Enigmatic Variations No.1490 – BORICAHF by Picadilly

The preamble
“Answers to the four asterisked clues are to be encoded using a Playfair code-square before entry in the grid. The three unclued entries have been encoded using the same code-square, as has BORICAHF. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended. ”

The solve
The grid filled up without major incident, although the parsing of one or two clues was not immediately obvious to me. That left the Playfair Square, which I’ll discuss separately below.

The key phrase was found to be KING CHARLES. This allowed the title to be decoded; it turned out to be SPANIELS (providing belated confirmation of the phrase). The missing letters could then be filled in, showing that the unclued entries were COCKER (KUKIHL), SPRINGER (BOANGCOHL), and BLENHEIM (FARCAHCB).

Thoughts
While I’m sure that this will have been a too easy for some seasoned solvers, it’s important that newcomers to thematic crosswords have a way in (and some of us veterans appreciate an easier solve now and again).

This puzzle provides a good springboard to the genre: many clues will be readily apparent to those with an understanding of cryptic rules, and the trickier clues (which, for me at least, would include 7 down) are apt for back-parsing.

In addition, the fact that (whether by design or chance, I don’t know) KING CHARLES wasn’t in the online Playfair solvers forced me to crack the Square myself. I’ve always thought it would be a lot harder than it was in this case.

Moreover, although I predict some complaints that there were no hints to the theme, it’s a fact of life with EVs that the endgame doesn’t always resolve itself easily, and often requires a great deal of additional work.

So thanks to Picadilly for providing something for both new and… old (?) solvers to get their teeth into.

Solving the Playfair Square
The four asterisked clues gave the following pairs:
1. FE -> ML
2. LT -> FY
3. CH -> KE
4. OW -> PV
5. RA -> LR
6. CE -> EM
7. PI -> WA
8. NE -> CR

As will be seen, the original and coded pairs of 5 and 6 have letters in common. This indicates that the three letters are on the same line (whether row or column cannot yet be known). Considering 5, we see that R is coded as L and A as R. Therefore, we know that the grouping ARL appears in a line. Similarly, from 6, we have CEM.

Next, considering 3, we see that CEM must appear vertically. This is because C and its coded form K must appear in the same row. as must H and E. This is impossible if CEM is horizontal. Also, K must appear in immediately over H. Similarly, applying 8 (another swap involving C and E), N must appear in the same row as C and K, and R must appear in the same row as E and H. In addition, N must appear immediately over R.

The fact that N appears over R tells us that ARL (from 5) must appear in a row. This means that it must be part of the thematic phrase (as L comes before R in the alphabet, and it is extremely unlikely that the thematic phrase would use all of the letters from A to K).

We also know that the row with ARL also includes H and E. That row must therefore be one of the following: ARLHE, ARLEH, HARLE, EARLH, HEARL, EHARL. Once we know which it is, we will also know the positions of N, K, and C in the row above (as they appear above R, H, and E respectively).

Looking at 1 (which includes E and M), we can see that F must appear below L. This is where I had a bit of a lucky break. Trying the various combinations (ARLHE, etc.), I happened upon this:

K		N		C
H	A	R	L	E
			F	M

Bearing in mind the construction of a Playfair Square, one should be on the alert for possible words of phrases at the ‘beginning’ of the square, and the ‘unused’ letters (in alphabetical order) towards the end. It seemed possible that the letters F and M were unused.

If correct, this would mean that G, H, I, K, and L were used in the keyword/phrase. H, K and L already appear, and employing the others gives KING CHARLES as a possible key phrase.

That gives the following completed Playfair Square (which can be verified by pairs 2, 4, and 7):

K	I	N	G	C
H	A	R	L	E
S	B	D	F	M
O	P	Q	T	U
V	W	X	Y	Z

However, if one didn’t have that stroke of luck, 7 comes to one’s aid. I and A must be on the same line, and as we know that ARL, H, and E are on the same row, I and A must be in the same column. Indeed, I must be directly above A. Furthermore, P must be directly above W.

A similar piece of reasoning using 2 shows that F is directly below L (we already knew that they were in the same column) and that Y is directly below T.

Pair 4 shows us that O and V are directly to the left or right of P and W respectively. Given that unused letters are listed alphabetically, it’s very likely that they are to the left. We may also reason that we should place PW below IA, such that the former pair occupies the bottom two places in its column.

Playing around with all that information gives the following likely partial solution:

K	I	N		C
H	A	R	L	E
			F	M
O	P		T
V	W		Y

One can happily fill in the S, U, X, and Z as unused letters. From there it’s just a hop, skip, and jump to the completed Playfair Square.

Notation
Definition	word
Indicator	[word]
Anagram	WORD*
Reversal	<WORD
Homophone	“WORD”

 

Across
1	Wasps’ nest in Lothian BY (near) [centre of] DalKEith (4)	BYKE
5	[Second of] cLergymen [entering] EMBASSY* [organised] meeting for religious worship (8)	ASSEMBLY
12	< ONE (Number) [turned] W (west) a moment ago in Scotland (4)	ENOW
13	{HIT ARM}* [twisting] catgut in Peebles (6)	THAIRM
14	A (Area) sLoPeS regularly providing mountain pastures (4)	ALPS
15	{FEN REEDS}* [scattering] spores (8)	FERN-SEED
17	AV (Bible; Authorised Version) [placed in] [heart of] fiNEst part of church (4)	NAVE
18	Parasite having TAM (flat-topped cap) [seizing] POWER* [violently] (8)	TAPEWORM
19	One nibbling [tip of] Nettle [in] [stupid] WAGER* (6)	GNAWER
20	Tackle RASHES* [unconventionally], [injecting] N (nitrogen) (7)	HARNESS
23	Convincing power CO (company) AGENCY (operation) [to dismiss] A (associate) (7)	COGENCY
26	{GETS A FEW}* [unusual] textures (8)	WEFTAGES
29	A GI (US soldier) gets O (nothing) money-changing (4)	AGIO
31	[Minced] {VEAL DISH}* wasted (8)	LAVISHED
32*	Touched material (4)	FELT
33	Denoting branch of English SC (South Carolina) < CITO (quickly) [rejected] (6)	SCOTIC
34	PIE (Confusion) [surrounding] [end of] speciaL ballet position (4)	PLIE
35	PRESSED (Forced into service), [receiving] B (second-rate) sleeping-place in cupboard (8, two words)	PRESS BED
36	Barge, [last to] tracK EEL (fish) (4)	KEEL
Down
2*	Dog food (4)	CHOW
3	Spenser’s to follow [start of Elizabethan] NEWS* [broadcast] (5)	ENSEW
4	OFTEN (Frequently) [after] S (soprano) to tone down (6)	SOFTEN
6	Pace < PETS (tame animals) [raised] (4)	STEP
7	{TESSA RAN NAKED}*: [could be] ANNA’S _____ (8) [Explanatory note: TESSA RAN NAKED is an anagram of ANNA’S STREAKED]	STREAKED
8	ma (Parent) and SON (child) [meeting] stoneworker (5)	MASON
9	[Some] rabBI ERroneously put coffin here (4)	BIER
10*	ACE (Expert) [follows] [middle of] curRent in rapid tidal flow (4)	RACE
11	< {ON (Working), ALL (everybody)}’s [upset]: that’s plain! (5)	LLANO
16	Unfaithful, {ALSO IDLY}* [promiscuous] (8) [Note: arguably, either of unfaithful and promiscuous could both the definition/anagram indictor]	DISLOYAL
21	ST (Way) [to break] RULE (law) to steal cattle (6)	RUSTLE
22	SHOT (Try), [IF for O (love)], to change (5)	SHIFT
24	EMITS (Sends out) [F (fellow) for M (money)], maybe help in identifying suspects (5)	E-FITS
25	KAMI (Japanese lord) [put on] K (king)’s sealskin boot (5)	KAMIK
26*	PIN (Nail) to [top of] Elm tree (4)	PINE
27	Frenzied cry from EVE (First Lady) [outside] O (Ohio) (4)	EVOE
28	G (Good) ER (Queen Elizabeth) with E (English) clothes for Spenser (4)	GERE
30	GLEEK (Old trick) [endlessly] produces impish enjoyment (4)	GLEE

 

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