[Apologies for the slightly early (and slightly bizarre) time of posting this blog. Fast forward to Spoiler Alert to find out why!]
OK! So here we had a Kcit puzzle with a long preamble, an unnumbered list of clues, no division between Across and Down, no entry or grid lengths in brackets, and a carte blanche grid. Oh… and it was the wrong size!
To say that this was tough would, I think, be an understatement. Answers came very slowly, although I did get 1ac LOCK fairly quickly! However, it was difficult to find a pattern of word-lengths that would enable me to identify the division between acrosses and downs.
Now… how long the stupid LOCK mistake delayed my solving the puzzle would be difficult to say, but a couple of hours might be a good guess. When I finally started having a guess at where some of the entries might go, especially MEGILP, my mistake became apparent and the grid was finished reasonably soon afterwards. I suspected that the grid would be one square smaller all the way round and would initially occupy the central 11×11 area. At least I was right about that.
I had already guessed at the addition of a letter before or after a couple of the answers that I had, and it seemed to be D in each case. Not that it enabled me to identify the three-word phrase in the grid until quite late on. When it did reveal itself as GIVE US BACK, OUR ELEVEN DAYS was, at least to me, obvious. It refers to the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752 (in the UK) when 2 September was followed by 14 September. As Kcit says, it may be apocryphal that many people thought that they had actually lost 11 days of their lives… hence the title.
Only one clue that I am doubtful about—11ac; maybe someone can help me out. [Thanks to nms and Samuel for their comments below concerning the equivalence of addition (‘a person or thing added’) and more (‘something further or in addition’).]
Early on in the solving (or rather non-solving) process, I wondered whether I would actually complete the puzzle. I was relieved that I eventually did and this blog could be written. I think it fair to say that this was the trickiest EV puzzle for a very long time, and on a par with some of Kcit’s Listener offerings (as Phi). Thanks for the workout.
[SPOILER ALERT! Those of you interested in coincidences may like to visit Listen With Others where blogs can be read on Poat’s Listener puzzle for the same weekend, Fore and Aft. That also had letters added before and after words in the grid… except there it is a different letter every time! I post this blog to coincide with LWO: 4pm Friday.]
Legend:
Definition in clue
[Redundant] definition in clue
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | MORSEL | Small piece left behind fastening L (left) after MORSE (fastening) |
|
| 6 | AURAL | American getting range of [committee] hearing A (American) + URAL (range) Committee defines BOARD at 26dn |
|
| 10 | EMIT augmented to DEMIT |
Sentence over, leading to discharge TIME< (sentence) DEMIT defined by ‘lower’ in 23ac |
|
| 11 | MORRICE | [Sober] old dance-tune, not entirely sumptuous in addition RIC[h] (sumptuous, almost) in MORE ( Sober defines DEMURE at 5dn |
|
| 12 | GIVE US BACK | Unclued (three words) | |
| 14 | SEER | Fish, weak, escaping drain SEWER (drain) – W (weak) |
|
| 15 | LILLE | Eurostar city [approved] story about lines LIE (story) about LL (lines) Approved defines AMENED at 23dn |
|
| 16 | PROVEN augmented to PROVEND |
Confirmed price applied to kitchen equipment PR (price) + OVEN (kitchen equipment) |
|
| 19 | SATISFY | Anagram fits in – for example – answer FITS* in SAY (for example) |
|
| 22 | BAJREE | Poor centre of field restricting Jack’s grain BARE (poor) E (centre of fiEld) containing J (jack) |
|
| 23 | AFRIT | Demon’s a [lower] form of pest A + FRIT (form of pest) Lower defines DEMIT at 10ac |
|
| 25 | RUBS augmented to DRUBS |
Plan to remove last trace of fire around black grates RUSE (plan) – E (last trace of firE) around B (black) |
|
| 28 | COUNTERMAN augmented to COUNTERMAND |
Nobleman from Berlin perhaps not good as storeworker COUNT + GERMAN (from Berlin, perhaps) – G (good) |
|
| 29 | ELATION augmented to DELATION |
Joy and style surrounding Spanish uncle ELAN (style) around TIO (uncle in Spanish) |
|
| 30 | EASE | Contribution to game as England [beats] rest in gamE AS England Beats defines DRUBS at 25ac |
|
| 31 | FERNS | Plants first hint of edginess in French bridge team E (first hint of Edginess) in FR (French) + N-S (bridge team, north-south) |
|
| 32 | VEENAS | Indian instruments sound very reverberant around end of suite (SANE (sound) + V (very))< around E (end of suitE) |
|
| DOWN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | MEGILP | Medium, say, one loving painting primarily used? M (medium) + EG (say, for example) + I (one) + LP (Loving Painting, primarily); &lit clue |
|
| 2 | OMIT | US technologists, chasing oxygen, fail to use [CO2] MIT (US technologists) after O (oxygen) CO2 defines DRICE at 7dn |
|
| 3 | RIVEL augmented to DRIVEL |
Split line to form wrinkle for some RIVE (split) + L (line) |
|
| 4 | STELLAR | Excellent [publication] to have influence in part of China TELL (to have influence) in SAR (Special Adminitrative Region, part of China) Publication defines DELATION at 29ac |
|
| 5 | EMURE augmented to DEMURE |
Prison no longer about bird? Just the reverse RE (about) + EMU (bird), but the other way |
|
| 6 | ARBORS | American pergolas are cut Drowned valley excellent, though never first-class, for graindown, with option for limitation on bushes? AR[e} (are, cut down) + [B OR S] (option for first or last letter of BusheS) |
|
| 7 | RICE augmented to DRICE |
Drowned valley excellent, though never first-class, for grain RIA (drowned valley) ACE (excellent) – AA (first class) |
|
| 8 | ACKEES | Current aim to elevate [food] fruits AC (alternating current) + SEEK< (aim) Food defines PROVEND at 16ac |
|
| 9 | LEARN | Digest recipe in list R (recipe) in LEAN (list) |
|
| 13 | SAPIENT | [Recommittal] granted after involving a detective with knowledge SENT (granted) containing A PI (Private Investigator); Recommittal defines REMAND at 24dn |
|
| 17 | OFFEREE | Would-be recipient departed before end of parade OFF (departed) + ERE (before) + E (end of paradE) |
|
| 18 | RAUCLE | Hearts in first place but panicking – galling defeats. That’s rough for Hearts centres of fiRst plAce bUt paniCking galLing defEats |
|
| 20 | TENNIS | [Revoke] raising of bar in group sport (INN (bar) in SET (group))<;Revoke defines COUNTERMAND at 28ac |
|
| 21 | ATONES | Pays for fourteen letters and last two of packages A TO N (fourteen letters) + ES (last two of packagES) |
|
| 22 | BRIEF | Bank rate [nonsense] that is origin of financier’s case BR (bank rate) + IE (that is) + F (first letter of Financier); Nonsense defines DRIVEL at 3dn |
|
| 23 | AMENE augmented to AMENED |
Hospital department admitting blokes? Not often nice A & E (hospital department) containing MEN (blokes) |
|
| 24 | REMAN augmented to REMAND |
One calling up staff again NAMER< (one calling) |
|
| 26 | BOAR augmented to BOARD |
Meat one presented in syrup served up A (one) in ROB< (syrup) |
|
| 27 | VASA | A bar cut up tubes to carry liquid (A SAV[e] (bar))< |
|
Re 11A I think more = addition is OK. Chambers has a noun definition of MORE as “something further or in addition” which I’d say equates to ‘addition’. Many thanks, as always Dave, for another excellent blog.
Re the subject matter of the puzzle, for a long time the tax year began on 6 April – it was fascinating to learn that this was because it was pushed out to that date from the original start of the year in the calendars of years gone by (25 March) because of those missing days.
A blog on the setting of the puzzle is here: http://phionline.net.nz/setters-blogs/loss-of-life/
Thanks, nms, but your comment opens up a whole new can of worms… why 25th March?! (Anyone really interested can pop off to Wiki.) In the States, the tax year coincides with the calendar year, but then they are so much more regimented over there. And many thanks for the link to your setter’s blog, Phi — interesting as always. I’m sure I noticed that there were no Ds in the initial grid, but forgot to mention it.
Re #3, yes, it’s in Wiki, under ‘start of the year’ in the calendar section, but, v briefly, 25 March (known as Lady Day) seems to have been chosen as being around the Spring Equinox and also as nine months exactly before Christmas.
Thanks, Dave, for the blog. I can confirm Niall’s comment that Chambers gives ‘something further or in addition’ as a nounal definition of MORE, hence there’s no double duty for the word ‘in’ at 11ac.
Thanks, guys. More above.