A special from Azed this week, with a hidden quotation to be revealed by finding which letters have been omitted from the across answers and which added to the down answers.
The result is a grid full of apparently meaningless words. I can’t begin to imagine how much work must go into crafting a puzzle such as this. I think that Azed has used a device like this before, although it may have been limited to the across clues.
Solving it was certainly a challenge, especially as there were plenty of obscure words in the answers and wordplay. I found it easier to get a grip on the across clues, as it was usually possible to determine which letter should be omitted, whereas with the down clues it was often necessary to have some crossers before you could be sure of the grid entry.
The missing and added letters together yielded this quotation: “O Lady, we receive but what we give”, followed by the name of the author, Coleridge.
In the blog for the across answers I have put the omitted letters in bold; I have done the same for the added letters in the down answers. There is one clue (6 down) that I have been utterly unable to parse, but I am reasonably confident that it is correct, given the generous checking and the help from the quotation.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CHCHLIC | One with very sweet tooth? Chew 50% less repeatedly, taste curtailed (10) |
| (CHOCOHOLIC). CH(ew) CH(ew) LIC(k). The alternative spelling of CHOCAHOLIC was ruled out by the wordplay. | ||
| 7 | SCAVS | E Europeans in past age exempted from tolls on goods (6) |
| (SCLAVS). SCAV(age)S. Scavage (a toll on goods) was a term new to me, and I didn’t fully parse this until I came to write the blog. | ||
| 13 | TECHNOMNI | Obsession with applied science undoing hit- and conmen (11) |
| (TECHNOMANIA). *(HIT CONMEN). | ||
| 14 | CLAOE | Regular features of culm above leaf-like stem (7) |
| (CLADODE). Alternate (regular) letters in “CuLm AbOvE”. | ||
| 15 | APPED | One Johnny in the cinema from the back chattered noisily (6) |
| (YAPPED). A (Johnny) Depp (rev). | ||
| 16 | HEADATER | Man, one going steady? This comes from close to source (9) |
| (HEADWATER). HE A DATER. | ||
| 18 | SWPWASHR | One scavenges for gold after end of process with sharp saw’s end wielded (11) |
| (SWEEPWASHER). (proces)S W(ith) *(SHARP (sa)W). | ||
| 19 | LITES | Measures time in presses (6) |
| (LITRES). T(ime) in LIES. | ||
| 20 | INGSTA | Nourishment essential in racing stables (7) |
| (INGESTA). Hidden in “racing stables”. | ||
| 22 | SAELLA | Small chapels, one enclosed in saddle-shaped area (7) |
| (SACELLA). A in SELLA. | ||
| 24 | NSIOT | Jakarta resident maybe lives among the ‘in’ crowd? The reverse (6) |
| (NESIOT). IS in TON (all rev). | ||
| 26 | THORNBLL | Warbler flying north, with black lines (9) |
| (THORNBILL). *NORTH, B LL. | ||
| 29 | IGILANTE | Unofficial lawman, ‘monster’ by name in knotted tie (9) |
| (VIGILANTE). GILA N in *TIE. | ||
| 31 | CRSST | Torchless? So you may get out of hole with this! (7) |
| (CRESSET). Compound anagram: remove the letters of HOLE from TORCHLESS and rearrange them. I’m not sure that the definition really works (a cresset is either the iron basket on top of a pole in which oil or pitch could be burned to provide light, or a torch generally). | ||
| 32 | FIVEO | Crown’s value formerly I have observed in foreign service (7, 2 words) |
| (FIVE BOB). I’VE in F(oreign) O(ffice). I think that this may be the familiar compound not to be found in Chambers, although “bob” meaning a shilling is of course there, as is a 5-shilling piece as a meaning of crown. | ||
| 33 | IDOLATROS | Is imprisoning cheat, old robber mostly in awe of false gods? (10) |
| (IDOLATROUS). DO LATRO(n) in IS. | ||
| 34 | NONEE | No-score draw, one supposes? It doesn’t involve many players (7) |
| (NONETTE). NONE E(ach). | ||
| 35 | ALLIEST | Scotland’s most excellent friends, first in trustiness (8) |
| (WALLIEST). ALLIES T(rustiness). | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | HALEXIA | Healthy? Wrong, reverse of ideal form of illiteracy (6) |
| H on ALEXIA. HALE X A1 (rev). | ||
| 3 | CHAA | Heroin in cases served with afternoon tea (3) |
| A IN CHA. H in CA(ses). | ||
| 4 | HTODGE | Countryman exercising the dog (5) |
| T in HODGE. *(THE DOG). | ||
| 5 | ICE TWEA | Chilled drink I stirred etc, mostly diluted (6, 2 words) |
| W in ICE TEA. I *ETC, WEA(k). | ||
| 6 | CHOEP | Cut first of Aeschylus tragedy (part of Oresteia) (4) |
| E in CHOP. I can’t begin to explain the wordplay. Help please! | ||
| 8 | COPRAG | Source of cooking oil: catch with bit of cloth (5) |
| G on COPRA. COP RAG. | ||
| 9 | AMPASSIY | Girl restricts amorous advance, aye, and was indicated by one (7) |
| I in AMPASSY (an ampersand). PASS I in AMY. | ||
| 10 | VNESH | Some youths envy being brought up delicate (4) |
| V on NESH. Hidden and reversed in “youths envy”. | ||
| 11 | SIDERATIEON | Re dais that wobbles, fix with cord? … Blast! (10) |
| E in SIDERATION. *(RE DAIS) TIE ON. | ||
| 12 | SCHALSTECIN | Slaty stone, nicest when replaced after unsightly clash (10) |
| C in SCHALSTEIN. *CLASH, *NICEST. | ||
| 17 | STEOMSON | Curved ship’s timber: order lad to support dodgy set (7) |
| O in STEMSON. *SET, OM SON. | ||
| 20 | INLIERL | Old within newer rock in Ireland and removed possibly – little left (6) |
| L in INLIER. *IN IREL(and), L. | ||
| 21 | TORTEES | Cakes? Throw uneaten scrap in river (6) |
| E in TORTES. ORT (a fragment) in Tees. | ||
| 23 | LRISLE | Man maybe follows leads for latest romantic yarn (5) |
| R in LISLE. L(atest) R(omantic) ISLE (of Man). | ||
| 25 | STAISI | Undercover force is put in grave though not finally dead (5) |
| I in STASI (the abbreviation referred to in the instructions). IS in STAI(d). | ||
| 27 | HERDO | Lion pride maybe none will go after (4) |
| D in HERO. HERD (company, or pride), 0. | ||
| 28 | BGETA | Black sandal, second grade (4) |
| G in BETA. B GETA (a Japanese sandal). | ||
| 30 | NVQE | Queen introduced to new openings in various establishments, asset for job seeking (3) |
| E on NVQ. Q in N(ew) V(arious) E(stablishments). | ||
*anagram
Well, I just about completed it, but I wasn’t sure about 6dn, either. I wasn’t sure whether it was E in CHOP or E in CHIP, which could also be a cut, of sorts, and like you, I can’t see the wordplay.
And I also wasn’t sure about the definition of 31ac.
By some strange coincidence, last Sunday night there was a play on Radio 3 about Coleridge and when I got enough of the letters to make a stab at the quotation, the skeleton of the name COLERIDGE stood out. But I had to trawl through the ODQ to find the quotation, which helped me (nearly) finish the puzzle.
For 6d, the title of the second play in Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy is transliterated Cho?phóroi, but I wasn’t entirely happy with that clue.
I think answer to 34a is supposed to be NONETTO with the no-score draw being NONE 0, but I did spend some time trying to explain NONETTE.
I have it on good authority that the clue to 6dn has a word missing and should actually read: “Cut first HALF of …”. The wordplay is, as Matthew says, Choep(horoi).
Matthew’s also right about 31ac.
… Sorry, I meant 34ac (too early in the morning for me!).
Matthew and Richard, thank you both for your explanations and corrections. The mistake in the clue for 6 down is annoying, but obvious with hindsight. Unfortunately, I forgot to review the blog after drafting it earlier in what was a busy week at work for me, or perhaps I might have worked it out for myself. NONETTE is just carelessness.
I’d assumed NONETTE for 34ac, too, and parsed it the same way as bridgesong.
I realised that the word ‘half’ must be missing from the clue for 6dn (neither the wordplay nor the surface makes sense otherwise), but even so it strikes me as one of Azed’s weaker efforts given that ‘Choephoroi’ is a transliteration of a title which can be rendered in several ways, eg ‘Choephori’ or ‘Khoephoroi’. CHOEP would seem to lend itself to many other possible wordplays.
I felt the clue for 31ac (CRESSET) was ok, particularly given the difficulty of providing a wordplay for CRSST, but I suppose strictly speaking that if you are ‘torchless’ then you probably can’t at the same time be in possession of a cresset.
I was disappointed that in two down clues (4 and 12) the position of the extra letter could not be deduced from the wordplay; this seems akin to the similar issue which affected a couple of the Christmas puddings in 2,376. 21dn was ambiguous (TORTEES/TORTEST) without the checked letter from 35ac or the author’s surname.
6d
I found the spelling CHOEPHORI and thought that the word PART or SECTION must be missing from the clue, since a nine-letter word cannot be halved.