Enigmatic Variations No. 1288: The Bigger Picture by Elgar (Updated)

I’d been asked a couple of times during July “Are you blogging the EV the day after the Inquisitor No. 1500 celebrations?” “Yes,” said I. “Oh dear!” said they, “It’s a tough one.” How they knew was a mystery (although I think one might have been Elgar)!

Unfortunately for my crossword solving, I spent a few days with friends in Cheshire after the Manchester IQ bash, and then had that week’s Listener to tackle. That was a Sabre puzzle and consequently took slightly (!) longer than normal. Other things also took up time (like the quarterly Listener meeting) so I started The Bigger Picture with only a few days before the deadline. That was a big mistake!

Here’s the preamble:

THE BIGGER PICTURE surrounding the iconic scene depicted in the grid involves two – appropriately separated – parties (not just one) and two time spans (ditto). Clues are presented in symmetrical pairs, either coming first: across pairs are separated by a redundant word whose first or last letter must be transferred to the central column. From the answer to one clue in each clued column, a letter ignored by wordplay is to be removed and placed in the shaded square below. Correct implementation of the theme in the grid, and deduction of the puzzle’s triply significant alternative six-letter title (to be written beneath the grid), will enable solvers to highlight the correct time span and the two parties involved (22 cells in all). Numbers in brackets refer to entry lengths, and Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

Elgar is certainly a sneaky cluesmith. Frequently his wordplay and wordplay indicators are not in the order that you or I would speak. For example at 1: Free from sleep to probe dreams intermittently, University… needs to be read as Free from sleep, University to probe dreams intermittently….

Although the grid was finished in a blisteringly fast (!) 3½ hours (or was it 4?), the endgame went on and on and on. The bottom row spelt out, in alternating letters, GRATING and SUBWAY, and it was obvious that we were dealing with the famous scene from The Seven Year Itch where Marilyn Monroe stands over the grating on Lexington Avenue in New York City and the blast from the subway train blows her skirt up. The middle column accordingly spelt out THE GIRL’S SKIRT, read either upwards or downwards depending on which letter was taken from the extra word in each across clue.

Well what was it that the puzzle was portraying? MONROE and DIMAGGIO were both in the grid, as were SEVEN YEAR (if the skirt blows up) and NINE MONTH (if the skirt is down) referring to the 9 months that the DiMaggio/Monroe marriage lasted..

Now, the preamble seemed to imply that the deduction of the puzzle’s alternative triply significant 6-word title would enable the correct solution to be found. So was that in the grid? Was something revealed only when the central column was the right way up? If it was, I couldn’t find it. Was The girl’s skirt in fact a cryptic clue: HETHER fitted the bill (HER around THE) but had absolutely no relevance (a Spenser word for Hither)?

Other words that popped into my head that were equally inappropriate were (Billy) WILDER, (Arthur) MILLER, BUST-UP (well, almost appropriate) and (King) LEAR, in column 6 with REGAN, one of his daughters, crossing the middle column in row 9. However, this was all going nowhere fast.

The clue to 1/6 across looked somewhat relevant with its reference to the tube (OK, it’s subway in NYC) and time and 2. OBTUSE even had BUST up in the middle. None of this provided the spark, and the title also failed to enlighten me.

Eight weeks ago, I had the “luck” to blog MynoT’s puzzle requiring letters in the answers to be encoded to their numerical values in the periodic table. One of my fellow bloggers commented that I had taken one for the team. I feel the same about this fiendish one from Elgar. I say “fiendish” but it is quite likely that the answer is blindingly obvious and I just can’t see it.

Apologies to those who have come here looking for the solution, especially if they too got lost. I think this is my first EV blogging failure. As and when I am aware of the correct solution, I shall update this blog accordingly. In the meantime, perhaps the AnswerBank has the solution, but that is not somewhere I go to get any help… yet! However, any comments from successful, or indeed unsuccessful, solvers will be more than welcome.

Non-solving time: Don’t even ask!

Update

I have it on good authority that the correct alternative title is indeed BLOW-UP, so congratulations to Brian @1, Tony @2, Cap’n P’ng’n @3 and everyone else who did a better job than I did.

 
Legend:
Definition in clue
First/lasT = First and last letters of extra word
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden

I’ve split the across clues over five lines (clue 1, link word, clue 2, explanation 1, explanation 2) and the down clues across four lines (clue 1, clue 2, explanation 1, explanation 2). I hope it’s all clear.

ACROSS
No	Entry	First/Last Letters	Clue and Explanation
6/1	OBTUSE DUETTI	T—T	Tube so horribly slow that, expected time put back, it shows for 2 (6;6) (TUBE SO)* DUE (expected) T (time) IT<
11/12	ENGAOL NOTING	H—R	Will’s shop embarrassed gel – over an hour clocking husband’s split zip (6;6) (GEL O (over) AN)* H (husband) gone from (split) NOTHING (zip)
13/14	OONA TURF	I—E	Chaplin loves an inverted image of Ruth peeling back patch (4;4) OO (loves) NA<; reference Oona Chaplin, Spanish actress and great-granddaughter of Charlie [O]FRUT[H]<
17/15	INWORD MOMMET	K—G	Going under (75% returns only by profession), keeping mum achieved aspired-to figure (6, two words;6) DROWNI[NG]< (ie 75%, returning) MOM (mum) MET (achieved)
20/19	DORIS SOAYS	I—S	Woman from mainland or Isles is Hebridean sheep authority dipping tail? (5;5) in mainlanD OR ISles SAY-SO (authority) with last letter (tail) dipped; I’m going with the meaning ‘immersing’ for dipping
22/24	NEAR TERM	R—S	Almost taken in by “fine” art, reviewers call an end (4;4) in fiNE ARt 2 meanings
27/26	TALEA REIRD	L—L	Rhythm telling, Rafa’s back level; Murray’s racket needs towel run over (5;5); Murray indicates Scottish word TALE (telling, ie story) + A (rafA’s last letter) DRIER< (towel)
28/29	ACOL EGGY	S—R	A large holding firm bidding spectacular wedge? Guy’s turning down odds just laid (4;4) A L (large) holding CO (firm, ie company) even letters (ie not odd) of wEdGeGuY
30/33	LETTRE GANOID	I—S	Further Education class excluded by degrees in Fleet Street missive is doing a bunk – fishy! (6;6) FLEET STREET – FE (Further Education) SET (class) excluded at intervals; blimey (DOING A)*; I’m assuming ‘bunk’ is in the sense of nonsense
36/35	AIRN SAHA	K—G	Master aviator’s jettisoned element in Edinburgh knowing astrophysicist had briefly pursued it (4;4) AIRMAN (aviator) – MA (master) HA (had, briefly, ie without last letter) after SA (it, sexual attraction); reference to Astrophysicist Meghnad Saha
38/37	DOODLE TITTER	I—E	To scribble complete line in lay, I’ve sober story holding sway (6;6) DO (complete) L (line) in ODE (lay, song) TT (sober) held by TIER (story, in sense of storey)
40/39	ALKYDS SCREAM	H—R	Divers sadly smuggling potassium compounds hear cry relating to parting con (6;6) SADLY* (divers, adjective) containing K (potassium) RE (relating to) parting SCAM (con)
DOWN
No	Entry	Extra Wordplay Letters	Clue and Explanation
1/10	DEGUM EGGED	G—G	Free from sleep to probe dreams intermittently, University urged Director to support analysis of EEG (4;4) DEM (DrEaMs intermittently) conating U (university); reference to sleep in the corner of eyes D (director) supporting EEG*
9/2	SYNE SUNK	Y—S	Slaves to history exposed, Scots later abolished name adopted by Great Britain & N Ireland (3;3) [E]SNE[S] (slaves, historic) N (name) in UK (GB&NI)
3/8	ERGOMANIA UNIFORMLY	R—N	Arab in time to counter workaholism, similarly your film fans (8;8) OMANI (arab) in AGE< (time) (YOUR FILM)*
4/7	ATONES BOUND	A—	Putting head down, Rock makes good leap to fence (5;5) STONE (rock) with S (first letter) down 2 meanings
6/5	ON TIPTOE BILATERAL	—B	Quiet advice for anybody boxing – from both sides – after Clay gets up, duck right jabs (8, two words;8) TIP (advice) To (for) with ONE around (ie boxing) ALI< (Cassius, up) SMEE with R inside (jabs, as in stabs)
16/18	OOGENETIC RICE FIELD		Relating to new beginnings, I put up snazzy notice about Paddy’s new life working cider presses (9;9, two words) EGO< (I) with NOTICE* about LIFE* with CIDER* (presses as in clasps)
19/21	SERVLETS STANDEES		Leaderless employers engaging man to delete American programs end up occupying seats upstairs… do they? (8;8) [U]SERS (employers, leaderless) holding VALET (man) – A (American) END* in SEATS; semi &lit.
25/23	RAGNAROK ERUCTATE	U—A	“Apocalypse Near” in newspaper magazine put wind up cat in tree, both shaking (7;7) NR (near) in RAG (newspaper) OK (magazine like Hello) CAT* in TREE*
31/34	RHEA AIOLI	—I	Bird from our heathland I love to garnish with a Latin dressing (4;4) in ouR HEAthland I O (love) surrounded by A L (latin)
33/32	GAWD EAR	W—	After pleasure, walk around Shakespearean ceremony in the arty Old Plough (3;3) GAD (walk around looking for pelasure) in thE ARty