Inquisitor 1476: Contest by Lavatch

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A first Inquisitor puzzle from Lavatch, but he’s set plenty elsewhere.
 
Preamble: Clues are listed in normal order; unclued answers are of a kind. Solvers must construct the grid, which has 180° symmetry but does not occupy all of the space given. Bars and numbers do not need to be added; empty cells can be left blank. Solvers must highlight two two-word phrases in the completed grid. The first (8) is a description of the unclued answers and also refers to the grid’s shape (using straight lines). The second (9) is a thematic item suggested by the grid’s shape (using curved lines). Two symmetrically disposed down answers are abbreviations.

No bars, no numbers, no word lengths, not all of the short & wide net used, half a dozen unclued entries – this looked pretty tough to me. But the clues were in normal order, split into Across & Down, and we are told that the grid is symmetric – be grateful for small mercies.

Quite a few of the clues weren’t too bad to solve cold, but a lot of those took quite a while, and my uncertainty about several of my answers wouldn’t be resolved until I’d fitted them in the grid. After two long hard sessions I had just over half the Across answers and about the same number of Downs. I had convinced myself that DACHA, the first clued entry (#2 across), wouldn’t go in the top row, and would probably be in row 2 intersected by LASSI (#1 down) and ECCO (#2 down), and that INERM (#3 across) would be further to the right on the second row … but it was now late on Sunday evening and I couldn’t face pursuing the jigsaw element of the puzzle.

After knocking off a couple more clues on Monday, I decided that now was the time to make a serious push at filling the grid. My first major ‘breakthrough’ came when I realised that I had inadvertently jotted down SAXONS as the answer to #4a (part of the clue) instead of SCORNER, and that a host of difficulties would disappear when I didn’t have to accommodate that pesky X. So I merrily shuffled stuff left and right, and used the 180° symmetry to make some headway in the lower half too. Things were at last coming along nicely, and #1a was shaping up to be ENGLAND – I immediately thought BREXIT, GREXIT, FREXIT, and maybe ITALEAVE & DEPARTUGAL … but #1a wasn’t BRITAIN, and anyway what has leaving the EU to do with Contest & ‘a thematic item using curved lines‘? Absolutely nothing.

The final five or six clues would become easier, knowing where they had to fit and having some intersecting letters, and my mind wandered back to the rubric, and to my first thoughts when seeing the uncommon aspect ratio of the diagram: the empty cells would probably be clustered in the four corners – yes (and maybe a few in the centre – no), and the curved shape would probably be an oval. At about the same time (maybe a little before, or a little after – the brain doesn’t work linearly, more in parallel) I realised that ENGLAND, together with the unclued countries that I’d identified, ITALY, SCOTLAND and FRANCE were playing the opening matches in the Six Nations rugby championship that weekend, along with WALES and IRELAND (soon to be slotted in).

So that was that. The general shape of the filled grid is hexagonal and we can see SIX SIDES in a column on the left, and using curved lines it is indeed oval, suggested by RUGBY BALL in a column on the right. Thanks Lavatch; I think I was rather slow on this one, but there’s a lot going on at the moment. (And now, a week later, I still haven’t got around to transcribing the grid from a spreadsheet onto the paper.)
 

Across
# Clue Answer/Entry Wordplay
1 Unclued ENGLAND –
2 Rotter’s back with a laugh in country house DACHA CAD< (rotter) + HA (laugh)
3 Unarmed digger moving metres to the east INERM MINER (digger) with M(etres) moved right
4 Foremost of Saxons meeting Angle who shows disdain? SCORNER S(axons) + CORNER (angle)
5 Dissipation of dourness is widely celebrated RESOUNDS [DOURNESS]*
6 Shining silver base AGLOW AG (silver) LOW (base)
7 Religious works British clergyman and I sign BREVIARIES B(ritish) REV (clergyman) + I ARIES (sign)
8 Wager a shilling they’re not the brightest stars BETAS BET (wager) A S (shilling)
9 Sump is regularly found by loose twining plant SMILAX S(u)M(p) I(s) + LAX (loose)
10 Unclued FRANCE –
11 Straw bundles in the country are surrounded by unknown trees YEALMS A(re) in Y (unknown) ELMS (trees)
12 Before food, starters of apple in stewed South American fruits AÇAIS AC (before food) A(pple) I(n) S(tewed)
13 Deathly sign has old ladies stifling uncontrolled sobs CROSSBONES CRONES (old ladies) around [SOBS]*
14 Vacuous American to stop working either a little manly fellow or a girl ANDIE A(merica)N DIE (stop)
15 Unclued SCOTLAND –
16 Rabbit allowed back in property CHATTEL CHAT (rabbit) LET< (allowed)
17 Mark’s reeling in attack (two words) SET ON NOTES (mark’s)
18 Unclued ITALY –
19 Journalist probing society dignitary, one making a career SPEEDER ED (journalist) in S(ociety) PEER (dignitary)
 
Down
# Clue Answer/Entry Wordplay
1 Drink’s required, climbing in Swiss Alps LASSI (sw)ISS AL(ps) <
2 Italian writer ingesting cocaine that’s there for him ECCO C(ocaine) in ECO (Umberto E., Italian writer)
3 Turning up wearing scruffy garment trimmed in Paris GARNI IN RAG < (wearing scruffy garment)
4 Nothing’s around animal’s home in tree LINDEN NIL< (nothing) DEN (animal’s home)
5 Mountains lacking dimension, old ones in Scotland ANES ANDES (mountains) − D(imension)
6 Watchman dropping a twirling spike DRUG GUARD (watchman) − A <
7 Evil spirit inside evangelical clothes DEEV (insi)DE EV(angelical)
8 Academy plugs language onset of standardisation destroys ERASES A(cademy) in ERSE (language) S(tandardisation)
9 Note slippery customer recoiling in fight MÊLÉE ME (note) EEL< (slippery customer)
10 Unclued IRELAND –
11 An academic counter introducing brown things requiring special observation NOTANDA A DON < (academic) around TAN (brown)
12 Some land from the south shelters island shrub ERICA ACRE< (some land) around I(sland)
13 Unclued WALES –
14 Doctors’ group investing money in degree BMA M(oney) in BA (degree)
15 Pretend there’s a politer way to swear, turning up in a court AFFECT EFF< (a politer way to swear) in A CT (court)
16 Special writing for a way to send texts SMS S(pecial) MS (writing)
17 Attendants from America given date AIDES A(merica) + IDES (time)
18 Live around bog that’s mysterious ARCANE ARE (live) around CAN (lavatory, bog)
19 Egg cell, also regressive part of chromosome OOTID TOO< (also) ID (part of chromosome)
20 Euphemism Times adopts entirely BALLY BY (times) around ALL (entirely)
21 Barely running, lady loses heart ONLY ON (running) L(ad)Y
22 Fish skins in Hackney, perhaps IDES HIDES (skins) − H {in ’Ackney …}
23 Go away from speaker in Oxford? SHOE homophone: SHOO (go away)
24 Learn from Spenser’s tragic figure LEAR double definition
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21 comments on “Inquisitor 1476: Contest by Lavatch”

  1. Although this initially looked daunting, I think I hit a bit lucky here. I’d guessed at the theme from the preamble and the fact there were 6 unclued entries. Quite a few answers dropped on the first cold solve pass and once I managed to rule out Scotland on the top row (front row?), the rest followed in a very much “top down” completion order.

    A lovely grid construction and I’m hoping to see more from this new IQ setter. With thanks to Lavatch and HolyGhost

  2. I thought that the title meant there was a sporting chance that the grid represented an arena of some sort, but CHOSE THE WRONG GAME to start with. On that very day, GB was locked in a nailbitingly close Davis Cup doubles with Canada … the 8-letter two-word phrase would thus be DAVIS CUP and the curved lines shape might be the cup itself, with the unclueds being related tennis terms ? I had a fair number of clues done early on, enough to be able to start knitting in a normal carte blanche, but this was clearly different … like HG, I realised that DACHA could not be in row 1. Over the next few days I came back to it again and again, making little progress.
    Then finally ENGLAND hove into view … and I was able to start a bit of construction, but kept on having to draw new roughs as I ran out of space on the right, e.g with only AGL for what should be AGLOW in row 4. Only when another country emerged did I count the unclueds for the first time, and then, in Davis Cup terms, it was game, set and match. By this time it was Friday, and I had spent a lot more than the 3-4 hours I prefer to spend on an IQ. Our editor may yet confound us by saying that this only rated a 2 on his difficulty scale ?

    We are watching England’s progress in the Six Nations with particularly keen interest … I have one old boy from my school in the squad, our neighbour has two from his, but my wife has no less than three from hers, the hugely talented Farrell, Ford and Itoje. With apologies to PeeDee, roll on March 3.

  3. A definite win for the setter. I cold solved something like half to three quarters of the clues, played with a spreadsheet for a bit to experiment with trying to place some of them, before deciding this just wasn’t going to happen. Congratulations to all who managed to complete this!

  4. Very cunning now it’s revealed. Alas, I’ve never been good at these blank grids, and it turns out that my profound lack of interest in rugby was also an obstacle. 25 clues solved cold, I think, but no further progress and no enthusiasm for cutting out little slips of paper with known A and D answers, or — like our esteemed blogger — setting up a spreadsheet.

    Well, one can’t expect an SGM (Smug Grin Moment) every week!

  5. I thought this was superb – I’m very partial to a blank grid and this was a particularly fine example. If it isn’t in my top three by the end of the year then we are in for some real treats. However, I don’t think it lived up to the hype on the front of the paper: “Our most diabolical crossword yet” – hardly (have they forgotten Life After Death already?). I’d have put it in the top 25% of difficulty, but probably not in the top 10%. Indeed I’d finished it by late Saturday, or, more accurately, early Sunday – a good part of which was done, obliviously, in front of the rugby.

    The clues themselves were, necessarily, relatively gentle and although it needed most of them before we could start piecing it all together, there were a limited number of ways they could be arranged to make a symmetrical diagram, so it didn’t take as long as I was expecting for the solution to emerge – accompanied by a glow of satisfaction and admiration for the well crafted grid construction.

    A big thank you to Lavatch for a free-flowing and highly enjoyable game, and to HG for his commentary.

  6. I thought this was excellent though I agree with OPatrick that it didn’t quite live up to the “most diabolical” tag. Like him I love alphabetical jigsaws, but I had three photocopies of the grid before I finally fitted my top half (including, like HG, DACHA, LASSI, ECCO, SCORNER etc. intersecting) in the right place, and even then had to move it all to the right one place to accommodate SMILAX and YEALMS.

    I copied it into the paper last and only then realised that the “euphemism” clue was BALLY, not BALLS!

    Thank you to both HG and LaVatch

  7. I thought this a brilliant puzzle, a real treat to unpick. Another 100% finish for me with only a dictionary for aid*, though it did take most of the week to get there.

    I only caught on to the Six Nations theme once I had placed all the solutions I had solved. Luckily I could remember the nations involved. I was made to play rugby at school for 7 years and hated it and have not looked at the game since. Through a long and convoluted series of events I did once end up going and see a Rugby League game Workington, but I don’t think that counts.

    I had not spotted the “Our most diabolical crossword yet” headline but as OPatrick suggests this was a walk in the park compared to Life After Death.

    Thanks to HG and Lavatch

    * I did fit the grid together online rather than using pen and paper. A while ago I wrote a utility to do this to help write blogs for fifteensquared. It allows you to drag-and-drop solutions onto a grid. If anyone is interested you can have a look here Carte Blanche Utility. It is still a bit rough-and-ready, mainly because I rarely get the chance use it. Any feedback would be welcome, email to “paul at drurys dot org”.

  9. This one defeated me. I had enough answers to see that we were looking at a diamond of some sort, but not quite enough to get beyond the top five lines before I ran out of time.

    Congratulations to solvers, thanks to setter and blogger.

  10. Like others I didn’t find this overly onerous esp. given the hype on the i’s front page. That said, it took me three (hand-drawn) grids to get the right shape and fit for the solutions even though I had guessed the theme early doors.
    As an aficionado of the 13-a-side version of the game, can’t say I get over-excited when the over-hyped RU version arrives on our screens every year but each to their own. Also, noted that England are on top of the grid….hmm, maybe some innate bias going on (says he tongue-in-cheek !)? Many thanks Lavatch (whoever your team is) and HG for the blog.

  11. I was lucky enough to fairly quickly spot that the BMA and SMS fitted the second and second to last letters of Smilax and Yealms respectively and was able to fit the rest around them, although I was still looking for something lozenge-shaped for quite some time after.

    PeeDee@7. That utility looks most intriguing. Thanks for sharing. Question by email later.

  12. Our first DNF, I think, since 1431, Life After Death. We found the clues reasonable and solved over half quite quickly, but never had an inkling on how to start inserting answers. This one coincided with a very tricky Listener puzzle, which we decided to focus on as we could at least enter our answers when we got them! By the time we’d finished that it was the end of the week and not worth returning to the battle with Lavatch with new puzzles imminent.

    Huge respect to anybody who solved this one.

  13. Firstly I’ll join the chorus of saying this was a joy to solve, and that mercifully wasn’t too bad to solve for me. Having said that I caught a few breaks. One tends to have a few hunches in unusual situations (and the sheer lack of information warranted it) and all of mine, bar one, were correct: that the middle row would be full and that the spaces would be in the corners. My error was persevering too long on the assumption the middle row would be a single unclued phrase. The breakthrough was realising it could be three 6s allowing me to place Smilax first. Another punt then (often the only way with these) that the middlish 3 letter downs would cross the middle row and I was off. The lengths of consecutive acrosses confirmed the hexagonal shape at which point my other stroke of luck kicked in; I happened to be filling the grid on a flight to Paris to watch the game! Naturally the significance of the shape jumped out and hence the unclueds came all at once (I had established the lengths of the acrosses) and so from there was home and hosed! Again great fan and thanks to Lavatch.

  14. It’s really interesting how for some people knowing where to start with a blank grid is a relatively simple process and those for whom it induces terror and quite frankly bewilderment and resignation. I’m sure neuropsychologists would be able to explain it.

    All of which goes to say that much as I’m a big admirer of Lavatch/Picaroon, I decided within minutes this wasn’t for me and spent some quality time with the Listener. Sorry.

  15. I didn’t see the “diabolical” headline either, and I can’t help thinking that such a plug is bound to invite responses to the contrary! It took me a while to get the answers in the right place but I didn’t find this anything like as hard as “Life After Death”. I was lucky enough to twig the theme early on, despite having no interest in rugby, and I found this to be a very satisfying solve and another fine addition to this excellent series. Thank you Lavatch.

  16. Like Terrier, I too found that week’s Listener tricky as well, and spent virtually a week alternating frustratedly between both puzzles until both pennies finally dropped … unlike some other weeks, when both yield in the day, and one then spends Sundays on Cryptic, Jumbo, Codeword and Auctor.

    Terrier, did you admire two staggering clues in last Saturday’s Times Crossword, 16d and 18d ? (I hope this doesn’t count as “discussing current puzzles” ?)

  17. I’m very much with Bingybing @14 on this: the sight of a blank grid, combined with the warning on the cover meant that I knew immediately that I wouldn’t be getting anywhere with this one.

    Enjoyed reading the solution though.

  18. I agree with Cruci.. @15. A few gentle clues allowed me to jigsaw the top part fairly quickly, revealing E GLA D, which had to be ENGLAND. So, Contest, England, six unclued.. it had to be the 6 Nations which the media had been throwing at us for a week or so. Symmetry with RESOUNDS showed where SCOTLAND had to go as the only 8-letter country and the rest was then a steady, fairly demanding ride to the finish.

    By the way, I have some squared paper from old Maths excercise which I find most useful for the jigsawing. There is plenty of room to try a few variations. It was the second attempt that gave me the ENGLAND fit from bits of the top half. Then I tried to sort out the bottom half elsewhere on the sheet, using symmetry until I had enough to fit fit the two halves together.

    Thanks to Lavatch for an entertaining puzzle and to HG for his usual thorough blog.

  19. In reply to Murray@16, yes those were among the best clues in an excellent Saturday Times Cryptic, but the week before’s was even better, the best for a long time IMO.

  20. I really enjoyed this one and managed to solve it ok despite starting off with the wrong sport. I noticed that it was Superbowl weekend and then jumped to the (wrong) conclusion – or did I fall for a dummy? – that the eight letter word would be “gridiron” and the nine letter would be “superbowl” and that the missing cells might be the end-zones, etc. After initial solving I started to fill in a dummy grid and had Cleveland as a possible answer for 1 across. Despite this mistake I solved some more and filled out more of the bottom of the grid using the symmetry. As no more American football teams or superbowl or gridiron emerged I did notice Italy and then also noticed that the six nations rugby had started that weekend and then all made sense.

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