It has been SHORTS weather a lot recently – has Piccadilly been putting his(?) knobbly knees on display?!
The (SHORT and sweet) preamble states that:
“In SHORTS, clashes between across and down answers must be resolved so that each entry has exactly one misprinted letter and each row contains a thematic item. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; one answer is an abbreviation.”
OK – so no extra/misprinted letters in clues/wordplay, ‘just’ a few clashes to resolve and some thematic words to find? Simples! Or so I thought…
As I worked through this, and re-read the preamble, I realised that every entry was going to have at least one clash, to give that ‘exactly one misprinted letter‘. And so it turned out – 50 clashes – surely a record for a 13×13 puzzle?!
I made quite speedy progress from the top – rare for me, as I often end up straying to the bottom right and those shorter clues where maybe the setter was running out of energy/brain cells. When clashes are expected, my approach is usually to print a magnified grid (or just write smaller, in pencil) and enter Across clues in the top right corner of each cell, Downs in the bottom left, and then circle/highlight the clashes as they appear.
I soon found my first clash at ERRAND/BIKER. BIKER also disagreed with CARIBOU, LAIRS , ABSENT and GLAND – so just the 5 clashes in 5 letters there!
Once I had YURT clashing with ADIPOSE at 6A/D, my double-lettered cells hinted at …(B/R)RAND|(Y/A)…across the top row, and the BOU of CARIBOU looked like it would make BOURBON – with the BON from EBONY in row 2. After 15 minutes or so, ABS(E/I)NT|HEARTY made the heart grow fonder in the fourth row, and it was clear that self-isolation/social distancing has driven Piccadilly to drink!
From then on it was pretty plain sailing, in terms of solving clues and finding the drinks – GLAND|M|ANNIE|R raised a smile as it blurred into GRAND MARNIER! I originally saw just KIR in the second row, but that soon became KIRSCH, with KIR making a solo appearance in sKIRt further down. (Update – it is actually RAKI in row 9 – see comment #2 below!)
Towards the end I was left with 23A and 30A effectively needing to be cold solved, as crossing letters couldn’t necessarily be trusted. REAUMUR eventually yielded to give COINTREAU, but my LOI – BRAKE/ARAK – gave me a bit more of a headache! Total solving time, so far, about an hour.
Resolving clashes where they helped to make the drinks turned out to be the easier bit. Working through all the other clashes to try and make sure I met that ‘exactly one misprinted letter‘ condition proved a bit more of a task – probably another 30 minutes or so, including transcribing it all into a more legible clean copy.
I think I have it all reconciled correctly below, happy to be corrected if I have misinterpreted anything!
(Luckily this was just spirits/liqueurs – no room for beers, such as Corona (;+>).
Chambers gives either ABSINTH or ABSINTHE. I have highlighted with the E above, but highlighting wasn’t explicitly called for, and this is not a prize puzzle, so I guess it makes no odds which one you went for.
Many thanks to Piccadilly – lots of fun to solve and blog… and quite an achievement to get 50 clashing pairs in the grid.
My drinks cabinet needs a bit of a refresh – I think I only have whisky (usquebaugh) and gin of the above, although I also have some PORT (at 8D)! Might be difficult to get hold of poteen and arak…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Misprinted Entry | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
|
| 1 | ERRAND | EBRAND | The Queen managed duke’s commission (6) / ER (Elizabeth Regina, the queen) + RAN (managed) + D (duke) |
|
| 6 | ADIPOSE | YDIPOSE | Fatty Arbuckle initially gets girl to sit (7) / A (initial letter of Arbuckle) + DI (Diana, girl) + POSE (to sit) |
|
| 11 | CARIBOU | CIRIBOU | Large animal injured big cougar – good German escaped (7) / anag, i.e. injured, of BI(G) COU(G)AR (without G – good – or G – German – i.e. they escaped!) |
|
| 12 | EBONY | RBONY | First piece of extremely thin wood (5) / E (first letter of Extremely) + BONY (thin) |
|
| 14 | LAIRS | LKIRS | Outmoded flashily dressed Australians; wild animal retreats (5) / double defn. – a LAIR can be Australian slang for a flashily dressed man; and a LAIR is the den or retreat of a wild animal |
|
| 16 | HEIRESS | HEIRETS | She succeeds, he rises mysteriously (7) / anag, i.e. mysteriously, of HE RISES |
|
| 17 | ABSENT | ABSINT | Sailor enraptured and dreamy (6) / AB (Able Bodied seaman) + SENT (enraptured) |
|
| 18 | HEARTY | HETRTY | Robust skill shown in country dance (6) / HE_Y (country dance) around ART (skill) |
|
| 19 | GLAND | GRAND | Happy to restrict head of newsroom — it prevents leaks (5) / GLA_D (happy) around (restricting) N (head, or first letter, of Newsroom) – second definition in BRB |
|
| 20 | ANNIE | ARNIE | Musical girl that is after an end to lockdown (5) / AN + N (end letter of lockdowN) + IE (id est, that is) Covid reference! |
|
| 21 | CANDLES | CANDIES | Frantically cleans outside of deserted light sources (7) / CAN_LES (anag, i.e. frantically, of CLEANS) around (outside of) D (deserted) |
|
| 23 | BRAKE | ARAKE | Means of slowing down harrow (5) / double defn. a BRAKE can be a harrow (ploughing implement); and a BRAKE can also be a means of slowing down |
|
| 26 | INCOG | ANCOG | Unknown American soldier turns to embrace corporal, perhaps (5) / I_G (GI, American soldier, turned) around (embracing) NCO (non-commissioned officer – corporal, perhaps) |
|
| 29 | SCORN | SCOIN | Nurse holds company in contempt (5) / S_RN (State Registered Nurse) around (holding) CO (company) |
|
| 30 | REAUMUR | REAUBUR | French physicist rejected strange rule about water (7) / R_MUR (RUM – strange – plus R – rule, all reversed, or rejected) around EAU (water, also French!) |
|
| 31 | SKIRT | AKIRT | Sketch included rector’s garment (5) / SKI_T (satirical sketch) around (including) R (rector) |
|
| 33 | SLURB | BLURB | Disparage leader of borough, an unattractive district (5) / SLUR (disparage) + B (leading letter of Borough) |
|
| 35 | REMOTE | REPOTE | Wandering two-thirds of kilometre in the distance (6) / anag, i.e. wandering, of (KIL)OMETRE (final two-thirds of kil-ometre) |
|
| 36 | ENEMAS | ENEMAL | See man writhing, fluids injected (6) / anag, i.e. writhing, of SEE MAN ) – lol! |
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| 38 | IMAGINE | IMAGIND | Dream of one with me circumventing a trap (7) / I (one) + M_E around (circumventing) AGIN (A + GIN, or trap) |
|
| 39 | LEEAR | LEEOR | One deceiving Scots; some flee Arbroath (5) / hidden word in, i.e. some of, ‘fLEE ARbroath’ |
|
| 40 | SCENE | SGENE | Oddly secret New England landscape (5) / SCE (odd letters of SeCrEt) + NE (New England) |
|
| 41 | VALANCE | VALANTE | Side panel of aluminium in vehicle by church (7) / V-AL-AN (aluminium – AL – in VAN – vehicle) + CE (Church of England) |
|
| 42 | BRUSQUE | ERUSQUE | Panning burlesque, ignoring the French — that’s blunt (7) / anag, i.e. panning, of BUR(LE)SQUE – ignoring LE – the, in French) |
|
| 43 | CAUGHT | BAUGHT | Seized in palace by the ear (6) / homophone, i.e. by the ear – a COURT, or palace, can sound like CAUGHT (seized) |
|
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Misprinted Entry | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
|
| 1 | ECLOGUE | ECLOGCE | Cole dancing with fiddle in pastoral poem (7) / ECLO (anag, i.e. dancing, of COLE) + GUE (Shetland viol, or fiddle) |
|
| 2 | BIKER | BIKAR | Hell’s Angel, possibly, provides funeral equipment to carry king (5) / BI_ER (funeral equipment) around (carrying) K (king) |
|
| 3 | FIRS | AIRS | Trees earliest to be trimmed at the bottom (4) / FIRS(T) – earliest, trimmed of a letter at the bottom (for a down entry) |
|
| 4 | OBSIDIAN | NBSIDIAN | I got into band, so I played rock (8) / OBSID_AN (anag, i.e. played, of BAND SO I) around (got into by) I |
|
| 5 | DOCUMENT | DOCNMENT | American lecturer’s written about university money in official paper (8) / DOC_ENT (US, university lecturer) around (written about) UM (U – university – plus M – money) … DOCENT = NEW WORD to me… |
|
| 6 | YURT | YUHT | United in effort to put up tent (4) / Y_RT (try, effort, put up) around U (United) |
|
| 7 | DREAR | DREHR | Gloomy daughter gets back (5) / D (daughter) + REAR (back) |
|
| 8 | PORTION | PORTIRN | Left on board, one getting drunk — that’s destiny (7) / PORT (left, naval term, i.e. on board) + I (one) + ON (drunk, as in on the way to being drunk) |
|
| 9 | ONERS | ONERE | Nero’s confused experts (5) / anag, i.e. confused, of NEROS |
|
| 10 | ENSURE | ENSYRE | Make certain to follow, keeping right (6) / ENSU_E (to follow) around (keeping) R (right) |
|
| 13 | YTTRIC | YTTRKC | Carbon? Try it purified of metal (6) / anag, i.e. purifies, of C (carbon) + TRY IT |
|
| 15 | INANE | IBANE | Elderly relative that is put outside, senseless (5) / I_E (id est, that is) around (put outside of) NAN (grandmother, elderly relative) |
|
| 20 | ASCOT | ASCRT | Flaunt coats and tie at racecourse (5) / anag, i.e. flaunts, of COATS – plus double definition: ASCOT being a neck-tie, and a famous racecourse… |
|
| 22 | QUEEN MAB | QOEEN MAB | Doctor manqué, be fairies’ midwife (8, two words) / anag, i.e. doctor, of MANQUE BE |
|
| 23 | ARABELLA | AGABELLA | Girl, one in topless Spanish resort (8) / (M)AR_BELLA (topless Spanish resort) around A (one) |
|
| 24 | SCREWS | SCREMS | Prison officers being extortioners (6) / double defn. a SCREW can be slang for a prison officer; and a SCREW can be an extortionist |
|
| 25 | LIMOGES | LIKOGES | With luxury car, gets time out to see French town (7) / LIMO (limousine, luxury car) + GE(T)S (gets, with T – time – out) |
|
| 27 | ABUSE | ABUAE | Maltreatment of former president gripping America (5) / AB_E (Abraham Lincoln, former president) around (gripping) US (America) |
|
| 28 | CABARET | CRBARET | Have whip-round for nude in nightclub (7) / CA_T (whip) around BARE (nude) |
|
| 29 | SCRAPE | SCRIPE | Originally, steers chewed oil-producing plant to graze (6) / SC (original letters of Steers Chewed) + RAPE (oil-producing plant) |
|
| 31 | APAGE | APAGU | Absent attendant is away (5) / A (absent) + PAGE (attendant) – new word to me |
|
| 32 | RENEW | RENEU | Frenchman at end of show is to begin again (5) / RENE (common French man’s name) + W (end letter of shoW) |
|
| 34 | SLOTH | RLOTH | Is reluctant to display laziness (5) / S (contraction of is) + LOTH (reluctant) |
|
| 36 | EDGE | EDVE | Move gradually to get advantage (4) / double defn. to EDGE can be to move gradually; and to have an EDGE can be to get an advantage over something/one) |
|
| 37 | MEAT | MEAU | Food for thought gives me a temperature (4) / ME + A + T (temperature) |
|
I enjoyed this less than others in this series since I started doing them in my bunker. The part I did enjoy was finding 11 of the shorts, which had the bonus effect of locking down those letters.
My LOI was the same as yours, mc_rapper – I finally got BRAKE this morning when I read your solution. The absence of that answer held up the resolution of a few other crossers in the top right quadrant. What made that rather easy clue difficult was that my otherwise complete grid gave me the following aid to solving it:
1st letter: not A
2nd letter: anything
3rd letter: anything
4th letter: anything
5th letter: possibly E
I thought of BRAKE but didn’t fill it in. The only thing that stopped me spending more time on it was that I was missing a ‘short’ in my 9th row anyway (I knew that row was correct, but I’ve never heard of KIR). As it turns out, I would not have got ARAK either, for the same reason.
Thanks to Piccadilly for such an impressive design, with a set of good clues. And thanks to mc_rapper67 for the blog and full solution.
I thought rather than KIR, which is really a cocktail, in that row it should be RAKI, which like the other SHORTS is a spirit.
Alan B at #1 – I shared your pain with BRAKE at 23A – but at least I had drunk ARAK, in the dim and distant past – on Kovalam Beach in Southern India, if I remember rightly…
DocHH at #2 – that sounds a lot more sensible, thanks for pointing it out – I have amended the grid…good job this wasn’t a prize puzzle then!
Of course, RAKI rather than KIR! That’s why I do these Educational Variations puzzles.
One that I made a bit of a mess of I’m afraid. I spotted what we needed to do with the clashes pretty sharpish, and got the top half right. But the rest? I swiftly got myself in a muddle with erased clashes, obvious problems, and had to eventually throw in the towel. It probably doesn’t help that neither my handwriting or eyesight are up to correctly writing and then deciphering clashes. 🙂
The published solution has a very brief explanation – ‘Each row contains a spirit.‘ – and some hard-to-see bolding which confirms RAKI and ABSINTHE, with the E.
Jon_S – I can sympathise with the fiddliness of entering/deciphering clashes. If you are a subscriber (and reasonably computer-literate), then you could do what I do – download a PDF version of the puzzle, and use a PDF reader to print a zoomed-in version of just the grid for working on. If you are working straight from a dead-tree newspaper copy with a pencil and eraser, then it is always going to get a bit messy! Unless you have a scanner/copier which could be used to produce a magnified version?