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I’ve blogged 3 of the last 4 IQ puzzles from Gila, and he ranks pretty highly in my estimation. The grid looks a little daunting (no bars, no clue numbers), to say nothing of the preamble …
Preamble: Clues are presented in conventional order. Answers are to be entered normally in the grid, which exhibits 180° rotational symmetry. In nine clues, wordplay omits a single letter. In 11 other clues, wordplay generates a single extra letter. A single word must be removed from 11 further clues before solving. Having completed the grid, solvers must: (a) highlight 17 cells to put a name to the blank face and identify a location; (b) draw straight lines – starting from an appropriate point – to connect the centres of the cells containing the letters omitted from wordplay, in order to show a route; (c) rearrange the extra letters generated by wordplay to form the name of an individual who followed this route in a manner described by the absence of the words removed from clues; (d) write this name at the top of the grid. The inclusion of bars in the final grid is optional.
… there are 4 different sorts of clue, but at least they are in normal order and we are given answer/entry lengths.
I solved the first clue, probably because I recalled EPARCH from last week, plus a handful of other across ones including LAGENA and CORDUROY which seemed destined for the upper left quadrant; also one or two others that were going to go symmetrically to those. The first four down clues proved quite amenable and I could start entering answers in the grid. Progress slowed after a while, with entering if not with solving, until I finally teased out the 13-letter entry across the middle: INTERRAIL PASS.
Right from the off, the preamble seemed to suggest that the theme involved climbing, and the first few word removals – all synonyms, or types, of rope – were evidence that I was on the right track. Some later ones were new to me: jeff, rode, seal, for example. It was a bit tricky, to say the least, to figure out the last dozen clues – was there a rope to remove? no; is it normal? maybe; does the wordplay generate an extra letter? don’t think so, but not sure; how about the wordplay being a letter short? can’t see it … hmm.
But at some point the grid was filled, even though I hadn’t sorted out the wordplay for a couple of answers, AARDVARK and ASPASIA for instance. I had all the ropes, and all the single-letter omissions, but was missing two of the extra letters. By now I was convinced that the theme was that guy climbing that flat-faced rock in that national park in western USA a few years ago, but couldn’t remember any of the that’s. I’d sketched the route from F at the bottom to R at the top, but failed to notice that FREERIDER was being spelt out by the ascent. I couldn’t see a name emerging from the 9+2 extra letters, and I was too impatient to search the grid for very long when nothing leapt out.
So I resorted to Google: “solo ascent without ropes” immediately gave me EL CAPITAN and YOSEMITE and memory recognition succeeded where memory recall had failed. And I knew exactly where to look in the grid, with CAPI and SEMI being two of the answers, leftmost column and rightmost column. And the climber? ALEX HONNOLD, whose name I did not recognise. (But I now had all 11 letters in his name, which enabled me to sort out AARDVARK and ASPASIA.)
So, thank you Gila for a satisfying and fairly tough challenge. (But, I suspect, not as tough as Alex H’s!)
NY Times article with sketch of Freerider route
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue [rope] | Answer | − + | Wordplay | |
| a1 | Extreme pressure and endless pain for Greek governor (6) | EPARCH | R | EP (extreme pressure) ACH(e) |
| g1 | An essential cooking ingredient and condiment (7) | MUSTARD | L | MUST (essential) LARD (cooking ingredient) |
| a2 | Old bottle seen lying around in European gallery (6) | LAGENA | E | (Europe)AN GAL(lery) all< |
| g2 | [Rode] Californian city train round in circles (7) | ONTARIO | [TRAIN]* in OO (circles) | |
| a3 | Fabric – coloured gold – attached to your pants (8) | CORDUROY | D | C(oloured) OR (gold) [YOUR]* |
| j3 | Retired policeman smuggles ecstasy, heroin and blow north of the border (4) | PECH | O | COP< (policeman) around E(cstasy) H(eroin) |
| f4 | Effects produced by peculiar, extremely trippy [painter] (8) | PROPERTY | PROPER (peculiar) T(ripp)Y | |
| a5 | Put forward stake (5) | POSIT | I | POST (stake) |
| h4 | Expensive car seen in America occasionally (4) | MERC | E | (A)M(e)R(i)C(a) |
| a6 | Most of party travels with airline’s special multi-leg European ticket (13, 2 words) | INTERRAIL PASS | [PART(y) AIRLINES S(pecial)]* | |
| c7 | You said it may hold water (4) | EWER | R | homophone: YOU |
| i7 | Agile and somewhat slithery [marlin] (5) | LITHE | (s)LITHE(ry) | |
| a8 | Animal constrained in a very old vessel (8) | AARDVARK | H | HARD (constrained) in A V(ery) ARK (old vessel) |
| a9 | Plain silly, means to get a hangover in East India? (4) | NIPA | L | [PLAIN]* |
| f9 | Go on eating binge, ultimately ending on pastrami and sausage (8) | PEPERONI | R | PEP (go) ON around (bing)E (pastram)I |
| a10 | Patent medicine, in no way odd (7) | NOSTRUM | NO ST (street, way) RUM (odd) | |
| h10 | Ed’s suddenly like [Jeff] … bitter! (6) | ASTART | AS (like) TART (bitter) | |
| a11 | A soprano in Spain with a Greek mistress (7) | ASPASIA | N | A S(oprano) in SPAIN A |
| h11 | Meeting involving one stupid person (6) | DAFTIE | F | DATE around I (one) |
| Down | ||||
| Clue [rope] | Answer | − + | Wordplay | |
| b1 | Mint housing an old papal coin (5) | PAOLO | N | POLO (mint) around AN |
| c1 | Poet’s favoured [line] finally appears in a great broadcast (7) | AGRASTE | (appear)S in [A GREAT]* | |
| e1 | Danish king is unable to handle the first hint of unrest (4) | CNUT | A | CAN’T (is unable) around U(nrest) |
| f1 | Musician starts to play “Eleanor Rigby” with vigour at first (6) | HARPER | D | P(lay) E(leanor) R(igby) after HARD (vigour) |
| g1 | Bond, at one point, or tie up (5) | MOORE | E | MOOR (tie up) {ref. Roger M. played James Bond} |
| i1 | Something near foot of leaflet somehow spelt incorrectly at the top (6) | STIPEL | [SPELT I(ncorrectly)]* | |
| j1 | Engineer’s fastening [cable] designed in part to go around edges of pipe (8, 2 words) | TAPER PIN | [IN PART]* around P(ip)E | |
| l1 | Gaping mouth right before an epileptic fit (6) | RICTUS | R(ight) ICTUS (epileptic fit) | |
| m1 | Personal comment about idiocy leads to you almost fighting here? (5) | DOHYO | DOH (“I’m stupid”) YO(u) | |
| a3 | Top [guy] supported by international crime bosses (4) | CAPI | CAP (top) I(nternational) | |
| d4 | VDU-based comms system considered a touch antiquated to begin with (8) | VIEWDATA | E | VIEWED (considered) A T(ouch) A(ntiquated) |
| k5 | A tense American guy has to vomit outside sailing vessel (7) | CATBOAT | A T(ense) BO (man, US sl) in CAT (vomit) | |
| b6 | Northern Goa is, surprisingly, source of white wood (6) | NGAIOS | [N(orthern) GOA IS]* | |
| e6 | They’re turned back, right? Jolly [stay] cut short (6) | REVERS | R(ight) EVER S(o) (very, jolly) | |
| h6 | Netbook’s peripherals plugged into small computer and digital printing kit (6) | INKPAD | N(etboo)K in IPAD (small computer) | |
| m6 | House is divided by two bits of [sheet] metal when put up (4) | SEMI | IS around ME(tal) all< | |
| a7 | Duty given to new head of narcotics at a copshop in India (5) | TANNA | X | TAX (duty) N(ew) N(arcotics) A |
| g7 | Start to tighten band firstly and [seal] hole (5) | TREMA | T(ighten) R.E.M. (American rock band) A(nd) | |
| l7 | Matisse? He turned insensitive (5) | HENRI | O | HE IRON< (insensitive) |
| i8 | [Runner] starts to make efficient strides on a steep-sided hill (4) | MESA | M(ake) E(fficient) S(trides) A | |
|
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Good puzzle Gila, and thanks for the blog HG and explaining a few missing items for me.
I got to the theme in the opposite way by spotting El Capitan down the LHS and finding Yosemite in a (roughly) symmetrical place. I had decided that the climber must be Alex … from the extra letters and Honnold was revealed immediately by Google. The “map” of the route followed. Where I fell short was in failing to parse the Roger MoorE clue (so obvious with hindsight) and I entirely missed the rising FREERIDER.
Very clever to have the extra words show the ropes that Alex H did not use. I am in awe that anyone should even imagine that such a climb is even possible and amazed that anyone would be mad enough to risk his life to do it!
Very much enjoyed despite my usual initial fear of a blank grid. The title and preamble suggested climbing from the outset, after which the missing words took it to “climbing without ropes”, but I had absolutely no memory (not even at the “that guy” level) of the specific feat. Google would have got me there in the end, but seeing YOSEMITE in the grid made it an easy search.
Thanks, Gila; thanks, HG.
Excellent puzzle. The complicated preamble made me feel quite dizzy, but not half as dizzy as when I discovered what the theme was about (I am terrified of heights). I often consider carte blanche grids to be an unnecessary extra obstacle, but it was very appropriate here. It’s also satisfying to learn about something which I would never have discovered otherwise, even if i can never understand why people do these things!
None of the info I found online confirmed exactly why FREERIDER appeared in this particular form (though it was easy enough to guess), so thanks to HG for providing a link which shows the route so clearly – and for the superb blog of course.
Solving the clues and the jigsaw was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The only difficulty I had was that I wasn’t sure in every case which clues were of which type. By the time the grid was complete I had the following: 9 omitted letters plus one doubtful one (which I rejected); 10 definite extra letters plus two doubtful ones (one of which obviously had to be rejected); and all 11 redundant words. A satisfactory if not perfect outcome at that stage.
As I now realise, however, I knew nothing at all about the subject matter of the theme. I didn’t understand the meaning of ‘blank face’; nor could I see or work out the 17-letter name and location. I identified the cells containing the omitted letters but did not know what ‘route’ to follow; nor could I form any recognisable name from the 11 letters. Finally, I could see only a broad topic connecting some of the redundant words.
Endgames falling flat is very much a part of my Inquisitor experience these days. In a puzzle like this, one either sees and recognises the theme or not, and I don’t beat myself up for not getting it. I have completed an excellent jigsaw crossword and am 100% happy with it. I just hope that some future puzzles will have, if not explicit themes, ones that I am lucky enough to recognise and can find or work out.
I too wanted to make the point that the clues had enumerations – in a jigsaw like this I think they are necessary. I mention this because I remember a jigsaw-type puzzle last year in which the absence of enumerations was (naturally) something of an obstacle to completing the puzzle, but it was even more of an obstacle to enjoying it.
Thanks to Gila for a well-constructed jigsaw crossword (one of the best of its kind), and thanks to HolyGhost for the blog.
A good puzzle with a grid fill that wasn’t as scary as it looked at first glance. I guessed the climbing theme from the title, but still took a whole day to twig that the Mac Operating System I’d spotted was in fact the name we were looking for. Surprised to note that I seem to have the route correct. 🙂
Just the sort of IQ we love. We noticed El Capitan but had to Google to find out the name of the climber. Bert would like to see the film of the climb but Joyce is terrified of heights so will definitely keep away.
We were held up for a while as we initially thought PC was the policeman so ‘retired’ was extra. It was only when we realised that we had a number of ropes that we realised our error. We eventually found that the route he took was called FREERIDER,
Thanks HolyGhost. Thanks also to Gila for one of the best puzzles so far this year.
I really enjoyed this – great theme and a mix of different elements to juggle with. I had a couple of reservations, but I think these were mainly my fault rather than the setter’s. I recognised the theme from El Capitan and then immediately saw Yosemite, but whilst I knew he was an Alex (or just possibly an Alan) I couldn’t remember his surname and had to google it (I wasn’t helped by having a T rather than a D from the clue at f1 – having plumped for HART, as an obsolete spelling of heart, rather than HARD for vigour). Unfortunately, google also gave away the Freerider, which I hadn’t worked out at that point, so I perhaps missed out on what would have been a fantastic PDM. It also took me longer than it should to spot the ropes, mainly I think because I had ‘retired’ as an extra word from the across clue at j3, with PC in place of the reversed C[O]P.
Yet another “filled the grid but failed on the endgame”, that makes 3 fails out of the last 4 puzzles. Hopefully things will start to look up again soon.
Like Alan B @4 I can always regard the experience as an enjoyable crossword even if the endgame passes me by. Thanks to all.
I fear I got put off by sticky first pass, and a busy week. I got to it late, with some help, and am impressed.
But I’m amazed no one has mentioned the excellent, and sometimes barely watchable, documentary film, Free Solo, which is in (some) cinemas now, and tells the whole story of the climb. It is astounding – and the strange thing is how very sane Alex H seems to be (he spoke after the screening I attended).
Many thanks to HG for the ever-excellent blogging and to all who have taken the time to comment. I’m glad this one seemed to go down well.
As someone with an interest in climbing – at least when not injured! – Alex Honnold is a familiar name to me and the whole El Cap achievement seemed good fodder for a multi-part puzzle and a carte blanche grid. At the time of construction last year, the documentary hadn’t been announced, but the publication of the puzzle was well-timed, as the press coverage has been fairly big over recent months.
Neil has beaten me to it, but I would echo his recommendation to watch the (Bafta-winning/Oscar-nominated) doc. It’s still on in some cinemas, and will be online soon. Even though you know it all ends well, it’s still sweaty-palms-edge-of-the-seat stuff, and Honnold himself is a genial and humorous protagonist. I know plenty of non-climbers who’ve seen it too and they’ve all agreed that, as with all good docs, you don’t need to be interested in the subject matter to enjoy it. Go see!
Ali/Gila
An interesting challenge, and I was pleased that I got a bit more than half way through – I might have got further if I hadn’t wrongly entered “septal” for “stipel” in a moment of absent-mindedness!! I accidentally read a bit of the blog on this puzzle on Idothei, and I read enough to learn that it was about a climb by one Alex Honnold so that helped me on 😉 (still didn’t finish the clues though or figure out all the thematic bits and pieces).
Can anyone tell me what function the words “Ed’s” have in the ASTART clue?
Amateur @11: It indicates that the word (ASTART) was used by Edmund Spenser with the given meaning (“suddenly”).
Thankyou Holy Ghost – I would never have made that connection! Though it was one of the clues I didn’t get- if I’d twigged and checked the answer in the dictionary it does state “(Spens)” there… I was too busy pondering “Jeff” though to get the simple answer.
Can I also ask, who/what was Agraste? A classical poet’s muse? (can’t seem to find a ref online – maybe my search technique could be improved).
Amateur @13: It appears that you don’t use Chambers. There, agraste (also Spenser, the poet) cross-refers to aggrace, meaning “to favour”.
Thank you again HolyGhost – much obliged! I do in fact use Chambers, albeit an early 1970s one which is falling apart – I really should have spotted this. I think having checked and not found agreste or agresta, I later wrongly assumed I’d also checked agraste, and I couldn’t seem to find it online. Sorry for the extra work! – and many thanks for the informative blog – coming here to 15squared to have everything explained is always hugely enjoyable.