Hell-oh all. I never thought that come the end of the world* we would be sitting around doing puzzles about it. Life is strange. A sobering but important month in the EV series continues. Thanks to Brock.
The preamble reads:
To improve it superficially, each clue has had an extra letter added, which must be omitted to obtain a solution. A description of a process of GROWING CONCERN and the person describing it are spelled out word by word by most of these letters in clue order. 12 answers must be entered in accordance with this process (as real words; numbers in brackets refer to the space available, numbers of words to the answer). After initially filling the grid, solvers must illustrate one of the by-products by erasing a number of cells. The handling of the clues interspersing the words of the message indicates the content of those cells and the number involved. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.
I’ve no problem with removing letters from clues (half the time I misread the things anyway!) so I focussed on that and left the other details until later. The first couple of the 12 mutilated entries I solved were 1 and 2 down. I had enough checkers for those to see which real words would go in the grid and found that each case entailed the removal of PE-AT. This helped immensely with the others; the split varied, but the letters of PEAT were always taken out in order. Meanwhile, the message was starting to become visible:
ENVIRONMENTAL CC VANDALISM CC MONTY CC DON CCCC
I knew a bit about why we shouldn’t use peat-based compost but I didn’t know who called the destruction of peatland ENVIRONMENTAL VANDALISM. Eventually MONTY DON started to emerge, and I got impatient and googled before the grid was quite full to confirm.
Monty Don used this phrase to describe the use of peat in compost in November 2020 when adding his voice to calls for the government to ban the practice. The author of the open letter signed by Don and many others called it a “needless environmental travesty“.
Having removed the PEAT from 12 answers to fit them into the grid, a careful reading of the preamble showed that the by-product would be the removal of Carbon from the grid by erasing Cs – the same number as generated from the added/removed letters. I hadn’t counted the clues and was rather thinking there would be 12 of these (to match the 12 depleted entries, and being the atomic number of carbon), but instead it’s a round 10.
Thanks again to Brock for highlighting this issue.
As an environmental protest I have refused to follow the instruction in the preamble and have not removed any of the Cs from the grid below.
* the world isn’t ending: it just might rid itself of the human plague, sadly with much collateral damage along the way
| Clue No | ANSWER | Clue with definition underlined | |
| Explanation, with quoted indicators in italics and ANSWER letters in bold caps | |||
| Across | |||
| 1a | DRABLER | Relative scop[e] to return extra canvas (7) | E |
| REL (relative) and BARD (scop) reversed (to return) | |||
| 9a | PET HATE
THE |
Dislike path tee[n] is travelling (3, two words) | N |
| PATH TEE is anagrammed (travelling) | |||
| 11a | REVIE | Stake more on survey that excludes [v]ending (5) | V |
| REVIEw (survey) without the last letter (that excludes ending) | |||
| 12a | ARRAS | In places it ru[i]ns artist’s hanging (5) | I |
| A (in places it) + R (runs) + RA’S (artist’s) | |||
| 13a | ACCOMPANYIST | It’s a co[r]ny and camp play – I’ve a supporting role (12) | R |
| IT’S A CONY and CAMP, anagram (play) | |||
| 14a | UNCOOL | [O]we for Scotch – when relative shortly comes round, not in! (6) | O |
| OO (we for Scotch) when surrounded by (when … comes round) UNCLe (relative) without the last letter (shortly) | |||
| 16a | SOPRA | Society with no mi[n]d for musical drama that’s superior musically (5) | N |
| S (society) followed by, without the central letter (with no mid for), OP[e]RA (musical drama) | |||
| 17a | OPERATION
ORION |
Running not ti[m]ed limiting correlation (5) | M |
| OPEN (not tied) around (limiting) RATIO (correlation) | |||
| 18a | RINGLET | Trinket first for reseller on [e]Bay bringing in grand (7) | E |
| The initial letter of (first for) Reseller + INLET (bay) with the insertion of (bringing in) G (grand) | |||
| 19a | PERENNATE
RENNE |
To survive year[n]s to spend a penny has sixpence kept back (5) | N |
| PEE (to spend a penny) contains the reversal of (has … kept back) TANNER (sixpence) | |||
| 25a | UNPLEATED
UNLED |
Unpleasant? S[t]an’s given up, Ed’s not ruffled (5) | T |
| UNPLEA[san]T without SAN (san’s given up) + ED | |||
| 26a | OPTIONS | Maybe be[a]ts second to take first place in draughts (7) | A |
| The second letter is moved to the beginning (second to take first place) in POTIONS (draughts) | |||
| 27a | DI PENATES
DINES |
Badly stained page losing silver and go[l]ds (5, two words) | L |
| An anagram of (badly) STAINED and P[ag]E without (losing) AG (silver) | |||
| 29a | CATER | Serve food for four ([c]old) (5) | C |
| Two definitions | |||
| 31a | TEACUP | [C]ram almost every single cutting in ¼ pint container (6) | C |
| TUP (ram) with all but the last letter of (almost) EACh (every single) inserted (cutting in) | |||
| 32a | CORRECTIONER | See indiscriminate terror and [v]ice carrying on – Will’s one to apply discipline (12) | V |
| C (see) + an anagram of (indiscriminate) TERROR and ICE containing (carrying) ON | |||
| 34a | USAGE | Language abandoned by Glaswegian [a]long with acceptance of special treatment (5) | A |
| [lang]UAGE without (abandoned by) LANG (Glaswegian long) going around (with acceptance of) S (special) | |||
| 35a | SWARF | Signs war[n] freeway includes turnings (5) | N |
| SignS WAR Freeway includes the answer | |||
| 36a | PERIAPT
RIP |
A piper, [d]rum and start of tambourine charm in Stratford (3) | D |
| A PIPER anagrammed (rum) + the start of Tambourine | |||
| 37a | WETNESS | Be[a]ns, not initially stirred in, boil over, creating condensation (7) | A |
| An anagram of (… stirred) bENS without the first letter (not initially) goes in STEW (boil) reversed (over) | |||
| Down | |||
| 1d | DRAPE COAT
DRACO |
Ki[l]t trimmed with velvet cord drunken oaf’s wearing with a tee (5, two words) | L |
| CORD anagrammed (drunken), which APE (oaf) is inside (wearing) + A + T (tee) | |||
| 2d | RECUPERATES
RECURES |
Recovers curé abandoned by p[i]rates seizing last of treasure (7) | I |
| CURÉ anagrammed (abandoned) + PRATES taking in (seizing) the last letter of treasurE | |||
| 3d | BIO | Writing about life in Spanish [s]port, forgetting origins in Leeds/Bradford area (3) | S |
| BI[lba]O (Spanish port) without (forgetting) the first letters of (origins in) Leeds / Bradford Area) | |||
| 4d | LEMONED | Rejected Dutch honey pots [m]ace flavoured (7) | M |
| Reversed (rejected), D (Dutch) and MEL (honey) pockets (pots) ONE (ace) | |||
| 5d | EXPORT | [C]able over subs for second electronic transfer (6) | C |
| EXP[e]RT (able); O (over) replaces (subs for) the second E (electronic) | |||
| 6d | REALIA | Teaching a[c]ids are prepared – trouble to set up (6) | C |
| ARE anagrammed (prepared) + AIL (trouble) going upwards (to set up) | |||
| 7d | PEASANTS
SANS |
Ro[m]e perhaps supported by colonists and countrymen (4) | M |
| PEAS (roe perhaps) above (supported by) ANTS (colonists) | |||
| 8d | CRYOGENIC | Awfully nice T[o]ry upset following proclamation in cold environment (9) | O |
| An anagram of (awfully) NICE and GO (try) reversed (upset), all following CRY (proclamation) | |||
| 9d | PETRI PLATE
TRIPLE |
Cultural location in Peru on cruise? Not [n]early! (6, two words) | N |
| PE (Peru) + TRIP (cruise) + LATE (not early) | |||
| 10d | ESTATED | S[t]ay again with date, ignoring rule bequeathed by former generation (7) | T |
| [r]ESTATE (say again) and D (date) without (ignoring) R (rule) | |||
| 15d | CONCIERGE | Con[y] caught? That is oddly rogue for warden (9) | Y |
| CON + C (caught) + IE (that is) + odd letters of (oddly) RoGuE | |||
| 19d | REOCCUR | Come about again, endless reconnaissance taking [c]over within ruined city (7) | C |
| Without the last letter (endless), RECCe (reconnaissance) going around (taking … within) O (over) + UR ruined city | |||
| 20d | JUDAIST | Judge [c]ut across stage to reach religious follower (7) | C |
| J (Judge) + UT around (across) DAIS (stage) | |||
| 21d | PEEPERS | In Scotland they’d cook [d]inner of neeps for person to eat (7) | D |
| The centre of (inner of) nEEPs is for PERS (person) to take in (to eat) | |||
| 22d | ATTRAP | Ed’s to dress part up to support b[o]y (6) | O |
| PART reversed (up) going underneath (to support) AT (by) | |||
| 23d | ANT COW | Can tow[n] put out hill farmer’s stock? (6, two words) | N |
| CAN TOW anagrammed (put out) | |||
| 24d | TSETSE | [C]lay clogging estuary up is a problem in West Africa (6) | C |
| SET (lay) inside (clogging) the reversal of (… up) EST (estuary) | |||
| 28d | SUPERFAST
SURFS |
Former reputation’s holding university up – fa[c]ulty staff mostly very quick (5) | C |
| The reversal of (… up) REP’S (former reputation’s) containing (holding) U (university) + an anagram of (faulty) STAFf without the last letter (mostly) | |||
| 30d | REPEATED
REED |
Edi[c]t initially embargoing red tape to get duplicated (4) | C |
| Make an anagram of (edit) the first letter of (initially) Embargoing with RED TAPE | |||
| 33d | OWN | Beef (not topside) a large number have as min[c]e (3) | C |
| rOW (beef) missing the first/uppermost letter (not topside) + N (a large number) | |||
Another interesting twist on the environmental theme. A fairly quick and enjoyable solve for me, so thanks to Brock and to Kitty for the review.
I could not do this puzzle justice. I found it difficult (as no doubt intended!) to find the right way to make each clue read badly in the right way to form the ‘real’ cryptic clue, and I did not string enough extra letters together to make any of the message readable.
The subject of the theme is an interesting one, and it seems we will see it again.
Many thanks to Kitty for an excellent solving blog that made me laugh with the “environmental protest” of not removing Cs and much more positive comments on the general theme than I’ve seen from some others elsewhere. Although I did not set out with the intention of making it a difficult puzzle, it ended up that way for many solvers, so glad also to read from Stick Insect @1 and some other fellow setters, via direct feedback, that it was a relatively quick and enjoyable solve for others.