Solving time: 2-3 hours for the clues…
Time to admit defeat on this one – I can’t see the last step. The instruction provided by the missing letters in clues is “Colour correctly cells containing theme letters”. The theme is to be ‘deduced by observation’ and has one letter obscured by the central black square. Well I’ve stared at the puzzle for quite a while on several occasions and apart from lots of words with H/I/P/C in them – HIPPIC, PITHY, CHIPPY and so on – I can’t see anything, so I await the inevitable comment telling me how easy the theme and last step are.
In explanations below, the word or phrase containing the missing letter is shown first. There are one or two clues I haven’t quite understood.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 5 | gout TIT,BIT – cheeky charade |
| 10 | floe whIte CitY |
| 13 | suits TAR,O.K. – but I don’t think the clue is right. Tarok/tarot cards have suits with fourteen cards, not thirteen (court cards are King, Queen, Cavalier, Jack). [And they were invented for playing games, not telling fortunes. See Michael Dummett’s “Game of Tarot”.] |
| 15 | close PIPAL – the bo tree, under which Buddha found enlightenment – therefore planted near Buddhist temples |
| 16 | bog LETCH – 2 mngs, one ‘boggy patch of ground’ |
| 18 | girl L(ALL)A – a diminutive name in that section at the back of C. Made me wonder whether the teletubbies and their colours were the theme. |
| 20 | gallery SKY(r) – sky = top row of a gallery, and skyr is a Scandinavian yoghurty curd cheese – I think I had some on an Icelandic holiday. We chickened out of the fermented shark and the sheep’s testicles in whey. |
| 21 | muse CHEW – 2 meanings |
| 23 | cart THAR – an Indian vehicle |
| 24 | stunned MY=motor yacht,S=special |
| 26 | lad AR.,SON – a saddle-bow |
| 28 | colliery I,MINE – a chemical |
| 30 | fact ON-DIT = (I don’t)* |
| 32 | demure MIM(e) |
| 34 | oil PIC(k) – pick2 is N. English ‘pitch’ |
| 38 | point PIT(H)Y |
| Down | |
| 1 | in HIP,PIC |
| 3 | blains PIMPLES = “Pym pulls” |
| 4 | painting PI(e)TA |
| 5 | Eastern TIROL – RI in lot, all rev – the Tirol is in W. Austria. |
| 6 | serifs TYKES – K replaces P in types – serif = a typeface with serifs |
| 7 | naval BITT – a post on a boat for fastening cables |
| 8 | gold TICHY – I,C.H. replaces OR in tory |
| 9 | it HALLO(w),A – the A here is a2 – dialect for ‘it’ or various other pronouns |
| 11 | phat DICKTY – two words for excellent |
| 17 | “one e” THY,MIC(e) – the thymus being one of the sources of sweetbreads |
| 19 | moke ASS,OR,T=troy |
| 20 | site S AND PIT = spit |
| 23 | tickling H(ITCH)Y |
| 24 | ape M(I’M I)C |
| 27 | set (g)ROUP,Y=yankee |
| 29 | boers I(M.P.)I |
| 35 | Chronicles I,CH. – ich is a Shak. version of eke |
I’ve not seen this puzzle but I have had two similar experiences with MynoT before where I could just not see the last step of highlighting something in the grid. Sorry I can’t help more!
The coloured region needs to be symmetrical. An octagonalish shape in the centre of the grid contains lights using only nine different letters seems to conform to this requirement. I tried to make up some message from these letters and one other not used elsewhere (the obscured letter).
Then I gave up.
I hope it’s not Latin again.
The nine letters in the central symmetrical area, plus the “missing” letter hidden in the central square, which is “F”, can be arranged to make the two words “A SUNFLOWER”.
Presumably the instruction in the preamble is fulfilled by colouring the relevany region of the grid yellow. Then it looks like a sunflower – sort of anyway.
I also had to give up on this one. I still can’t see how you should arrive at A SUNFLOWER without any help or direction in the preamble. Not one of MynoT’s finest in my opinion
I was particularly surprised by the Independent not colouring the letters of A SUNFLOWER yellow in the solution…! It normally seems to like colours.