i Cryptic Crossword 4164 by Vigo
June 11, 2024
Difficulty rating (out of five): ⏳
Hills is the theme you were looking for and didn’t spot. OK, the first one is well enough known, but I’m guessing most of the rest were a mystery too. This enigma, and surprise at seeing Vigo in the Tuesday spot, I suspect will be what has puzzled most today, this being a gentle but thoroughly enjoyable stroll through our favourite pastime. 30ac held me up for a little while at the close, and the spelling of the beast at 23d was somewhat unexpected, but the rest went in with little ado.
CoD? It’s got to be 9ac, hasn’t it? “Ball in cricket match – one caught by short leg (8)”.
All the answers and parsing of the clues can be found in Fifteensquared’s blog from July 2020:
https://www.fifteensquared.net/2020/07/06/independent-10524-by-vigo/
Borodin
batarde
Saboteur
Denzo
flashling
jonofwales
Cornick
sprouthater
uiytjhgmj
willow1235
idothei 
Enjoyed the the puzzle, missed the theme, though I knew most of the hills. Foumd this more challenging than Vigo usually is which increased the pleasure. After thinking “surely not” I smiled and entered THAT answer and also liked PRIMROSF and GROCER
What a great way to start the day! Lovely puzzle, nothing too taxing, but lots of enjoyment. 9a alone made it well worth the effort! Other I liked were THEREIN and BLUEBERRY, the parsing of which took a bit of teasing out.
As for the theme, missed it of course, but 26d reminded me of a time I was on a work trip to Philadelphia and a local said to me how much he enjoyed British comedy on PBS, but he also said “The one thing I can never forgive you for is Benny Hill”.
Well I did spot the theme today, and needed it too to be sure of BLUEBERRY which I just couldn’t parse at all, despite having a hebe in the garden. Was brought up on Shooters Hill Road in London, and several others seemed pretty obvious too – with the benefit of hindsight that is!
It being a Tuesday puzzle I actually remembered to look for a theme. At first, with TELEGRAPH and COURIER, I wondered if it might be newspaper titles, but two entries don’t make a theme. TELEGRAPH, of course, was part of the real theme which I did spot – after finishing the puzzle.My list of themed entries (compiled with a little help from Google) is: Primrose Hill, Harrow on the Hill, Forest Hill, Telegraph Hill, Faith Hill, Blueberry Hill, Signal Hill (not in UK but Google lists places in Canada, S Africa and USA), Potato Hill (N Yorkshire), Chathill (Northumberland), Shooters Hill and Benny Hill. Any more?[I posted a simialr comment a while ago but it seems to have got lost in cyberspace. Should it appear please accept my apologies for duplication.]
Forgot to comment yesterday, having solved before the blog was up. Loved this. Although a little too easy for my taste.
I eventually got the theme, although if it hadn’t been a Tuesday I doubt I would have persevered.