This week I have to grapple with Shark. He can be one tough setter, predominantly creating D-grade puzzles for Magpie. (FYI D-grades are very tough, but just short of E-grades which are impossible!) All that was necessary this week was to identify the 13 clues which had a wordplay leading to the entry with one letter missing. Oh, and some grid manipulation in the endgame.
The first answers I got were EAGLET and SYREN in the top right quadrant so I decided to finish the attack on that corner. This was followed by the bottom right corner and then the left hand side of the grid. All in all, Shark was in benevolent mood and I wondered whether the endgame would have a sting in its tail.
The missing wordplay letters spelt out Possin Exodus and I was perplexed by the relationship between those two images.
With the hint from the title, PART, it didn’t take me long to find the RED SEA in row 11, and moving them to the edge of the grid was stage one of the endgame. Next came the ISRAELITES going up and down in columns 6 and 7. That was followed by a couple of moments trying to work out how they were going to cross.
Awesome was the answer as they replaced the entry at 40ac and the puzzle was complete. All that was left was to resolve the relationship between Exodus and a chicken. Of course, Google enabled me to identify French artist Poussin’s The Crossing of the Red Sea.
Thanks for another masterpiece of grid jiggery-pokery, Shark. It was an easy puzzle, but thoroughly entertaining.
Solving time: about 90 minutes
Legend:
Definition in clue
X = Missing letter in wordplay
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Missing Letter |
Clue and Explanation |
| 2 | MACAW-TREE | Oil producers can spray sulphur around ground water (10) MACE (spray) S (Sulphur) around WATER*; ground = anagram indicator |
|
| 10 | EIGHTH | Hard to move across in high place like Neptune? (6) HEIGHT (high place) with H (hard) moved across to the right; reference to position of planet Neptune in the Solar System |
|
| 11 | EAGLET | Young bird‘s silver stuffed inside the box back to front (6) AG (silver) in TELE< (box, ie television) |
|
| 12 | DEMOS | Trials for the people (5) 2 meanings |
|
| 14 | SYREN | Charming singer‘s somewhat cheesy rendition (5) in cheeSY RENdition |
|
| 15 | OVERLAP | P | Cycling fanatic and amateur coincide (7) LOVER (fanatic) cycled + A (amateur); cycling = moving letters from front to back |
| 17 | GEODE | O | Druse departs in move to the right (5) D (departs) in GEE (move to the right, a horse) |
| 18 | CEDES | Abandons church pulpit without finishing (5) CE (church) DES[K] (pulpit, without finish) |
|
| 19 | OUTRAN | U | Exceeded in autotransplantation (6) in autOTRANsplantation |
| 20 | CHESSEL becomes CHESS |
Surgeon without backing covers last of slime mould (7) CH (surgeon) LESS< (without, back) around (covers) E (last of slimE) |
|
| 21 | SKIN | S | Hide short man next to bishop (4) KIN[G] (man next to bishop, short, as on chessboard) |
| 23 | ASAR | S | High priest skipping towards ridge (4) AARON (high priest) – (skipping) ON (towards) |
| 26 | AIDANCE becomes DANCE |
I | Support promotion one time in Scotland (7) AD (promotion) ANCE (one time, Scottish) |
| 28 | VEALER becomes VEALE |
See trader wanting the first calf (6) V (see) [D]EALER (trader, without first letter) |
|
| 30 | FRESH | Hot slave returns cool (5) (H (hot) SERF (slave))< |
|
| 33 | ANGEL | N | Nurse a limb pointing the wrong way (5) A + LEG< (limb, the wrong way) |
| 34 | SECRETE becomes CRETE |
E | Discharge MO having retired (7) SEC (MO, short for moment) + RET (retired) |
| 35 | SWAMI becomes SWAM |
Instructor bathed west of Italy (5) SWAM (bathed) + I (Italy) |
|
| 37 | HELIX | X | Mollusc‘s gas without sign of doubt (5) HELIUM (gas) – (without) UM (sign of doubt) |
| 38 | LOURED becomes RED |
O | Sovereignty changes hands and Lord frowned (6) RULE (sovereignty) with L and R swapped + D (Dominus, lord) |
| 39 | SEANCE becomes SEA |
Occult activity can see another way (6) (CAN SEE)* |
|
| 40 | RUN TO EARTH becomes ISRAELITES |
Find a possible way to go cross-country? (10, three words) 2 meanings |
|
| DOWN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Missing Letter |
Clue and Explanation |
| 1 | MEDOC | D | Come out red (5) COME* |
| 2 | MIEVE | According to Ed, begin to act emotive perhaps, erasing several books (5) (EMOTIVE – (erasing) OT (Old Testament, several books, of the bible))* |
|
| 3 | CHORES | Check gate no. 99 periodically for trucks (6) CH (check, in chess) OR (gate, as in logic circuit) ES (Einsteinium, element 99 on the periodic table) |
|
| 4 | WHEATEARS becomes WHEAT |
More than one bird flies around the hottest time (9) WEARS (flies, as a flag on a ship) around HEAT (hottest time) |
|
| 5 | TES | Notes candidate is losing support (3) TESTEE (candidate) – (losing) TEE (support) |
|
| 6 | RAY GUN | U | Shot angry weapon (6, two words) ANGRY*; shot = anagram indicator |
| 7 | EGRET | Perhaps return flier (5) EG (perhaps) RET (return) |
|
| 8 | SENDAI | S | Japanese city to stop Amnesty International (6) END (stop) AI (Amnesty International) |
| 9 | ETRENNE | Nice present at New Year — English £10 (initially received earlier) (7) E (English) TENNER with R (Received, initially) moved to earlier posiition |
|
| 13 | MEDEA | Sorceress from old Persian area (5) 2 meanings |
|
| 16 | POLITESSE becomes POL |
Europeans, including Italian, nearly understand civility in France (9) POLES (Europeans) including IT (Italian) SE[E] (understand, nearly) |
|
| 20 | CAVALLY becomes CAVALRY |
Fish and wine almost go together (7) CAV[A] (wine, almost) ALLY (go together) |
|
| 22 | KNEEL | Audible temper is unlikely when clergy do this? (5) sounds like NEAL (temper) |
|
| 24 | SENSOR becomes SENSEI |
Measuring device without service dropping bit-rates at first (6) SEN (without) SORB (service, tree) – B (Bit-rates, first letter) |
|
| 25 | PELMET becomes PELMA |
Speed around Maine’s border (6) PELT (speed) around ME (Maine) |
|
| 27 | ARREAR becomes ARRET |
Previously backward in the year of the king’s reign requiring attention (6) ARR (in the year of the king’s reign) + EAR (attention) |
|
| 29 | LEARN becomes LEAR |
See guidance cut short with senior service (5) LEA[D] (guidance, cut short) + RN (Royal Navy, senior service) |
|
| 31 | STICH becomes STIES |
Line has tiddler (5) S (has) TICH (tiddler) |
|
| 32 | HEXED becomes HEXAD |
Caution embracing kiss that’s jinxed (5) HEED (caution) around X (kiss) |
|
| 36 | IDO becomes O |
Language heard from groom? (3) I DO (what a groom says?) |
|
I thought this an excellent puzzle from Shark; good clues, a well-integrated theme, and grid movement that results in all real words in the grid. I hope to see more in the EV from this excellent setter.
A tough challenge from Shark (as always).
I too was unfamiliar with the Poussin painting.
The end-game with the RED SEA and the ISRAELITES was very satisfying.