[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
An alphabetical jigsaw this week from Charybdis, and a very good one too! An amazing grid construction.
The rubric read: Answers fit in the grid jigsaw-wise. Unnumbered clues are arranged in alphabetical order of their solutions. First letters of clues when all are arranged in conventional crossword order provide three instructions, allowing a thematic word to be read. Twelve contiguous cells, suitably placed in the grid, must be highlighted to reveal an apt synonym.
I started to insert the numbers in the grid in their conventional places, then realised that they were a) the wrong length and b) impossible anyway – 3D had to come after 2A! So I concentrated on solving the clues and soon realised that filling the grid was dependent on solving the 13 letter clue. I struggled with this, thinking it was an anagram of “a war film title” until it dawned (after a prod from Ho) that it was an anagram of “submersed that”. Armed with THE DAM BUSTERS down the left hand column and the ten letter PARASITISM in row 9, I was away and less than an hour saw the rest of the grid complete, though I struggled with POITIER, which turned out to be rather crucial in the end!
The laborious task of finding the first letters of the clues (including the numbered ones) in normal clue order, yielded the phrase: PUT NUMBERS IN GRID, PUT DOTS AFTER NUMBERS, JOIN THE DOTS.
So I obeyed, and found the first letters of the answers which spelled out STEEPLECHASE. The dots, when joined, gave a picture of a jump or jumps on a steeplechase course. BUT see comments, particularly from Dan at #3, AND note the date when reading jon surdy’s comment at #1. (Updated 3 April 2015)
After a night’s sleep I eventually solved POITIER and discovered POINT TO POINT (perhaps not quite a synonym of steeplechase, but close enough) hidden in the grid in a suitable zig-zag pattern which was to be highlighted.
Brilliant grid and fair clues, brilliantly arranged to convey the message, though I had problems with one or two definitions. A great Penny Drop Moment after arranging the clues and following the instructions.
Great stuff Charybdis.
I wasn’t sure how relevant the title, “Tipster” was, apart from indicating a horse-racing connection. Maybe I missed something and one of your comments will enlighten me.
Across |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition) | Answer | Wordplay |
| 1 | Older buck with time to hang around (4) | STAG | SAG (hang) round T(ime) |
| 2 | Itinerary’s raison d’étre allows for small groups (8) | TRIPLETS | TRIP (itinerary’s raison d’étre) + LETS (allows) |
| 5 | Rat is doubly tricksy in card game, making a living out of others (10) | PARASITISM | [RAT IS IS]* in PAM (card game) |
| 7 | Time period for geologists before stone’s surfaces obliterate (5) | ERASE | ERA (time period for geologists) + S(ton)E |
| 8 | Décor revamped with empty space left in the middle (5) | CORED | [DECOR]* |
| 9 | Dispatch virginal with lid missing (5) | HASTE | (C)HASTE (virginal minus C) |
Down |
|||
| 3 | Hallucinogenic fungus – as a result beginning to trip (5) | ERGOT | ERGO (as a result) + T(rip) |
| 4 | Firm staying on course to finalise original disco say when director stands down (9) | ENDURANCE | END (finalise) + UR (original as in urtext) + (d)ANCE (disco minus D(irector)) |
| 6 | Dust from metal that’s cut for antique to shine (4) | LEME | LEME(l) is dust from metal filings |
| 10 | I was an army agent, a soldier to flog other ranks (8) | AGITATOR | A + GI (soldier) + TAT (to flog) + O(ther) R(anks) |
| 11 | Tied land worker is getting up rested but hard to get going (4) | SERF | FRESH (rested) reversed and H(ard) removed (going) |
| 12 | Stops to post letter perhaps after cycling (4) | ENDS | SEND (to post a letter) with the S cycling to the end |
Unnumbered |
|||
| Bomber pilot maybe, one restraining Ms Grese (6) | AIRMAN | Ms Grese is IRMA (alleged SS girl executed after WWII) with AN (one) round her | |
| Uzbek carriages coming from safe havens in the East End say (5) | ARBAS | Sounds like (say) (h)arbours | |
| Scotland’s superior rooms? A little breadth and little space (3) | BEN | B(readth) + EN (space) | |
| Egurgitate over gilt? That’s neat! (6) | CATTLE | CAT (to be sick) + ELT (gilt) reversed | |
| Editor goes up month before start of election showing a measure of diplomacy (8) | DÉMARCHE | ED reversed + MARCH + E(lection) | |
| Myfanwy’s man perhaps, has a new line of course to secure an ass (9) | DZIGGETAI | DAI (Myfanwy’s man perhaps) round ZIG (a new line of course) + GET (secure) | |
| Russet apple say, trimmer taking off the top (5) | EATER | (N)EATER | |
| A complex business perhaps if CID’s getting involved in middle of week (7) | EDIFICE | (w)EE(k) round [IF CID]* | |
| Nebbisher largely losing heart and heading off permanently contracted (3) | EER | NE(bbish)ER (largely losing heart) remove N (heading off) | |
| Nairn’s busy playing a part in Bourne Identity (6) | EIDENT | Scottish word for busy: hidden in BournE IDENTity | |
| Burying in a tomb and nearly finish cremation after bishop leaves (8) | ENURNING | EN(D) (nearly finish + (b)URNING (cremation minus b(ishop) | |
| Uncrowned doyen of crime fiction’s new character that’s not always patient? (6) | EXTERN | Colin (D)EXTER (uncrowned doyen of crime fiction) + N(ew) | |
| In addition, altered tax revenue’s out of place for trial (5) | EXTRA | [TAX RE(venue)]* (remove venue = out of place) | |
| Enrobe before purchase, whenever lifting big weight (5, 2 words) | FIT ON | IF reversed (whenever lifting) + TON (big weight) | |
| Green bits of leaf go bad after I cut into it (7) | FOLIAGE | [LEAF GO]* round I | |
| Pine for the old governor (6) | GRIEVE | Double definition, pine for and old governor | |
| Rely upon big cat to catch last of mice (5, 2 words) | LIE ON | Not quite sure that LIE ON (be incumbent upon) is the same as rely upon: LION (big cat) round (mic)E | |
| Topless writer with nothing on (4) | OPEN | O (nothing) on PEN (writer) | |
| Revolting chap touring East Indies is dusky (6) | PHAEIC | [CHAP]* round EI (East Indies) | |
| Scottish bird that’s irrational and out of this world (4) | PIET | PI (irrational number) + E(xtra) T(errestrial) | |
| Urged Sydney’s green driver to like petrol perhaps? (7) | PLEADED | P (inexperienced Australian driver) + LEADED (like petrol perhaps?) | |
| Medical complaint made by school governor nursing radius (7) | PODAGRA | POD (school) + AGA (governor) round R(adius) | |
| Trad NZ dance ball and stage actor from US (7) | POITIER | Sidney Poitier US actor: POI is a Maori dance ball + TIER (stage) | |
| The bay extended across the far end of Acapulco (4) | ROAN | RAN (extended across) round (Acapulc)O | |
| Narks, being more annoyed if caught out by lies in the end (7) | ROSSERS | Narks = police = rossers: (c)ROSSER (more annoyed minus C(aught)) + (lie)S | |
| Embroider around edges of teacher’s unusual spread (5) | STREW | SEW (embroider) round T(eache)R | |
| Posh chap keeps eye in at St Andrews making beginner’s golf shot (6) | TEE-OFF | TOFF (posh chap) round EE (eye in Scotland) | |
| Oddly the cloak is a sort of network (4) | TELA | Odd letters of T(h)E(c)L(o)A(k) | |
| Umber fused with it might produce a rare earth (7) | TERBIUM | [UMBER IT]* | |
| Jaipur’s spread with a limit near the centre (5) | THALI | Indian mixture of dishes: hidden in wiTH A LImit | |
| Submersed – that might be a war film title (13, 3 words) | THE DAM BUSTERS | [SUBMERSED THAT]* | |
| Ornamenting a horse carriage, make a small hole in £1000 (8) | TRAPPING | TRAP (carriage) + PIN (hole) + G (a grand is £1000) | |
| The regular Moaner and Marker who checked?? tense Corrie pub? (6) | TREVOR | Don’t get the definition: Corrie pub is Rover’s return, so T(ense) + REVOR (rover reversed) | |
| Nocturnal drunk is out of natural order and left to drive off the wagon (6) | UNCART | remove N(atural) O(rder) and L(eft) from nocturnal giving [CTURNA]* | |
Don’t know about anyone else, but I was less than thrilled to read last Saturday that the Indy is going to introduce a ‘coffee break’ version of the Inquisitor. Same grid, theme,answers etc – but easier clues.
In some ways, I think “fair enough”. Make it more accessible and all that. And not everyone has a computer, so they are denied Google. Maybe this is a progressive move. I have to admit that some Saturday mornings I would like to get it over and done with as quickly was possible. My partner agrees.
An extraordinary puzzle from Charybdis. So many stages and a great PDM.
Wasn’t aware of the news re the easier puzzle. I can’t for one imagine ever wanting the Inquisitor to be over and done with as quickly as possible – if it is I feel somewhat short-changed. Long live the Saturday and Sunday-long joust with the setter
Another great puzzle. I think the picture is of two steeples (not a jump as Hihoba says), hence the ‘point to point’ joining the two spires, and presumably also the title ‘tipster’ referring to the tips of the steeples. That’s my interpretation anyway.
Thanks to Charybdis and Hihoba
Good spot Dan. I like the steeples idea for the picture. We missed that.
Please will someone comment on our doubts about LIE ON and TREVOR?
Where did the information about the Idiot’s Inquisitor come from, jon surdy?
We wondered about the Trevor reference but Bert was then looking back at a previous Inquisitor and found the reference to Trevor Crowther who died recently. He was the author of the ‘Minday Moan’ and also checked puzzles.
We looved the puzzle but took ages to get Point to Point!
Thanks Charybdis and Hihoba.
Apologies, it should have been Monday Moan!
Thank you Bertandjoyce for the information. I’m afraid that Trevor Crowther was unknown to us. Fortunately the rest of the clue made solving OK.
Still worried by LIE ON if there are any offers.
Jon surdy@1
🙂
Lie (verb intransitive) is defined (Chambers) as to depend (amongst many other things) and to rely as to depend confidently, so I think it just about holds together.
Thanks to Charybdis and Hi.
Re Hi @7 – I assume it is from lie[2] = “depend”.
I guess we sometimes make our own PDMs (or is it just me ?). With the film title solved fairy quickly and the word Bomber prominently featured in the clues, I was sure that the 12 letter phrase would be ‘bouncing bomb’ and that I’d be blowing up pixelated dams in the end game. The knowledge that I had to draw lines in the grid convinced me. You could have knocked me down with the proverbial feather when the actual word appeared – so much so that I checked the grid to try and see what I was missing.
I had the same reservations as Hi concerning ‘lie on’.
Lovely puzzle. Many thanks to setter and blogger alike.
An all round superb puzzle, with the interplay between the theme and the clues keeping going right to the end. My last one in was POITIER, which I worked out by spotting POINT-TO-POINT.
Jon Surdy, I suspect you’ve been planning that for a while! Thanks to BF@8 for the PDM.
Oh dear, jon surdy @1, and thanks BF @8, you got me!
Once I saw the two spires appearing on the grid, and read their significance, I wondered whether “Tipster” might have been anag. “spire TT” = “Steeple race” ?
Does anyone remember Ras Prince Monolulu, the great racing tipster ?
I once saw him,in all his feathered finery, walking along Oxford Street. Must have been in the mid 60s.
Nice one, JS … I would have been even more fooled and flabbergasted if you had said that you had read that Inquisitors were henceforward going to be changed to numbers puzzles !
If there is to be an easier Inquisitor I for one would be delighted-I struggle so much with the existing puzzle and it may eventually lead me to developing enough skills to have a further try at the ‘senior’ one.
In 10 years looking at these puzzles I have only ever completed 2
I’ve just realised what’s going on with jon surdy@1. Well and truly taken in…
Totally fooled and I hate him
Hope I’m forgiven. It was a spur of moment thing, not planned. Just that when I logged on very early this morning I noticed the date and couldn’t resist it. Apologies that Hihoba, I hope you didn’t mind too much – and thank you for brilliant blog and resolving the fence/steeple debate.
jon surdy, I thought it was brilliant! I felt a bit of a fool!!
Hello Hi, thank you for absolution. After making the post I had qualms about it being crass to use the blog as a platform for a spoof. Especially given the enormous amount of work that obviously went into it. I certainly had no intention of distracting anyone from the usual lively discussion – and, fortunately for me, that turned out not to be the case. So thank you for your magnanimity. I half expected to be blackballed here, which would have proved me to be the real fool.
I absolutely loved this one! It took me a full week of racking my brains, but I finished it. I thoroughly enjoyed joining the dots to make two steeples – such an ingenious puzzle construction. Many thanks Charybdis and Hihoba for the blog.
Great April Fool also 🙂
We loved the April Fool!
I was offline for several days so only just seen all this. Belated thanks to Hihoba and I’m really pleased to get such nice feedback for my 3-in-1 puzzle [XW, jigsaw and Join The Dots! 🙂 ]. Thanks to all. And Dan @ #3 is spot on with my intentions.
… although I can now see it DOES look like a jump, with point-to-point representing the bar. Isn’t that weird?
It was a long time before I got THE DAM BUSTERS, but no matter, since after solving a lot of the numbered clues and entering PARASITISM I was making good headway with the grid-fill. I still had about half to do when I resolved STEEPLECHASE and the shape described, which I initially thought was a horse-jump. Finding POINT-TO-POINT led me to the alternative view that I was looking at two spires.
I’d spotted TREVOR very early (a bit of an in-clue I thought) and wondered if we had a quickly composed commemorative puzzle, but we didn’t. And I too had misgivings about LIE ON. But all in all, a rather fine challenge from Charybdis, and thanks Hihoba for the blog. (And jon surdy for the teasing jest.)
BF @11: regarding bouncing bombs, check out Listener 4241 (‘Skippers’ by Ifor).
I can’t describe my panic when I started reading the comments, and subsequent relief.
Unfortunately I didn’t bother to obey the instructions because it didn’t occur to me that the numbers that were to be entered in the grid were those of the numbered clues alone, and not all the clues. But I guess instructions have to be terse when we are to uncover them.
Thanks for the crossword and blog.
HG@25 Thank you for the Listener tip. Sadly I don’t have access to a Listener archive but the description in xwdb makes me regret missing that one.
Happy Easter everybody.