Word Puzzle 74

Word Puzzle 74 – Solution with Explanation

Theme: Thematic clues contain references to numbers in non-English languages (German, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese)

1. Don’t believe what you see at Capitol? (7, 8) Optical illusion

Optical illusion, don’t believe what you see (def), capitol (target), one way to get capitol is via optical anagram (illusion)

2. Bring back the one from Essen who broke into the Royal Museum (9)

Reinstate, bring back (def), eins (one from Essen i.e., 1 in German), broke into (insertion), R (royal), Tate (museum)

3. Welcome a friend on A-list (9)

Palatable, welcome (def), pal (friend), a (a), table (list)

4. Retired pharma rep uses recovered needles from Titanic? (5)

Super, retired (reverse scan), from (hidden), Titanic (def), rest is fodder

5. Shapelier dog leading four from Munich (7)

Curvier, shapelier (def), cur (dog), vier (four from Munich i.e., 4 in German)

6. Humorous routine with a dustpan? (5-2, 6)

Stand-up comedy, Implicit meta, humorous routine (def), dustpan (target), one way to get dustpan is stand-up anagram (comedy)

7. Supplement a power writer with 10 in Lille (8)

Appendix, supplement (def), a (a), p (power), pen (writer), dix (10 in Lille i.e., 10 in French)

8. Catch a grinch in the act? Repeated failed attempts ending in disillusionment (7)

Chagrin, in (hidden), disillusionment (def), rest is fodder

9. Yours truly and 7 others from Marseille, screaming about the fair? (10)

Antiseptic, I (yours truly), sept (7 from Marseille, i.e., 7 in French), antic (screaming), about (container), fair (def)

10. Unlimited praise, welcoming 8 from Milan with money (10)

Bottomless, unlimited (def), bless (praise), welcoming (container), otto (8 from Milan i.e., 8 in Italian), m (money)

11. Walk with Asian expert on fluid? (9)

Malleable, mall (walk), e (Asian), able (expert), fluid (def)

12. Female neighbour? (5)

Skirt, DD

13. Attack six from Rome on the Zambian river (7)

Seizure, attack (def), sei (6 from Rome i.e. 6 in Italian), Z (Zambian), ure (river)

14. The French saint replaced the principal? (7)

Salient, Le (the in French), replaced (anagram of) Le + saint, principal (def)

15. President choosing princess? involved in partiality (12)

Predilection, Pr (president), election (choosing), Di (princess), involved (insertion), partiality (def)

16. 5 from Berlin with a shtick? That’s a titbit of interesting trivia (3,4)

Fun fact, funf (5 from Berlin i.e. 5 in German), act (shtick), rest is def

17. From copper records (a lot of them) got, it’s clear (9)

Exculpate, ex (from), cu (copper), LPs (records), a lot of them (delete last letter), ate (got), clear (def)

18. 9 from Lisbon with a pitch for essayist (8)

Novelist, nove (9 from Lisbon i.e., 9 in Portuguese), list (pitch), essayist (def)

19. Insult a couple from Madrid in Windies (8)

Barbados, barb (insult), dos (2 in Madrid i.e. 2 in Spanish), in Windies (def)

20. No grief in changing rupees into dollars for example (7, 8)

Foreign exchange, implicit meta, no grief (target), rest is def, one way to get no grief is via foreign anagram (exchange)

21. Apprentice replacing one with another in common cryptic crossword operation to return to the frontier (8)

Marginal, L (apprentice), anagram (common cryptic crossword operation), replace one with another (replace a in anagram with i), return (reversal), frontier (def)