Eclogue has a CONDITION for us this week – let’s hope it isn’t too serious, what with all the waiting lists and nurses’ strikes…
The preamble states that:
“Each down clue contains an extra word, from which solvers can take the first and last letters of each in clue order (4,4,3,3,6,7,9) to describe and illustrate the thematic CONDITION affecting the wordplay of the across clues, which must be highlighted in the completed grid. Where an answer has multiple words, the CONDITION affects the wordplay of the answer as a whole, not the wordplay of each word separately. All entries are to the defined answers for which Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
So we know that Acrosses and Downs are treated differently, and it seemed like a good start would be to attack the Downs and see what those extra words produce. But on the way there I had a quick scan of the Across clues, and found 11A (hidden letters RAYL but definition ‘gold coin’, which might be RYAL) and 29A (SI within O_E, OSIE, but definition French département, which would be OISE). So there seemed to be some sort of jumbling going on…
As the Down clues started to bear fruit, I got a few first/last letters, and started to get a few crossers for the Across clues. However, the last two Downs seemed to give ‘B-u-M’ and ‘L-oa-D’ – which didn’t really help, as I couldn’t think of a word or phrase ending in BMLD!
At some stage, as a few more Across clues started to take shape, with differing wordplay results/definitions and some helpful crossers, there was a first PDM as I twigged that the jumbling seemed to be just the middle letters – RAYL -> RYAL, OSIE -> OISE, RTHYA -> RHYTA, LAMLAS -> LLAMAS.
However, I hadn’t helped myself by putting in PRIMLY for 1D, IML in PRY (test? lazy by me!), which made 1A hard to solve – I convinced myself (via Go-ogle) that there was something called a Pantaloon Lamp, and this was a variation with PANTALUN!
I then spotted the leading diagonal as PYPOGLYCEMIA, which didn’t make a lot of sense either…
Eventually, with a bit of pattern-matching on 1A, and a bit of e-research on TYPOGLYCEMIA, which doesn’t seem to be in any of my e-Chambers, I finally reached the destination. The first/last letters make the following phrase:
- ECAH WROD HAS ITS MDILDE LTREETS SCEARBMLD
- EACH WORD HAS ITS MIDDLE LETTERS SCRAMBLED
And TYPOGLYCEMIA refers to the theory that most fluent English speakers can (usually!) make sense of words that have their middle letters jumbled up, as above.
So the Across wordplay leads to solutions that are affected by this condition, with their definitions leading to the unscrambled versions. And, in a nice symmetry, all the extra words in Down clues contribute only their outer letters:
I have to admit that I didn’t fully parse several of the longer wordplays until I came to writing up the blog – once things seemed to fit from the definition/crossers I stuck them in and moved on. And if it hadn’t been my turn to blog, I might have left them there – sorry Eclogue!
This puzzle seems to have many of the standard EV ingredients that we have all come to love/hate/be frustrated by over the years – extra words in clues; jumbled letters; wordplay differing from defined solution; leading diagonal with thematic material – all baked up into a puzzle that is maybe a little ‘chewier’ than the average EV, but great fun and satisfying to solve.
My tkhans to Eglouce, and I tsrut all is caler beolw…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution /
Entry |
Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/Parsing |
||
| 1 | TANMALTALUMP /
TANTALUM LAMP |
Source of light to beat on island mass (12, two words)
TAN (beat) + MALTA (island) + LUMP (mass) |
||
| 11 | RAYL /
RYAL |
Old gold coin presented in tray-load (4)
hidden word in, i.e. presented in, ‘tRAY-Load’ |
||
| 12 | ATUTENS /
ATTUNES |
Acclimatises when encompassing local work space (7)
A_S (when) around (encompassing) TUT (dialect, or local, for piece-work) + EN (space, printing) |
||
| 13 | ILOPMITE /
IMPOLITE |
I cut off little one for being rude (8)
I + LOP (cut) + MITE (little one) |
||
| 14 | BTEE /
BETE |
French nana primarily begins tutoring English enfants (4)
first letters, i.e. primarily,of ‘Begins Tutoring English Enfant’ |
||
| 15 | MHOAE /
MAHOE |
Tree down under in moderation occupying me (5)
M_E around (occupied by) HOA (noun, cessation or moderation) |
||
| 17 | AGGERSSED /
AGGRESSED |
Attacked Roman defences, Milton’s stated (9)
AGGERS (Roman defencive mounds) + SED (Miltonic spelling of said, or stated) |
||
| 18 | YOHAO /
YAHOO |
Old American boat turns back lout (5)
O (old) + A (American) + HOY (one-decked boat, or sloop) – all turning back to give YOHOA |
||
| 19 | LAMLAS /
LLAMAS |
Woolly beasts escape in NY with girl abruptly (6)
LAM (escape, US slang, i.e. ‘in NY’) + LAS(S) (girls, shortened, or abruptly) |
||
| 21 | MARANY /
MAN RAY |
American artist to damage some? (6, two words)
MAR (damage) + ANY (some) |
||
| 22 | RTHYA /
RHYTA |
Tamworth yardman fences items of Greek pottery (6)
hidden word in, i.e. fenced in by, ‘tamwoRTH YArdman’ |
||
| 25 | PLIICLOCK /
PILLICOCK |
Page 52 to record Will’s dear boy (9)
P (page) + LII (52, Roman numerals) + CLOCK (record, as in a speed, clocking a ton…) |
||
| 28 | HNNEA /
HENNA |
Dye from north-north-east in hard area (5)
H (hard) + NNE (north-north-east) + A (area) |
||
| 29 | OSIE /
OISE |
French Department having system of units in Old English (4)
O_E (Old English) around (having) SI (international system of units) |
||
| 30 | PMAILEDN /
PLAIDMEN |
Highlanders posted in promissory note (8)
P_N (promissory note) around MAILED (posted) |
||
| 31 | SANGTEH /
STENGAH |
One drunk chanted note before husband (7)
SANG (chanted) + TE (note, in sol-fa notation) + H (husband) |
||
| 32 | LIAD /
LAID |
Life in a dream at first is set out (4)
first letters of ‘Life In A Dream’ |
||
| 33 | HANGEDENIDDA /
HIDDEN AGENDA |
Secret motive executed by Blyton, say with father locally (12, two words)
HANGED (executed) + ENID (e.g. Enid Bylton) + DA (dialect, or local, for Dad, or father) |
||
| Down | ||||
| Clue No |
First/Last L-etter-S |
Solution | Clue (definition underlined, extra word in bold)
Logic/Parsing |
|
| 1 | E-pi-C | TRIMLY | I am loth foremostly to take part in epic test in orderly manner (6)
TR_Y (test), around IM (I’m, I am) + L (foremost letter of Loth) |
|
| 2 | A-ris-H | AYMARA | South American people, always in the north, strike over arish acreage (6)
AY (always, Scottish/Northern Emglidh slang) + MAR (ram, or strike, over) + A (acreage) |
|
| 3 | W-ate-R | NAPHTHALISED | Treated with distillate, pin has halted running water (12)
anag, i.e. running, of PIN HAS HALTED |
|
| 4 | O-rdere-D | ALLEGORIC | Symbolic narrative’s ordered every European to become wealthy, for the most part (9)
ALL (every) + E (European) + GO (become) + RIC(H) (wealthy, for the most part) |
|
| 5 | H-ak-A | LAING | Align dancing haka for British psychiatrist (5)
anag, i.e. dancing, of ALIGN |
|
| 6 | S-k-I | UTTERLY | Absolutely put out lady on ski vacation (7)
UTTER (put out, vocally) + LY (LadY, vacated, or emptied of middle letters) |
|
| 7 | T-urn-S | LUBE | The French, embracing upper-class Baron, make smooth turns (4)
L_E (le, the, French) around (embracing) U (upper-class, not non-U!) + B (baron) |
|
| 8 | M-odifie-D | AN ESSAY ON MAN | Pope’s work modified one attempt against bishop, for one (12, four words)
AN (one) + ESSAY (attempt) + ON (against) + MAN (bishop, example of a chess piece, or man) |
|
| 9 | I-llega-L | METRES | Illegal measures encountered resolution (6)
MET (encountered) + RES (resolution) |
|
| 10 | D-efenc-E | PSEUDO | False defence incorrectly used in chamber (6)
P_O (chamber pot) around SEUD (anag, i.e. incorrectly, of USED) |
|
| 16 | L-as-T | SEARCHING | Looking for last marine champion in arena (9)
SEA (marine, adjective) + R_ING (arena) around CH (champion) |
|
| 19 | R-esourc-E | LACHLAN | Scotsman upgrading resource level in his water network (7)
LACH (loch, Scottish water, upgrading from O-level to A-level) + LAN (computing, Local Area Network) |
|
| 20 | E-ldes-T | SPLOSH | Humorously spatter eldest son with liquid, initially, in smart surroundings (6)
S (son) + P_OSH (smart) surrounding L (initial letter of Liquid) |
|
| 21 | S-how-S | MIRITI | Farming commune shows appeal with island palm (6)
MIR (farming commune, Russian) + IT (personal magnetism, sex appeal) + I (island) |
|
| 23 | C-om-E | TINEID | I had come after Ed’s affliction for moth (6)
TINE (Spenserian, affliction) + ID (I’d, I had) |
|
| 24 | A-nothe-R | AMANDA | Another ace male attorney for lovable girl (6)
A (ace) + MAN (male) + DA (District Attorney) |
|
| 26 | B-u-M | OMAHA | Intonation that’s pleasurable for Normandy beach bum (5)
OM (Buddhist intonation) + AHA (interjection indicating pleasure or surprise) |
|
| 27 | L-oa-D | HEND | Lead in heavy load to destroy poet’s grasp (4)
H (leading letter of Heavy) + END (destroy) |
|