A palim what?
Each clue is a palimpsest in which one letter has been overwritten in the definition. The original letters must be restored before solving: they spell a quotation and its author. When the grid is complete, five entries with something in common must be erased and overwritten by members of a different group, thus creating a further palimpsest in accordance with the quotation. All final grid entries are words, phrases or names.
Palimpsest – “a manuscript in which old writing has been rubbed out to make room for new.” Just think misprints, I decided after a moment of heightened anxiety. Was this warranted? Probably not, but it has been one of those weeks. OK, not week, but fortnight. After which we could do with a good, absorbing Inquisitor to steady the nerves. Is Moreton a new setter? Yes, so they are, and therefore – welcome!
So, the grid fill. Not too bad, was it? The one exciting word to the SE with RYOTWARI, but nothing elsewhere to scare the proverbial horses.
The poor, hapless TRUSS was the one that alerted me first, but even the least observant of solvers can’t have helped but notice the presence of five former prime-ministers in the grid. It would only then be that I would turn to the quote and author found in the restored letters.
“Under every stone lurks a politician”, Aristophanes
Nothing changes.
It being a fairly safe bet that our palimpsest would be the replacement of said PM’s with Rolling Stones, I looked at which members of the ageing rockers would fit, checked the crossing words, and chucked them in.
Job done. With an eye on Scotland’s debacle in Italy, for which commiserations to Kenmac. I will point out at this time that there was one parsing which evaded me, but unbidden popped an email into my inbox, like a message from the gods, smiling down on us lesser mortals.
An enjoyable first outing from Moreton? Yes, I think so.
| Clue | Original Letter | Answer | Wordplay | |
| ACROSS | ||||
| 1 | He studied organ storing CD with broken violins (six missing) (6) | U | WILSON | W + an anagram of VIOLINS without the VI. Wilson’s disease involves an accumulation of copper (CU) in the tissues |
| 5 | Iowa is one I diss without hesitation (6) | N | ISLAND | I SLANDer – of which Iona is an example |
| 10 | A not entirely refined statement of reduced jail time to be served (12, 2 words) | D | OPEN SENTENCE | Of PEN (jail) SENTENCE to give an undefined statement |
| 12 | Bars have these cooler beers with no indication of additive (6) | E | CANALS | CAN + ALeS without the E number. Think ear canal. |
| 14 | Barmen open country wellness bar number 50 (5) | R | HEATH | A HEAlTH is a barren country |
| 15 | I might catch masterly pirates and fool suspect (11) | E | FORETOPSAIL | An anagram of PIRATES and FOOL and you get a sail by which you might catch an Easterly wind |
| 16 | Lady’s gyrating in heady fashion (5) | V | SADLY | An anagram of LADYS leaves us feeling heavy and not heady |
| 18 | In retro music etc I find groove (5) | E | STRIA | I contained in ARTS reversed for a very fine groove. Def! |
| 20 | Pascal’s wager: surrender Earth for God (4) | R | BRAT | Replace the E in BET with RA and you get a right rascal |
| 23 | Sorts out scarf situation – it’s great to wear a bit of silk (7) | Y | DEFUSES | DEF (great) USES + the S from silk. Defuse a scary situation. |
| 25 | Atone and endlessly regret past (4) | S | RUBY | RUe BY is a stone |
| 26 | Almost believe small lie (5) | T | TRUSS | TRUSt S, to tie |
| 28 | With e.g. font wound in glittering cloth (4) | O | LAME | A double definition. The first one is a foot wound. |
| 29 | A lazy ode turns round Ms Anthony? (5) | N | SUSAN | Another double definition – the first is a lazy one, the second a very scary looking lady |
| 32 | Shaman’s crow about books (5) | E | JANTY | NT inside JAY (crow) gives us a lesser known seaman |
| 33 | I’m bound to hand in Satie and Rachmaninoff’s coats (4) | L | SERF | First and last letters from SatiE and RachmaninofF for somebody bound to land |
| 34 | Grab American guy before racing event (4) | U | BOTT | BO TT – a grub |
| 35 | A way land use was changed for king, one naïve fool in retrospect (8) | R | RYOTWARI | R + a reversal of I RAW TOY for a way land used to be charged |
| 36 | It develops from stale air going around Lima (4) | K | ARIL | An anagram of AIR + L. Stalk, not stale! |
| 37 | Elk runs past this eco-activist protecting Norway (6) | S | GRETNA | A well known eco-activist about N is somewhere across the border the River Esk runs past. |
| 38 | So, Nancy dear, call me if your elves need any work (8) | A | THATCHER | THAT + CHER for someone who might fix your eaves, or alternatively snatch your milk. |
| 39 | Where schoolgirl can sit with char and start to eat fish sandwiches (4) | P | COED | Put E inside COD and what do you get but somewhere a schoolgirl and chap might sit together, though with nothing untoward going on, obviously |
| DOWN | ||||
| 1 | After rearing farm animal kids will lose heart for old pets (5) | O | WOCKS | A reversal of COW and KidS gives an old term for pots |
| 2 | Mule’s accommodation in stable nearby (3) | L | LEN | Clearly hidden, which is lucky, because it took me a while to work out that LEN, a Scot’s word for loan, corresponds with a Mull’s accommodation (also a loan). Think Mull of Kintyre, unless you’re averse to bagpipes that is, in which case don’t. |
| 3 | Learns avoiding base of logarithms possibly yields better expression (5) | I | SNARL | An anagram of LeARNS without the E gives a bitter expression, and I’m not talking a pint of SA |
| 4 | Holy woman committed to poverty lived in a free home (6) | T | NESTED | Put ST inside NEED and you’d be living in a tree |
| 6 | Pop group’s style? (5) | I | STEPS | A double definition, the second is a stile |
| 7 | In these you might find drops precipitate audibly (4) | C | LEAS | You might find crops in a lea. LEAS sounds like lees, which is sediment, or precipitate. Phew. |
| 8 | ‘Grottos by Well’ take Santa’s fancy (6) | I | ANTARS | An anagram of SANTA and R (take) gives a term Will Shakespeare used for grottos |
| 9 | Revelled in exalted rank (12) | A | DECLASSIFIED | CLASS in DEIFIED – revealed |
| 11 | Oddly silvery tool for arranging yard (4) | N | SLEY | Odd letters from SiLvErY would give you a tool for arranging yarn |
| 13 | Seafarers’ shelters in distant ports (4) | A | AFAR | Things in distant parts can be found in seAFARers |
| 14 | Headless bird oven-cooked in NY? (5) | R | HOKEY | cHOKEY (bird, prison) decapitated to give a term for over-cooked |
| 17 | Where some Croats love waltzing about with Matilda (8) | I | DALMATIA | An anagram of A (about) and MATILDA for somewhere Croats might live, and probably love for that matter too |
| 19 | Dickens reconstructed Austen and Brontë’s lost novel Be At One (5) | S | TURNS | An anagram of AUSTEN and BRONTE without one of BE AT ONE is not only likely to leave you dizzy, but sickened rather than dickensed too |
| 20 | I hung moths etc to flutter under bunk (7) | T | BULLBAT | BULL + BAT (ones eyelids) for a creature who presumably hunts moths |
| 21 | Stake is found on this council site (5) | O | TRENT | A double definition, the first being a river that Stoke is found on |
| 22 | Shoddy ‘Airs’ cut like some sneakers from India (7) | P | AUSTRIC | An anagram of AIRS CUT to give a group of languages Indian speakers might employ |
| 24 | Officer that pretended to be fair (5) | H | MAJOR | A double definition, the second being a wig |
| 26 | Simple weapon pinches tip of toe (6) | A | TASTER | TAS(T)ER is a sample |
| 27 | Ear on upside down after bit of surgery botched organs (6) | N | SERRAE | S + a reversal of EAR RE are notched organs |
| 30 | Assorted society women tangle in the sticks (5) | E | SWORE | Asserted – S W ORE |
| 31 | Don’t vote for a bath (5) | S | BEANO | BE A NO for, finally, a bash to celebrate a presumably successful completion |
Well done on thinking of the Rolling Stones so quickly! I spent a long, fruitless time trying to crowbar in the names of gemstones. If it wasn’t for a pointer from Terrier, I don’t think that I would have completed this.
Thanks very much, and welcome, Moreton!
“Under every stone lurks a politician”, Aristophanes Brilliant stuff!
Lovely clues. Particularly liked CANALS, LEN and DALMATIA.
SUSAN
Unable to open the link. Is the clue referring to Susan B Anthony?
LEN
Mull is a Scottish word indicator and accommodation is a type of loan.
The blog says so. Right?
An exceptionally high-quality blog Jon_S! Very informative as well. Thanks.
Super puzzle. Welcome and congratulations Moreton!
Liked this a lot, nice PDM
Good fun but like Kippax @1 I spent a long time trying to fit in TOPAZ and friends before realising we weren’t talking about those sorts of stones. I just realised in time before getting properly annoyed at the fruitlessness of it all, but it was close!
Thank to blogger and setter.
I’m with Kippax @1 and arnold @4, having spent much of the journey from Pembrokeshire to Oxon struggling to get much further than JEWEL overwriting TRUSS. Was 25a RUBY a pointer to gemstones or Ms Tuesday?
A slightly grudging thanks to Moreton (my fault not theirs) and envy to Jon_S for getting the “group” so quickly.
Welcome to Moreton for an entertaining theme with lots of neat cluing. Having (almost) completed the grid, helped by anticipating the missing parts of the message, I also came to a grinding halt. It was only when I said to my missus “I have scoured Bradford under Stone, Rock and Gem – what other types of Stonesssss? …Ah!” that the penny dropped. All the original line-up slotted in like gloves. My LOI was 14D after I had entered the tragic Brian and found that K was the only option for the middle letter.
I cannot recall any previous IQs featuring this band. Plenty of Pink Floyd and, I think, the odd Beatles (also Led Zep recently). So, thanks to Moreton for addressing the omission and to Jon S for the blog.
All thanks to Moreton and Jon_S! Much enjoyed. After working out the quotation I too was expecting a long hard slog through jewellery or geology, but my eye fell on 6D and there was Moreton generously waving the words “Pop group” at me….
A warm welcome from the two of us as well.
Much enjoyed. Just as Joyce was starting to write down options for the letter changes, Bert realised that it was the Rolling Stones.
Thank to S&B.
Welcome Moreton. I enjoyed this puzzle. Some nicely disguised misprints/ overwrites, liked 33a particularly. After grid fill, confidently entered JEWEL at 14a and came to a shuddering halt until JAGGER went in at 1a.. I wondered whether there were going to be five different ‘stones’: hunted for a space for Sharon but no joy. Once RICHARDS went in, I realised JEWEL was wrong all along. Thanks to Moreton and JonS.
One-nil to Moreton as far as I’m concerned. One thing I learned, there are far more precious stones than I thought. The suggestive Ruby was a naughty touch, though I suspect I would have gone that way anyway. Excellent debut, excellent blog.
There was a lot to enjoy and appreciate about this puzzle. It’s always good to have every clue involved in a single-letter manipulation (such as the one used here) if that is possible. Also, it was good that the overwritten letter was always in the definition and not just anywhere in the clue.
The clues were excellent, showing bits of humour and invention here and there, such as “Don’t vote” to indicate ‘be a no’, and Dickens, Austen, Brontë and a ‘lost novel’ featuring in a clue that had nothing to do with any of them.
Naturally, when certain names appeared among the answers it was possible to infer the kind of group we were looking for: politicians – in fact prime ministers of recent times. When the quotation became clear, I was (like everyone else !) fully expecting gemstones to take the place of these politicians’ names. I pencilled in some possible alternative letters where the names had been, and it was a revelation when I saw the possibility of RICHARDS (R?C?A??S) where THATCHER had been. Of course: it was the Stones, not stones!
Thanks to Moreton for the fun, and to Jon for the excellent blog.
Like Arnold @4 I was on the point of jacking it in after a lengthy search for gemstones which would fit. The problem was that I’d got an obscure example, jargon, to work at 1a quite early so I was sure I was on the right track. After failing everywhere else I had another look at 1a, realised that Jagger has J and G in the same positions and it was all downhill from there. A fine debut.
A lovely crossword with a splendid PDM. Like others I began to consider gemstones, but inspiration flashed when I was away from the crossword doing something else entirely. And I’m very much with Dave W @6, it’s high time the Stones received some Inquisitor recognition. Many thanks to setter and blogger.
Loved it ! Moreton setting him/herself a high bar for any future puzzles with this exquisite debut.
A slow but steady grid fill for me and, like others, the PM names helped with the theme. I also stumbled down the gemstone tunnel before the musical connection revealed itself. A lovely PDM.
Top blogging and a real treat of a puzzle. My thanks to setter and blogger. It’s been a v strong start to the IQ year with a few POTY contenders already.
Absolutely loved 17D. Chapeau Moreton!
me @5: of course I meant JEWEL overwriting HEATH at 14a, not TRUSS, just as NH @9 says.
Also I was put off by the replacement at 20d, BULLBAR, not being in Chambers so I thought that the terminal T had to stay. (BULL BARS is an entry in Collins, but only as a plural noun.)
HG @15
You make a good point about BULLBAR. I got lucky with that because I didn’t look it up and it helped point me to the possibility of RICHARDS along the bottom row. But it’s true that both Chambers (2016) and Collins have only the plural noun BULL BARS.
KVa @2
The link to the scary lady is now restored. Quite how that happened I don’t know.
There is a special joy in realising that beneath the hard-living wizened blues guitarist Keith Richards one will find the clear blue water and immaculate coiffure of Margaret Thatcher, and that behind the laid-back cool rhythms of Charlie Watts lies the deranged eye-popping of Liz Truss. I got the eureka moment just as I was irritably preparing for a tedious trudge in search of different types of stone, so it was all the more gratifying to realise that Moreton was being much cleverer and more precise than that. All very satisfying and quite brisk too.
I saw RUBY as a stone that could be twisted to (Amber) RUDD but by then there were 5 ex UK PMS staring out at me
I particularly liked THATCHER/RICHARDS-and WILSON/JAGGER
Someone should send it to them!