This weekend, I have two Artix puzzles to blog. The first is over at Listen With Others, Follow the Directions and has Charles Kingsley’s Westward Ho as its theme. Unusually for Artix, the clues were very forgiving, unlike the endgame which was a bit less so. Back here at Eye & Nose, I found it the other way round. For a start, a somewhat convoluted preamble:
| 8dn describes (literally & metaphorically) a three-word song title that must be written below the grid. Its opening line explains why solvers must adapt all the other down clues by removing one word from each of them before solving. Five pairs of omitted words (always from consecutive clues) cryptically suggest the same eight-letter word; the others should be considered individually.
Having entered all the answers, solvers must first use two animal body parts (4,7) to replace 8dn (creating new entries including one actor’s name) and then use the ‘EYE & NOSE’ to fill the perimeter with two thematic extracts which join up in opposite corners but which comprise, alas, not even half of the whole sequence. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; one entry is an abbreviation, and one entry is in the Oxford Dictionary of English. |
As I said, I found the clues almost up to Artix’s usual tricky standard, the extra words in the down clues getting in the way of an easy solve. Even the unclued 8dn was somewhat late in revealing itself, even though only one letter was unchecked.
Having finally got BENIGHTENED, the two animal parts soon enabled me to replace it with BILL WITHERS. Ignoring the perimeter for the time being, with all its Ks, Ws and vowels, the only Withers song that I could recall was Lovely Day. In that song, “Lovely Day” is a phrase repeated as part of the backing track, not to mention “Lovely Daaaaaaaaaa…aaaaaaaaaay”! However, a quick google showed that we were dealing with Ain’t No Sunshine, with “I Know” umpteen (26) times, of which we were required to fill 20 in the perimeter.
The extra words in consecutive down clues gave synonyms of SUN and SHINE: HEAT GLOW, PAPER PARTY, STAR DASH, YEAR BRILLIANCE, PROSPERITY POLISH. The single words are all girls names — ain’t no sunshine when they’re gone: MAY, GABBY, SUE, IY, ANGEL, GAY, ROSE, CHELSEA.
All in all, not too difficult a solve, and bringing a smile to my face.
Legend:
Definition in clue
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 7 | KITBAG | Grip bit tossed in litter, missing out on nothing (6) BIT* in KAGO (litter) – O (nothing) |
|
| 8 | BUGABOO | This terrifies VIP airborne outside of Orlando (7) BUG (VIP, important person) + AB (airborne) + OO (outside of OrlandO) |
|
| 10 | TELLEN becomes TELLIN |
Coastal dweller’s elegantly affected, but not outrageously gay (6) ELEGANTLY* – GAY* |
|
| 12 | OVERFOND becomes OVERFOLD |
Exceed budget? That’s not acceptable, rather ordinary, sometimes foolish (8) OVERFUND (exceed budget?) with O (ordinary) for U (acceptable) |
|
| 14 | IMSHI | Guggenheim shifts boxes out of here from van (5) in guggenheIM SHIfts; van for vanguard indicating military slang |
|
| 15 | TOPOI becomes TOPOL |
Best beware literary themes (5) TOP (best) + OI (beware) |
|
| 18 | IRON | Something charged, withholding right piece (4) ION (something charged) holding R (right); piece as in gun |
|
| 19 | GALLOON becomes WALLOON |
Sellers, perhaps, wrapping every kind of lace (7) GOON (reference Peter Sellers) containing ALL (every) |
|
| 21 | CASHMERE becomes CASIMERE |
Hair’s ready, but only just! (8) CASH (ready, money) + MERE (only just) |
|
| 23 | NANNY STATE | What overly protects any tenant’s rent? (10, two words) (ANY TENANTS)* |
|
| 24 | NOW | After volte-face, worked to earn present (3) WON< (worked to earn, reversed) |
|
| 25 | ENCASEMENTS becomes ENCASHMENTS |
Covers space typesetters put on their borders (11) EN (space) + CASEMEN (typesetters) + TS (borders of TypesetterS) |
|
| 28 | WREAK | What smokers do is said to cause harm (5) sounds like REEK (emit smoke) |
|
| 29 | PANICK | Like sylvan with pipes, essentially smoking grass (6) PANIC (like Pan) + K (smoKing, essentially) |
|
| 31 | CLEEK becomes CLERK |
Club(s) used before certain type of greens? (5) C (clubs) + LEEK (type of greens); &lit. but just one club |
|
| 33 | KTS | Knots interwoven into kaftans (3) interwoven in K[af]T[an]S |
|
| 34 | TEADES becomes TEASES |
Dramatic torches lit middle of bedstead (6) [B]EDSTEA[D]* |
|
| 35 | BUFO | Magical black clown dropping one of his fortes (4) BUFFO (clown) – one F (forte) |
|
| DOWN | |||
| No | Entry | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | KINVARRA | Galway seaport [may] hoist chest full of metallic alloy (8) ARK< (chest) containing INVAR (metal alloy) |
|
| 2 | OBERON | Borneo’s [heat] upset king in forest (6) BORNEO* |
|
| 3 | IGLOOS | Hollows [glow] in ice, exposing high fluid mostly (6) IG (hIGh exposed) + LOOS[E] (fluid, mostly) |
|
| 4 | NUN | Top [gabby] sister (3) 2 meanings |
|
| 5 | WADMOL | With marks covering artist’s right hand, you get [paper] cloth (6) DM (marks) covering RH (right hand) in WARHOL (artist) |
|
| 6 | KOPH | Dictator’s [party] hack Mossad’s letter (4) sounds like COUGH (hack) |
|
| 8 | BENIGHTED becomes BILL WITHERS |
See preamble (11) | |
| 9 | BASSO | Hum to entertain zany [star], one singing in Rome (5) BO (hum, body odour) containing ASS (zany) |
|
| 11 | VIOLET EARS | Hummingbirds’ versatile [dash] over ground (10) [VERSATILE O (over)]* |
|
| 13 | DRAMA | [Sue] director over first half of fast TV show? (5) D (director) + RAMA[DHAN] (fast, first half) |
|
| 16 | PLAYA | [Ivy] spread to fill old man’s basin (after rains) (5) LAY (spread) in PA (old man) |
|
| 17 | MOTOSCAFO | Launch second opera with backing of [angel] (9) MO (second) + TOSCA (opera) + OF< |
|
| 20 | INNERS | Hits [gay] Johnny-raws? Ask to leave (6) BEGINNERS (Johnny-raws) – BEG (ask) |
|
| 22 | ENTIA | Pollarded palm lives [year] (5) [K]ENTIA (palm, pollarded, ie without first letter) |
|
| 25 | ERATO | Incorrectly rate [brilliance] of lyre-player (5) RATE* + O (of) |
|
| 26 | CACTI | These plants exploit [prosperity] in Ivory Coast (5) ACT (exploit) in CI (Ivory Coast) |
|
| 27 | SPEAN | [Polish] cross about Spain? Yes, Spain! (5) SPAN (cross) about E (Spain) |
|
| 30 | NABK | Shrub [rose] close to hassock below hilltop (4) K (close of hassocK) after NAB (hilltop) |
|
| 32 | KEW | Those waiting outside, say, [Chelsea] gardens (3) sounds like QUEUE (those waiting outside) |
|
I enjoyed this – especially the forehead-slapping ‘DOH!’ moments when I realised first what the ‘animal parts’ were, and then how all the EYE(s) and NOSE(s) fitted in! I couldn’t justify all the extra words, so thanks for the explanation, although it didn’t seem necessary to work them all out to submit the entry…
Thanks to blogger and setter (the latter tempered by the fact that I then had the ‘I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW, etc.’ riff in my head for several days!)