Ifor offers us some MASS TRANSIT this week – we could be ‘going underground’, with the Jam; we could be ‘on the buses’ with Reg Varney; or we could be on the EV 12:40 from King’s Cross to Newcastle, with Mr Cor-bean getting into a ‘Branson pickle’ with his seating arrangements…
The preamble states that: ‘Starting at 5ac, every other across clue contains an additional word that must be removed before solving; in clue order these words give two wordplay-only clues to the same phrase (6,5) which must be written under the grid. The phrase can be interpreted in two different ways, each suggesting the MASS TRANSIT that must be applied to all down answers on entry. Chambers Dictionary (2014) and the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations are recommended.‘
Short and sweet – and generous in giving us a starting point at 5A, so we can assume 1A and every other clue is normal.
Somehow my eye drifted down to the bottom left, and I got SHE at 28D straight off, followed swiftly by HELP at 28A – so an immediate clash to be resolved, between the S and the H. With pencil in hand and a slightly magnified printed copy of the grid, I carried on solving with across clues in the top right of the squares, down in the bottom left, to allow for further clashes.
After a while, it seemed that there were several pairs of clashes, each involving an H, and the H seeming to go up one square/swap with its above neighbour. SHE/HELP became HSE/HELP; SEARCH/CHA became SEARCH/HCA. This obviously led to a few non-words, but the possible pattern helped with some of the remaining across clues.
In parallel, some of the extra words started to fall out of their clues, and eventually the PDM, or rather PDMs, came…
The first set read: French + on (SUR) + whole (SUM) + string (CORD) + accepted (A) = SURSUM CORDA
The second set was: SAD + RUMOURS + C (caught) + going + around = anagram –> SURSUM CORDA (I have to admit to using an anagram tool here, and even then the 30-odd years since my Latin O-level meant a little translation search was needed as well…and this helped to resolve the first set of extra words.)
The phrase SURSUM CORDA, translated literally, means ‘hearts lifted’ – but it is also used in a many religious priest-to-congregation response passages, including Catholic MASSes, to mean ‘Lift up (y)our hearts’, followed by something like ‘We lift them to the lord’. So wherever an H (heart) appeared in a down clue, it had to be ‘lifted up’ by one position to give the treated entry, which then fitted with the across entry(ies):
In fact all those Hs are the middle letter (heart) of their word as well – so we are literally lifting up the heart of the word, as well as the H (abbreviation for heart) – maybe this is what was referred to as the two different interpretations?
A very neat piece of construction and denouement, and an enjoyable solve – thanks Ifor. Maybe on the lighter end of the EV scale, but pretty much encapsulating all that these thematic barred puzzles are about – a bit of lateral thinking, some grid manipulation, an educational twist for those who didn’t know the phrase, and a satisfying pat on the back once complete…except that…
…I blotted my copybook (and prize entry submission) by lazily coming up with CATHARS (CAHTARS) at 7D, from crossing letters and it looking like it should be plural. But when I came to parse the clue for the blog, I realised I hadn’t justified this fully, and then I found CATHARI in Chambers as an alternative plural…and then the ‘unmasked spy’ reference became clear! (Note to self: re-check parsing before submitting prize puzzle entries!…)
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Extra word | Clue (definition underlined, extra word in bold) / Logic/Parsing |
| 1 | IDOLA | Fallacies in logic led man intermittently mad (5) / anag, i.e. mad, of alternate letters, i.e. intermittently, of ‘lOgIc LeD mAn’ |
|
| 5 | SEARCH | French | Thorough examination to brand French children (6) / SEAR (to brand) + CH (children) |
| 9 | SHRI | Mister whirs uselessly without a drop of water (4) / anag, i.e. uselessly, of (W)HIRS, minus W (first letter, or a drop, of Water) |
|
| 10 | SHELLAC | on | Telephone expressions of enquiry backed up on previous record (7) / CALL (telephone) + EHS (Eh?, expression of enquiry, pluralised) – all reversed (backed up) |
| 12 | HYSON | Recalled meal accommodating yen for fine tea (5) / NO_SH (meal) around (accomodating) Y (yen) – all reversed, or recalled |
|
| 13 | HA-HA | whole | I’ve found it hard acting in this whole year (4) / H (hard) + A (acting) HA (hoc anno, Latin, in this year) |
| 14 | HYPE | Drug promotion (4) / double defn. HYPE can be slang for a drug (;reference to hypodermic needle?); and HYPE can be promotion, advertising, puffery |
|
| 15 | TOTE | string | Load string until penultimate note (4) / TO (until) + TE (note) |
| 17 | COACH ROAD | Train long shoot, pinching a well-maintained connection for post (9, two words) / COACH (train, mentor) + RO_D (long shoot) around (pinching) A |
|
| 20 | PHEERE | accepted | Accepted equal once alarm sounds (6) / homophone – the archaic word PHEERE (companion, mate, equal) sounds like FEAR (alarm) |
| 22 | SESAME | Answer seems inappropriate as opening word in story (6) / anag, i.e. inappropriate, of A (answer) + SEEMS |
|
| 23 | CHELASHIP | sad | His chapel treated sad state of disciples (9) / anag, i.e. treated, of HIS CHAPEL |
| 26 | SETS | Property when missing groups (4) / (AS)SETS – property, missing AS (when) |
|
| 27 | AGHA | rumours | Gasbag hatching rumours implicating commander (4) / hidden word, i.e. implicating, in ‘gasbAG HAtches’ |
| 28 | HELP | Give birth without first aid (4) / (W)HELP – give birth, without first letter |
|
| 29 | TAINT | caught | Infection caught from odds and ends collecting at home (5) / TA_T (odds and ends) around (collecting) IN (at home) |
| 30 | SEROSAE | Layers of eggs turning hard in stages, on and off (7) / S_AE (alternate letters, i.e. on and off, of StAgEs) around EROS (sore, hard, turning) |
|
| 31 | EVET | going | Old lizard going inside whatever’s around (4) / reversed hidden word, i.e. inside and around, in ‘whaTEVEr’ |
| 32 | EDITOR | Media story unmasked compiler (6) / (M)EDI(A) (S)TOR(Y) – both words ‘unmasked’, i.e. first and last letters removed |
|
| 33 | STOSS | around | Locally heavy fall taking time around side of hill (5) / S_OSS (dialect, i.e. locally, for heavy fall) around (taking) T (time) |
| Down | |||
| Clue No | Solution | Entry | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
| 1 | ISOCHASMS | ISOHCASMS | Theories about chaos turning to lines showing constant degree of illumination (9) / IS_MS (-isms, theories) around (about) OCHAS (anag, i.e. turning, of CHAOS) |
| 2 | DOHYO | DHOYO | Sporting arena once again filled by dynamic Hoy (5) / D_O (ditto, once again) around (filled by) OHY (anag, i.e. dynamic, of HOY) |
| 3 | ORPHANS | ORHPANS | New earphone when unwrapped succeeded obsolete devices (6) / ORPHAN (anag, i.e. new, of (E)ARPHON(E), unwrapped of its outer letters) plus S (succeeded) |
| 4 | ASSYTHMENTS | ASSYHTMENTS | System hasn’t affected financial compensations for Scotland (11) / anag, i.e. affected, of SYSTEM HASN’T |
| 5 | SOHUR | SHOUR | Meal that requires hours to make (5) / anag, i.e. requires to make, of HOURS |
| 6 | ALTHAEA | ALHTAEA | Plant all the eastern borders out before running water around some parts (7) / AL(L) + TH(E) (with rightmost letters, i.e. eastern edges, or borders, removed) + A (before) + EA (dialect, i.e. in some parts, for running water, stream) |
| 7 | CATHARI | CAHTARI | Sectaries caught spy after uncovering her first name (7) / C (caught, cricket) + (M)AT(A) HARI (spy, Mata Hari, with first name ‘uncovered) |
| 8 | CHA | HCA | Extract that leaves surrender of hard cases up in the air (3) / CA (cases, Latin) around (up in the air about) H (hard) (??) |
| 11 | ENDOPHAGIES | ENDOHPAGIES | Suspect hospital espionage, hiding department’s cases of consumption internally (11) / anag, i.e. suspect, of H (hospital) + ESPIONAGE + D (department) |
| 16 | ELEPHANTS | ELEHPANTS | Famous footballer in retirement hasn’t turned out for big game (9) / ELEP (Pele, famous footballer) + HANTS (anag, i.e. turned, of HASN’T) |
| 18 | TEE-HEED | TEEH-EED | Giggled at losing head over notice – we’re only occasionally restrained (7) / T (AT, losing head, or first letter) + HEED (take notice), around (restraining) EE (alternate letters, i.e. only pccasionally, of wE’rE) |
| 19 | DASHPOT | DAHSPOT | Damper tip best turned end to end? (7) / DASH (tip, bribe) + POT (TOP, best, turned end to end) |
| 21 | EIGHTVO | EIHGTVO | Book that’s precisely sized to give hour to waste (7) / anag, i.e. to waste, of TO + GIVE + H (hour) |
| 24 | LAHAR | LHAAR | Mudflow – got it in both hands (5) / L_R (left and right, both hands) around AHA (got it!) |
| 25 | ISHES | IHSES | Occasionally miss the easy allowances to go inside Murrayfield (5) / IS (occasional letters of ‘mIsS tHe EaSy’ |
| 28 | SHE | HSE | He’s embarrassed the lady (3) / anag, i.e. embarrassed, of HE’S |
It’s great to read these blogs and realise that you’ve missed something. I twigged on the upward movement of the (H)earts but didn’t realise they were all middle letters until reading this. Lovely!
I too admit to needing an anagram solver to extract the phrase, which I’d never heard of. Cathari was my last one as I struggled with the parsing before the penny dropped.
My second comment in recent days for an Ifor puzzle (IQ 1452 being masterful). Thanks again Ifor and to mc_rapper for the great blog. Branson pickle, chuckle.
Excellent puzzle from Ifor that took me back to my days as a chorister when a small boy. Like Phil R, I also didn’t realise that they were all middle letters. Sometimes things are too subtle, which is a shame when this added restriction presumably made things even tougher for the setter.
Thanks to Ifor and to mc_rapper. Great pun regarding Branson Pickle, as well. The whole story is Virgin on the ridiculous!