The preamble
“Three of the unclued perimeter entries each contain one or more thematic members of a group which is celebrating the centenary of its QUEST this year. The fourth perimeter entry reveals (in the country’s language) where the group first met. Eight clues contain an extra word; solvers should extract two consecutive letters from these words, which, read in clue order, will give a reaction (in English) to this first meeting . Solvers must write this reaction under the grid and highlight two parallel chains of cells (15 in total) which reveal the source of the QUEST. Unchecked perimeter letters could spell HALF HELD REGRETS and BOO; Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Homophone | “WORD” |
The theme is LUIGI PIRANDELLO’s ‘Six Characters in Search of an Author’. The thematic group is STEPDAUGHTER, SON, BOY, CHILD, FATHER, MOTHER.
The play sparked a Rite-of-Spring-eque disturbance at the TEATRO VALLE, with shouts of INCOMMENSURABILE!
This is confirmed by the consecutive letters from the extra words thusly:
BUCKLING
COLD
EMPTY
REJECTS
BROTHER
FANS
BIBLICAL
NOBLE
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 8 | < VAT (Vessel) [put back] [on] A H (hot) griddle (5) | TAVAH |
| 10 | Forcibly removes ROOT (English skipper), buckling [after] P (pressure), [in] US (America) (7) | UPROOTS |
| 11 | Formerly turned away from A VERSE (line) (6) | AVERSE |
| 12 | T (Tenor) [breaking into] ARIA (song) entrances (5) | ATRIA |
| 14 | < {LED (Was first) [engaged in] NEW (modern)} [revolutionary] swivelling movements (6) | WEDELN |
| 15 | {ALICE L (LIDDELL[‘s first])}* [unusual] French bird! (6) | CAILLE |
| 17 | R (Queen) ENEWS (plunges into cold water) and starts again (6) | RENEWS |
| 18 | Public showing of EX (former) PO (flower) (4) | EXPO |
| 20 | OR (Once before) “DANE” (European) [broadcast] decree (6) | ORDAIN |
| 21 | Jockey [oddly] E |
EDDERY |
| 23 | Moving pictures of V (very) [abbreviated] < GOL |
VLOG |
| 26 | [Restless] CANINE* of teenage years (6) | NEANIC |
| 28 | Commander-in-chief, SIR (Knight), D (Duke) and A R (King)! (6) | SIRDAR |
| 31 | LU |
LUNARS |
| 32 | [Somehow] {NAME I (Gaston)}* as a friend? (5, two words) | EN AMI |
| 33 | AS (Like) A N (Norse) AS (God)’s yoga positions? (6) | ASANAS |
| 34 | E (English) MP (representative) has TIER (row) with fewer people (7) | EMPTIER |
| 35 | Swollen TUM (stomach) rejects ID (fish) (5) | TUMID |
| Down | ||
| 1 | More attractive ARTISTE* [dancing] (7) | TASTIER |
| 2 | P (Quietly) A |
PAVISE |
| 3 | [No T (time) for] TAURIC (bullish) Goldfinger (5) | AURIC |
| 4 | Swing higher from UP |
UPSWAY |
| 5 | Did this footballer move like a duck at Hampden Park? (6) | HODDLE |
| 6 | Thrash TO |
TOWEL |
| 7 | Scotsman’s intent |
ETTLE |
| 9 | HE (That man) with ADD (total) [boxing] WIN (victory) that might slow one down (8) | HEADWIND |
| 13 | Composition of R (river) ON (working) DO (party) (5) | RONDO |
| 16 | Unbecoming INDENT (to zigzag once) [around] EC (the city) (8) | INDECENT |
| 19 | Presents from X (cross) and < [upset] AINE (elder brother in Paris)? (5) | XENIA |
| 22 | [Rebuilt] {I (international) EMPIRE}* for weaving material (7) | RIEMPIE |
| 24 | Locally-sourced fans’ equipment supplied by G (good) RAITH (Rovers team?) (6) | GRAITH |
| 25 | [S (Shilling) not P (pence)] for GASPER (smoke) – in LA, it’s remarkable (6) | GASSER |
| 27 | AR |
ARNAUT |
| 28 | “SOME” (A few) [heard] MA (graduate)’s biblical treatise (5) | SUMMA |
| 29 | Useless |
INEPT |
| 30 | REAR (Bring up) noble M (Frenchman) to prepare for war once more (5) | REARM |
| S | T | E | P | D | A | U | G | H | T | E | R |
| T | A | V | A | H | U | P | R | O | O | T | S |
| E | S | A | V | E | R | S | E | D | W | T | O |
| A | T | R | I | A | I | W | E | D | E | L | N |
| T | I | O | S | D | C | A | I | L | L | E | B |
| R | E | N | E | W | S | Y | N | E | X | P | O |
| O | R | D | A | I | N | E | D | D | E | R | Y |
| V | L | O | G | N | G | N | E | A | N | I | C |
| A | S | I | R | D | A | R | C | R | I | E | H |
| L | U | N | A | R | S | E | E | N | A | M | I |
| L | M | E | I | A | S | A | N | A | S | P | L |
| E | M | P | T | I | E | R | T | U | M | I | D |
| F | A | T | H | E | R | M | O | T | H | E | R |
An enjoyable and interesting puzzle. I completed the grid before I had any idea of what the theme was, but I didn’t do too well with my collection of extra words, missing two and getting one wrong.
The family members were easy to recognise along three of the borders, but they meant nothing to me, and to find the theme I needed to make sense of the left border. Knowing it was not English, I thought the O and the E might be endings of Italian words, and that guess (a rather lucky one, perhaps) led me to Teatro and then (using a quick search in Wikipedia) to TEATRO VALLE. ‘1921’ was my key to finding the relevant story and the required thematic elements. Lastly, I found ‘incommensurabile’ (INCOMPREHENSIBLE). which also enabled me to correct and complete my pairs of letters.
Thanks to Gaston and Mister Sting.
I realised only after posting the above comment that despite having read the whole preamble before embarking on the puzzle I completely forgot that we were given a checklist of all the unchecked letters in the border entries. I actually felt (wrongly) that the theme was too demanding (because the location down the left-hand column was foreign and not easily readable with just the checked letters), but if I had been diligent I would have taken the missing letters from what remained in the list and not resort to guessing. The puzzle was even better than I thought!
An entertaining solve with the theme remaining hidden until virtually the end. Spotted the top and bottom rows and having the unchecked perimeter letters meant I could make a guess at the location, which via Wikipedia gave me the way in. Nicely done – thanks Gaston and Mister Sting.