This is Check’s second Inquisitor puzzle following a debut in a run of new setters last year. Reading the blog of Check’s first puzzle, I could see that one also involved dropping three consecutive letters in some clues. In the eyes of the blogger and most solvers, that puzzle was a toughie. I wonder how tough this new puzzle will be?
The preamble was of medium length and fairly understandable on first read through, which isn’t always the case. We were told that "wordplay in 22 clues ignores up to three consecutive letters of the answer. The cells containing these ignored letters and the resulting shape they define must be shaded. Remaining clues must have a letter removed before solving, always leaving a real word. In clue order, the removed letters suggest what must be achieved by swapping two entries in the initial grid.
All entries in the final grid are real words"
I would put this puzzle in the toughie class as well, as many of the clues had quite intricate wordplay and well-hidden definitions, compounded in some cases by the fact that 1 to 3 letters were not indicated in the wordplay.
In the end, the only clue I have had difficulty parsing is the one for OATER as the definition is a Western film and ET (another film) occurs reversed (western) in the entry.
I was looking for 180 degree symmetry in the letters omitted from the wordplay so I was stumped for a bit when the series didn’t seem to go from the left side of the grid to the east side. Eventually the penny dropped when I started to read what the unindicated letters were spelling out in the grid. Of course, there is symmetry about a diagonal running from SW to NE
The unindicated letters trace PARTIAL ECLIPSE in the grid and form a ‘curve’ equivalent to the boundary seen as the moon passes across part of the sun.
The Across words with unindicated letters in the wordplay were
13a PARAMETER
16a RATIFIED
20a ALMANDINE
23a OGLER
27a OLEIC
30a INSOMNIAC
35a SURPLICE
38a COLLIMATE
41a INPUT
43a BEES
44a PLEASE
In the Down entries we have
13d PETUNIAS
11d SARAPE
07d SERA
01d IDEATED
02d MAMMIFORM
20d AGONS
03d INSTILL
28d EARLOBE
17d DARIC
21d NECKLINES
29d GLIMPSE
We had 22 clues where the wordplay was incomplete. That left 26 clues where a letter had to be omitted from the clue before solving. I’m getting a bit better at spotting words that don’t look quite right in the clue, so I found this bit of the puzzle a bit easier than the unindicated wordplay. The message spelt out by the omitted letters was
OPTIMISATION OF ENERGY OUTPUT
which is a phrase you don’t see in crosswords very often. Having said that I spotted a few of the rogue words fairly easily, there were a few intractable ones that had to be reverse engineered once I had a good idea of the start of the phrase and the likely link to PARTIAL ECLIPSE.
Looking at the grid we can see the symmetric placing of SOLAR and HYDRO which both describe power sources. During a PARTIAL ECLIPSE, SOLAR energy is reduced, so power grid operators have to call up additional supplies from other sources, such as wind and HYDRO.
By switching SOLAR and HYDRO in the grid we still have real words in the grid.
The changes are all in Across entries, as follows
09a IDYLS to IDOLS
12a UNDEAD to UNLEAD
14a RILED to AILED
18a OATER to RATER
33a AMISS to AMISH
37 SALTO to SALTY
40a GELLED to GELDED
42a DEARY to DERRY
The detailed table below shows all the changes to the clues where letters were omitted and shows the parsing of all clues.
The initial grid showing the shading PARTIAL ECLIPSE is shown immediately below. I am not sure whether I should be drawing a smooth curve plus the colours of the moon and the sun rather, than the stepped version displayed by shading the cells. I have added a sample picture to show what a PARTIAL ECLIPSE looks like in reality.
The final grid with HYDRO and SOLAR swapped is also shown before the detailed parsing.
I am not sure how the title GREEN LIGHT fits with an eclipse as the colours involved tend to be reds, orange and black. Perhaps it’s something to do with SOLAR and HYDRO energy being seen as environmentally friendly or ‘GREEN‘ sources of power for the lights.
| No |
Clue Amended Clue |
Letter | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 1 |
Grafting old boy takes lame Yankee cycling (6) Grafting old by takes lame Yankee cycling (6) IMPING (obsolete [old] term for grafting or engrafting) IN (by) + GIMP (American [Yankee] word for a lame person [lame Yankee]) to form INGIMP before cycling the letters 3 spaces to the right and round to the beginning to form IMPING IMPING |
O | |
| 8 |
Prise money back with final bit of intimidation (4) Rise money back with final bit of intimidation (4) DAWN (beginning, rise [of the sun]) WAD (a compact mass of paper currency [money]) reversed (back) + N (last letter of [final bit of] INTIMIDATION]) DAW< N |
P | |
| 9 |
Grisly director from the East casting US stories (5) Grisly director from the East casing US stories (5) IDYLS (alternative spelling of IDYLLS [stories]) IDYLS (reversed [from the East]) hidden word contained by [casing] GRISLY DIRECTOR) IDYLS< |
T | |
| 11 |
Sounds like disrupted assemblies to remove barking labs (5) Sounds like disrupted assembles to remove barking labs (5) SEEMS (appears to be [sounds like]) Anagram of (disrupted) ASSEMBLES excluding (remove) an anagram of (barking) LABS SEEMS* |
I | |
| 12 |
Restless retired dame backs capital abandoning France (6) Restless retired dae backs capital abandoning France (6) UNDEAD (dead but not at rest; restless) FUND (source of capital [money]) excluding (abandoning) F (International Vehicle Registration for France) + DAE reversed (retired) UND EAD< |
M | |
| 13 |
Middle Eastern ruler crosses tense boundary (9) PARAMETER (boundary or limit to the scope of something) PAR (unindicated wordplay) + AMEER (Middle Eastern princes or rulers) containing (crosses) T (tense) PAR AME (T) ER |
PAR | |
| 14 |
Upset maid recalled losing debts (5) Upset mad recalled losing debts (5) RILED (upset) DELIRIOUS (mad) excluding (losing) IOUS (I owe yous; debts) and then reversed (recalled) RILED< |
I | |
| 16 |
Approved makeshift bomb to pursue airmen (8) RATIFIED (approved) RAF (Royal Air Force) + IED (improvised explosive device; makeshift bomb) RA [TI {unindicated wordplay}] F IED |
TI | |
| 18 |
Jock’s son boxes in Western film (5) Jock’s on boxes in Western film (5) OATER (Wild West film; Western) O’ER (Scottish [Jock;s] word for over or on) containing (boxes in) AT (in) Is O’ER only used in Scotland [Jock]? O (AT) ER |
S | |
| 19 |
Amuse no end, withdrawing allowance (4) Muse no end, withdrawing allowance (4) TARE (an allowance made for the weight of a vessel, wrapping or container) ERATO (one of the nine Muses or goddesses of the liberal arts) excluding the final letter (no end) O and then reversed (withdrawing) TARE< |
A | |
| 20 |
Garnet left Norse maiden bewildered (9) ALMANDINE (precious garnet) A [unindicated wordplay] + an anagram of (bewildered) L (left) and N (Norse) and MAIDEN A LMANDINE* |
A | |
| 23 |
Lecherous looker upset Gore (5) OGLER (one who looks lecherously) Anagram of (upset) GORE including the unindicated letter L OG L ER* |
L | |
| 24 |
Snippet from purist droning about dated points (4) Snippet from puris droning about dated points (4) ORDS (points [of weapons]) ORDS (reversed (about) hidden word [from] PURIS DRONING) ORDS< |
T | |
| 26 |
Hawaiian bird replicated space in Turin (4) Hawaiian bird replicated space in turn (4) NENE (the Hawaiian goose, a rare bird) (EN [a printing term for a space the size of a letter N) + EN [same thing], together giving a replicated space) reversed (turn) (NE NE)< |
I | |
| 27 |
Oily regulars in cool disco (5) OLEIC (derived from oil; oily) OLIC (letters 2, 4, 6 and 8 [regulars] in COOL DISCO) with the E being unindicated in the wordplay OL E IC |
E | |
| 30 |
One unable to get off island trapped in weird mansion (9) INSOMNIAC (someone who finds it difficult to get off to sleep) (I [island]) contained in (trapped in) an anagram of (weird) MANSION) INSOMN (I) A* + the unindicated C |
C | |
| 32 |
A spiritual moan about Pierre’s sickness relapsing (4) A spiritual man about Pierre’s sickness relapsing (4) LAMA (Buddhist priest in Tibet; spiritual man) (A [about] + MAL (French [Pierre] word for sickness) all reversed (relapsing) (LAM A)< |
O | |
| 33 |
Improper focus of chance meeting with young lady (5) Improper focus of chace meeting with young lady (5) AMISS (improper) A (middle letter of [focus of] CHACE) + MISS (young lady) A MISS |
N | |
| 35 |
United right to break Pep’s cover when celebrating (8) SURPLICE (clothing [cover] worn over the cassock by a celebrant in church) (U [United] + R [right]) contained in (to break) SPICE (zing; pep). The L is unindicated in the wordplay S (U R) P L ICE |
L | |
| 37 |
Flip dodgy loot behind Salvation Army (5) Flip dodgy lot behind Salvation Army (5) SALTO (somersault; flip) SA (Salvation Army) + an anagram of (dodgy) LOT SA LTO* |
O | |
| 38 |
Make parallel comet a focus for Halley, somehow (9) COLLIMATE (make parallel) Anagram of (somehow) COMET A and LL (central letters of [focus of] HALLEY) and an unindicated I COLL I MATE* |
I | |
| 40 |
Turnover of elk’s heart and shank fed set (6) Turnover of elk’s heart and shank ed set (6) GELLED (set) (L [middle letter of [heart] ELK) + LEG [shank]) reversed (turnover) + ED (GEL L)< ED |
F | |
| 41 |
Data record off limits (5) INPUT (data, entered into a computer for instance) MINUTE (a record of a meeting) excluding the outer letters (off limits) M and E. The P is unindicated in the wordplay IN P UT |
P | |
| 42 |
Trick quiets Ministry’s darling (5) Trick quits Ministry’s darling (5) DEARY (darling) DEACONRY (church ministry) excluding (quits) CON (trick) DEARY |
E | |
| 43 |
Social workers curtailed alcohol (4) BEES (insects who work for the benefit of a large family of similar insects; social workers) BEER (alcohol) excluding the final letter (curtailed) R. The S is unindicated in the wordplay BEE S |
S | |
| 44 |
Entertain requests (6) PLEASE (entertain) PLEAS (requests) – plus the unindicated final E PLEAS E |
E | |
| Down | |||
| 1 |
One act consumes pinnacle of adolescent thought (7) IDEATED (formed ideas; thought) (I [Roman numeral for one] + DEED [act]) containing (consumes) A (first letter of [pinnacle of] ADOLESCENT The T is unindicated in wordplay I DE (A) T ED |
T | |
| 2 |
It’s nice for Mike, without acting like milk dispenser? (9) MAMMIFORM (like a breast; like a milk dispenser) (MMM [{that’s} nice) + FOR + M [Mike is the international radio communication codeword for the letter M]) all containing (without; outside) A The I is unindicated in the wordplay M (A) MM I FOR M |
I | |
| 3 |
Establish in pupil it’s nice keeping up (7) INSTILL (implant; establish) (IN + L [learner [pupil]) containing (keeping) IT’S reversed (up). The final L is unindicated in the wordplay. I’m not sure what the word ‘nice’ is doing in the clue IN (STI<) L L |
L | |
| 4 |
After occasional losses ensure none will visit island (4) After occasional losses ensure one will visit island (4) NIUE (small island nation in the South Pacific) I (Roman numeral for one) contained in (will visit) NUE (letters remaining after the first, third and fifth letters are removed [after occasional losses] from ENSURE) N (I) UE |
N | |
| 5 |
Resort shop’s central area stocks dry mead (5) Resort shop’s central area stocks dry mad (5) HYDRO (hotel or holiday park with special baths; resort) HO (middle letters of; [central area of] SHOP) containing (stocks) an anagram of (mad) DRY H (YDR*) O |
E | |
| 6 |
Ride around with pal skips River Severn (6) Ride around with pal skips River Seven (6) PLEIAD (group of seven) Anagram of (around) RIDE and (with) PAL excluding (skips) R (river) PLEIAD* |
R | |
| 7 |
Research embraces natural vaccines (4) SERA (blood serum containing antibodies, taken from an animal that has been inoculated with bacteria or their toxins, used to immunize people or animals; natural vaccines) SEA (letters contained in [embraces] RESEARCH) The R is unindiciated in wordplay SE R A |
R | |
| 10 |
Git beginning to lampoon weary national icon (7) It beginning to lampoon weary national icon (7) SALTIRE (armorial emblem in the form of a St Andrew’s cross; loosely, the national flag of Scotland; national icon) SA (sex appeal; it) + L (first letter of [beginning to]) LAMPOON + TIRE (weary) SA L TIRE |
G | |
| 11 |
Blanket bans at last on oil producing plant (6) SARAPE (alternative spelling of SERAPE [brightly-coloured woollen riding-blanket, often worn around the shoulders by Mexican men]) S (final letter of [at last] BANS + RAPE [oil producing plant]) – the first A is unindicated in the wordplay S A RAPE |
A | |
| 13 |
Auntie’s blooming flowers (8) PETUNIAS (ornamental plants; flowers) Anagram of (blooming) AUNTIES. The P is unindicated in the wordplay P ETUNIAS* |
P | |
| 15 |
Training sadly greyed ass (8) Training sadly greed ass (8) DRESSAGE (training of a horse in deportment and response to controls) Anagram of (sadly) GREED ASS DRESSAGE* |
Y | |
| 17 |
Iran’s sands periodically brought up old Persian money (5) DARIC (old gold or silver Persian coin) (IR [international vehicles registration for Iran) + AD [letters 2 and 4 [periodically] of SANDS]) all reversed (brought up; down entry) The letter C is unindicated in the wordplay (DA RI) < C |
C | |
| 20 |
Kiss raised old conflicts (5) AGONS (Ancient [old] Greek struggles or conflicts) SNOG (kiss) reversed (raised; down entry) The A is unindicated in the wordplay A GONS< |
A | |
| 21 |
Catch not the first of one’s top edges (9) NECKLINES (edges of garments at the NECK [top]) NECK (to catch or fasten at the NECK) + ONE’S excluding the initial letter (not the first) O The letters LI are unindicated in the wordplay NECK LI NES |
LI | |
| 22 |
Boeing angered on losing tip of spoiler put in storage (7) Being angered on losing tip of spoiler put in storage (7) ENSILED (stored in pits or silos) ENS (being or existence) + RILED (angered) excluding (losing) R (the last letter of [tip of] SPOILER) ENS ILED |
O | |
| 25 |
Daub over gathered cloth (6) Dab over gathered cloth (6) DOMETT (plain cloth with cotton warp and woollen weft) DOT (dab) containing (over) MET (gathered) DO (MET) T |
U | |
| 28 |
Recurrent virus inspires crux of onerous part of Listener (7) EARLOBE (part of the EAR [listener]) EBOLA (viral disease) reversed (recurrent) containing (inspires) R (middle letter of [centre of; crux] ONEROUS) The initial E is unindicated in the wordplay E A (R) LOBE< |
E | |
| 29 |
Government elevated military spy (7) GLIMPSE (spy) G (government) + MIL (military) reversed (elevated; down entry) The letters PSE are unindicated in the wordplay G LIM< PSE |
PSE | |
| 31 |
Groom runt to carry uninitiated jockey (6) Groom run to carry uninitiated jockey (6) OSTLER (person who attends to horses at an inn; groom) JOSTLE (shake; jockey) excluding the initial letter (uninitiated) J + R (run). As this is a down entry, the letter R is the carrying the letters OSTLE OSTLE R |
T | |
| 34 |
Climb around top of plumber’s attic (5) Climb around top of lumber’s attic (5) SOLAR (upper room; garret; attic) SOAR (climb) containing (around) L (first letter of [top of] LUMBER SO (L) AR |
P | |
| 36 |
Retired head covering Hollywood statue circumvents university (4) Retired head covering Hollywood state circumvents university (4) CAUL (historical [retired] word for a net or covering for the head) CAL (California; American state where Hollywood is located) containing (circumvents) U (university) CA (U) L |
U | |
| 39 |
Foremost of toffs deplore yachts lacking force (4) Foremost of offs deplore yachts lacking force (4) ODYL (alternative word for OD [Reichenbach’s arbitrary name for a force he supposed to manifest itself in light, magnetism, chemical action or hypnotism]) ODYL (first letters of [foremost] each of OFFS, DEPLORE, YACHTS and LACKING) O D Y L |
T |
A pleasant outing with a slightly different ‘ignored letters’ mechanic, which I thought was fun, though it took me far too long to realise the ignored letters spelled a phrase.
A couple of things to add to the blog:
– I shaded not only the PARTIAL ECLIPSE cells but all the cells to the SW of it, because that part of the ‘sun’ is in the ‘shade’ of the moon, as suggested by the preamble: “The cells containing these ignored letters and the resulting shape they define must be shaded”
– I think the main point of switching SOLAR and HYDRO is so that SOLAR is on the ‘sunny side’ of the eclipse (hence producing energy) as opposed to the ‘shady side’ (where it isn’t), thus optimising the energy output given that hydropower is generated whether it’s sunny or not. Though I found that part of the puzzle a little weak and it took me a while to find the two words.
Thank you both.
I liked this one a lot and recorded another successful completion; several of the clues were very engaging. Unlike arnold @1 I shaded everything ABOVE the words PARTIAL ECLIPSE (i.e. all cells to the NE) as I shaded them yellow to represent the remaining sunshine … I guess that either is acceptable. It did occur to me that when we swap SOLAR to above the curve and HYDRO to below then the shadow must be caused by planet Earth, as that’s where the water would be … so perhaps this is an eclipse seen from far far away ! … or perhaps I’m just over-thinking that last bit. All in all, a fun and very enjoyable puzzle.
This was a very satisfying puzzle to finish. The endgame required a bit of thought before I saw what had to be done, but it was all resolved without any problems. I saw the phrase PARTIAL ECLIPSE last of all, as it was partially eclipsed by my shading! Like Arnold, I shaded the area to the SW of (as well as) PARTIAL ECLIPSE.
I appreciated the quality of the clues. What also helped my solving was being able to work out, when I was perhaps only one-third of the way through the clues, which cells were initially shaded and therefore which clues were of which type. There was a lot to appreciate in the construction and design of this puzzle too.
Thanks to Check and duncanshiell.
I had the feeling, as I successfully completed the puzzle, that I was completely missing the point. Like Arnold and Alan B, I obediently shaded the letters; unlike them, it never occurred to me to sniff out the letters underneath (I’ve made this mistake before, and will never learn). The swapping of hydro and solar made sense anyway; the puzzle as a whole was a pleasurable challenge, with some very tricky parsing, for the explanation of which thanks to duncanshiell, as well as Check
Is anyone able to parse Oater?
Eric @5
I also (as well as you and the blogger!) had trouble parsing OATER. It is parsed as explained in the table above, the difficulty I had being to realise that ‘on’ is a synonym of ‘over’ (or Scots o’er, in this case) and ‘in’ is a synonym of ‘at’. Even though the dictionary will confirm these pairs of synonyms, justifying them can be tricky. One really has to think of a proper phrase or sentence in which such a preposition can be replaced by its supposed synonym. Instead of doing so at the time, I took it on faith that the synonyms were true, as they both looked more than plausible.
Yes, it was tough! Al thanks to Check and duncanshiell.
The words “energy output” on their own were enough of a hint to suggest it was SOLAR and HYDRO that needed to be swapped, but (like others, I’m relieved to see) I was embarrassingly slow to read the actual letters.
An odd one for me. I managed to complete about 60% of the grid without ever cottoning on to the theme. What did for me was a misunderstanding of the rubric: I didn’t spot that “the cells containing these ignored letters” had to be shaded as well as (“and”) “the resulting shape they define”. I laboured under the impression the shading would have to be left till the grid was completed (as is often the case), or at least until I had deduced enough of the ignored letters so that the “shape they define” was clear. I therefore missed the vein of support that would have come from spotting that all the cells shaded in across clues were also part of a down clue, and vice versa.
Reading the rubric again I recognise the misunderstanding is probably my fault. Hey ho. I’m consoled that I’ve made much better progress with Inquisitor 1794!
A round of applause for the creative design and thanks as ever for a very thorough blog.
The clues were tough but sound with some nicely misleading use of the missing letters. I needed Chambers to confirm some of the entries. LOI was NIUE – I guessed the answer but spent too long wondering how NIL (= none) came into it before I twigged the redundant letter n! My only quibble was 6D PLEIAD, which, I believe, is one of seven, not all seven (Chambers).
As with eXternal’s puzzle last week, I was able to complete the end game without recourse to the internet. A topical theme which reminded me of an old IQ (1387).
Thanks to Check for an enjoyable ride and to Duncan, of course.
As others have said, a tough but satisfying puzzle. We agreed with Duncan’s parsing of OATER.
If we had coloured anything in, we would have shaded the area under the eclipse. This would then justify moving SOLAR to a place where it was still able to generate power.
Thanks to Check for a second very interesting crossword and to Duncan for another exemplary blog.
Nice puzzle, Check, and thanks for the blog, Duncan – for some reason I’d failed to see “angered” = RILED in 22d. Small hiccup in 13a PARAMETER where I initially had PERIMETER (both fit the clue rather well, but obviously not the crossing answers). FWIW I shaded the SW area below the curve (conceptually).
StephenB @8: I’d prefer it if people didn’t refer to live puzzles here, however obliquely. I hadn’t started this week’s before I read your comment which I felt gave some indication of how hard/easy I might find it.
Sincere apologies, HolyGhost. I’d deduced that detailed comments should be restricted to the current puzzle but thought I’d seen an oblique reference to a “live” puzzle before (hence, it was OK). If I’ve missed this in a FAQ or in site-guidelines then as I say, I can only apologise.
If I could edit my comment to remove the reference, I would do so — regrettably my technical skills aren’t up to that! Very happy for you to do that for me.
Sorry once again. Lesson learnt.