Kruger’s puzzle takes us into the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations this week.
The preamble was fairly short and clear. It stated: Twelve clues contain a misprint in their definition. The correct letters, in clue order, identify the originator of a phrase (in ODQ) which explains how some answers are to be modified in one of two ways before entry into the grid. Word lengths refer to grid entries; unchecked and mutually cross-checking letters of thematic entries could make MARABOU CADAVER AIRTIGHT. One entry is a simple back-formation verifiable in ODE.
There was a typo in the published clue to 28 down where ‘Is’ should have been ‘It’. The error was acknowledged in the latest Inquisitor published last Saturday.
I found this quite difficult and could only crack the end game by analysing the unchecked letters I had left. I understood the need to remove THE from a number of entries fairly early on and I made reasonable progress with identifying most of the misprints. Also I could see that something was happening with a few short answers which all had a letter A in them, but it wasn’t obvious to me what I had to do with these answers.
I got to the stage where I had nine unchecked or mutually checking thematic cells (AABCAAAUR) and I had five answers with A that were shorter than the space available. At this point, I also had four words where THE was to be removed. Three of the entries had two cells missing cells, so I reckoned these had to be the same letter pair for each word. However I didn’t have three pairs of unused letters, so further thought was required. Finally, the penny dropped when I realised that I had 5 As among the unused unchecked letters and I understood then that the As from the answers must remain somewhere in the entry. I could see that TORT, a frequent friend of the barred crossword setter, could surround the A in 1 across (DASH) and ERROR could be used similarly in 26 across (DATE).
With THE missing from a number of entries, I initially thought of looking for quotations that began ‘Take THE…’, or ‘Take out THE ..’, but that didn’t get very far. The misprints weren’t helping me because I hadn’t completed the top right hand corner and only had NDESTLUHES as 10 of the 12 misprints which wasn’t helping either, especially as I realised later that the L was wrong. Finally I turned again to TORT and ERROR and looked in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations for references to the word ‘wrong’ Fortunately, that was a lot more successful and I lit upon the quote from Philippe Nericault DESTOUCHES (1680 – 1754), French dramatist – Les absents ont tojour tort [The absent are always in the wrong] – from Obstacle imprevu act 1, scene 6.
From here, using the remaining unchecked letters I worked that my remaining ‘wrongs’ were CRIME, in 18 across (GOAL), UNTRUE in 17 down (VIA) and SIN in 25 down (APT).
With the additional P and C in the misprints, I was able to confirm SPUR as the answer at 7 across. For a time, I was thinking of SPUR as a section of railway, so was looking as Track for the misprint rather than Prick. The C confirmed Crack as the misprint at 10 down and gave me more confidence in RESOLVE. That then left PORB as the entry at 8 down which obviously must be missing a THE, to give five entries with a missing THE and five entries with an expanded A, and so POTHERB was deduced as the final answer. Crossword setters like symmetry, so a similar number of each type of modification was always going to be likely.
The quotation tells us that THE is to be removed (absent). ARE can be abbreviated to A when referring to a measure of land area so the quote can be rewritten as A are always in (contained in) a word meaning ‘wrong’.
There is a problem though in that there are still two As remaining the grid, at 30 across (GRAINS) and 5 down (TRAY), so the quotation is not completely fulfilled. I realise it would be difficult to fit extra ‘wrong’ words around these As. Also, that would destroy the symmetry of five of each modification. However, the quote could have been implemented in full if TRAY and GRAINS were replaced by TROY and GROINS as entries since the A/O in each case is unchecked.
Turning to the clues, it is often the case with misprints that words just seem to cry out misprint, while others are well hidden. This was the case today where Woozy (19 across), bandsman (35 cross) ‘pat back’ (4 down) and Clots (24 down) seemed fairly obvious candidates for misprints,. Having said that I changed one incorrectly initially, as I thought ‘landsman’ rather than’ bondsman’ could define SERF.
In the end it all fell into place. The misprints resolved to P N DESTOUCHES, the author of the quote. THE was absent from five answers compared to the entry and A (are) was [nearly] always in the ‘wrong’ [TORT, CRIME etc].
The first grid below shows the completed puzzle.
The second grid shows that the unchecked and mutually checked letters of the thematic entries do indeed spell out MARABOU CADAVER AIRTIGHT
Finally, we have the title AWOL [absent {or absence} without official leave] which covers the absence of THE.
This was a challenging Inquisitor puzzle that took me a number of sessions to solve, but the end result was satisfying.
| No | Detail | |
| Across | ||
| 1 |
Bribe father for some quiet (8) DASH (bribe) DA (dialect form of DAD [father]) + SH ([be] quiet) DA SH Entered as D TO (A) RT SH (TORT is a legal term for a wrong) |
|
| 7 | P |
Trick rash person not named by Ed (4) corrected to Prick rash person not named by Ed (4) SPUR (prick) SPURNE (Edmund Spenser [Ed] term word for SPUR) excluding (not) NE (of a man, born, used in giving the original name of a titled man; named) SPUR |
| 11 |
Jock’s shabby Hebridean fleece starts to require immediate elution (5) OORIE (alternative spelling of OURIE [Scottish {Jock} word for shabby]) OO (Scottish [Hebridean] word for wool; fleece) + RIE (first letters of [starts to] of each of REQUIRE, IMMEDIATE and ELUTION) OO RIE |
|
| 12 |
Former governors not beginning to recruit some pages (6) RECTORS (obsolete (former) term for governors) excluding (not) R (first letter of [beginning to] RECRUIT) It is fairly clear which R has to be excluded RECTOS (right hand pages of an open book; some pages) RECTOS |
|
| 14 |
Shelter from blitzkrieg? I shall! (4) EGIS (alternative spelling of AEGIS [protection; patronage; shelter]) EGIS (hidden word in [from] BLITZKRIEG I SHALL) EGIS |
|
| 15 | N |
About to take America’s best fibre (6) corrected to About to take America’s bent fibre (6) CIRRUS (the highest form of clouds, consisting of curling [bent] fibres) CIR (circa [about]) + R (recipe [take, Latin]) + US ([United States of] America) CIR R US |
| 16 |
Stubborn Scots replaced “Yesterday” with “24 Hours Gone” (6) REESTY (Scottish word for stubborn) Anagram of (replaced) YESTERDAY excluding (gone) DAY (24 hours) REESTY* |
|
| 18 |
Try to advance liberal aim (9) GOAL (target; aim) GO (turn; attempt; try) + A (advance) + L (Liberal) Entered as GO CRIM (A) E L (a CRIME is an example of a wrong) |
|
| 19 | D |
German’s hurt – staggering, that is to say. Woozy perhaps? (7) German’s hurt – staggering, that is to say. Woody perhaps? (7) GUTHRIE (reference Woody GUTHRIE [1912 – 1967], American singer songwriter) G (German) + an anagram of (staggering) HURT + IE (id est; that is) G UTHR* IE |
| 21 |
Individual briefly against sexual deviant (4) PERV (pervert; sexual deviant) PER (each; individual) + V (abbreviation for [briefly] versus; against) PER V |
|
| 22 | E |
Read man from Ohio’s about to meet grandchild in Glasgow (4) corrected to Reed man from Ohio’s about to meet grandchild in Glasgow (4) OBOE (a reed instrument) BO (in American slang, a familiar term of address for a man) reversed (about) + OE (alternative spelling of OY, a Scottish [Glasgow] word for a grandchild) OB< OE |
| 24 |
Become decrepit – in essence, decaying (7) SENESCE (become aged; become decrepit) – this is the word in the Oxford Dictionary of English Anagram of (decaying) ESSENCE SENESCE* |
|
| 26 |
Girlfriend could be dead worried (9) DATE (one often meets one’s girlfriend for a DATE) D (dead) + ATE (worried) D ATE Entered as D E (A) RROR TE (an ERROR is an example of something wrong) |
|
| 30 |
Small quantities of water falling in Gabon square (6) GRAINS (small quantities) RAIN (water falling) contained in (in) (G [International Vehicle Registration for Gabon} + S [square]) G (RAIN) S |
|
| 31 |
Bird I love seen in border region (6) ORIOLE (golden-yellow bird with black wings) (I + O [character representing zero or love score in tennis) contained in (seen in) ORLE (in heraldry, a border within a shield at a short distance from the edge) OR (I O) LE |
|
| 32 | S |
No longer reduce security organization as before (4) corrected to No longer seduce security organization as before (4) UNDO (archaic [no longer] word for seduce) UN (United Nations [association of states formed in 1945 to promote peace and international security and co-operation]) + DO (ditto; as above or as before) UN DO |
| 33 |
Thus empty temple accommodates cow that hasn’t died (6) THEREFORE (thus) TE (letters remaining in TEMPLE when the central letters are removed [empty]) containing (accommodates) HEREFORD (breed of cattle) excluding (that hasn’t) D (died) T (HEREFOR) E Entered as REFORE excluding THE |
|
| 34 | T |
First of unintelligible pages about to be reviewed in part of book (5) corrected to First of unintelligible pages about to be reviewed in part of boot (5) UPPER (part of a boot) U (initial letter of [first of] UNINTELLIGIBLE) + PP (pages) + RE (with reference to; about) reversed (to be reviewed) U PP ER< |
| 35 | O |
Man from Balkans fine standing in for British bandsman (4) corrected to Man from Balkans fine standing in for British bondsman (4) SERF (person in modified slavery, especially one bound to work on the land; bondsman is defined as a person who becomes legally responsible for another’s liabilities) SERB (native of SERBia) with F (fine) replacing (standing in for) B (British) SER F |
| 36 |
Part of churchwarden’s unusual pastime includes PE before going out (8) PIPE-STEM (the tube of a tobacco pipe. A churchwarden is a long-stemmed clay pipe) Anagram of (unusual) PASTIME and PE excluding (going out) A (before) PIPESTEM* |
|
| Down | ||
| 1 |
Those who cook deer acquiring recipe (5) DOERS (people who cook [the books, for instance]) DOES (female deer) containing (acquiring) R (recipe) DOE (R) S |
|
| 2 |
United got three – lost! (5) TOGETHER (united) Anagram of (lost) GOT THREE TOGETHER* Entered as TOGER excluding THE |
|
| 3 |
Eastern books restricting anything French (6) ORIENT (eastern) OT (Old Testament; books) containing (restricting) RIEN (French for ‘anything’ when linked with the negative sense) O (RIEN) T |
|
| 4 | U |
They pat back of breeder regularly sheltering bird with no tail and skinned arse (9) corrected to They put back of breeder regularly sheltering bird with no tail and skinned arse (9) RESTORERS (people who put things back to their previous state) (RER [letters 2, 4 and 6 {regularly} of BREEDER] containing [sheltering] STORK [bird] excluding the final letter [with no tail]) K + RS (letters remaining in ARSE when the outer letters A and E are removed [skinned]) RE (STOR) E RS |
| 5 |
Board returned paintings to company at last (4) TRAY (board) ART (paintings) reversed (returned) + Y (final letter of [at last] COMPANY TRA< Y |
|
| 6 |
Tie up mongrel in Canterbury? (6) SECURE (tie up) CUR (mongrel) contained in (in) SEE (Canterbury is an example of an [arch]bishop’s see or diocese) SE (CUR) E |
|
| 8 |
Make a fuss over black parsley? Maybe (4) POT HERB (a vegetable grown for flavour, parsley is an example) POTHER (make a fuss) + B (black, in pencil lead descriptions) POT HER B Entered as HERB excluding THE |
|
| 9 |
Loan shark’s certain to be seen in historical city (6) USURER (moneylender) SURE (certain) contained in (to be seen in) UR (city in ancient Mesopotamia) U (SURE) R |
|
| 10 | C |
Track sun caught by reflecting on record (7) corrected to Crack sun caught by reflecting on record (7) RESOLVE (unravel; answer; crack) SOL (sun) contained in (caught by) EVER (on record) reversed (reflecting) RE (SOL) VE< |
| 13 |
Backing what’s essential to keep mortuary furnace gear (6) TROMPE (apparatus for producing a blast of air in a furnace by means of falling water; furnace gear) TROMPE (reversed [backing] hidden word in [what’s essential to] KEEP MORTUARY) TROMPE< |
|
| 17 |
Through road (9) VIA (through) VIA (road) double definition VIA Entered as VI UNTR (A) UE (UNTRUE is wrong) |
|
| 19 |
Sponsors unexpectedly got R.E.M. dosh (7) GODMOTHERS (ladies who, at baptism, guarantee a child’s religious education or who [loosely] undertake to bring up the child in the event of the death of its parents; sponsor) Anagram of (unexpectedly) GOT R.E.M. DOSH GODMOTHERS* Entered as GODMORS excluding THE |
|
| 20 |
Get news on the radio concerning this (6) HEREOF (concerning this) HERE OF (sounds like [on the radio] HEAR OF [get news]) HEREOF |
|
| 23 |
Nice dairy product of delicate flavour and texture (6) BEURRE (French [Nice] for butter [dairy product]) BEURRE (of delicate flavour and texture, applied to several varieties of pear) double definition BEURRE |
|
| 24 | H |
Clots harassed pensioner shunning author (6) corrected to Cloth harassed pensioner shunning author (6) SONERI (cloth of gold) Anagram of (harassed) PENSIONER excluding (shunning) PEN (writer; author) SORENI* |
| 25 |
Suitable Australian port (6) APT (suitable) A (Australian) + PT (port) A PT Entered as S (A) IN PT (a SIN is a wrong) |
|
| 27 | E |
With uneven links, Scottish location’s eliminating what’s left of divots (5) corrected to With uneven lines, Scottish location’s eliminating what’s left of divots (5) UNDEE (heraldic term for wavy) DUNDEE (city in Scotland) excluding (eliminating) D (leftmost letter of [what’s left of] DIVOT) It’s clear which D has to be eliminated UNDEE |
| 28 |
It shows temperature is constant as mother is cooking (5) ISOTHERM (contour line of equal temperature) Anagram of (cooking) MOTHER IS ISOTHERM* Entered as ISORM excluding THE |
|
| 29 |
Jonathan’s kid’s apron is rank (4) TIER (Jonathan is a word for the people of the United States, collectively, or a typical specimen. TIER can be defined as an American term for a child’s apron) TIER (rank) double definition TIER |
|
| 30 | S |
Crows move faster (with power) (4) corrected to Cross move faster (with power) (4) GEEP (a creature produced by artificially combining DNA from a goat and sheep; a cross) GEE (command to a horse to move faster) + P (power) GEE P |
I found this tough going, though compelling enough to make me determined to crack it, even if it took all week. But is it a flaw in a puzzle when you can, more or less, complete the grid without uncovering the quote, or even, in my case, the writer?
Thanks to Kruger for a stiff challenge, and duncanshiell for the very clear blog.
If I’d thought to remove THE rather than HER at first from some of the thematics I probably could have finished without recourse to the quote, but I didn’t. 🙂 A good puzzle that kept me guessing for a long time – tracking down the quote without the ODQ was… interesting.
Ho and I had to collaborate to complete this one. The removal of THE was clear quite early on, but the second part of the theme would have eluded us entirely except for a lucky google of P.N.DEST?UCHES which included a wild stab that reduce became seduce in 32A. Once we had grasped the wrong allusion, the end game became quite simple. I do agree that the As in TRAY and GRAINS were regrettable, though. Pretty hard one this, Kruger. Thanks for the blog Duncan.
I also agree that this was tough. Luckily I guessed correctly that it was THE that had to be removed, rather than HER, and that helped with tracking down the quotation by an author whose name was completely unfamiliar. Eventually I worked out that synonyms for “wrong” had to be woven into the other thematic answers, but I couldn’t see any particular way in which this had to be done, nor did I realise that ARE = A, although had I done so I would no doubt have been puzzled by TRAY and GRAINS. The one thing that didn’t matter was the obvious misprint at 28 down.
Was I the only one (probably!) who spent time looking at the wrong Destouches? I initially took the corrected misprint at 7 across to be TRACK, thus yielding an A, and there just happens to be an Andre Cardinal Destouches. Although the N at 15 didn’t fit with that, I was still convinced I’d got the right chap for far too long before enlightenment dawned. If there’s a false trail I will always follow it…
Super puzzle. Thank you Kruger,
This was not my cup of tea. It was clear at the start that unless I could collect all (or very nearly all) of the 12 letters I would have to deduce what the two types of change were from an unknown number of clues whose answers would not fit, and I hoped I would be able to do that. In the event, I managed to work out what one type of change was (as revealed by POTHERB, TOGETHER and others) but not the other, thereby killing off this second route into the theme.
I quite enjoyed what I accomplished, but in the end I found the thematic design too demanding in the way I have described, and it was all over too soon.
After reading Duncan’s excellent blog I’m relieved to know that I would never have found the quotation or discovered the trick of the second type of change.
@Cruciverbophile There is also Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches, better known as Louis Ferdinand Céline. You are not alone. 🙂
@Jon_S – that’s the one I spent a while investigating!
I worked out the ‘THE’ set easily enough but was stumped by the other one and I’m still not sure that I fully understand it.
I enjoyed Kruger’s previous IQ but I am largely with Alan B @6 with this one. The typo didn’t help as I had a T as a correction in 28D which also had a thematic answer and therefore thought I should be looking out for more clues doing double duty. Congratulations and admiration for those who managed to crack it, especially DuncanS.
Thanks all round. ENjoyed as always. Like others I found it easy to see that THE had to be dropped from some thematic clues and extra letters stuffed into the others — always surrounding an A, so at that point I expected the quotation to be something to do with articles, some going AWOL and others, er um. Then TORT came to mind for 1A and I started seeing other wrongs — progress in gridfill but thematically at sea again. Eventually Google led me to Destouches and realization of the importance of specifying ODQ, since the typical translation found online goes something like “Those not present are always in the wrong” … which fails to click.
A bit too good for me/ I got as far as removing THE from five clues but I was unaware that that was the easy bit
Thanks for the great blog
I marked this as “very tough … and not especially rewarding”.
It’s rather ironic that a puzzle that’s relying on corrected misprints has a typo (28d).
Why does the preamble say “Word lengths refer to grid entries” when in 10 cases the entries are not words? Careless.
What’s the convention for length indications when the answer is 2 words (8d POT HERB) but is modified before entry?
Thanks for the blog (I hadn’t got the SPURNE in 7d) and the puzzle – not one of the best for me.
I just read your comment HG, and I don’t think that SPURNE (at 7A) has anything to do with it! Definition is Prick. The wordplay is HOTSPUR (a rash person) minus HOT which is the Spenserian in Chambers for “named; was called”.
Hi @12: that’s now clearly the explanation of the wordplay for 7a – thanks.
This is the third Inquisitor puzzle this year that wasn’t printed correctly in the i…
I’m with Alan B and HolyGhost on this puzzle. When the end game takes so many paragraphs to explain here, that seems to me an indication that the actions needed to resolve the theme are over complicated – tough clues and shifting sands in the grid meant I gave up after completing roughly half the clues. I was going to have a final go at it tomorrow, but I’m so glad I came here to look at the answers instead! It would have helped to have had it stated plainly that grid answers might not be real words – I’d probably still have struggled though. Not one for me!
I had 9 of the 12 misprinted letters (plus the extra T) before I cracked the author’s name. Then after finding the quotations, I had no problem removing THE from 5 solutions, but it took me ages to figure out the ARE in the synonyms for WRONG. 1a was the opening I needed, where TORT was sticking out a mile. 17 and 18 were the ones I struggled with.
I enjoyed this.