We haven’t seen a Shark Inquisitor for over a year, so it’s good to have one to solve this week.
The preamble told us that two unclued entries appear in the title of a work. A relevant earlier work contains directions that can be found in the perimeter reading clockwise. In 13 clues a character in the definition must be changed before solving. The incorrect characters in clue order spell out where to highlight an example (18 cells using only 6 thematic letters) One answer is an abbreviation.
I wondered why the word ‘character’ was used in the instruction to change something in a clue rather than ‘letter’. The reason became clear during the solving process.
I found the clues quite tricky whilst I was solving them and the grid built up only slowly. I got a foothold with ICE TEA (10 down), SKI RUNS (15 down) and OGEED (21 across). Other early ones were EMESIS (30 across), AMEBOID (17 down) and DUCCIO (23 down). It was the clue to DUCCIO that clarified why ‘character’ rather than ‘letter’ was used to describe the misprints, as DUCCIO was a 13th century artist rather than a 10th century one.
Filling the grid took a while but finally the first bit of the end game began to fall when the letters I had in the two unclued entries suggested VENICE (fairly clear) and STONES (possibly). A little bit of research threw up the three volume STONES of VENICE by John RUSKIN published in 1851. Further reading gave the information that RUSKIN had published an earlier work in 1849 entitled the SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE. This earlier work is structured with eight chapters; an introduction and one chapter for each of the seven ‘LAMPS‘ which represent the demands that good architecture must meet, expressed as directions in which the association of ideas may take the observer.
These seven directions are:
SACRIFICE
TRUTH
POWER
BEAUTY
LIFE
MEMORY and
OBEDIENCE
and they can be found in the perimeter of the grid, reading clockwise from the S in row 10 column 1
The 13 incorrect letters in the clues spelled out the message – MIDDLE FOUR 20S. It took me longer than it should have to home in on 20 down as I started off looking at the middle letters of some of the other clues in the 21 to 29 range. I could also see that SKI RUNS at 15 down was composed solely of letters in the name RUSKIN. Eventually the penny dropped and I saw that the message ‘decoded’ to MIDDLE FOUR COLUMNs, COLUMN being the entry at 20 down
There were only 18 letters in the COLUMNs 5 to 8 that occur in the six-letter name RUSKIN, so I highlighted those and generated a shape that I think is meant to represent a standard LAMP
The filled grid looked like this
The title, EYES, is I think a reference to the fact that LAMP is an archaic or informal word for EYE.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. |
Clue Amended Clue |
Letter | Wordplay | Entry |
| 7 |
Here you can find Merlin’s work in French Department (6) Here you can find Berlin‘s work in French Department (6) |
M |
OP (opus; work) contained in (in) EURE (a French Department in the north, near Rouen) EUR (OP) E |
EUROPE (Berlin is a city in Europe) |
| 8 | It represents an ideal fruit peeled in the country (6) |
|
FIG (fruit) + RURAL (in the country) excluding the first and last letters (peeled) R and L FIG URA |
FIGURA (person or thing representing or symbolizing a fact or ideal) |
| 9 |
They prefer bids below one by Irish lass (7) They prefer beds below one by Irish lass (7) |
I |
INF (short for infra [Latin] meaning below, or, alternatively, short for inferior [below]) + A (one) + UNA (girl’s name of Irish origins) INF A UNA |
INFAUNA (the class of animals that inhabit ocean and river beds) |
| 11 |
Regarding mound of earth Diana used (6) Regarding mount of earth Diana used (6) |
D |
Anagram of (used) E [earth] and DIANA IDAEAN* |
IDAEAN (relating to Mount IDA in Crete) |
| 12 | Cape SA denizen scorned once (3) |
|
C (cape) + IT (sex appeal [SA]) C IT |
CIT (archaic [once] term of contempt for a townsman [a denizen is a person admitted to the rights of a citizen]) |
| 13 |
Noted rash that is contracted (3) Notes rash that is contracted (3) |
D |
FAST (rash) excluding the final letter (that is contracted) T FAS |
FAS (notes of the tonic sol-fa) |
| 14 |
Lastly brother hides idiot son of Jacob in return (9) Vastly brother hides idiot son of Jacob in return (9) |
L |
MY (gosh!; cor!; brother!) containing (hides) (ASS [idiot] + [LEVI {one of Jacob’s sons}reversed {in return}]) M (ASS IVEL<) Y |
MASSIVELY (vastly) |
| 16 |
Meet concern in conversation (5) Meat concern in conversation (5) |
E |
STEAK (sounds like [in conversation] STAKE [interest; concern]) STEAK |
STEAK (type of meat) |
| 18 | Withdrawal of European cash for Rasta food (4) |
|
LATI (the standard currency unit of Latvia; European cash) reversed (withdrawal of) ITAL< |
ITAL (in Rastafarian culture, organically grown vegetarian food, cooked without salt)
|
| 19 | Group interested in birth of river boat (4) |
|
R (river) + COG (small boat) R COG |
RCOG (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; group interested in birth) |
| 21 | Having an S, perhaps retrospectively,inserted into dictionary (5) |
|
E.G. (for example; perhaps) reversed (retrospectively) contained in (inserted into) OED (Oxford English Dictionary) O (GE<) ED |
OGEED (having an S-shaped curve) |
| 24 | Emperor is one of several against bankers hiding expression of protest (9) |
|
CON (against) + (CERTS [certainties; bankers] containing [hiding] O [an expression of protest]) CON CERT (O) S |
CONCERTOS (one of Beethoven’s CONCERTOS is known as the Emperor) |
| 25 |
Missing line, run off once (3) Missing line, run oaf once (3) |
F |
LAUF (a run in a bobsleigh contest) excluding (missing) L (line) AUF |
AUF (obsolete [once] word for an oaf) |
| 26 |
Short Welshman’s brow (3) Short Welshman’s brew (3) |
O |
ALED (Welsh male name) excluding the final letter (short) D ALE |
ALE (alcoholic beverage made from an infusion of malt by fermentation; brew) |
| 29 | Copied the same old bloody covers (7) |
|
RED (bloody) containing (covers) (ONE [the same] + O [old]) R (ONE O) ED |
RONEOED (copied with a RONEO duplicating machine) |
| 30 | Vomiting, two relatives (one now dead) (6) |
|
EME (obsolete [dead] word for uncle; relative]) + SIS (sister; a second relative) EME SIS |
EMESIS (vomiting) |
| 31 | Borachio’s grimy! Pedro intermittently returns, leader not following (6) |
|
ER (letters 2 and 4 of [intermittently] PEDRO) reversed (returned) + CHIEF (leader) excluding (not) F (following) RE< CHIE |
RECHIE (Shakespearean word for grimy; Borachio is a character in the play Much Ado about Nothing[as is Don Pedro]) |
|
Down |
||||
| 1 |
Dunces took pity on air staff (6) Dances took pity on air staff (6) |
U |
RUED (took pity on) + AS (air staff) RUED AS |
RUEDAS (Cuban street dances) |
| 2 | Volume assumes space over sound (6) |
|
TOME (volume) containing (assumes) EN (measure of space in printing terminology) reversed (over) TO (NE<) ME |
TONEME (in a tone language, a phoneme [the smallest significant unit of sound in a language;] which can be distinguished from another only by its particular intonation) |
| 3 | Greek God receives ecstasy from this? (4) |
|
PAN (Greek God) containing (receives) E (ecstasy tablet) P (E) AN |
PEAN (alternative spelling of PAEAN [a lyric to Apollo or Artemis (or some other god); a song of praise, thanksgiving or triumph]) |
| 4 | Seeming not to see mine next to man (7) |
|
WIN (to mine ore) + KING (chess piece) WIN KING |
WINKING (seeming not to see) |
| 5 | William’s uniform fitting for King (not Queen) (4) |
|
REGAL (kingly; suitable for a king) excluding (not) R (Regina; queen) EGAL |
EGAL (Shakespearean [Will] word for equal or uniform) |
| 6 | Haul accepted for Danube city (6) |
|
BRAIL (haul in a sail) + A (accepted) BRAIL A |
BRAILA (city near the mouth of the Danube river) |
| 8 | Fantod to join briefly with Mark (7) |
|
FUSE (join) excluding the final letter (briefly) E + SPOT (mark) FUS SPOT |
FUSSPOT (a FANTOD is a fidgety FUSSy person) |
| 10 | Funky cafeteria’s less far out drink (6, 2 words) |
|
Anagram of (funky) CAFETERIA excluding (less) an anagram of (out) FAR ICE TEA* |
ICE TEA (drink) |
| 15 | Stars imbibing alcohol leading to slippery slopes (7, 2 words) |
|
SUNS (stars) containing (imbibing) KIR (alcoholic drink made of white wine and blackcurrant syrup or liqueur) S (KI R) UNS |
SKI RUNS (slippery slopes) |
| 17 | Suspect Military Intelligence abode as CIA’s being very simple (7) |
|
Anagram of (suspect) MI (Military Intelligence) and ABODE AMEBOID* |
AMEBOID (American [CIA] spelling of AMOEBOID [a protozoan {lowest and simplest of animals unicellular forms or colonies multiplying by fission}])
|
| 20 |
Traveller wanting public transport finds new port (6) Traveller wanting public transport finds new post (6) |
R |
COLUMBUS (reference Christopher COLUMBUS [1451 – 1506], Italian explorer and traveller) excluding (wanting) BUS (form of public transport) + N (new) COLUM N |
COLUMN (post) |
| 21 |
Forgotten No 2 choice when divvying annual payment up between 2nd and 8th of February (6) Forgotten No 1 choice when divvying annual payment up between 2nd and 8th of February (6) |
2 |
CENS (a nominal annual payment given to the owner of an estate or property in recognition of his or her title) reversed (up; down clue) contained in (between) E and Y (second and eighth letters of FEBRUARY) E (SNEC<) Y I think ‘divvying’ is simply used as a word to gain surface sense into the clue |
ESNECY (the eldest daughter’s right of first choice in dividing an inheritance) |
| 23 |
Chapters dividing two artists, including one 10th Century artist? (6) Chapters dividing two artists, including one 13th Century artist? (6) |
0 |
CC (chapters) contained in (dividing) (DUO [two performers; two artists] containing [including] I [Roman numeral for one]) DU (CC) (I) O |
DUCCIO (reference DUCCIO di Buoninsegna, 13th century Italian artist) |
| 27 | Florentine theologian adopted by Corsini (4) |
|
ORSI (hidden word in [adopted by] CORSINI) ORSI |
ORSI (reference Giuseppe Agostino ORSI [1692 – 1761], Florentine cardinal, theologian, and ecclesiastical historian)
|
| 28 |
You often use nous with this recording machine moving from A to B (4) You often use noun with this recording machine moving from A to B (4) |
S |
VERA (machine that records television pictures and sound on magnetic tape for almost immediate reproduction) with the A changed to (moving from … to ) a B , you get the word VERB VERB |
VERB (A VERB is often used with a noun in sentences) |
I got nowhere at all on this one. Very tough. Looking at the solution now I wouldn\’t have got anywhere with the endgame either! Hats off to anyone that completed this.
Nice to see Ruskin in a puzzle.
DB @1-just seen your post-usually I am a complete dunce on these but I saw STONES early on and I dared write VENICE in the other space.(in pencil!)But I always fall down on the artwork.
I have that book(its great-I must get the lamps book too.
thanks duncansheil and thanks Shark.
I agree that this was something of a slog. I got there in the end, even though I never completely deciphered the missing characters. However, I also spotted that the letters forming the word RUSKIN were to be found in the middle of the grid, and although I didn’t realise that I was restricted to four columns, the shape and the limit of 18 cells meant that I didn’t include the first S in EMESIS (the shape looked wrong).
I thought that some of the clues were borderline unfair:”here you can find Berlin” as a definition of Europe, for example. But the grid construction was excellent.
Some great clues I thought – eg 14 MASSIVELY.
In my copy of the paper in 31 “grimy!” looked like “grimyl” and I got stuck on that for quite a while.
In 21, isn’t “when divvying” part of the definition?
Looking up Ruskin, there are so many quotations that are surprisingly relevant to present-day politics, and world issues.
Very good puzzle. Initially I took the “middle 20s” to mean answers 23 to 26 and “thematic letters” to be the shaded ones. Even though the numbers didn’t match up this produced quite a convincing aerial view of a cathedral. Then at last the light dawned. No doubt I’m the only one stupid enough to have done this?
I enjoyed filling the grid but didn’t work out what the changed letters were. I knew I was looking for the “middle four somethings”, or possibly the “middle of our somethings” but I couldn’t fathom what. I expected the grid to contain one of Ruskin’s examples of a perfectly architected building, one of the Cathedrals perhaps.
Does that shape really resemble a lamp? I doubt I would have got that even if I had known what to do.
Thanks to Duncan and Shark.
Thanks Duncan for explaining the shape and the title – we shaded things in correctly but could not work out the significance – it didn’t really strike us as a lamp!
After much pondering, Joyce googled STONES and VENICE and thankfully found the theme. Bert, an architect, vaguely remembered Ruskin and his ‘seven lamps’ but we needed wiki to sort it all out.
Good to learn something and grid was impressive.
Thanks to Shark as well as Duncan.
Well this was a toughie. I particularly struggled when I reached the point “Middle Four **s”. It took me ages to cross the barrier Duncan smoothly hurdled by recognising characters not just letters. And then another age to spot that I needed to use the four letters of RUSKIN for shading. Doh! I think that it’s not a bad effort at a lamp all things considered and great grid construction. Thank you Shark for a good work out and Duncan for an excellent blog.
I’d been wrestling on and off (mainly off) with this one for several weeks and finally got around to finishing it today. It took me ages to find what to put in the perimeter but I got there in the end. However, like others above, I remained baffled by the final highlighting and like PeeDee @7 I was searching for an example building identified by Ruskin. I finally gave up and looked at the solution here. Thanks for the explanation, Duncan.