L4603: In Round Numbers by Colleague
Posted by Encota on 8 May 2020
I really enjoyed this slightly unusual mix of General Knowledge puzzle and cryptic crossword – thanks Colleague!
There was an easy in with the answer to 11a being ZETA and the checked letters looking like ALPHA. TANGO soon converted to ROMEO, too.
And that’s where the fun really started! 32a looked like it had to be EARL GREY, allowing the clue CANNING to be readily (some might say split-infinitively) solved. 24d had to be DAY-LEWIS – either the actor or the poet and once the clue yielded MOTION it was clear which. The Astronomers Royal soon followed, though I have to admit I knew neither and spent a little while using the answer POND to try and key into Dr. Who assistants. BELLOW soon yielded SINGER (Nobel Literature prize winners). Eventually I had only BEN NEVIS left. After trying the 7th highest peak in the UK I happened upon the 1986 Grand National winner!
The final stage was to spot PROVERBS and PLUS FOUR in the grid, and then write JEREMIAH under the Grid. I think I add four to Proverbs to get Jeremiah, rather than add four to something to get Proverbs.
Thanks once again to Colleague for a very enjoyable puzzle!
Cheers,
Tim / Encota
Listen With Others 
Alan B said
I have to say this was, for me, a considerable challenge, and I had to admire the very clever design. The only thing that really held me up (a weakness in the design, perhaps) was that the special clues led to a solution for which one had no further help except the enumeration, and the entry had to remain unknown or uncertain until a connection is found by whatever means – including luck! SOLDIER was my last special clue to solve, although the answer was pretty clear all along. SINGER was almost as tough.
Incidentally Nehemiah plus four is Proverbs, but the the more natural reading of those two lights (‘Proverbs plus four’) gives the intended answer Jeremiah.
19a ‘Peter Piper …’ was a remarkable clue: either Peter or Piper could have clued ‘Pan’ (in Pantaloon), and either of them would have yielded the same correct letter ‘e’ for the alternative title. Next to that, the revelation of ‘more or less’ was unfortunately somewhat underwhelming.
These puzzles (I think this is my sixth) give me a real work-out every weekend – more than the weekend, to be honest.