As far as we know, the ‘Beagle 2′ Mars rover landed, but never became operational – maybe it got stuck in the caramel layer…and it was named after Darwin’s ship ‘HMS Beagle‘, which landed him safely on many shores…
We have been promised a month of ‘easier-end-of-the-spectrum’ EVs in September, with the aim of encouraging new solvers to give this type of puzzle a go. So, ‘welcome!’ to any newbies – hope you enjoyed this one.
The (short and sweet!) preamble states that:
“To show that THE BEAGLE HAS LANDED, solvers must 11, 20, 16 at 1 & 34 (seven words); Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
None of the regular clue-by-clue trickery that we often see – extra/missing letters in wordplay, redundant words, or misleading misprints – but a hidden instruction, made up of three unclued entries, to determine what to do with the top and bottom rows.
It made sense just to dive in to solve as many clues as possible, to get some crossing letters on those three, and to see what transpired. I made some good progress on the gridfill, encountering some new and interesting words along the way – GUANAZOLO, MORACEAE, MULTOCULAR, CANEH, RAV. All mostly gettable from wordplay and crossers, but needing a quick check in my (e)Chambers, to be sure!
11A hove in to view as ‘?OMP?ET?’ (complete?), 20D SNOO?Y? (Snooty’s, Snoopy’s?), and 16A NO?EL (novel?). So, maybe we are in comics/cartoons territory? Lord Snooty was in the Beano, but I can’t say I remember him ever writing a novel?! Nor Snoopy, in the Peanuts cartoons, either, although he is a beagle…PDM (penny-drop moment)!
Either way, it seemed that we were being asked to complete the top and bottom rows with the title of said novel. Quite often the setter will take the unchecked letters of a missing/thematic phrase around the perimeter and form them into a quirky anagrammatic phrase, to use as a check, but not so in this case.
After some to-ing and fro-ing, not helped by being unsure whether the ‘seven words’ in the preamble included 11,20,16 or not (I eventually guessed not, as four words across 24 characters would have been pushing it), I came up with:
‘IT WAS A DARK AN|D STORMY NIGHT’
The ‘and’ cheekily split across two lines, but a familiar enough phrase, usually followed in my subconscious by ‘…and the brigands were in their cave…’! I plumped for the beagle Snoopy over Lord Snooty, and a quick Go-ogle confirmed that Snoopy often bashed out short novels on his typewriter which began with ‘IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT…’.
Now, Chalicea is noted for often ‘striping’ thematic material diagonally across the grid, rather than ‘just’ using one or both of the main diagonals, as often happens in EVs. So I did spend some time wondering whether we had to ‘complete’ the novel in the grid. For example, I found a version of the novel which ended ‘…and so the ranch was saved‘. But, after much diagonal frowning and staring, I concluded that the ‘completion’ was probably just the fact that we had to fill in the blanks on the top and bottom rows.
All in all a very enjoyable puzzle, fulfilling the ‘relatively easier September’ brief, with my grid-fill and PDM mostly complete in one 40 minute sitting, plus some end-game research, which is quick for me on an EV! Many thanks to Chalicea…
There were probably more than the average ‘alternate letter’ clues – OLE, HIS and AGO – which were all 3-letter entries and pretty much write-ins, but equally there were some challenging/interesting clues and entries along the way. My favourite was probably AVENGERESS, made poignant by the death of Dame Diana Rigg this week.
The only niggling question in the back of my mind is the title – why ‘has landed’? Snoopy seems to spend most of his time sat on his kennel, although he does occasionally don scarf and goggles to go flying – so maybe it is just for (misleading) comic/cosmic effect, diverting our minds to the Neil Armstrong quote and the Mars expedition?
Hopefully all is clear below – feel free to post any corrections, suggestions, questions, etc. in the comments below.
NB. For any newcomers, I don’t tend to ‘commentate’ on definitions below, just underlining them, as I assume you will have a Chambers or equivalent to hand to look them up yourself (or did while you were solving!). I also apologise for not including clue numbers in the grid above – I normally use Excel (plus Microsoft Paint and Microsoft GIF Animator for the animations), and I have never really found a neat/simple enough way to add the numbers without upsetting the letters in the cells. Hopefully anyone who attempted/solved and is familiar with the puzzle by now will find their way around!
Lastly, there is expected to be an EV ‘setter’s blog’ over on the ‘Big Dave’ website, published around 9 am on Thursdays, as well as ‘hints and tips’ on each week’s puzzle around noon on the day of publication. Some of you may have been directed here from there anyway, but some of you may not be aware of these developments…
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Entry | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
|
| 9 | DRAG UP | To badly rear backward little dog difficult without help at first (6, two words) / PUG (little dog) + ( |
|
| 10 | AVERSE | Reluctant states facing East (6) / AVERS (states) + E (East) |
|
| 13 | OLE | Goalies now and then missing Real Madrid’s expression of approval (3) / alternate letters (i.e. now and then missing) of ‘gOaLiEs’ |
|
| 17 | TATU | Partly implant a turquoise skin design (4) / hidden word, i.e. partly, in ‘implanT A TUrquoise’ |
|
| 18 | LINGUINI | Tongue-like structure not accepted in Italy for pasta (8) / LINGU( |
|
| 20 | SEA | Main office of bishop, it’s said (3) / homophone – SEA (‘the main’) sounds like SEE (bishop’s office) |
|
| 21 | RECITE | Speak eloquently of return of one who allures to evils without number (6) / E( |
|
| 22 | UNKNOT | Disentangle a local shore bird (6) / UN (dialect, or local, ‘a’) + KNOT (shore bird, wader) |
|
| 23 | HIS | Occasional heirs of the male (3) / occasional letters of ‘HeIrS’ |
|
| 24 | MORACEAE | A greater thing absorbing one before trees (8) / MOR_E (a greater thing) around (absorbing) ACE (one) + A (ante, Latin, before) |
|
| 25 | ECCE | Behold, a short look round right away (4) / ( |
|
| 28 | PONZU | Sample of mark-up on zucchini sauce (5) / hidden word in, i.e. sample of, ‘mark-uP ON ZUcchini’ |
|
| 29 | RAV | Endlessly solemn teacher (3) / ( |
|
| 30 | SOLOISTS | People acting alone – habitual drunkards consuming doctored oils (8) / SO_TS (habitual drunkards) around (consuming) LOIS (anag, i.e. doctored, of OILS) |
|
| 32 | NYALAS | Antelopes ultimately in jeopardy sadly (6) / NY (ultimate letters of ‘iN jeopardY’) + ALAS (sadly) |
|
| 33 | TOURER | In confusion mostly reroute car designed for pleasure trips (6) / subtractive anag, i.e. in confusion and mostly, of REROUT( |
|
| Across | |||
| Clue No | Entry | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
|
| 1 | IDIOT | Imbecile’s mode of expression with time for musing principally (5) / IDIO( |
|
| 2 | TRA-LA | Expression of gaiety in Australasia (5) / hidden word in, i.e. ‘in’, ‘ausTRALAsia’ |
|
| 3 | AGO | Languor sometimes before the present time (3) / alternate letters, again, i.e. ‘sometimes’, of ‘lAnGuOr’ |
|
| 4 | APPOINTED | Settled in a quiet place with top newspaper man (9) / A + P (piano, musical, quiet) + POINT (place, location) + ED (editor, top newspaper man) |
|
| 5 | AVENGERESS | Unusually severe snag Emma Peel, perhaps, rarely encountered (10) / anag, i.e. unusually, of SEVERE SNAG |
|
| 6 | RETOUCHED | Hectored absurdly about university: made slight improving changes (9) / RETO_CHED (anag, i.e. absurdly, of HECTORED) around (about) U (university) |
|
| 7 | ASCENTS | For instance US currency’s upward movements (7) / AS (for instance) + CENTS (US currency) |
|
| 8 | NELLIES | Lecturer overwhelmed by exceptionally senile airheads (7) / NEL_IES (anag, i.e. exceptionally, of SENILE) around (overwhelming) L (lecturer) |
|
| 12 | MULTOCULAR | A Mull court surprisingly enabling several people to observe at once (10) / anag, i.e. surprisingly, of A MULL COURT |
|
| 14 | GUANAZOLO | Seabird dung wrapping nitrogenous compound reduced tumour growth treatment (9) / GUAN_O (seabird dung) around (wrapping) AZOL( |
|
| 15 | UNREALITY | Insubstantial state, yet urinal worked (9) / anag, i.e. worked, of YET URINAL |
|
| 19 | RUMP-END | Back of animal imprudent cooked without splitting it (7) / subtractive anagram, i.e. cooked, of ( |
|
| 26 | CANEH | Measure of stick height (5) / CANE (stick) + H (height) |
|
| 27 | EVERT | Always with trouble initially, turn inner surface outward (5) / EVER (always) + T (initial letter of Trouble) |
|
| 31 | TUI | Honeyeater of note turning up on island (3) / TU (ut, musical, syllable representing first note of a scale, turning up) + I (island) |
|
Thanks Chalicea and Mc_rapper67. I hope this encourages people to try the EV. I can’t understand why there are posts with not a single comment on this site for some of them. I enjoyed this and it is skillful to modify the difficulty level. I agree that even the trickier words are so well clued that they are gettable
Well, I knew both the phrase and the cartoon dog but not the connection – until I completed this puzzle.
I agree with what DaveR says and commend the setter for pitching the puzzle ‘to order’ at a more accessible level.
I struggled with the unfamiliar drug (GUANAZOLO) at first but worked it out when I had nearly all of the letters for it.
It’s not often I see an instruction embedded in this way with missing letters, but it was clear enough, with perhaps only the P of Snoopy needing pause for thought.
I enjoyed this and liked the theme.
Thanks to Chalicea for the puzzle and mc_rapper67 for the clear and comprehensive blog.
A good idea to entrust the first “easier” puzzle to Chalicea, whose puzzles prioritise enjoyment and elegance over difficulty for the sake of difficulty. This was one of her less taxing puzzles but no less delightful for that. I didn’t know the connection between “dark and stormy night” and Snoopy (I’ve never really been much of a Peanuts fan), but it’s a fun fact to have learned. I shall bore people with it for weeks to come.
Many thanks to Chalicea, one of my two favourite setters of barred puzzles.
Many apologies to Chalicea but I’m not likely to be converted to EV puzzles – in fact I didn’t even bother to print out the second of the ‘easy’ September ones when it was posted. I do hope for the sake of the setters that the following of barred puzzles increases as a result of this latest push but I’ll stick with the regular cryptics thank you!At least I gave this one a try – and actually finished it courtesy of Chambers – so I don’t think I can be accused of not giving EVs a chance.
This was the first EV that had hints and I found them very handy as it gave me a way in and reading the Puzzle review I now see the thought process, and in a way makes it more enjoyable, the hints are a good to get people started in stead of having no clue at all.
An enjoyable start to the September “easy” puzzles and hopefully one that will have encouraged new solvers. A neat title – with hindsight, it felt like the theme should have been obvious but of course in reality the penny only dropped with virtually a full grid. Thanks to Chalicea for a nicely executed idea and the fun, and to mc_rapper67 for the review.
Like mc_rapper67 I thought there might be more to the novel so I checked the diagonals and such. Then I looked online, where some scholarly types used “it was a dark and stormy night” as an example of the world’s shortest novel. But I also found that Snoopy went beyond that line in a few of his efforts, and as a result I enjoyed a few laughs as I finished a fun puzzle.
For example, Lucy collaborates in one Peanuts strip.
Snoopy writes, “It was a dark and stormy night.” Lucy adds, “You never take me anyplace, she complained.” Snoopy writes, “How can I take you anyplace when it is a dark and stormy night?” Lucy adds, “Their marriage was rapidly
coming apart.” Snoopy writes, “They were behind with their car payments, and the rent on the
condominium was due.” Lucy then says: “What a sad little story, I’ll be anxious to see how you
get them out of their troubles.”
So Snoopy writes, “Suddenly, their dog Rex decided he’d better
take over.”
Thanks for the various comments and feedback – and also to Chalicea for her setter’s blog – some interesting insight into this puzzle’s creation, and some background information on the EV setters’ ‘rulebook’!
Looks like this went down pretty well all round, no quibbles with the puzzle or the blog, and a few new names among the usual suspects!
Alan B at #2 – ‘paws’ for thought, surely?!
jane at #4 – sorry to hear you aren’t converted to the EV, but thanks for giving this one a chance, and maybe you’ll be back at some time?
ub at #7 – I also enjoyed trawling through the various versions of the ‘novel’, and the scholarly discourse on whether it counted as such!
A rather belated thanks to all concerned. The efforts being made to raise the EV profile (in which I include this comprehensive and discursive blog) are very much appreciated. Let’s hope that interest can be maintained, or even increased, as the more straightforward puzzles are interspersed with sterner tests.
Yes, indeed – what a fine, comprehensive blog and many thanks to all who are having a go at the EV and helping us to improve its image by entering their solution, and commenting on the blogs. Jane, there are some fine, entertaining ones in the pipeline. Do let us encourage you to do a few more as there is always the extra joy of the endgame.
chalicea at #10 and Ifor at #9 – thanks for your kind words…and for your encouragement to your solvers.
(I am slightly worried that my next blog will be the first after this month-long run, and I may end up with a ‘sterner’ Ifor, or a Harribobs or the like…with a 2-day-shortened blogging period as well!)
I missed this one but just wanted to add my voice in support of the drive to recruit new solvers. A great idea and I truly hope it works.
mc_rapper, I suspect our Numpty hints will continue to really break down the crosswords into digestible portions for a while but you are a pretty spectacular solver -and I suspect, anyway (and hope for my own sake as I really am a weak solver) that there will be a steady progression to the Ifors and Harribobs. When I started blogging in Listen With Others (many years ago) I commented that we were unlikely to complete about half of the puzzles and Chris Lancaster (current Telegraph crossword editor) who was then the main LWO blogger, said – but that’s great – we need some DNF bloggers who admit it was too hard for them.
I did solve this one a bit quicker than usual, but still found it good fun and enjoyed the theme. I have always been a great fan of EV crosswords and have tackled them on and off since number 1. Thank you to Chalicea and mc_rapper67 for an excellent blog.