Unassuming Champion by Ploy
In 24 clues, one letter must be changed before solving. The new letters give the names of two people. They form a group with a further nine items, representations of which will be found correctly sequenced in the grid. These must be highlighted (44 cells), and an item thematically connecting them shaded. Two associated surnames (10 and 8) are to be written below the grid.
Quickly skimming through the clues, as usual, 13a jumped out as an obvious anagram and it was my first one in. Bizarrely, I read “wonder” as “wander” and didn’t give it a second thought. This then led to the NE corner falling fairly quickly except that I couldn’t quite justify 7a SPANGLE. Once again, my brain kept seeing “panel” and convincing me that it, somehow, meant fence. What the heck is wrong with me? The answer becomes obvious – a lack of beer.
A couple of cans of Guinness later (other Irish stouts are available) I was flying and had 90% of the grid done by bedtime.
Picking it up again on Sunday morning, I started to work on the corrected letters from the clues. I had S.M.U.E.L.G.O.L.D.E.U.Y.L.E. YLE are together following a U so I thought that maybe we were looking for Derek Guyler of Please Sir! and Sykes fame but the starting letters look like they’re possibly trying to spell SAMUEL. If it is to be SAMUEL, where is the A going to come from? It has to be 7a, the one I can’t quite justify and it can’t possibly be from 13a as that’s fully justified. Ah well, let’s leave it for now and assume that it is SAMUEL. So, it’s probably Samuel Goldwyn but wait, there’s no room for that. Samuel Golden, maybe?
As most seasoned Inquisitor solvers do, I had been keeping an eye on the diagonals and I spotted PROMENADE running NW-SE from c3-k11. A few fruitless internet searches for “SAMUEL GOLDEN PROMENADE” later, I was getting nowhere. Eventually, a search which I can’t now remember revealed that it was SAMUEL GOLDENBERG and SCHMUŸLE, which is from Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky which was inspired by paintings by Viktor Hartmann.
Pictures at an Exhibition rang a little bell in my memory as something from my youth, was it Rod Stewart? No, that was Every Picture Tells a Story (1971). Must have been The Who, don’t be daft, that was Pictures of Lily (1967). OK then, Status Quo! Wrong again, that was Pictures of Matchstick Men (1968). OK then, who? Turns out, of course, it was Emerson, Lake & Palmer in 1971. And, I’m listening to it now (on Apple Music) as I write this blog and I have vague recollections of hearing it in the mid-70s probably at various parties or, more likely, after-parties.
Still, I have digressed. Let’s get back to the puzzle. The table below shows the ten movements from Pictures at an Exhibition and how they are identified in the grid. The movements are interspersed by Promenade.
| No. | Title | Keyword | Grid location | Number of cells |
| 1 | The Gnome | GNOME | d3-h3 | 5 |
| 2 | The Old Castle | CASTLE | e4-j4 | 6 |
| 3 | Tuileries (Children’s Quarrel after Games)* | GARDEN | f5-k5 | 6 |
| 4 | Cattle | OXEN | b6-e6 | 4 |
| 5 | Ballet of Unhatched Chicks | CHICKS | h7-m7 | 6 |
| 6 | Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 7 | Limoges. The Market (The Great News) | MARKET | b8-g8 | 6 |
| 8 | Catacombs (Roman Tomb) | TOMB | e9-h9 | 4 |
| 9 | The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba Yaga) | HUT | k10-m10 | 3 |
| 10 | The Bogatyr Gates (In the Capital in Kiev) | GATE | g11-j11 | 4 |
| Total: | 44 |
* Jardin des Tuileries near The Louvre in Paris.
The two names to be written below the grid are MUSSORGSKY (10 letters) and HARTMANN (8 letters). And the last thing to do is sort out the title. It’s a clue to the gentlemen’s first names Modest (unassuming) and Viktor (champion).
So, many thanks to Ploy and I’m now listening to the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine performing Pictures at an Exhibition. Sounds a wee bit different to ELP!
This is my last blog of 2018. My next one will be for Inquisitor 1575 which will be published on December 29th but the blog won’t appear till January 9th 2019.
So I’ll take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with The Inquisitor and fifteensquared – especially Gaufrid and wish everyone who takes the time to read and comment on my blogs a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – or, if you really insist, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
| Across |
|||
| Clue |
Entry | Corrected letter |
|
| 1 DomeSome of overseas centre going up (6) |
ASCENT | S |
overseAS CENTre hidden (some of) |
| 7 Shiny metal plate’s no good in south fence (7) |
SPANGLE | South+PALE (fence) containing NG (no good) | |
| 12 Second half of endurance test for those in Hamilton (4) |
THON | [mara]THON (endurance test; second half) | |
| 13 Do cows wonderwander about Utah, giving impressions? (8) |
WOODCUTS | A |
DO COWS (anag: wander) containing UTah |
| 15 Ian’s handful of corn for an inferior horse (3) |
RIP | (double def) | |
| 16 A third of the act of naming a Greek province (4) |
NOME | NOME[enclature] (act of naming; a third) | |
| 17 They uncovered empty pot – Ed’s put in a poundmound (4) |
HEPT | M |
[t]HE[y] (uncovered)+P[o]T (empty) |
| 18 Nearly all overt acts somehow grow dull (8) |
OVERCAST | OVER[t] (nearly all)+ACTS (anag: somehow) | |
| 21 Hydra’s home brewed ale split by sailors (5) |
LERNA | ALE (anag: brewed) containing RN (Royal Navy; sailors) | |
| 23 Dirk or bent dagger – no good when pursuing man in RSAUSA (7) |
BOGARDE Dirk Bogarde |
U |
BO (man in USA)+DA[g]GER (minus Good; anag: bent) |
| 26 NowNew example, by the way, is turned like a hard wood (5) |
BOXEN | E |
New+EXample+OB (by the way) all reversed: is turned |
| 27 A pleasing artifice until up North, reportedly (4) |
WILE | Sounds like WHILE which, bizarrely, means “until” oop north | |
| 28 Cavities found in fresh cantaloupe when top separately removed (7) |
LACUNAE | CAN[t]AL[o]U[p]E (minus TOP separately) anag: fresh | |
| 30 Contralto following oddold woman’s style (4) |
CHIC | L |
CHI (old woman)+Contralto |
| 31 Standard book weight at one time (4) |
MARK | I’m not really sure about this one, I guess it’s a reference to The Gospel According to St Mark | |
| 32 Barring outskirts, street naming is part of Sicily’s neologygeology (4) |
ETNA | G |
streET NAming (hidden: barring outskirts) |
| 33 In cash, pay at intervals in Japanese city (4) |
NAHA | [i]N [c]A[s]H [p]A[y] (at intervals) | |
| 35 Damage previously abandoned ship, perhaps, 50% gone (4) |
DERE | DERE[lict] (abandoned ship, perhaps; 50%) | |
| 36 Jewellery – half being hot – in alleyalloy with copper (6) |
TOMBAK | O |
TOM[foolery] (jewellery; rhyming slang)+BAK[ing] (being hot; half) |
| 38 Cover over a trap for mobsterslobsters (3) |
POT | L |
TOP (cover; rev: over) |
| 39 Slow movements of pulse ended prematurely (5) |
LENTI | LENTI[l] (pulse; shortened) I wonder why Ploy chose not to go for the full word LENTIL, since it’s there in the grid! |
|
| 40 Holy man has muddud buggy (6) | SADDHU | D |
HAS DUD (anag: buggy) |
| 42 Tie up agilest bats? There’s no point! (6) |
LIGATE | AGILE[s]T (minus South (point); anag: bats) | |
| 43 Eva’sEve‘s daughter missing in small valley (3) |
ENE | E |
[d]ENE (small valley) |
| 44 Settled on fish and stale bread in Vilnius (5) |
LITAI | LIT (settled)+AI (fish) | |
| 45 At sea, Beth targets a daggerdanger for divers (8, 2 words) |
THE BENDS | N |
BETH (anag: at sea)+ENDS (targets) |
| 46 Earliest in being engaged, Shane remitted marriage forms (7) |
BEENAHS | B[eing]+E[ngaged] (earliest letters)+SHANE (anag: remitted) | |
| 47 Loathe aptitude testing to some extent (6) |
DETEST | aptituDE TESTing (hidden: tosome extent) | |
| Down |
|||
| 2 Four in lively Soho party in Aussie fashion (6) |
SHIVOO | IV (four) inside SOHO (anag: lively) | |
| 3 Manage vestment put on after allalb (4) |
COPE | B |
(double def) |
| 4 Phonetic symbol essential to audio-engineer? (3) |
ENG | audio-ENGineer (central letters: essential) | |
| 5 Chapel with no charge in the middle of the day (6) |
NONCON | NOON (middle of the day) containing NC (no charge) | |
| 6 From footwork, get slickslice. Deuce! (3) |
TWO | E |
fooTWOrk (hidden: from) |
| 7 Special order of chinorhino in Kyrgyzstan (3) |
SOM | R |
Special+OM (order [of merit]) |
| 8 For the most part typed, or rewritten in verse (6) |
POETRY | TYPE[d] (for the most part)+OR anag: rewritten | |
| 9 A spinning top – for a boy that’s fair (4) |
ADIL | A+LID (rev: spinning) | |
| 10 Grecian urn at first marbledgarbled in famous painting (8) |
GUERNICA | G |
GRECIAN+U[rn] (at first) anag: garbled |
| 11 Escort astride ponies, ridingrising in ranks (7) |
ESTATES | S |
SEE (escort) containing TATS (ponies) rev: rising |
| 12 Really set about Oscar and subsequently ran in an agitated way (10) |
TROUBLEDLY | TRULY (really) containing Oscar and BLED (ran) | |
| 14 I knew he trackedcracked in pursuit of college bird (8) |
CHEEWINK | C |
College+I KNEW HE (anag: cracked) |
| 19 4 miles avoiding molten rock (4) | AGMA | [m]AGMA minus Miles Reference to 4d (phonetic symbol) |
|
| 20 Light pelmethelmet lies with sides swopped (5) |
SALET | H |
TALES with T and S (sides) swopped |
| 22 Remove meat from centre of next menu, assuringassuming “not available” (9) |
EXCARNATE | M |
[n]EX[t] (centre)+CARTE (menu) containing NA (not available) |
| 24 GolfGulf city intermittently presented Order of the Bath (4) |
DOHA | U |
[or]D[er]O[ft]H[eb]A[th] |
| 25 Large Norwegian dogs nosed hulk, snarling (9) |
ELKHOUNDS | NOSED HULK (anag: snarling) | |
| 29 Scrapped anaesthetic except when supporting earlier operation (7) |
URETHAN | URE (earlier operation)+THAN (except) | |
| 31 A hysterical person myself, I must be hugged by uncle (6) |
MEEMIE | ME (myself)+EME (uncle) containing I | |
| 32 Stone tool made from a stelestyle of batholite (club not used) (6) |
EOLITH | Y |
[bat]HOLITE (minus BAT: club) anag: style of |
| 34 Bear witness in triadtrial (6) | ATTEST | L |
AT (in)+TEST (trial) |
| 36 Leaving Angola, injured Italian limpslimes (5) |
TILIA | E |
ITALI[an] (minus ANgola; anag: injured) |
| 37 Cried as lamb and asparagus initially swamped by oyster layer (5) |
BAAED | And+Asparagus (initially) inside BED (oyster layer) | |
| 38 Criminal nephew killing with discarded hydrocarbon (5) |
PHENE | NEPHE[w] (minus With; anag: criminal) | |
| 41 Insect repellent originally trialled by river (4) |
DEET | DEE (river)+Trialled (initially) | |
I got somewhat held up in the later stages, partly because of some sticky clues in the bottom left and partly because I had not identified correctly all the extra letters coming from the down clues. I found some interesting items like Gnome, Garden and Castle in the grid but had no idea how to connect them or what to relate them to.
It was only when I got the ‘B’ from the COPE clue that I managed to form the first name correctly (I too first thought of Sam Goldwyn or Gold or Golden). All was then revealed when I looked it up! I had last heard the music of Pictures a long time ago and remembered nothing at all about the individual pieces. From the article I read, finding the nine items was a straightforward task – likewise the two surnames required.
This was a well-designed puzzle from a setter who is new to me, and like the previous week we had a perfectly written preamble. (I liked the simple ‘representations of which’ to describe, accurately, what we were looking for in the rows of the grid – also the confirming indications ’44 cells’ and ’10 and 8′.) The connecting word ‘Promenade’ running symmetrically through the grid was very neat, with each of the nine items touching a letter of that word, to either the left or the right.
As you say, kenmac, the two surnames we are required to write below the puzzle nicely offset the synonyms of the two forenames in the puzzle’s title! By the way, I thought MARK was a triple definition: it is a standard and a book, and there is a second headword for it in Chambers where it says it is an obsolete weight for gold and siiver.
Many thanks to Ploy and kenmac.
Alan B has said it all already – our experience was so similar. We needed a search to help explain the connection between the various words that we had identified. We missed the beautifully placed PROMENADE in the diagonal during the solve – we were too distracted by the other words we had found in the rows.
Bert, whose musical memory is much better than Joyce’s remembered ELP.
Thanks kenmac for this and all your other splendid blogs!
Thanks Ploy – a very enjoyable solve.
Happy Christmas to Everyone.
Most enjoyable. I Googled Samuel Golde and was led by Google’s predictive text to two Samuel Goldenbergs, one a Titanic survivor and the other part of the “Two Jews” Picture at the Exhibition. I found the Promenade, beautifully described in the preamble as an item thematically connecting them, and hence the cryptic representation of the other nine pictures. I had never heard of the ELP version, but knew the classical version well, though I hadn’t realised that it hadn’t been orchestrated by Mussorgsky himself, but by several other composers after his death.
I think Alan B is right about MARK as a triple definition clue, though I had it as double definition, with “Standard book” referring to the Gospel, but on checking Chambers mark = standard is there.
What an excellent puzzle, Ploy, and a great blog Kenmac.
Thanks for great blog kenmac.
I am definitely in my apprenticeship with Inkys so following these blogs is a good thing.
I remember getting a fair way unto this-I thinkI abandoned it because i couldnt phone a friend to check NONCON and BOXEN
which fit but….and I am pretty familiar with Pictures although I’ve never heard the ELP version. Apparently they were in danger of being knocked back(by the cigar men) so they went to the man himself and he thought it was an OK idea.
A splendid puzzle, and how very neat to fit in keywords from each of the pictures and link them with the promenade. I know music of the Ravel orchestration pretty well but have to confess that I can never remember the names of all the pictures, so had to refer to my CD liner notes.
I agree with Alan in Post 1 that it was useful to be given the number of highlighted cells and letters in the theme names. I wish this was standard practice in all IQ and Listener puzzles, with the possible exception of when one item has to be highlighted in preference to another to show understanding of the theme. This would possibly make the puzzles slightly easier, but only in the sense of removing unnecessary ambiguity.
I too saw MARK as a triple definition.
Many thanks and seasonal wotsits to all. My near-zero knowledge of music made this more of a struggle than it should have been (though I did once contribute to a science fiction anthology called Pictures at an Exhibition, with stories written around an entirely different gallery), but Messrs Google and Wikipedia pulled me through as so often before. Agreed with Alan B that the construction was very neat. Often it isn’t necessary to know the exact number of cells to highlight: but here it would have been all too easy, since GATE has to do for GATES, to shade in CHICK rather than CHICKS.
Another good one. I knew nothing about the subject matter in question, but luckily Google and Wikipedia did. On the easier side I thought.
Happy Christmas Kenmac – thanks for the always thorough and entertaining blogs.
I think it’s all been said above. Good cluing and a clever construction, especially the significant diagonal which I did not spot. I still have the ELP vinyl somewhere and am familiar with some parts of the “proper” version. I knew a few of the names of the pieces but certainly did not recognize the names arising from the clues – thank goodness for Wikipedia!
Thanks to Ploy for an enjoyable puzzle, just about the right difficulty for me. Also to Kenmac for another good blog.
Season’s Greetings to all.
I enjoyed this and the theme was right up my street. Pictures at an Exhibition (the piano piece) is one of my all-time favourite pieces of music so finding the themed entries was a doddle. I like the way ELP gives an alternate way into the theme (for those old enough to remember). My only hold up was getting distracted by thinking theme was going to be a about Samuel Goldwyn of METRO GOLWYN MEYER until I got enough letters to realise my mistake.
Thanks to kenmac and Ploy.
Very enjoyable. My only slight negative (marginally reduced positive, would be more accurate), is that it would surely take an exceptional level of musical knowledge to complete this without help from google, or other references.
I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned, but I think the first 5 or 6 thematic words are not just linked by PROMENADE, but appear in the correct order relative to it as given by the order of the piece, which starts with promenade, then gnome, promenade, castle, promenade, garden, oxen, promenade, chicks …. It breaks down there, but surely not a coincidence.
I think it was a google search using CASTLE, GNOME, and PROMENADE which cracked open the puzzle for me, giving me MODEST and VIKTOR.
A few I couldn’t parse, but the def and the crossers were enough to get me a finished grid.
I knew absolutely nothing about the theme.
OPatrick @10
I too noticed the order of the items but forgot to mention it. In fact it doesn’t break down: rather, after the first five, the next is Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle, which is not in the grid, and order is restored with the remaining three. (There are 10 pictures in all.) It all adds to the setter’s accomplishment!
Me @12
My arithmetic is not good – I should have said ‘the remaining four‘ (not three).
Thanks to both blogger & setter. One minor quibble – I think 11d is SEE (escort) around TATS (ponies) all reversed to give ESTATES.
Alan B, I’m just going by Wikipedia, which only has 5 promenades in total and actually I realise the CHICKS is on the wrong side of the 5th promenade (the E), so maybe my theory doesn’t hold up so well.
There are a couple of other clues I meant to mention – I hadn’t parsed 36A, having not come across TOM for jewellery, that I can remember, and I did wonder about the ‘there’s no point’ in 42A – there is a point still (the E), so I felt a bit aggrieved at that. However, I particularly enjoyed the cunningly misleading ‘man in RSA’ (which I am sure I am not alone in assuming to be OU whenever I see it now) at 23A.
Shikasta @14 You’re absolutely right. It’s one I was going to “come back to”. Fixed now.
O’Patrick @10 – I know you don’t have to have an exceptional level of musical knowledge to complete this without Wikipedia because I managed it! You just need to be lucky and happen to know about that particular piece, much like any other IQ theme really.
Rather a late posting as I’ve been very occupied by other things, but I really wanted to record my admiration for the grid and the way a stack of thematic information has been crammed in. Beautifully crafted.
The music is a favourite of mine (I actually prefer the original piano version) but I’d completely forgotten the two names and struggled to fill some of the gaps following SAMUEL GOLD…