Is X-Type going to lead us up the PROVERBIAL path, or take us any which WAY?…
The preamble states that:
“Solvers must highlight THE PROVERBIAL WAY to the destination in the unclued entry, comprising three phrases (1,7), (1,4) and (5,2,2,2); the WAY is continuous with right-angled turns. Finally, the proverb (3,4,2,4,2,5,4,4,10) which is alluded to should be written under the grid. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
So, no fancy tricks with extra letters/misprints in clues – ‘just’ a path of some sort to be found through the grid, from ‘somewhere’ and ending bottom right at the unclued entry, which has four crossers out of five letters.
At that, I pressed on with the solving, and managed a fairly steady pace of grid-filling – helped by the grid being ‘only’ 12×12, so smaller than the average EV…
Once I had enough going on down the bottom right I eventually decided that the destination must be HADES, so we are on some sort of Dante-esque Styxian descent to the netherworld, or, as Chris Rea put it in his inimitable MOR style…’this is the road to Hell‘…
I took a chance that the journey probably started top left, and after some grid-staring and permutation-crunching, helped by the restriction of right-angled turns only, I eventually found ‘I PROMISE’ (1, 7), I WILL (1, 4) and LEAVE IT TO ME (5, 2, 2, 2) – ending on the E of HADES (although the ME could also end at the E of SYSTEMS, which still touches the destination?)
And the long proverb/phrase soon became clear – ‘THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS!’
I would say this puzzle definitely lies on the easier end of the EV spectrum, and a quick check on X-Type’s three previous EVs confirms that their bloggers thought similarly. But no less enjoyable for that – especially nice on a blogging week to have the puzzle wrapped up by the end of the Sunday of publication!
BEATHED and FEEDSTOCK (as a type of material) were new to me, and TASHI LAMA was beyond my GK, so needed a little pattern-matching and look-up/confirmation. My favourite was probably 9D, with the INCA GONE out CANOEING! Closely followed by GORGe being ‘partially regurgitated’ to give GROG at 2D
Many thanks to X-Type, and I hope all is clear below…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
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| 1 | IGLOO | Schoolgirl, on reflection, admits dwelling in the Arctic (5) / reversed hidden word, i.e. ‘admits’ and ‘on reflection’, in ‘schOOLGIrl’ |
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| 5 | ART DECO | First of designers to care about particular style (7, two words) / anag, i.e. about, of D (first letter of Designers) + TO CARE |
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| 11 | PROMISE | Order in force for specific undertaking (7) / PR_ISE (force, lever apart) around OM (Order of Merit) |
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| 13 | IKAT | Fabric from India, kilo plus a ton (4) / I (India) + K (kilo) + A + T (ton) |
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| 14 | HOGEN | Keep for oneself European, northern, strong liquor (5) / HOG (keep for oneself) + E (European) + N (northern) |
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| 15 | WISPS | Bundles of hay produced using Wisconsin horsepower (5) / WIS (Wisconsin) + PS (German, Pferdestarke, horsepower) |
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| 17 | HOBOS | Homeless people returning cry ‘Oh!’ (5) / SOB (cry) + OH, all returned = HOBOS |
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| 18 | NICKEL SILVER | Alloy fashioned from live clinkers (12, two words) / anag, i.e. fashiOned from, of LIVE CLINKERS |
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| 20 | ENAMELS | Paintings showing golfer assuming title (7) / E_LS (Ernie Els, South African golfer) around (assuming) NAME (title) |
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| 24 | LEAVENS | Raises cut poles (7) / LEAVE (cut, depart) + NS (poles, North and South) |
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| 26 | TROISIEME AGE | People over 60 and I get wearisome, not starting to dance (12, two words) / anag, i.e. to dance, of I + GET + ( |
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| 27 | MULCT | Fine covering for the soil? Hard to go and put in last of peat (5) / MULC( |
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| 31 | POOLS | Bodies of water boat goes round (5) / SLOOP (boat) going round = POOLS (bodies of water) |
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| 32 | COHOE | Combined operations with tool finding fish (5) / CO (Combined Operations) + HOE (tool) |
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| 33 | SEER | Weight of Indian visionary? (4) / double defn. a SEER is a weight in India; and a SEER is a visionary |
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| 34 | SYSTEMS | Arrangements made with Seychelles plant stalks (7) / SY (Seychelles) + STEMS (plant stalks) |
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| 35 | TRINKET | Decorative piece from the skating arena in Yorkshire: English tango? (7) / TRINK (If you referred to ‘the rink’, or skating arena, in a stereotypical Yorkshire way, you might say T’RINK !) + E (English) + T (tango, phonetic alphabet) |
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| xx | HADES | Unclued (5) / Thematic deduction |
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| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined) / Logic/Parsing |
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| 1 | I-PHONES | Modern gadgets: hip, funky ones (7) / I-PH (anag, i.e. funky, of HIP) + ONES |
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| 2 | GROG | Gorge partially regurgitated drink (4) / GORG( |
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| 3 | LOGICAL | Nothing in Gallic novel is sensible (7) / L_GICAL (anag., i.e. novel, of GALLIC) around O (zero, nothing) |
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| 4 | OMER | Seven-week period in Jerusalem – or Rome, strangely (4) / anag, i.e. strangely, of ROME |
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| 6 | REIK | Prank, in the olden days, concerning one king (4) / RE (concerning) + I (one) + K (king) |
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| 7 | TASHI LAMA | ‘M’ has a tail organised for this monastery leader (9, two words) / anag, i.e. organised, of M HAS A TAIL |
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| 8 | DIPOLE | Aerial using current power within state distribution system (6) / D_OLE (state distribution system, for benefits) around I (current) + P (power) |
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| 9 | CANOEING | Inca gone out paddling in boat? (8) / anag, i.e. out, of INCA GONE |
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| 10 | OTIS | Is it OK retaining backing singer? (4) / reversed hidden word, i.e. ‘retaining’ and ‘backing’, in ‘iS IT Ok” |
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| 12 | SWILL | Second choice is a very large alcoholic drink (5) / S (second) + WILL (choice) |
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| 16 | FEEDSTOCK | Material to nourish farm animals (9) / FEED (nourish) + STOCK (farm animals) |
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| 19 | INTRUDER | Burglar maybe in time more bad-mannered (8) / IN + T (time) + RUDER (more bad-mannered) |
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| 21 | BEATHED | Long ago, heated articles in garden plot (7) / BE_D (garden plot) around A + THE (articles) |
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| 22 | USELESS | Don’t consume so much: it’s impractical (7) / if you don’t consume so much, then you USE LESS! |
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| 23 | BICORN | Hat fabricated from two types of grain? (6) / BI (prefix, indicating two-ness) + CORN (type of grain) |
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| 25 | EENSY | Very small beginnings of English establishment: not so young (5) / first letters, or beginnings, of ‘English Establishment Not So Young’ |
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| 27 | MIST | Fog’s forgotten, by the sound of it (4) / homophone, i.e. by the sound of it – MIST (fog) can sound like MISSED (forgotten) |
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| 28 | ELSE | Besides, it’s included in Michael’s engagements (4) / hidden word, i.e. it’s included in, in ‘michaELS Engagements’ |
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| 29 | IOTA | First nine letters sent back: that’s very small amount (4) / the first nine letters of the English alphabet are A TO I – sent back = IOTA |
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| 30 | TOME | Great volume of big bell echo (4) / TOM (big bell) + E (echo, phonetic alphabet) |
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For what it’s worth (and I don’t think we’re likely to fall out over it!) I think you’ve chosen the wrong option. It is, after all the road TO hell, which to me suggests you should be waiting on the doorstep rather than actually entering. We shall see. Anyway, an enjoyable puzzle, as you say very much at the more straightforward end of the EV spectrum. My thanks to you and to the setter.
I enjoyed this and like the blogger was thankful for a Sunday finish. I had a smile when I solved 22d. Cute clue that by X-Type. I went for the same final E as mc_rapper, and reading Ifor’s reasoning think I’ve cocked up the very final stage of the puzzle. Rats !
Thanks to mc and X-Type for the entertainment
There was a lot to enjoy in this puzzle, and the only thing I can say against it is that it was over too soon!
The theme was incorporated very well, and the nudges we were given in the preamble in the form of enumerations were well chosen and made a change from, say, a verbal hint (or no hint).
I had a very good look at the long enumeration and read the preamble again rather than dive straight into the clues. Mention of ‘the proverbial way’ (and ‘destination’) led me to think of a road or path to somewhere, and the full saying about the road to hell and good intentions came to me very quickly, helping me later to know what kind of phrases to look for.
I liked the way that the three phrases twisted and turned their way down into hell.
Thanks to X-Type and mc_rapper67.
Thanks for the various comments/feedback…much appreciated. Looks like this puzzle was enjoyed by those commenting.
There is a setter’s blog over on the BD site, where X-Type gives some background. It seems the puzzle theme was inspired, or subconsciously triggered, by the Chris Rea song ‘The Road to Hell’ – which I referred to in the blog – so maybe X-Type and I have some overlap in our musical tastes!
NB. The solution shown there has the E of HADES as the final paving slab, so it looks like Phil R and I will be in the hat for the prize this week, but not Ifor! X-Type doesn’t mention that other E, so maybe it hadn’t occurred to him/her – or the test solver(s)/editor – as a possibility.
Alan B at #3 – interesting that you focussed on (and deduced) the long phrase first – I think I did take a look at that and wonder if it would be better to try and unpick it first, but I just dived into solving in my usual style!
A relatively gentle but enjoyable solve. The t’rink in 35ac was amusing. I went for the E above HADES – I would expect both would be accepted? Thanks X-type and mc-rapper.
Stick Insect at #5 (and Ifor at #1) – I mentioned the ‘final E’ ambiguity in a comment on the setter’s blog, and it seems this is now being discussed amongst the higher echelons of the EV hierarchy (the power I wield!) … so you may be in with a chance of that Telegraph pen yet!…
MC, I’ll keep an eye on the prizewinner slot for something suggesting you or Phil has won. As it happens my driveway comprises paving slabs (to pick up on your reference) and they definitely stop at the front door rather than extending into the house. Not that I’m feeling embittered, of course? Thanks again for the blog, by the way.
On the important question of which ‘E’, I wanted to sit on the fence, but the fires had destroyed it, so I arbitrarily chose the E of Hades.
I think that ‘to’, as in ‘the road to Cardiff’ (or wherever), has the sense of both ‘towards’ and ‘into’. When you reach the Cardiff City boundary, the road doesn’t stop – it carries on towards the centre or any other destination.
If my analogy holds up (and you regard Hell as a place and a destination), I think the solver has a choice.
Residents of Cardiff might take issue with your analogy holding up, Alan – but I always find it pleasing that we can collectively debate back and forth on an issue that 99.9% of humanity would regard as utterly inconsequential. And I suspect you’re right, and the editor would join you on that fence if it were still unburnt, and that either will be accepted.
[I have the happiest memories of Cardiff (Llandaff, actually) from my childhood days, and I will never say anything against it. It is a place, and that was the only point.]
I understand, Alan. Just a gentle leg-pull.
I guessed the proverb from the letter-count and a couple of the phrases before looking at the clues. Very enjoyable, but all over very quickly. It is a good thing to have easy puzzles in the mix now and again as everyone needs a chance to get started on advanced puzzles somewhere.
Thanks to all.