It’s over four years since Ferret last appeared as an Inquisitor setter. That puzzle, in January 2016, involved Tarzan moving across the grid by swinging on lianas. I wonder what Ferret has in this store this time around.
There was a fairly short preamble this week that told us that wordplay in down clues leads to an extra letter not entered in the grid. In clue order these letters give an instruction to solvers. Solvers must shade two eight-letter words connected to the theme; change one letter in the fool to give the man’s name and highlight both the means by which he displayed his foolishness and the course that led to this display (both six letters).
First thing to note was the shape of the grid with the two triangles at the top of each of the two sets of three outer columns. The first thing that came to my mind was a bouncy castle.
The across clues were normal, so I started off with them and I got off to a good start with PSI, DEXTRAL and OUTWALK at 4, 10 and 13. 1 across was almost certainly every setter’s favourite piece of three letter underwear but I couldn’t see how to parse it until well into writing the blog The downs 4, 5 and 6 followed fairly soon after as PRIMERO, SADDHU and ILEUM. In fact the grid built up fairly quickly compared to some weeks.
The fool appeared at 27 down as PILLOCK.
The message from the extra wordplay letters in the down clue soon threw up SHADE (a common word in messages to solvers) and TOWERS and BRIDGE were looking likely. So much for the bouncy castle!. When all clues were solved, the full message was SHADE TWO TOWERS OF THE BRIDGE. In terms of 8 letter words for shading – WALKWAYS and BASCULES [an existing entry] seemed obvious candidates. With the shading of the 8 letter words done, the image of TOWER BRIDGE was fairly clear.
I still didn’t fully understand the theme at this point. However, a bit of research threw up the story of Alan POLLOCK. I learnt that he Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident occurred on 5 April 1968 when Royal Air Force Hawker Hunter pilot, Flight Lieutenant Alan POLLOCK performed unauthorised low flying over several London landmarks and then flew through the span of Tower Bridge on the Thames. POLLOCK was appropriately one letter different from PILLOCK, so the letter was changed in the grid. The change still left the grid with real words as LOBI changed to LOBO. HUNTER was an existing entry, nicely central in the grid, and as an extra thematic touch, was derived from a clue using the word hawker. That left the course and there flowing gently under the bridge in the bottom row was THAMES, also neatly centred. POLLOCK was protesting about the government’s failure to recognise the 50th anniversary of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The RAF was formed on 1st April 1918. Perhaps not surprisingly, POLLOCK ceased to be a serving officer immediately after the incident. He was arrested after landing and invalided out of the service rather than being dismissed at a court-martial.
Thanks to Ferret for an enjoyable crossword and endgame.
The title APRIL FOOL is fairly self explanatory. The incident happened in APRIL and the pilot was FOOLish.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No |
Clue |
Wordplay |
|
Entry |
| 1 |
Shortened shorts revealing underwear (3) |
BRA BRA |
BRA (underwear) | |
| 4 |
Private Eye receives second letter (3) |
PI (Private Investigator; Private Eye) containing (receives) S (second) P (S) I |
PSI (letter of the Greek alphabet) | |
| 7 |
Brutal blade recoiled (6) |
LAMINA (leaf blade) reversed (recoiled) ANIMAL< |
ANIMAL (brutal) | |
| 10 |
Minor actor left to follow director, right? (7) |
D (director) + EXTRA (person temporarily engaged for a minor part in a film, etc, eg to be one of a crowd; minor actor) + L (left) D EXTRA L |
DEXTRAL (right) | |
| 13 |
Hike further than pass, going around uppermost hollow before short ridge … (7) |
OK (accept; pass) containing (going round) (UT [first and last letters of U O (UT WAL) K |
OUTWALK (hike further than) | |
| 15 |
…with wild daisy by eastern edge of path (7) |
W (with) + an anagram of (wild) DAISY + E (eastern) W AYSID* E |
WAYSIDE (border of a way, path or highway) |
|
| 16 |
Access ground on banks of Rhine (8) |
RE (first and last letters of [banks of] RHINE) + COURSE (ground) RE COURSE |
RECOURSE (access) | |
| 17 |
Oppose changing Carry on Sergeant’s ending (8) |
Anagram of (change) CARRY ON and T (final letter of [ending] SERGEANT) CONTRARY* |
CONTRARY ([as a verb] oppose) | |
| 18 |
What breaks field marshal in German court? (4) |
EH (expression indicating failure to hear; what?) contained in (breaks) FM (Field Marshall) F (EH) M |
FEHM (medieval German [especially Westphalian] court in which initiated persons held power from the emperor to try capital cases in public or in secret) |
|
| 19 |
Massive clamour surrounds opening of Goldfinger (4) |
HUE (clamour) containing (surrounds) G (first letter of [opening of] GOLDFINGER) HU (G) E |
HUGE (massive) | |
| 20 |
Nick middle of arm as far as bone (7) |
STIR (prison; nick) + R (central letter of [middle of] ARM) + UP (as far as) STIR R UP |
STIRRUP (bone in the middle ear) | |
| 23 |
Key passage missing adjective (4) |
ISLE |
ISLE (a KEY is a low island or reef) | |
| 25 |
Hawker’s customer given heroin instead of pot at first (6) |
HUNTER |
HUNTER (a HAWKER is a person who HUNTs with a HAWK) | |
| 26 |
Trilobite possesses broad segmented divisions (4) |
LOBI (hidden word in [possesses] TRILOBITE) LOBI |
LOBI (plural of LOBUS [lobe; broad, especially rounded, segmental division) |
|
| 28 |
Reads about Obama protecting American society (7) |
Anagram of (about) OBAMA containing (protecting) (A [American] + S [society]) ABOM (A S) A* |
ABOMASA (the fourth or true stomachs of ruminants; READS can be similarly defined) |
|
| 32 |
Shakespeare’s equal appears in the gallery (4) |
EGAL (hidden word in [appears in] THE GALLERY) EGAL |
EGAL (Shakespearean word for equal) | |
| 34 |
Active bet on game (4) |
GO (bet) + GO (a board game) GO GO |
GOGO (active) | |
| 36 |
Free bulb with Elle produces flower (8) |
Anagram of (free … produces) BULB and ELLE BLUEBELL* |
BLUEBELL (flower) | |
| 37 |
Supply usable self-contained counterpoised apparatus (8) |
Anagram of (supply, from the adjective supple) USABLE and S/C (self contained) BASCULES* |
BASCULES (Apparatus, one end of which rises as the other sinks; also a BASCULE bridge [one with one or more sections that rise when a counterpoise sinks in a pit]) |
|
| 38 |
Los Angeles business centre accepts current influence of non-professionals (7) |
(LA [Los Angeles] + CITY [business centre]) containing (accepts) I (electric current) LA (I) CITY |
LAICITY (the influence of the laity [non-professionals]) |
|
| 39 |
Stray bum in charge of woodhouses (7) |
Anagram of (bum) STRAY + I/C (in charge) SATYR* IC |
SATYRIC (of woodland people, presumably who live in woodhouses) | |
| 40 |
Thorn isn’t able to pierce a hyena’s flanks (7) |
CAN’T (cannot; is unable to) contained in (to pierce) (A + HA [first and last letters of [flanks] HYENA) A CANT HA |
ACANTHA (thorn or prickle) | |
| 41 |
Mostly co-ordinate support for person of mixed race (6) |
MES MES TEE |
MESTEE (offspring of a white person and a quadroon; person of mixed race) |
|
| Down | ||||
| No. |
Clue |
Wordplay | Letter | Entry |
| 1 |
Robin has arranged around 100 small branches in organ (8) |
Anagram of (arranged) ROBIN HAS containing (around) C (Roman numeral for 100) BRON (C) HIA* |
S |
BRONCHIA (small branches of the windpipe [organ of the respiratory system]) |
| 2 |
Harsh race to acquire gold company (7) |
RUSH (race) containing (to acquire) (AU [chemical symbol for gold] + CO [company]) R (AU CO) US |
H |
RAUCOUS (harsh) |
| 3 |
Using social workers to clean ring collection first (6) |
ANA (collection of someone’s table talk or of gossip, literary anecdotes or possessions) + TING (ring) AN TING |
A |
ANTING (the use by birds of live ants [workers who operate together; social workers] or other stimulants into their plumage, possibly as a pleasurable means of cleaning it and their skin) |
| 4 |
Fill runs to finish card game (7) |
PRIME (fill a gun with powder) + R (runs) + DO (finish) PRIME R O |
D |
PRIMERO (old card game) |
| 5 |
Criminal had used Hindu holy man (6) |
Anagram of (criminal) HAD USED SADDHU* |
E |
SADDHU (Hindu holy man) |
| 6 |
I suffer having centre of lump inside part of lower gut (5) |
I + (LET [suffer] containing [having … inside] UM [middle letters of {centre of LUMP]) I LE (UM) |
T |
ILEUM (lowest part of the small intestine) |
| 8 |
Calcified seaweed we found in sedimentary rock (5) |
WE contained in (found in) MARL (calcareous clay; sedimentary rock) MA (E) RL |
W |
MAERL (calcified red seaweed)
|
| 9 |
A passage in a book introducing anonymous European poet (7) |
A + (LOCUS [passage in a book] containing (introducing] A [anonymous] + E [European]) A LC (A E) US |
O |
ALCAEUS (reference ALCAEUS of Mytilene [641BC – 560BC] was a lyric poet from the Greek island of Lesbos) |
| 11 |
Tea with vacuous royal nobleman (4) |
TEA + R EA RL |
T |
EARL (nobleman) |
| 12 |
Neat yard leads to some typical Ionic porticos (5) |
OX (domestic cow; neat) + Y (yard) + STI (first letters of [leads to] each of SOME, TYPICAL and IONIC) X Y S T I |
O |
XYSTI (covered porticos) |
| 14 |
Pan up to show Australian capital (6) |
WOK (hemispherical pan used in Chinese cookery) reversed (up; down clue) + RUN (show, as in a film RUNning at the cinema) + A (Australian) KO< RUN A |
W |
KORUNA (currency [capital] in s the Czech Republic and Slovakia) |
| 20 |
Needle still stuck up inside unfinished protective coat (6) |
YET (still) reversed (stuck up; down clue) contained in (inside) SLUS S (TY<) LUS |
E |
STYLUS (cutting needle used in making gramophone records) |
| 21 |
Regulate faulty scales (7) |
Anagram of (faulty) REGULATE TEGULAE* |
R |
TEGULAE (scales at the base of the forewing in some insects) |
| 22 |
Jam stuck on bottom of beer mug (7) |
PILS (lager beer) + LOCK (jam) PIL LOCK |
S |
PILLOCK (stupid or foolish person) |
| 24 |
Soldier in emblem on top of amusement arcade (6) |
(GI [American soldier] contained in (in) LOGO [symbol of an organisation; emblem]) + A (first letter of [top of] AMUSEMENT) LOG (GI) |
O |
LOGGIA (covered open arcade) |
| 27 |
Short cut used in Sauchiehall Street, before bringing in supermarket chain (6) |
BEF (before) containing (bringing in) + ALDI (supermarket chain) B (ALDI) E |
F |
BALDIE (over-short haircut in Scotland [Sauchiehall Street is in Glasgow]) |
| 29 |
Auntie traps chief species of marmot (5) |
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation affectionately known as Auntie) containing (traps) OBA (West African chief) B (OBA) C |
B |
BOBAC (species of marmot) |
| 30 |
Look for green island (5) |
RAW (inexperienced; green) + AIT (small island AW AIT |
R |
AWAIT (wait or look for) |
| 31 |
Website employee holds up matches (5) |
MEETIS (hidden word reversed in [holds up; down clue] WEBSITE EMPLOYEE) MEETS< |
I |
MEETS (fulfils; matches) |
| 33 |
Dope found on socialist, artistic type (5) |
GEN (information; dope) + RED (socialist) GEN RE |
D |
GENRE (literary or artistic type or style) |
| 34 |
Silence descending over Louisiana sporting occasion (4) |
GAG (silence) + LA (Louisiana) GA LA |
G |
GALA (sporting occasion) |
| 35 |
She wrongly arrests alien resident in Baltic state (4) |
Anagram of (wrongly) SHE containing (arrests) ET (extraterrestrial; alien) ES (T) H* |
E |
ESTH (native of Estonia, one of the Baltic States) |
An enjoyable puzzle that wasn’t too tricky I thought. I failed miserably on the shading front, shading only the triangular bits at the top, figuring that they were the towers and the bottom bits were, well, something else. I never claimed to be an expert on architecture.
Loved this! I really like the way HAWKER became HUNTER in this. Neat touch! Thanks to Duncanshiell for the blog and Ferret for an enjoyable puzzle.
Yes, my experience was the same as yours Duncan. I spent some time looking for information about the bus that jumped over the opening bascules – to no avail. Then a bit more research gave the flying incident. A visit to the bridge, a walk over the walkway to see the exhibition and a trip to see the bascule engines is well worth while!
An enjoyable solve, so thanks to Ferret.
I too enjoyed ths: it developed in a very satisfying way, with a couple of possible thematic elements that could complement each other (THAMES appearing along the bottom and TOWERS forming from some of the extra letters).
Some of the Down clues were tough purely because of the difficulty in guessing and/or working out what letter was needed to make a longer ‘word’ from the wordplay. With a bit of perseverance I got all except four of the letters, and it was possible then to be certain of the entire message. I ended up with just the I missing from BRIDGE, not spotting that string of letters MEETIS in the clue.
I saw the ‘fool’ (PILLOCK) and guessed Pollock, and from that I found a brief account of the fanous incident in April 1968 that I had completely forgotten about. HUNTER was then easy to count as significant, being in the right place and having six letters, but finding the 8-letter words took rather longer.
Thanks to Ferret and Duncan.
It took me ages to spot the course despite THAMES being in a prominent position in the grid. Otherwise not too hard and most enjoyable. Like the blogger I got BRA right away but the parsing eluded me until I had almost finished solving.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I am glad that the editors of IQ and Listener puzzles haven’t (yet) given us a series of stinkers during the lockdown. These are depressing times and I for one prefer to have my spirits uplifted by puzzles which are fun!
I agree with Cruciverbophile @5. Giving regular solvers something less taxing is good for the spirits but it might also tempt new solvers onto the scene, now that some have more free time than before.
Got the bridge all right, and the river, and I could see where the fool was coming from, but left it at that. Good story.
Very nice puzzle, thanks to Ferret and Duncan.
I too agree with cruciverbophile (@5) about the kind of puzzles we are getting. In fact I took up the Listener again after a gap of too many years to count and have enjoyed all four that I have done so far. I wouldn’t call any of these puzzles easy, but they are not stinkers!
I got BRA straightaway, but it remained unparsed till I read this blog, so thanks for that.
And I do like a good Ferret. Thanks to setter – not too easy, not too hard, some good touches and a rather fine grid construction.
Well, that was fun!
We’ve been sending copies of IQ puzzles we have enjoyed to our son and this was one of them.
HolyGhost’s last sentence @9 says it all.
Thanks to Duncan as well. We didn’t know the full story about the incident.
I loved this, but fell at the last hurdle, so to speak. I was convinced the puzzle referred to the guy who bought London Bridge, thinking it was Tower Bridge (mind you,that might be an urban myth). His name was Robert P McCulloch, which was tantalisingly close to Pollock, but not close enough!!
As soon as I saw the grid I remembered an earlier grid of Ferret’s. A look into Holy Ghost’s archive revealed ‘Childs Play’ in 2015 by Ferret. The grid also featured a couple of tower tops. That was a joy of cutting and folding. I wondered if we were in for the same. No, but still a good puzzle. Ferret’s original featured the child’s verse: here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors, there are the people. I saw a Covid-19 version only the other day: Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors, where are the people. I hope we see Ferrett again before another 4 years are up.