Kruger’s 50th Inquisitor puzzle.
Preamble: Seventeen clues contain an extra word that must be removed before solving. In clue order, the first or fourth letters of each extra word followed by the seventeen other choices of first or fourth letters will broadly identify someone who sought upward mobility. In the completed grid solvers must highlight the means by which this person expected to achieve that ambition, the desired destination and those who famously described the attempt (45 cells in total).
After the first time through I had entries dotted all over the grid and 5 or 6 of the extra words. Things moved along at a steady pace, and, as solving progressed, some of those extra words were relatively easy to spot (especially with a half-solved clue, i.e. wordplay sorted out but checking the definition, or vice versa), but some were well concealed.
I had noted that in a few rows and columns there were runs of unchecked letters (rows 3 & 11, columns 3 & 11), those being prime candidates for where to find items to highlight, but I didn’t really keep an eye on them – no matter. Towards the end of solving, with only two or three extra words to locate, the bottom left quadrant was a little sparse, then suddenly I got the final 6 answers in quick succession.
The Z of 31d HEEZES was the last letter I entered, and as soon as I wrote it in my eyes drifted left & right … and there was LED ZEPPELIN. (I recall having seen them in the late 60’s when I was still at school, in the sixth form – before they were really famous.) Upward to the top of the grid and there’s HEAVEN. How do we get there? Using a STAIRWAY of course. Now that’s only 25 letters, so another 20 to highlight. Robert PLANT and Jimmy PAGE I know but I had to Google the others: John BONHAM and John Paul JONES.
Still needed to sort out those 1st & 4th letters though. By a reasoned choice I could see GLITTERS IS GOLD and then looking at the alternative letters a sentence emerged: [There’s] a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold, which (although I didn’t know it beforehand) is the opening line to Stairway to Heaven.
A couple of answers not in TCD: 1a & 4d. But anyway, thanks Kruger, I rather enjoyed this – not too difficult, but by no means a doddle. And a lot of thematic material which often nudges the setter away from a symmetric grid, but not here.
Added after publication of solution: Kruger notes that the track is on Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album, released on 8th November 1971, almost exactly 50 years ago.
| No. | Clue [extra] | Answer | Wordplay |
| Across | |||
| 1 | Devise revolutionary gymnastic position (7) | PLANCHE | PLAN (devise) CHE (revolutionary) |
| 6 | A place to play in street (6) | AVENUE | A VENUE (place to play) |
| 10 | Australian liberals extremely tomboyish at other things (7, 2 words) | ALL THAT | A(ustralian) 2×L(iberal) T(omboyis)H AT |
| 12 | Bird’s kept in aviary – [anyhow], it escaped! (4) | YITE | (aviar)Y IT E(scaped) |
| 15 | Single head [applied] to move to the right city (4) | OSLO | SOLE (single) with S moved right |
| 16 | Centre for divorce stops both of us returning before this time (6) | ERENOW | RENO (centre for divorce) in WE< (both of us) |
| 17 | Analgesic from California briefly is in [another] fluid (7) | SALICIN | [CAL(ifornia) IS IN]* |
| 18 | Qualities of gold are complex (5) | AURAE | AU (gold) [ARE]* |
| 20 | Be pleased with [gaudy] musical ornament (6) | RELISH | double definition |
| 21 | Going naked is mundane fashion – one Scots abandoned (6) | NUDISM | [IS MUNDANE]* ¬ ANE (one, Scot) |
| 23 | Morocco covers up old Indian governor’s colour (7) | MAGENTA | MA (Morocco) around AGENT (old Indian governor) |
| 25 | Duck eats both sides of same plant (6) | TEASEL | TEAL (duck) around S(am)E |
| 26 | Onset of involuntary spasm hurt everywhere (6) | PASSIM | [I(nvoluntary) SPASM]* |
| 29 | Arrest [lady] European diplomatic specialist (7) | ATTACHÉ | ATTACH (arrest) E(uropean) |
| 32 | Fish caught by father’s sole (6) | PLANTA | LANT (fish) in PA (father) |
| 33 | Bozo in school starts to [warily] mock ongoing education (6) | SCHMOE | SCH(ool) M(ock) O(ngoing) E(ucation) |
| 35 | English take time to build (5) | ERECT | E(nglish) REC (take) T(ime) |
| 38 | Fans comprehend Glaswegian girlfriend’s courage in LA (7) | COJONES | CONES (fans) around JO (girlfriend, Scot) |
| 40 | Retrospective stocktake ruefully finds nickel-copper alloy (6) | EUREKA | (stockt)AKE RUE(fully) < |
| 41 | Clever [hostage] victim speaking out (4) | ABLE | homophone: ABEL (victim) |
| 43 | Stop [obstructing] oil tanker approaching Spain (4) | OBOE | OBO (oil tanker) E (Spain) |
| 44 | A believer in evolution, boy is appearing in court (7) | CLADIST | LAD (boy) IS in CT (court) |
| 45 | Annoy insensitive daughter – [someone] leaving American behind (6) | HARASS | HARD (insensitive) ¬ D(aughter) ASS (behind, N Am) |
| 46 | Police station impounds artillery wagon (7) | TARTANA | TANA (police station) around ART(illery) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Long to include mature display (7) | PAGEANT | PANT (long) around AGE (mature) |
| 2 | Hamlet accepted crooked [ransom] deal (5) | ALDEA | A(ccepted) [DEAL]* |
| 3 | Letter from gypsy (3) | CHI | double definition |
| 4 | Henry always loses first of young son’s sweets (5) | HALWA | H(enry) ALWAYS ¬ Y(oung) & S(on) |
| 5 | Menial workers completely satisfy [security] review (4) | ETAS | SATE< (completely satisfy) |
| 6 | South Americans may curiously answer to Argentina (6) | AYMARA | [MAY]* A(nswer) RA (Argentina) |
| 7 | Star artiste finally can cut short [religion] (6) | ÉTOILE | (artist)E TOILE(t) (can) |
| 8 | Fruit offensive people picked up (5) | UGLIS | homophone: UGLIES (offensive people) |
| 9 | Swedish chemist abruptly lifted unusual wood (4) | EBON | NOBE(l)< (Swedish chemist) |
| 11 | Kay, for one, is following discordant tune (6) | TENUIS | IS after [TUNE]* |
| 13 | Agile local [superintendent], on vacation, disturbed unlawful immigrant (7) | ILLEGAL | [AGILE L(oca)L]* |
| 14 | Alternative technology overwhelms profligate French author (6) | AROUET | AT (alternative technology) around ROUÉ (profligate) |
| 19 | Mike and Charlie jointly act as compère (5) | EMCEE | EM (Mike) CEE (Charlie) |
| 22 | Strangely, no [great] contralto does lower part of duet (7) | SECONDO | [NO C(ontralto) DOES]* |
| 24 | Monkey gets hold of fine tree (6) | TITOKI | TITI (monkey) around OK (fine) |
| 27 | Holy order cassock – repulsive clothing! (6) | SACRED | (or)DER CAS(sock) < |
| 28 | Mother’s to sing about arrowroot (7) | MARANTA | MA (mother) RANT (sing) A(bout) |
| 30 | Organism once more infecting Syrian cloth (6) | AMOEBA | MOE (more, obs) in ABA (Syrian cloth) |
| 31 | Gags women exiting lifts in Edinburgh (6) | HEEZES | WHEEZES (gags) ¬ W(omen) |
| 34 | Firm [Labour] support for emergency committee (5) | COBRA | CO (firm) BRA (support) |
| 36 | Repeat avoiding last couple of plastic partitions (5) | REPLA | REPLICA (repeat) ¬ (plast)IC |
| 37 | Some [legless] cases in Eilat resort (5) | TELIA | [EILAT]* |
| 38 | Money not left in [dirty] jar (4) | CASH | CLASH (jar) ¬ L(eft) |
| 39 | Will’s cutting number of supporters (4) | SECT | double definition |
| 42 | Young fish mostly become separated (3) | PAR | (a)PAR(t) (separated) |
The 1st and 4th letters were something I never did sort out, but the thematic material was easy enough to spot even for a non-fan such as myself. Reasonably straightforward, as you say, and good fun too.
Fun indeed. All thanks to Kruger and HolyGhost. I saw the ZEPPELIN some time before the LED and had various airship fantasies before the penny dropped. The grid looked plausibly finished with the group name and the STAIRWAY to HEAVEN, and I confess to toying with the heretical thought that 45 might be a misprint for 25 before thinking to look for band members. (Didn’t actually know the names, but the visible JONES in the grid provided a first guess and prompted a visit to Wikipedia.)
Yes, an enjoyable solve, and nice to completely finish one without any big queries. The helpful glittering gold and ‘lady who’s sure’ emerged in a wobbly through-a-glass-darkly fashion; if we were asked every year, in addition to the usual, to vote for the most indecipherable sentence in a rubric, I would nominate the second sentence.
All the same, many thanks to Kruger and HolyGhost.
“How about The New Yardbirds?”
“That’d go down like a lead balloon”
The rest is history(better spell it LED or someone might come asking for a “LEED” zeppelin record)
A fine tribute!
In the past I’ve struggled really badly with some of the puzzles set by Kruger, but on this occasion things went swimmingly, with all answers parsed to my satisfaction. What a terrific ending … very nice indeed. Was there a single one amongst us that wasn’t gently singing the song to themselves as they performed the required highlighting?
A thoroughly enjoyable Inquisitor – thanks to both blogger and setter.
I had intended to take a week off, but Ho asked for help in the end game, so I solved it all with a few hints from Ho. I found (with a help from Google) all the missing parts and admired the clues and the stairway leading nicely to heaven. I read in the Wiki article that “The song is often regarded as one of the greatest and most iconic rock songs of all time.” I thought, therefore, that I ought to listen to it. Big mistake. The lyrics were weird and the song was 8 to 15 minutes (depending on which version you hear) of my life that I would rather not have wasted. It wouldn’t appear in my top 1000 songs of any sort let alone being the greatest of all time. I’m sure others will tell me how wrong I am, but each to his own!
A very satisfying puzzle, with a theme that I was partly familiar with and with a good set of clues.
The device whereby one did not know in advance which letter to take from each pair made the puzzle more demanding than if the letters could be read sequentially. Full marks to the setter, though, for telling us that seventeen clues had an extra word (and not a phrase like ‘just over a third’ that has had its day).
I thoroughly enjoyed my first attempt at all the clues, which resulted in a grid that was mostly complete but with some gaps in both the bottom left and top right, leaving five pairs of letters to find and about 10 clues still to solve. After a day’s rest I somehow managed to rattle off all the remaining clues and gather all the remaining letters. (A bit like your experience, HG, but I had two quadrants to complete, not one.)
The message clearly began with A LADY, but I got the theme by re-reading the preamble and then noticing HEAVEN along the top, followed by LED ZEPPELIN (which one could hardly miss). Then STAIRWAY came into view, but I had to look up all four of the individual names (not a subject I am au fait with).
I appreciated the quality of the clues, the grid symmetry and the way that all the thematic items were incorporated. A very good 50th puzzle for Kruger, and, as it happens, the 150th Inquisitor that I have attempted.
Thanks to Kruger and HolyGhost.
Could someone expand on why chi = gypsy for me? I could see that it had to be, but I still don’t see it.
Ryan @ 8: Chambers lists CHI as a Romany word meaning man or fellow.
Oh, so it does! Apparently I’d been too lazy originally to follow the chain of references (from ‘chi’ to ‘chai’, and onwards to ‘chal’, which finally gives the definition you mention). Thanks!
50 IQs! Congratulations Kruger.
We were late starting this one – we were still finishing off previous puzzles as we had been somewhat busy.
We really enjoyed it. Being Led Zeppelin fans we did not have too much trouble in sorting out the thematic entries.
Thanks HolyGhost and once again, congratulations and thanks to Kruger.
Hi .. Is it possible to access this crossword online to either download for printing out or solving online?
Regards,
TL
Hi Turbolegs,
Subscribers to the i have access to an App and browser version of the paper you could use to download and print out a copy.
Ryan @ 8. Also gypsy is cockney slang for tea. Chi is a type of tea.
Watfordpete @14: Rosie Lee is cockney rhyming slang for tea. Chai (with an “a”) is a type of tea; there is an alternative spelling of “chai” as “chi”, but that doesn’t mean tea – it’s the feminine form of chal, a person (Romany).