Enigmatic Variations No. 1291: Full Disclosure by Piccadilly

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FULL DISCLOSURE is not something we get too much these days, in the age of ‘fake news’ and spin doctors…what is Piccadilly going to disclose to us?…

The preamble states that:

“The wordplay in 17 clues leads to the answer and an additional letter not to be entered into the grid; in clue order, these provide FULL DISCLOSURE. All other clues are normal, but their answers are to be entered leaving one or more cells empty; the empty cells ust be shaded, again providing FULL DISCLOSURE. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; one entry is an abbreviation.”

I was away on holiday in the West Country when this was published, with no access to a printer and an early start day out organised, so an increasingly frantic trawl of local mini-supermarkets and petrol stations ensued later in the day to try to find a paper copy to work on, as I didn’t want to leave it until I got home the following weekend and find it was a ‘stinker’, with only a few days to solve and blog.

In the end, my worries were unfounded, and I found this an enjoyable but not too taxing EV, at the ‘gentler’ end of the spectrum, and using a device that I am sure I have seen before a few times, although obviously not in this exact usage.

The setter/editor had been generous enough to leave the enumerations as the original answers, rather than the entry positions, so it was easy enough to work out which answers would have the empty cells – e.g. 11A is a (4), but needs to stretch across seven cells, so there must be three empties in there somewhere. After a couple of runs through the clues it became a task of ‘triangulating’ these across and down clues with gaps and matching crossing letters, and I gradually started to work out where a few of the spaces would be.

While this was happening, a few of the extra letters started to take shape – starting with ALL W?LL…, and it didn’t take a huge leap from the title and this start to get to ALL WILL BE REVEALED (i.e. FULL DISCLOSURE’). And, lo and behold, the gaps, once shaded, did just that – with the letters A, L and L being revealed:

 

 

So, fortunately my holiday wasn’t too stressed out on the EV front, and thanks to Piccadilly for a pleasant solve and blog.

My only blip is that I’m sure I parsed 12D (FOE) when I originally solved it, but can’t remember or re-work it out now – any suggestions gratefully received!…(correction – I have just got it…see below!)

 

Across
Clue No Additional letter Entry <> = spaces(s) Clue (definition underlined) /
Logic/Parsing
1 A PARADE GROUND A gap under road developing: drill here (12, two words) /
anag, i.e. developing, of A GAP UNDER RO(A)D
11 H<>IFI Sound system starts to hum; it’s fairly irritating (4) /
first letters, or starts, of ‘Hum Its Fairly Irritating’
13 L YANKEE Joint you once held for New Englander (6) /
Y_E (archaic, i.e. once, for ‘you’) around (holding) ANK(L)E (joint)
14 D<>A<>DO Father initially put on pedestal (4) /
DAD (father) + (O) (on, initially put?)
15 L RESEALS Again closes deal as seller (7) /
anag, i.e. deal, AS SEL(L)ER
17 S<>C<>ONE Shilling gets cold drink and cake (5) /
S (shilling) + C (cold) + ONE (a drink, as in one for the road, or a quick one)
18 W ADIT Hang around outside deserted passage into a mine (4) /
(W)A_IT (hang around) outside D (deserted)
19 T<>R<>O<>NCS Snort over centimes found inside collections of tips (6) /
TRON_S (SNORT, over) with C (centimes) found inside
21 R<>E<>T<>RAC<>TED Withdrew advice once given about political pamphlet (9) /
RE_ED (rede, or advice, archaic) around TRACT (political pamphlet)
23 S<>UMA<>TRA Problem at artist’s island (7) /
SUM (problem) + AT + RA (Royal Academician, artist)
25 I SIMP I’m getting in drink for foolish person (4) /
SI_P (drink) around (I)M
26 T<>R<>EAT Pay for drinks of European in Italian restaurant (5) /
TR_AT(trattoria, Italian restaurant) around E (European)
28 L CATERER One providing food served claret by Queen (7) /
CATER(L) (anag, i.e. served, of CLARET) + ER (Elizabeth Regina, queen)
29 PI<>STE I step off beaten track (5) /
anag, i.e. off, of I STEP
30 L ANTRIM County had land regularly well-kept (6) /
A(L)N (regular letters of ‘hAd LaNd’) + TRIM (well kept)
31 ESN<>E Old slave makes new houses (4) /
hidden word, i.e. houses, in ‘makES NEw’
32 B STEPDAUGHTER Relative by marriage hard up: best get working (12) /
anag, i.e. working, of HARD UP (B)EST GET
Down
Clue No Additional letter Entry <> = spaces(s) Clue (definition underlined) /
Logic/Parsing
1 E PHDS Lacking work, shopped around for qualifications (4) /
anag, i.e. arround, of SH(OP)P(E)D (lacking OP – opus, work)
2 A<>RIANS People born on April 1 ignore wounding remark from uncivilized people (6) /
(BARB)ARIANS – uncivilized people, ignoring barb, or wounding remark
3 R<>A<>RER More uncommon variants of Egyptian sun-god found by rector (5) /
RA & RE (variants of the Egyptian sun-god RA) + R (rector)
4 A<>MPERE French physicist mother brought up with father in Marseilles (6) /
AM (Ma, or mother, brought up) + PERE (pére, father in French, i.e. in Marseilles)
5 R DIDCOT Cheated company starts to regret trading in Oxfordshire town (6) /
DID (cheated) + CO (company) + (R)T (first letters, or starts to, Regret Trading)
6 E GIRON Heraldic charge shows pigeon’s heart over stirrup (5) /
G(E) (piGEon;’s heart, or central letters) + IRON (stirrup)
7 V OASES Old flower containers in fertile places (5) /
O (old) + (V)ASES (flower containers)
8 UNEAT<>H Distressed once daughter leaves haunted building (6) /
anag, i.e. building, of HAUNTE(D) – with D – daughter – leaving
9 DELIBERAT<>E Earl released from restraint with duke taking the lead is cautious (10) /
D (duke) leading E (earl) + LIBERATE(D) (with D – duke, going from the rear to take the lead)
10 E TESTED Examined coat of Taiwanese horse (6) /
TE (coat, or outer letters, of TaiwanesE) + STE(E)D (horse)
12 FO<>E Half of friend’s successors making enemy (3) /
not sure?! FOE = Friends of the Earth? Friends, Romans, Countrymen?E-N-D is half of friend, and taking the following, or successor, letter after each gives E->F, N->O and D->E, so FOE!
16 ENCAM<>PS Man, pecs flexing, pitches tents (7) /
anag, i.e. flexing, of MAN PECS
20 ATTES<>T Bear witness at trial (6) /
AT + TEST (trial)
21 A RASCAL Rogue erected house for Spaniard in centre of Gibraltar (6) /
R_AL (central letters of gibRALtar around AS(A)C (CASA, or house, in Spanish, reversed, or erected)
22 L CARING Minding vehicle left in middle of Ongar (6) /
CAR (vehicle) + (L) (left) + IN G (middle letter of onGar
23 E STRIP Chevron on sleeve in lightweight uniform (5) /
STRIP(E) – thematic double definition – STRIPE = chevron, STRIP = lightweight uniform
24 U<>REA Take leader of expedition into Ukraine to find organic compound (4) /
U_A (IVR, or International Vehicle Registration code, for Ukraine) around R (take, recipe, Latin) + E (leading letter of Expedition)
27 D TEER Support doctor providing plaster (4) /
TEE (support, e.g. for a golf ball) + (D)R (doctor)