Ifor is a pretty prolific Inquisitor setter, his last two puzzles being the Heart Transplant puzzle (1562) and the Molesworth “Down with Skool” puzzle (1575). The extensive rubric to this one read:
Two clues each contain a superfluous five-letter string. Rearranging each string and combining the results gives the location of an event; their clue numbers give the relevant year.
The grid contains a four-word remark (22 letters, symmetrically placed) that might have been made at the event, the first two words being a jumble of the last two. Solvers must change its letters in a number of steps.
Clues to three-letter entries contain an extra definition of an unrelated four-letter word formed by adding one of two letters to the entry and sometimes rearranging. The two letters must be rotated through 90 degrees, entered thematically into the central cell and appropriately coloured.
One entry in the final grid is an abbreviation; other changes form new words.
I started by looking at the 3 letter clues. 3D clearly gave PAR (standard) and PAIR (couple), so one of the “extra” letters was I. Shortly afterwards 28D yielded WAR (contest) and A-ROW (in a line), so the other letter was O. Rotating them through 90 degrees gave a “theta-like” symbol. The other 3 letter words ERA/AERO, BRA/RABI, PUR/PURI yielded quite easily, but 4D ELI was a little more difficult. I eventually found (by inserting Os and Is at various points) that ELOI is a term for the “above-ground” half of humanity in H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine. Not a dictionary word though.
I finished with two clues with question marks by them, 11D and 19D. These must be the two from which the 5-letter string was to be removed. I removed SREAL from 19D leaving “Celebrate” and SOCUR from 11D leaving “Es tailing”, and derived CARROUSELS from the resulting letters. Ah! Missing luggage (flight bag) on the carrousel. Wrong! I read the preamble again (always a good idea), and each five-letter half was to be rearranged separately, so I must have an error. Not SOCUR but OCURT was to be removed, leaving “Ess ailing”, which fitted the clue much better, and hence I was able to derive EARLS COURT and the date must be 1911. A Google search revealed that this was the year of the installation of the first escalators on the London Underground, and the “theta” sign suddenly made sense.
The “remark“, then, must relate to escalators and will probably be in the shape of an upward/downward slope. I found the word STAIRCASE on an upward L-R diagonal and stared at the rest of the grid for a couple of days on and off before realising that “staircase” contains most of the letters of ESCALATOR. An L and an O are required, and they were located at the bottom left of the grid. Now “LO STAIRCASE” is not a remark I would ever make, but when anagrammed (according to the rubric) it yields “IS ESCALATOR” which can be found on a corresponding downward slope. So the full remark is “Lo! Staircase is escalator.” Did anyone ever say “Lo” in real life, even in 1911? It is “archaic” in the dictionary, and I’ve never heard it outside a Shakespeare play or a poem. So I have a serious objection to the rubric’s four-word remark that might have been made at the event. No it would NOT!!
The letters had to be changed in a number of steps – cue an escalator animation! The rotation had to finish when another A reached SACRALGIA (there was no other word that would fit in the space). 4, 12 or 14 steps accomplished this, but the 4 and 14 steps did not give new words while the 12 steps did with CAMB. as the abbreviation.
Job done, though where the Missing Flight Bag came into the equation still escapes me. And I’m not entirely happy with the remark, or Eloi, or indeed the “clue” to 15A, RED SEA. {Or I’ve missed something, and someone will enlighten me in the comments!}
A nice grid construction, though, and some good clues. Enjoyable but flawed.
Below the Blue letters are the initial version and the Red letters are the final grid. The highlighting is for information only.
Across |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition) | Answer | Wordplay |
| 3 | Derelict shed isn’t fixed, with leak to frame (7) | PENTISE | Old (derelict) word for penthouse: PEE (leak) round [ISNT]* |
| 8 | Problem in the back of digital cameras corrected with deletion of variable time and date (9) | SACRALGIA | [(d)IG(it)AL CA(me)RAS]* (remove D(ate) and TIME) |
| 10 | Father returning to goddess of discord (4) | ERIS | SIRE (father) reversed |
| 12 | Retribution developed into breaking off bone (7, 2 words) | TRUE RIB | [RETRIBU(tion)]*, [INTO]* removed |
| 14 | Rest of letters read out (4) | EASE | Sounds like letter Es |
| 15 | Where gesture of staff provoked temporary division? (6, 2 words) | RED SEA | A reference to Moses parting the … Not a conventional clue, but I got it easily enough! |
| 18 | Noise originally managed to convert evangelical (6) | SIMEON | [NOISE M(anaged)]* |
| 20 | Poet ultimately filed under A, amazingly (5) | AUDEN | [UNDE(r) A]* – I like “ultimately filed” as a way of removing the last letter! |
| 21 | Lyrical measure from Ifor’s book (4) | IAMB | Ifor is = I AM + B(ook) |
| 23 | Sandal accepted by beastly offspring (4) | GETA | GET (animal offspring) + A(ccepted) |
| 24 | Write to ScotRail, changing services without duplications (6) | SCRIVE | Scottish word: [SERVIC(es)]* – remove duplicate E and S |
| 27 | Forward for a time (4) | PERT | PER (for) + T(ime) |
| 28 | Rail with turning long gone (4) | WEKA | The first of two rail-based clues: W(ith) + AKE (old spelling of ache = long) reversed |
| 30 | Seabird’s decline in height? On the contrary (4) | SHAG | SAG (decline) round H(eight) |
| 33 | Despite gambler switching, black lost (6) | MALGRE | [GAM(b)LER]* minus B(lack) |
| 34 | Decoy appropriate when early pressure’s off (5) | ROPER | (p)ROPER (first P removed from appropriate) |
| 36 | Jaw’s only messy when separately shaved, missing a beard (7) | AWNLESS | (j)AW(s) (o)NL(y) (m)ESS(y) – first three words “shaved” |
| 37 | Colours of shield intercut randomly with hint of sable (9) | TINCTURES | [INTERCUT S(able)]* |
| 38 | Roar in verse. In or out? (4) | ROIN | [IN OR]* |
| 39 | Boastful, say, busy with hollow gestures (5) | GASSY | [SAY G(esture)S]* |
Down |
|||
| No. | Clue (definition) (extra definition) | Answer (extra letter) | Wordplay |
| 1 | Tom Brown running as head of school, reduced to panic when East drops out (7) | SCUDDER | Refers to Tom Brown’s Schooldays – school slang for a swift runner. East is also a character in the book: [S(chool) REDUC(e)D]* |
| 2 | Adjust to go off here after noon’s gone (6) | PRESET | PRESE(n)T minus N(oon) |
| 3 | Standard couple sleep around, repeatedly undressed (3) | PA(I)R | top and tail (undress) (slee)P AR(ound) 4 times |
| 4 | Half of humanity eventually lie, upsetting priest (3) | EL(O)I | [LIE]* |
| 5 | What twitchers have caught is set free (4) | TICS | [C(augh)T IS]* |
| 6 | Realise very little time appears to exist (5) | SEEMS | SEE (realise) + MS (millisecond – very little time) |
| 7 | Age of planes is, for a lot of people, over (3) | ERA (aerO) | ARE ( plural of is) reversed |
| 8 | Special former reputation comes to pieces after turning up huge lies (9) | STRAPPERS | S(pecial) + REP (18th century word for reputation) + PARTS (comes to pieces) all reversed |
| 9 | Kensington store that closed over a month before (4) | ABIB | Old Jewish month: BIBA (old fashion store, in Abingdon Road in Kensington) reversed |
| 11 | Ess{o curt}ailing seen not so much out to the world (9) | SENSELESS | S (ess) + [SEEN]* (ailing = anagram) + LESS (not so much) |
| 13 | Support for women gathering in Indian fields without having answer to decline (3) | BRA (rabI) | BAR (without) having the A move down (decline) |
| 16 | Phenolic compound giving one glue when processed (7) | EUGENOL | Phenolic is not mentioned in the dictionary, but the formula contains a phenolic group: [ONE GLUE]* |
| 17 | Elder in denial over losing boxers? (4) | AINE | (d)ENIA(l) reversed (losing boxers = remove first and last letters) |
| 19 | Celebrate{s real} exchanging sides in views turned towards one (7) | OBVERSE | OBSERVE (celebrate) exchanging V & S, the sides of V(iew)S |
| 22 | Artificial hair going grey in stages, with last of dye lost (7) | WIGGERY | [G(o)I(n)G (g)R(e)Y +W(ith) + (dyE)]* – lost is the anagram indicator |
| 25 | Garland for Ophelia? Claudius less content to hide angry outburst (6) | CRANTS | Shakesperian word: C(laudiu)S (less content) round RANT (angry outburst) |
| 26 | Some rails entirely coated with rust finally scrubbed (6) | RALLUS | The second rail clue: ALL (entirely) in RUS(t) |
| 28 | Contest not experienced when set up in a line (3) | WAR (arOw) | RAW (not experience) reversed |
| 29 | Complex tone of some letters in Greek language (5) | KLANG | Hidden in GreeK LANGuage |
| 31 | The woman’s love for demigod (4) | HERO | HER (woman’s) O (love) |
| 32 | Profit further after losing head (4) | GAIN | (a)GAIN (further) minus “head” |
| 35 | Jack passed up cake, lifting recipe (3) | PUR(I) | Jack in a game: UP reversed + R(ecipe) – I’m not sure where “passed” comes into it |
Thanks, Hihoba, for your comprehensive blog. I think the title reflects the ‘remark’ – missing, Lost, flight, Stair, bag, Case, with a little overlap. Lost Stair Case/Lo Staircase.
Thank you Caran. I’m not sure that a “little overlap” is a permissible crossword device when un-flagged, but I’m sure you are right about your interpretation of the title. Still dubious about the remark though!
Thanks, Hihoba. For the title, I was hoping to make Air equal Flight, but that seemed iffy, so went with Stair. I forgot to say that I shared your views on Eloi and Red Sea.
I spotted STAIRCASE in the grid right away and realised it had to move, but didn’t see the parallel, reversed ESCALATOR for ages. That made for a very nice PDM when all finally became clear. I agree that “Lo” is hardly an everyday word, but someone could have said it facetiously (rather like people sometimes say “methinks”), and I felt it was justified to enable the clever exploitation of the near-anagrams of STAIRCASE and ESCALATOR. After all, “a remark that might have been made” would have been arbitrary to the point of unfairness were it not for this happy coincidence.
I think “flight”could be “air” (as in flight/air crew), in which case there’s no need for overlap.
I like cryptic definitions so didn’t mind the RED SEA clue at all, but am probably in a minority here. Perhaps ELOI was forced by grid constraints? I’m sure Ifor wouldn’t have included it if it was avoidable.
The Tube seems to be quite popular with IQ setters at the moment. Perhaps some clever setter could base a puzzle on Northern Line trains all going to High Barnet or Mill Hill East when you want to get to Edgware?
Cruci…thanks for that – your air/flight works well, I just didn’t think of it!
Many thanks to Ifor and Hihoba. For the title, I think taken together “air case” could cryptically denote “flight bag”. And I would be tolerant of the remark in view of the remarkable anagram. A very enjoyable puzzle.
Cruciverbophile beat me to it….!
I enjoyed this. I was happy to allow poetic licence for “Lo! Staircase is escalator”, the great majority of the clues would never be said in real life either. I In fact I quite liked Lo! Staircase…: it conveys the image of an ancient gent marvelling at the miracles of modern technology, or perhaps some divine intervention to aid passengers to and from the Underground (a sort of reverse stairway to heaven). I didn’t see any problem with RED SEA, it is a cryptic definition of the sort one sees every day in standard puzzles. Maybe I am just not very discerning when it comes to the finer points of the crossword rulebook.
It was pleasing to have a clear reason what colours to choose in the central square.
Thanks Ifor and Hihoba.
Now, I enjoyed that, even if the preamble looked a little daunting at first sight. 🙂 For once the word search at the close was one I coped with, helped no end by the hints in the preamble regarding symmetry, etc. I’d go so far as to say that this is very much the kind of puzzle I’m looking for from the IQ.
I think ‘Lo!’ is an exclamation that’s used very often in Crosswordland. It’s something I always say, for example, when I find my etui after hours of wondering where I might have mislaid it.
Still out of my depth on these puzzles but at least i just about filled the grid and did like RED SEA.
I thought it would be 19 something….anyway thanks for the blog-the moving grid was too fast for an old codger like me.
The preamble should have said one letter is placed within the other then rotated 90 degrees. As it was it made little sense.
Thanks to Hihoba and Ifor
1a I couldn’t fathom until most of the crossers were in – I didn’t equate derelict with old. I still can’t really, but I can see it if derelict = no longer used.
24a What is the RAIL doing in ScotRail?
7d Had me looking for a non-English word for is (is for many people). A little loose because IS refers to AGE and remains singular no matter how many people it’s over for.
8d I initially discounted REP because it is still in common use, so why “former”. Hadn’t heard of STRAPPER for lie either (still can’t find it).
35d I saw “passed” as signifying an old word for JACK
We were told to enter the symbol thematically so I thought that was fine.
copmus #11, to follow the animation, just concentrate on one letter, and follow its journey up and down the escalator.
Dansar #13, I don’t think the rail in ScotRail is any different from using, say, Fife to indicate a Scottish word. I disagree with you about 7d which seems to me a perfectly constructed clue. Rep, in chambers, has reputation (early 18c and US), so the former is fine. My feeling is that passed is not the same as past, hence my query, but I take your point. In my explanation of 1a perhaps I should have used the word obsolete rather than old, but you get my drift.
RedSea clue: to those of you who commented, I merely mention that it is not a conventional Inquisitor-like clue, and is in a form I haven’t come across in this series before. Araucaria used to use this type of clue quite often, and it was easily understood in this case.
For me, a very similar experience to last week. An enjoyable solve with a few minor issues followed by an initially frustrating then satisfying end game. I had a question mark over the ‘Tom Brown’ in 1d, but knowing that East was a character in it makes sense of the clue, so thank you for clearing that up. I was also unsure of PRESET being ‘adjust to go off’ but I suppose the more obvious ‘set to go off’ wasn’t an option (and just checked to find it’s the wording used in Chambers).
jonsurdy @10, you should know by now always to look for your etui in the tana / thannah / tanna / ….
Lovely blog Hihoba – we wondered who would be blogging and whether the grid would be animated.
Enjoyable puzzle and an ingenious construction which took a while to locate.
Thanks to S&B.
Hihoba @14
Thank you for your response.
My dictionaries (Collins and SOED) disagree about REP: I suppose I have to give in a buy myself a Chambers.
I think I might agree about ScotRail if it weren’t for it being a franchise run by a company whose headquarters are in London.
Dansar #17, if you have a smart phone or a tablet, I recommend the Chambers Dictionary and Thesaurus app which, apart from being the standard for most crosswords, also lets you do wildcard searches and anagrams.
Re Tom Brown’s Schooldays, OPatrick #15, I remembered that East (Tom B’s friend) was known as “Scud” – he was a runner I think.
My thanks to all, especially those who took the trouble to clarify various issues. Two other points:
Eloi: as the IQ doesn’t specify or recommend a dictionary, non-Chambers words need not be flagged. As has been mentioned, it was required by the exigencies of grid construction, and in any case is not critical to the solution and will yield to trial and error if necessary (recall that ELI is fully checked)
The “remark” surely might have been made – you can’t prove the converse. I preferred it to the plain “Solvers must find/highlight a statement…” The important issue is whether the definitive information (22 letters, symmetry, internal anagram, knowledge of theme) allows it to be found and then correctly modified. That’s for solvers to judge, of course.
Ifor
Ifor @19
You say “as the IQ doesn’t specify or recommend a dictionary…”. My memory is that the editor wrote, in one his occasional editorial comments accompanying an IQ puzzle a few months ago, that Chambers is the recommended (or specified) dictionary for Inquisitor puzzles.
What I can definitely say is that in the preamble to his puzzle no. 1572, Nimrod wrote that “6 is in SOED” [referring to 6 down]. What I understood by that was that the word [STEG] is not in Chambers – which indeed is the case. It doesn’t often happen, but I always expect a word that is not in Chaambers, and is not a proper name, to be flagged.
Me @20
Sorry – Chambers, not Chaambers.
Alan; I hope that if you tackled the puzzle this wasn’t a problem for you (and of course I’ve no reason to suppose that you weren’t aware of the reference anyway and are posting only to helpfully clarify things for others) All I can add is that the matter wasn’t raised when John and I readied the puzzle for publication.
Ifor
Ifor @22
Thank you for your concern! Yes, I posted in hope of clarifying a general point – simply because your comment caught me by surprise. (It was not in reaction to a problem I had for lack of a signpost.)
Eloi is a proper noun so its not being flagged as non-Chambers is fine — a bit obscure (=”I haven’t heard of it before”) but absolutely OK.
I thought that ScotRail was far more questionable, but no problem with Lo — the “definitive info”, as Ifor puts it @19, was quite sufficient. Thanks got to him & Hi. For some reason, I didn’t enjoy this as much as many of Ifor‘s other puzzles, but that’s probably because he has set his own bar pretty high.
HG @24
Thanks for clarifying that point about Eloi. I realised it was fictional but wasn’t sure (despite seeing it here with a capital E) that it was a proper noun.
OPatrick @ 15. I did go there once to report it as stolen.