Charybdis is a setter who appears irregularly in the Inquisitor series. He also features as Crosophile in the Independent series.
We had a fairly short preamble for puzzle which stated: "The silver square represents a character released from a cell. Reading clockwise from the asterisked cell, twenty other characters are in attendance, but in the course of events they must be removed from their cells, leaving real words."
The first thing I noted was that the clues would be normal as there was no mention of misprints, extra / missing letters or word in the clues, letters latent, reverse entry, anagrammed entry or coded entry etc, so we were going to solve straightforward clues with the extra twist coming once the grid was full.
I didn’t fully understand the phrase ‘in the course of events’ on first reading but I knew from experience that things usually become much clearer once the grid is full or nearly full.
The solving progressed steadily so I had a full grid to look at after a few hours. We knew that there would be something revealed in 20 letters going clockwise from the asterisked cell (the second A of NAAN)… It was SQUAD that first stood out for me with what looked liked ‘ING‘ in the right sort of position before that. Applying symmetry, I came up with A CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD which was 20 letters as required.
A little bit of research showed that this phrase relates to a political party or other group experiencing considerable disarray because the members are engaging in internal disputes and mutual recrimination. Clearly Charybdis is studying the political parties in many countries across the world at the moment.
Also, of course, if the poor soul in the middle, who will have been recently transferred (released) from a cell, could duck, then all the members of the FIRING SQUAD would kill each other (each of the 20 was positioned directly in line with another member through the condemned person in the middle) and therefore be removed from the grid. I am not sure though how easy it would have been for the person in the middle to duck as he / she would be tied to the stake, but we’ll let that pass.
Once the 20 members of the FIRING SQUAD are removed from the grid we do indeed having real words across and down through the spaces. Looking at the grid, reading across going down row by row, followed by reading down going across column by column we have 20 new words as shown below. I have given definitions for the words that I didn’t recognise.
| Across | |
| Original entry | Amended entry |
| TRINOMIAL | TOMIAL (relating to the cutting edge of a bird’s bill. |
| FIAT | FAT |
| CORFAM | CORAM (Latin, before; in the presence of) |
| LASSES | LASES ( becomes suitable for use as a laser) |
| GRAIP | GRIP |
| SOUPS | SOPS |
| BOSUNS | BOSN’S |
| MODIST | MOIST |
| NAAN | NAN |
| ELECTRICS | ELECTS |
| Down | |
| Original entry | Amended entry |
| REFERRALS | REFERS |
| FAIR | AIR |
| ANTIAR | ANTAR (Shakespearean word for a cave) |
| PUNCTOS | PUNTOS (alternative spelling of PUNCTOS) |
| RAITA | RATA (a myrtaceous New Zealand tree with hard red wood and bearing crimson flowers) |
| ON ICE | ONCE |
| SLOGANS | SLOANS (Scottish word for snubs or reproofs) |
| COASTS | COSTS |
| TOED | TOE |
| SQUAILING | SILING (dialect word for straining or raining heavily) |
The three stages of the grid are shown below: firstly, the completed grid, secondly the location of A CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD and thirdly the final grid showing the gaps and the amended entries.
I think Charybdis did a remarkable job creating a grid with 20 real words remaining after the phrase was removed. I wonder how long he took to construct and fill the grid?
The clues were very fair with careful wordplay. There’s just one query I have relating to how the clue positions the component parts of A LA BAMA at 17 down in the right order. Thanks Charybdis.
The title DUCK is fairly self explanatory as it is that action that generates carnage around the CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD.
| No | Clue |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Elevated and aged monarch? (6) AERIAL (elevated) AE (aged) + RIAL (alternative spelling of RYAL [royal person, e,g, a monarch]) AE RIAL |
| 5 |
Chaps playfully curtailed climb wearing cape (7) RASCALS (playful fellows [chaps]) SCALE (climb) excluding the final letter (curtailed) E contained in (wearing) RAS (headland or cape) RA (SCAL) S |
| 10 |
A lot of Americans swing round (4) SLEW (American term for a large number or a lot) SLEW (turn about the axis; swing round) double definition SLEW |
| 11 |
Left friend with a joke and caress (8) LALLYGAG (caress) L (left) + ALLY (friend) + GAG (joke) L ALLY GAG |
| 13 |
Seabird’s not featuring in ad (4) PUFF (advert [ad]) PUFFIN (seabird) excluding (not featuring) IN PUFF |
| 14 |
Eccentric intro by master – learner follows current year with three terms (9) TRINOMIAL (consisting of three terms) Anagram of (eccentric) INTRO + M (master) + I (electric current) + A (year) + L (learner) TRINO* M I A L |
| 15 |
Sanction healthy eating adult (4) FIAT (to sanction) FIT (healthy) containing (eating) A (adult) FI (A) T |
| 18 |
Fake leather basket for miners lamp essentially (6) CORFAM (synthetic, porous material used as a substitute for leather, especially in shoes; fake leather) CORF (coalminer’s basket) + AM (middle letters of [essentially] LAMP) CORF AM |
| 20 |
Zero gravity visual aids for young women (6) LASSES (young women) GLASSES (visual aids) excluding [zero] G [gravity] LASSES |
| 22 |
Left with this smell, one might have returned with no scruples (5) AROMA (smell) L (left) + AROMA [this entry] forms LAROMA. If you reverse it (have returned) you get AMORAL (with no scruples) AROMA |
| 24 |
Reportedly a fruit fork in Balmoral (5) GRAIP (Scottish [Balmoral] term for three- or four-pronged fork used for lifting dung or digging potatoes) GRAIP (sounds like [reportedly] GRAPE a fruit]) GRAIP |
| 26 |
Developers in this way increase profits ultimately (5) SOUPS (photographic developers) SO (in this way) + UP (increase) + S (final letter of [ultimately] PROFITS) SO UP S |
| 28 |
Decree exam level’s D should be raised to C (5) GRACE (act or decree of the governing body of an English university) GRADE (exam level) with D changed to (raised to) C GRACE |
| 32 |
Navy uniform switched in hold of captain and warrant officers (6) BOSUNS (naval warrant officers) (U [uniform is the international radio communication code for the letter U] + N [navy] – therefore switched to form UN rather than ‘navy uniform’ [NU] as given initially in the clue) contained in (in hold of) BOSS (captain) BOS (U N) S |
| 34 |
Trendy colleen accepts treat with contempt (6) MODIST (follower of the current fashion; trendy) MOT (Irish slang for girl [colleen]) containing (accepts) DIS (treat with contempt) MO (DIS) T |
| 37 |
Bread that might be brought back (4) NAAN (type of slightly leavened bread, as baked in Indian and Pakistani cookery) NAAN is palindromic so when reversed (brought back) it is still bread NAAN |
| 38 |
Circle in a tangle with set wiring (9) ELECTRICS (wiring) Anagram of (… in a tangle with …) CIRCLE and SET ELECTRICS* |
| 39 |
Creator of stories, strange or everyday, half-forgotten (4) LIAR (creator of stories) Either of PECULIAR (strange) or FAMILIAR (everyday) excluding (forgotten) the first 4 of 8 (half) letters, PECU or FAMI to leave LIAR LIAR |
| 40 |
Find fault with one selling fish (8) REPROACH (find fault with) REP (REPresentative; salesman, one selling) + ROACH (fish) REP ROACH |
| 41 |
Stake required with no bark (4) ANTE (fixed stake put down by a poker player) WANTED (required) excluding the outer letters (like a tree with no bark) W and D ANTE |
| 42 |
City arranged atomic-free treaties (7) TRIESTE (city in Italy) Anagram of (arranged) TREATIES excluding (-free) A (atomic) TRIESTE* |
| 43 |
Eucharistic celebrant from America and Germany (6) USAGER (celebrant of the Eucharist; USAGEs are four ceremonies in the celebration of the Eucharist) USA (America) + GER (Germany) USA GER |
| Down | |
| 1 |
View tree cut down on court (6) ASPECT (view in a specific direction) ASPEN (a type of tree) excluding the final letter (cut down) N + CT (court) ASPE CT |
| 2 |
Run out with a rush, returning for a cleansing bath (6) ELUTOR (a vessel for purification or cleansing) (RO [run out , an abbreviation in cricket scoring] + TULE [a large American bulrush]) all reversed (returning) (ELUT OR)< |
| 3 |
Non-acceptances go astray for us – second opinions required? (9) REFERRALS (assignments to third parties for extra opinions) REFUSALS (non-acceptances) with ERR (go astray) replacing (for) US REFERRALS |
| 4 |
Poison variant not very bad (6) ANTIAR (the poisonous latex of the upas-tree) Anagram of (bad) VARIANT excluding (not) V (very) ANTIAR* |
| 5 |
An Indian dish Rushdie maybe’s spoken of (5) RAITA (an Indian dish of chopped vegetables, especially cucumber, in yoghurt) RAITA (sounds like [spoken of] WRITER. Salman Rushdie [born 1947] is an example of a WRITER) RAITA |
| 6 |
Rocking Stones with special opening rallying cries (7) SLOGANS (a clan war cry; rallying cry) S (special) + LOGANS (rocking-stones) S LOGANS |
| 7 |
Shoot the enemy caught up in the middle (4) CYME (a young shoot) CYME (hidden word [caught] reversed [up; down entry] in the middle of ENEMY CAUGHT CYME< |
| 8 |
Slowly removing commercial for money exchange (4) AGIO (the sum payable for the convenience of exchanging one kind of money for another) ADAGIO (musical term for ‘slowly’) excluding (removing) AD (advert; commercial) AGIO |
| 9 |
Heard of drink for imperilled ring? (6) LAAGER (in former days in South Africa, a defensive ring of ox-wagons; an imperilled ring) LAAGER (sounds like [heard of] LAGER [drink]) LAAGER |
| 12 |
Glimpses of Ben Nevis and Kelvin caught by slides halfway down (6) GLISKS (Scottish [Ben Nevis] word for glimpses) K (kelvin [unit of thermodynamic temperature]) contained in (caught by) GLISSANDOS (effects produced by sliding the finger along keyboard or strings) using only half of the word, excluding ANDOS [half-way down]) GLIS (K) S |
| 16 |
In midst of dread, within find a way of working (7) AMONGST (in the midst of) MO (modus operandi [way of working]) contained in (within) ANGST (anxiety, dread) A (MO) NGST |
| 17 |
US President’s heading off for a city in West Coast State (7) ALABAMA (one of the States of America) A + LA (Los Angeles, city on the West Coast of America) + OBAMA (reference former US President Barack OBAMA [born 1961]) excluding the first letter (heading off) O – I’m not quite sure how we get the various parts in the right order A LA BAMA |
| 19 |
Market square (4) FAIR (market) FAIR (equitable; square) double definition FAIR |
| 21 |
Throwing sticks at bird in act of warbling (9) SQUAILING (throwing sticks) QUAIL (a bird) contained in SING (an act of singing or warbling) S (QUAIL) ING |
| 23 |
Sound of amphibian that’s ‘digitised’? (4) TOED (having digits on the feet) TOED (sounds like [sound of] TOAD [an amphibian]) TOED |
| 24 |
Adelaide’s stone is smoother with no hint of lumps (6) GIBBER (Australian [Adelaide] word for a stone or boulder) GLIBBER (smoother) excluding (with no) L (first letter of [hint of] LUMPS) GIBBER |
| 25 |
Papa counts up moments (7) PUNCTOS (moments) P (Papa is the international radio communication codeword for the letter P) + an anagram of (up) COUNTS P UNCTOS* |
| 27 |
Hard hat striking head’s a hilarious gaffe (6) HOWLER (glaring and amusing blunder) H (hard, as in designation of pencil lead) + BOWLER (hat) excluding (striking) the first letter (head) B H OWLER |
| 29 |
Takes it easy like being in bed on sabbath (6) COASTS (takes it easy) (AS [like] contained in [being in] COT [bed]) + S (sabbath) CO (AS) T S |
| 30 |
Effects having Will’s head knocked off (6) ESTATE (effects) TESTATE (having a will) excluding (knocked off) the first letter (head) T ESTATE |
| 31 |
He looks to be eccentric astronomer when there’s no moon out (6) STARER (one who looks) Anagram of (eccentric) ASTRONOMER excluding (when there’s no) ONOM*, an anagram of (out) MOON STARER* |
| 33 |
There’s nothing pleasant being alone in the pen (5, 2 words) ON ICE (American prison slang for being in solitary confinement ; alone in the cell [pen]) O (character representing zero; nothing) + NICE (pleasant) O N ICE |
| 35 |
Dad’s Army character cycling in military cap (4) KEPI (flat-topped French military cap) PIKE (reference Private PIKE, a character in the sitcom Dad’s Army) with the character cycled twice to the left to form KEPI KEPI |
| 36 |
Four roods revered when uncovered (4) ACRE (an ACRE is equivalent to four roods) SACRED (revered) excluding the outer letters (uncovered) S and D ACRE |
I think 17a is:
Take the head off Obama, as you say.
Then replace it (for a) with A LA
@1 kenmac: That was my understanding too.
It was nice to find such a clever endgame construction without having to suffer all that much to get there!
All thanks to Charybdis and duncanshiell.
Kenmac @ 1: I think with your explanation A is doing double duty. if you replace your second line with
Then replace it (for) with A LA
then I think it works.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
As a crossword this was excellent, with a lot of originality and imagination evident in the clues. REFERRAL, ESTATE and GLISKS are just three memorable examples.
The endgame was not straightforward, partly because of my aversion to grid-gazing, but partly also because I couldn’t make complete sense of some words and phrases used in the preamble. Eventually, by noting some useful ‘real words’ like ELECT(S) and ONCE that might be formed (I liked BOS’NS particularly), I found the symmetrical path. An amusing finish (‘Duck!’).
Thanks to duncanshiell for the blog, and to Charybdis for the entertaining crossword and the very neat dénouement.
Unbelievably I missed the bit in the preamble and didn’t even see the actual asterisk in the grid until someone pointed it out to me.
A straightforward gridfill which almost had me hankering for some additional complexity (e.g., missing letters) – though going by this Sunday’s Inquisitor I should be careful what I wish for*!
Then the endgame did involve staring at the grid for a while to identify some kind of circular set of letters – how exactly wasn’t clear from the preamble but like duncanshiell eventually some fragments of words appeared that seemed like they could make sense together.
Not entirely sure I’m comfortable with the use of ‘firing squads’ even in an abstract crossword setting, but otherwise a fun and relatively lightweight challenge, so thank you.
*I know the fifth rule of Inquisitor club is not to mention the latest Inquisitor, but I’m not exactly giving anything away here!
Its one thing to fill the grid
And another to find a “slew” of letters that can be ditched
But quite another to spot the cunning plan behind it all
Thanks Scylla ..er I mean.. thanks Duncan