The rubric read:
One answer is not to be entered in the grid. Answers to four clues which lack definitions are thematic. Solver must highlight two other normally clued entries to complete a thematic sextet, each being a 3 across. Corrections to misprints in the definition parts of 14 clues set the scene. Finally solvers must relocate one entry thematically. Ignoring spaces, all initial and final words are real words, proper nouns or phrases; some clue answers do not occupy all the available cells.
I struggled away (as one does with a Schadenfreude puzzle) until I had completed most of the top half, though little of the bottom half. I came to the conclusion that 1D and 10D were STRANK and BRADLEY (no definitions) and, making little or no progress with the bottom half, decided that a bit of Googling was required. This revealed the names of six Americans involved in the battle of Imo Jima towards the end of the Second World War. Two of the six (Hayes and Block) were already entered in the grid, so the other two (Sousley and Gagnon) should be symmetrically located in the first and last columns. This helped to complete the bottom half of the grid with a few glaring exceptions.
The thematic sextet are the LAST NAMEs (3A) of the six men who raised the flag on MOUNT SURIBACHI (spelled out by the misprints) during the Battle of Iwo Jima (the Engagement of the title) 70 years ago this week. The photograph of this event, taken on 23 February 1945 by Joe Rosenthal, became one of the most celebrated war photographs of all time, and was the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial situated at the entrance to the Arlington National Cemetery near Washington DC.
The six were Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon Block, Private First Class Rene Gagnon, Private First Class Ira Hayes, Private First Class Franklin Sousley, and Pharmacist Mate Second Class John Bradley (USN). BRADLEY (10D), STRANK (1D), SOUSLEY (23D) and GAGNON (34D) are the four clued without definition, HAYES (24A) and BLOCK (26A) are clued by normal clues and must be highlighted.
44A is OLD GLORY, The American flag which has to be raised by removing it from its place at the bottom of the grid, to replace 3A (one answer not to be entered in the grid) at the top of the grid, leaving all proper words in the final grid.
4D, 5D, 6D, 7D, and 8D all had answers one letter less than the space available, and were to be entered starting in row 2 but could be increased by one letter from OLD GLORY at the start, leaving real words.
25D, 27D, 31D, 32D and 38D left real words when their last letters (in OLD GLORY) were removed.
Very clever tribute by Schadenfreude, but spoiled for me by the plethora of proper names – apart from the six protagonists, there were Thrower, Oceania, Titan, Ernie, Marengo, Claire and, most unfairly of all, Kananga. It also had one clue with no cross checking to help (3A) and only a mention in the rubric to assist with getting the right answer – which after all didn’t matter as it didn’t figure at all in the requirements (shouldn’t we have had to write it under the grid?).
There was no way I could have solved the puzzle without the internet for the theme, for KANANGA (28D) and for HAYES (24A). Hayes had as dubious a definition as you could possibly find, requiring two searches, one to link West Bletchley with Orwell’s Coming up for Air, (never heard of it, never read it, never want to!) and then another to find his home town, and the fact that one was the model for the other. As far as Kananga goes, I regard the use of an obscure African city as simply perverse!
Overall verdict: good idea spoiled by over-obscurity – or perhaps I am 27D than the rest of you!
Marines |
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|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition if relevant) | Answer | Wordplay |
| 1D | Holy man with high social standing (6) | STRANK | ST (holy man) + RANK (high standing) |
| 10D | Brother meeting errant lady taking ecstasy (7) | BRADLEY | BR(other) +[LADY]* round E(cstasy) |
| 23D | Extremely servile lousy vagrant (7) | SOUSLEY | [S(ervil)E LOUSY]* |
| 24A | Orwell’s West Bletchley High School receiving affirmative vote (5) | HAYES | Orwell lived in Hayes – the model for West Bletchley in “Coming up for Air“: H(igh) S(chool) round AYE (affirmative vote) |
| 26A | Black safety device in a lump (5) (Note misprint – lUmp for lamp – see below) | BLOCK | B(lack) + LOCK (safety device) |
| 34D | Joke, definitely not new (6) | GAGNON | GAG (joke) + NO (definitely not) + N(ew) |
Misprint Clues |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue – M |
Answer | Wordplay (definition) | ? |
| 12A | Tyrone’s girlfriend or M |
MOTOR | mover: MOT (Irish slang for girlfriend) + OR | M |
| 13A | A yard next to river loO |
RAY | look: R(iver) + A + Y(ard) | O |
| 26A | Black safety device in a lU |
BLOCK | lump: B(lack) + LOCK (safety device) | U |
| 33A | Loch features in talk about N |
BLAG | nick (both mean steal): L(och) in GAB (talk) reversed | N |
| 35A | T |
ULES | trees: U(nited) + LES (the French) | T |
| 36A | Fool dumps wife before the S |
TITAN | the sun: T(w)IT (fool with Wife removed) + AN (before) | S |
| 41A | Popular National hoU |
INN | house: IN (popular) + N(ational) | U |
| 5D | R |
WALES | ridges: Double definition | R |
| 6D | A PI |
ELT | pig: FELT (sensed) minus F(emale) | I |
| 7D | Northern league team playing B |
MENTAL | bonkers: [N(orthern) L(eague) TEAM]* | B |
| 8D | OA |
OCKER | oafish Victorian (Australian word): DOCKER (stevedore) minus D(aughter) | A |
| 27D | Old buster cultivated more C |
OBTUSER | more crass: [O(ld) BUSTER]* | C |
| 30D | H |
CLAIRE | hen: LA (look) + IR(ish) in CE (church) | H |
| 31D | One embraced by girl standing up after a strI |
ASSAIL | strike: A +LASS (girl) round I (one) | I |
Mobile Clues |
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|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition) | Answer | Wordplay |
| 3A | Front’s missing from pan’s metal refurbished handle component (8, 2 words) | LAST NAME | handle = name: [(p)ANS METAL]* |
| 44A | Organised rally short of a good standard (8, 2 words) | OLD GLORY | [R(a)LLY GOOD]* |
Normal Across Clues |
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|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition) | Answer | Wordplay |
| 11 | He gets the better of a renowned gardener (7) | THROWER | Double definition |
| 14 | Some ruminants mostly eat sparingly or start to atrophy (6) | PECORA | PEC(k) (mostly eat sparingly) + OR + A(trophy) |
| 15 | Fairy queen wrapped by a garland from the east (5) | ARIEL | R (queen) in A + LEI (garland) reversed |
| 16 | Tailless diddy fly circling large weed (7) | TINKLED | weed = tinkled = urinated!: TIN(y) (tailless diddy) + KED (fly) round L |
| 17 | A short new suit (5) | AGREE | A + GREE(n) (short new) |
| 20 | Georgia’s wearing the Spanish poet’s uniform (4) | EGAL | GA (Georgia) in EL (the Spanish) |
| 21 | Stick left hand over black powder (4) | KOHL | KO (Maori stick) + LH (left hand) reversed |
| 22 | Ordinary seaman at home base of some marine mammals (7) | OTARINE | O(rdinary) + TAR (seaman) + IN (at home) + E (base) |
| 29 | A lot of islands once developed around Australia with first class backing (7) | OCEANIA | [ONCE]* round A(ustralia) + AI reversed |
| 37 | Dairy product, juice and cereal (7) | SAPSAGO | a Swiss green cheese: SAP (juice) + SAGO (cereal) |
| 39 | Labour camp fiddle by former convict (5) | GULAG | GU (Shetland fiddle) + LAG (former convict) |
| 40 | False statement about Harry’s former ancestry (6) | LINAGE | LIE (false statement) round NAG (harry) |
| 42 | SA golfer to his friends: “I pick winners” (5) | ERNIE | Double definition ERNIE (picks Premium Bond winners) and Ernie Els (SA golfer) |
| 43 | Knight on horse to pass through battle site (7) | MARENGO | MARE (horse) + N (knight) + GO (pass through) |
Normal Down Clues |
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| 2 | Stop informal talk about hard rampant ruler of ancient times (7) | PHARAOH | HO (stop) + A(bout) + RAP (informal talk) round H(ard) all reversed |
| 4 | In Glasgow casual love really is half-hearted (7) | OVERLY | [LOVE R(eall)Y]*:We weren’t very happy about the use of half-hearted to mean remove all the heart! |
| 9 | Number of aircraft Cambodia sent up from a far eastern country (6) | KOREAN | N(umber) + AERO (of aircraft) + K (Cambodia) all reversed |
| 18 | Broken nose injected with iodine salt (5) | EOSIN | [NOSE I(odine)]* |
| 19 | Player’s turn to be advised in a short time (5) | AT-BAT | TBA (to be advised) in A + T(ime) |
| 25 | Busy government period stopping downfall (7) | ENGAGED | G(overnment) + AGE (period) in (stopping) END (downfall) |
| 28 | A note penned in English by king acting for an African city (7) | KANANGA | A N(ote) + ANG (in English) all in (penned) K(ing) A(cting) |
| 32 | America withdrawn from energetic ball game in Launceston (6) | VIGORO | US (American) removed from VIGORO(us) |
| 38 | Charlie quits real-time language examination (4) | ORAL | CORAL is a real-time computer language – remove C(harlie) |
Thanks very much for the blog Hihoba.
I share your reservations about this puzzle but most of all I felt very little satisfaction at having completed it.
I think this was because I got SOUSLEY early doors and then googled the rest, including MOUNT SURIBACHI so the rest of the puzzle was just ‘backfill’ with no PDM.
I really struggled with KANANGA at 28D. Was it KATANGA or KANANGA ? And I couldn’t get the parsing to work. I eventually settled on your version after thinking it might be ANG in AN A (i.e. a note) by K but what did ‘acting for’ mean…usually a substitution of one letter for another so was it KATANGA after all ? However having looked up KATANGA and found it is a province rather than a city I inserted KANANGA with no conviction.
OK, I don’t want to seem ungrateful, I’m not as the Inqusitor is one of my weekly highlights and I really appreciate all the setters’ and bloggers’ efforts but I just didn’t ‘get’ this one. Thanks Schadenfreude….and sorry !
I was enjoying this crossword until I discovered the theme by Googling. Although I finished solving it quickly after that, I was left feeling uncomfortable that such an event should be commemorated in a crossword. It somehow seemed demeaning to the men involved, three of whom were killed within a few days. I’m not sure that this is being very rational and wonder if any others share my reservations on this occasion.
Surprised by the above comments. To say this was “too obscure” seems bizarre bearing in mind what we often see in Inquisitor puzzles. And I’m afraid I vehemently disagree about it demeaning the men involved. Apart from anything else, it would at least bring them to the attention of those – like me – who were unaware of their fates.
I don’t recall a Schadenfreude puzzle I haven’t enjoyed and this was no exception. Thanks to him and blogger alike.
I enjoyed this and found it a relatively straightforward solve by this setter’s standards. Sadly I had no idea what the theme was and with an almost complete grid could see nothing familiar other than Old Glory, surnames that meant nothing to me and a mountain that I was equally ignorant of. When in doubt guess an anniversary so a quick google for ‘famous events February American flag’ cleared things up.
I too thought that ‘Orwell’s West Bletchley’ was an unusually oblique definition but the wordplay couldn’t have been clearer. On the other hand I can’t quite see how 28D works. If the parsing is as given then surely there is a word missing or ‘in’ is doing double duty if ANG is deemed to mean ‘in English’ as in Chambers. I wonder if the clue originally read ‘A note in English penned by …’ and something got transposed.
Unlike others I did feel satisfied at the end of this one and, as almost always, learned something new so many thanks to Schadenfreude for the puzzle and to Hihoba for the blog.
PS I don’t want to provoke an ugly argument but I wonder what those to whom googling is anathema would recommend in a situation like this. Sheer ignorance on my part meant that none of the hints in the puzzle meant anything to me so should I just give up, google it but not enter the competition or something else entirely ? I am honestly curious.
PPS I never enter the competition but I am still curious.
PPPS HowardL@2
Personally I don’t share your reservations but I do see what you’re getting at.
Thanks for the blog Hihoba but there’s a row missing in the solution grid – had me terribly confused for a while!
I didn’t Google any of the three thematic entries I solved so didn’t have a clue what it was all about.
I wouldn’t say “too obscure” though – just unknown to me.
Sorry to be obtuse but why does AN mean before(36A)
Gordon @6 – AN = ANTE = BEFORE (Latin) – it’s in Chambers.
I enjoyed this puzzle though I didn’t solve 3a until after everything else had fallen into place – there seems little point in its presence.
I didn’t mind KANANGA – no more or less obscure than EAST LONDON in this puzzle: http://www.fifteensquared.net/2014/07/30/inquisitor-1343-partly-connected-by-lato/
BF@4,I for one would find it impossible to complete most of these puzzles without google.
In the old days when crosswords were coal-fired,I relied on a shelf of reference books and I think this was considered acceptable. Okay, google is much faster but the same principle. Still require s skill in knowing what to look for and make connections. I have always assumed that setters factor google into their setting. It must certainly enable them to come up with ever more ingenious themes. Be interesting to hear setters’ thoughts on this.
#4 – I agree that KANANGA is not well clued. Your transposition would make sense.
I parsed 28d [A note penned in English by king acting for an African city] as
(A+N[note] inside ANG[English]) beside K[king] followed by A[acting] giving K+(AN[A+N]G)+A.
It works for me!
Not much trouble with this one – not the clues, nor the solving of them. (Tho’ I didn’t much like “hen” at 30a as a clue for CLAIRE.)
As to using e.g. Google, I’d have struggled (failed?) to verify all the thematic entries without some such, so I’m happy to use it, but not too early.
Thanks to Sch. for the puzzle (I too learnt something), & to Hi for the blog (tho’ I’d prefer the clue explanations to be in clue order than grouped by type).
And I think the jury’s still out on KANANGA – John Lowe’s explanation @10 doesn’t quite work since ANG = “in English” rather than just “English”.
Sorry: 30d CLAIRE
darter @ 5. Sorry about the error in the grid. I have corrected it now – hope it makes more sense!
My thoughts about starburst’s comment @ 3 is that the Americans definitely think the event is worth commemorating – they made a statue of it and placed it at the entrance to one of their most important cemeteries. The fact that three of the protagonists were dead within a few days does not diminish what they did, but illustrates the dire consequences of war. A year has just ended with a commemoration of the start of an even more disastrous (and ultimately futile) conflict with horrific results for those involved, but this does not mean that we shouldn’t recognise the sacrifices made.
I am glad that the crossword from Schadenfreude has brought to my consciousness the names and ranks of the six men involved – they were faceless Americans to me until now!
Yes, I had problem with CLAIRE, thinking it must be some breed/type of hen, before realising it just meant female name.
Nice puzzle, and I’m quite comfortable with the googling involved. I am surprised at the comment regarding George Orwell’s Coming Up For Air, however. One of my favourite books, and a great story about idealised childhood and how things are never the same if one goes back. In my view it’s superior to Orwell’s better known works.
A very enjoyable puzzle, and I loved the construction. The bottom half came first but the top half took much longer to work out.
I have no complaints about the subject matter. Yes, I had to Google and as per Rob @#1, I had ‘Sousley’ early on which helped narrow down the subject matter quickly. Fascinating personal stories behind the familiar and iconic image. Loved it.
Thanks Schadenfreude and of course Hihoba for another great blog.
I read the Inquisitor blog every week and rarely respond, but I must defend Schadenfreude, who I think is the best Inquisitor setter, always tough but always fair.
No cross-checking in 3a? True, but it was a very straightforward clue at this level and the first one solved in this household.
Obscure theme? Surely not. Iwo Jima was a key engagement in the Pacific theatre in World War II and has been the subject of several well known films, e.g “The Sands of Iwo Jima” (1949) and “Flags of Our Fathers” (2006). The latter, directed by Clint Eastwood, tells the story of the flag-raisers and the impact the event had on the three survivors. The best known of these, Ira Hayes, who never came to terms with fame, succumbed to alcoholism and dies ten years after the war, was the subject of a biopic, “The Outsider” (1961) and a song, “The Ballad of Ira Hayes”, made famous in the 1960s by Johnny Cash.
Need to use Google to crack the theme? We can’t expect the setters to limit their themes to very familiar subjects. Mrs Terrier and I attempt this puzzle and the Listener most weeks and are quite happy to use the internet and the “shelf of reference books” to which jon surdy refers in order to make progress. We’ve learnt a lot about a wide range of subjects that way, but how much we remember I’m not sure!
Too many proper names? I don’t see this as a problem as long as they are clued fairly and can be found in standard reference sources, printed or online, but of the seven that Hihoba complains about Chambers Dictionary includes five! Admittedly two are subsumed within entries for related words, but that should not prevent one from finding them.
Finally, in case anyone should think I am merely a cheerleader for Schadenfreude (or even the setter himself), I think that the following week’s puzzle, by Phi, was even better. It’s been a vintage year so far.
I was pleased to read Terrier’s comment in defense of Schadenfreude. Perhaps a brief defense of my comments in the blog.
I didn’t complain about 3a being unfair, merely that it was completely irrelevant to solving the puzzle and to winning the Prosecco – clue and answer were fine!
The preponderance of proper names – seven I cited + 6 from the theme is thirteen of forty-five answers – I believe this is excessive. Again no problem with the clues or ability to find the answers – except for Kananga which I still believe is ridiculous!
About the theme, I found it interesting and informative and entirely fair. OK so I use Google, but the comments show I am not alone, and I believe it is an entirely fair tactic for themed crosswords. We can’t all know everything or possess all the necessary reference books! I had never (possibly to my shame) heard of any of the films or the song referred to by Terrier – nor had I read “Coming up for Air”, but the fact that I was able to complete the crossword and write the blog indicates that it was not impossible.
So thanks to Schadenfreude, our other setters and to editor, Nimrod, who keep finding interesting, relevant and interesting themes in the Inquisitor series.
Thanks Hi for your kind comments on my defence of the setter. I must challenge, though, your description of 3a as being “completely irrelevant to solving the puzzle”. As mentioned above, it was the first clue we solved and it proved extremely useful. First, it told us we were looking for surnames in the undefined clues and secondly, as soon as we tried to solve the five down clues which apparently started with letters in 3a, it quickly became obvious that these were the clues whose answers did not “occupy all the available cells”. Finally, as for blanking out the answer and thereby removing evidence that one has solved it, that is not unusual in this kind of puzzle. There was only one answer involved this time, but a few weeks ago Listener solvers who managed to fill the grid were then instructed via messages hidden therein to blank out all the answers and submit an empty grid, which is perhaps taking this device too far. An easy week for the marker, though!
Terrier: Strange how our solving experiences differ. 3a was the last clue I solved, having twigged the rest from filling the diagram!
Perhaps ‘totally irrelevant to solving’ is a bit of hyperbole, but it was certainly possible to complete the puzzle without solving it. It was my LOI as well and it was only when somebody asked me what that answer had been that I realised that I’d completely forgotten to solve it. Relevant to the puzzle as a whole, though ? Of course it is.