In REVOLUTION, some answers have blank cells that are to be filled… but with what?
It becomes apparent as one solves that quite a lot of the clues are affected.
A little bit of guesswork – including assuming symmetry – and a possible outline begins to suggest itself. Likely extra letters in part of the grid spell out ‘come full’.
A large number of clues have suggested the theme, so it is then a case of combining these elements to find the phrase to be entered. It turns out to be:
THE WHEEL IS COME FULL CIRCLE
It is to be entered, appropriately, in a circle.
The quotation is from King Lear, which is exhaustively indicated by:
Regan (and Cordelia),
Blanch (and Tray),
Oswald,
Edgar,
servants,
Curan,
Cornwall,
Albany,
gentleman,
King of France,
Burgundy and Duke,
Fool,
Goneril,
Old Man,
messengers,
Edmund,
Earl,
Herald,
Gloucester,
Kent, and
knight(s),
as well as:
officer and/or soldiers,
physician, and
William (Shakespeare).
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
SHEATHE = extra letters
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CORNET | COR |
| 6 | FRESCO | [With] FI ([half of] FILM) [missing] OF |
| 11 | SHEATHE | SA (It) [constrains] HE ([the limits of] HUGE) tree (7) |
| 13 | TRAY | T (Tango) [with] RAY (Charles perhaps), companion of Blanch (4) |
| 14 | DONA | Sweetheart – {O (OSWALD’s [first]) AND}* [up the spout] (4) |
| 15 | HERE | ER (E |
| 16 | WOLVE | Constructed W (with) [most of] OVE |
| 18 | CHEWER | [Fussy] WHERE* he uses an axe (6) |
| 20 | DAMES | < [Retired] MD (physician) [wins] A S (second) board game (5) |
| 21 | FRONTS | F (Force) NOT* [involved] [with S (special) vessels (6) |
| 23 | MANULS | Hand MAN (one of the servants) [unending] US |
| 25 | SITARS | S (Sun) TARS (sets) on seaside plants (6) |
| 28 | ANURIA | |
| 29 | SCENA | An army SEN (without) A (ATTENDANTS [at the front]) (5) |
| 31 | CLEPES | C (CORNWALL’s [first]) (LEPE |
| 34 | ARCED | RED (Order) [given by] A (ALBANY’s [leader]) was explained (5) |
| 37 | RIAL | A (Area) [for] FT (fort) [in] RIFT valley (4) |
| 38 | TRIM | G (GENTLEMAN’s [first]) [to get out of] TRI |
| 39 | SETA | Short stiff hair SET (styled) [by] A (amateur) (4) |
| 40 | FEMORAL | < [Reflective] RO |
| 41 | TRESSY | TRY (Attempt) [to grab] B (book) [from] |
| 42 | SAFETY | A US defender [chewing] {FAT? YES!}* (6) |
| Down | ||
| 2 | OHIO | < {I HO (stop)} [soaring] O (over) American river (4) |
| 3 | REEL | A highlanger’s yard in RED (Burgundy), E (base) [for] D (Duke) (4) |
| 4 | NAEVE | Part of wheel |
| 5 | THOLES | OL ( |
| 7 | RWANDAN | Boat RAN (followed a course) [north of] DAN (buoy) (7) |
| 8 | ETHNA | Letter from abroad about nuclear heating device (5) |
| 9 | CARTEL | Float CAT (timber vessel) [across] R (river) (6) |
| 10 | OYER | {HEARING this signal}* [could be the ruin of] {GONERIL (SAY)}* (4) |
| 11 | SOWFFS | SOWS (Female’s) [receiving] FF (very loud) whistles in Sauchihall Street (6) |
| 12 | ENORM | {This AND A LADY}* [could make] {OLD MAN A RANDY}* type (5) |
| 17 | EMURE | ME ([First pair of] MESSENGERS) [protecting] UR (old city) wall for William (5) |
| 19 | HOTEL | Edmund’s was called HOT (dangerous) [by] E (Earl) (5) |
| 22 | TRACTUS | TR (Translator) ACTS (influences) more than one treatise (7) |
| 24 | SARDEL | {[No opening for] |
| 26 | ICKIER | A vessel IE (that is) [surrounded by] KR (gas) (6) |
| 27 | SCARF | Cliff or Mark (5) |
| 28 | ALLIES | ALICE (Dreaming young heroine) [listened to] fish (6) |
| 30 | NALAS | County town NA |
| 32 | PROOF | [Punished] FOR* [chasing] P (piano) teacher (5) |
| 33 | ERST | Long ago {this COLLEAGUE}* [could brew] {GLOUCESTER ALE}* (4) |
| 35 | CORE | Superior old OR (soldiers) E (heading east) (4) |
| 36 | ETAT | ET (K N (Both knights) [leaving] KENT) A (are) T ([close to] HIGHEST) rank (4) |
I thought this was an excellent puzzle from Oxymoron. Out of interest, why is he Oxymoron here, but Schadenfreude everywhere else?
Most setters would have filled a grid with “normal” answers, and then asked us to find and highlight the quotation. Not Oxymoron; he gave himself the extra challenge of finding words that were too short, and that were then extended to form further real words by adding the quotation into the blank cells. Genius. A great example of a setter making life hard for himself simply to add enjoyment for the solver, where most setters wouldn’t hsve bothered.
I think this is the third King Lear puzzle in the EV in the last two or three years (there were others by Ifor and perhaps Samuel, from memory). All of them were excellent. This was the best.
Great puzzle – especially the construction, as Mike D says above – and informative blog.
I have to admit I (eventually) got the wheel/circle and the quotation, which I vaguely recognised, but completely failed to make the connection to King Lear – despite the entire cast list being present!…
Impressively, it is the ENTIRE cast list as well! Another great touch.
My understanding is that the EV template at the time of his debut could not accommodate 13-letter pseudonyms.