This is Schadenfreude’s fifty-ninth puzzle in the Inquisitor series and it really made me think.
The preamble told us that thirteen clues include an extra word which has only one letter in common with the answer. In reverse clue order these letters identify the theme. One letter must be removed from the answer to fifteen other clues and the residue used to form a word for grid entry. In reverse clue order these letters spell out what must be erased from the interim grid and what must be highlighted in 28 cells. Ignoring spaces, all final grid entries are real words, proper nouns or phrases. The answer to 6 is in Collins.
It was fairly easy to detect the location of the fifteen clues where letters had to be removed from the answer as the space for fifteen entries in the grid were one cell less in length than the number of letters specified in the clue.
My first one in was 16 across GELADAS, one of the normal clues, followed by CARAFE (4 down) , ANELACE (7 down) and SHEATHED (9 down). These three too were ordinary clues.
I then got AYAH (17 down) but I wasn’t paying complete attention and didn’t notice that ‘cheered‘ was an extra word in the clue. That caused problems later on when I couldn’t make anything sensible out of the letters from extra words. At that point I also had a couple of extra words wrong.
I gradually began to detect the extra words, including errors as mentioned above. I had ‘northern’ as an extra word in 26 across, ‘Morven’ as an extra word in 10 down and a couple of times for some reason I homed in on the first letter of the extra word rather than the letter common to the answer.
However I didn’t make good progress on the letters to be omitted from entry as the first one I detected was TANNOY when I had an A in the grid at letter 1 and a Y at letter 5. I just assumed therefore we would omit a letter from the answer and the remainder would immediately spell out the entry. Eventually when I realised that I was getting nowhere with the rest of the entries of this type I went back to the preamble and read it again. I could see then that we were forming anagrams of the letters remainin in the answer after one letter was removed. That realisation was the key to solving the remainder of the answers / entries although it still took some time to solve everything. It was very useful that the anagrams were all real words.
In the end I got the message from the omitted letters first – EPONYM FIVE NAMES. I have to say that EPONYM wasn’t particularly helpful initially as I was still struggling with the other message at this point. I had a string of Is and Es in the middle of that message that didn’t make much sense.
Once the grid was complete, it was a question of studying it to see some names. There are in fact more names than the theme names. For instance AMOS and ADAM can be found reading across.. UMAR and LEN are in the downs. I couldn’t find a set of names with 28 letters. Also, on my first scan through I didn’t pick up ABIGAIL. Eventually a bit of research on LAURENCE, ANGELA and SUSAN struck gold and the theme of ABIGAIL’S Party devised by MIKE LEIGH was revealed. At this point I could deduce that the second message was MIKE LEIGH PLAY and this helped me sort out the remaining issues with the extra words.
The full thematic material therefore is as follows:
Message from single letter matches between extra words and answers, reading backwards was MIKE LEIGH PLAY
What to erase and what to highlight was EPONYM FIVE NAMES
The five characters names are BEVERLY Moss, LAURENCE Moss, ANGELA Cooper, TONY Cooper and SUSAN Lawson
The eponymous ABIGAIL, daughter of SUSAN, was not actually at the party that formed the setting of the play. The play centred on a party at the Moss’s house. That was why ABIGAIL had to be erased from the grid. ABIGAIL was at her own party in her own house.
Once ABIGAIL is removed, ignoring spaces, we have new words,at 21 across (SAMOS), 26 across (EAGLED), 30 across (TERRAN), 34 across (ALLEGE), 37 across (GLOSS), 39 across (BREME) and 41 across (DRIVERS), all of which can be found in Chambers.
This being a Schadenfreude puzzle, there were, of course, some excellent clues with plenty of misdirection. Ones that stood out for me were 21 across SAMOSA for it’s misdirection on ‘turnover’; 32 across SANE where I spent some time playing with some variation of SAFARI.; and DEARE at 36 down, the double definition based entirely on Edmund Spenser interpretations.
The grid construction which maintained symmetry and the means of derivation of the two messages was very clever. I take my hat off to Schadenfreude.
The original filled grid including highlighting of the name to be erased looks like this.
Once ABIGAIL is removed and the character’s at the party are highlighted the final grid is as shown below.
The title THE ALTERNATIVE PARTY is explained above where it is seen that we are focusing on an ALTERNATIVE PARTY to the one attended / hosted by the eponymous ABIGAIL
In the body of the blog below, Clues in red are normal, clues in black have a letter removed from the answer and the entry is formed from the residue – i.e. the entry is an anagram of the letters remaining in the answer when one letter is removed. The removed letter forms part of an instruction to remove and highlight parts of the grid and clues in fuchsia have a word removed before solving and the letter common to the answer and the removed word is used to form part of the definition of the theme
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Across |
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| No | Clue | Extra Word |
Wordplay |
Answer | Letter | Entry |
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1
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Decapod is leaving key wreck (8, 2 words)
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ISLAND (key is a word for a low ISLAND) excluding (leaving) IS + CRAB (wreck)
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LAND CRAB (example of a crustacean belonging to the order DECAPODA)
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LAND CRAB
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7
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Dusty endures every motorway hell on the way out (5)
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every
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ABYS (archaic [dusty] word for endures) + M (motorway)
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ABYSM (archaic [on the way out] word for abyss [hell])
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Y | ABYSM |
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11
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Enticement by navy chap captivates active wife of Humphrey (6)
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chap
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(LURE [enticement] + N [navy]) containing (captivates) A (active) L (A) URE N |
LAUREN (LAUREN Bacall was the wife of Humphrey Bogart from 1945 until his death in 1957)
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A |
LAUREN
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13
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Fish for king’s tailors (7)
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SAR (sargus [sea bream]; fish) + TO (for) + R’S (Rex’s [king’s])
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SARTORS (tailors)
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S
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ROSTRA*
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14
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Metal band for some extremely short balding relative (6)
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balding
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VERY (extremely) excluding the last letter (short) Y + REL (relative)
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VERREL (dialect [for some] form of ferrule [metal band])
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L
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VERREL
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15
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Member of party in office and son with pretty face prepare to leave (6) |
pretty
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IN (noun: member of party in office) + S (son) + PAN (slang for ‘face’)
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INSPAN (prepare to depart)
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P |
INSPAN
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16
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Primates come together and answer regional fathers (7)
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GEL (come together) + A (answer) + DAS (dialect [regional] word for dads [fathers])
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GELADAS (Ethiopian baboons [primates])
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GELADAS
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17
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Nursemaid cheered a dance from the east (4)
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cheered
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A + (HAY [hey [dance] reversed [from the East) A YAH< |
AYAH (in India and other former British territories, a waiting-maid or nursemaid)
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H
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AYAH
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18
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Source of copper near derelict cottage (8)
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Anagram of (derelict) NEAR + GITE (in France, a cottage) ENAR* GITE |
ENARGITE (a minor ore of copper; source of copper)
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E
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GRANITE*
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19
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Pressure removed from swelling inverted channel of an organ’s cavity (7) |
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LUMP (swelling) excluding (removed from) P (pressure) + LANE (channel) reversed (inverted) LUM ENAL< |
LUMENAL (relating to the cavity of a tubular organ)
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LUMENAL
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21
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It restrict a month’s turnover (6)
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SA (sex appeal ; it) containing (restrict) (A + MOS [months]) S (A MOS) A |
SAMOSA (small, fried, triangular, pastry turnover stuffed with spiced vegetables or meat)
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SAMOSA
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24
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Yankee following keen test pilot (6)
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following
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Y (Yankee is the International Radio Communication codeword for the letter Y) + EAGER (keen)
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YEAGER (reference Chuck YEAGER [1928 – date] retired Brigadier and test pilot in the United States Air Force, the first pilot to fly faster than sound)
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G
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YEAGER
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26
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To live a northern kite went hunting (7)
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BE (live) + A + GLED (North of England term for the common kite)
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BEAGLED (hunted with [BEAGLEs] hounds)
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BEAGLED
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30
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Expose to moisture over icy wet ground (7)
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icy
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RET (expose to moisture) reversed (over) + RAIN (wet) TER< RAIN |
TERRAIN (ground)
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I
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TERRAIN
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32
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Sensible African left hunter on ecstasy (4)
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left
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SAN (a member of an almost-extinct nomadic race of huntsmen in S Africa) + E (ecstasy)
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SANE (sensible)
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E
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SANE
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34
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A lecturer ran away lacking dead poet’s calm (7)
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A + L (lecturer) + (LEGGED (ran away) excluding [lacking] D [dead])
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ALLEGGE (Spenserian [poet] word meaning allay or calm)
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ALLEGGE
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36
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Join loose woman with reserve (7)
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MORT (loose woman) + ICE (reserve)
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MORTICE (join by a mortise and tenon))
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M
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EROTIC*
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37
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Lines removed from dictionary included "one of two lobes" (6)
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included
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GLOSSARY (dictionary of specialised terms used in a document) excluding (removed from) RY (railway lines)
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GLOSSA (one of an inner pair of lobes in the labium)
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L
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GLOSSA
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38
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Cause injury to less mature mother at the front
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less
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DAM (mother) + AGE (mature)
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DAMAGE (cause injury to)
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E
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DAMAGE
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39
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Rowing boat initially built by engineers outside Italy (6)
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(B [first letter of {initially} BUILT] + REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) containing (outside) I (international Vehicle Registration for Italy) B (I) REME |
BIREME (ancient vessel with two banks of oars; rowing boat)
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BIREME
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40
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Jock smoked in MacDonald’s yard with his cows (5)
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Jock
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REE (a Scottish [MacDonald] term for an enclosure, especially a (partially-)roofed walled yard,) + KY (Scottish [MacDonald; his] word for cows)
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REEKY (smoked)
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K
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REEKY
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41
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Doctor probing organs – they’ve yet to pass the text (8)
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DR (doctor) contained in (probing) LIVERS [organs of the body] L (DR) IVERS |
L-DRIVERS (people who have not yet passed their driving tests)
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L-DRIVERS
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| Down |
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| No | Clue | Extra Word |
Wordplay |
Answer | Letter | Entry |
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1
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John’s soaring melody "Wins" (7)
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LAT (latrine; lavatory; John) reversed (soaring; down clue) + ARIA (melody) TAL< ARIA |
TALARIA (wings on the ankles)
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A
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LARIAT* |
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2
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Trouble after termination of contract for sound amplifier (6)
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T (last letter of [termination of] CONTRACT) + ANNOY (trouble)
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TANNOY (sound-reproducing and amplifying system)
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N
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ATONY*
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3
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More than one loathing county town restricting exercise (7)
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NAAS (County town of County Kildare in Ireland) containing (restricting) USE (exercise) NA (USE) AS |
NAUSEAS (loathings)
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E
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NASSAU*
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4
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Wine container artist found in Virginia’s bar-room (6)
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RA (Royal Academician; artist) contained in (found in) CAFE (bar-room in North America [Virginia]) CA (RA) FE |
CARAFE (wine container)
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CARAFE
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5
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Synagogue leader elevated a Spanish god (6)
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RAV (rabbi; synagogue leader) reversed (elevated; down clue) + UNA (Spanish for one [a]) VAR< UNA |
VARUNA (ancient Indian Vedic god of the heavens, later of the waters)
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V
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RUANA* |
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6
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Norse god such as inhabiting heaven (5)
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EG (for example; such as) contained in (inhabiting) AIR (heavens) A (EG) IR |
AEGIR (Norse God)
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I
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AREG* |
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7
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A clean restored English antique dagger (7)
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A + an anagram of [restored] CLEAN) + E (English) A NELAC* E |
ANELACE (archaic [antique] term for a short two-edged tapering dagger)
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ANELACE
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8
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Wick’s burying dead in grey ground (7)
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Anagram of (ground) (D [dead] and IN GREY) YERDING* |
YERDING (Scots [Wick] form of burying)
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YERDING
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9
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Adult article found in hut put in a case (8)
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(A [adult] + THE [definite article]) contained in (found in) SHED (hut) SHE (A THE) D |
SHEATHED (put in a case)
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SHEATHED
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10
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Slimy earth ruined Morven’s strainer (6)
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Anagram of (ruined) SLIMY and E [earth] MILSEY* |
MILSEY (Scottish [Morven] word for milk-strainer)
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MILSEY
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12
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Princess overwhelmed by calibre of Ohio brainbox
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Ohio
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RANI (Indian princess) contained in (overwhelmed by) CAL (calibre) C (RANI) AL |
CRANIAL (relating to the cranium [bones enclosing [box] the brain]; of brainbox
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I
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CRANIAL
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18
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Poet’s fancy fine frame (6)
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F (fine) + ANGLE [frame of snooker)
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FANGLE (Milton’s [poet] word for fancy)
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F
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GALEN*
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19
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Glittery material lines about 250 thin plates (8)
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LAMÉ (a fabric in which metallic (usually gold or silver) threads are interwoven; glittery material) + LL (lines) + A (about) + E (medieval Roman numeral for 250)
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LAMELLAE (thin plates)
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LAMELLAE
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20
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Mauretanian in low frock abandoned by god (7)
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MOO (low) + (DRESS [frock] excluding [abandoned by] D [God])
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MOORESS (Mauretanian)
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MOORESS
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22
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Picnic perhaps without room for grub (8)
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MEAL (a picnic is an example of a MEAL) + W/O (without) + RM (room)
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MEALWORM (larva of a beetle; grub)
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M
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MARLOWE*
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| 23 | Dickensian law stationer catches something of minor importance (7) | SNAGS (catches) + BY (variant spelling of BYE [something of minor importance]) | SNAGSBY (reference Mr SNAGSBY, Dickensian character in Bleak House. Mr SNAGSBY owns a law stationery business) |
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SNAGSBY |
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25
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Wheels are fitted with German tyres (7)
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Anagram of (fitted) (A [are, measure of area] and G [German] and TYRES) GYRATES* |
GYRATES (spins; whirls; wheels)
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Y
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STAGER
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27
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Good friend touring ancient city met a swimmer (6)
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met
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(G [good] + AMI [friend]) containing (touring) UR (ancient city) G (UR) AMI |
GURAMI (large freshwater food fish)
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M
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GURAMI
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28
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Animal fodder area in floor (6)
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A (area) contained in (in) ÉTAGE (floor or storey) E (A) TAGE |
EATAGE (fodder for horses etc)
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EATAGE | |
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29
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Councillor inside referred to special shelters (7)
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(CR [Councillor] contained in [inside] SEEN [referred to]) + S (special) S (CR) EEN S |
SCREENS (shelters)
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N
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RECESS*
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31
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Local seaweed’s eaten by some French fish (6)
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ORE (dialect [local] term for seaweed) contained in (eaten by) DES (some in French) D (ORE) ES |
DOREES (variant spelling of DORYS [golden yellow fish])
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O
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SEDER*
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| 33 | Current no good inside warning devices (6) |
NG (no good) contained in (inside) PIER (?) I can’t relate PIER to current but we need the letters in PIER to fit a word at 33 down and get the P for the message. PI (NG) ER OR It is possible that I have got this the wrong way round and it should be NG (no good) contained in (inside) PIER (warning device, but it’s a very big warning device!) |
PINGER (warning device)
OR PINGER (an acoustic transmitter for the study of ocean currents) but that’s not really a definition of current |
P
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NIGER* | |
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35
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Edmund’s extremely serious injury (for a poet) (5)
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DEARE (Spenserian word for grevious [extremely serious])
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DEARE (Spenserian word for injury) double definition in the days of Edmund Spenser (poet)
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E |
EARD* |
Duncan, your problems with 33 down are because you’ve mistranscribed the clue. It should be, “Current no good inside a warning device”, which parses as I (current) + NG (no good) inside PER (a) = PINGER (warning device).
Thanks to Duncan for the comprehensive blog and to Schadenfreude for a typically beautifully constructed grid and difficult but fair puzzle. I note that Wikipedia’s entry for Abigail’s Party has a reference to middle class schadenfreude (under “Critical response”)…
Thanks to Duncan for the super blog and Schadenfreude for a terrific puzzle.
I don’t often have time to tackle barred-grid puzzles but I had a go at this whilst on holiday and I became obsessed with it. I loved the gimmick of the extra word having a single letter in common with the answer. I found it very hard to find the fifteen solutions formed from the residue (having dropped one letter) due to the fact that these clues have no definition for the grid entry and it’s hard to guess what the letter might be to drop. Anyway, it took me three days (when I should have been playing with my children) but I got there in the end and loved every minute of it.
John Lowe @ 1
Thanks – you’re right, but I should have associated I with the symbol for current as it’s a very common element of clues these days.
Thanks for the blog. Most enjoyable puzzle, which took quite some time to finish off. I was missing a few key consonants for too long, lots of Is and Es in the mix, so I kept searching for something which might have happened in Keighley.
Yes, a terrific challenge as it was diffeernt from most other puzzles which have clues that provide extra letters, plus the themes running in reverse really meant that you had to solve more than the usual number of clues to get the themes, so less room for ‘reverse engineering’.
I got the YALP in the across clues quite early and then after a (long) while saw ABIGAIL at the lower end of the 6th column as 5 of the 7 letters were from normal clues, and so twigged this was something to do with Abigail’s Party. I eventually got the MIKE LEIGH bit.
Last to go in were the anagrammatised words, and the rest of the names I hadn’t got became apparent.
But yes, one of those ones that rewarded persistence and revealed its treasures slowly…..great stuff, thanks Schadenfreude and Duncan for another excellent blog, always interesting to hear how other folk ‘got there’ and the pitfalls they encountered.
Thanks for the blog Duncan and the confirmation that ‘dusty’ in 7ac was being used to describe an archaic word for ‘endures’ which we weren’t that impressed with at the time.
However, as others have already said, an amazing construction. We had to work backwards on a number of occassions especially for the last few. Bert guessed fairly early on that it may be Abigail’s Party after seeing the possibility of ANGELA and LAURENCE. Having said that, it didn’t really help us until near the end when spotting the possibility of ABIGAIL helped fill in some blanks and enabled us to complete some of the remaining across clues.
Thanks Schadenfreude.
Like RobH@5 I spotted YALP/PLAY quite early and that and the title were enough to get me thinking in the right direction. Like Tramp@2 I also found it very tricky to find the entries for the residue clues but it sorted itself out in the end. A schadenfreude puzzle is always a pleasure and this was no exception. Tough but fair – great stuff.
Many thanks to setter and blogger.4
Yes BF, “tough but fair” is spot on. For example, entering answers as anagrams is tough, but when you know they must be real words you have half a chance. We know that we’ll always have to work hard to solve a Schadenfreude puzzle, but that it will be worth it in the end. This time we had filled all the grid except for two cells before the penny dropped, but that was partly because we failed to spot ABIGAIL in the grid sooner. Another name in the grid which has not been mentioned is ELLA. A terrific clue for SAMOSA. NASSAU was also impressive, Naas not being the first place that comes to mind when looking for a county town – if only he’d used “racecourse” that one would not have held us up for so long.
Thanks Schadenfreude, looking forward to number 60!