to go ...

[AndrewG-S]

Soldiered on and finished but it has left me nursing a headache

[kayakamina]

An enjoyable puzzle, and a nice touch with the title of the work being in an EV crossword.

[Ruthrobin]

My first ever EV and I found it hard going! I have only just twigged the significance of K's comment!