i Cryptic Crossword 2698 Radian

This is a reprinted Saturday prize puzzle from July 2015, so if it’s a little trickier than we’ve come to expect from Radian that’s understandable. There’s a theme and it’s near enough ubiquitous: well done if you spotted it because I did not. For an explanation along with all the solutions and parsings click here and you’ll be whisked away to Bertandjoyce’s impeccable Fifteensquared write-up.

In his blog Anax talks about the concept of balance in crosswords, by which he means the avoidance of hot spots where the solver can bogged down by intractable clues. Some setters are good at avoiding these situations, others less so, and ordinarily I’d say that Radian is amongst the best. However, the SW extremity caused me a good deal of trouble today, with 20, 22d and 24 all being pretty thorny. You’ll search the current edition of Chambers in vain for a proper explanation of 22d, which is why although I was reasonably sure of the required entry I cavilled for a long time before writing it in.

On the plus side there’s plenty of variety, a high standard of workmanship and one has to applaud the theme. The first three down clues all pleased me for various reasons, and of those 1d stands out as my clue of the day:

“Can Noel put up inspiring names for ex-Liverpool player? (4,6)”