Eightsome Reels is a special invented by Azed that he generally brings out about every couple of years. They can be a bit hard to get started on, as you need to do some cold solving until you have some adjacent entries to work on. This time my entry point was at 8/9/15; even then it wasn’t straightforward, as there wasn’t a unique way to enter the words, so I had some tentative pencillings-in for a while until some more answers confirmed the positions.
Even with more checking letters available it isn’t completely plain sailing, though: as I’ve mentioned before, it seems to be a feature of the format that the more common letters appear disproportionately often, making it hard to find useful patterns to latch on to. Of the 133 letters in the finished grid, 22 are E (16.5%) and 16 are S (12%); the nine letters ESTINARLM (in descending order of frequency) account for over 80% of the total, and the eight letters JKQVWXYZ don’t appear at all. There also seems to be a tendency for the clues to be a bit “same-y” – a lot of full or partial anagrams, and an unfortunate repetition in 8 and 9. Still, an enjoyable challenge as always to Azed, so thanks to him.
| 1. | ROBOTISE | Automate bistro, one gutted and given makeover Anagram of BISTRO + O[n]E |
| 2. | MEPHITIS | Foreign letter in Times oddly creating awful stink PHI (Greek letter) in TIMES* |
| 3. | ACALEPHE | Jellyfish making one jump in pain A (one) + LEP (dialect form of “leap”) in ACHE |
| 4. | MACADAMS | Surfaces for driving mothers? A rotter cuts in A CAD in MAMS |
| 5. | MAISTERS | Staff at Fettes as term gets going lives in? IS in (AS TERM)* – Fettes is a public school in Edinburgh, hence the Scots form of “masters” |
| 6. | TEMPLETS | Agency employee maybe hires out patterns for modelling TEMP + LETS – this would fit into the corner in either direction, so the preamble tells us to enter it clockwise “to avoid ambiguity” |
| 7. | BOTTINES | Dainty footwear to cadge down under, with spikes BOT (Australian slang for “cadge”) + TINES |
| 8. | HITTITES | Biblical people strike alliances (about time) HIT + T in TIES |
| 9. | HEARTIES | Sporty types try matches HEAR + TIES – a bit of a blemish that “ties” is used in consecutive clues, with rather similar definitions |
| 10. | THANADAR | Senior police officer adjusted hat and even bits of hair Anagram of HAT + AND + the even letters of hAiR |
| 11. | ARTESIAN | Like some basins wherein resinata is mixed RESINATA* |
| 12. | ATTESTED | Manifested on the wagon and unusually sedate about it TT (teetotal, on the wagon) in SEDATE* |
| 13. | ASTATINE | At a display that includes what’s fashionable IN (fashionable) in A STATE, with the element’s chemical symbol as definition |
| 14. | STEATITE | Soapstone protuberance in place TEAT in SITE |
| 15. | TESTIEST | Most bad-tempered and tense, I, with nasty fly round about T[ense] + I in reverse of TSETSE |
| 16. | HANGNEST | Fire-bird sang, then fluttered (SANG THEN)* |
| 17. | ETRANGER | An American in Paris maybe aboard upmarket Range Rover Hidden in upmarkET RANGE Rover – French for a stranger of foreigner, as an american in Paris would be |
| 18. | SLATTERN | Besom, modern, with tin coating LATTER in SN (tin). Besom is familiar as the name of a broom (vaguely alluded to in the surface), but it’s also “a term of reproach esp for a woman, implying slatternliness, laziness, impudence, or unscrupulous energy“ |
| 19. | ANTEPAST | Old-style appetizer: on it pâté’s spread AN’T (archaic form of “on it”) + PATES* |
| 20. | ANTIDOTE | Nostrum: a suggestion includes ‘thrice daily’ TID (abbreviation on a prescription for “thrice daily”) in A NOTE |
| 21. | DOTTEREL | Bird, stupid one, misdirected letter after party DO + LETTER*, and two definitions, though these are very close (or possibly a single extended definition) |
| 22. | ENGENDER | Produce, mottled green around tip END in GREEN* |
| 23. | GENITURE | Good variation of uterine birth G + UTERINE* |
| 24. | TURNSOLE | Dye vessels in painted tinware URNS in TOLE |
| 25. | SNIPPETS | ‘Leg caught in ladder turned over’ in mini news items? Reverse of (PIN in STEPS) |
| 26. | TIDINESS | Being orderly, eats in, press around DINES in reverse of SIT (“to weigh, bear, press”). The comma after “in” seems misleading: unusual for Azed, I think |
| 27. | FIELDING | What’s cover doing for novelist? Double definition – cover is a fielding position in cricket |
| 28. | NOTIFIED | No education? I slot back in, becoming informed Reverse of I FIT in NO ED |
| 29. | TRENTINO | Money put into local rail transport for Italian region TIN (money) in TRENO (“train” in Italian, hence “local”). This is the proper name mentioned in the notes |
| 30. | ENTELLUS | Monkey showing shortened tail? We’d like to know EN[d] + TELL US |
| 31. | SERAPHIN | Old silver coin, Persian, distributed around Hungary H in PERSIAN* – variant of “xerafin”, former silver coin of Goa |
| 32. | SEROTINE | Bat that’s become weak, caught in net ROT in SEINE (fishing net) |
| 33. | FLEETING | Peg bowled over in brief affair, transient Reverse of TEE in FLING |
| 34. | STIFLERS | There’s less forest ultimately developed with fir trees Anagram of LESS + [fores]T + FIR – stifler and tree are both names for the gallows |
| 35. | TRESPASS | Trench and lock securing spring SPA in TESS. Trench has “to encroach” as one of its definitions |
| 36. | PERFUSES | Soaks in water, surf crashing in – sun follows SURF* in PEE (water) + S[un] |
Sometimes I’m initially disappointed when anything other then a Plain Azed shows up: is it going to be complicated and fiddly and not worth the extra time and effort? But this was good, and Andrew’s blog is exceptionally enlightening, with the letter-by-letter analysis – so, many thanks to both. Those of us who do the Guardian Saturday puzzle as well (is this a majority?) had a pleasant weekend, with this following on from Philistine’s variation on the standard alphabetical jigsaw, also a rarity, also very well blogged, by bridgesong. All I miss now is a display of the completed grid! – which doesn’t happen often even with the Plain Azed, and I would not begin to know about the technicalities of inserting it.
The instruction to enter 6 clockwise provided a very useful foothold. Without that, it would have taken me much longer to enter the answers, if indeed I succeeded at all.
When solving I thought there was quite a high proportion of anagrams, but looking at the blog there aren’t as many as there seemed to be. Anagrams are the most unhelpful type of clue with this entry method so perhaps that’s why I thought this.
Very enjoyable and no doubt a beast to construct. Thanks to Azed for going the extra mile.
I wrote the blog early in the week, meaning to add an image of the completed grid, and then forgot to do so.. I’ve added one now, though with black squares instead of the numbers; I’ll fix this later if I have time.
Edit: I’ve added the numbers (somewhat wonkily in a few cases..)
Don’t recall exactly how I got started but once I did I made steady progress down the grid but it ultimately defeated me, with four still to get. Of those, an anagram finder gave me 31, but 30, 32 and 36 eluded me for the rest of the week. But I now see I entered 24 wrong. I’m sure I got the right answer but I seemed to have entered three wrong letters. (The letters I entered don’t even make a pronounceable word, let along make sense.)
And I see I completely forgot the instruction and entered 6 the wrong way round. Not that that would have prevented me from finishing the rest of the grid.
Andrew: many thanks for quick work in adding the completed grid. I have been out all day, a bracingly cold walk on the windy Lowestoft seafront, so could not acknowledge earlier. I had sent in my grid without copying it, so this is a useful reminder of the sheer complexity and ingenuity of the construction.
As always a treat. Thanks to Azed and Andrew for blog.
It is interesting having to re-jig ones approach for this Azed special. I tried a different tack because my first solved was 36, PERFUSES, as I usually scan the clues randomly. Azed’s helpful 12-letter anagram of the corners meant it could only be PER or ERF. The former hit a brick wall so I had a useful start. As it happens I finished in the NW corner with BOTTINES, had it in my head that it was Italian and the plural was then not up to Azed’s degree of accuracy. Then I realised it was French!
It is always a delight to imagine other solvers chuckling at the same point and lots of different sequences aven in the “colonies”
For those who send in clues to the monthly comp- wasn’t this month’s winner perfect!
Didn’t see this when it was published as I was on holiday with no access to a printer. I just spotted this blog yesterday and decided to try it out as I remember a previous Eightsome Reel which I enjoyed.
I cold solved about 8 clues, of which 29 and 35 were the only adjacent ones, so I worked out from there. When I got to 6, I assumed the extra instruction was just so I would put the MPL in the correct squares. Or did I just get lucky with how I entered the TRE between 29 and 35?
It took me 3 separate sittings to finish this, but it was very satisfying to do so. Thanks to Axed and Andrew.
Only just got round to this one. I had not done an eightsome reel before, I enjoyed it but found the experience a little odd. As the crossers went in three at a time the unsolved entries seemed to go from no checking letters to mostly completed in no time at all. There were no half ways: the clues were first a cold-solve struggle and then a write-in with most of the crossers there.
I missed the instruction about 6 and didn’t notice that there were two possibilties.
Thanks to Azed and Andrew.