Mynot is seen more regularly on Fifteensquared as a setter of Enigmatic Variations puzzles. This is his first Inquisitor since June 2010
The preamble was fairly short and told us that "Correctly resolving clashes in eight cells will enable solvers to form the name of an eponymous character whose alternative title must be highlighted in the grid together with three thematic locations (33 cells in total). 14 is an easily derived non-dictionary phrase".
With a puzzle like this, I just start solving and see where the clashes occur.
I note from the 2010 blog that Hihoba [three people at that time] commented it was the quickest Inquisitor solve they had ever completed. This one too seemed to fall quicker than most. Indeed, I reckon I solved three quarters of the clues as if they were standard daily clues.
I did though struggle a bit with 1 across where I initially solved the clue as EASTER (S [son] inside EATER [variety of fruit]) although I wasn’t sure about EAT in the clue and EATER in the answer. It was quite late on before I realised that a different festival was required and PESACH obviously made more sense. Leaving EASTER in would have generated nine clashes. and also we needed a C to form the eponymous character properly.
The eight clashes are as follows
| Entries clashing | Letters clashing | Resolves to |
| 1 across / 4 down | PESACH / EAST | C leading to PESACH / CAST |
| 5 across / 8 down | ACCUSE / GARTHS | E leading to ACCUSE / EARTHS |
| 11 across / 5 down | NIHONGA / AYR | I leading to NIHONGA / AIR |
| 14 across / 10 down | OPEN TAP / RAMPED | P leading to OPEN TAP / RAPPED |
| 16 across / 7 down | MIST / COLLIE | L leading to LIST / COLLIE |
| 35 across / 36 down | FOREPAW / SUS | S leading to FORESAW / SUS |
| 39 across / 31 down | SHEARS / CLEAT | R leading to SHEARS / CLEAR |
| 40 across / 27 down | DREDGE / OCTAVO | E leading to DREDGE / OCTAVE |
There was only one clash that was initially ambiguous as seven of them only led to real words if one of the clashing letters was chosen. The ambiguous one was FOREPAW / SUS where either of the P or S would lead to real words across and down.
It was however clear that we needed the S as it was the CEIPLSRE set we require as an anagram of the chosen letters resolves to PERICLES. The NW to SE diagonal spells out PRINCE OF TYRE which is the alternative title to Shakespeare’s play PERICLES The title of the play and the character’s name are eponymous.
The play is set in a few locations (or as Shakespeare put it, dispersedly in various countries), three of which are PENTAPOLIS, ANTIOCH and EPHESUS. All three can be found in the grid. PENTAPOLIS uses two of the resolved clashes. In total, 33 cells are highlighted, as required.
Some of the letters in the highlighted cells are doing double or triple duty on the diagonal and also in the locations. Indeed the N of PRINCE is also used in both of PENTAPOLIS and ANTIOCH.
Given that clashes can often resolve to more than one name, I did look at the unused clashing letters EGYPTMMO, but not surprisingly in this case they did not reveal another sensible name. I don’t think EGYPT MOM is a viable anagram.
The clue at 23 down for USURER which originally incorrectly implied that UR related to Ukraine was reworded in the I published on 31st August and is shown in the detail of the blog below.
As mentioned earlier, I found the clues more akin to a daily blocked crossword than a weekend barred crossword, but the Inquisitor series is designed to provide a range of solving challenges throughout the year.
The two grids below show the puzzle with clashes after the initial solve and then the final grid with the clashes resolved and all the highlighting done.
Final grid
I’m not sure about the significance of the title, SHIFTS IN CHARACTERS I suppose we are shifting the clashing letters (characters) after resolution to form the name of an eponymous character.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 | Festival for son to eat fruit? Quite the contrary (6) |
PEACH (fruit) containing (to eat) S (son)- i.e. the opposite [the contrary] to the relationship initially expressed in the clue. PE (S) ACH |
PESACH (the festival of Passover) |
| 5 | Charge a small amount to exercise (6) |
A + CC (cubic centimetre; small quantity) + USE (exercise) A CC USE |
ACCUSE (charge) |
| 11 | Style of painting warehouse in Ulster accepted (7) |
NI (Northern Ireland; Ulster) + HONG (Chinese warehouse) + A (accepted) NI HONG A |
NIHONGA (a Japanese style of painting, using bright colours and traditional images) |
| 12 | Good nursemaid is a goddess (4) |
G (good) + AIA (alternative spelling of AYAH [in India and other former British territories, a waiting-maid or nursemaid]) G AIA |
GAIA (in Greek mythology, the goddess or personification of Earth) |
| 13 | Cross lines in order to get spiral ornaments (7) |
Anagram of (in order) CROSS and LL (lines) SCROLLS* |
SCROLLS (spiral ornaments or parts, such as flourishes to signatures) |
| 14 | Pensioner’s confined lodging that may be dripping (7, 2 words) |
PENT (confined) contained in (lodging) OAP ([old age] pensioner) O (PEN T) AP |
OPEN TAP (something that may be dripping) |
| 16 | Heard to have failed to find in fog (4) |
MIST (sounds like [heard] MISSED [to have failed]) MIST |
MIST (fog) |
| 17 | In river, fifty shellfish (4) |
L (Roman numeral for fifty) contained in (in) CAM (river that flows through Cambridge) C (L) AM |
CLAM (shellfish) |
| 19 | Crone doesn’t start to irritate (4) |
WITCH (crone) excluding the first letter (doesn’t start) W ITCH |
ITCH (irritant) |
| 20 | Edible cod initially prepared as a sound measure (7) |
Anagram of (prepared as) EDIBLE and C (first letter of [initially] COD) DECIBEL* |
DECIBEL (unit of measurement of sound levels) |
| 21 | Record claimed by Latin American stars (5) |
EP (Extended Play record) contained in (claimed by) (L [Latin] + US [United States; American]) L (EP) US |
LEPUS (constellation in the southern hemisphere; stars) |
| 24 | Poem about theatre (5) |
ODE (poem) + ON (relating to; about) ODE ON |
ODEON (in ancient Greece and Rome, a theatre for musical theatre) |
| 26 | This game-player ruined topsoil (7) |
Anagram of (ruined) TOPSOIL POLOIST* |
POLOIST (POLO [game] player) |
| 29 | Brief time together in Seychelles and North Carolina (4) |
SY (International Vehicle Registration for Seychelles) + NC (North Carolina) SY NC |
SYNC (abbreviated [brief] form of SYNChronize [bring together in time]) |
| 31 | I’ll leave boss to do the cooking (4) |
CHIEF (boss) excluding (leave) I CHEF |
CHEF (as a verb, do the cooking. Oxford Dictionary of English has CHEF as a verb) |
| 32 | Flavourer of beer I return to Malaysian town (4) |
(HOP [plant used for flavouring beer] + I) all reversed (return) (I POH)< |
IPOH (city in north west Malaysia) |
| 33 | Old fool in weird rare secret doctrine (7) |
SOT (obsolete [old] word for a fool) contained in (in) EERY (weird) E (SOT) ERY |
ESOTERY (rare word meaning secret doctrine) |
| 35 | One giving impression of spinning with front foot (7) |
APER OF (one mimicking or giving an impression of another) reversed (spinning) + W (with) (FO RE PA)< W |
FOREPAW (front foot of an animal) |
| 37 | Yes, right philosopher (4) |
AYE (yes) + R (right) AYE R |
AYER (reference A J AYER [1910 – 1989], British philosopher) |
| 38 | Networks concerning main wife (7) |
RE (concerning) + SEA (main) + UX (abbreviation for UXor [Latin) meaning wife) RE SEA UX |
RESEAUX (networks) |
| 39 | On board listen to cutters (6) |
HEAR (listen) contained in (on board [a {steam}ship]) SS The phrase ‘on board’ implies the need for something representing a means of transport, in this case a ship is most appropriate. S (HEAR) S |
SHEARS (cutters) |
| 40 | Machine that deepens border by drive (6) |
DR (drive) + EDGE (border) DR EDGE |
DREDGE (machine for deepening a harbour) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Work in chamber? Newspaperman jumped up a down (6) |
GO (work) contained in (in) (PO [chamber {chamberpot}] + ED [editor; newspaperman]) PO (GO) ED |
POGOED (jumped up and down) |
| 2 | Subject, namely,that is new to Common Entrance (7) |
SC (scilicet (Latin for namely]) + I..E. (id est [Latin for that is]) + N (new) + CE (Common Entrance [exam]) SC IE N CE |
SCIENCE (a school or university subject) |
| 3 | Forward in a vehicle, note (6) |
A + VAN (type of vehicle) + TI (note of the tonic sol-fa) A VAN TI |
AVANTI (Italian word for forward) |
| 4 | Direction not to start celebratory meal (4) |
FEAST (celebratory meal) excluding the first letter (not to start) F EAST |
EAST (direction) |
| 5 | Ray’s upset in town (3) |
Anagram of (upset) RAY AYR* |
AYR (town in Scotland on the west coast south of Glasgow) |
| 6 | Check uncle in East London is a Pom (5) |
CH (check, in chess terminology) + OOM (term for an uncle in South Africa [East London is a town in South Africa]) CH OOM |
CHOOM (Australian term for an Englishman, as is POM) |
| 7 | Sheepdog on defile to rest (6) |
COL (defile) + LIE (to rest) COL LIE |
COLLIE (sheepdog) |
| 8 | For Nancy a bed in the dark (5) |
UN (French [Nancy, town in France]] term for ‘a’] + LIT (French [Nancy] word for bed) UN LIT |
UNLIT (in the dark) |
| 9 | Welshmen lacking energy in courtyards (6) |
GARETHS (GARETH is a Welshman’s first name, so Welshmen would lead to GARETHS) excluding (lacking) E (energy) GARTHS |
GARTHS (courtyards within cloisters) |
| 10 | A representative in scarlet dashed about wildly (6) |
(A + MP [Member of Parliament’; representative]) contained in (in) RED (scarlet) R (A MP) ED |
RAMPED (dashed around wildly) |
| 15 | Letter in front of Beth from porter near bar (5) |
ALE (porter is form of ALE) + PH (public house; bar) ALE PH |
ALEPH (letter preceding Beth in the Phoenician and Hebrew alphabets) |
| 18 | Bitter drug a learner takes Scottish grandchildren (5) |
A + L (learner) + OES (Scottish word for grandchildren) A L OES |
ALOES (bitter drug) |
| 22 | Page that is seen to be drunk (7) |
P (page) + I.E. (id est; that is) + EYED (seen) P IE EYED |
PIE-EYED (drunk) |
| 23 |
Moneylender certain to be found in Ukraine (6) revised on 31st August to Money lender certain to be found in old city (6) |
SURE (certain) contained in (to be found in) UR (this is obviously meant to be a reference to Ukraine, but I can’t fin d anything other than UA in the dictionaries as a abbreviation for Ukraine international vehicle registrations. I can only find UR anywhere as a abbreviation for Ukraine in individual codes for Ukrainian based aircraft) Revision SURE (certain) contained in (to be found in) UR (important city state in ancient Mesopotamia; old city) U (SURE) R |
USURER (moneylender, now usually at excessive rates of interest) |
| 24 | Cockney sock manufacturers used for making baskets (6) |
OSIERS (Cockneys would pronounce HOSIERS [sock manufacturers] as ‘OSIERS) OSIERS |
OSIERS (willows whose twigs are used in making baskets) |
| 25 | Mac’s expressed impatience with most of real sheath (6) |
OCH (Scottish [Mac] word expressing impatience) + REAL excluding the final letter (most of) L OCH REA |
OCHREA (sheath formed of two stipules united round a stem) |
| 27 | Book of month with foreign lawyer losing pet, perhaps (6) |
OCT (October; month) + AVOCAT (French [foreign] word for lawyer) excluding (losing) CAT (a pet) OCT AVO |
OCTAVO (book formed of eight leaves to a sheet) |
| 28 | Your son breaking the wand of Bacchus (6) |
(YR [your] + S [son]) contained in [breaking) THE TH (YR S) E |
THYRSE (the wand of Bacchus) |
| 30 | Loop soon returning East (5) |
SOON reversed (returning) + E (East) NOOS< E |
NOOSE (loop) |
| 31 | One in a hundred allowed to fasten (5) |
A (one) contained in (in) (C [Roman numeral for 100] + LET [allowed]) C LE (A) T |
CLEAT (fasten [with a CLEAT {wedge}]) |
| 34 | Debtor is on top in Perth (4) |
OWER (one is in debt) OWER |
OWER (Scottish [Perth] word for above or on top) double definition |
| 36 | Possible guilty party not calling attention to Japanese dish (3) |
SUSHI (Japanese dish of small cakes of cold rice and egg, fish, vegetables, etc and a vinegar sauce) excluding (not) HI (an interjection used to call attention to) SUS |
SUS (suspect; possible guilty party) |
Normally, I avoid puzzles with clashes, but after seeing the clues, I decided to dive in. I got caught by EASTER as well, until I saw the leading diagonal and everything fell into place. Easier than a Chalicea, but just as enjoyable. The easier puzzles give beginners the confidence to tackle puzzles by harder setters. Thanks for the blog for the explanations to a handful of clues. USURER didn’t bother me – it couldn’t have been anything else
Yep. caught here by a confident first in EASTER as well, otherwise this would indeed have been a quick solve. I also struggled to see FOREPAW, just to compound my (self inflicted) problems. A good puzzle about a play I’d never heard of before.
At the start, as with the previous week’s Serpent, I appreciated being given potentially useful quantitative information in the preamble – in this case the 33 cells for the hidden names and the 8 clashing cells.
As always, I enjoyed the ‘Inquisitor quality’ of the clues, from a setter that I have not encountered before, but would echo others’ views in saying that most of the clues were more accessible than usual, only a handful of them (in the top right of the grid) holding me up and preventing me, for a while, from getting my eighth clashing cell (‘I/Y’).
With 7 of the 8 clashing cells identified, and 6 of them resolved (all except ‘P/S’, either letter of which is valid at that stage), the name Culpeper became just as much a possibility as Pericles. The latter seemed more likely, and indeed when PRINCE OF TYRE came into view I was left in no doubt. That enabled me to find all the thematic names, solve the last two clues and finally resolve all the clashes. I found one location (PENTAPOLIS) only by researching it as it was unfamiliar to me.
The gridfill was impressive, with the four thematic names woven into it and with the customary high proportion of checked letters.
Many thanks to MynoT for an enjoyable puzzle and to Duncan for the blog.
I’m another EASTER/PESACH stumbler. Apart from that, the puzzle didn’t take very long – I spotted PRINCE OF TYRE well before I got to PERICLES. Similar to Alan B @3, EPHESUS and ANTIOCH were familiar, but I don’t recall coming across PENTAPOLIS before. And it’s a shame about the Ukraine/UR hiccup.
Thanks to MynoT and Duncan. (PS The table with the eight clashes has GARETHS rather than GARTHS.)
Good confidence booster for parvenus such as me re INQY puzzles.
HolyGhost@4
Thanks – table updated
I enjoyed this. I was another who had to scrub out EASTER, I should have realised that eat/eater would not be in both the clue and the solution. I made the same mistake today when solving and blogging Jason in the FT. I didn’t spot the Ukraine error, I was lazy and just assumed that UR must be a valid abbreviation. I didn’t know anything about the play so it was good to read about that too.
Thank you Duncan and Mynot.
I’d spotted ANTIOCH and EPHESUS in my almost completed grid, which at that point still had EASTER in at 1a. I also spotted the POLIS ending which looked good for the 3rd location. So I put PENTAPOLIS into google and all became clear. I had three solutions unparsed, so thanks to Duncan for these.
Still catching up and this one made it easier. Nevertheless, an enjoyable solve and I also fell into the EASTER trap. I was too late to comment on the previous two IQs but, for the record, I enjoyed the struggles and the satisfaction of completing them. So thanks to Ifor, Serpent and Mynot, not forgetting kenmac, HG and DS.
As others have said, this was easier than usual, but it was enjoyable and it’s good to finish (or nearly – nihonga eluded me as I’d never heard of “hong”) an Inquisitor now and then – thank you, MynoT!