Enigmatic Variations No. 1619: Polyfilla by Check

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Check has got the POLYFILLA out this week – has some DIY gone wrong?…

The preamble states that:

“Eight clues contain an extra word to be removed before solving. In clue order, the first letters of these words produce the POLYFILLA to plug gaps in the initially filled grid left when entering a number of answers. When considered alongside the first letters, the last letters hint at a thematic item to be highlighted in the completed grid (7 cells), which contains all real words. Numbers in brackets refer to space available. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”

So far so good – ‘only’ eight extra words to be found, and no missing/extra/misprinted letters in clues/wordplay…but there are going to be some (presumably eight) gaps in the grid, which means we are going to have to be careful about trusting crossers and enumerations.

After a cautious first pass or two, several answers seemed to fill their slots, and several seemed to be a bit short – e.g. SENDS at 1A; STEM at 13A; DEPOTS at 33A…and once a few of the correct-length words had been filled in, it started to become apparent where the gaps might be. S_ENDS; STE_M; DEPO_TS; etc.

In parallel with this process, a few extra words were becoming apparent – PRESS in 12A; ANTIQUE in 17A; RAFFLE in 28A; etc. And of those first letters, P would fit into SPENDS/PREACH; A would make STEAM/CARIES; R would fill in DEPORTS/RETRAINS; etc.

And the full set of first letters ended up as P-A-R-A-K-E-E-T…literally a ‘polly’ filler! A Norwegian Blue, beautiful plumage, etc…

 

However, I struggled to get the next part of the instructions: taking the last letters – S-E-E-T-I-T-L-E – ‘alongside’ the first letters – PARAKEET – I couldn’t make anything out to help find the ‘thematic item’. Not an anagram; not alternate letters interleaved. ‘See title’ – but looking at the title there was nothing obvious, apart from the polly-filler pun, which had already been used to fill the grid.

The best I could come up with – applying the first (or second?) rule of EV club (always check the main diagonals) – was the word CRACKER along the rising main diagonal. I realise that Polyfilla can be used to fill cracks, and the R and K complete the word CRACK, but I couldn’t link CRACKER to PARROT or PARAKEET – just lots of Go-ogle links about whether you should or shouldn’t feed your parrot/parakeet with cracker biscuits – perhaps Michael Palin could enlighten us on this?…

The only other possibility was a Christmas Cracker link, but this puzzle was two puzzles before any possible Xmas special, so a bit tenuous if that is the case.

My thanks to Check, and apologies for not getting it, if ‘it’ was something else – I am sure we will be enlightened below. Either way, I enjoyed the opportunity to re-run the Parrot Shop sketch in my head (and out loud) a few times, and I thought the polyfilla/polly filler pun/device was quite amusing!

 

Across
Clue No Extra Word Removed Solution / Entry Clue (definition underlined, removed (words) in brackets)

Logic/Parsing
1 SENDS / SPENDS Addresses onset of staff terminations (6)

s (first letter, or onset, of Staff) + ENDS (terminations)
6 GUANACO Llama droppings keeping focus of Apache (7)

GUAN_O (bird droppings) around (keeping) AC (middle, or focus, of apAChe)
12 PRESS ARCHIVAL Stokes exits lavish (press) car worried about recordings (8)

subtractive anag, i.e. worried, of LAVI(S)H CAR, losing S – stokes, CGS unit of kinematic viscosity
13 STEM / STEAM Support starts to scrutinise tame election manifesto (5)

initial letters, or starts, of ‘Scrutinise Tame Election Manifesto’
14 BELTED / BELATED Ran plot to imprison English lieutenant (7)

B_ED (garden plot) around (imprisoning) E (English) + LT (lieutenant)
16 ORRA lan’s left-over sour cream often discarded (4)

alternate letters, i.e. other letters discarded, from ‘sOuR cReAm’
17 ANTIQUE PAIR Husband and wife take gold (antique) from domestic help (4)

AU PAIR (domestic help) losing AU (Aurum, gold)
18 OCTANT Endlessly contacts working sector (6)

anag, i.e. working, of CONTACT(S) (endlessly)
19 REEDBED Young woman ruminant about part of marshland (7)

DEB (debutante, young woman) + DEER (ruminant), all about to give REEDBED!
22 CREE / CREEK Principles shunning Dutch language (5)

CREE(D) (principles) losing (shunning) D (Dutch)
24 COS / COSE Fellow performer not rating island (4)

CO-S(TAR), fellow performer, losing TAR, Jack Tar, sailor, or rating
25 REEKED Fumed about husband heading to disco (6)

RE (about) + EKE (scrimp, save, husband) + D (fist letter, or heading, of Disco)
26 STEMMA 13 million beginning to analyse family tree (6)

STEM (answer to 13A) + M (million) + A (beginning of Analyse)
28 RAFFLE EMMY Electronic (raffle) money announced surprise award (4)

E (electronic) + M (money, economics, as in M0, M1, etc) + MY (interjection announcing surprise)
30 AIDOS One getting into trouble finally overcomes shame in Athens (5)

A_DO (trouble) around I (one), plus S (final letter of overcomeS)
33 DEPOTS / DEPORTS Tyrant delaying special storage solutions (7)

DE(S)POT, tyrant, delaying S, special, to the end = DEPOTS
35 RITUAL University probes questionable trial practice (6)

RIT_AL (anag, i.e. questionable, of TRIAL) around (probed by) U (university)
38 CARE Docked mark in proofreading concern (4)

CARE(T), proofreading mark, docked, or losing tail/last letter
40 ADJUST ITEM (Adjust) component of trite meal (4)

hidden word in, i.e. part of, ‘trITE Meal’
41 COURLAN Flier staff snubbed around old address (7)

C_AN(E) (staff, snubbed, or losing last letter) around O (old) + URL (web address)
42 RUIN / RUTIN Manage to suppress international disaster (5)

RU_N (manage) around (suppressing) I (international)
43 ILL-BEING In poor health, live among co-operative to lose weight (8)

(W)ILL_ING (cooperative, losing W – weight) around BE (live)
44 ASSISTS Helps troubled last sessions to avoid Noel’s playing (7)

subtractive anag, i.e. troubled, of (L)AST S(E)SSI(ONS), without, or avoiding, the anagrammed, or playing, letters of NOEL’S
45 SATED / SEATED Pleased tips exchanged by potential partners (6)

(D)ATE(S), potential partners, exchanging tips, or outer lettes = SATED!
Down
Clue No Extra Word Removed Solution / Entry Clue (definition underlined, removed (words) in brackets)

Logic/Parsing
2 REACH / PREACH Succeed in getting opening to release book (6)

(B)REACH – opening, releasing B – book
3 ECLAT Spin lie implicating constant brilliance (5)

TAL_E (lie) around (implicating) C (constant), all spun around to give ECLAT!
4 DITE Early writing correct to lower eccentricity (4)

(E)DIT (correct) lowering E (eccentricity, maths) to the bottom (for a Down clue) = DITE
5 SVELTE Soviet letter oddly delicate (6)

odd letters from ‘SoViEt LeTtEr’
7 ULNAE Parts of arms deal UN organised unsettles Germany (5)

subtractive anag, i.e. organised, of (D)EAL UN, losing, or unsettling, D – Deutschland, Germany
8 ASSIENTO Angry Estonians rejecting new treaty (8)

subtractive anag, i.e. angry, of ESTONIA(N)S, rejecting one N – new
9 AEROBOMB Retired graduate concealing second carried weapon (8)

B_A (Bachelor of Arts, graduate) around (concealing) MO (moment, second) + BORE (carried), all retired, or reversed, to give AEROBOMB!
10 CRIES / CARIES Laments being prisoner to therapeutic Riesling (6)

hidden word in, i.e. being prisoner in, ‘therapeutiC RIESling’
11 KHAKI OMAN Country mother against (khaki )clothes (4)

O_N (against) around (clothing) MA (mother)
12 ABHORRED Wasn’t happy with Australian border roughly detaining Henry (8)

A (Australian) + B_ORRED (anag, i.e. roughly, of BORDER) around (detaining) H (henry, SI unit of inductance)
15 LACK / ALACK Want sullen bachelor to leave (5)

(B)LACK – sullen, losing B – bachelor
17 EDIT PRECISE (Edit) particular cooking recipes (7)

anag, i.e. cooking, of RECIPES
20 DARLING / DEARLING Beloved lawyer close to criminal framed by syndicate (8)

DA (District Attorney, lawyer) + R_ING (syndicate) around (framing) L (closing letter of criminaL)
21 TEMPLES / TEMPLETS Tense empress regularly alters hubs of activity (8)

T (tense) + EMP (Empress) + LES (regular letters from ‘aLtErS’)
23 RETAINS / RETRAINS Keeps controls over former volunteers (8)

RE_INS (controls) around (over) TA (Territorial Army, volunteers)
27 ESTER Forest ermine secretes chemical (5)

hidden word in, i.e. secreted in, ‘forEST ERmine’
29 MEATUS Opening game push extremely deficient (6)

MEAt (game) + (P)US(H) (push, deficient of extreme letters)
31 DROOLS Slavers dictated orders after first sign of disagreement (6)

D (first letter of Disagreement) + ROOLS (homophone, i.e. dictated – ROOLS can sound like RULES, or orders)
32 ETHICAL PAVANE French setting maintains (ethical) case for Algerian music (6)

PAV_É (French for jewellery setting) around (maintaining) AN (case, or outer letters, of AlgeriaN)
34 TRAIT Italian restaurant embodies independent quality (5)

TRA_T (trattoria, Italian restaurant) around (embodying) I (independent)
36 TOUPEE UNLIT Dark (toupee) left in bar, perhaps (5)

UN_IT (bar, unit of atmospheric pressure) around L (left)
37 MIRA Arab prince relocates American star (4)

(A)MIR – Arab prince – relocating A – American – to the end = MIRA
39 RUB / RUBE Difficulty taking steps in rhumba (4)

steps, or alternate lettes, of RhUmBa

 

3 comments on “Enigmatic Variations No. 1619: Polyfilla by Check”

  1. Phil K
    @1 - Thu 14th Dec 23, 04:38

    Polly wants a cracker.

  2. mc_rapper67
    @2 - Thu 14th Dec 23, 09:12

    Phil K at #1 – thanks for ‘pollyfilla’ing that crack in my cultural knowledge!

    Turns out ‘Polly want(s) a cracker’ is from Treasure Island (1883, Long John Silver’s parrot), a Nabisco advert (National Biscuit Company, 1870s) and a Nirvana lyric (‘Polly’, from ‘Nevermind’, 1990s)…among many others, presumably!

  3. arnold
    @3 - Thu 14th Dec 23, 10:11

    Good fun even if I found the puns slightly tenuous. But a nice gentle one after what seemed like a major struggle last week.

    For a while it seemed like the extra letters would be entered in order (starting as they do with P-A) but I guess that would have been too much to ask and perhaps a little too easy.

Comments are closed.