The special instructions for this puzzle read as follows:
Each numbered square in the diagram is surrounded by eight blank squares. All clues lead to answers of eight letters, and these are to be entered around their appropriate numbers, clockwise or anticlockwise, beginning anywhere. Solvers must determine where each begins and the direction in which it is to go. The four unchecked groups of three letters at the corners of the completed diagram, read anticlockwise, are words that may be found in Chambers.
Starting in the northwest corner and going anticlockwise, the four unchecked three-letter words are:
TAT
TAK
APE
CHE
1 IMITATED Matched? I did so, admitted sexual attraction
I MATED (I did so, i.e., I matched) around (admitted) IT (sexual attraction) [clockwise]
2 DISTANCE Standoffishness displayed by some Methodist ancestors
Hidden in (displayed by some) [METHO]DIST ANCE[STORS] [anticlockwise]
3 SPARTANS Hardy types showing interest in bar?
PART (interest) inside (in) SANS (bar) [clockwise]
4 SPARRING Arguing, being frugal about rand
SPARING (frugal) around (about) R (rand) [anticlockwise]
5 INVESTOR Stag maybe? Try venison, each cut then cooked
Anagram of (cooked) {TR[Y] + VENISO[N]} (“each [word] cut”) [clockwise]
6 TROCHEES See His Excellency flanked by escort shuffling feet
HE (His Excellency) inside (see . . . flanked by) anagram of (shuffling) ESCORT [anticlockwise]
7 MINIMISE Downplay gambling stake – no longer finger one held
[NIM (no longer finger, i.e., archaic for “pilfer”) + I (one)] inside (held [by]) MISE (gambling stake) [anticlockwise]
8 MINISTER Agent in being kept inside merits being punished
IN inside (being kept inside) anagram of (being punished) MERITS [clockwise]
9 RETRATES Old portraits: place pictures beside former queen, retiring
[SET (place) + ART (pictures) + ER (former queen)] all reversed (retiring). Spenser, thus “old” in the clue. [clockwise]
10 SERRATES Notches miss the mark cutting stuffs
ERR (miss the mark) inside (cutting) SATES (stuffs) [anticlockwise]
11 RESTORES Makes good roster changes with beginnings of each semester
Anagram of (changes) ROSTER + first letters of (“beginnings of”) E[ACH] S[EMESTER] [anticlockwise]
12 STROBILE Inflorescence of e.g. hops to plunder in wall crossing
ROB (to plunder) inside (in) STILE (wall crossing) [clockwise]
13 REGIMENS Dietary programmes, stewed greens I’m stuck into
I’M inside (stuck into) anagram of (stewed) GREENS [anticlockwise]
14 ARMIGERS Shield carriers are protecting fighter, last in former wars
ARE around (protecting) MIG (fighter) + last letters of (“last in”) [FORME]R [WAR]S [anticlockwise]
15 SARSENET Fine silk tears badly clothing nurse
Anagram of (badly) TEARS around (clothing) SEN (nurse, i.e., State Enrolled Nurse) [clockwise]
16 BASENESS Wretched quality, without a hint of excellence, in singer
{SEN. (without, i.e., senza) + first letter of (“a hint of”) E[XCELLENCE]} inside (in) BASS (singer) [clockwise]
17 BARRIERS Lists arrived in components of cortège
ARR. (arrived) inside (in) BIERS (components of cortège). I do not see this specific definition in Chambers, except for an etymology for “list” that mentions Low Latin “liciae,” meaning “barrier.” [anticlockwise] See Comment 1.
18 LINGERIE Don’t hurry, I mean to say in store department?
LINGER (don’t hurry) + I.E. (I mean to say) [clockwise]
19 POINTERS Hints for dogs
Double definition [anticlockwise]
20 SCIENTER Wilfully plotting in secret
Anagram of (plotting) IN SECRET [clockwise]
21 STENOTIC Scot’s painful twinge of the ears, being constipated
STEN (Scot’s painful twinge) + OTIC (of the ears) [clockwise]
22 NOTECASE Sleuth, amateur, has sniff around for wallet
TEC (sleuth) + A (amateur) inside (has . . . around) NOSE (sniff) [anticlockwise]
23 TERRACES Rows of housing, short, unfinished, for accommodating people
TERS[E] (short, “unfinished”) around (for accommodating) RACE (people) [anticlockwise]
24 REGELATE Set cutting plant in pond freeze again
GEL (set) inside (cutting) REATE (plant in pond) [clockwise]
25 OUTPOINT Putin too devious to beat in contest
Anagram of (devious) PUTIN TOO [clockwise]
26 OBEDIENT About to perish, love hillside, yielding
O (love) + BENT (hillside) around (about) DIE (to perish) [anticlockwise]
27 CREDITOR Uncle maybe rewound record in which it appears
IT inside (in which . . . appears) anagram of (rewound) RECORD [clockwise]
28 TORCHÈRE Lampadary, a monster, put in yonder
ORC (a monster) inside (put in) THERE (yonder) [anticlockwise]
29 SEREVENT A boon for asthmatics, indeed when taken in disturbed rest
EVEN (indeed) inside (when taken in) anagram of (disturbed) REST [anticlockwise]
30 ORIENTAL E.g. Chinese relation getting relocated
Anagram of (getting relocated) RELATION [clockwise]
31 OUTTAKEN Half of us not drinking in wooden bar, old-fashioned
{Half of U[S] + TT (not drinking)} inside (in) OAKEN (wooden). Chambers gives this as “obsolete” for “except,” thus “old-fashioned” in the clue. [anticlockwise]
32 BONECAVE Wherein fossils may be found I missed shattered bovine, one back inside
ACE (one) reversed (back) inside anagram of BOV[I]NE minus (“missed”) I [anticlockwise]
33 CREVASSE Crack vessel with head of spoon during boil
{VAS (vessel) + first letter of (“head of”) S[POON]} inside (during) CREE (boil) [anticlockwise]
34 ECHELONS She once dressed with line in V-shaped arrangements?
Anagram of (dressed) SHE ONCE around (with . . . in) L (line) [clockwise]
35 VENT-HOLE Aperture rodent has then refashioned inside
Anagram of (refashioned) THEN inside VOLE (rodent) [clockwise]
36 APERIENT Loosener I repeat bowling with last of eleven in
Last letter of (“last of”) [ELEVE]N inside (in) anagram of (bowling) I REPEAT [anticlockwise]
For BARRIERS, Chambers 2016 has “barrier…. ….(in pl) lists….”
I didn’t have too many problems with this. The trick is to cold solve 3 clues which are adjacent to each other but not in a single line. This then allows entry to start. The added complication of entry seems to mean that the clues tend to be easier than normal as well as there being fewer obscure words.
Tim C@1: Thanks for that. I scrutinized that listing in Chambers multiple times, but I think sometimes my eyes see what they want to see.
Thanks for a very clear blog, I like the clockwise/anti idea. I like these because you have to cold solve for a bit, for a normal Azed the grid is too tempting once you put anything in. Once I had tried them all I used the same method as Tim@1 , put in 1,2 , 8 then I did the first two columns and then repeat. Also agree with Tim that the clues seem to be easier , maybe Azed is kinder for these .
Many thanks for the blog. I enjoyed this one. As I do with most Genius grids I constructed this in Excel so I could try out different patterns. From the image above perhaps Cineraria did too as mine looks just like that.
I have attempted only one Eightsome Reels puzzle in recent living memory (which, incidentally, made use of the central cell of each reel for a thematic letter rather than a number). I was keen to try this kind of puzzle again, especially having missed a few recent Azeds through lack of time.
I managed to cold-solve a quarter of the clues, and because the outcome of that effort slightly favoured the top left of the grid I concentrated my efforts there at that point. I found the puzzle a bit more challenging than others evidently did, sometimes needing not three, not five, but seven crossers in order to solve them, especially in the bottom row. Even so, I enjoyed this very much – even more than most Azeds.
It seemed to me like there was the usual (quite high) proportion of unfamiliar words and meanings to contend with, but that is part and parcel of the weekly experience.
Thanks to Azed and Cineraria.
Interesting comments. I like these because they usually fall into place quickly and I can get on with Sunday lunch. I think I had Cineraria’s mental blocks for this one. I bet many of us started with DISTANCE and MINISTER (thank you, Azed) and then RETRATES was one of those “is-that-a word?” words and I was pleased with myself. Then I got stuck because downplay just had to be “diminish”. And (it’s happening more and more as I get older) some of Azed’s indicators are a bit too clever for me and I stare at a clue for ages before I hit myself.
I was the opposite to Alan B: I thought there were a lot of words I knew. Have a read down: there are many words with the commonest of the letters of the letters of the English alphabet. Many plurals and present tenses ending in ‘s’—both Ximenes and Azed are on record saying they should be kept to a minimum but it doesn’t seem to matter so much in an Eightsome Reel.
Finally, for those who think they’d never be able to compile (Azed prefers “set”) an Azed-equivalent crossword, have a go at putting together one of these grids. They are actually straightforward, especially if you’re not too bothered about ridiculously impossible words buried in Chambers. You’ve still got to come up with clues, of course, and that is quite a different matter.
Stefan
Yes, I started with DISTANCE and MINISTER and then ARMIGERS – which didn’t help much, but 3, 9 and 15 were leaving me stumped. Then I looked at 13 and that went straight in, after which the first two columns were quickly completed; then I worked steadily left to right. Agree with Tim C@1 that the clues seemed generally easier than usual, though I needed more help to sort out SEREVENT and STROBILE.
I recall that I managed to get started with TROCHEES and INVESTOR and everything fell out from there. Well, almost. I didn’t finish Sunday evening and nearly forgot to come back to this. The bottom right corner still had to be done and suddenly the remaining answers were obvious.
I’m very worried about 34 ECHELONS. There is no mention of “v-shaped arrangements” in the BRB under “echelon”. Is everyone (possibly including Azed) confusing ECHELON with CHEVRON?
Andrew @9
I had the same query as you, but I just forgot to mention it. In fact I tried hard to parse CHEVRONS, but obviously without success. Like you, I checked the BRB, which indicates a stepwise arrangement (as does Collins), not a V. I hope some-one can throw some light.
AndrewW@9: My initial answer was also CHEVRONS, based upon the definition, but there is no way to make that fit. The solution must be ECHELONS, based on the wordplay and the fit in the grid. I think the “?” implies a liberal interpretation of the “stairstep” description. Also, the formation of, for example, flying geese is apparently (according to some online sources that I saw) called an “echelon.”
I wonder if everyone thought CHEVRONS but as you say the clue and the fit must be ECHELONS . I did not look this one up assuming Azed must be right and I did not really know the various meanings of echelon apart from a level in an organisation.
I think your geese idea is really good, I have heard bird-watchers use this term.
Hello early-birds and thanks to Azed & Cineraria for the blog. “Eightsome Reels” is the only special actually invented by Azed and so I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to re-jig te ancient brain. In the past the corner triples have been presented as a single twelve letter anagram which did help as a “back door way of placing the adjacent words. The range of eight- letter words is a bit narrow.- have any versions included a letter Q (or Z) anywhere? I suspect not.,
I puzzled over ECHELONS, but one definition relates to a hierarchy in an organisation and hierarchies are usually more or less triangular, so I thought that might be described as V-shaped. Also, I believe the military formation would be chevron-shaped. That would fit with the geese-formation idea, too.