This was a challenge and a half!
The preamble gave some hint of the challenge to come when it told us that: All but seven clues contain a redundant letter. These letters spell out Message 1, regarding the seven normal clues; noting these seven in alphabetical order provides the sequence to reveal an instruction to alter the grid, plus a two-word comment on message 2. Solvers must find a path through the grid from top left to bottom right to reveal the oddly-written Message 2, indicating where to find the two words to be written below the grid.
It sounded like a puzzle where it would be unlikely for solvers to finish the end-game without fully understanding what was going on.
I got a foot hold fairly quickly down the right hand side of the grid, but it took a while to move westward across the grid.
As I solved the puzzle it wasn’t always obvious which were the normal clues. For a while I thought I had identified extra letters in clues that were actually normal and I hadn’t identified extra letters in clues that I thought were normal. Eventually the skeletal words in Message 1 came to my aid. There are some words that appear regularly in hidden messages and we had a few today. ANSWERS, SAME, NUMBER, CLUES and FROM were the ones that helped this time.
Once I had got the message – ANSWERS TO SAME NUMBERED CLUES FROM CONCISE TODAY – a little bit of panic set in. I photocopy the crossword to avoid cluttering up the desk with the full newspaper. I don’t always solve it on the day of publication either, so on Wednesday when I got the message there was a scrabble through the recycling bin to find the paper and the Concise crossword.
The original Inquisitor filled grid looked like this:
The Concise solution is as follows:
I wonder if I was the only solver who sorted clue numbers in alphabetical order of their entries in the Inquisitor initially rather than alphabetical order of the clues themselves. Once I’d returned to the preamble and read it properly, I got the right order, which is:
| Clue Number | Inquisitor clues | Concise Entry |
| 10 | Article in … | ADD |
| 16 | Curse earl … | BLOCKS |
| 21 | Northern Britain’s … | FROM |
| 3 | Reportedly, recreational … | THIS |
| 14 | Sheriff’s exercise … | PUZZLE |
| 19 | Swimmer up … | SIX |
| 22 | World-old public … | WORDS |
So now we had an instruction – ADD BLOCKS FROM THIS PUZZLE and a comment on message two – SIX WORDS.
I applied the instruction and stared at the Inquisitor grid for a while until some well known words began to appear in a logical order. The phrase in the preamble ‘to reveal the oddly-written Message 2’ finally began to made sense as the letters in Message 2 are all in odd numbered rows and odd numbered columns.
The grid now looks like this with the new Message ;two, highlighted.
Snaking its way from top-left to bottom right in the blocked Inquisitor, using only cells at an intersection odd rows and odd columns we can spell out the message BLOCKS IN ROWS TWO AND TEN
How many people blocked out the cells in the Inquisitor grid so thoroughly that they could no longer read the letters originally in those cells?
The blocked cells spell out HAMPTON COURT which should be written below the grid. HAMPTON COURT is famed for its maze. Message two resembled a maze through the grid.
By returning to the original Inquisitor and highlighting the letters obscured by the blocks from the Concise we can see where HAMPTON COURT is located in the Inquisitor grid.
In terms of submission, my guess is that you submit the original filled grid with the words HAMPTON COURT below it. I doubt if you need to show any of the intermediate steps.
Often in Inquisitors, the wordplay in the clues is fairly basic once any amendments have been made to the clues. I didn’t find that the case here. The adjusted clues were still quite complex and, for me, that just added to the enjoyment of an outstanding puzzle. I wonder how long eXternal took to create the grid. I suppose there were quite a few obscure words, but solvers expect that in an Inquisitor anyway. I also liked the fact that extra letters could be omitted from any part of the clue, not just in the definition or wordplay alone.
Finally, there must have been good editorial collaboration to ensure that the right Concise puzzle appeared on the right day. Well done to everyone involved.
The title, CLUE TWO II reflects the fact that eXternal has compiled a puzzle like this in the past – Inquisitor 1335, blog published on June 4th 2014.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. |
Clue Amended Clue |
Letter |
Wordplay |
Entry |
|
1 |
Busy person holding surgery with Paula for glance down under (6) Busy person holding surgery with Pula for glance down under (6) |
A
|
(BEE [busy person] containing [holding] OP [operation; surgery]) + P (pula) B (OP) EE P |
BOPEEP (quick look in Australia and New Zealand; glance down under) |
| 5 |
Meant to feign missing leader (3) Meat to feign missing leader (3) |
N |
SHAM (fake) excluding (missing) the first letter (leader) S | HAM (meat) |
| 8 |
Smile, having knowledge about results (4) mile, having knowledge about results (4) |
S |
M (mile) contained in (having .. about) SUS (knowledge) SU (M) S |
SUMS (results of additions) |
| 11 |
Itch extremely badly warm pilgrim’s garment (5) Itch extremely badly arm pilgrim’s garment (5) |
W |
IH (first and last letters of [extremely] ITCH + an anagram of (badly) ARM IH RAM* |
IHRAM (scanty white cotton garment worn by Muslim pilgrims to Mecca) |
| 12 |
African capital’s once more invaded by a caste (6) African capital‘s once more invaded by a cast (6) |
E |
MO (archaic form [once] of MORE) containing (invaded by) (A + PUT (cast) M (A PUT) O |
MAPUTO (capital city of Mozambique) |
| 14 | Sheriff‘s exercise to capture gunmen coming west (4) |
|
(PE [physical education; exercise] containing (to capture) RA (Royal Artillery; gunmen) all reversed (coming west) (E (AR) P)< |
EARP (reference American Deputy Sheriff Wyatt EARP [1849 -19129] who took part in the gunfight at the OK Corral in which three outlaws were killed) |
| 15 |
Odd burn on daughter (5) Odd bun on daughter (5) |
R |
D (daughter) + ROLL (bun) | DROLL (odd) |
|
16
|
Curse earl, source of misery (4)
|
|
BAN (curse) + E (earl)
|
BANE (source of misery)
|
| 17 |
Second stake removed from terrorist group’s actual objects (6) Second take removed from terrorist group’s actual objects (6) |
S |
REAL IRA (Real Irish Republican Army, designated a terrorist group by governments) excluding (removed) the second occurrence of (second) R [(recipe [Latin]; take) | REALIA (realities; objects) |
| 18 |
Gratin lines stomach of sheep (5) Grain lines stomach of sheep (5) |
T |
RY (railway; lines) + E (middle letter of [stomach] SHEEP) | RYE (type of grain) |
|
19
|
Swimmer up to halfway from Scottish islands (4)
|
|
ORCADIAN (person from the Scottish island of Orkney) excluding the second half of the letters (up to halfway) DIAN
|
ORCA (killer whale; swimmer)
|
|
22
|
World-old public acreage flourishing (5) |
|
A (acreage) + PERT (flourishing)
|
APERT (archaic [world-old means exceedingly ancient] word for ‘public’) |
| 23 |
Paced sea boats for exciting adventure (8) Paced sea bats for exciting adventure (8) |
O |
Anagram of (bats) PACED SEA ESCAPADE* |
ESCAPADE (exciting adventure) |
| 24 |
German swine stud punctured by knight (4) German wine stud punctured by knight (4) |
S |
SET (stud) containing (punctured by) K (knight) SE (K) T |
SEKT (German sparkling wine) |
| 25 |
Relative from India, uncle regularly starts to act awake (5) Relative from India, uncle regularly starts to act wake (5) |
A |
I (India is the international radio codeword for the letter I) + NL (letters 2 and 4 [regularly] of UNCLE) + AW (first letters of [starts to] each of ACT and WAKE) | IN-LAW (relative) |
| 27 |
Starve them in France after cold month (4) Starve the in France after cold month (4) |
M |
C (cold) + LE (one of the forms of ‘the’ in French) + M (month) | CLEM (starve) |
| 28 |
Feat to receive small cut without starting project (8, 2 words) Fat to receive small cut without starting project (8, 2 words) |
E |
STOUT (fat) containing (to receive) NICK (cut) excluding the first letter (without starting) N ST (ICK) OUT |
STICK OUT (project) |
| 30 |
Carrion-feeder longing to tuck into hearts, ultimately lean (5) Carrion-feeder longing to tuck into hearts, ultimately lea (5) |
N |
YEN (longing) contained in (tuck into) (H [hearts in card games] + A [last letter of [ultimately] LEA) H (YEN) A |
HYENA (an animal that feeds on carrion) |
| 33 |
Ignoring corpus, cited novel to censor (4) Ignoring corps, cited novel to censor (4) |
U |
Anagram of (novel) CITED excluding (ignoring) C (corps) EDIT* |
EDIT (censor) |
| 35 |
Chimp returned having abandoned dead herbivore (3) Chip returned having abandoned dead herbivore (3) |
M |
DUNG (a chip is piece of dried cow or bison DUNG) excluding D (dead) and reversed (returned) GNU< |
GNU (black wildebeest, a grass eating animal; herbivore) |
| 36 |
Quack doctor fed butter initially to reptiles (6) Quack doctor fed utter initially to reptiles (6) |
B |
U (first letter of [initially] UTTER) contained in (fed to) CROCS (crocodiles; reptiles) CROC (U) S |
CROCUS (quack doctor) |
| 37 |
Nourishment for Indian, being erotic without ceasing (4) Nourishment for Indian, being erotic without casing (4) |
E |
ROTI (the letters remaining in EROTIC when the outer letters [casing] E and C are removed [without]) |
ROTI (in Indian and Caribbean cooking a cake of unleavened bread; a kind of sandwich made of this wrapped around curried vegetables, seafood or chicken; nourishment for Indian) |
| 38 |
Crop in America spread around Colorado (5) Cop in America spread around Colorado (5) |
R |
RAN (spread) reversed (around) + CO (abbreviation for the American State of Colorado) NAR< CO |
NARCO (American narcotics agent; cop in America) |
| 39 |
Dreams reversed state of mental agitation (4) Drams reversed state of mental agitation (4) |
E |
WETS (drams) reversed (reversed) STEW< |
STEW (state of mental agitation) |
| 40 |
French author disheartened Dante with line of reason (6) French author disheartened ante with line of reason (6) |
D |
CAMUS (reference Albert CAMUS [1913 – 1960], French author) excluding the central letter (disheartened) M + A (ante) + L (line) |
CAUSAL (being the CAUSe; line of reason) |
| 41 |
Topic, perhaps, about independent island nation (5) Topi, perhaps, about independent island nation (5) |
C |
(HAT [a topi is an example of a hat)] containing [about] I [independent]) + I (island) HA (I) T I |
HAITI (nation in the Caribbean) |
| 42 |
Colin thingy (4) Coin thingy (4) |
L |
REAL (relating to things; thingy) | REAL (former Spanish coin) double definition |
| 43 |
Opponents must admit ruing past misfortunes (3) Opponents must admit ring past misfortunes (3) |
U |
(W [West] + S [South] – opponents in a game of bridge) containing (must admit) O (ring shape) W (O) S |
WOS (older [past] variant spelling of WOES [misfortunes]) |
| 44 |
One amid wrangling for ownership (6) On amid wrangling for ownership (6) |
E |
Anagram of (wrangling) ON AMID DOMAIN* |
DOMAIN (ownership) |
| Down | ||||
| No. |
Clue Amended Clue |
Letter |
Wordplay |
Entry |
| 1 |
Child’s shield carried around Slough with old sword (5) Child’s shield carried around lough with old sword (5) |
S |
(BIB [cloth or plastic shield put under a young child’s chin] containing [carried around] L [lough]) + O (old) BI (L) B O |
BILBO (rapier or sword) |
| 2 |
Boyish royal’s fright being put in nice pink pants (9) Boyish royal‘s right being put in nice pink pants (9) |
F |
Anagram of (pants) R [right] and NICE PINK PRINCEKIN* |
PRINCEKIN (young prince; boyish royal) |
|
3
|
Reportedly, recreational drugs relax (4)
|
|
EASE (sounds like [reportedly] Es [ecstasy tablets; recreational drugs])
|
EASE (relax)
|
| 4 |
Retirees issue retraining about lifting ego (7) Retirees issue retaining about lifting ego (7) |
R |
EMIT (issue) containing (retaining) (RE [with reference to; about] reversed [lifting; down clue]) + I (ego) EM (ER< ) IT I |
EMERITI (a term most often applied retired professors) |
| 5 |
Ancient Egyptian’s good to block meat forbidden by religion (5) Ancient Egyptian’s god to block meat forbidden by religion (5) |
O
|
RA (ancient Egyptian God) contained in (to block) HAM (meat) HA (RA) M |
HARAM (variant spelling of HAREM [women’s quarters in a Muslim house entrance to which is forbidden for some people) |
| 6 |
Sticky tape and clamp I put to practical use (9) Sticky tape and clap I put to practical use (9) |
M |
Anagram of (sticky) TAPE CLAP and I APPLICATE* |
APPLICATE (put to practical use) |
| 7 |
Local governor’s fish in strange cup (5) Local governor‘s fish in strange up (5) |
C |
(ID [fish] contained in RUM [strange]) all reversed (up; down clue) (MU (DI) R)< |
MUDIR (local governor) |
| 8 |
Resistance in coast to tread of Scotsman (6) Resistance in cast to tread of Scotsman (6) |
O |
R (resistance) contained in (in) STAMP (cast) ST (R) AMP
|
STRAMP (Scottish word for ‘tread’) |
| 9 |
Master obediently spoonfed mineral (11) Master obediently spooned mineral (11) |
N |
M (master) + anagram of (spoofed) OBEDIENTLY M OLYBDENITE* |
MOLYBDENITE (mineral) |
|
10
|
Article in Spain upended in runny cream’s causing tissue hardening (8) |
|
(EL [definite article in Spanish] reversed [upended; down clue]) contained in (in) an anagram of (runny) CREAMS SC (LE<) REMA* |
SCLEREMA (hardening of tissues, especially subcutaneous tissue]))
|
|
13
|
Backed product to house Arab, tame animals and new reptile (11, 2 words)
Baked product to house Arab, tame animals and new reptile (11, 2 words) |
C |
CAKE (baked product) containing (to house) (AR [Arab] + PETS [tame animals] + N [new]) C (AR PETS N) AKE |
CARPET SNAKE (variegated python of Australia; reptile) |
| 20 |
Person lifted Salmond’s biog within a second – not so fast (9, 2 words) Person lifted Salmond’s bog within a second – not so fast (9, 2 words) |
I |
(ONE [person] reversed [lifted; down clue] + MOSS [Scottish [reference Alex SALMOND, former leader of the Scottish National Party]) contained in (within) MO (moment; second) M (ENO< MOSS) O |
MENO MOSSO (musical term meaning ‘not so fast’) |
|
21
|
Northern Britain‘s cold beer? Swell, I answer (9)
|
|
C (cold) + ALE (beer) + DON (a swell) + I + A (answer) |
CALEDONIA (Highlands of Scotland; Northern Britain)
|
| 22 |
One transferor of asset, like Mrs in Milan (8) One transferor of asset, like Mr in Milan (8) |
S |
AS (like) + SIGNOR (Italian [Milan] form of address for gentleman [Mr]) | ASSIGNOR (one who transfers a right or asset |
| 26 |
Repeatedly, wife heard nothing about son’s reference work (7, 2 words) Repeatedly, wife hard nothing about son’s reference work (7, 2 words) |
E |
(W [wife] + H [hard in description of pencil lead] + O [zero; nothing] + W [wife] + H [hard in description of pencil lead] + O [zero; nothing] – repeatedly) containing (about) S (son) WHO (S) WHO |
WHO’S WHO (reference work) |
| 29 |
Bacterial cell’s origin caught in chart (6) Bacterial cell’s origin caught in char (6) |
T |
(C [first letter of {origin} CELL] + C [caught in cricket scoring notation]) contained in (in) COAL (char) CO (C C) AL |
COCCAL (zoological term for bacterial) |
| 31 |
SA woman’s video series about university (5) SA woman‘s vide series about university (5) |
O |
V (vide [Latin]) + (ROW [series] containing [about] U [university]) V RO (U) W |
VROUW (especially of Afrikaners in S Africa, a woman) |
| 32 |
Officer in charge bored looking up meteorological units (5) Officer in charge bore looking up meteorological units (5) |
D |
OC (officer in charge) + SAT (bore) reversed (looking up; down clue) OC TAS< |
OCTAS (units equal to one-eighth of the sky area, used in specifying cloud cover for airfield weather condition reports). |
| 34 |
Bait of BT – i.e. internet connection (5) Bit of BT – i.e. internet connection (5) |
A |
TIE-IN (hidden word in [bit of] BT I.E. INTERNET) | TIE-IN (connection) |
| 37 |
Battery holds ordinary range (4) Batter holds ordinary range (4) |
Y |
RAM (batter) containing (holds) O (ordinary) R (O) AM |
ROAM (range) |
A lot of fun, but this time, I thought, relatively gentle – at least once I’d decided that ANSWERS TO SAME NUMBERED CLUES FROM CONCORD … really wasn’t going to make sense. I loved the sequence of steps involved in finding the final answer and the anticipation of cracking each stage kept the momentum of the solve going throughout.
If I remember rightly from ‘Clue Two the First’, the word ‘clue’ has its origins in ‘clew’, a ball of yarn, used to trace a path back through a maze.
A huge thank you to eXternal for the entertainment and to Duncan for the as-ever comprehensive blog.
Blimey, the effort that had gone into constructing this one! Many thanks to eXternal – this was very enjoyable indeed, with multiple PDMs! Although for a short time also very frustrating once I knew that the concise was also needed. Like Duncan, I tend to copy the IQ and bin much of the rest of the paper. Fortunately, my mum located her copy and I also realised that it could be found on the i website, so I could proceed. I did wonder if there might have been an oblique reference to the wider paper in an Ed’s note?
Thanks Duncan for the detailed blog. For Message 2 I went through multiple permutations of alphaetical order of clue and answer for both the IQ and concise words before finally getting the required combination.
@2 Kippax: I did put a note on Twitter to say that the day’s i paper was “a collector’s item”…
John
Ah, ok John. Thanks, I missed that.
Quite a steeplechase, but highly enjoyable once you’d got there ! I presume that External must have also set that day’s Concise puzzle, with its relevant words. I too was grateful to be able to download it later from the i website.
Yet again, I found no help from a preamble on how final grid should be presented. My first instinct was that ADD BLOCKS FROM THIS PUZZLE meant that blocks should be added in black, as printed in the Concise, but then I opted for a halfway house and put the blocks in in blue, with underlying letters still visible. Again, it will be interesting to see what the so-called correct solution is shown as. And, if you’re a choc-hunter, it’s little comfort to be told that alternative entries are acceptable !
Was there any cryptic indication anywhere as to why HAMPTON COURT ?
HAMPTON COURT was also featured in the Listener on May 14 this year, but that was thematically appropriate, as the puzzle was based on real tennis.
A friend of ours had a large carpet snake, named Monty, for some years living in the eaves of her Queensland home … a friendly and highly efficient rodent operative !
I must admit, my heart sank when I realised I’d not only have to find, but also solve, the concise. That turned out not to be the problem; the problem was finding the oddly-written message. So failed at the final hurdle.
Thanks to eXternal for a very enjoyable puzzle and to Duncan for a very full blog.
@5 Murray: I’d guess that extensive detail about the presentation of the final grid would run the risk of giving the game away as it would have to refer to shaded blocks etc.? My interpretation was that they’d be looking for a blocked out version with ‘HAMPTON COURT’ written below. The colour and opacity of the blocks would not matter.
As for why Hampton Court, I felt the same as Duncan: it’s known for having a maze.
Thanks, Kippax, I’m sure you and Duncan must be right. I took our kids into Hampton Court Maze many decades ago, and remember it as being vaguely concentric and finishing up in the centre, i.e somewhat different to the path of our “oddly written” message.
I totally missed out on the clue/clew/ twine/maze, connotations in the title. I have always associated twine more with Daedalus, Theseus, Minotaur and Labyrinth, which of course I now realise was the theme of eXternal’s equally enjoyable IQ 1335.
Filled the grid, got Message 1 but Concise Today? What Concise Today ? Thought it was some cryptic reference to “Sat”. or the date perhaps ? 24/09/16, perhaps these were the clue answers but SEKT MOLYBDENITE BANE didn’t make a lot of sense. Eventually twigged it was reference to the Concise Xword. Then sorted out in alphabetical order the 7 answers to the Concise puzzle itself which actually wasn’t too far off the right version as it happened so got that OK. I blocked out the IQ grid, with fine lines, and after a few dead ends on the maze run, did eventually find Message 2 and Hampton Court.
My, what a merry dance ! Many thanks eXternal, brilliantly planned and executed…and to Duncan, what an impressive, painstaking blog indeed. Thank you.
@5 murray. Just by chance I entered 1457 Hampton Court Road into google maps and it came up near the maze! I don’t know if this is a coincidence though!
By the way, I echo the thanks to eXternal. It was really well thought out and very enjoyable.
John W, I followed your example, Googled 1457 Hampton Court Road, and was aMAZEd … not only did the map with the maze come up, but also your 15squared entry, as above at #10. How swift and omnivorous is that ?
Great stuff and a likely qualifier for me in the end of year favourites, if only for the novelty of referencing the concise crossword. Unusually this week I had a completely free Saturday so was afforded the luxury of an IQ transfixed day. Some lovely clues and hidden letters, I particularly enjoyed 40A. The endgame did take a while, the hint of ‘oddly’ leading me down several garden paths before success. Great blog and puzzle. Thanks to both once again.
I rarely look at twitter but that’s a nice touch from JH. Will make a note of checking up more often…
Phil R @13 There’s a growing number of people from the cruciverbal world on Twitter. It’s a very useful way of keeping up, advertising puzzles and supporting fellow setters.
I really recommend it.
John
Hugely enjoyed this one, and even when I got to the end I was half expecting a further instruction explaining just where in Hampton Court maze solvers should dig for the golden box of chocs …
Thanks eXternal and Duncan. Got most of the way there but failed trying to find a meaningful path through the wrong puzzle. Not helped by not having the original concise crossword and having to view it in the on-line solver.
I am very reluctant to join twitter, though perhaps one day I will succumb.
Certainly in my top 4 for the year so far. One of the criteria I consider when assessing a puzzle is “would it make it into a anthology?” Not sure this one would, owing to the reference to the other material, which is a pity. Otherwise, certainly a contender.
Thanks as usual to setter & blogger.
PS The “Two” in the title (as opposed to the “II”) refers to the fact that we should use clue^2 in Chambers which says “see clew” …