This was a pretty tough workout from Cagey, who seems to be a new name (or amalgam?) on the block…
The (rather long and complicated) preamble states that:
“ In SCARCITY, the wordplay in 12 clues leads to the defined answer minus a single letter. Taking the clue letter corresponding to the alphabetical position of the missing letter (A=1, B=2, etc) in each such clue spells an author’s name. The same clues mostly lead to clashes in the grid; in normal order, these must be resolved along with one non-clash to favour a place name. Discarded letters, including the non-clash, represent a thematic title. Appropriately, 11 chapter-headings (or parts thereof) must disappear, revealing one protagonist’s name (nine letters) which must be highlighted. The final grid contains some non-words. ”
One of those EV puzzles that yielded gradually…a cycle of clue solving (or trying), plus finding letters for clashes and working out missing the missing letters, then searching through the clues for the relevant letter, and iterating thus…
Eventually, I teased out ITALO CALVINO as the author’s name, and then found/Go-ogled his major work, INVISIBLE CITIES, which gave VENICE as a possible city, with CITIES itself becoming invisible.
It then took a leap of faith to delete (tippex out) the answers relating to chapter headings in Sr Calvino’s book, and come up with MARCO POLO as the protagonist.
Interesting device and tough clues – thanks to Cagey, and I hope I have it all clear below…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Missing letter / Clue letter |
Solution | Entry | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
| 3 | CONTINUOUS | Interminable short story, meandering, but not initially (10) / CONT(E) (short story, also short of a letter) + (S)INUOUS (meandering, winding, without initial letter) |
||
| 11 | C / I | RANCE | RANVE | Maintained English bar in Milngavie (5) / RAN (maintained) + E (English( |
| 13 | IMPALE | IMPAL_ | Spike spirit with beer (6) / IMP (mischievous spirit) + ALE (beer) |
|
| 15 | CIABATTA | CIABATTA | Bread eaten by Italian bishop, not one born in Italian city (8) / apologies, but I couldn’t parse this…assistance welcomed… **SEE COMMENT 1 BELOW – thanks Caran |
|
| 16 | DEAD | Total bargain! Spending a pound and gaining a penny! (4) / DEA(L) – bargain – losing/spending L – a pound and gaining D – a penny = DEAD |
||
| 18 | I / T | ARRIERO | ARREER_ | Person without worth losing head having arrived before cross driver (7) / ARR (arrived) + (Z)ERO (nobody, person without worth, losing head) |
| 19 | T / A | ETERNE | ENERNE | English eagle was unchanging (6) / E (English) + ERNE (sea-eagle) |
| 21 | I / L | DECRIER | DECRIE_ | One who belittles law cut rule (7) / DECR_E(E) (law, cut short) + R (rule) |
| 23 | NAMES | Identifies piece about opponents (5) / NAM (man, or game piece, reversed, or about) + ES (East and South are opponents in bridge) |
||
| 24 | THINLY | Hint criminal gets case of lurgy and is poorly (6) / THIN (anag, i.e. criminal, of HINT) + LY (case, or surrounding letters, of LurgY) |
||
| 27 | EREWHON | EREWHON | Doctor is found in inner part of quiet storybook place (7) / (S)ERE_N(E) (inner part of sERENe, or quiet) around WHO (the Doctor!) |
|
| 29 | HORSTS | _ORSTS ?? | Static blocks origin of signal with short waves (6) / anag, i.e. waves, of SHORT + S (initial letter, or origin, of Signal) |
|
| 30 | E / O | PAPER | PAPC_ | Photograph capital of Romania for Telegraph? (5) / PAP (to photograph, as in what the paparazzi do) + R (first letter, or capital, of Romania) |
| 31 | ISOTOPE | _SOTOPE | Elementary type seen in one very good shrine (7) / I (one) + SO (very good) + TOPE (Buddhist shrine) |
|
| 34 | COPITA | COPIT_ | Optic is broken by a glass (6) / COPIT (anag, i.e.broken, of OPTIC) + A |
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| 35 | DESIREE | Want to pinch a bit of Euan’s tattie (7) / DESIR_E (want) around (pinching) E (a bit of Euan) |
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| 38 | THUD | THU_ | Plod through to the 1st of December with no hint of rest (4) / TH(R)U (with no R – first letter, or hint, of Rest) + D (first of December) |
|
| 40 | SKY SIGNS | Broadcaster endorses prominent adverts (8, two words) / SKY (broadcaster) + SIGNS (endorses) – double defn. |
||
| 42 | EUREKA | _UREKA | I got it before snatching head of ugly statue (6) / E_RE (before) around (snatching) U (head, or first letter, of Ugly) + KA (Ancient Egyptian statue of dead person) |
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| 43 | OATEN | OATE_ | Made of grass maybe, irritated on being worn (5) / O_N around (worn by) ATE (irritated) |
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| 44 | E / C | LIE IN STATE | LIE IN STATE | Gain celebrated status after ending story about current figure (10, three words) / LI_E (story) around IN (current) + STAT (figure) |
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Missing letter / Clue letter |
Solution | Entry | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
| 1 | CREDENT | CRE_E_T | Once believable e-books support track record (7) / CRED (credibility, track record) + E + NT (New Testament, books) |
|
| 2 | MACE | MAC_ | Club breaks up having misplaced taxes (4) / MACE(RATES) (chews, breaks up, losing, or misplacing, RATES, taxes) |
|
| 4 | V / A | OVA | _VA | Cells found in heart of foal (3) / O_A (heart, or middle letters, of fOAl) |
| 5 | TRAPEZES | _RAPEZES | Bars providing thrills enslave Guides we hear (8) / TRAP (enslave) + EZES (homophone, i.e. we hear, EZES could sound like EASES, or guides) |
|
| 6 | IOTA | _OTA | Hera’s Priestess receives thanks for almost nothing? (4) / IO (Hera’s priestess) + TA (thanks) |
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| 7 | NITRE | _ITRE | Fool about making explosive ingredient (5) / NIT (fool) + RE (about) |
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| 8 | E / L | OPTER | OPTER | He selects Byzantine port (5) / OPT_R (anag, i.e. Byzantine, of PORT) |
| 9 | SLUR | _LUR | Collapse without member and take affront (4) / SLU(MP) (collapse, without MP, member of parliament) + R (recipe, Latin, for ‘take’) |
|
| 10 | MEMORY | Italian city recalled in my reminiscence (6) / M_Y around EMOR, Italian city, recalled |
||
| 12 | EBONS | EBON_ | Holy tree covered in nuts, illustrating unusual woods (5) / E_NS (ens, nuts??) around BO (holy tree, in Buddhism) |
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| 14 | I / V | AGEING | AGEI_G | Passing over the proverbial hill, as depicted in silver engraving (6) / AG (Argentum, silver) + E_NG (engraving) |
| 17 | DREES | _R_ES | Stags move right to reveal northern bears (5) / DEERS (stag – deer – plus s??) with R moving to the left can give DREES |
|
| 20 | N / I | NAXOS | N_XOS | Largest island in group, where a son embraces ex-love? (5) / A_S (A + S – son) aroubnd (embracing) XO (ex + O – zero, love) |
| 21 | DOWSE | DOWSE | Hit blocked by weak strike (5) / DO_SE (hit, quanitiy of a drug) around (blocked by) W (weak) |
|
| 22 | C / N | ELECT | E_ECT | Men set apart in set up? (5) / ELE_T (TELE, short for television, or set, up) |
| 24 | THICKSET | _HICK_ET | Burly oafs disrupt new year celebration (8) / T_ET (Lunar New Year celebration, in Vietnam) around (disrupeted by) HICKS (oafs) |
|
| 25 | INAPT | _NAPT | Awkward splatter of paint (5) / anag, i.e. splatter, of PAINT |
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| 26 | GROSER | GRO_ER | Flower discovered amidst grey fruit in Roslin (6) / G_R (grey) around ROSE (flower) |
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| 28 | TRADING | Rush around countryside meadow doing one’s business (7) / TRAD (dart, or rush, around) + ING (countryside meadow) |
||
| 29 | HIDDEN | Secret papers concealed in lining of hood by sister (6) / H_D (lining letters of HooD) around (concealing) ID (identity papers), + EN (Enrolled Nurse, or sister) |
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| 30 | POLIO | POL_O | Radioactive material by Manx cat resulting in condition (5) / PO (Po, Polonium, radioactive material) + LIO(N) (big cat, with tail removed, so like a Manx cat) |
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| 32 | S / O | TIDES | T_DEE | Doctor reversed temporal eddies (5) / TIDE = EDIT, or doctor, reversed |
| 33 | PEKAN | P__AN | Write about Scottish bird and American mammal (5) / PE_N (write) around KA (jackdaw, Scottish) |
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| 36 | ELUL | _LUL | Fragment of nice lullaby in time of late summer (4) / hidden word, i.e. fragment of, in ‘nicE LULlaby’ |
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| 37 | EYES | Spots calm spots (4) / double def, to EYE can be to see, or spot, something; and the EYE of the storm is a (temporarily!) calm spot |
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| 39 | USED | U_ED | Soiled undies – not in fighting! (4) / anag, i.e. fighting, of U(N)D(I)ES without |
|
| 41 | GAT | _AT | Upsetting label obtained from the bible (3) / GAT (Biblical, got) = TAG (label), upset |
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Thanks for the thorough blog, mc_rapper. I enjoyed this puzzle, but had to work hard to finish it.
For 15 A, I think it’s Citta, Italian for ”city’ with Ab(b)a (bishop, ‘not one born’= remove a B) inside. Ci aba tta.