This is the second Genius puzzle by Chameleon (his first was No 202, back in April last year).
The special instructions said: “In six clues their wordplay element contains surplus letters, to be ignored. In a further six clues more recent versions of each of these six letters are lacking from their wordplay”. With hindsight, it should perhaps have been obvious that we were dealing with Ancient Greek letters, but it took me a while to see this. In fact the first four across clues were normal and I was able to solve them quite quickly, before coming to something of a halt. However, the linked thematic clues at 1 down and 11 across soon yielded, but it was some time later before I spotted the Greek letter equivalents in the clues. To spell it out, the Greek letters beta, mu, nu, chi, eta and tau (equivalent to B, M, N, X, H, and T) were cunningly concealed in six clues, and their Roman equivalents omitted from the wordplay (twice in the case of M at 11 across).
Like mc_rapper67 back in April, I managed to solve the puzzle on Day 1 (it took me most of the day!) although there is one clue (21 down) I couldn’t fully parse. I enjoyed the cryptic definition for NOSEBLEED and the placement of OMEGA in the bottom row (I wonder if Chameleon tried to fit ALPHA in the top row?). I thought the theme was original, the surfaces were smooth and the puzzle as a whole exhibited a pleasing variety of clue types. Many thanks, Chameleon.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CHAMPAGNE | False piece of glass picked up, something sparkling (9) |
| Homophone of “sham pane”. A nice easy start to the puzzle. | ||
| 6 | MOTIF | Nice word provided theme (5) |
| MOT (French for word, so might be said in Nice) IF(provided). | ||
| 9 | SLIPS ON | Junior family member boxes kissers for dons (5,2) |
| LIPS inside SON. | ||
| 10 | SKIMMED | Cast from The Beach, perhaps, had a casual read-through (7) |
| Cryptic definition, or possibly a double definition. | ||
| 11 | NOM DE PLUME | Nude pole-dancing Chameleon? (3,2,5) |
| *(NUDE POLE +MM). The first of the second kind of thematic clue, where letters are omitted from the wordplay. | ||
| 12 | BLUR | Obscure publisher’s promotion giving away half its books (4) |
| BLUR(b). | ||
| 14,6 | SNAIL MAIL | Tibetan ascetic’s leader: ‘I’m all excited about international post‘ (5,4) |
| You have to remove BETA from “Tibetan” to make the clue work: it’s then SN (tin) A(scetic) *(IM ALL I(international)). | ||
| 16 | HAZELNUT | Fruit mushed with certain consonants in Spooner’s gob (8) |
| Remove MU from the clue to give NASAL (some consonants) HUT (shed) of which HAZELNUT is a Spoonerism. The most difficult clue in the whole puzzle. | ||
| 19 | UPSTREAM | Opposing current university rates, MP revolts (8) |
| U (niversity) *(RATES MP). | ||
| 20 | NORSE | Kind of god some minotaur seizes (5) |
| Hidden, once TAU is removed from the clue. | ||
| 23 | CUBE | Power line for telephone (4) |
| The letter B is omitted from the word play leaving a homophone of “queue” (line). | ||
| 24 | UBIQUITOUS | Across the world, characters inside pubs abandon promises to get round (10) |
| A complex charade of UB (characters inside pubs) QUIT (abandon) inside IOUS (promises). | ||
| 27 | UNEQUAL | May’s successor dismisses judge as liberal and biased (7) |
| (j)UNE (May’s successor) QUA (as) L(iberal). | ||
| 28 | INITIAL | Where programmer works with terminals on Wi-Fi data protocol first (7) |
| IN IT (where programmer works) plus final (terminal) letters of wi-fI datA protocoL. | ||
| 29 | EDDAS | Editor rejected gloomy old books (5) |
| ED SAD (rev). | ||
| 30 | HOME GAMES | Meetings with the Opposition where you must give some ground (4,5) |
| Unless I’ve missed something, this is just a clever cryptic definition. The fact that the answer includes OMEGA is a sort of Nina. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CASINO | Ocean’s visor lifted now and again here? (6) |
| Alternate letters (missing N) of “oCeAnS vIsOr”. I don’t know that visors have any particular relevance to casinos, so the definition is a little loose. Or is this a film reference? | ||
| 2 | AXIOM | Robotic mind honoured fundamental law (5) |
| AI (artificial intelligence, or robotic mind) omitting X; OM (Order of Merit). I was slightly dubious about “honoured”, which certainly improves the surface but doesn’t seem wholly justified. “honour” of course would not have been grammatical. | ||
| 3 | POSTERIORS | Bills to secure banker from Santander seats (10) |
| RIO (Spanish for river or “banker”) inside POSTERS (bills). | ||
| 4 | GENTLE | Kind of felt negligee on the counter (6) |
| Hidden and reversed. | ||
| 5 | EASY MEAT | Individual likely to suffer when playing a team? Yes! (4,4) |
| *(A TEAM YES). I think that this just about qualifies as an & lit clue. | ||
| 6 | See 14 | |
| 7 | TIMELINES | They arrange dates by ingesting some cocaine (9) |
| LINE (quantity of cocaine) inside TIMES (by). | ||
| 8 | FEDERATE | Form group detained more than once, holding up lesson (8) |
| Omit ETA from “detained” to read “dined” and it’s a simple charade of RE (lesson, rev.) inside FED and ATE. | ||
| 13 | DEPOSITING | Leaving number two inside, poorly sponged (10) |
| The letter T has been omitted from the wordplay, which is *SPONGED outside I and I (two inside). | ||
| 15 | NOSEBLEED | Evacuation caused by damaged smoke detector (9) |
| Another cryptic definition. | ||
| 17 | PUNCTURE | Flat monument gets a new character on top (8) |
| Omit NU to give MOMENT, or (J)UNCTURE. | ||
| 18 | KABBALAH | Biblical father enters the outskirts of Kabul — a religious tradition (8) |
| ABBA (father) inside K(abu)L, A. The final H is not included in the wordplay. | ||
| 21 | SQUIRM | Shift uncomfortably large sums of money after US lawyer loses case (6) |
| SQUIR(e) M(oney). “Squire” is apparently (according to Chambers) a title applied to a justice of the peace or local judge in the US. M is a recognised abbreviation for money (I see no need to refer to large sums) but I don’t understand how “case” in the clue equates to E. Was it a misprint for “base”, I wonder? | ||
| 22 | PSALMS | Holy book addendum banishing the question of doubts (6) |
| PS (addendum) (qu)ALMS. | ||
| 25 | OPIUM | Poppy product‘s opening triad is lifted from heavy metal (5) |
| I think this is the heavy metal eurOPIUM, although “triad” for EUR seems a little loose. | ||
| 26 | RUNS | Urchins burst into tears (4) |
| Omit CHI from URchiNS to give the anagram fodder. | ||
Thanks Bridgesong. The US lawyer losing the “case” in 21 is (e)squir(e).
DuncT: I’m sure your parsing is correct, but (according to Chambers) only “squire” and not “esquire” can mean a lawyer in the US.
This took me a little longer than the first day! I saw the theme reasonably early but thought the instances were very well hidden, from the delightful tiBETAn to the very subtle. I thought I’d done something wrong with the double m in Nom de Plume as I could see no other indication of it but I suppose it was a case of removing all instances of the letter. Incidentally that clue had a counterpart in Chameleon’s previous Genius where he/she made a self-reference (I forget exactly but I think “me” was clued by “chameleon” or something) so perhaps this setter is developing a bit of a gimmick for us to watch out for.
Many thanks for explaining hazelnut – it had to be that but I could not see why, and I too had “esquire” but did not check it out thoroughly so did not pick up the problem as you did Bridgesong. And thank you Chameleon – entertaining, inventive, tough but doable. Exactly what a Genius should be.
Re 21d I knew about American lawyers being called esquire from Hollywood films. Interesting that it isn’t in Chambers but there’s plenty about it on the internet.
M might stand for million (£3m etc.) or the money supply (M1 etc – I think that’s why it’s in the dictionaries), hence large sums?
Enjoyed the theme. Could a classicist explain a bit more about eta = H? I know it looks like an H but isn’t it a vowel too?
I can remember completing the grid to my satisfaction, but not much more. It seems a long long time ago. I did like 11a.
Thanks for the blog. Like NNI, we did this a long time ago so hard to remember the details, though it definitely kept us busy for several days. I agree with others – an enjoyable challenge.
I had a ? against 21d as (e)squire for US lawyer was unknown to us – I always assume a US lawyer is DA
You’ve put KABULLAH for 18d in the blog, though it’s correct in the grid – I thought I’d got it wrong for a moment!
Mr Beaver – thanks for pointing out that inexplicable error: I’ve amended the blog.
Thanks for the blog bridgesong. I’m glad you and other commenters here enjoyed the puzzle.
I vaguely knew visors were worn in casinos but foolishly didn’t double-check. Actually it’s dealers not visitors to casinos who typically wear green visors, so Ocean himself probably wouldn’t be wearing one.
In 2d, ‘honoured’ was intended to be parsed as ‘given an honour’ and therefore having the right to display post-nominal letters – a little lateral, I suppose, but comparable in my mind to ‘on board’ telling us to put something in SS.
In 21d, I meant ESQUIRE and M for millions.
The top row originally read ORAL PHASE until Hugh correctly pointed out that a) Freud’s phrase is almost always given as ORAL STAGE and b) the nina was unlikely to be very helpful if it didn’t come into view until late in the solving process. An OMEGA nina not visible until late in the solve seemed more fitting.
Many thanks to bridgesong and other solvers
[@thezed re: gimmicky clues using my pseudonym, I’ve warned a solving friend elsewhere that I only have one joke. 🙂 One of its previous outings can be found at 30 across here]
Chameleon – thanks very much for dropping in. I’m delighted to discover that my speculation about the possibility of including ALPHA in the top row proves to have been well-founded. And I’m happy to acknowledge that the American usage of esquire is attested in the ODE (apparently it can refer to a lawyer of either sex!).
As an American lawyer, I will confirm that Chameleon’s usage of “esquire” is correct, although in modern parlance is often considered a bit stiff, formal, or even quaint. I could properly append “Esq.” to my signature, but personally would feel rather pompous doing so.
I missed the OMEGA nina (thanks, bridgesong), and it occurs to me now that with some other major adjustments SCALP HAIR might have worked for 1A. But regardless, congratulations Chameleon on another enjoyable solve.
[Chameleon: thanks for stopping by and explaining. I was searching for a better word than “gimmick” which seems rather derogatory. Being a cruciverbalist I really ought to have a better vocabulary and I certainly did not intend it to be in any way insulting so I hope the term was not taken as such. Nicely played with the “omega” which I missed too.]
Very enjoyable, and a stiff challenge for someone of my abilities. I like it when I have to work hard but eventually it all comes into place. Missed the Nina – a nice touch.
H as a modern version of eta was something that had me stumped until I googled it. I’d only known eta as a long vowel sound but it seems there is rather more to the history of it than that.
I loved SNAIL MAIL, HAZELNUT and SKIMMED in particular.
Thanks for a clear and breezy write-up @bridgesong – just to point out that the entry for TIMELINES in your completed grid above seems to have come adrift somewhat.
Oh and could anyone please explain if there’s more to “smoke detector” as a clue for “nose”? I mean, obviously one’s nose can detect smoke, but “smoke detector” as a phrase isn’t a synonym for nose that I was aware of. Is it in use as slang, or is it just a very general definition here?
Fran – you’re quite right. Another error I’d failed to spot. As correcting it involves recasting the grid from scratch, and you’re the first to spot it – after a week – I may just leave it be!
I hadn’t come across “smoke detector “ as a synonym for nose before; as far as I know it’s an original phrase used by Chameleon to suit the surface reading.
Thank you bridgesong and other commenters above for parsing SQUIRM and spotting the OMEGA. I was so happy at finally understanding HAZELNUT (having toyed with CABERNET instead for a while) that just guessed SQUIRM and crossed my fingers.
Fran@15 I thought that it was just a cryptic definition requiring some lateral thinking that makes for a fine surface as bridgesong says- I usually find these the hardest of all clues as you need that mysterious ‘wavelength’ compatibility – luckily (well, not for him) my son had a significant “evacuation” shortly before I attempted the puzzle so it was fresh in my mind!
Thanks for stopping by to further clarify things Chameleon, I hope it tickles you to learn that on this, my first serious attempt at a Genius puzzle, I nearly failed to get out of the starting gate after confidently entering DALAI LAMA at 14,6 as you no doubt intended: start to Ascetic = A, “I’m all” excited, I = international, the rest to be justified later – what a wally! But it all came right in the end and this was a very enjoyable challenge at just the right level for me, thank you.