I started this blog before having solved the puzzle element of this week’s offering by Ikela, so we’ll start with the clued elements.
The rubric told us that wordplay in all but six clues ignored letters on white squares (= “contributing to unclued words”), and there were six answers without white squares – 14 and 32 across and 8, 12, 18 and 25 down. In the table below the Omission(s) are shown as X+Y if two omissions are separated and XY if they are adjacent. The omitted letters were relatively easy to deduce when most of the crossword was solved.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clue | Answer | Omission(s) | Definition: Wordplay |
| 1 | SKIER | K | Winter sportsman: [RISE]* |
| 4 | SYCAMORE | S | Growth in forestry: (uncertaint)Y + CA + MORE |
| 9 | DISCO | D+O | Club: I(nternal) S(ecurity) C(harlie) |
| 10 | TAENIAS | T+A | Ribbons: A(dult) + SINE reversed (function’s over) |
| 11 | TINTYPE | PE | Photograph: TINTY = unevenly coloured |
| 13 | TUGRA | R | Monogram: TUG(boat) + A(ustralian) |
| 14 | ARGO | none | Group of stars: ARGO(n) |
| 15 | CEAS | EA | Stop Shakespearian reading in dispute (= sessa – enough said): C(a)S(t) (oddly cast) |
| 16 | NEJD | J | Region of Arabia: DEN (lair) reversed |
| 17 | LAKER | K | Fish: [REAL]* |
| 19 | TRIE | I | Previous attempt (try): TRE(k) |
| 20 | LIFEBOAT | A | One on the drink (sea) in desperate circumstances: LIFT (hold up) round OBE reversed |
| 23 | VAUNTAGE | AU | Spenserian word for benefit: V(i)NTAGE |
| 27 | ENSURER | NS | I should make certain: RUE reversed + ER |
| 29 | SATRAP | AT | Old governor: PARS reversed |
| 31 | CIVIL RIGHTS | T | Personal freedom: [GIRL VIC HAS]* |
| 32 | LARAMIE | none | Western town: LIE round ARAM (Khachaturian’s first name!!!) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | SMETANA | M | Composer: SET (collection) + ANA (anecdotes) |
| 2 | ICING | C | Freezing: (SK – Slovakia))IING |
| 3 | RECYCLE | E+E | To save resources: [LYR(i)C]* round C(ontralto) |
| 5 | COARSE | O | Rough: CARSE (plain Scots) |
| 6 | MINUET | E | Dance: MINUT(e) (shorter time) |
| 7 | OVIGEROUS | E+S | Carrying eggs: O(ld) + VIGOUR with final R “perked up” |
| 8 | ENSATE | none | Sword shaped (like some leaves): (gard)ENS + AT + (K)E(w) |
| 12 | TOD | none | One’s own: DOT reversed |
| 13 | THREW | H | Cast: TREW is an old version of true |
| 18 | ALAE | none | Zoological processes (wings!): EA(ch) + LA reversed |
| 21 | FEDORA | O | Hat: FRA round ED |
| 22 | THYRSE | Y | Staff (wand of Bacchus): THE round RS |
| 23 | VESAK | K | Buddist festival: [SAVE]* |
| 24 | TRAVE | E | Dialect for shaft: TRAVEL without EL(evated railway) |
| 25 | GRILL | none | Cook: G(randmother) + R(ecipe) + ILL (badly) |
| 26 | TAIGA | AI | Pine forest: T(imelessly) G(reen) A(lways) |
| 28 | URIM | M | … and Thummim – objects used as an oracle (Exodus): hidden in cURIous |
| 30 | OHM | O | Measure of resistance: HM (monarch) |
The unclued white squares were grouped as three intersecting sets of four in the grid, and were to be re-arranged as four sets of three by meaning to give the elements of a 15 letter theme.
The sets of four (see the completed grid below) are:
KID, MICKELSON, SLOPE, STEAK
PARLIAMENT, HEEL, CASEY, ONION
JOUST, BANANA, KAYMER, BONE (banana and bone were only confirmed after deducing the triplets below)
The groups of three are, according to “Only Connect” principles:
MICKELSON, CASEY and KAYMER (golfers)
SLOPE, HEEL and JOUST (words meaning “tilt”)
KID, ONION and BANANA (skins)
STEAK, PARLIAMENT and BONE (can be preceded by “rump”)
So if we take another golfer – Ernie ELS we get
RUMP + ELS + TILT + SKIN or Rumpelstiltskin, the 15 letter theme. The title refers (I should think) to the fact that the “personality” (Rumpelstiltskin) is “split” into its four components.
So the final grid is:
Thanks Hihoba.
The actual clues of this puzzle were fairly straightforward,but the thematic element caused me quite a bit of head scratching.
I guessed most of the unclued entries and thought ‘golfers’ might be one of the triplets,but had to resort to Google to find Kaymer.
After much thought PARLIAMENT and STEAK = RUMP suddenly clicked after which the rest was plain sailing.
I thought the title might have something to do with the end of the Rumpelstiltskin story when,in anger,he tears himself in two.
Very enjoyable puzzle.
I dont usually submit entries when I’m not entirely sure how I arrived at the solution. However, I could find no real alternatives. A golfing fanatic who was in my house at the time gave me the MICKELSON, KAYMER, CASEY and ELS connection. The TILTs and the RUMPs swung it though. There are various endings to the Grimm tale but I think Scarpia is right in the ‘split’ theory. Thanks HiHoba for the blog and to Ikela for the headache.
My experience seems rather like Scarpia’s (above). Solved all the clues with barely a problem, then arrived at the “tilt” trio almost straight away. Resolved my MICKELSON/MICHELSON debate in favour of the former when I spotted CASEY, and Googled for KAYMER. But then I ran into a brick wall …
I just couldn’t make sense of KID, STEAK, PARLIAMENT & ONION/ORION (and didn’t have the other two), so I just put the puzzle away for a day. And then “rump” came to mind, and, as Scarpia says, ‘the rest was plain sailing’.
As to Mike Laws’ recent soliciting of views on ‘Symmetry’, more later …
Mike Laws’ recent soliciting of views on ‘Symmetry’ initiated quite a lengthy conversation at Derek Harrison’s Crossword Message Board. (I don’t seem able to include the web address in my comment.) Personally, I find symmetry æsthetically pleasing, and I do notice when a puzzle grid is asymmetric, but am by and large tolerant if it’s because the setter has embedded a sizable amount of thematic material, as here.
HolyGhost,thanks for the lead to D.H,’s site,very interesting discussion.
I must admit that in a barred puzzle I doubt if I would notice whether the grid was symmetrical or otherwise,so obviously it wouldn’t bother me.
For a blocked puzzle I think symmetry is important,an asymmetrical grid would just look ugly.