Guardian Genius 226 by Soup

by

Soup has been a fairly prolific setter of Genius puzzles recently – with at least seven between 2016 and 2021, but this is his first for over a year, and my first of his to blog…

We are told that:

“All clues and definitions are normal. Before entry in the grid, however, one single-letter change must be made to each solution at a point of intersection with another solution. All the resulting entries in the grid are real words.”

This means that there are going to be some clashes between the initial answers, so I started off in pencil, entering Across answers in the top right of their cells, Downs in the bottom left, and then circling any clashes as they appeared, with a quick erase and replace once the resolution to the clash became clear.

Luckily for me, I was quite quickly onto the wavelength of this puzzle, and I made good progress early on. 1A looked like TOUCHED, but 2D had to be REVEALS, so the likely change for 1A would be to TORCHED. Similarly, with RECLAIM at 5A and DISPLACED at 5D, 5A should probably become DECLAIM.

So far, it had seemed to be a choice between the two clashing letters, so I was a bit thrown by 1D TOURIST and 13A PASSIVELY, until I realised that the clash should be replaced with an M – giving TOURISM and MASSIVELY. Similarly, 16A SALSA and 16D CRUISER became BALSA and BRUISER, respectively.

And so things progressed, if a little slower in the latter stages, with the grid filling up, lots of erasing and replacing, and a bit of head-scratching along the way. Eventually, I ended up with the following:

I thought there were a number of fairly quick/accessible clues – almost write-ins – such as the anagram of SEVERAL for REVEALS; the double-definition of ‘becomes old-fashioned fruit’ for DATES; the anagram of CURRIES for CRUISER; the hidden word clues for SALSA and NASTY.

And then there were a few more quirky clues – the pling (!) as anagram indicator for UNDEFINED at 21A; the (T)EMP (H)IRES for EMPIRES at 9A; the ‘Spoonerism’ of D-IS-P for P-ISSE-D in DISPLACED at 5D; and maybe one that will prove the most marmite-y, the reference to Philip K Dick and ANDROIDs dreaming of electric sheep at 7D, which required some fairly specialist General Knowledge (although the Venn diagram of cruciverbalists and sci-fi fans may have a fairly large overlap? Discuss…!)

I enjoyed the TITRATE/TIT RATE wordplay at 19D, as well as the surface read of 25A for SCHERZO – there have been plenty of embarrassing Zoom moments in the pandemic, as evidenced by the tsunami of such incidents reported on ‘social media’.

According to my solving notes, the LOI (last one in) was EMPIRES/UMPIRES, and the LOP (last one parsed) was DISPLACED/DISPLAYED, where I didn’t work out that Spoonerism until I was writing up the blog.

To sum up – an enjoyable and quirky puzzle – certainly not one of the harder Geniuses (Genii?), as it was all done and nearly-dusted (bar a few parsings!) by the end of the first day, but enjoyable nonetheless (and always nice for the blogger to get it done in plenty of time!).

All that remains is to thank Soup for the challenge, and I trust that all is clear below.

(Oh, and to try and work out how I am going to submit it…do we just need to give the revised entries? TORCHED, DECLAIM, etc. Or maybe we should show the final entry plus the original in brackets, to at least ‘show our workings’? TORCHED (TOUCHED); DECLAIM (RECLAIM); etc.? If only there was room in the preamble or on the Genius web page for a bit of guidance on this front…)

 

ACROSS
Clue No Solution / Entry Clue (Definition underlined)

Logic/Parsing
1 TOUCHED / TORCHED Hit boy in the midriff — that hurt! (7)

T_ED (boy) around OUCH (that hurt!)
5 RECLAIM / DECLAIM Get back miracle performance (7)

anag, i.e. performance, of MIRACLE
9 EMPIRES / UMPIRES International businesses deduct tips from short-term employees (7)

(T)EMP (H)IRES – short term employees, with first letters, or tips, deducted.
10 SIPPERS / SIMPERS ‘If I were you’, it’s said, ‘this would provide meals for those who drink very little‘ (7)

if S(I)PPERS (those who drink very little) had I swapped for U (you, homophone, i.e. it’s said, of U) it would give SUPPERS (meals)
11 IMAGE / IMAGO Picture a sorcerer (5)

I (one, a) + MAGE (sorcerer, wise man)
12 SAGACIOUS / SALACIOUS Over-50s group visiting college promises to be perceptive (9)

SAGA (over-50s organisation in UK) + C (college) + IOUS (IOUs, promises to pay)
13 PASSIVELY / MASSIVELY Without action, a spy lives restlessly (9)

anag, i.e. restlessly, of A SPY LIVES
15 NUKES / NUDES Regularly needs to import UK weapons (5)

N_ES (regular letters from NeEdS) around (importing) UK
16 SALSA / BALSA A dash of spiciness — Al’s Awesome Sauce (5)

hidden word in, i.e. a dash of, ‘spicinesS AL’S Awesome’
18 SEDIMENTS / PEDIMENTS On air, reported enormous deposits (9)

double homophone, i.e. on air – SEDIMENTS could sound like SAID (reported) + IMMENSE (enormous)!
21 UNDEFINED / UNREFINED Vague fun, indeed! (9)

anag, i.e. !, of FUN INDEED (!)
24 NASTY / NATTY Bhuna-style selection is disgusting (5)

hidden word in, i.e. selection of, ‘bhuNA STYle’
25 SCHERZO / SCHERZI Lively movement seen initially in someone’s computer — he’s embarrassed, realising Zoom’s open (7)

initial letters of ‘Someone’s Computer – He’s Embarrassed, Realising Zoom’s Open’!
26 REFRAIN / RETRAIN Keep oneself from recurring burden (7)

double defn. – to REFRAIN can be to keep oneself from an action; and a REFRAIN can be a repeated musical ‘burden’, or recurring musical item
27 REVOLVE / RESOLVE Whirl girlfriend around, very energetically to start with (7)

REVOL (lover, girlfriend, around) + VE (starting letters of Very Energetically)
28 SITTERS / SISTERS They model topless: artist’s creation has energy (7)

SITT_RS (anag, i.e. creation, of (A)RTISTS, topless) around (having) E (energy)
DOWN
Clue No Solution / Entry Clue (Definition underlined)

Logic/Parsing
1 TOURIST / TOURISM One travelling outstrips all but a couple abroad (7)

anag, i.e. abroad, of all but a couple of letters of OUTSTRI(PS)
2 REVEALS / REPEALS Exposes several tricks (7)

anag, i.e. tricks, of SEVERAL
3 HARMONICA / HARMONICS Clue given for sonic study of acoustics? (9)

A cryptic (anagram) clue for SONIC might be HARM ONICS!
4 DISCO / DISCS In Rome, I learn dance (5)

double defn. – in Latin, i.e. in Rome, DISCO can mean ‘I learn’; and DISCO can be a type of dance, from the 70s!
5 DISPLACED / DISPLAYED Spooner’s drunk, tied up and turfed out (9)

DISP (Spooner’s drunk…PISSED -> DISP?…) + LACED (tied up)
6 COLIC / COMIC Brother spat out chewed broccoli, getting tummy ache (5)

subtractive anagram, i.e. chewed, of (BRO)COLLI, spitting out BRO – brother
7 ANDROID / ANEROID After counting sheep, does he dream of live ones? (7)

&lit-ish/CD/charade(?!) – reference to Philip K Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’?…
8 MINUSES / MISUSES Minister takes advantage of deficiencies (7)

MIN (minister) + USES (takes advantage of)
14 EXTENSIVE / EXPENSIVE Without 10s, I’ve spread out (9)

EX (without) + TENS (10s) + IVE
15 DOMINATES / NOMINATES Taking note, hands over controls (9)

DO_NATES (hands over) around (taking) MI (note, from Sol-Fa notation)
16 CRUISER / BRUISER Privateer cooked curries (7)

anag, i.e. cooked, of CURRIES
17 LUNCHES / LURCHES More than one meal starts afternoon off (7)

L(A)UNCHES – starts, losing A – afternoon ‘off’
19 TITRATE / NITRATE Measure of the frequency of some small birds? (7)

If one measures the frequency, or RATE, of TITs, or small birds, one might come up with a TIT RATE!
20 SAVINGS / SAYINGS Deposits in South African wine lining glass at the bottom (7)

SA (South Africa) + VIN (wine, French) + GS (GlasS, with lining removed?)
22 FETAL / FERAL Felt a movement of something in mummy’s tummy (5)

anag, i.e. movement, of FELT A
23 DATES / DARES Fruit becomes old-fashioned (5)

double defn – DATES are a kind of fruit; and if something DATES, it becomes old-fashioned

17 comments on “Guardian Genius 226 by Soup”

  1. On the easier end of the spectrum for a Genius I thought, although there were a few wrinkles. The only one I struggled with was ANDROID but it couldn’t really be anything else. Marmitey? Is that because you’ll love it or hate it, and do I describe it as Vegemitey?
    Thanks mc_rapper67 and Soup.

  2. That was fun. First attempt at a Genius, and a DNF, as I didn’t solve the SW corner. I confidently assumed that the measure of frequency of birds gave me 19D finches/fitches with nasty/natty at 24A, and although I realised the error of my ways when I spotted SEDIMENTS / PEDIMENTS with a groan, I couldn’t parse the DOMINATES / NOMINATES pairing to enter it and correct myself, so although I knew 23D started with DATES I wasn’t sure enough to know if I was changing the 3rd or 5th letter to help untangle my confusion.

  3. I only started doing the Guardian Genius puzzles this year and this was my favourite to date. I did query whether the Spoonerism quite worked and also wondered whether “live” in 7d was intended as a synonym for “electric”? But overall I thought this was very elegantly constructed.
    Many thanks to Hamish and mc_rapper67

  4. I set this over a year ago, so it was curious to see it revisited; there are a few things I wouldn’t do now (that Spoonerism is highly dodgy, and androids dream of electric sheep, not live ones, which I should have noticed, though I like the ‘live’/‘electric’ synonym!). Hopefully I’ll be allowed back in the Genius slot, or the daily, at some point somewhen. Thanks for the blog 🙂

  5. I’m glad that there was nothing more hidden in the ‘android’ Hamish/Soup @4 so I can cease thinking further. 🙂 I didn’t give the Spoonerism much thought and just smiled. I do the same with homophone type clues and refuse to get in knots about what rhotic dialect is intended. Thanks for your input.

  6. I started well with this and enjoyed completing the left half of the grid. I had to admire the way that all these words intersected so neatly, applying just one change to each. On my printed copy I used red to ink in the dominant letter of every clashing pair – but of course I still had to know and remember which words had changed.

    For some reason I found the right side of the grid tougher than the left. In the top right I struggled with ANDROID and SIPPERS, and in the bottom right I made heavy weather of SEDIMENTS, SAVINGS and REFRAIN.

    The clues were excellent, and the only one I would probably have struggled with in a conventional crossword was ANDROID. I noted that five of the clashes were actually resolved by a third letter – a nice touch.

    The gridfill was most impressive considering the constraint imposed by the design whereby every entry had a near-double.

    Thanks to Soup for a super puzzle and to mc_rapper67 for the blog. I don’t find any of these Genius puzzles easy, by the way, but I do at least complete them!

  7. Alan@6 – dare I say that the grid fill was actually relatively trivial? Though, of course, I mean ‘trivial once I had written a computer program’. You will notice that all solutions are an odd number of letters long. So all I needed to do was a) pull out all odd-lettered words from a dictionary; b) see which of them differed from others by one letter at an odd position; c) use that dictionary for an auto-fill. There was a bit of fiddling because there were a lot of eg FIDDLER/FIDDLES/FIDDLED which made the puzzle too easy but it was *way* easier than it looks, which I suppose is part of the setter’s art 🙂

  8. Hamish @7
    I understand all that completely (as an ex-programmer should), but you should still take credit for writing the program that did the hard work for you!
    This puzzle was easier than no. 197 – also by Soup – which (exceptionally) needed a collaborator to help me finish it in a finite time (a month). That one was what I should call th vwllss pzzl.

  9. Alan@8: Credit happily taken. The vwllss pzzl was indeed a stinker, and perhaps my favourite of my Geniuses so far, simply because the premise is so blissfully simple and hideously difficult at the same time. To me, a Genius puzzle which lets the solver open it, think ‘what on earth?!’, and then start to realise that actually it’s maybe possible to solve one, then another, then more clues, is perfect.

  10. I haven’t done many Genii, but this was my favourite so far. Easy enough to understand what needed to be done, but not simple to crack. (I found it trickier than mc_r did, it seems.) Fairly simple to get going, but with lots of sticky points on the way. Going from COLIC to CONIC stymied me for ages. 🙂 I submitted the post-alteration entries to the grid – hope that was the right choice! Thx mcr & Soup.

  11. Thanks for all the comments and feedback so far – much appreciated as usual…

    Nice to see some new names – and a first-timer, in Shanne at #2. (I don’t remember my first Genius, but I suspect it was more of an OJS – only just started – than a DNF…) I just hope you all persevere – each Genius is different, and some will be on your wavelength, and some maybe less so, but they are always worth the effort…

    G’day to Tim C at #1 – yes, Marmite == Vegemite, they are both made from discarded yeast extract from the brewing process. Not sure if Stray-ans have the same love-hate relationship with theirs? For the record, I can only tolerate Marmite when added to baked beans, shortly before they are poured over the toast…

    Jay at #3 – yes, I also thought of the ‘live’ sheep as being wired to the mains (in a humane way!), but forgot to mention it in the final rush towards getting the blog out.

    Hamish/Soup – thanks for giving us some insight as to how this was gestated…I’m also a bit of an IT nerd, although more of an analyst than a programmer. (i.e. a failed programmer!). I do sometimes knock up a Python program to solve a numeric/permutation puzzle, but the thought of trawling through word lists with code may be beyond me! I was just grateful that the ‘vwllss pzzl’ didn’t coincide with my blogging schedule – kudos to Gaufrid for covering that one.

  12. Thanks mc_rapper67 and Soup.

    Another DNF but got most of it, except for a few in top half – I’d not have gotten Android ever.
    Just could not work out TOURIST, EMPIRES, SIPPERS, TOUCHED, DISCO and ANDROID.

    Having gotten PASSIVELY/MASSIVELY, I had un-parsed PILGRIM for 1d which clashed with IMAGE/IMAGO. Just got stuck there.

  13. This was fun! Thanks Soup and mc_rapper67. My completed grid looked a mess because I used circles and crosses to mark the changed letters. I wish I had thought of borrowing my daughter’s coloured pencils (as I did a couple of weeks later to map out the state name abbreviations in Maskerade)

  14. Thanks for the animated grid Mc Rapper, and Soup for the puzzle. I like the Genii where the special instructions are simple, like this one, even if it makes the solution difficult, which this wasn’t by Genius standards. We started off very quickly, but slowed down a lot towards the end, so just in the Goldilocks zone for us 🙂

    As for what to submit – I think the instructions are clear that the post-alteration words are what is to write in, nothing else. At least I hope so. As with all Genii, I would love to know whether the entries are marked automatically or by eye. If the former, correct entries could easily be rejected if not entered in quite the expected format.

  17. For anyone doing the Genius this month, and like me printed it out very early please note that one of the clues has been corrected. I’ve only just realised.
    This puzzle was amended on 2 May 2022 to correct the clue for 25 across, which formerly read “Dwarf made into paste (8)“
    The clue now reads “Batter made into paste “

Comments are closed.