Enigmatic Variations No. 1423: Dozen by Ifor

My solving notes for DOZEN by Ifor just say ‘bl00dy hard’!…

The preamble states that:

“A DOZEN clues each contain two or three extra words (not always consecutive, or in thematic order); these extra words will assist with an unclued, shaded (for convenience only) entry sharing a cell with that clue’s entry. Every remaining clue contains one extra word having only one letter not present in its answer. In clue order and interspersed, these letters give two definitions of a word to be abbreviated in the central cell. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”

Which is fairly complicated, and took a few re-reads to get my head round. Not sure I would have persisted if it hadn’t been my turn to blog…but needs must when the devil takes the hindmost…

Lots to bear in mind…there were some fairly ‘verbose’ clues – e.g. 11A, 4D – which looked like they would be candidates for the ‘two or three’ extra words, and after a while I sort of worked out that the single extra words were more likely to be among the shorter words in their clues, given the constraint of matching most of the entry’s letters.

With 10 days to solve before submission, plus a few more before blog publication, a puzzle of this level usually becomes a dip-in-dip-out exercise, and I just chipped away over many 5-10 minute sessions before getting any sort of foothold. After a couple of days and maybe 2 hours of solving, I had about three quarters of the grid solved, and several extra letters from single words, but not a lot of sense out of the multi-word extras.

The first (of several) PDMs was getting UMAMI as the likely entry bottom left, and the extra words ‘savoury’ and ‘flavour’  in 23A. One down, 11 to go! The devious 11A took some checking of the Periodic Table to eventually get AlNaGe – which left the decoys ‘three’, ‘eight’ and ‘nine’ as extra words –  but no obvious link there.

At some point, probably after ISSEI and SOROBAN had been wheedled in, I twigged that maybe they were all going to be Japanese words, and gradually KABUKI, GAGAKU and IKEBANA appeared, plus NIPPON, YAKUZA, KARATE, etc.

So, after 3 hours work and several elapsed days, I had a just-about-completed grid, and a feeling that the central letter should be a J, for Japan. However, I had neglected the extra letters and their ‘interspersing’ in my focus on the grid. So, some concentrated effort there eventually gave me:

B L A O C K R D A V A I N R N I A S C I S E R I H C

which gradually crystallised into

BLACK VARNISH and ORDAIN AS CLERIC

Both of which are Chambers definitions of (lower-cased) japan – which, combined with the general theme of the dozen Japanese words, confirmed J as the central cell:

 

Wow – as I said earlier ‘bl00dy hard’!

‘Arigato’ to Ifor-san for a meaty challenge and some education in the derivation of some words I thought I already knew!

It was only while writing up the blog and checking/cross-referencing the extra words that I realised they are most/all in the Chambers definitions as the multi-part literal translations of their words – e.g. YAKUZA comes from YA (eight) KU (nine) ZA (three) – the worst hand of cards in a Japanese gambling game. KABUKI is literally KA (song) + BU (dance) + KI (skill), etc.

I think that is everything covered – except maybe the title? Is it something clever like DO ZEN? Or just because there are twelve thematic words?

Many clever and devious clues, and some nice surface readings – given the amount of thematic material that was being woven in. I think my only parsing shortfall was in the use of ‘red’ in 36D – any clarifications/alternative explanations welcomed…

 

Across
Clue No	Extra word(s)/ Letters	Entry	Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing (or ‘transferred’ definition)
x		SOROBAN	Thematic deduction (7) / calculating board – from 2D
x		SAIKEI	Thematic deduction (6) / cultivation scenery – from 7D
9	sun origin	DIVI	Share origin of sun gods, mostly by way of Latin (4) / DI (gods, Latin plural of deus) + VI(A) (mostly via, or by way of, again in Latin!)
10	B – bill	ANNULI	Rings head to investigate following void bill (6) / ANNUL (void) plus (followed by) I (head, or first letter, of Investigate)
11	eight, nine, three	ALNAGE	Reordering of three, eight, nine, eleven, thirteen and thirty-two from a table symbolically finished inspection of material (6) / Periodic table elements 11, 13 and 32 are Na, Al and Ge, symbolically. Re-ordered, they give ALNAGE! ‘Finished’ implies an obsolete word, so is part of the definition.
12	L – people	PROWESS	Daring people without losing head, taking soft line at the start (7) / P (piano, soft) + ROW (line) + (L)ESS (without, losing first letter, or head)
13	A – cheap	KETCHUP	Lots of cheap bits cut into revolting sauce (7) / K (kilobyte, lots of bits!) + ETCH (cut into) + UP (revolting, in rebellion)
15	or – O	URVA	Mongoose fur, or valuable hides? (4) / hidden word in ‘fUR VAluable’
18	first generation	DELATE	Generation pass on in history, proud to have died first at the front (6) / ELATE(D) (proud) with D – died – going to the front = DELATE
19	C – encase	SIXAINE	Several lines of verse encase anxieties expressing alien changes (7) / anag, i.e. changes, of ANXI(ET)IES, dropping, or expressing ET – extra-terrestrial, or alien
22	K – week	LWEI	Struggling while spending hot week in bits of Angola (4) / anag, i.e. struggling, of W(H)ILE, dropping, or spending, H – hot
x		AIKIDO	Thematic deduction (6) / harmonise breath doctrine – from 4D
23	savoury flavour	UNIT	Savoury immunities masking individual flavour (4) / hidden word in, i.e. masked by, ‘immUNITies’
25	series – R	SKEPSIS	Broadcast series spikes singular doubt in philosophy (7) / SKEPSI (anag, i.e. broadcast, of SPIKES) + S (singular)
27	damn – D	MANOAO	Ox that’s damn wild, trapped in second shrub (6) / M_O (a moment, or second) around (trapping) ANOA (wiild ox)
30	apt – A	TIPI	Hide construction apt to infuriate pedants in choosing their headings (4) / first letters, or choosing their headings, of ‘To Infuriate Pedants In’
32	song dance skill	BATTILY	Dance crazily by keeping at song and backing literary skill (7) / B_Y around (keeping) AT + TIL (lit, or literary, backing)
34	V – bravo	MARABOU	Bravo, bravo – paramour uncovered criminal silk (7) / anag, i.e. criminal, of B – bravo plus (P)ARAMOU(R) – uncovered
35	world life picture	BORNEO	Picture large island life limited to ocean world originally (6) / BORNÉ (limited, narrow-minded) + O (Ocean, originally)
37	A – initiator	INTRON	Initiator beginning to piece new sequence of genes (6) / INTRO (beginning to musical piece) + N (new)
38	nine – I	KENO	Nine thousand turning on electronic gambling game in Vegas (4) / K (one thousand) + ENO (ON plue E – electronic, all turning)
x		KARATE	Thematic deduction (6) / empty hand – from 31D
Down
Clue No	Extra word(s)/ Letters	Entry	Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing (or ‘transferred’ definition)
1	seen – N	OILERS	Labourers seen wasting tons refuelling ships (6) / (T)OILERS (workers) losing, or wasting, T – time
2	calculating board	RENT	Calculating cost of hiring room split board (4) / double defn. RENT can be the cost of hiring a room; and also split/torn.
3	R – door	ODA	Trouble over chamber door in harem (3) / ODA = ADO, or trouble, reversed, or over
4	harmonise breath doctrine	BIGHEADS	Harmonise Trump’s conceits, expecting to be exhausted with his bad breath rubbishing doctrine (8) / anag, i.e. rubbishing, of ExpectinG (exhausted of its contents) + HIS BAD
x		NIPPON	Thematic deduction (6) / sun origin – from 9A
5	N – adorns	SAROD	Instrument that’s plucked while standing up adorns bar (5) / SA (as, or while, standing up) + ROD (bar)
6	I – alien	ANOLE	Alien lizard left for dead in a lump (5) / A + NO(D)(L)E (lump, with L – left – replacing D – dead)
7	cultivation scenery	INWALL	Enclose cultivation, with scenery inside belonging to everyone (6) / IN (belonging to) + ALL (everyone), around W (with)
8	seal – A	ELSE	Seal, otherwise cancel security guards (4) / hidden word in, i.e. guarded by, ‘cancEL SEcurity’
x		YAKUZA	Thematic deduction (6) / eight, nine, three – from 11A
x		ISSEI	Thematic deduction (5) / first generation – from 18A
14	was – S	HAWAII	State that uncovered alibi was sometimes protecting witness’s head (6) / (T)HA(T) uncovered + AII (alternate letters, i.e. sometimes, of AlIbI), around (protecting) W (head, or first letter, of Witness)
16	kick – C	VIKING	Kick relations into excessive interest in Boston pirate (6) / VI_G (US – i.e. Boston – slang, vigorish, excessive interest on a loan) around KIN (relations, family)
17	soil – L	GIOS	Good soil exists, overshadowing Ohio gullies (4) / G (good) + I_S (exists) around (overshadowing) O (Ohio)
20	S – see	EGER	See bore keen to avoid answer (4) / E(A)GER (keen) avoiding A – answer
21	graceful music	CAPSTONE	Players selected mood music, finishing piece of graceful structure (8) / CAPS (sport, players selected) + TONE (mood)
x		UKIYO-E	Thematic deduction (6) / world life picture – from 35A
x		UMAMI	Thematic deduction (5) / savoury flavour  – from 21A
24	terror – E	TOTARA	Terror before a rat climbs tree (6) / TO (before, as in ten to nine) + TARA (a rat, climbing)
x		KABUKI	Thematic deduction (6) / song dance skill – from 32A
26	arranged flowers	SPLEEN	Referred to hiding place, arranged once melancholy flowers (6) / S_EEN (referred to) around (hiding) PL (place)
28	bar – R	ABBOT	Prelate accepted lifting bar against books (5) / A (accepted) + BB (books) + OT (to, or before, lifting)
29	ionize – I	OZONE	Ionize gas, one having little weight on it (5) / OZ (abbreviation, i.e. little, of ounce, weight) + ONE
31	empty hand	CANA	Hand facilities over before empty wedding venue (4) / CAN (slang for toilet, or facilities) + A (before)
33	H – chain	INCA	Chain of lost Americans alight on borders of California (4) / IN (alight, as in a fire being ‘in’) + CA (bordering letters of CaliforniA)
36	orc – C	ROB	Black or red orc fleece (3) / B (black) + OR – either returned (red = revolutionary?) or anagrammed (red = put in order?)