A tricky setter this week in the shape of Shark, with a couple of Listeners and a few EVs and Inquisitors under his belt. Here we had some extra words in clues which needed to be grouped. I hoped that the theme would be one that I could come to grips with.
Unfortunately, the going was fairly tough, and after a first pass through the clues, I had only a handful of entries in the grid. A short while later, and I had only a few more. Lawks!
After a couple of hours, I noticed a few Is in column 9 with a couple more in row 4. I wondered if they might form a square, and pencilled them in lightly. I was proved right, and this helped the solving process slightly.
At about the same time, SHERLOCK seemed appropriate for the unclued entry in row 2, and I was thankful for having been given the unchecked letters of the unclued entries. I assumed that we were in detective country, but seeing SPOOKS and HUSTLE in the last column made me realise that we were in television-land. The extra word in 1ac, ‘connect’ enabled me to see what the extra words had in common — they could also form television programmes, eg Only Connect.
Not that that enabled me to finish the puzzle in extra quick time. Shark’s clueing was tricky, and in some cases (eg ‘One could change from Doctor Who to Downton Abbey’) quite devious. Anyway, I got there in the end, and the ‘disease’ from watching too much television was indeed square-eyes. The initial letters of the TV programs spelt out Telly shows from GB.
Eventually, the grid was complete, and the extra words in the clues could be grouped together as shown in the table below.
Entertainment, as usual, from Shark, despite his choice of TV programmes! Thanks.
| Clues | TV Program | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 5ac 7dn | Top Gear | Never watch it |
| 12ac 17dn | Eggheads | Never watch it |
| 15ac 8dn | Lovejoy | Never watched it |
| 19ac 21dn | [The] Young Ones | Often watched it |
| 16ac 22ac | [The] League [of] Gentlemen | Always watched it |
| 24ac 20dn | Shameless | Never watched it |
| 28ac 14ac | Heartbeat | Never watched it |
| 31ac 11dn 9ac | Open All Hours | Sometimes watched it |
| 2dn 26dn | Watchdog | Occasionally watch it |
| 4dn 10ac 18ac | Steptoe [and] Son | Often watched it |
| 5dn 25ac | Father Ted | Often watched it |
| 6dn 32ac | Red Dwarf | Often watched it |
| 13dn 1ac | Only Connect | Rarely watch it (sorry!) |
| 23dn 3dn | Masterchef | Rarely watch it |
| 25dn 29ac | Grandstand | Rarely watch it |
| 27dn 30ac | Bullseye | Never watched it |
Solving time: Quite long
Legend:
Definition in clue
Extra word in clue
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Extra Word |
Initial if first Word |
Clue and Explanation |
| 1 | MUSETS | CONNECT | MU (Olympic character) + SETS (series of games, in tennis); Olympic is a refers to Greek |
|
| 5 | KANSAS | TOP | T | Grass bank’s KANS (grass) AS (bank) |
| SHERLOCK | Unclued | |||
| 9 | BARKER | HOURS | Celebrity Ronnie Kray initially K (Kray initially) in BAR (court) ER (casualty, US equivalent of A&E) |
|
| 10 | ARROYO | TOE | Purgatory arrived over cutting that ARR (arrived) + O (over) + YO[n] (that, dialect, cut); ‘purgatory’ is in the sense of a US ravine |
|
| 12 | ETUI | EGG | E | European bird’s E (European) TUI (bird) |
| 14 | MICAS | BEAT | AIMS* including C (100) |
|
| 15 | TILAK | LOVE | L | Hindu mark of T (tense) + KALI< (goddess) |
| 16 | NEPIT | LEAGUE | L | End space (TIP (end) + EN (space))< |
| 18 | DEISTS | SON | They believe in DESIST (stop) with first S (son) put off (delayed) to the end |
|
| 19 | ENGIRD | YOUNG | Y | Surround GIR[l] (sweetheart) in END (death) |
| 22 | SEITH | GENTLEMEN | Cut Elizabethan HEIST* |
|
| 24 | XENIA | SHAME | S | Presents senior with kiss over (AINE (senior) + X (kiss))< |
| 25 | LABIS | TED | Frolicking Basil and BASIL* |
|
| 28 | ICES | HEART | H | Tops twice uncovered Alice’s [al]ICES (missing first two letters); tops/ices in the sense of to kill |
| 29 | REMOTE | STAND | 2 meanings; second in the sense of a remote control |
|
| 30 | COHOST | EYE | Fish COHOS (fish) + T (surface, top, of Tank); just like Ant and Dec! |
|
| PANORAMA | Unclued | |||
| 31 | SHEARS | OPEN | O | Garden tool to catch on HEAR (catch) in SS (on board) |
| 32 | LETTRE | DWARF | Naked settlers flogged a [s]ETTLER[s]* |
|
| DOWN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Extra Word |
Initial if first Word |
Clue and Explanation |
| 1 | MR BEAN | Unclued | ||
| 2 | SCRUMP | WATCH | W | P (prince) after SCRUM (disorderly struggle) |
| 3 | THEIC | CHEF | One drinks too much caffeine from our informal THE (our, informal) + IC (in charge) |
|
| 4 | SERIAL | STEP | S | Den and sacked central characters from Eastenders (LAIR (den) + E[astender]S (sacked = dismissed))< |
| 5 | KRAIS | FATHER | F | In part Bolshevik in bolsheviK RAISed |
| 6 | NORI | RED | R | Japanese algae from capsized IRON< (stern, as in severe) |
| 7 | SCOWLS | GEAR | Lowers boat SCOW (boat) + L (lake) heading (before) S (south) |
|
| SPOOKS | Unclued | |||
| 8 | FATTENED | JOY | Enriched FLATTENED (amazed) – L (liberal) |
|
| 11 | RITES | ALL | Temperature drops in TRIES (judges) with the T dropping down |
|
| 13 | MATTRESS | ONLY | O | Husband MAT[e] (husband, losing last) + TRESS (hair) |
| 17 | TRAIT | HEADS | [s]TRAIT[s] (guts, in the sense of narrow passage) |
|
| EXTRAS | Unclued | |||
| 20 | GMOMAE | LESS | AMONG< (here and there) + E (Spain) |
|
| 21 | LAICAL | ONES | Secular and hostile GLACIAL< (hostile) – G (government) |
|
| 23 | ESCORT | MASTER | M | Perhaps ESC (escape) + BORTS (diamond pieces) – B (billion) |
| HUSTLE | Unclued | |||
| 25 | LIERS | GRAND | G | They may be still cross throwing away grand (second LIGER (cross) – G (grand) + S (second) |
| 26 | BIOME | DOG | BI- (twice) + HOME (searching) – H (hard) |
|
| 27 | IONA | BULLS | B | Pit I ([p]I[t]) ON A (Australian) |
Brilliant puzzle. Thanks to both Dave Hennings and Shark.
As I’m a fan of so many of the shows, this puzzle was a real treat.
Yes, the discovery of the I’s was a useful way in to some of Shark’s usual tough efforts, but the result was a very artistic final grid, which is what we’ve come to expect from Shark. Thanks!
Challenging stuff from Shark, but good fun. Was impressed with the grid construction on this one; the arrangement of the “square eyes”, the limitations caused by only being able to use four vowels elsewhere in the grid, and the symmetrical arrangement of the TV shows. The symmetrical arrangement was particularly appreciated; it seems to be something that those I would class as “the best setters” always strive for.
It’s also nice to see a recent trend towards some slightly more modern themes in the EV (and indeed the Inquisitor). This is, in my opinion, A Good Thing.
I didn’t do this puzzle and was just checking blogs to see what the themes were. But this made me smile as I am a real Shark fan and was just saying to another setter the other day that he is someone who thinks outside the box for his themes.
Wan
Thanks for the blog and positive feedback. Chris is doing a great job as editor bringing in variety to the themes and adding a bit of fun. Exactly why I thought this puzzle would suit EV solvers. Glad I was right.
Wan, drop me an email at robertsdc at doctors dot or dot uk.
Shark
Org (not or)