Muristek
From Jane Austen to Bill Bailey, who is famous enough to be in a crossword?
Writers of the past, comedians of the present and folk-rockers Indigo Girls in our weekly look at cryptic clues
When does a name become a crossword name? Or: when does a setter think someone is well-known enough that most solvers will understand a reference to him or her?
Appearing in a clue or an answer is flattering, according to a remark that my notes tell me is from a 1953 edition of this newspaper:
When Foyles gave [gardening writer Beverley Nichols] a luncheon today to mark the publication of his latest book he talked of the payment of supertax not indicating ‘arrival’, rather is it, he said, when a writer is parodied in Punch or becomes a crossword clue. The clue to Mr Nichols’s identity, he asserts, was ‘Public anemone No 1’.
13a Hair-to-rug transformation seen in spin supremo? (4,5)[ wordplay: anagram (“transformation”) of HAIRTORUG ][ definition: spin supremo ]
23d Court jester? (6)[ double definition ]
18/27a Bill Bailey show possibly calms mice you’d stimulated (7,6)[ wordplay: anagram (“stimulated”) of CALMSMICEYOUD ][ definition: Bill Bailey show possibly ]
6d Embittered Bill Bailey’s opening in Morecambe, say (7)[ wordplay: abbrev. for ‘bill’, then first letter (“opening”) of BAILEY, inside (“in”) first name of a famous Morecambe ][ AC, then B inside ERIC ][ definition: embittered ]
Emily Saliers: Oh, man. That’s called the pinnacle of our career. It was a thrill, a total thrill.Amy Ray: I was actually just surprised, because I always thought of us as being pretty underground and not really in the intellectual set. But it was exciting, flattering.
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