eXtent returns this week. I blogged the last puzzle from this setter back in January. That puzzle also featured some blanks in the grid during the solving process.
The preamble told us that some answers must extend beyond the perimeter and the completed grid contains a number of blank cells. Wordplay in clues with answers that are entered normally generates an extra letter that must not be entered. Answer lengths are indicated in brackets. The final grid has 180-degree rotational symmetry. Solvers must connect the blank cells using a single continuous line comprising four straight line segments. Extra letters in clue order reveal the locations of the line’s two end-points.
It makes a change to be given the answer lengths rather than the number of cells available. I hope I wasn’t the only solver who originally assumed an n-letter answer having n cells available would obviously fit within those cells as would entries that had answers with fewer letters than cells available. It didn’t take long to realise that wasn’t the case. I solved NACRE (9 across, 5 letters, 5 cells) fairly early on but just couldn’t get it to intersect with NASTIC (2 down) for a while. The logic of filling inside and outside the grid became clear sometime later as did the realisation that some entries had more than one blank cell. Knowing that the filled ‘grid’ had 180-degree symmetry was useful in determining how things fitted together.
We ended up with 9 empty cells in the grid and 22 letters outside the grid. Reading from west of entry number 32 clockwise outside the perimeter to the 22nd letter to the south of the same 32 we can see the phrase THINKING OUTSIDE THE GRID
I suspect many people will know the classic 9 dot puzzle where you are asked to draw a single line of four segments through 9 dots arranged in a 3 by 3 grid without raising your pen or pencil from the paper. That is what this puzzle seems to be, using empty cells instead of 9 dots. To complete the task you have extend three of the four lines outside the constraints of the area defined by the blank cells (THINKING OUTSIDE THE GRID).
I’m not sure whether I have got the end points of my line correct given that the fourteen extra letters generated in the standard clue / entries spelled out SOUTH EAST NORTH. The SOUTH EAST bit seemed fairly clear so I started the line in the blank cell forming the intersection between AZYME (29 across) and MALICE (18 down). Normally the line would end in the north west blank cell but I couldn’t relate this to the word NORTH in the phrase. My solution is to extend the fourth segment horizontally to the letter N (NORTH) forming the first letter of the entry NACRE.(12 across). My line is drawn north-west initially then south, then north-east and finally west as shown in the animation. This can be drawn as a continuous line.
The final grid was built up like this
I thought there were some good clues in this puzzle with the surfaces misdirecting the solver for a while. Ones I liked particularly were those for KNEADERS, NASTIC, DIRE, GALLOP, ASHTRAY and NOVI SAD
The title LINE DRAWING is self-explanatory given that the end-game required the drawing of a line.
| No | Clue | Wordplay |
Extra letter |
Entry Format |
| Across | ||||
| 1 | Manipulative people asked new republican leader to enact changes (8) |
Anagram of (changes) ASKED and N (new) and R (Republican) and E (first letter of [leader to] ENACT) KNEADERS* |
|
KNEADERS (people who massage or people who work and press ingredients together into a mass) KNEADERS with the leading K positioned outside the grid |
| 6 | Insults learner for parking in drives (5) |
SPURS (drives) with L (learner) replacing (for) P (parking) SLURS |
|
SLURS (smears, insults) SLURS with the final S positioned outside the grid |
| 9 | Act of Union is creating a commotion (6) |
FUSSING (creating a commotion) FUSING |
S |
FUSING (joining; an act of making a union between two elements) |
| 11 | Fanaticism of country suppressing resistance (5) |
MANIA |
O |
MANIA (passion; fanaticism) |
| 12 | Section of lamina creates shiny coating (5) |
NACRE (hidden word in (section of) LAMINA CREATES NACRE |
|
NACRE (mother-of-pearl; shiny substance lining many mollusc shells) NAC space RE with leading N positioned outside the grid |
| 14 | Browser with reasonable applications programming interface (5) |
OK (okay; reasonable) + API (application programming interface) OK API |
|
OKAPI (a browser application designed to help the user browse and test OpenCaching API methods) OK space API with the final I positioned outside the grid |
| 16 | Worried about exercise? Hardly! (6, 2 words) |
ATE (worried) + A (about) + USE (exercise) AT E A SE |
U |
AT EASE (not [hardly] worrying) |
| 17 | Orderly saving northern European lives shows group loyalty (9) |
TRIM (orderly) containing (saving) (BALT [northern European] + IS [exists; is]) TRI (BAL IS) M |
T |
TRIBALISM (loyalty to the conventions of one’s group) |
| 19 | Brainwashed members of cult can die after reprogramming (10) |
Anagram of (after reprogramming) CULT CAN DIE INCULCATED* |
|
INCULCATED (instilled by frequent admonitions or repetitions; brainwashed) INC space UL space CA space TED with the leading I and final D both positioned outside the grid |
| 21 | In lecture, lecturer accepts daily responsibility for young children (9) |
L (lecturer) contained in (in) CHIDE (lecture) which also contains (accepts) CHAR (daily cleaner) elsewhere CHI (L) D (CAR) E |
H |
CHILDCARE (responsibility for young children) |
| 24 | Amazon struggle to contain scrap with Oracle initially (6) |
(VIE [struggle] + O [first letter of {initially} ORACLE]) containing (to contain) RAG (scrap) VI (RAG) O |
E |
VIRAGO (a heroic or manlike woman, an amazon) |
| 26 | Couple came into contact with children (5) |
HIT (come into contact with) + CH (children) HIT CH |
|
HITCH (harness to a vehicle; couple) HIT space CH with the leading H positioned outside the grid |
| 29 | Maize lacking one bit of yeast could make unleavened bread (5) |
Anagram of (could make) MA AZYME* |
|
AZYME (unleavened bread) AZ space YME with the final E positioned outside the grid |
| 30 | Make fun of men involved in petty dispute (5) |
OR (other ranks; men) contained in (involved in) SPAT (petty dispute) SP (OR) T |
A |
SPORT (make fun of) |
| 31 | Cook special accompaniment for chips? (6) |
Anagram of (cook) SPECIAL PLAICE* |
S |
PLAICE (fish, one that could be served cooked, with chips) |
| 32 | Experience discrimination (5) |
TASTE (experience) TASTE |
|
TASTE (discrimination) double definition TASTE with the leading T positioned outside the grid |
| 33 | One tries to relieve people of their possessions (8) |
EXORCIST – cryptic definition based on the concept of someone possessed by evil spirits EXORCIST |
|
EXORCIST (a person who pretends to expel evil spirits by command) EXORCIST with the final T positioned outside the grid |
| Down | ||||
| 1 | Cool, cool, Tesla at early developmental stage (6) |
IN (acceptable; cool) + FAN (cool) + T (tesla, SI unit of magnetic flux density) IN FAN T |
|
INFANT (at an early stage of development) INFANT with the leading I positioned outside the grid |
| 2 | Not ordinary, moving actions unrelated to direction of stimulus (6) |
Anagram of (moving) ACTI NASTIC* |
|
NASTIC (of plant movements, not related to the direction of the stimulus) NAS space TI space C with the leading N positioned outside the grid |
| 3 | Dreadful rule accepted by parliament (4) |
R (rule) contained in (accepted by) DIET (a word used to define the parliament in some countries or regions) DI (R) E |
T |
DIRE (dreadful) |
| 4 | Common shunning large groups (6) |
GENERA GENERA |
|
GENERA (taxonomic groups) GENERA with the leading G positioned outside the grid |
| 5 | Bone of the ear bears mark associated with diffusion of fluid (7) |
(OS [a bone] + OTIC [of the ear]) containing (bears) M (mark, former German currency) OS (M) OTIC |
|
OSMOTIC (related to diffusion of liquid) OSMOTIC with the leading O positioned outside the grid |
| 6 | Treacherous person’s cause (4) |
SNAKE (treacherous person) SAKE |
N |
SAKE (cause) |
| 7 | Body part beautiful nanny reveals (4) |
ULNA (hidden word [reveals] in BEAUTIFUL NANNY) ULNA |
|
ULNA (bone of the arm; body part) ULN space A with the leading U positioned outside the grid |
| 8 | Apparatus hanging painting up over piano sounded quiet (7) |
ART (painting) reversed (up; down clue) + P (piano) + EZE (sounds like [sounded] EASE [quiet]) TRA< P EZE |
|
TRAPEZE (swinglike apparatus that hangs on two ropes) TRAPEZE with the leading T positioned outside the grid |
| 10 | Fast pace of surgery at root of painful swelling (6) |
GALL (a painful swelling, especially in a horse) + OP (operation; surgery) – as this is a down entry, OP is positioned under [in the roots of] GALL GALL OP |
|
GALLOP (fast pace) G space AL space LO space P |
| 13 | Way round Channel Islands international court revised (7) |
CI (Channel Islands) + an anagram of (revised) I [international and COURT CI RCUIT* |
O |
CIRCUIT (way round) |
| 15 | Order to keep closed leaking uranium receptacle (7) |
ARRAY (order or arrangement) containing (to keep) SH A (SHT) RAY |
R |
ASHTRAY (receptacle for cigarette ASH) |
| 18 | Spite covering Long Island in tear gas (6) |
LI (Long Island) contained in (in) MACE (a type of tear gas) MA (LI) CE |
|
MALICE (spite) M space AL space ICE with the final E positioned outside the grid |
| 19 | Signify approval about travel document for Balkan city (7, 2 words) |
NOD (signify approval) containing (about) VISA (travel document allowing the holder to enter a named country) NO (VI SA) D |
|
NOVI SAD (second largest city in Serbia; Balkan city) NOVI SAD with the final D positioned outside the grid |
| 20 | One fires rascal that’s started late (7) |
LIGHTER |
|
LIGHTER (an object that can start a fire) LIGHTER with the final R positioned outside the grid |
| 22 | Turn set up for Trump’s speech (6) |
(GO [player’s turn, in a board game for instance] + LAID [set]) all reversed (up; down clue) (DIAL OG)< |
|
DIALOG (American [Trump] spelling of DIALOGUE [conversation; speech]) DIALOG with the final G positioned outside the grid |
| 23 | Catch horsemen hiding gold round the bend (6) |
Anagram of (round the bend) H ENMESH* |
|
ENMESH (catch) ENMESH with the final H positioned outside the grid |
| 25 | Adult unwrapped sandwich (4) |
EROTIC (adult) excluding the outer letters (unwrapped) E and C ROTI |
|
ROTI (a kind of sandwich made of this unleavened bread around curried vegetables, seafood or chicken) R space OTI with the final I positioned outside the grid |
| 26 | Decree about division of land (4) |
ACT (decree) + RE (with reference to; about) AC RE |
T |
ACRE (division of land)
|
| 27 | Arch criminal gets round Zulus leader (4) |
Anagram of (criminal) ARCH containing (get round) Z (Zulu is the International Radio Communication for the letter Z) C (Z) AR* |
H |
CZAR (great leader) |
The line I drew started in the SE corner and went diagonally up to the blank cell at row 3, column 3; then rightwards to the added cell at the end of row 3; then diagonally downwards to the added cell at the bottom of column 3; and finally straight upwards to the top of column 3. That would seem to fit a “north” end-point.
My solution here
Thinking outside the box is a skill increasingly needed by IQ setters and this puzzle exemplifies it beautifully in numerous ways. On reading the preamble, it was clear that a pencil was required while I sorted out what was going on. I was too hasty in changing to a pen, with the result that there is a small number of blobs of correcting fluid in the completed grid. I had 3 goes at getting the correct placement of MALICE! Once I had all the blanks, I spotted the endgame fairly quickly: having a mathematical background, I have met this problem many times but this did not diminish the surprise and enjoyment.
Good clues with just the right amount of difficulty to cope with the various adjustments needed. Good fun and a very neat finish.
Many thanks to EXTernal and SerpENT for an entertaining solve and to Duncan for the blog.
GB @1. Yes, I agree. I forgot to mention that important point.
My lines I think were different yet again. I started in the SE blank square, then to the NW blank square, then south outside of the grid, then NE again taking in two more blank cells. then west finishing in the blank square (that I took to be the North one) in row 3 column 6. Or, more succinctly, see here: https://idothei.wordpress.com/ 🙂 I must admit that this wasn’t before first nipping over to Google to find and eventually discount the classic solution to the problem. Thankfully those chocolates still aren’t on offer to be haggled over.
Thanks all round! Yes, a very familiar puzzle once the actual pattern of blank cells became clear, but very enjoyable all the same. Somewhere I must have the Martin Gardner “Mathematical Games” column collection in which I first saw the nine-dot version.
My line-drawing went the same way as described in @1, starting in the blank virtual cell beyond the SE corner of the grid and ending on the top-row N outside the grid, which seemed to be doubly North.
Clearly there is going to be an interesting debate over the way to draw the line. Originally I wasn’t convinced by the comment @ 1, as I thought the line was stopping at the NW blank cell, and the ‘north’ was being used there is in the sense of a direction rather than a point. I have read the comment again and see the line is going to the N of NASTIC. I can see the logic of Jon_S @ 4 as the three cells in the top row could be labelled as NW, N and NE. Also the preamble just said connect the nine cells which Jon’s solution does. I am certainly not wedded to my own solution as shown in the blog as I thought I was clutching at straws going to the N of NACRE, but really I have given a variant of Guy Barry’s comment and chosen a different N to end on.
Duncan, my experience was identical to yours, with an apparent clash between NACRE and NASTIC leading to the realisation that some answers not only extended beyond the grid but had blanks in as well. It was very helpful to have answer lengths and the indication of 180 degree symmetry. My line finishes in the blank square in the fifth column (same as Jon S). My logic was that it connected all the blank cells.
I thought it was a really interesting puzzle, fairly clued, with a challenging but achievable endgame.
Great puzzle – the trickiness of the format nicely balanced by the relative non-obscurity of the clues. As others noted, pencil and eraser required. Although ‘thinking outside the grid’ was theoretically helpful, it was actually a childhood memory which suddenly parted the clouds. As a non-enterer, I can’t get too worried about the ambiguity of ‘north’ – mine ended in the blank square next to ’13’, and it looks very elegant (but did involve returning to the south-east blank, so can’t be right).
Many thanks to eXtent and duncanshiell.
I cant find my original printout but i gess you have to draw the line somewhere.Goodfun
Didn’t realize there were so many alternative options for the line! My reasoning was that the line entered the grid from the south-east and therefore ought to leave it heading north, but the alternatives seem to make sense as well.
I’m relatively new to this type of puzzle so wasn’t sure what I should be looking out for. After completing the grid I spotted the word ITERATE in row 4 and wondered if it was an extra clue, but it didn’t seem to have any relevance. Just a fluke?
Same as Jon_S at 4. My “logic” is that if the square where we start is SE, then the blanks in the top row are NW, N and NE. The classic solution would be neater but doesn’t quite fit with the instructions as I interpret them. We shall see…
Good puzzle.
Nice puzzle but I’m sure I’ve done this before in a (Listener) crossword…certainly I’ve written “think outside the box” and I’ve joined those 9 dots together. Of course, if you think further outside and join the edges of the grid to form a cylinder you can use even fewer line segments! I had SNORT (SNIT outside OR) for 30 until I’d spelled out the full message. Thanks to setters and blogger.
This is the 100th Inquisitor that I have attempted, and my fifth by eXtent. I very much liked the way that many entries (22 of them) pushed their way outwards, as it were, beyond the grid boundary, some of them creating blank cells in the process. As you say, Duncan, the clues were excellent, as I have remarked before concerning this setter (these setters).
I was already familiar with the line-drawing puzzle that appeared at the end, and I used the message (‘south-east, north’) to determine which of the eight ways to draw the line was the one I needed. (I drew mine the same way as in the diagram above, except that I ended the last segment in the top centre cell (N) and not continue westwards.)
Many thanks to Duncan and eXtent.
When I realised what the theme was I thought I should have guessed from the preamble as I have come across it before. However, I was glad I didn’t as the gridfill was so enjoyable – really lovely clues. For what it’s worth my line was the same as Jon@4.
Many thanks to eXtent.
It’ll be interesting to see if there is any flexibility in the official solution. It seems to me that there is really only one ambiguity, which is whether the top horizontal line stops at the central blank square or extends to the blank cell in column 2. Starting in the SE corner of the grid strikes me as wrong since there are only two points that must appear outside the box, so why add a third?
My eventual solution was the same as Jon@4, but as the first blank cell in row 3 is indexed N/N I can’t see a good reason for disallowing a line joining all three blank cells in that row.
I really enjoyed the clues. The clue to EXORCIST was brilliant.
Surely the central ambiguity concerns whether the main triangle is drawn clockwise or anticlockwise? In my solution it’s drawn clockwise, which means that when you finish you’re proceeding north. If you draw it the other way round then you’re proceeding west.
I don’t think the precise matter of where the line starts and stops is important. The preamble just says “a single continuous line comprising four straight line segments”. I could have started it on the right-hand edge of the page and continued right to the top of the page if I’d wanted to.
I’ve seen a preview of tomorrow’s puzzle page in the i which confirms that the line is as described by Jon_S @4.
Given that the setters refer to one corner cell of the square as SE, I assumed the other three to be NW, NE, and SW. It then follows that the other four squares in the perimeter of the square will be N, S, E and W.
Many thanks to Duncan for the excellent blog and to everyone who has taken the time to comment.
Apologies for the ambiguity in the end-game. We assumed that solvers would (as John Nick @18 suggests) take the points of the compass as referring to the empty cells within the grid. It is unfortunate that there were two Ns outside the grid to lead solvers astray.
A very entertaining puzzle, so thanks go to the eXt-ent combo, and to Duncan for the blog, but I’m another whose line stopped in the middle of the top row. (As in the solution published today.)
Had there been 4 more extra letters in order to spell SOUTH EAST NORTH WEST then the path would have been ambiguous: two very similar to that given in the blog, and two others that trace an isosceles right-angle triangle back round to the SE corner then diagonally up to NW.
Apologies for a slightly unrelated post.
Having completed this puzzle I cut it out ready to send it off but could not find entry details.
Is the Inquisitor no longer a prize crossword?
I look forward to hearing from somebody!
Paul (paulwoolleymusic@gmail.com)
Paul @21
Due to the Covid19 lockdown, prize submissions for the Inquisitor, along with a number of other crosswords, were suspended back in early April.