Silvester by Eclogue

Twenty three clues contain an extra word. In clue order, initial letters of these words provide four courses; final letters provide their accompanying drinks. Reflecting the thematic sketch cryptically indicated by one of the unclued entries, clashes in six cells should be left blank in four instances to note absentees while the other two should be marked with an X. The name of the other character present should be entered below the grid. Remaining unclued entries are the surnames of those involved. Letter-counts refer to grid entries, word enumerations to clue answers.

First thing that strikes me is the unusual grid layout of 15×9. I remember when the Inquisitor was restricted to 12×12 or 13×13. Is the deviation a good thing or a bad thing? Time will tell.

First answer to fall is 18d TOLUIC – a dead easy anagram for my scientist daughter, elmac. Next one to fall, solved by me, is 32d STOMA but it doesn’t fit. Hmm… there’s something in the preamble indicating that some words might not fit but not enough information, at this stage, to indicate how (or even where) to enter STOMA. Next one to fall is 7d – a joint effort this time … and it fits … and it’s right down the middle of the puzzle thus allowing several crossing answers to be guessed solved and entered, thus leading to a fairly rapid solve of many of the remaining answers. The extra words, of course, began to fall out and a few more clues led to answers that wouldn’t fit.

Remembering an earlier puzzle where several letters were jammed into single spaces, I searched through my thoroughly unreliable memory and realized that it was Inquisitor 1503 “Obeying a Rule” also by Eclogue and also blogged by me, in August (here’s the link: https://www.fifteensquared.net/2017/08/23/inquisitor-1503-obeying-a-rule-by-eclogue/ it should open in a new tab or window.) However, knowing all that isn’t helping with this puzzle as I seem to have only half the clashes for any given square.

Eventually, it’s time to bite the bullet and try to work out what information the extra words are giving us. We have _OU_HA & _HE_RY at the start and RU_T & PO_T at the end and some stuff in the middle. There was a question mark beside SCOTS in 9a as I felt that the clue worked either with or without it but assuming that it was extra gave us SOU_ which then quickly led to SOUP and SHERRY. The same kind of treatment towards the end gave us FRUIT (pronounced FROO-IT, as it turns out). Now SOUP and FRUIT are potential courses at dinner and SHERRY and PORT are certainly drinks. Then an internet search led us to Dinner for One starring Freddie Frinton together with May Warden. Inspired by the Wikipedia article, I went in search of it on YouTube and found it here: https://youtu.be/FksV_7ZYbhY. – despite the Deutsch introduction, the sketch is in English.

I’d never heard of it until doing this crossword thought it is possible that I saw it as an eight or nine year old living in West Germany in 1963 as we would have certainly looked out for any English language programmes on Deutsche TV. However, if I did, I don’t remember.

It turns out that, though the sketch is virtually unknown in the UK, it’s a staple of New Year’s Eve viewing in several countries including, of course, Germany. And it holds the record as the most watched TV programme of all time. The Hogmanay connection, presumably, had a lot to do with the timing of this puzzle.

I’ve now watched it three times and I have to admire Mr. Frinton’s comic timing and his progression from sober to completely sloshed. I plan to watch it again around December 31st 2018 and then, hopefully, “the same procedure every year”.

Anyway, back to the puzzle… the clashes were:

These squares refer to the host, (absent) guests and (largely inanimate) prop for the sketch and their positions around the table – with X indicating those actually present. The remaining character (JAMES) is to be written below the grid.

The first and last letters of extra words lead to SOUP HADDOCK CHICKEN FRUIT and SHERRY WINE CHAMPAGNE PORT as per Sophie’s instructions to James throughout the sketch.

The protagonists FRINTON and WARDEN are in the unclued entries at 17d and 41a, respectively. And 1a is DINNER (or DINNER FOR ONE).

Finally, the title. It appears that Hogmanay is also known as St. Silvester’s Day – who knew??

And, having just watched the second semi-final of Christmas University Challenge – probably available on BBC iPlayer for those of you lucky enough to be able to access it. It gave me one of the few answers I knew!

Harking back to my first point – the 15×9 layout was absolutely vital to allow enough space to represent the table – verdict: a good thing!

Anyway, a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle to polish off the year. Thanks very much to Eclogue for (re)introducing me to a fine sketch. And, assuming that not too many people take exception this far into 2018. A HAPPY NEW YEAR to all fellow Inquisitor masochists – here’s to many more outstanding puzzles this year.