A challenging puzzle from Ifor this week with an interesting twist to the clues.
The preamble told us that "The puzzle depicts something that did not happen today, despite a story to the contrary. All clues contain an extra letter, to be removed before solving: when read in clue order these identify the person in the story. When answers are entered, some cells remain empty (numbers in brackets always give the full length available) Solvers must fill three of these by transferring letters from elsewhere in the grid, leaving their original cells empty; and the remainder by entering letters spelling what the cells they fill represented in the original grid. Modified clues and all stages of the changing grid consist entirely of real words (one an acronym).
The bit about the clues seemed fairly clear but I was a little bit baffled by the last bit on filling the blanks in the grid. So, as on many occasions with weekend barred grid puzzles I just dived in hoping that all would become clear in time.
When the clues have to be adjusted in some way, my technique involves quickly skimming them all hoping to identify a clear definition and then working backwards to see how the clue has to be amended. The first one I got was the very last clue, 34 down OVA where it was fairly obvious that the D of ‘dinner’ had to be removed. 21 down, MORNED followed next where ‘drivers’ looked as if it could become ‘divers’ thereby indicating an anagram. That gave me my first blank cell but at that point I didn’t know where the blank cell would go. It took me quite a long time to realise how the blank cells were located. I got the symmetry pattern before it dawned on me that they were all down the diagonal even though years of doing crosswords like this should have nudged me in the direction of the diagonal much earlier.
Solving took a while because there were quite complex constructions to the wordplay after the letters had been removed from the clues. Often adjusted clues appear very simple in retrospect, but I thought that wasn’t the case here.
For a long time, the emerging message from the missing letters didn’t make much sense, especially as I had written down the wrong letter against 10 across even though I had solved the clue correctly. In the end it all became clear with the message spelling:
HEAD OF BRILLIANTLY MANAGED SUPERIOR RAILROAD
This is a cryptic crossword clue leading to the surname of one of the crossword world’s favourite inventors – Isambard Kingdom BRUNEL – where the clue is parsed as:
B (first letter of [head of] BRILLIANTLY) + RUN (managed) + EL (superior railway [elevated railway]) with the &Lit definition of the whole clue alluding to the said I K BRUNEL.
Eventually I ended up with a grid with a blank diagonal from bottom left to top right. The end game required the filling of that diagonal with three letters moved from elsewhere in the grid and nine new letters entered.
Anyone who had a flash of brilliance and realised the theme immediately might just have written the key words into the diagonal. For most of us though I suspect it was a case of identifying letters that might fit in the diagonal and create valid words across the spaces. For some cells it was fairly clear that only one letter would fit the bill but for other cells there was a choice. It was then a case of looking at the possible letters and trying to deduce some words on the diagonal from the possibilities.
Fortunately, for me anyway, it all resolved fairly quickly into BOX, TUNNEL and SUN. With these three words and the date of 9th April, the research to find the theme became a lot easier. Apparently there is a story which states that Brunel deliberately aligned BOX TUNNEL on the Great Western line so that the rising SUN is
visible through it on his birthday each year, April 9. This is not the case. Actual dates on which the sun has been seen to be visible from the western portal are 5 April 1992 and 5 September 1985 (the time approximately 06:34 on both occasions. [source Wikipedia]. There are plenty of other references to BOX TUNNEL and the SUN on the internet.
The next question was ‘which letters are moved from elsewhere in the grid’ The letters SUN seemed to stand out at the right hand end of the bottom row and a quick check showed that taking these letters out and placing them on the diagonal left real words in he SE corner. Moving SUN also left BOX TUNNEL as the name derived from the new letters and that fact fitted the instruction in the preamble to represent what the empty
cells represented.
For completeness the grid entries before and after the end game were as follows:
|
Entry |
Before |
After |
| 3a | ARCTOGAEA[ ] | ARCTOGAEAN |
| 11a | ENAMO[ ]R | ENAMOUR |
| 16a | FORESTAL[ ] | FORESTALL |
| 22a | [ ]ODDER | NODDER |
| 24a | CHICO [ ] | CHICON |
| 32a | [ ]RAINBAND | TRAINBAND |
| 36a | H[ ]OVERS | HOOVERS |
| 38a | [ ]ROADSIDES | BROADSIDE |
| 7d | GALL[ ]ON | GALLEON |
| 9d | A[ ]DIT | AUDIT |
| 15d | [ ]LADES | SLADES |
| 19d | ADIEU[ ] | ADIEUX |
| 21d | M[ ]RNED | MOURNED |
| 29d | FLO[ ]R | FLOOR |
| 26d | CONGOU | CONGO |
| 27d | ALDERN | ALDER |
After the first stage, the grid looks like this
After the final stage, the grid changes to this:
The title of the puzzle is UNDERLINE and HIGHLIGHT. I take the UNDERLINE bit to refer to the railway line going through BOX TUNNEL and the HIGH LIGHT bit to refer to the SUN.
I thought this puzzle was a tour de force in the art of crossword compiling. The continued use of real words at all stages was very impressive. It would be unreasonable to expect the surfaces of the clues to remain smooth all the time after the removal of a letter. Also, not surprisingly, Ifor didn’t have many entries intersecting on the diagonal.
More from Ifor please!
| Perimeter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Letter | Revised Clue | Wordplay | Entry with [ ] indicating a space |
|
3
|
Region of Carthage Cato regularly slammed (10)
|
H
|
Region of Cartage Cato regularly slammed (10)
|
Anagram of (slammed) CARTAGE and OA (letters 2 and 4 [regularly] of CATO) ARCTOGAEA* |
ARCTOGAEA[ ] (a zoological region including all lands outside of Notogaea and Neogae)
|
|
10
|
Wise man here is hiring guards (5)
|
E
|
Wise man her is hiring guards (5)
|
RISHI (hidden word [guards] in HER IS HIRING)
|
RISHI (sage or poet; wise man)
|
|
11
|
Name cast mean charm in Dallas
|
A
|
Name cast men charm in Dallas
|
Anagram of (cast) NAME + OR (other ranks; men) ENAM* OR |
ENAMO[ ]R (American [Dallas] spelling of ENAMOUR [charm])
|
|
13
|
Longer version of a driver before each round (4)
|
D
|
Longer version of a river before each round (4)
|
(A [before] + EA [each]) containing (round) R (river) A (R) EA |
AREA (A is an abbreviation for AREA so AREA is a longer version of A)
|
|
14
|
Hoard unfinished sets of notes for one player … (4)
|
O
|
Hard unfinished sets of notes for one player … (4)
|
SOLID (hard) excluding the final letter (unfinished) D
|
SOLI (pieces or passages for one voice or instrument, accompanied or unaccompanied)
|
|
16
|
… concerning wood left for a second shot (9)
|
F
|
… concerning wood let for a second shot (9)
|
Anagram of (shot) LET FOR A and S (second) FORESTAL* |
FORESTAL[ ] (relating to land covered with trees and undergrowth; concerning wood)
|
|
17
|
Landed blame originally on young child (3)
|
B
|
Landed lame originally on young child (3)
|
L (first letter of [originally] LAME) + IT (young child)
|
LIT (landed)
|
|
18
|
Birds altogether farther around earth (7)
|
R
|
Birds altogether father around earth (7)
|
FATHER containing (around) E (earth) F (E) ATHER |
FEATHER (birds collectively; birds altogether) Initially I thought this was a usage of ‘[in the’ altogether. ; in the nude with a nude bird being FEATHERed, before discovering that FEATHER was effectively a collective noun.
|
|
20
|
Censor action that’s caught at the start, giving out name (4)
|
I
|
Censor acton that’s caught at the start, giving out name (4)
|
ACTON excluding (giving out) N and moving C (caught) to the beginning (at the start) CATO |
CATO (reference CATO the Elder [234 BC – 149 BC] born Marcus Porcius CATO and also known CATO the censor [CATO Censorius])
|
|
22
|
Strangler ordered around on being released (6)
|
L
|
Stranger ordered around on being released (6)
|
Anagram of (around) ORDERED excluding (being released) RE (with reference to; on) ODDER* |
[ ]ODDER (stranger)
|
|
24
|
Smart or endlessly tingle applied to flesh (6)
|
L
|
Smart or endlessly tinge applied to flesh (6)
|
CHIC (smart) + OR excluding the final letter (endlessly) R
|
CHICO[ ] (an orange-red dyestuff, used by South Americans as a stain for the skin; tinge applied to flesh)
|
|
28
|
What was used for tirades concerning former partner? (4)
|
I
|
What was used for trades concerning former partner? (4)
|
OF (concerning) + EX (former partner)
|
OFEX (share-trading facility for dealing in companies that are not quoted on the London Stock Exchange)
|
|
30
|
Organic compound synthesised by cracking coal ores (7)
|
A
|
Organic compound synthesised by cracking col ores (7)
|
Anagram of (cracking) COL ORES CREOSOL* |
CREOSOL (Creosol is a chemical compound with the molecular formula C8H10O2. It is one of the components of creosote)
|
|
31
|
Potato present in abnormal numbers (3)
|
N
|
Potato present in abnormal umbers (3)
|
ALU (hidden word in [present in] ABNORMAL UMBERS)
|
ALU (potato, commonly described as such in Indian cookery)
|
|
32
|
Unilluminated spectral region in new radiant when switched, staying black (9)
|
T |
Unilluminated spectral region in new radian when switched, staying black (9)
|
(Anagram of [when switched] N (new) and RADIAN) containing (staying) B (black [pencil lead]) RAIN (B) AND* |
[ ]RAINBAND (dark band in the solar spectrum, due to water vapour in the earth’s atmosphere)
|
|
34
|
Aware of startling positions in orgy, never in one direction (4, 2 words)
|
L
|
Aware of starting positions in orgy, never in one direction (4, 2 words)
|
ON (first letters of [starting positions in] each of ORGY and NEVER) + TO (in one direction)
|
ON TO (aware of)
|
| 35 |
Blustery wind gear (4)
|
Y |
Bluster wind gear (4)
|
Anagram of (wind) GEAR RAGE* |
RAGE (bluster)
|
| 36 | Mobile homes regularly vary moves nearby (7) |
M |
Mobile hoes regularly vary moves nearby (7) |
Anagram of (mobile) HOES and VR (letters 1 and 3 [regularly] of VARY) HOVERS* |
H[ ]OVERS (moves about nearby) |
|
37
|
Once before, forage as precursor to austerity (5)
|
A
|
Once before, forge as precursor to austerity (5)
|
RIG (falsify; forge) + OR (archaic [once] form of ‘before’) The phrase ‘forge as precursor’ is directing us to put RIG in front of OR
|
RIGOR (variant spelling of RIGOUR [austerity])
|
|
38
|
Badgers about scattering sand over verges (10)
|
N
|
Badgers about scattering sad over verges (10)
|
RIDES (annoys; badgers) containing (about) an anagram of (scattering) (SAD and O [over]) R (OADS*) IDES |
[ ]ROADSIDES (verges)
|
| Down | |||||
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry with [ ] indicating a space | ||
|
1
|
Worthless runs abounded by bats (6)
|
A
|
Worthless runs bounded by bats (6)
|
R (runs) contained in (in) DAFFY (crazy; bats) D (R) AFFY |
DRAFFY (worthless)
|
|
2
|
Cubs love having other tigers around (6)
|
G
|
Cubs love having other tiers around (6)
|
O (zero; love score in tennis) contained in (having … around) an anagram of (other) TIERS TIR (O) ES* |
TIROES (novices; cubs)
|
|
4
|
Heard in a trice, broadcast from a long time ago (7)
|
E
|
Hard in a trice, broadcast from a long time ago (7)
|
H (hard [on lead pencils]) contained in (in) an anagram of (broadcast) A TRICE R (H) AETIC* |
RHAETIC (of the uppermost Trias or, according to others, of the lowest Jurassic period; in any event from a long time ago)
|
|
5
|
Elderly urban underclass dare to abandon one cast out (4)
|
D
|
Elderly urban underclass are to abandon one cast out (4)
|
Anagram of (out) (I [one] and CAST excluding [to abandon] A [are; unit of area]) CITS* |
CITS (archaic [elderly] slang term of contempt for townspeople who are not gentleman; elderly urban underclass)
|
|
6
|
Setter out for kicks once (6)
|
S
|
Setter out for kick once (6)
|
Anagram of (out) SETTER TESTER* |
TESTER (archaic [once] term for a sixpence; KICK is also obsolete [once] slang for a sixpence) double definition
|
|
7
|
Everything’s caused by drink, a short and a few pints (7)
|
U
|
Everything’s cased by drink, a short and a few pints (7)
|
I’m struggling a bit with the wordplay, but after digging deep into Chambers, I think it’s ALL (everything) contained in (cased by) (GO [drink, as in the phrase ‘I could GO a pint] + N [abbreviation for {short} and]) G (ALL) O N |
GALL[ ]ON (eight [a few] pints)
|
|
8
|
Nice chump chop ends off game pie (3)
|
P
|
Nice chum chop ends off game pie (3)
|
AM (GAME excluding [chop] the first and last letters [ends] GE) + I (PIE also excluding [chop] the first and last letters [ends] PE)
|
AMI (French for friend, pal, chum Nice being a city in France)
|
|
9
|
Opening of diet after unlimited ban (5)
|
E
|
Opening of dit after unlimited ban (5)
|
A (the letter remaining in BAN after the outside [limit] letters B and N have been excluded [un-ed]) + DIT
|
A[ ]DIT (opening or passage, especially into a mine)
|
|
12
|
Spinner wrote more after being barred (5)
|
R
|
Spinner wrote more after being bared (5)
|
ROT (WROTE excluding the first and last letters [being bared] WE) + OR (MORE also excluding the first and last letters [being bared] ME)
|
ROTOR (rotating part of a motor; spinner)
|
|
15
|
Burdens of foolish ideals (6)
|
I
|
Burdens of foolish deals (6)
|
Anagram of (foolish) DEALS LADES* |
[ ]LADES (burdens)
|
|
19
|
Cheers for the French are good (6)
|
O
|
Cheers for the French are god (6)
|
A (are; unit of area) + DIEU (God)
|
ADIEU[ ] (goodbye; cheerio [cheers] in French)
|
|
21
|
Modern drivers lacking in acuity (7)
|
R
|
Modern divers lacking in acuity (7)
|
Anagram of (divers) MODERN MORNED* |
MO[ ]RNED (gloomy, dismal, sombre; lacking in acuity [sharpness]. could also describe the blunted [lacking acuity {sharpness}] head of a jousting lance)
|
|
23
|
Something unspecified in door, later opening to benefit from bribe (7)
|
R
|
Something unspecified in doo, later opening to benefit from bribe (7)
|
DOO + BRIBE excluding (from) B (first letter of [opening to] BENEFIT)
|
DOOBRIE (a thing whose name is unknown or temporarily forgotten, a what’s-its-name)
|
|
24
|
Train company primarily anxious to avoid crash (5)
|
A |
Train company primarily anxious to void crash (5)
|
CO (company) + A (first letter of [primarily] ANXIOUS) + CH (outside letters remaining in CRASH after the central letters RAS have been cleared [{made} void])
|
COACH (train)
|
|
25
|
Unusual aspiration to spill red paint for harmonious compositions (6)
|
I
|
Unusual aspiration to spill red pant for harmonious compositions (6)
|
Anagram of (unusual) ASPIRATION excluding an anagram of (red, variant spelling of redd [ disentangle]) PANT ARIOSI* |
ARIOSI (melodious pieces in the style of arias; harmonious compositions)
|
|
26
|
Brew that’s contagious tails off a bit at a time (6)
|
L
|
Brew that’s contagious tais off a bit at a time (6)
|
CONTAGIOUS excluding (off) the letters of TAIS in order (a bit at a time) as they appear in the longer word
|
CONGOU (kind of black tea from China; brew)
|
|
27
|
Wooden acting left dread secret (6)
|
R
|
Wooden acting left dead secret (6)
|
A (acting) + L (left) + DERN (archaic word [dead] for secret)
|
ALDERN (made of ALDER wood; wooden)
|
|
29
|
Ocellar growth of skin of lower snakes (5)
|
O
|
Cellar growth of skin of lower snakes (5)
|
Anagram of (snakes) OF and LR (outside letters of [skin of] LOWER) FLOR* |
FLO[ ]R (a yeasty growth which is allowed to form on the surface of sherry wines after fermentation; [wine] cellar growth)
|
|
33
|
No uniform under shapeless burka (4)
|
A
|
No uniform under shapeless burk (4)
|
Anagram of (shapeless) UNDER excluding (no) U (UNIFORM is an International Radio codeword for the letter U) NERD* |
NERD (clumsy, foolish, socially inept, feeble, unathletic, irritating or unprepossessing person; burk [variant spelling of berk])
|
|
34
|
Top revue bar’s dinner features eggs (3)
|
D
|
Top revue bar’s inner features eggs (3)
|
OVA (middle letter (inner features) of each of TOP, REVUE and BAR) | OVA (eggs) |
An impressive grid construction and a challenging but quite doable and most enjoyable solve. I agree that the clues were at times slightly awkward but I think I disentagled (redded?) almost all of them – thanks for clearing up my last two: 37A and the red in 25D. I agree with you on 7D. I was held up for a while having plumped for PEA at 16A, pea being an alternative for peafowl. This spoiled the emerging diagonal for me, but after a few more clues that seemed ever more likely so I did eventually go back and reassess. Oh, and I hadn’t even noticed that the phrase describing Brunel was a clue in itself – Doh!
I pass box tunnel on the way to work and it’s certainly close to being true that the sun shines through it in early April, early!
Thanks to Ifor and to Duncan for a very thorough blog.
The combination of having to remove a letter, and the fact that some cells had to remain empty, I found a little intimidating at first. But once the grid began to fill and it became clear exactly where the blank cells were, then things gradually fell into place. I’d never heard the story about the box tunnel before, or even box tunnel TBH, but the 3 letters that had to be moved left little doubt about what had to go into the diagonal, with a little googling to find out a little more about Brunel. My first success with an IQ, even if it did take longer than I would have liked. 🙂
Really enjoyed this, a combination of an impressive feat of setting and an enjoyable solve (the two don’t always go hand in hand..)
An almost perfect IQ for me – and something of a relief after (Barefoot Contessa apart) a very tough run. Both clever and fun to solve.
I wonder if I was alone in deciding that 35a was a triple definition for ‘blow’, and thus greatly elongating the search for the setting sun?
Thanks to Ifor, and to Duncan for clearing up a few mysteries.
I enjoyed this too. A lucky guess that the clashes would be on the diagonal helped me fill the grid quite quickly. I didn’t know the story about the tunnel but it took seconds to find it on Google. The puzzle brought back some nice memories of hiking the North Downs Way about 15 years ago – a beautiful route. Thanks very much, Ifor.
That should be ‘blank cells’ not ‘clashes’ of course. Sorry.
I had everything figured out except what to put in the first 9 letters of the SW to NE diagonal. I realised the phrase was a cryptic clue for “the name”, and even wanted it to signify BRUNEL … but I also thought that the name was going to be those 9 letters, since I already had the first letter as B, and the last two as EL. And I had forgotten that RUN could also= “managed”, and was fixated on something like B RAN U EL. I then spent a long time looking for a character in a story who had wrongly predicted that the sun would not rise, maybe a Nordic guy, Bo Stusfel, (using adieuS, chicoS, and Fodder) . Only when I discovered CHICON, (not in my 2011 Chambers), did the penny finally drop, Google gave me the story and confirmed BRUNEL, which I then back-parsed correctly ! I did not know the story either, and it reminded me of those carefully aligned shafts in the Great Pyramids.
Thanks, Ifor.
I enjoyed this one. A touch on the slow side realising that the ’empties’ were on the diagonal, but I pencilled in the ‘fillers’ as I went along, and it was clear to me (having completed the clues) that they were going to read BOX TUNNEL – that led me to Brunel and the SUN rising element of the endgame.
I think that a simpler explanation of the use of “red” in the clue for 25d is that it means “revolutionary” – I’ve seen it used like this before.
I don’t recall how (or even if) I resolved GALLON at 7d – it was my last one in. Duncan’s attempt is heroic to say the least.
And it wasn’t until a day or so later that I became aware that the removed letters weren’t just a clumsy description of IKB but a cryptic clue to the surname – maybe the rubric could have said “when read in clue order these provide a clue to the person in the story”, or some such. Anyway, minor quibble. Good stuff from Ifor & Duncan – keep ’em coming.
As ever, my thanks to all who commented and to Duncan for his typically thorough blog. I can confirm that he’s correctly divined my intentions in 25d (where “red” is indeed the past participle of red(d) = disentangle) and the perhaps overly complex 7d.
I had considered describing the function of the extra letters more overtly, but decided to leave the interpretation with solvers on the grounds that anyone writing a simple 39-or-so letter description of Brunel would surely come up with something more euphonious. As has been noted, the theme is anyway deducible from the final gridfill if the &lit nature of the description isn’t immediately apparent.
Ifor
Almost got there on this one, only failed on the SUN part. I had no idea about Brunel’s birthday and failed to read far enough down the Wikipedia article to uncover this information.
In retrospect oving the word SUN to the top-left of the puzzle seems a bit redundant as it is already there if one follows the same pattern as the rest of the diagonal. It is perhaps clever, but a bit of cleverness to far?
I hope we don’t get any more impossibly obscure clues like 7dn, otherwise I will just have to hang up my boots.
Thanks to Ifor for a great puzzle and Duncan for the usual meticulous blog.