Inquisitor 1826: Forgery by Radler

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Double the fun with Radler this week.

Clues for corresponding answers in the two halves have been run together; either may come first. Across clues yield answers that are either one letter longer or shorter than their enumerations. A letter must be removed from each longer one before entry into the left-hand side. A letter must be added to each shorter one before entry into the right-hand side. Down clues and answers are normal; grid entries are all real words.

Letters omitted or added respectively spell a forgery and what it purported to be. Solvers should highlight the surname of the likely perpetrator in the completed grid.

Ah, rolled together clues. Two disparate grids. Alarm bells ring, but thankfully there was a great big hint in the preamble – longer entries to the left-hand side, shorter to the right. Truncated or appended to appropriately, of course.

Having felt pretty smug on noting this above the grid, I would then fail miserably to read properly the rest of the preamble, as is my wont.

Firstly, for some reason I found myself being somewhat surprised on finding that the down clues were also rolled together, because they were normal, weren’t they? Well yes, but not that normal.

And then, having made good progress, and guessed that the letters removed on the left-hand side were leading to PILTDOWN MAN, and a highlighting of DAWSON in the grid, I then spent an age trying to move the letters from the left to the right, because THAT IS WHAT WE USUALLY DO, isn’t it? Well, not in this case, again as clearly stated in the preamble. You know, that “what it purported to be” bit that was hiding in plain site. And so I would spend an age trying to justify the likes of HEARLE and DINWED. I know.

I blame the lateness of the paper, the paper-boy having failed miserably to do the necessary. And also the rain, that has fallen steadily off and on for what feels like an eternity now. But at least we haven’t been flooded out, only inconvenienced, so I shouldn’t complain.

MISSING LINK. I’ve even highlighted it below, see. Some would argue that Charles Dawson had a little too much time on his hands, but then again they didn’t have a fun-packed evening of Strictly, The Wheel and Blankety Blank to keep them amused in ye olde days. Autumn does have some compensations, as well as the Inquisitor to keep us amused and occupied.

Is the idea that if we dig up the PILTDOWN MAN we might find the MISSING LINK? Or that removing the former from the picture might bring us closer to the latter? You decide.

The one parsing below I’m unconvinced by, but I’m sure you’ll have that cleared up in a jiffy.

LHS Answer LHS Entry Letter Removed Parsing RHS Answer RHS Entry Letter Added Parsing
ACROSS
1 Clinically examine block after China plant lists of names on street (6) PALPATE PALATE P PAL + PATE (head, block) AVENS MAVENS M AVE + lists (boundaries of) “names”
7 Checks temperature and relaxes after first relatively insane swim alongside jetty (6) DIPPIER DIPPER I DIP + PIER TESTS TESTIS I T + rESTS
8 Try drug, Ed’s hair fibre removed in LA, number limited by US measures (6) LINTERS INTERS L LI(N)TERS HEARE HEARSE S N “limited ty” LITERS
9 Outward growing University body denied section data curbs relating to religious teacher (6) STARETS STARES T RE held by STATS (data) ENATE ENSATE S sENATE
10 Fairly tough non-stop runner at course, one participating in runs (6) HARDISH HARISH D HARe + DISH RACER RACIER I R ACE R
12 Hot drink spill obscuring answer, effect of gravity cut short scholar (4) SALOP SALP O SLOP about A – a variant spelling of saloop, a hot drink made from an infusion of salep, later from sassafras, formerly used as a tonic SAG SANG N SAGe
15 Stopped around noon, having taken food sample from below here, included in what? (6) WHEREIN HEREIN W Hidden in beloW HERE INcluded DINED DINGED G DIED about N
17 Free to dropping Latin, English student put down bags on purpose (6) PLANNED PLANED N P(L)ANNED UNTIE UNTILE L UNTIl (“to”) + E
19 Merlin’s cavorting artists: two men, nearly blood-related (6) LIMNERS LINERS M Anagram of “merlin’s” HEMAL HIEMAL I HE MALe
20 Bald patches revealed by  amateur pirate playing “Silver”, having swallowed marble (6) APTERIA PTERIA A A + an anagram of “pirate” AGATE AGNATE N AG + ATE
21 Heads off projections, seed in return is unbeatable opponent (6) NEMESIS EMESIS N SEMEN reversed + IS SAILS SKAILS K Double definition – a sail can also apparently be a projection
DOWN
1 Great king’s father before holding receptacle closer in each second the wine’s raised (8) PADISHAH PA + A (before, Ante) “holding” DISH + the H from eacH MOTHERED MO THE RED
2 Old coins from overseas, the Spanish money that was versus collecting savings stamps (5) LEPTA A double definition I think, being Greek coins old and much older, though I’m open to better offers

See comments: LE (from overseas, the) + PTA (Spanish money that was –short for Peseta)

 VISAS V(ISA)S
3 Board rocked an inert liquid, a ripple causing danger to William (7) APPERIL An anagram of “a ripple” ENTRAIN An anagram of “an inert”
4 Stay without retirement income and questionable sense, regularly rejected repairs (3) EAR Letters from rEpAiRs SUS SUSpension
5 They’re instrumental in capsizing insane evaporated milk delivery, one of three ships finally sinks (6) PINTAS PINTA (one of three ships used by Columbus) + the last S from sinkS VEENAS Reverse hidden in inSANE EVaporated
6 Hearing couples, dads run for the hills? (5) PERES Sounds like pairs PISTE A cryptic definition
11 Husband met son outside with tools once, without advice said, “don’t study so much” (8) HANDSAWS H SAW S outside AND (“with”) REDELESS Sounds like read less
13 Creepy-crawly spinners at core screened by each thing that senses spiders: one in Zone 5? (7) ARANEAE AN in AREA E (five), ARANEAE being your common garden spider ANTENNA ANT + spiNNers “screened by” EA (“each”)
14 Inspiring place, bird song lifted sweet love story falling at last head-over-heels (6) PIERIA PIE (think magpie) + AIR reversed GELATO O TALE + the G from failingG all reversed
16 Best European roofing material retrofitted, Jones the architect and setter enters (5) INIGO IN I GO ELITE E + TILE reversed
18 Japanese porcelain damage splits two stereotypical experts; ends up about right (5) NERDS An anagram of “ends” about R IMARI I MAR I (II = two)
20 Stuffing for agents’ pastry base, caught leaving upper crust behind (3) PIE sPIEs ASS bASS (“base, caught”)

9 comments on “Inquisitor 1826: Forgery by Radler”

  1. For 2d LEPTA I thought:
    Def “old money”
    Wordplay:
    LE (from overseas, the) + PTA (Spanish money that was –short for Peseta)

  5. This was a tough one, made so partly by my careless entry of ENTRAIN in the wrong column when I was working my way up from the bottom half into the top half. With that error corrected, the answers came more readily. There were many challenging clues, and at times it needed some mental agility to make the switch from one type of Across clue to the other, and then to imagine what letter is to be omitted or added.

    As well as the quality of the clues, I also very much liked the design of this puzzle, and the theme was an interesting one. I realised what the forgery was as soon as I got PILT from the Across clues, and I got MISSING LINK after looking up Piltdown Man. I highlighted DAWSON too at around that time.

    Thanks to Radler for his latest excellent once-a-year puzzle (this was my sixth) and to Jon_S for his thorough blog.

  6. Much enjoyed: all thanks to Radler and Jon_S. Strangely enough my wife and both had PILTDOWN MAN as first guess after just reading the preamble, and the length being right was encouraging, but it still took a long time to spot enough removed letters to justify that guess. Seeing MISSING LINK rather later was a great help. The final obstacle for me was parsing LEPTA, so it was a relief that Jon_S also had trouble, but I eventually got to @1 above. Looking for the W in DAWSON was also frustrating because I was slow to get HANDSAWS; and it’s the only W in the grid!

  8. I found this tough going, and finished only this afternoon. (Little time last week, and no time at all over the weekend.) When I say “finished”, I completed the grid but had several answers only partially parsed at best – so thanks to Jon_S for sorting those out. With hindsight, all clues fair, but many not very friendly – thanks to Radler. (Glad it wasn’t my turn to blog this week!)

  9. I agree it was tough, but I thought enjoyably tough. I also guessed Piltdown Man long before my grid entries had earned it, and Missing Link soon after. So a lot of subsequent grid-fill was retro-engineered. But a real pleasure; thanks to Radler and Jon_S

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