Preamble: Two characters appear in the completed grid. The unclued lights describe their joint effort and the result.
So, Chalicea, she of the short preamble strikes again – not quite as short as Inquisitor 1443.
I found this puzzle to be one of the gentler Inquisitors but no less enjoyable for it. I’m guessing it’s a 1 on the jH hardness scale.
Due to the fact that three (well, two and twelve thirteenths) lines were dedicated to thematic material, there were a few less across clues than down clues but I don’t really remember having too much trouble with any of them except 16a.
As the grid began to fill, I was trying to make sense of the top and bottom rows. ?EEATS?HE?EA? and ?HEEAT???EFA? then it struck me HE EATS THE MEAT and SHE EATS THE FAT a reference to JACK SPRAT as in the rhyme. Now, what did they do in the end? Of course, they licked their platters clean, leading to CLEAN PLATTER in row 5.
Finding the two characters was relatively easy, they’re in column a and column m: JACK SPRAT and HIS WIFE.
This left a handful of entries to find including 8d, I had M?CHT and just couldn’t find anything to justify it. As I’m sure we’ve all done from time-to-time, if there’s nothing that fits, check the crossing answers. That led nowhere as they were all clearly right. Then it struck me, the one row that “couldn’t” be wrong; row 1: HE EATS THE MEAT was clearly wrong. Even though I’d said the rhyme repeatedly, I had failed to write LEAN – is that what they call a SKM? (Self-Kicking Moment.)
The full rhyme is:
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean,
And so, between them both,
They licked the platter clean.
So:
row 1: HE EATS THE LEAN
row 5: CLEAN PLATTER
row 13: SHE EATS THE FAT
One of my quickest Inquisitors ever, a mere two hours from start to finish including tea breaks, dog pee breaks, etc. The blog will take much longer!
Thanks Chalicea, keep these light-hearted “easy” puzzles coming.
| Across |
||
| Clue |
Entry |
Wordplay |
| 11 Giant stewed fig stuffed into dusty box (7) |
BIGFOOT | BOOT (box; obsolete: dusty) containing FIG (anag: stewed) |
| 14 Shrub’s organised relocation to dilapidated shed (8) |
LONICERA | RELOCAtIoN (minus TO (dilapidated); anag: organised) |
| 15 CIA aide involved in fruitful developments (7) |
AECIDIA | CIA AIDE (anag: involved) |
| 16 What takes thirty whole days to tour two small European countries (6) |
SCHLEP | &lit. SEPtember (takes thirty days) containing CH (Confoederatio Helvetica – Switzerland) and Luxembourg |
| 18 Boundless expertise and technique, essentially to fire pottery (4) |
KILN | sKILl (expertise; boundless)+techNique (essentially) |
| 19 Dunsinane’s supreme spirit of evil in retrograde German art song (4) |
DEIL | LIED (German art song; rev: in retrogade) |
| 20 Piece of private tuition for housewife (4) |
ETUI | privatE TUItion (hidden: piece of) |
| 21 Recalled erotic lust, getting in the mental grooves (5) |
SULCI | erotIC LUSt (rev: recalled; hidden: getting in) |
| 23 Ernie’s friend has special settlements paid to victims (5) |
ERICS | Ernie [Wise]’s friend ERIC [Morecambe]+Special |
| 25 Preposterous reduced rations: concoction of blended meat and herbs (4) |
PATE | ÉTAPe (rations; reduced; rev: preposterous) |
| 27 Very casual – regularly starkers! (4) |
TRES | sTaRkErS (regularly) |
| 28 Worry persistently, ancient tooth going west (4) |
GNAW | WANG (tooth, obs: ancient; rev: going west) |
| 30 S African pests causing nasty accident in Little Italy (12, 2 words) |
JOINTED CACTI | JOT (little)+Italy containing ACCIDENT (anag: nasty) |
| 34 Accepted knowledge finally shared about things to be done (6) |
AGENDA | Accepted+GEN (knowledge)+shareD (finally)+About |
| 35 Mostly fat Goths got merry here? (7) |
GASTHOF | &lit. FAt (mostly)+GOTH (anag: got merry) |
| 37 Oh dear! Exam involves one period of individual tuition (8) |
TUTORIAL | TUT (oh dear)+ORAL (exam) containing I (one) |
| 39 Casually release parting shot (7, 2 words) |
LEAVE GO | LEAVE (parting)+GO (shot) |
| Down |
||
| Clue |
Entry |
Wordplay |
| 1 Merits not oddly associated with the Spanish fermented wine of long ago (5) |
EISEL | mErItS (not oddly)+EL (Spanish for the) |
| 2 For example good to make acceptable, we’re told, potential embryo (7, 2 words) |
EGG CELL | EG (for example)+Good+CELL (sounds like SELL: make acceptable) |
| 3 Pledge to marry a female with money but lacking name in the first instance (8) |
AFFIANCE | A+Female+FInANCE (minus first letter of Name) |
| 4 Bootlicker’s kicked, reportedly (4) |
TOAD | Sounds like TOED (kicked) |
| 5 Ludicrously spoiled animal with hooves with a single toe (7) |
SOLIPED | SPOILED (anag: ludicrously) |
| 6 Imperial dynasty originally supporting a commercial league (5) |
HANSA | HAN (imperial dynasty)+Supporting (originally)+A |
| 7 Lacking latitude, selective about people who are expelled (8) |
EVICTEES | SElECTIVE (minus Latitude; anag: about) |
| 8 Abandoned corpse, given time, is unimportant for Burke and Hare (5) |
LICHT | LICH (corpse; obs: abandoned)+Time |
| 9 Affirmative vote expressed to prevent very small hole (6) |
EYELET | EYE (sounds like AYE (affirmative vote))+LET (prevent) |
| 10 Elevated river valley display (3) |
AIR | RIA (river valley; rev: elevated) |
| 12 Crystal of sapphire, cracked after being trimmed with centre removed (6) |
RAPHIS | SAPpHIRe (trimmed; with centre removed; anag: cracked) |
| 13 In outback, tired Ozzie station worker loses one local animal (4) |
JACK | JACKaroo (Australian station worker; minus A; minus ROO (local animal)) |
| 17 Unit central to rising infertility (5) |
LITRE | infERTILity (rev: rising; hidden: central to) |
| 19 Class of plants originally discovered surprisingly in arid area (8) |
DIANDRIA | Discovered (originally)+IN+ARID+Area (anag: surprisingly) |
| 20 The writer has the basis for solving of great case (8) |
ERGATIVE | I‘VE (the writer has) at the end of (the basis for) GREAT (anag: solving of) |
| 21 Rows around river for fish (6) |
SPRATS | SPATS (rows) containing River |
| 22 Mistakenly melted a small catholic decoration (7) |
MEDALET | MELTED+A(anag: mistakenly) |
| 24 Island estate of land historically not first held directly from sovereign (7, 2 words) |
IN CHIEF | INCH (island)+fIEF (estate of land; not first) (incidentally, Inch Island isn’t far from here) |
| 26 Grass to employ thatching old eaves principally (6) |
TOE-TOE | TO+Employ+Thatching+Old+Eaves (principally) |
| 29 Man’s mate, though embraced by people in general (4) |
WIFE | IF (though) inside WE (people in general) |
| 31 Player’s ideal hole? Nothing I will overlook! (5, 2 words) |
IN ONE | I (before: will overlook)+NONE (nothing) |
| 32 It’s not a corrupting influence (5) |
TAINT | ‘TAINT (it’s not) |
| 33 South African toothache remedy (5) |
TONGA | (double def) |
| 36 Old monarch giving rise to sounds of dismay (4) |
SHAH | HAHS (sounds of dismay; rev: giving rise to) |
| 38 Thoroughly hides exclamation of repugnance (3) |
UGH | thoroUGHly (hidden: hides) |
Very easy on the IQ scale of difficulty, but thoroughly enjoyable. A welcome bit of light relief. 🙂
I think we were entitled to a gentle one after last week’s anagram-thon (which defeated me). The solution made me smile, and 16a is very clever.
Very enjoyable, thanks Chalicea.
I needed 25a explaining, but figured that it had to be PATE.
I certainly wasn’t close to completing it as quickly as kenmac (thanks for the blog), but did achieve a personal best by getting it done within 3 days. Given that I generally manage to complete approx. 1 in every 4 Inquisitors, then ones like this are very welcome!
Thank you so much for the blog kenmac. I am truly happy that this rather gentle Inquisitor pleased, and upset no solvers by being ‘too easy’.
I do prefer a stiffer challenge, but fully acknowledge the editor’s need to publish ‘easy’ (or rather ‘easier’) puzzles to encourage newcomers and to give solvers such as Kippax a boost. Short, but sweet.
Thanks, Cahlicea & kenmac. (I think the third line of your version of the rhyme needs 2 extra syllables to scan properly.)
Yes HG (#5) my recollection is “And so, you see, between them both” . . .
Like kenmac this was one of the quickest solves I’ve achieved. An occasional easy one is OK. I like the easy ones to come in my blogging weeks though!