Eclogue is a setter seen quite often in Inquisitor circles. I last blogged an Eclogue in March this year. That one focused on Red Dwarf. What has Eclogue got in store this time?
The preamble stated "Clues are listed in the alphabetical order of their solutions which must be entered wherever they will fit. One word in the wordplay part of each clue should have a letter removed prior to solving, not always leaving a real word. In clue order, these letters provide the title of a work, the initials and surname of the author and the full name of its translator. Four clue answers will not fit the original grid, but must replace others in spaces left when the instruction provided by the translated title of the work is complied with. All final entries are real words or phrases."
Well, that’s all clear then! We have 46 clues that all have one letter too many, to yield answers that will fit in the 42 available lights in the grid. We don’t know how long any answer is and we don’t know where any of them fit.
On blank grids with no numbers I tend to look at the lights first and see how long they are. We have 12 4-letter lights, 12 5-letter, 8 6-letter, 4 7-letter. 4 8-letters and 2 12-letter. Obviously finding the two 12-letter answers will be helpful
I took a while to get into this, but eventually started to make progress with cold solving. Early ones were ARTFUL, BLOT, CLAMP, ENORM, ETHENE, NORTH SEA, PRIVATE, TENACULA and TORC. Fortunately, one of the 12-letter answers came reasonably early on – that was INCOMPLIANCE. With the other clues already solved there was enough to feel fairly confident about the intersection of INCOMPLIANCE, NORTH SEA, BLOT and TENACULA such that INCOMPLIANCE could be the left most of the two 12-letter entries.
From that point the jigsaw built up slowly. I had great difficulty sorting out the locations of the M words – MATER, MEANE, MESELS and MUTED, but eventually everything all fell into place.
All the time, the message was also building up. ARTHUR was a bit of a help as it indicated a split between words. The one before was ending in RQUE and there was what looked like a bit of German appearing at the beginning. A little bit of research threw up IM WESTEN NICHTS NEUES by E M REMARQUE, translated by ARTHUR WESLEY WHEEN as ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. The full phrase helped identify some of the letters to be removed from the remaining clues, and that then helped in the solving.
As the final grid was nearing completion, I looked down the left hand, or western, edge of the grid and saw nothing helpful. I had most of the western edge by this point, but I was lacking some entries on the eastern side. The penny drop moment was solving PEACE and realising that I had MUTED in the wrong spot. I was also struggling with the bottom right across where I couldn’t find anything to intersect with MATER. Additionally, I had ROLE and DOTE in each other’s correct places for a while. Getting MUTED into the bottom right down position cured all the problems .
Now I could see that we had PEACE and PRIVATE in column 11 and LACONIC with MUTED in column 12. These are all words for something akin to quiet or little speaking. It looked as if moving columns 11 and 12 into columns 1 and 2 – i.e. moving ALL QUIET words ONto THE WESTERN FRONT would generate valid across words down the left hand side. Indeed, some of them were unchanged as a result of moving the columns.
The week after the puzzle was published, we were given a rewrite of the clue for TIETAC. I have given parsings for both clues in the detailed blog below.
The original filled grid looked like this: The numbers are not required.
At this point I hadn’t fully solved JACONET or GUARDEE but they became clear as I deduced what would fit in columns 11 and 12 to give valid across entries onto the eastern edge.
The table below shows the across words before and after the adjustments in columns 1, 2, 11 and 12
|
Before |
After |
|
PLACIT |
PLACIT |
|
HERN |
EARN |
|
OVER |
ACER |
|
ENORM |
ENORM |
|
STUM |
PIUM |
|
IMSHI |
IMSHI |
|
VALVAR |
VULVAR |
|
ETHENE |
ATHENE |
|
TENACULA |
TENACULA |
|
ROLE |
DOLE |
|
SWAP |
SWAM |
|
NORTH SEA |
NORTH SEA |
|
TIETAC |
TIETAC |
|
FRESCO |
FRESNO |
|
RISEN |
RISEN |
|
TORC |
TOUT |
|
SCRIM |
SCRAT |
|
FIAT |
FIDE (World Chess Federation) |
|
DOTE |
DOER |
|
SPINED |
SPINES |
The final grid looks like this. Note that the colours are not necessary. I am just using colours to highlight words that have moved or been newly entered.
The title STAGNATION refers to the description of war expressed in the book. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT is a novel by ERIC MARIA REMARQUE, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers’ extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front. The book was banned and burned in Nazi Germany. Wikipedia tells us that the phrase "ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT" has become a colloquial expression meaning STAGNATION, or lack of visible change, in any context
This was a puzzle that grew on me as I solved it and the various layers became apparent. Writing the blog I was surprised by how clear the wordplay of many of the clues was, once the missing letter had been determined. They certainly didn’t seem easy whilst I was solving the puzzle. It was good to see the misprints were in all parts of the wordplay, not just in the component parts. On at least a couple of occasions, the anagram indicator could only be found by dropping a letter, e.g. DRAFT to DAFT in the clue for NORTH SEA.
I look forward to Eclogue’s next Inquisitor appearance.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. |
Clue Amended Clue |
Letter | Wordplay | Answer |
|
In Paris, it’s against the grain, with it’s exchange back to front trailing air (2 words) In Paris, it’s against the grain, with it’s exchange back to front trailing ar (2 words) |
I |
AR + BOURSE (Paris Stock Exchange) with the last letter E moved to the front [back to front]) A R EBOURS |
À REBOURS (French [Paris] for ‘against the grain’ or ‘contrarily’) | |
|
Clever old fart manipulated most of Mull Clever old fart manipulated most of ull |
M |
Anagram of (manipulated) FART + ULL excluding the final letter (most of) L ARTF* UL |
ARTFUL (archaic [old] word for ‘clever’) | |
|
In war, acceptable once to follow up Roman coin In ar, acceptable once to follow up Roman coin |
W |
(U [acceptable] contained in [in] AR) + SUE (archaic [once] word for ‘follow’) reversed (up; down entry) A (U) R EUS< |
AUREUS (a gold coin of the Roman Empire) | |
|
Look to split bet? Disgrace! Look to split bt? Disgrace! |
E |
LO (look) contained in (to split) BT B (LO) T |
BLOT (disgrace) | |
|
Cold eyes hold firmly Cold eye hold firmly |
S |
C (cold) + LAMP (slang word for eye) C LAMP |
CLAMP (hold firmly) | |
|
Gush over deserted tailless otter Gush over deserted tailless oter |
T |
D (deserted) + OTER excluding the final letter (tailless) R D OTE |
DOTE (show excessive love; gush over) | |
|
Once huge space gets more versatile Once huge space gets mor versatile |
E |
EN (unit of measurement of the width of a space in printing terminology) + an anagram of (versatile) MOR EN ORM* |
ENORM (obsolete [once] term for ‘huge’) | |
|
Teen hen goes mad for gas Teen he goes mad for gas |
N |
Anagram of (goes mad) TEEN HE ETHENE* |
ETHENE (oil-forming gas, hydrogen combined with carbon, C2H4) |
|
|
Edict, in fact, ordered Cuba to be shunned Edict, i fact, ordered Cuba to be shunned |
N |
Anagram of (ordered) I FACT excluding (to be abandoned) C (International Vehicle Registration for Cuba) FIAT* |
FIAT (edict) | |
|
Painting fir with key cipher Painting fr with key cipher |
I |
FR + ESC (Escape key on a computer keyboard) + O (nobody; zero; cipher) FR ESC O |
FRESCO ( mode of painting on walls covered with damp freshly-laid plaster) |
|
|
Dashing soldier raced about involved in fiddle Dashing soldier raed about involved in fiddle |
C |
Anagram of (about) RAED contained in (involved in) GUE (kind of viol formerly used in Shetland; fiddle) GU (ARDE*) E |
GUARDEE (guardsman, especially in reference to elegant or dashing appearance) Not entered initially; part of the endgame |
|
|
Wader mostly attending hen without energy Wader mostly attending en without energy |
H |
HERE (attending) excluding the final letter (mostly) E + EN excluding (without) E (energy) HER N |
HERN (heron; wading bird) | |
|
Old soldier’s hence, insulated by pashim’s thickness Old soldier’s hence, insulated by pashim’s hickness |
T |
IMSHI (hidden word in [insulated by] PASHIM’S HICKNESS) IMSHI |
IMSHI (old military slang for ‘go way’); old soldier’s ‘hence’) | |
|
Once claim spin represented inflexibility Once claim pin represented inflexibility |
S |
Anagram of (represented) ONCE CLAIM PIN INCOMPLIANCE* |
INCOMPLIANCE (inflexibility) | |
|
Fabric canon sported in black Fabric caon sported in black |
N |
Anagram of (sported) CAON contained in [in] JET [black] J (ACON*) ET |
JACONET ( cotton fabric, stronger than muslin) Not entered initially; part of the endgame |
|
|
Using pocas palabras, perhaps the Spanish firm’s nice Using pocas palabras, perhaps the Spanish firm’s nic |
E |
LA (one of the Spanish forms of ‘the’) + CO (company; firm) + NIC LA CO NIC |
LACONIC (expressing or expressed in few words; pocas palabras is the Spanish for ‘few words’) |
|
|
Does a bunk with Bulgarian folding stuff before sun up with time encroaching Does a bunk with Bulgarian folding stuff before sn up with time encroaching |
U |
LEV (Bulgarian currency; notes; folding stuff) + A (before) + (SN reversed [up; down entry] containing [with … encroaching] T [time]) LEV A N (T) S< |
LEVANTS (decamps; does a bunk) | |
|
Master worried re mother in public school Master worried r mother in public school |
E |
M (master) + ATE (worried) + R MATER |
MATER slang, especially in public schools, for ‘mother’) | |
|
Iain’s to lament names being garbled by English Iain’s to lament name being garbled by English |
S |
Anagram of (being garbled) NAME + E (English) MEAN* E |
MEANE (Scottish [Iain] term for ‘to lament’) Not entered initially; part of the endgame |
|
|
Seem to arise embracing Perth’s own elderly lepers Sem to arise embracing Perth’s own elderly lepers |
E |
SEM reversed [to arise; down entry] containing (embracing] SEL (Scottish [Perth] word for self; self is an archaic [elderly] word for ‘own’) ME (SEL) S< |
MESELS (archaic [elderly] word for ‘lepers’) Both SELF meaning ‘own’ and MESELS menaing ‘lepers’ are archaic terms, so elderly could apply to either or both) | |
|
Unruly youth trailing mum is silenced Unruly youth trailing mu is silenced |
M |
MU + TED (unruly adolescent) MU TED |
MUTED (silenced) | |
|
Another section draft in what was once the German Ocean (2 words) Another section daft in what was once the German Ocean (2 words) |
R |
Anagram of (daft) ANOTHER and S [section) NORTH SEA* |
NORTH SEA (This body of water was once known as the German Ocean) | |
|
Complete move Erebus concealed Complete move rebus concealed |
E |
OVER (hidden word in [concealed] MOVE REBUS) OVER |
OVER (finished; complete) | |
|
Still water swallows mac Still water swallows ac |
M |
PEE (urine; water) containing (swallows) AC PE (AC) E |
PEACE (state of quiet; still) | |
|
Mobile stanhope moving out of street? Mobile stnhope moving out of street? |
A |
Anagram of STNHOPE (moving) excluding (out of) ST (street) PHONE* |
PHONE (example of a ‘mobile’ device) | |
|
Roman weapon, one involved in prick Roman weapon, one involved in pick |
R |
I (Roman numeral for one) contained in (involved in) PLUM (the cream; the pick) P (I) LUM |
PILUM (heavy javelin used by Roman foot soldiers; Roman weapon) |
|
|
Decision to almost set on squit without American coming round Decision to almost set on suit without American coming round |
Q |
PLACE (set on) excluding the final letter (almost) E + SUIT excluding (without) SU (US (United States; American) reversed (coming round) PLAC IT |
PLACIT (decision of a court or an assembly) |
|
|
Independent tank occupying pure ranker Independent tank occupying pre ranker |
U |
(I [independent] + VAT [tank]) contained in (occupying) PRE PR (I VAT) E |
PRIVATE (person who serves or has served as a PRIVATE soldier) |
|
|
Ernie’s wobbling on his feet rnie’s wobbling on his feet |
E |
Anagram of (wobbling) RNIES RISEN* |
RISEN (stood up; on one’s feet) | |
|
Function of cholesterolaemia Function of cholesterolemia |
A |
ROLE (hidden word in [of] CHOLESTOROLEMIA) ROLE |
ROLE (function) | |
|
Prior mostly engaging in contempt for one who hates Pior mostly engaging in contempt for one who hates |
R |
PIOR excluding the final letter (mostly) R contained in (in) SCORN (contempt) SCOR (PIO) N |
SCORPION (any person of virulent hatred or animosity) |
|
|
Namely trim curtain fabric Namely rim curtain fabric |
T |
SC (scilicet (Latin]; namely) + RIM SC RIM |
SCRIM (open fabric used in upholstery, bookbinding, for curtains, etc.) |
|
|
Spades and say, three diamonds showing heart Spades and say, tree diamonds showing heart |
H |
S (spades) + PINE (an example of [say] a tree) + D (diamonds) S PINE D |
SPINED (showing firmness of character; showing heart) | |
|
Spurs irrupt at stormy tie (2 words) Sprs irrupt at stormy tie (2 words) |
U |
Anagram of (stormy) SPRS IRRUPT AT STIRRUP STRAP* |
STIRRUP STRAP (the STRAP of a STIRRUP – one of Chambers tautological definitions; tie) | |
|
Spot drone for railway station, say Spot done for railway station, say |
R |
Anagram of (done) SPOT STOP* |
STOP (a term used to describe a railway station, frequently used by the rail crew when talking about your next station STOP) | |
|
Walter must doctor weak wine Alter must doctor weak wine |
W |
Anagram of (alter) MUST STUM* |
STUM (new wine used to revive dead or vapid wine) |
|
|
Suddenly rustic ape follows Society women Suddenly rustic ap follows Society women |
E |
S (society) + W (women) + AP S W AP |
SWAP (dialect [rustic] word meaning ‘suddenly’) | |
|
Local stews supplied by old-timer in Swiss surroundings Local stews supplied by old-timer in Swis surroundings |
S |
VET (veteran; old timer) contained in (in … surroundings) SWIS SWI (VET) S |
SWIVETS (dialect [local] word for ‘states of nervous agitation’; local stews) | |
|
Surgical instruments let canula be applied Surgical instruments let canua be applied |
L |
Anagram of (be applied) LET CANUA TENACULA* |
TENACULA (surgical hooks or forceps for picking up blood vessels; surgical instruments) |
|
|
Initially ironwood trees are replanted in rows Initially ironwood tres are replanted in rows |
E |
Anagram of (are replanted) I (first letter [initially] of IRONWOOD) and TRES) TIERS* |
TIERS (rows) Not entered initially; part of the endgame |
|
|
Option 1: Ascot’s security perhaps to restrain Young Conservative volunteers (being right of centre) Ascot’s security perhaps to restrain Conservative volunteers (being right of centre) OR Option 2: Ascot’s security perhaps yet to probe source of fodder before food Ascot’s security perhaps et to probe source of fodder before food |
Y |
The original clue was replaced on the following Saturday by Option 2 below. I guess in the original clue you could remove the Y from YC, the abbreviation for Young Conservative, but you would have had to remove the entire word YOUNG from the clue rather than just the letter Y The original clue parsed as TIE (restrain) + (TA [Territorial Army; volunteers] + C) to the right? I am not 100% sure how the C end s up on the right hand end. TIE TA C The revised clue parsed more clearly: ET contained in (to probe) (TI ([mall Pacific liliaceous tree of the Cordyline genus, whose sword-shaped leaves are used for thatching and fodder] + AC [ante cibum (Latin) meaning before food., used in prescriptions I guess]) TI (ET) AC |
TIETAC (tie clip Ascot is a type of necktie with broad ends]) |
|
|
Grass down under, to wit, attention grabber Grass down under, to it, attention grabber |
W |
TO + IT + OI (word used to attract attention) TO IT OI |
TOITOI (any of several tall reedlike grasses native to New Zealand) |
|
|
Thor caught metal rope Tor caught metal rope |
H |
TOR + C (caught, in cricket scoring notation) TOR C |
TORC (necklace or armband in the form a twisted metal band; metal rope) |
|
|
Verbs comprising Anglo-Latin are acting as regulators Verbs comprising Anglo-Latin ar acting as regulators |
E |
([V {verb} + V {verb}] to give verbs) containing [comprising] [AL [Anglo-Latin]) + AR V (AL) V AR |
VALVAR (acting as a regulator) | |
|
White meat and very English ale White meat and very English al |
E |
V (very) + E (English) + AL V E AL |
VEAL (calf meat; white meat) | |
|
What’s new about rising cry of delight? What’s ew about rising cry of delight? |
N |
(EW containing [about] EH [what?]) all reversed (rising; down entry) (W (HE) E)< |
WHEE (cry of delight) |
Merry Boxing Day to Eclogue and duncanshiell! This one took longer than usual — the German title wasn’t easy to parse, but WHEEN at the end eventually stood out; having WHEE as the last answer was a useful pointer. A similar struggle here with words designed to occupy two positions: PRIVATE was awfully convincing at bottom left of the initial grid, until it dawned on me that this required a fourth answer starting with A where there could be only three.
What a relief that the replacement clue didn’t give a different TIE?AC — not that I can think of one — since by then the final inked-in grid was already in the post.
And a Happy New Year all around.
I guessed the book we were looking for quite early, and what we’d need to do, but this was still quite a challenging solve. My biggest issue? Parsing and solving GUARDEE, which must have taken a whole day alone. 🙂
Happy Boxing Day all.
I had one 12 (stirrupstrap), three 8’s (arebours, northsea, and tenacula), and two 7’s (laconic and levant) when I started filling in the grid.
Had trouble with the extra letters until I got the Q. Guardee was my last solved clue.
Spotted what was required with the end game easily enough.
Very enjoyable puzzle. Thanks to Eclogue and Duncan.
I think I had rather more than NNI before committing to pencil, but I still took a deep breath, and wrote Private in the bottom half of the first column. It did me very well, even though it was wrong. Ironically, I failed to see how ‘right’ I was, since I never did the second half of the endgame, being satisfied with overwriting the quiet words to the East (except I never did get Guardee). Can’t remember how I justified it to myself. So my admiration for this one is doubly enhanced.
I must agree with duncanshiell that the extra letters were generated in unusually stimulating / interesting ways.
Thanks to duncanshiell for a very helpful blog, and to Eclogue for a real cracker.
I thought this was a quintessential IQ – it didn’t have quite the wow-factor of Haribob’s puzzle from a couple of weeks ago, or the absurd levels of difficulty of Nimrod’s last week, but there was plenty of challenge and a very satisfying interplay of the different elements, which kept interest up throughout and provided momentum just when it was needed.
Thanks to Eclogue for a wonderful puzzle and Duncan for the excellent blog.
And a Happy New Year to all.
I really enjoyed this puzzle – but then I do like a good jigsaw. With all 8-letter answers done and the 12-letter STIRRUP STRAP to hand, I could make a start on filling the grid; later I was aided by the order in which I happened to solve various clues and so was never tempted to start placing the QUIET answers on the WESTERN FRONT in the ‘interim’ grid. And a very pleasing endgame to round things off.
Many thanks to Eclogue (who provided us with Dinner for One at the end of last December) and of course to Duncan for the blog. See you all in 2019.
Like HG above I like jigsaw puzzles and filled the grid without too much difficulty. I couldn’t see what to with the spare words so put the puzzle aside and then unfortunately forgot about it until I read this blog. My track record on completing end-games is not great so its quite likely that it would have remained unfinished anyway.
I very much enjoyed the grid filing and reading about the book and its author.
Thank you Eclogue and Duncan.