Well – this was a proper genius puzzle!! A mind-boggling set of instructions that not only had us wondering how and where to start, but once we were getting into the puzzle, how we were ever going to be able to blog it!
So…. to break down the instructions….There were effectively four different types of solution which we have described as Types A, B, C & D.
Type A: “Nine solutions (one group of four and another of five) are directly related, except in respect of time. Their clues are normal but their definitions have been swapped around”.
Type B: “In another nine clues, the definitions are not indicated in the clues, but are to be found in the first nine solutions”.
Type C: “In a further nine solutions the letters of one of the original nine are either missing from or wrongly included in their wordplay”.
Type D: “With the remaining seven solutions, at nine points the difference between the original groups of four and five, respectively, is also either missing from or wrongly included in their wordplay”.
Our approach to crosswords with extensive instructions such as these is to initially ignore them until we have solved a few clues, and then see how the solutions might fit the instructions. This was particularly tricky with this puzzle because of the mixing up of definitions and wordplay.
Starting at the top as we usually do, we concluded that 1d must be ACER as the wordplay was pretty clear, but ‘copy’ didn’t fit as a definition, and there was a potential definition in ‘tree’ at 21ac. We worked our way through the clues, mainly via crossing letters and tried to put the complex matrix of clues, wordplay and definitions into some sort of grid. After several mismatches, largely caused by some crafty misdirections by Boatman (e.g. the wordplay for 20/14, which had us thinking it was a Type D, not a type B, and the double definitions at 9ac and 18ac – both Type A) we finally reached what we hope is the correct solution. We still have some doubts however, so any comments would be greatly appreciated!!
Our interpretation of the Instructions is:
Type A: We came to realise that the two groups were words containing the letters A, C, E and R (group A1) and words containing the letters A, C, E, R and T (group A2) – the difference being the letter T (time) – i.e. the groups ‘are directly related, except in respect of time’. We have indicated which other Type A clue relates to in the parsing of the Type A solutions below.
Type B: In these clues, the wordplay leads to definitions that are synonyms of each of the Type A solutions, effectively resulting in there being two definitions for each of the nine Type A solutions – e.g for ACER (the entry derived from the wordplay at 1d), we have ‘TREE’ in the clue at 21ac (with wordplay relating to a different entry) and MAPLE as the entry at 8d where there is no definition.
Type C: The wordplay either excludes or wrongly includes the letters A, C, E and R (C1) or A, C, E, R and T (C2)
Type D: The wordplay either excludes or wrongly includes the letter T (the difference between the two groups) – in two cases there are two Ts to be excluded from the wordplay which we can only conclude is the reference to there being seven solutions of this type, with nine ‘points’ where the Ts are omitted or added.
Hats off to Boatman for a serious challenge this month!
| Across | |||
| ENTRY | TYPE | CLUE (definition underlined) / PARSING | |
| 7 | Ad found to be in order one day (6,3) | ||
| COMMON ERA | C1 | OM (order – Order of Merit) MON (one day – Monday) in the letters C, E, R & A (group A1) | |
| 9 | Chest pains? (5) | ||
| CRATE | A2 | A double definition – for CRATE (chest) (but there is no wordplay!) and CARE (28d) (‘be at pains to’) | |
| 11 | Once again sail a familiar route (5) | ||
| REPLY | B | RE-PLY – to ply is to ‘sail a familiar route’ – definition for REACT (29ac) | |
| 12 | Person with confused ideas, unfortunately declared in position of leader (9) | ||
| ADDLEHEAD | C1 | An anagram of D |
|
| 13 | Boatman’s people with an element of style (4,3) | ||
| CREW CUT | D | CREW (Boatman’s people) CU (copper – an element) +T | |
| 15 | Disaster for marines (7) | ||
| REMAINS | B | An anagram of MARINES – anagrind is ‘disaster’ – definition for TRACE (18ac) | |
| 18 | Dash a dash (5) | ||
| TRACE | A2 | Double definition – for RACE (27d) and TRACE | |
| 20/14 | Trains on organised diversion to take no part in transport (3,5) | ||
| TEA CHEST | B | This caused us a lot of headaches, but we can only assume that the wordplay is: TEACHES (trains) + T |
|
| 21 | Tree root report (5) | ||
| CARET | A2 | A homophone (‘report’) of CARROT (root) – definition for ACER (1d) | |
| 22 | Alternatively, a source of power (7) | ||
| REACTOR | C2 | OR (alternatively) + R, E, A, C & T (group A2) | |
| 23 | Weathermen: these are essential to global ecosystem (7) | ||
| FORESTS | C1 | FORE |
|
| 25 | Fashionable profession, no different from dropping out (9) | ||
| INSERTION | B | IN (fashionable) |
|
| 27 | Dewy root crop and grain (5) | ||
| RORIC | C2 | ||
| 29 | About routine case (5) | ||
| REACT | A2 | RE (about) ACT (routine) – definition for CRATE (9ac) | |
| 30 | Strong acclaim for puzzle, clued hotter (4,5) | ||
| LOUD CHEER | D | An anagram of CLUED HO |
|
| Down | |||
| ENTRY | TYPE | CLUE (definition underlined) / PARSING | |
| 1 | Copy some data? Certainly (4) | ||
| ACER | A1 | Hidden in (‘some’) datA CERtainly – definition for TRACE (18ac) | |
| 2 | Claymore chopped herb with magical powers (4) | ||
| MOLY | C1 | An anagram of |
|
| 3 | Give someone else part, the one played briefly by Roger Moore? (6) | ||
| RECAST | ST (abbreviation – ‘briefly’ – for Saint – The Saint was played by Roger Moore) + R, E, C & A (group A1) | ||
| 4 | Left and centre of alliances are repositioned as centre-right (4,4) | ||
| LAND AREA | B | L (left) AND A (middle letter or ‘centre’ of ‘alliances’) + an anagram of ARE – anagrind is ‘repositioned’- we’re not sure about the ‘as centre-right’ here – it seems to be a reference to moving the letters around, but this is a down clue, so the movement should be up or down not left or right! – definition for ACRE (5d) | |
| 5 | Perhaps rebel girl returns without Boatman (4) | ||
| ACRE | A1 | ER |
|
| 6 | Two things that Alan Rusbridger was, one of which Katharine Viner isn’t (4) | ||
| HEED | B | HE and ED (Alan Rusbridger is male (he) and was the Editor of the Guardian (ed) – Katharine Viner is not male but succeeded him as Editor) – definition for CARE (28d) | |
| 8 | Plot to get to top of the French? (5) | ||
| MAPLE | B | MAP (plot) ‘on top of’ LE (French for ‘the’) – definition for ACER (1d) | |
| 10 | Artist’s workplace is a gallery – that’s in two ways (7) | ||
| ATELIER | D | ||
| 13 | Measure in the field by taking radius from inside bomb damage (5) | ||
| CATER | A2 | C |
|
| 14 | See 20 across | ||
| 16 | He keeps a staff of millions (5) | ||
| MACER | C1 | M (millions) + A, C, E & R (group A1) | |
| 17 | Plots positions against the party line? Not in this place (5) | ||
| SITES | D | ||
| 19 | What category should this be in? Lakes in atlas are subject to revision (4,3) | ||
| ARAL SEA | D | An &lit – An anagram of A |
|
| 20 | It’s cooked on a surface that’s flat or level, they say (8) | ||
| TORTILLA | D | (+T) OR + a homophone (‘they say’) of TIER (level) | |
| 23 | Endless supply of money (a pound) (3,3) | ||
| FUN RUN | B | FUN |
|
| 24 | Before? Before this might have been The Jam (5) | ||
| SERVE | B | Pre (before) before SERVE would give ‘preserve’ (jam) – definition for CATER (13d) | |
| 25 | Sign of the cross seen in Saint Trinian’s (4) | ||
| INRI | D | Hidden or ‘seen’ in SaIN |
|
| 26 | Spoils of leading pairs of criminals robbing Atlantic escorts (4) | ||
| ROTS | C1 | cR rO aT eS (first two letters or ‘leading pairs’ of ‘criminals robbing Atlantic escorts’ excluding C, R, A & E (group A1) | |
| 27 | Furnish row of houses, ignoring their oddities (4) | ||
| RACE | A1 | ||
| 28 | Chairmen regularly put in a few words here (4) | ||
| CARE | A1 | ChAiRmEn (alternate or ‘regular’ letters) – definition for CARET (21ac) |
This tied me in knots at times but I had the same MO as you-ie dry solve a few and try and and find a pattern.And when I thought i was getting somewhere I couldnt see the wood for the trees.I got the grid filled in the end with a couple unparsed and uncategorised so many thanks for a sterling blog B&J particularly for TORTILLA (It was Steinbeck who nudged me there)
And thanks Boatman for a mighty puzzle. I needed rehab after it.
Agreed, this was the toughest Genius that I can remember but I think that you have answered all my questions, so many thanks for the blog, Bert and Joyce. I am blogging this month’s puzzle so I am hoping for something a bit gentler!
Brilliantly constructed crossword, very rewarding. I too do not understand the “as centre-right” in 4d.
Loved this one. The 5 letters A,C,E,R,T fell into place easily enough Keeping track of the types was tougher. And Tea Chest was hard to parse and the last one in.
(This is tagged in the wrong category at present.)
Thanks muffin – correcectly tagged now.
Proper Genius! Impenetrable instructions! Well blogged! I think I got there, but more by luck than judgement…
I salute anyone who finished this.
We usually have a fair crack at the Genius, but the combination of the setter, whose wavelength I always struggle to get on, and the byzantine instructions meant I gave up before I started 🙁
Congratulations to all who finished – I’m glad you enjoyed the experience – and thanks especially to B&J for explaining everything. I think if was faced with something like this as a solver, I’d have given up pretty quickly, but if I’d managed to crack the theme I’m sure it would have been by following exactly the method that you describe.
I finally finished this just over a week ago. It was a bit of a slog. But I still hadn’t checked that all the categories matched up with the instructions. I finally submitted late on Saturday evening. Thanks Bert and Joyce for the explanations and to Boatman for a crossword that lasted the whole month!
Absolutely mind-boggling and a puzzle I got nowhere with (beyond thinking I may perhaps have understood the instructions by the end of the month). Thanks for explaining this, not an easy task in itself. In explaining the B clues, I think perhaps you should have written “defined by [A-solution]”, not “definition for [A-solution]”, e.g., LAND AREA is defined by ACRE (which is itself defined, as you say, by “measure in the field”). I could be wrong, though. Also, I wonder if “centre-right” might refer to a word in that position in the grid (don’t have it to hand at the mo)? Otherwise, perhaps Boatman will illuminate?
I had a horrible case of conjunctivitis and tonsillitis in June, and it happened to be on the Monday that the puzzle was published. Not having anything better to do, I started it at 10am, and finished at about 5pm, having worked on it pretty solidly all that time (taking occasional breaks for wiping my eyes from a combination of illness and Boatman’s tortuousness). Immensely satisfying to finish!
I didn’t manage to work out what centre-right was, either, though.
Ah yes, the centre-right business. The idea is that “left and centre of alliances” leads to L AND A, and “are repositioned as centre-right” indicates that ARE should be repositioned (don’t really need the “re”, with hindsight) just to the right of the centre of the solution – like the rest of the puzzle, simpler than it first appears … I like the alternative suggestions by B&J and Tony, though!
Really enjoyed this one. It was tough but not a stinker – maybe I got lucky. I’m managing to solve the Genius every month at the moment, on a good run anyway… Used to be I rarely completed. It’s the only puzzle I make time to do in the busyness of life, and it’s always worth it. Just waiting for a £100 win 🙂
All the clues made good sense once you had cracked the rubric. I guessed the T for “time” quite early.
The only one I wasn’t sure of was TORTILLA, I didn’t spot the aural similarity with “tier”. Nice stuff Boatman.