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Crossword roundup: what links bloomers, shrapnel and wisteria? Things surprisingly named after people

Link [2022-06-17 23:22:45]

A fateful horticultural misspelling from 1818 lives on in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic clues

In the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners series. The setter’s name often links to an interview with him or her, in case you feel like getting to know these people better.

1d I’m surprised, upset and unhappy over Carrie’s last party (7)[ wordplay: backward (“upset”) utterance meaning “I’m surprised” + synonym for “unhappy”, containing (“over”) final letter of CARRIE (“Carrie’s last”) ][ backwards OH + DOWN, containing E ][ definition: party ]

6d Social climber Carrie’s endless struggle to hide Boris’s temperament, conclusively (9)[ wordplay: all but first and last letters of (“endless”) CARRIE + synonym for “struggle” containing (“to hide”) last letters of (“conclusively”) BORISS and TEMPERAMENT ][ ARRI + VIE containing ST ][ definition: social climber ]

8a Loose coins ruin her plans (8)[ wordplay: anagram of (“ruin”) HERPLANS ][ definition: loose coins ]

… commemorates the late eighteenth-century, North American anatomist Caspar Wistar. Unfortunately, when he named the genus, Thomas Nuttall misspelled Wistar’s name. The international rules of botanical nomenclature mean Nuttall’s orthographic error will be with us for ever.

14a Turn away as foreign, next to European (8)[ wordplay: synonyms for “foreign” and “next to” + abbrev. for “European” ][ ALIEN + AT + E ][ definition: turn away ]

20a Same clue as 14 (8)[ wordplay: synonym for “foreign”, after (“next to”) abbrev. for “European” ][ STRANGE after E ]

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