A puzzle by Eclogue kept us entertained over Christmas
The preamble stated that "Four clues each contain an extra word which should be removed prior to solving. These four words can be rearranged to identify the author of a verse, the first line of which is formed from corrections to single misprints in the definition of the remaining clues in order. Solvers must draw a continuous line through the fifty contiguous cells which provide the next line and so illustrate the point being made."
There are 46 clues, so that’s 42 misprints to find. Determining the name of the poem will be vital to tracing the second line of the verse.
My first one in was MALM for the brick constituent. Previously I only knew MALM as a range of furniture from Ikea. I liked the reference to Jurgen Klopp in the clue for ANFIELD.
I found this to be slightly easier than expected in terms of solving the clues, but the poem was not one I knew. For me , the key to locating the poem was the word ROMAN near the beginning of the string of misprints.. The first two words became clear as ‘BEFORE THE‘ fairly early on., but the rest of the misprints were not making much sense especially in the middle section. ROMAN led me to G K CHESTERTON‘s’s THE ROLLING ENGLISH ROAD, first published in 1913 under the title ‘A Song of Temperance Reform’.
The full first line of the poem is BEFORE THE ROMAN CAME TO RYE OR OUT TO SEVERN STRODE
Some of the misprints were more obvious than others, but knowing the whole line helped significantly. It also helped me firm up on the words to be removed. I was fairly happy with BESEECH early on, but I also had GREEK, OUT and TOWN for a while. In the end the four words were found to be BESEECH, LINK, TIGHT and ROTTER which can be rearranged to form GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON to give the poet his full name.
The second line of the poem is THE ROLLING ENGLISH DRUNKARD MADE THE ROLLING ENGLISH ROAD which is highlighted in the graphic below. It may look as if I was indeed the DRUNKARD as I drew the line, but I was sober at the time. I just have a very shaky hand. I know the line strays slightly into the wrong G at the end of the second ROLLING but as that was the nth attempt and all the previous one strayed further, I just accepted it!
It is an impressive piece of grid construction to design a set of words that maintain the symmetry of the grid whilst generating a string of letters that form a 50 character phrase from the North West corner towards the South East corner without crossing itself at any point.
There a couple of clues where I am not sure about the parsing. These are the ones for REUTER and TYROL. I think I have the both the constituent parts of REUTER OK, but am not sure how they fit together in the right order. For TYROL: I can’t see where the L comes from, but I can see that we need it to intersect with TILLED which was my last one in.
The diversity of the English language was apparent when KA was used twice in the wordplay with two completely different meanings – jackdaw; at 13 across and soul at 23 across.
There was a good wide range of clue types, with the device of selecting the first letters of consecutive names appearing a few times.
The graphic below shows the filled grid and the construction of the second line of the verse.
The title CIVIL ENGINEERING refers to road construction.
Thanks to Eclogue for an entertaining challenge. As ever, I learned something new about poetry whilst solving the puzzle.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue |
Letter Extra Word |
Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 |
The Fox’s frequent contributor, tense wife embracing champion (7) The Box’s frequent contributor, tense wife embracing champion (7) |
F –> B |
(T [tense] + UX [uxor, Latin for wife]) containing (embracing) HERO (champion) T (HERO) UX |
THEROUX (reference Louis THEROUX [born 1970], British documentary filmmaker, journalist and broadcaster who is frequently on television [the box]) |
| 6 |
Roars not acceptable late in disturbance (5) Rears not acceptable late in disturbance (5) |
O –> E |
RUMP RUMPS |
RUMPS (bottoms; rears) |
| 10 |
One may ply man in East London without a strong feeling (5) One may fly man in East London without a strong feeling (5) |
P –> F |
OU (informal word for a man in South Africa [East London is a city in South Africa]) + ZE OU ZEL |
OUZEL (bird; it may fly) |
| 11 |
Dalesman’s one who is leafing and not flicking (6) Dalesman’s one who is loafing and not flicking (6) |
E –> O |
Anagram of (flicking) AND NOT DONNAT* |
DONNAT (Yorkshire [dalesman] term for an idler or loafer) |
| 12 |
Buick’s main component formerly intrinsic to normal manufacturing (4) Brick’s main component formerly intrinsic to normal manufacturing (4) |
U –> R |
MALM (hidden word in [intrinsic to] NORMAL MANUFACTURING) MALM |
MALM (calcareous loam; earth of this kind, formerly used for making brick) |
| 13 |
Kiwi’s pattern of stops keeps controlling jackdaw in Hamilton (5) Kiwi’s pattern of steps keeps controlling jackdaw in Hamilton (5) |
O –> E |
HAS (keeps) containing (controlling) KA (Scottish [Hamilton is a town near Glasgow, aswell as being a town in New Zealand] word for jackdaw) HA (KA) S |
HAKAS (Maori [New Zealand; Kiwi] war dances [steps]) |
| 15 |
Aquatic planes deliver "NO" to Scots independence, annoying Sturgeon primarily (5) Aquatic plants deliver "NO" to Scots independence, annoying Sturgeon primarily (5) |
E –> T |
NA (Scots word for ‘no’) + IAS (first letters [primarily] of each of INDEPENDENCE, ANNOYING and STURGEON) NA IAS |
NAIAS (aquatic plant with narrow leaves and small flowers) |
| 16 |
Newsround once cut right to strike name (6) Newshound once cut right to strike name (6) |
R –> H |
I’m not entirely sure how this works but I think it is a combination of R (right) + R EUTER |
REUTER (reference Paul REUTER [1816-1899], German news reporter [newshound], who founded the news agency that bears his name) |
| 17 |
Gorman’s in charge here and life is merry (7) German’s in charge here and life is merry (7) |
O –> E |
Anagram of (merry) AND LIFE ANFIELD* |
ANFIELD (Liverpool Football Club play at ANFIELD. The Liverpool team manager, Jurgen Klopp [born 1967], is German) |
| 21 |
Beseech diocese to take note and be noted (4) Diocese to take note and be noted (4) |
BESEECH |
SEE (diocese) + N (note) SEE N |
SEEN (noted) |
| 23 |
Almost quiet soul lamenting scope (5) Almost quiet soul lamenting score (5) |
P –> R |
DUM DUM KA |
DUMKA (a lament; a slow movement or piece; lamenting score) |
| 24 |
Walter’s to rub government school the wrong way (4) Walter’s to rob government school the wrong way (4) |
U –> O |
(G [government] + GAM [school of whales]) all reversed (the wrong way) (MAG G)< |
MAGG (Sir Walter Scott’s word for steal or rob) |
| 26 |
Apple back in the day acquired energy in comeback (4) Ample back in the day acquired energy in comeback (4) |
P –> M |
(WON [acquired] + E [energy]) all reversed (in comeback) (E NOW)< |
ENOW (old [back in the day] word for enough; ample) |
| 27 |
Grand Canyon state busy with one of pre-Hispanic notion (5) Grand Canyon state busy with one of pre-Hispanic nation (5) |
O –> A |
AZ (Arizona, the American State in which the Grand Canyon is located) + TEC (detective; policeman; busy) AZ TEC |
AZTEC (civilization or nation that existed before the coming of the Spanish [Hispanic] conquerors) |
| 30 |
Greek turf in verse is sad on rainy day primarily (4) Green turf in verse is sad on rainy day primarily (4) |
K –> N |
SORD (first letters [primarily] of each of SAD, ON, RAINY and DAY) SORD |
SORD (form of sward [green turf] used by John Milton [poet]) |
| 32 |
Unusually virile international works out in depth (7) Unusually virile international works cut in depth (7) |
O –> C |
Anagram of (unusually) VIRILE + I (international) RILIEV* I |
RILIEVI (works in relief; works cut in depth) |
| 34 |
Tyke away in Edinburgh, one pinching car (6) Take away in Edinburgh, one pinching car (6) |
Y –> A |
AE (Scottish [Edinburgh] word for ‘one’) containing (pinching) MERC (Mercedes; car) A (MERC) E |
AMERCE (deprive; take away) |
| 36 |
Resits some European tests (5) Remits some European tests (5) |
S –> M |
ANTES (hidden word [some] in EUROPEAN TESTS) ANTES |
ANTES (advances money as payment; remits) |
| 37 |
Indication of acid from cheese mostly aged area of crusts ? (5) Indication of acid from cheese mostly aged area of crests ? (5) |
U –> E |
TYROL (I think is partly derived from TYROSINE (an amino acid formed by decomposition of proteins, first obtained from cheese) but TYRO is only half of TYROSINE rather than mostly. Also I don’t see where the L comes from. |
TYROL (ancient mountainous area [area of crests]) |
| 38 |
Lady Edna Clarke Hall originally lush? (4) Lady Edna Clarke Hall originally lust (4) |
H –> T |
LECH (first letters of [originally] each of LADY, EDNA, CLARKE and HALL) LECH |
LECH (lust) Until I wrote the blog I didn’t realise Lady Edna [1879 – 1979] was a real person, noted for watercolour illustrations of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. |
| 39 |
Turns out one hat that is turned in (6, 2 words) Turns out one hat that is turned on (6, 2 words) |
I –> O |
Anagram of (turn out) ONE HAT ON HEAT* |
ON HEAT (of a female, ready to mate; turned on) |
| 40 |
Case in point set up in favour of Maitre (5) Case in print set up in favour of Maitre (5) |
O –> R |
FOR (in favour of) + ME (Maitre) FOR ME |
FORME (metal type and blocks from which an impression is to be made, assembled and secured in a chase or frame ready for printing; case in print) |
| 41 |
Occupation of Shulock, American turning game on axis (5) Occupation of Shylock, American turning game on axis (5) |
U –>Y |
US (United States; American) + RU (Rugby Union; game) reversed (turning) + Y (an axis in co-ordinate geometry, or on a graph) US UR< Y |
USURY (old term for money lending, often at an exorbitant rate of interest. The occupation of Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice) |
| 42 |
Strangely allured holder of foe without superior (7) Strangely allured holder of fee without superior (7) |
O –> E |
Anagram of (strangely) ALLURED UDALLER* |
UDALLER (a holder of a fee ([feudal] tenure) without a feudal superior) |
| Down | ||||
| 1 |
Link vein limiting horse to weight capacity (7) Vein limiting horse to weight capacity (7) |
LINK |
TONE (character; vein can also be defined as a strain of character or ability) containing (limiting) NAG (horse) TON (NAG) E |
TONNAGE (cargo carrying capacity of a ship expressed in tons [weight capacity]) |
| 2 |
Strong smell, if old, could be bad perhaps (5) Strong smell, if old, could be bod perhaps (5) |
A –> O |
HUM (strong unpleasant smell) + AN (archaic [old] word for ‘if’) HUM AN |
HUMAN (person; bod) |
| 3 |
Beset railroad in attack (6) Reset railroad in attack (6) |
B –> R |
EL (elevated railroad) contained in (in) RAID (attack) R (EL) AID |
RELAID (laid or set again; reset) |
| 4 |
Visually impaired residents in specs, maybe, initially only look myopically, squinting (4) Visually impaired residents in speos, maybe, initially only look myopically, squinting (4) |
C –> O |
OLMS (first letters [initially] of each of ONLY, LOOK, MYOPICALLY and SQUINTING) OLMS |
OLMS (blind, cave-dwelling, eel-like salamanders of Europe; a speos is a grotto-temple or tomb, a bit like a cave) |
| 5 |
Remove net protection from hen confused in battered lum (6) Remove nut protection from hen confused in battered lum (6) |
E –> U |
Anagram of (confused) HEN contained in (in) an anagram of (battered) LUM U (NHE*) LM* |
UNHELM (take the HELMet or cap [protection] off a head [nut]) |
| 6 |
Country miss fair in the sun (4) Country mist fair in the sun (4) |
S –> T |
OK (okay; alright; fair) contained in (in) RE (alternative spelling of Ra, the ancient Egyptian sun god) R (OK) E |
ROKE (dialect [country] term for ‘mist’) |
| 7 |
Engaged in fun Australian-style are denizens of the free world? (5) Engaged in fun Australian-style are denizens of the tree world? (5) |
F –> T |
UNUAS (hidden word in [engaged in] FUN AUSTRALIAN-STYLE) UNAUS |
UNAUS (two toed sloths [tree dwelling mammals]; denizens of the tree world) |
| 8 |
With speed mine fold prepared in spring (7, 2 words) With speed mine food prepared in spring (7, 2 words) |
L –> O |
PACE (speed) + EGG (slang term for ‘bomb’ or ‘mine’) PACE EGG |
PACE EGG (an Easter egg, one hard-boiled and dyed; food prepared in Spring) |
| 9 |
Midwesterner holds iron tight (5) Midwesterner holds iron (5) |
TIGHT |
STERN (hidden word in [holds] MIDWESTERNER) STERN |
STERN (unyielding; hard; iron) |
| 14 |
Once perhaps vale of stone senate ordered (6) Once perhaps vase of stone senate ordered (6) |
L –> S |
Anagram of (ordered) SENATE STEANE* |
STEANE (a stone or earthenware container with two handles, similar to a vase) |
| 18 |
It’s inside head of vug or left out (6) It’s inside head of veg or left out (6) |
U –> E |
Anagram of (out) OR LEFT FLORET* |
FLORET (one of the branches in the head of a cauliflower or broccoli.[vegetables]) |
| 19 |
Will’s lamb embodying universal mersion of Owen, perhaps (4) Will’s lamb embodying universal version of Owen, perhaps (4) |
M –> V |
EAN (Shakespearean [Will’s] term for ‘lamb’ – Chambers actually lists EAN as ‘to give birth’ whilst using EANling for lamb) containing (embodying) U (universal) E (U) AN |
EUAN (an Irish and Scots Gaelic version of the Welsh name Owen) |
| 20 |
Indian true to sound of toil (4) Indian tree to sound of toil (4) |
U –> E |
BAEL (sounds like [to sound of] BAIL[toil away removing water from a boat for instance]) BAEL |
BAEL (a thorny Indian rutaceous tree) |
| 22 |
Gods casting shadows are said to recognise Burmese (7) Rods casting shadows are said to recognise Burmese (7) |
G –> R |
GNO (sounds like [are said to] KNOW) + MONS (people inhabiting parts of Myanmar, previously known as Burma) GNO MONS |
GNOMONS (upright rods for taking the sun’s altitude by its shadow) |
| 25 |
Chewing gristle is something sheep might do (7) Chewing gristle is something sheen might do (7) |
P –> N |
Anagram of (chewing) GRISTLE GLISTER* |
GLISTER (to sparkle, as sheen [shine; lustre] may do) |
| 28 |
Rotter worked little daughter cruelly, one time only (6) Worked little daughter cruelly, one time only (6) |
ROTTER |
Anagram of (worked) LIT TILLE* D |
TILLED (worked the land) |
| 29 |
Component of oily lice on nuts (6) Component of oils lice on nuts (6) |
Y –> S |
Anagram of (nuts) LICE ON CINEOL* |
CINEOL (eucalyptol, a camphor-smelling disinfectant liquid obtained from several essential oils, such as eucalyptus, wormwood and cajuput) |
| 30 |
Tulsa journal describes creature with extended nail (5) Tulsa journal describes creature with extended tail (5) |
N –> T |
SAJOU (hidden word in [describes] TULSA JOURNAL) SAJOU |
SAJOU (capuchin or spider monkey, a creature with a long tail) |
| 31 |
What might aid communist rising involving railway (5) What might air communist rising involving railway (5) |
D –> R |
RED (communist) ;reversed (rising; down clue) containing (involving) RY (railway) D (RY) ER< |
DRYER (something that dries or airs) |
| 33 |
Moats concerning old Prussian? Very upset is he with me (5) Moots concerning old Prussian? Very upset is he with me (5) |
A –> O |
V (very) + an anagram of (upset) HE and ME V EHME* |
VEHME (medieval German court [moot] in which initiated persons held power from the emperor to try capital cases in public or in secret, their lower officers executing the guilty on the spot or where they could find them) |
| 35 |
Aquatic animal from town under the sun in Cyprus (4) Aquatic animal from down under the sun in Cyprus (4) |
T –> D |
RA (ancient Egyptian sun god) contained in (in) CY (International Vehicle Registration for Cyprus) C (RA) Y |
CRAY (Australian / New Zealand [down under] term for a crayfish [aquatic animal] – word found in Collins and the Oxford Dictionary of English) |
| 36 |
Abraham Lincoln’s farewell address chiefly contributing to loaves going into baskets? Abraham Lincoln’s farewell address chiefly contributing to leaves going into baskets? (4) |
O –> E |
ALFA (first letters [chiefly] of each of ABRAHAM, LINCOLN, FAREWELL and ADDRESS) ALFA |
ALFA (North African esparto grass; used for making paper, baskets, cordage, etc ; leaves going into baskets) |
Thanks (and Happy New Year) to Eclogue and duncanshiell. Another enjoyable IQ, gratifying to me since I know the whole poem and guessed it early on seeing RYE.
For 16A I vaguely supposed that the R-for-right was supposed to strike out the N in NEUTER, though it seemed a bit of a stretch. The cheesy chemical is also known as TYROSIN, so the “most” construction works; dunno about the L.
I took “indication of” to mean an abbreviation (in Chambers) of Tyr for Tyrosine then OLd (aged, mostly).
I enjoyed this very much and I know the poem well, so no need for Google this time. Great fun.
Thanks to all.
Chambers gives “Tyr” as an abbreviation of “tyrosine”, “ol” = ol(d), i.e. ‘mostly aged’.
R(ight) ‘strikes’ the N in NEUTER, as David Langford @1 suggests.
Thanks to Ec & Log for the puzzle and to Duncan for the log. Happy NY to all.
I had the same difficulty with REUTER.
In TYROL, TYR is an abbreviation for ‘tyrosine’ (Chambers) and OL is ‘mostly aged’ (OL[D]).
Thoroughly enjoyed. I did though come a cropper on 10ac which I couldn’t parse, and therefore guessed that it was most likely an S rather than a Z. Oh well… 🙂
Happy New Year everyone!
(Apologies for repeating! I did check before writing but not just before posting in case my message disappeared.)
I approached the clues with the idea that they were all of the second type with a misprinted letter, and whenever that didn’t work I looked for a redundant word instead. In that way I readily found the clues that made up that set of four and identified the redundant words ‘beseech’, ‘link’ and ‘rotter’ as certainties, plus ‘tight’ or ‘iron’ from the clue for STERN. I couldn’t solve the anagram, but I didn’t really attempt it, as I expected to get enough of the verse to either recognise it or find it.
I vaguely recognised the line of verse that appeared and remembered some of the rest of the poem when I looked it up. Tracing the second line was quite straightforward and good fun – I liked the way it rolled ‘at random’ through the grid. Considering how much of the grid was taken up with it the gridfill was remarkable.
Apart from the little bit of trouble I had with Reuter I thought the clues were excellent, and I enjoyed having to find the misprinted letters.
Thanks to Eclogue and Duncan.
I enjoyed this; like others I recognised the quote pretty soon so didn’t need to tackle the author anagram. My only quibble was “remits” as the definition of “antes” at 36 ac, which I thought was a bit of a stretch. I amused myself at the end of the tracing exercise by doing a little loop: you drop down from the G at the end of PACE EGG and continue with the E and the N at the end of STEANE before moving up to the penultimate G in PACE EGG and then down to pick up the L in GLISTER. It means using the N in STEANE twice, but I thought that was exactly the sort of thing a drunkard might do!
Enjoyed it. Didn’t know the poem, but it was easy enough to find online. Thanks for the fun, Eclogue
Lots of fairly obscure words (to me, anyway) assisted by a number of fairly straightforward clues, with more than the usual doses of straight anagrams, embedded answers and initial letters. I had a bit of trouble parsing AZTEC: in my sheltered life, I had not encountered “busy” to mean a detective. Instead, I took it to be an anagrind for etc, a possible meaning of “with”.
A satisfying finish once the quotation was revealed. Congratulations to Eclogue on the civil engineering which produced the drunken stagger – no wonder there were so many funny words!
Thanks to them and to Duncan for another comprehensive blog.
A Happy New Year to one and all.
A very enjoyable puzzle, hard but not impossible, with a reasonable, not-too-complicated preamble. I didn’t know the poem but it was a pleasure to identify GKC and to track it down from there – he’s not a poet I’ve ever studied, but I may read some more now.
Re: 20 down – I read “toil” as “toll” and the answer “bael” then sounds like “peal” or maybe “bell”?
Thankyou Eclogue, and Duncanshiell for the explanatory blog – I too had “ousel” but couldn’t parse it – seems so obvious now!
re: 20 down (Amateur@10). I was also pondering this one as it was definitely printed as TOLL. I wondered whether it might refer to a fee, and therefore ‘bael’ sounding like ‘bail’.
Thanks Eclogue, a very good puzzle to end the year.
comments @10 & 11 regarding 20d: yes it was “toll” in the clue; and “bael” is pronounced the same as “bell”.
Amateur@10, Kippax@11 and Holy Ghost@12
Sorry, the confusion is down to my poor eyesight or poor typing. The spellchecker didn’t pick up ‘toil’ as a typo because it is a valid word.
The clue should indeed say ‘toll’