Tropical Rhythms

Question

_{This is part 29 of the puzzle series Around the World in Many Days. Each part is solvable on its own.}

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Dear Puzzling,

This is a diagramless crossword. The clues are not numbered according to their placement in the grid – rather, they are listed so that their answers are in alphabetical order. You must solve the clues and place all answers in the grid, using bolded lines to separate words where necessary. Every cell must be used and grid lines must be rotationally symmetrical. For example, if there is a line separating cells 1–2 on row 1, there must also be a line separating cells 10–11 on row 9.

Whenever one or more letters from the start of the clue form a substring of the answer, those letters must be highlighted in the grid. For example, if the clue starts “On Tuesday...” and the answer is MONTAGE, highlight the letters ONT of the answer in the grid. Or, if the clue starts "Without..." and the answer is SHOWER, highlight the letter W of the answer in the grid. If multiple substrings are possible, highlight the longest one.

Today I have enjoyed the tropical rhythms and landscapes of a large agricultural area surrounded by mountains on all sides. I have visited traditional tobacco plantations and seen massive stalagmites and stalactites that have developed over millennia in the caverns here. Can you guess where I am?

Love, Gladys.

Solve on Penpa+

Across
1. Assistant gets real dull (4)
2. Bavarian wheels last bit of riches away from Mohammed bin Salman? (4)
3. Players of baseball gathered around, by agreement in Puerto Rico, to be ones providing childcare (11)
4. Leaving out final part of payment? Two guys on an excellent adventure to get sent an invoice (6)
5. County Tyrone councillors at last appearing before Congress (5)
6. Babushka maybe taken aback having been interrupted by a noisy brawl (6)
7. Babushka's in possession of bananas (4)
8. Beau beheaded again (4)
9. True king switched hands (4)
10. Gradually passes through spot in front of PlayStation (5)
11. Set off to attack king poorly (4)
12. Done in several locations along islands' northern sides (5)
13. Leader in senate conducted vehicle running on surface – that might be a slippery slope (4)
14. Castor & Pollux maybe includes a prominent role by... (5)
15. ...Vincent, appearing in pro performance after one in France that's very demanding (11)
16. Verdi disembowelled in front of lady I saw in Rome (4)

Down
1. What Adam lost behind Charlie's bed (4)
2. Milk product whose designation of origin is protected from terrible fate (4)
3. A leading Italian to make fun of cheap supermarket south of Georgia (9)
4. Bug jeweller finally to cut diamond? (4)
5. Bury a group of players in Italy (5)
6. Homo sapiens is above T-rex, ultimately being without tail (4)
7. Shortage of MDMA in Flanders (4)
8. Rising star hugs former Bond (5)
9. Y'all confused after reworking of topic in a visual fashion? (9)
10. Quick, sharp blow after second round (4)
11. Member of orchestra, just a bit injured, isn't disfigured after violence stops halfway (9)

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Gladys will return in Tropical Rhythms (Slight Return).

Answer 1

Gladys went to

Viñales Valley, in Cuba.

Answers and explanations:

Across

1. Assistant gets real dull (4)
ARID (dull) = AID (assistant) gets R (real)

2. Bavarian wheels last bit of riches away from Mohammed bin Salman? (4)
AUDI (Bavarian wheels) = (riche)S away from SAUDI ("Mohammed bin Salman?")

3. Players of baseball gathered around, by agreement in Puerto Rico, to be ones providing childcare (11)
BABYSITTERS (ones providing childcare) = BATTERS (players of baseball) gathered around BY + SI (agreement in Puerto Rico, i.e. in Spanish)

4. Leaving out final part of payment? Two guys on an excellent adventure to get sent an invoice (6)
BILLED (to get sent an invoice) = Leaving out (paymen)T + BILL and TED (two guys on an excellent adventure) = BILL + (-t)ED

5. County Tyrone councillors at last appearing before Congress (5)
ESSEX (county) = (Tyron)E (councillor)S appearing before SEX (congress)

6. Babushka maybe taken aback having been interrupted by a noisy brawl (6)
FRACAS (noisy brawl) = SCARF< (babushka maybe) having been interrupted by A

7. Babushka's in possession of bananas (4)
NANA (babushka, old woman), in [the] possession of ba(NANA)s

8. Beau beheaded again (4)
OVER (again) = (-l)OVER (beau)

9. True king switched hands (4)
REAL (true) = LEAR (King Lear) switched L and R (hands, left and right)

10. Gradually passes through spot in front of PlayStation (5)
SEEPS (gradually passes) = SEE (spot) in front of PS (PlayStation)

11. Set off to attack king poorly (4)
SICK (poorly) = SIC (set off to attack) + K (king)

12. Done in several locations along islands' northern sides (5)
SLAIN (done in) = sides (in this case, first letters) of "several ... northern"

13. Leader in senate conducted vehicle running on surface – that might be a slippery slope (4)
SLED (vehicle running on surface that might be a slippery slope) = S(enate) + LED (conducted)

14. Castor & Pollux maybe includes a prominent role by... (5)
STARS ddef: "Castor & Pollux maybe" (stars in Gemini) + "includes a prominent role by"

15. ...Vincent, appearing in pro performance after one in France that's very demanding (11)
UNFORGIVING (very demanding) = VIN (Vincent) appearing in FOR (pro) GIG (performance) after UN ("one" in France)

16. Verdi disembowelled in front of lady I saw in Rome (4)
VIDI ("I saw" in Rome, i.e. in Latin. Veni, vidi, vici = I came, I saw, I conquered) = V(-erd)I in front of DI (lady, Princess Diana)

Down

1. What Adam lost behind Charlie's bed (4)
CRIB (bed) = RIB (what Adam lost) behind C (Charlie)

2. Milk product whose designation of origin is protected from terrible fate (4)
FETA (milk product whose designation of origin is protected) = FATE*

3. A leading Italian to make fun of cheap supermarket south of Georgia (9)
GARIBALDI (a leading Italian, Giuseppe Garibaldi) = RIB (to make fun of, tease) + ALDI (cheap supermarket) south of GA (Georgia)

4. Bug jeweller finally to cut diamond? (4)
GERM (bug) = (jewelle)R to cut GEM ("diamond?")

5. Bury a group of players in Italy (5)
INTER ddef: "bury" + "a group of players in Italy"

6. Homo sapiens is above T-rex, ultimately being without tail (4)
MANX (being without tail; Manx cat) = MAN (Homo sapiens) is above (T-re)X

7. Shortage of MDMA in Flanders (4)
NEED (shortage) = E (MDMA, ecstasy) in NED (Ned Flanders, from The Simpsons series)

8. Rising star hugs former Bond (5)
NEXUS (bond, connection) = Rising SUN< (star) hugs EX- (former)

9. Y'all confused after reworking of topic in a visual fashion? (9)
OPTICALLY (in a visual fashion) = YALL* after TOPIC*

10. Quick, sharp blow after second round (4)
SLAP (quick, sharp blow) = S (second) + LAP (round)

11. Member of orchestra, just a bit injured, isn't disfigured after violence stops halfway (9)
VIOLINIST (member of orchestra) = I(njured) + ISNT* after VIOL(-ence)

Fitting the answers into the grid:

There is only one way to fit UNFORGIVING, BABYSITTERS, and GARIBALDI simultaneously. You can then fit OPTICALLY and VIOLINIST too. You can then fit all Across answers in except SICK and VIDI, but you can fit them in later after you find out that AUDI can have only one place to fit in. Then, you can fit NEXUS and INTER in, then the rest of the Down answers can be fit in easily.

Finished crossword with answers fit inside:

Then, following the highlighting instructions, we get this:

And finally, the highlighted letters spell out the answer!