Hi everyone, and thanks to Charybdis for a good challenge which I much enjoyed.
The preamble reads:
Set A clues are arranged in alphabetical order of answers, not all of which enter the grid. Set B clues show lengths of clue answers before entry in the grid. They are thematically altered and generate the theme-word (11) which suggests what solvers might PTO. The theme-word, taken together with the answers to surplus clues, indicates how sixteen cells must be altered in symmetrically placed grid entries. All entries are real words or phrases at each stage; Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.
First impressions? Clear as mud! But, much as I have grown fond of the familiar devices, I did appreciate having something different to the usual.
With eleven set B clues and an eleven-letter theme-word, it seemed likely that the former might each be one letter too long in order to generate the latter. (Other options would work, but they would be harder, so this was my hope!) I pasted the clues into a spreadsheet so I could group them by length and also took advantage of Crossword Compiler’s word stats to count the number of words of each length in the grid:
If all Set B’s answer lengths were reduced by one, as surmised, the numbers would match, save for two extra five-letter entries and one extra 6-letter entry. Perfect: so I now knew the lengths of the three surplus A words. This meant that I could start to fit my answers into the grid, confident that all the answers of other lengths must have a home.
In the end I solved lots of the clues before starting to put them into place. It is surprising how helpful having an idea of the first letter of a clue can be when solving. By the time I was down to ten gaps in the A clues I’d only managed to figure out two Bs.
My entry point into the grid came once I had all the 7 letter answers and could look at these with the intersecting 3 letter ones. SQUIRRS/ICY/ROMAINE slotted into position in the NW, with PIP/ASEPSES in the opposite corner.
With the grid in play, I made further progress with those elusive B clues, removing letters which left real words and eventually generating:
OVERBOOKING
Meanwhile, the words left over from Set A were:
BIBLE EIGHT SHORTS
Hmm. It took some head-scratching, but eventually I identified EIGHT abbreviated (SHORT) BOOKs of the BIBLE in reverse where, after following the titular instruction to Please Turn OVER, real words remained in the grid. I was grateful that Charybdis had told us that these would be part of symmetrical grid entries – this was very helpful in finding some of them. I was a teeny bit disappointed (though hardly surprised really!) that Bar. wasn’t the book of Barry: it is the Apocryphal Book of Baruch.
Eight three-letter strings to be reversed is of course equivalent to swapping eight pairs of first and last letters, i.e. changing sixteen cells, so that was the last bit of the preamble checked off.
For ease of reference I have numbered the grid below (or more accurately, left in Crossword Compiler’s numbering) and added clue numbers to the table. And so, onward to the parsing, which I hope is all the right way up. TTFN!
| ANSWER (ENTRY) |
Clue with definition underlined | ||
| Explanation, with quoted indicators in italics and letters appearing in the ANSWER capitalised and emboldened | |||
| Set A | |||
| 23a | AGORA | Chief officer keeps gold in the marketplace (5) | |
| AGA (chief officer) contains (keeps) OR (gold) | |||
| 24a | AMIR | Commune following accepted prince (4) | |
| MIR (commune) following A (accepted) | |||
| 41a | APNOEA | ‘Breathlessness’ a long time past is back (6) | |
| A + EON (long time) + PA (past), is all reversed (is back) | |||
| 9d | ARRANGES | Plans annual return on cooking appliances (8) | |
| AR (annual return) + RANGES (cooking appliances) | |||
| 42a | ASEPSES | Halfwits keeping short letter in infection-free conditions (7) | |
| ASSES (halfwits) containing (keeping) EP (Ep., abbreviation for epistle – short letter) | |||
| 27d | BARBETS RABBETS |
Obstruct gambling for tropical birds (7) | |
| BAR (obstruct) + BETS (gambling) | |||
| * | BIBLE | Bishop gripped by bitterness in scriptures (5) | |
| B (Bishop) inside (gripped by) BILE (bitterness) | |||
| 10d | CORKBORERS ROCKBORERS |
Excellent people to have around borough – they thoroughly probe bungs (10) | |
| CORKERS (excellent people) around BOR (borough) | |||
| 26a | DERBY | Ginger back next to bowler (5) | |
| RED (ginger) reversed (back) + BY (next to) | |||
| 26d | DEVOTEE | County reduced support for fan (7) | |
| DEVOn (county) without the last letter (reduced) + TEE (support) | |||
| * | EIGHT | Card concealed by sleights (5) | |
| Hidden in (concealed by) slEIGHTs | |||
| 31d | ELODEA | Pondweed, small portion picked up by Fenland channel (6) | |
| DOLE (small portion) reversed (picked up) + EA (Fenland channel) | |||
| 30d | GALENA LAGENA |
They take lead from this local girl and another (6) | |
| GAL (local girl) + ENA (another [girl]) | |||
| 21d | GASTRULA | Guts upset with a lot of alarm for young embryo (8) | |
| GUTS anagrammed (upset) together with all but the last letter of (a lot of) ALARm | |||
| 30a | GEARS | Sets of cogs applying gravity to lugs (5) | |
| G (gravity) + EARS (lugs) | |||
| 22d | GRAZIOSO | Top half of grazer is regularly seen in zoo proceeding elegantly (8) | |
| The first (top) half of GRAzer + IS inserted into regular positions of (regularly seen in) Z_O_O | |||
| 8d | HOLY DAY | Country dance in which year is embraced by ancient religious festival (7, two words) | |
| HOE (country dance) in which Y is inside (embraced by) OLD (ancient) | |||
| 3d | ICY | How winter might be in one cold year (3) | |
| I (one) + C (cold) + Y (year) | |||
| 37a | ISLE | Man for example’s somewhat misleading (4) | |
| Contained in (somewhat) mISLEading | |||
| 17d | LEVITATION VELITATION |
Floating request to attend event with the French taking first two places (10) | |
| [in]VITATION (request to attend event) with LE (the, French) replacing the first two letters (taking first two places) | |||
| 36a | LOBI | Pitch independent rounded segments (4) | |
| LOB (pitch) + I (Independent) | |||
| 39a | LOOSEN | Smallest room has little space to relax (6) | |
| LOO (smallest room) + ‘S (has) + EN (little space) | |||
| 18a | MARM | Society eschews sycophancy in address to the queen (4) | |
| S (society) leaves (eschews) [s]MARM (sycophancy) | |||
| 25d | MELANO | Bad omen about – behold! – dark one (6) | |
| An anagram of (bad) OMEN around (about) LA (behold!) | |||
| 32d | PALATE | Relish seeing father delayed (6) | |
| PA (father) + LATE (delayed) | |||
| 2d | QANATS | Hidden channels seeing ace promoted in Australian airlines (6) | |
| An A (ace) is moved a position higher (promoted) in QANTAS (Australian airlines) | |||
| 35a | RATIO | Nelson’s hostilities only with this relationship (5) | |
| {HO}RATIO (Nelson) is HO (hostilities only) with the answer | |||
| 5d | ROMAINE MORAINE |
American lettuce – NE state’s run out first (7) | |
| MAINE (NE state) has RO (run out) first | |||
| 4d | ROOMS | Accommodation provided by no-good ostlers (5) | |
| [g]ROOMS (ostlers) without G (no-good …) | |||
| 12a | SCOOT | Special waterfowl make off quickly (5) | |
| S (special) + COOT (waterfowl) | |||
| 33a | SCRAG | Rawboned creature seen originally by outcrop (5) | |
| The first letter of (… originally) Seen + CRAG (outcrop) | |||
| 11d | SEPARATE | Observe split by working apart in isolation (8) | |
| SEE (observe) containing (split by) an anagram of (working) APART | |||
| 29a | SETAE | With first group of clues everyone finally bristles (5) | |
| With SET A (first group of clues), we have the last letter of (… finally) everyonE | |||
| * | SHORTS | Trousers – types worn by Henry (6) | |
| SORTS (types) around (worn by) H (henry) | |||
| 33d | SITHE | Time this when running final of race (5) | |
| THIS when anagrammed (running) + the last letter (final) of racE | |||
| 1d | SPETS STEPS |
Rains lightly in the countryside? Or beginning to sile cats and dogs? (5) | |
| The first letter of (beginning to) Sile + PETS (cats and dogs?) | |||
| 1a | SQUIRRS | People who hoard, ignoring the Spanish, make searches in Scotland (7) | |
| SQUIRR[el]S (people who hoard) omitting (ignoring) EL (the, Spanish) | |||
| 20a | STEMS | Checks front parts of ships (5) | |
| Two definitions | |||
| 6d | STORGE | Natural affection is good to hold in reserve (6) | |
| G (good) in STORE (reserve) | |||
| 13a | TOROSE | Turn over flower with regular bulges (6) | |
| TO (turn over) + ROSE (flower) | |||
| 19a | YAKKA | If cycling around kayak can be hard work in Oz (5) | |
| KAYAK, cycling around | |||
| Set B | |||
| 15a | ENVOY ENVY |
Diplomat’s ending for poem (5) | O |
| Double definition | |||
| 28a | VERST ERST |
Old soldier holds senior back roughly 1km from Moscow (5) | V |
| VET (old soldier) contains (holds) SR (senior) reversed (back) | |||
| 38d | PIPE PIP |
Greek character exercises to sing like a bird (4) | E |
| PI (Greek character) + PE (exercises) | |||
| 22a | GENRES GENES |
Information research for art of various kinds (6) | R |
| GEN (information) + RES (research) | |||
| 16a | TABLE TALE |
Board’s tense with sufficient strength (5) | B |
| T (tense) + ABLE (with sufficient strength) | |||
| 7a | SHACKOS SHACKS |
Journo in emergency call for plumed caps (7) | O |
| HACK (journo) in SOS (emergency call) | |||
| 14d | SOAKERS SAKERS |
Ask Rose to recast lead parts (7) | O |
| ASK ROSE, anagram (to recast) | |||
| 38a | PEKAN PEAN |
Peking Man’s missing section – it’s wrongly termed ‘fisher’ (5) | K |
| PEKing mAN is missing a section from the middle | |||
| 34d | GENIUS GENUS NEGUS |
Energy invested in using up prevailing spirit (6) | I |
| E (energy) inside (invested in) USING, anagrammed (up) | |||
| 40a | ETHNIC ETHIC |
Unfortunately, the health standards body cut member of racial minority (6) | N |
| An anagram of (unfortunately) THE + NICe (health standards body) without the last letter (cut) | |||
| 7d | STIGMES STIMES SMITES |
Pens for pigs implanted with genetically modified dots (7) | G |
| STIES (pens for pigs) containing (implanted with) GM (genetically modified) | |||
thanks for the writeup. i filled the grid but was totally beaten by the endgame, being unaware (or having forgotten) that there were standard three-letter abbreviations for the books, and convincing myself that GENES in the grid must be short for genesis somehow. oh well!
This was unfortunately the least satisfying thematic puzzle that I have attempted this year. I’m generally not fond of word jigsaws anyway when not all the pieces are known or some knowledge of a hidden theme is needed to get them. The puzzle ended up as an exercise in cold-solving, albeit an enjoyable one.
I reached my limit with these clues when I had solved 35 out of 41 in Set A and 8 out of 11 in Set B – a good result by my standards when there is no assistance beyond the clues. I would have been able to start the jigsaw, and possibly finish it, if I had been able to solve CORKBORERS. And a clearer pointer to the theme would have helped.
For those with the knowledge and skill to work this one out it was obviously an altogether different experience. I’m hoping for a different kind of puzzle from this setter next time.
Thanks to Kitty for unravelling the theme and explaining everything.
A very impressive construction. Having the altered entries appearing symmetrically was masterful given the constraints of crossing entries making real words. Solving the clues was fairly smooth and fitting them into the grid a fun challenge, with the B set changes fortunately being reasonably spottable. I took a long time over the endgame, creating a red herring for myself in spotting there are eight books with repeated titles, eg 1 Kings/2Kings, and trying to make that somehow work. Eventually though a bit harder about “overbooking” and spotted spets to steps, when it all fell into place – a very satisfying moment of discovery. Thanks Charybdis and Kitty.
Thanks, Kitty, for a great blog. I’m impressed with your ingenuity in tallying the grid lengths to confirm suspicions that Set B answers each lose a letter.
Alan B, you seem to have been very unlucky to have solved so many clues cold [a really impressive tally and better than I’d probably manage!] and yet be unable to fit them together in the grid. I’d hoped that iCy/sCoot or sCrag and Pip [or Pie]/Pe[k]an might have been one of several ways in. Knowledge of the theme was not required in order to complete the jigsaw element, and in fact the theme was only supposed to emerge as a result of completing the jigsaw rather than the other way round. However, I’ve had my share of frustrations as an unsuccessful solver so I feel your pain!
Stick Insect, you’re very kind! I’m the sort of thematic setter who is willing to jettison symmetry in favour of theme complexity but in this case I tried extra hard to keep affected grid entries symmetrical as a help to the solver and I was relieved to manage it.
If anyone is interested, there’s a setter blog on http://bigdave44.com/2021/07/01/ev-1492/#comment-523824
… or http://bigdave44.com/2021/07/01/ev-1492 even!
Charybdis
I studied the solution before posting my first comment, and although it is true, as you say, that “knowledge of the theme was not required in order to complete the jigsaw element”, one still had to know what to do with the Set B answers in order to make any progress.
Incidentally, I sometimes choose to cold-solve as many clues as possible, even when one is not forced to do so, as a sort of test of the quality of the clues. In this ‘test’ I have to say you did well! I have had some interesting and even surprising results doing that, and it can be fun.
Thanks for your comment.
Alan B You’re welcome 🙂
Alan B, do you really test the quality of a clue on whether or not you can solve it cold?