With the preamble stating that there were 5 normal clues and 5 lines breaking up two misspelt words in the quotation there was clearly a connection. I found the clues easy enough (except for one) but the quotation proved less than straightforward until I had CENT-TCHU-A when the light dawned. It turns out the song title really is, AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE, ELIM-MY-NATE THE NEGATIVE. The five normal clues corresponded to the hyphens in the song title. The only slight problem was confirming the title via Google. I found plenty of references to the first word spelt and hyphenated that way but some had the second misspelt word spelt correctly and some had it misspelt correctly but not hyphenated. I’m sure the printed sheet music is authoritative though.
With the rest of the extra letters in place rest of the puzzle then fell into place quickly. The clash, between S and G, turned out to be the central letter in the grid. The diagonals (barring the end squares) through this middle square contained THE POSITIVE and THE NEGATIVE.
Since the preamble suggested using a pencil, I assume the next step is to completely elim-my-nate THE NEGATIVE by rubbing out those letters; and to ac-cent-tchu-ate THE POSITIVE by highlighting those letters somehow. Thus the clash was resolved by the action of the song line to an S.
If anyone can help with 34dn, please do comment.
dd double definition
(XY Z)* anagram
X[Y]Z insertion
X[y]Z deletion
ZYX< reversal
uvwXY Zabc hidden answer
X. initial letter
X-Y-Z- alternate letters
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | BAZAR | B[AZA[lea]]AR | bazar is another spelling of bazaar. |
| 6 | C | AGGRESS | CA[G G.]RESS | |
| 11 | – | ATAP | A TAP | the nipa palm. |
| 12 | C | ECLAIR | CLARICE* | according to Chambers and eclair is, “a cake, long in shape but short in duration”. |
| 14 | E | THRALL | THE RALL[y] | |
| 15 | N | SHRI | SH[R]IN[e] | a respectful title from India. |
| 16 | T | TENE | TENT E | tene is listed under teen as anger. Tent is Scots for heed. |
| 18 | – | PORTIERE | POR[TIER]E | as well as meaning a concierge or portress this also means a curtain hung over a door. |
| 20 | T | USES | T[o]USES | touse is to worry. |
| 21 | C | SIAN | dd SICAN | a Sican is someone from Sicily. Sian is a Welsh name. |
| 22 | H | SCAM | SH[C]AM | scam is swindle (Chambers doesn’t suggest US). |
| 24 | U | STEREO | (E SO TRUE)* | |
| 25 | – | SNAKE | S[N]AKE | sake = aim, as in purpose. |
| 27 | A | PARSING | (IS A PRANG)* | |
| 29 | T | PALER | P ALTER | |
| 30 | E | IAMBUS | I AM[B.]USE | |
| 32 | T | STEP | S[T]EPT | T = tense, sept is an Irish clan. |
| 34 | H | TIRR | THIR R | thir is Scots for these while tirr is Scots for strip. |
| 36 | E | LONG | dd LONGE | a longe is a training-ground for horses. |
| 38 | P | TRIASSIC | TRIP ASS IC | |
| 39 | O | INFO | tuitION FOrmat | |
| 40 | S | GIVE | G-I-V-S-E | |
| 41 | I | BEHAVE | (A BEE HIV[e])* | |
| 42 | T | URINAL | TURIN A L | |
| 43 | I | NEED | NE[r]EID | |
| 44 | V | PRESAGE | P[REV]SAGE | |
| 45 | E | SANDS | SA[NED]S | |
| Down | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E | BANTU | BAN UTE< | a ute is a utility vehicle. |
| 2 | L | ATTEST | LAT[T.]EST | |
| 3 | I | APRES | PRAISE* | |
| 4 | M | REAPPEAR | REAM PAPER* | |
| 5 | – | TELOS | TEL OS | OS = operating system. In fact Telos sounds like an operating system, in fact it means the same as sake (see 25ac). |
| 7 | M | GLUTAEI | GLUT AM[E.]I | |
| 8 | Y | GAMIN | GAY MIN | |
| 9 | – | RISES | REISS* | |
| 10 | N | STREAKS | ST[‘RE]ANKS | a stank is a ditch or pool in northern Britain. |
| 13 | A | DIMMERS | DIM AMER S | |
| 17 | T | NEEDLE | NEED LET | |
| 19 | E | RINGERS | REIGN* ER’S | |
| 23 | T | CARBON | CART BON | |
| 24 | H | SAPSAGO | SAP SHAG O | a hard cheese, Swiss and green too! |
| 25 | E | SNATCHES | S[NATCH]EE S | natch = rump |
| 26 | N | BATTIER | BANT[IT<]ER | |
| 28 | E | RAISING | RAISE ING | a raise is a cairn in the North of England, not sure if it is specifically Teesdale. An ing is a meadow, also in the north. |
| 31 | G | UNFEED | GUN FEED | a gun is a (shearing) expert from Oz. A feed is an actor that provides a feed line, a stooge. |
| 33 | A | PIERS | PAI[E]RS | |
| 34 | T | TAFIA | ? | I can’t see the word play for this one. Tafia is a type of rum. |
| 35 | I | RIELS | (LIRE IS) | |
| 36 | V | LIANA | AN[A]VIL< | |
| 37 | E | GOADS | EGO ADS | |
Hi Colin
I have a question mark against 34d as well. The nearest I got was that there was an American president (William Howard) TAFT, ‘is leaving society’ could give I[s] and the A after the semicolon could form part of the wordplay rather than the definition.
However, this gives TAFTIA since there is no indication in the clue for the removal of the second T. I looked at various options for removing AP, ABE etc from a word meaning ‘society’ but came up with nothing.
Gaufrid,
TAFTIA would be fine since the second T is the extra letter required for the quotation. It still seems very vague compared to the rest of the clues.
Colin
Egg on face time. I had completely forgotten about the extra letter in the wordplay. I could blame the two week gap since solving but I should have been reminded by your blog. Another ‘senior’ moment I’m afraid.
Thanks for this post. I suspect that I submitted a correctly-filled grid with incorrect highlighting, much to my chagrin.
Still, the two clashing entries did form a neat “+” sign in the centre of the grid…and it looked quite pleasing once highlighted.
Simon, I’m still not 100% certain of the final step and await the published answer with interest. I’d say the sign in the grid was more of a multiplication symbol than an addition symbol, though.
Yes, it will be very interesting to see the published solution.
In my defence, as I remember it there really was a very clear “+” sign formed by the two clashing entries, quite apart from the “x” you mention, which I completely missed.
Ah, I see what you mean, I misread your comment. I guess each arithmetic sign appears…I assume that’s been done before. Must check Dave Hennings’ database.