Preamble: Starting at an unchecked square in the top row, the clockwise perimeter contains a 7-word non-English phrase. Unchecked letters, including corners, rearrange to give I SUB A HAIRCUT. Four clues omit a shared thematic definition. The other 34 clues include a word or phrase defining or hinting at a pair of letters (e.g. ‘acid test’ for PH, ‘not down’ for UP, ‘much joy’ for JO); these pairs in clue order give a version of the English original.
Ah, Phi, definitely one of my favourite Inquisitor setters but what’s this? We need to find pairs of letters in 34 of 38 clues and these pairs are defined by a word or a phrase in the clue. does this mean that once it’s identified it’s redundant or does it still form part of the clue? The only one way to find out, dive right in. What seemed like three weeks later I was no further forward, I guess it must have been close to an hour staring at the clues and re-reading the preamble, maybe I should check my biorhythms. 😉 Finland (19a) kept waving at me as if it wanted to lead to one of the pairs but ’twas not to be. Extraterrestrial (17a) HAS to be ET but I can’t yet see how the rest of the clue works. Eventually, 1a decided to capitulate at which point I smacked my forehead, of course WH Smith the newsagent – my excuse is that we don’t have them in Ireland, except at the airports. The first of the thematic clues to give in was 29d GLOBE and then the rest of the puzzle began to fall into place as crossing letters began to make things easier.
It took a while to make sense of the generated pairs but I found FOLLOW as the last word fairly quickly. Then as WHEN YOU HAVE ….FU..ATTENT.. appeared I guessed it must be FULL ATTENTION. A quick trip to Google and I found the full quote: WHEN YOU HAVE THEIR FULL ATTENTION IN YOUR GRIP, THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS WILL FOLLOW which, as far as I can tell, is from Small Gods, one of the Discworld books by Sir Terry Pratchett. I’ve never read any of Sir Terry’s work – the only thing I ever knew about Discworld is that it’s a a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle. That always seemed too bizarre and not remotely funny enough to make me read the books. Anyway, I’m sure there are millions of Discworld fans out there and I don’t want to cause offence.
So, we have the English original and we have to translate it into some other language in seven words (around the perimeter) and we know that it must start in c1 or e1 (as the only unchecked cells in the top row) another trip to Google reveals CUIUS TESTICULOS HABES, HABEAS CARDIA ET CEREBELLUM, which I believe is Latin. I also know that if someone had me by the testiculos they would definitely have my undivided attention!
Talking of balls, that leaves us with the four clues without a shared definition. We have PILL (16a), ORB (34a), SPHEROID (18d) and GLOBE (29d), a load of balls – well, someone had to say it! 😉
Finally, the title, PERSUASION. Well, I bet you there’s not a man out there that doesn’t understand it!
Thanks Phi, for a great, fun puzzle.
Oh, and I look forward to meeting some of you on Saturday at Nimrod’s 50th – assuming I can find Sheffield on a map. Maybe this will help: http://bit.ly/1770nQo
| Across | |||||
| No. | Clue | Entry | Letter pairs | Derivation | Wordplay |
| 9 | Smith the newsagent has milk put out for Indian lady | LAKSHMI | WH |
WH Smith (newsagent) | HAS MILK (anag: put out) |
| 11 | I left one little space ahead of account of Troy | ILIAC | EN |
en (little space) | I+Left+I (one)+ACcount |
| 12 | Plain everyone will return call for effort? Not at all | LLANO | YO |
yo (call for effort) | ALL (everyone; rev: will return)+NO (not at all) |
| 13 | Contents of market – angry menial? Negation half expressed | ETA | UH |
UH-UH (no; half) | markET Angry (hidden: contents of) |
| 14 | Central character of Christian Bible that is evident in girl | ESSIE (diminutive of Esther) | AV |
Authorized Version of the bible | ESS (chriStian; central character)+IE (that is) |
| 16 | Power of evil | PILL | Power+ILL (of evil) | ||
| 17 | Fundamental core of Titan: igneous extraterrestrial rock | BASALT | ET |
ET (extraterrestrial) | BASAL (fundamental)+tiTan (core of) |
| 19 | Explosive dance venue in Finland is cool | DISCO | HE |
High Explosive | finlanD IS COol (hidden: in) |
| 20 | Special power taxmen also concocted to accommodate upper-class marriage | ESPOUSAL | IR |
Inland Revenue | ESP (special power)+ALSO (anag: concocted) containing U (upper-class) |
| 24 | Festivity a lot of fun – be a hit, initially, in cloak | GALABEAH | FU |
FUn (a lot of) | GALA (festivity)+BE+A+Hit (initially) |
| 26 | Record lines judge returned, identifying weapons | EPEES | LL |
LL (lines) | EP (record)+SEE (judge; rev: returned) |
| 28 | An artist’s empty art securing success in ancient town | ANGORA | AT |
ArT (empty) | AN+RA (artist) containing GO (success) |
| 30 | Eddy, the scoundrel, left most of tea | CURL | TE |
TEa (most of) | CUR (scoundrel)+Left |
| 32 | Support location of Gospels: quiet end of chapel | EASEL | NT |
New Testament | EASE (quiet)+chapeL (end of) |
| 34 | Round provided by Rifle Brigade no longer | ORB | O (round)+RB (formerly Rifle Brigade) | ||
| 35 | Hours in church: cry of joy recalled attention after cry of exaltation | HORAE | IO |
IO (cry of joy) | HO (cry of exaltation)+EAR (attention; rev: recalled) |
| 36 | Essayist’s turned in one in style | ELIAN | NI |
IN (turned) | I (one) inside ÉLAN (style) |
| 37 | US city weather map features: one goes high round tip of Bronx | ISOBARS | NY |
New York | I (one)+SOARS (goes high) containing Bronx (tip of) |
| Down | |||||
| No. | Clue | Entry |
Letter pairs | Derivation | Wordplay |
| 1 | Chap receiving University broadcast weighed up enzyme | MALTASE | OU |
Open University | MALE (chap) containing SAT (weighed; rev: up) |
| 2 | Moss turning gross not once found in America | USNEA | RG |
GR (gross) turning | NE (not (obsolete)) inside USA (America) |
| 3 | Match officials rule one knock’s not bowled | UMPS | RI |
R (rule) I (one) | bUMPS (minus Bowled) |
| 4 | Point is raised, elevating trouble about carbon mineral | SILICA | PT |
PT (point) | IS (rev: raised)+AIL (rev: elevating) containing Carbon |
| 5 | Exhausted man drawn to embrace Queen | TIRED | HE |
HE (man) | TIED (drawn) containing R (queen: Regina) |
| 6 | Bird’s heart, bitter, twisted, with inclination to turn over reptile | ELAPID | IR |
bIRd (heart) | ALE (bitter; rev: twisted)+DIP (inclination; rev: to turn over) |
| 7 | Gallant ambassador is penning signature to occur on bottom of manifesto? On the contrary | SIGISBEO | HE |
His Excellency | IS+SIGnature+BE (occur)+manifestO (bottom of) I kinda understand this one but I can’t think how to fully explain |
| 8 | Picked up literature about one Arab train | TAIL | AR |
AR (arab) | LITerature (rev: picked up) containing A (one) |
| 10 | Snake heads to kill an aardvark, overturning stone | KAA | TS |
ST (stone) overturning | Kill An Aardvark (heads to) |
| 15 | Tossed article, throwing out new lump of ore | SLUG | AN |
AN (article) | SLUnG (minus New) |
| 18 | Lion seen amidst soaring ducks | SPHEROID | |||
| 21 | Way the French will accept a new European currency no longer | LANE | DM |
Deutsche Mark | LE (the in French) containing A New |
| 22 | Fashionable Italian city vehicle, not often mentioned in Latin texts | CARRARA | IN |
IN (fashionable) | CAR (vehicle)+RARA (as in rara avis, Latin) |
| 23 | It’s some wine vendor from the sign, we hear | CELLAR | DS |
DS=dal segno=from the sign | SELLER (homonym: we hear) |
| 25 | Uncoordinated Caribbean area, one taking vehicle to Cuba | ATAXIC | WI |
West Indies | A (one)+TAXI (vehicle)+Cuba |
| 27 | Racing driver joins up to avoid former Lord Lieutenant | SENNA | LL |
Lord Lieutenant | ANNexES (joins; rev: up) minus EX (former) |
| 29 | League involved in game (live) | GLOBE | |||
| 31 | Jug of swirling liquid with this fruit content | UGLI | FO |
OF (anag: swirling) | jUG LIquid (hidden: content) |
| 33 | Impertinent comments lecturer repeated when on board | SASS | LL |
Lecturer (repeated) | AS (when) inside (on board) SS (steam ship) |
| 34 | Old rheumatoid arthritis that hurts mouths | ORA | OW |
OW (cry of pain) | Old+RA (rheumatoid arthritis) |
I was amused by the fact that this crossword is all about B*@!%£*S but manages to avoid actually saying it. It somehow left me with the feeling that I must have a dirty mind to have finished it, whereas the setter, with his (or her) oblique references emerged as an innocent.
Thanks (I think) to Phi for that, and to Kenmac for having the spheroids to say it explicitly.
With the exception of a single letter error, I’ve now completed seven in a row, (two in a row was my previous best) and I feel I’ve stepped up into the headier echelons of solvers. The trouble is, I think I may be fast approaching the situation where it becomes an awful disapointment to fail, rather than a great pleasure to succeed….I suppose addiction is the word, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one on this site to feel that way! How many days until Saturday?…. my pen hand is starting to shake……
I thought this was a great puzzle and a nice blog!
Dan, it is Terry Pratchett himself who manages to avoid any mention of the balls in the motto and its translation. Phi follows him exactly.
The Discworld books are a great read, Kenmac. You really ought to try them. They are full of great one-liners and superb concepts. My favourite character is “The Greatest Mathematician in the World” who turns out at the end of “Pyramids” to be a camel called “You Bastard”!
Just to note that I have put a short setter’s blog up on my web pages. Just click through my pseudonym at the top of this message.
http://phionline.net.nz/setters-blogs/persuasion/
(edited by kenmac)
Well, I didn’t finish, but I didn’t stare at an empty grid all week. Got well over half, although I see I made a few mistakes.
Got enough of the pairs to work out the end of the quotation. Although I’m a Pratchett fan, I didn’t recognise the quotation so I googled it and got a quotation attributed to Teddy Roosevelt which seems to be the original. The word “attention” isn’t in that version, just balls. So I was trying to find the remaining pairs to fit into that version.
Given the theme, I thought it was very appropriate that the extra letters came in pairs.
Many thanks Phi – we really enjoyed this one. Like kenmac we did have to search for the quotation as we’d never read any Terry Pratchett. Maybe we will now after the puzzle and the hihoba’s comment @2.
Thanks kenmac for the blog – we look forward to meeting you on Saturday! If you manage to find us amongst the crowd we’ll buy you a drink!
I took one look at 1a, picked out the WH (Smith) and entered LAKSHMI. None of the remaining clues were that taxing, apart from the last couple that needed a bit of digging out, but by that time I had the “English original” so I knew what I was looking for.
Dan @1: keep up the good work (but I do worry about your being up & about at around quarter to one to make the first comment on the puzzle).
Dormouse @4: I too turned up the original (?) version of the quote by Teddy Roosevelt (and also a version by Lyndon B. Johnson) – luckily I wasn’t sidetracked.
Thanks to Ken for the blog + Phi for the puzzle. I haven’t read any Discworld books, nor will I be in Sheffield …
So, it looks like all those who haven’t read any Pratchett were able to identify the quotation, and I, who have (even met the man a few times), couldn’t. 🙂
HolyGhost@7, I work nights (sometimes). I wasn’t just staying up so I could get the first comment in…honest! There’s nothing like an Inquisitor to help one through the silent hours!
Hi@2, thanks for the correction…I googled the Latin quote, but I just assumed that the English phrase was Phi’s own translation, cleverly adapted to fit the pairs of letters, and avoid the offending word. Apologies to Sir Terry.
Like HG@7 I thought this was a quote attributable to (Teddy) Roosevelt or at least the “uncouth” (as my mother would have called it) version !
I started to arrive at the quote through getting a few sequential clue pairs of letters, to spell out ‘hearts’ and ‘follow’ and that jogged something about hearts and minds following. The rest followed through Google.
Great fun Phi, thanks v. much and of course to kenmac for the blog.
As for the quote, I think Roosevelt coined it, but it was Pratchett Latinised it and (amusingly) provided the bowdlerised version. @Dormouse: I’m one Pratchett fan who *did* get the quote.
Missed two answers “Horae” and “Sigisbeo”. I ought to have got the first, but the second is so far outside of my (admittedly plebeian and limited) vocabulary that it needs snowshoes.
In accord with Dan, I am also solving (or nearly solving) more than I’m missing. Getting every last answer is subsidiary to the pleasure I get in working out the theme. This one was a particularly pleasing one. Thanks, Phi.