Observation by Chalicea
Nine consecutive clues contain an extra word that is not required for the solution. Read in clue order, the initial letters of those words will identify the observation that solvers must highlight.
Woo-hoo! It’s my week to blog and it’s Chalicea – what’s not to like?
As it turns out, I found this to be one of the easiest Inquisitors I’ve ever tackled. Not that that’s a bad thing, I think we need “introductory level” puzzles from time to time to encourage new blood.
I solved 1a straight away. That is often a bad omen but not so in this case. Very soon, the answers came tumbling out and the grid gradually filled from top to bottom, though the last one I managed to justify was 24a.
I had a couple of false starts identifying the extra words (see 26a and 27a) but soon realised that they were in the last nine clues.
The observation, generated by first letters of extra words, is MOORE’S LAW, which is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years.
In typical Chalicea fashion, the hidden message starts in square 1, then continues diagonally upwards from the square to the left of row 4, then row 7 and so on round the bottom left corner, giving us COUNT OF TRANSISTORS IN A CHIP WILL DOUBLE EVERY TWO YEARS.
Not much more to say really other than big thanks to Chalicea for giving me a nice easy week.
| Across | |||
| Clue | Entry | Letter | Wordplay |
| 1 Passes children (5) | CHITS | (double def) | |
| 6 Cuts back company building material (6) | STUCCO | CUTS (rev: back)+COmpany | |
| 10 Assume no-one originally follows party (3) | DON | DO (party)+N[o-one](originally) | |
| 12 Intermittently gasping, one has partial privation of breath(6) | APNOEA | gAsPiNg OnE hAs (intermittently) | |
| 14 Regret currency’s mostly rejected (3) | RUE | EUR[o] (currency;mostly; rev: rejected) | |
| 15 He wants dealer’s measure of fish on counter (4) | NARC | &lit clue CRAN (measure of fish; rev: on counter) |
|
| 17 Sew quickly and lightly going round knot (3) | NUR | RUN (sew quickly and lightly; rev: going round) | |
| 18 Be confronted with entertaining touch of ridiculous buffoonery (5) | FARCE | FACE (be confronted with) around R[idiculous] (first of) | |
| 19 Couple with little time for religious building(5) | DUOMO | DUO (couple)+MO[ment] (little time) | |
| 20 Cat returning with essentially butchered flier (4) | MOTH | TOM (cat; rev: rev:returning)+[butc]H[ered] (essentially) | |
| 22 Dad’s set, performing, is most deplorable(7) | SADDEST | DAD’S SET (anag: performing) | |
| 24 What’s originally passed to right – erroneously?(4) | PORT | P[assed] (originally)+TO Right (anag: erroneously) The whole clue refers to the practice of passing the port always to the left (port) as referenced here: https://bit.ly/2NOCfgN |
|
| 25 Boy with yen for girlfriend(4) | LADY | LAD (boy)+Yen | |
| 26 Cat’s tucked into very large Washington spreads(5) | OLEOS | OS (outsize: very large) around LEO (cat) I can’t really see the justification for Washington in the clue |
|
| 27 Illuminated on the subject of singular wine measures, say(6) | LITRES | LIT (illuminated)+RE(on the subject of)+Singular Again, I’m not sure what wine is doing here |
|
| 30 The roc I mistook for a different bird (7) | ROTCHIE | THE ROC I (anag: mistook) | |
| 31 Oddly viewed neat instrument in Delhi(5) | VEENA | ViEwEd NeAt (odd letters) | |
| 33 Northern tribesman fought several bears when going west (4) | ESTH | fougHT SEveral (hidden:bears; rev: going west) | |
| 36 Chose very old first half of thanksgiving hymn (5) | VOTED | Very Old+TE D[eum] (thanksgiving hymn; first half)) | |
| 38 Safe signal to partner (5) | PETER | (double def) | |
| 39 Artless one going into section of church (5) | NAIVE | NAVE (section of church) around I (one) | |
| 40 Step-like mining excavations halt unlimited mess (6) | STOPES | STOP (halt) + [m]ES[s](unlimited) | |
| 41 Had better be true about university after hint of scandal (6) | SHOULD | S[candal] (bit of)+HOLD(be true) around University | |
| 42 Morag’s slothful,poking end of finger into pudding, say (6) | SWEERT | SWEET (pudding, say)around [finge]R (end of) | |
| Down | |||
| 1 Camcorders altered, lacking care, perhaps, for memory devices(6) | CD-ROMS | [ca]MCO[r]D[e]RS(minus the letters of CARE) anag: altered | |
| 2 Small house buffs from time to time haunt in Edinburgh(4) | HOUF | HOuse+[b]U[f]F[s](from time to time) | |
| 3 Bronze trident and shields (3) | TAN | tridenT ANd (hidden:frames) | |
| 4 Special horses; they are used to keep others separate (7) | SPACERS | Special+PACERS(horses) | |
| 5 Stricter nude panicking with no limits(12) | UNRESTRICTED | STRICTER NUDE (anag: panicking) | |
| 6 Geniality ofrevolutionary noiseless cab (12) | SOCIABLENESS | NOISELESS CAB (anag: revolutionary) | |
| 7 Be apt to closeafter time (4) | TEND | Time+END(close) | |
| 8 Went by boatwoven with bamboo, for example, including oars originally(6) | CANOED | CANED (woven) around O[ars] (originally) | |
| 9 Exceptionally muscly, lacking grace(6) | CLUMSY | MUSCLY (anag: exceptionally) | |
| 11 Cattle locally organised(4) | NEAT | (double def) | |
| 13 Male associate lacking essentially waterish soup (5) | BROTH | BROTH[er] (maleassociate) minus [wat]ER[ish](essentially) | |
| 16 Unusually perspire in sun, mostly, with escort (6) | SUDATE | SU[n] (mostly)+DATE (escort) | |
| 21 Highland dancer’s [mellow]shout, “Strong liquor!” (5) | HOOCH | M |
(double def) |
| 23 Down following[oppressive] bereavement(5) | FLOSS | O |
Following+LOSS (bereavement) |
| 28 Write again about [overlooked]character (6) | RETYPE | O |
RE (about)+TYPE(character) |
| 29 One deriving pleasure from cruelty partly as a [real] distraction (6) | SADIST | R |
aS A DISTraction (hidden: partly) |
| 30 Controls [enfeebled]loins (5) | REINS | E |
(double def) |
| 32 Some upset [sensibility]preventable? Certainly not!(5) | NEVER | S |
pREVENtable (hidden: some; rev: upset) |
| 34 Some members of choir [late]turning up; just three of them!(4) | TRIO | L |
chOIR Turning (hidden: some members; rev: up) |
| 35 Small whirlpool in the [Andean] highlands is a trap for fish according to some (4) | WEEL | A |
(double def) |
| 37 Yank gripped by old [wooden]English instrument (4) | OBOE | W |
BO (yank) inside OE(old English) |
Yep, great puzzle that was a welcome change of pace. I did worry that I’d missed the second part of Moore’s Law (at least according to Google!), namely that the price of computers would also halve in the same time period, but it looks like my powers of observation are still intact. 🙂
Absoutely no problem with straightforward clues to lure in new solvers but I think I would have struggled with the end game had I not read in previous editions of this blog that this is one of the setter’s signature devices…information not at hand to a newbie.
Yes. Easy but excellent!! Thanks to Chalicea and Kenmac.
Nice pattern – like Phil K@2, I’ve come to realise this is a Chalicea signature. Of course, anyone starting their Inquisitor-solving careers here will be in for a bit of a shock in the weeks to come. Thanks to Chalicea and Kenmac.
Echoing the thanks to Chalicea and Kenmac, plus general noises of appreciation. As I’ve written here before, it’s always a pleasure to be able to complete the endgame without imperilling one’s soul by conjuring the evil demons Google and Wikipedia. I guessed Someone’s Law and then Moore’s Law, and started looking for the part I could remember (“… double every two years”) on those famous diagonals.
This is not a complaint, but it seemed almost too generous of Chalicea to give us a consecutive block of nine extra-word clues. I wouldn’t have minded at all if they’d been scattered through the whole array of Across and Down!
I knew roughly what Moore’s Law is, but not necessarily the right form of words for it. One thing I did remember, though, was Chalicea’s liking for diagonals (as noted already). I tried the long diagonals first, but I then saw OF TRANS pretty quickly near the top left, and the rest followed. (When I saw OUNT I feared AM was going to precede it – ‘amount’ would not have been a good word to use in place of ‘number’ – but the C made COUNT, which is the same as number.)
An interesting theme, and a good example of an empirical law – like Parkinson’s law, in a way.
I completed the top half first, and just as I was doing so the first two of the special clues revealed themselves (21d, 23d). The remaining seven had to be all those that followed. It was good to be told how many clues had extra words, and the fact that they were together.
Thanks to Chalicea and kenmac.
Grid fill easy by any standards but finding MOORE’S LAW led to finding TRANSISTOR lurking somewhere then I got bored
Sorry.
Almost too easy to be very enjoyable, but, as kenmac says, newcomers have to start somewhere so I’m OK with that.
26a Washington: Chambers says OLEO is a short form of oleomargarine, and then OLEOMARGARINE in US is what we just call margarine.
27a wine: some redundancy here, but the clue does read “wine measures, say” and I think that the “say” makes the inclusion of “wine” (or a number of other liquids) acceptable.
Thanks for the blog & the puzzle.
Definitely easy for an Inquisitor – I don’t often manage to finish them but had no problems with this one.
Thanks to Chalicea and Kenmac
Not a newbie but I had forgotten C’s use of the diagonals like that, and didn’t spot the words despite etc….. so DNF for me. Grrr.
Yes, one of the easiest Inquisitor grid-fills ever and the nine consecutive clues weren’t too tricky to spot. The rather traditional or signature highlighting meant this was a shade on the disappointing side for me. Still, if it encourages new solvers…
I’m echoing NormanJL @10, I’m afraid. That’s what comes from having a sieve for a memory.
I thought I had heard that M’s Law was no longer valid, so was looking for observations about that. I found SADDEST DATE around the middle of the grid. Then saw IT’S US in the top row, just below the dual date in the top margin of the which read 20-21 FEBRUARY 2021, although I could not find a reference which would justify this. So, I was desperately searching up the wrong alley!
It made me think, however, that it was a pity 12022021 did not fall on a Saturday as this would have provided a perfect excuse for a palindromic IQ theme.
I enjoyed the gentle grid fill.
Thanks to Chalicea and Kenmac.
BTW, Ken there is a typo at cell 1f.
Dave W @ 12:
Couldn’t read my own sloppy writing. Too much hassle to change it now.
Still, anyone who comes from EDINBVRGH like I do, will be OK with it!
EDINBVRGH sign.
What Norman said.
I love Chalicea’s puzzles — always accessible and elegant. You’d think by now I’d know diagonals were her signature — so I struggled a bit until I found the message.
As others have said, at the easier end of the IQ spectrum but no less enjoyable. Very admirable how Chalicea got all those diagonals in the grid. Many thanks to her and to kenmac for the blog.
Thanks to all and especially to Kenmac. Indeed the device is a Chalicea signature but I’ll have to forget it for a while, as it is such a give-away and does, of course, to those who spot it, render the solve rather easy (apologies to those who didn’t see it – Norman and Bingy – I think it is importaant for a setter to give some pleasure and create puzzles that can be solved). Yes, a Chalicea puzzle is ‘easy’ but no apologies for that. The editor likes to give the full range of difficulty and to encourage newcomers with some at the easier end. The device led to a grid that wasn’t symmetrical but solvers don’t seem to mind about that – is it just a setter’s preoccupation?
The device led to a grid that wasn’t symmetrical but solvers don’t seem to mind about that – is it just a setter’s preoccupation?
I think it may be Chalicea. Personally I never look at the symmetry. Not sure how others think.