Boom.
The puzzle commemorates an event from 1970. (i) Wordplay in 22 clues generates an extra letter that is not entered in the grid. These letters, in clue order, provide a name and location associated with the event. (ii) Six clues contain an extra word that must be removed before solving. These words spell out an instruction. (iii) Remaining clues are normal but their answers are one letter too short for the corresponding entries; solvers must enter the answers to fit with cross-checking entries. Numbers in brackets refer to the space available in the grid.
The final grid contains ten empty cells in a straight line and (assuming empty cells act as word boundaries) real words or phrases.
Sometimes Inquisitors come along that are educational. Sometimes we get ones that are highly entertaining. Sometimes we get ones that are just plain hilarious.
As this fell into the latter camp, and the grid fill can mostly be summarised with a – not too difficult, swiftly got the hang of the different devices, was helped-out near the close by spotting the possibility of SPERM WHALE across the centre of the grid, having already Googled FLORENCE and 1970 based on what I had, let’s concentrate on the funny bit.
In Florence, Oregon, 1970, a sperm whale would manage to beach itself and, sadly, we must note, pass on to a better place. What to do with the carcass, it having begun to decay and “emit a rancid odour”?
This was left to GEORGE THORNTON, an Oregon Department of Transportation highway engineer, his colleagues having “conveniently” gone deer hunting.
Nobody wanted to take the thing and dispose of it. Who can blame them. Bury it? The tide would swiftly uncover it again.
For the outcome, let’s refer to George’s obituary:
So the plan was hatched: Let’s blow it up, scatter it to the wind and let the crabs and seagulls clean up the mess. So Thornton and his crew packed 20 cases of dynamite around the leeward side of the whale, thinking most of it would blow into the water. At 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, the plunger was pushed.
The whale blew up, all right, but the 1/4 mile safety zone wasn’t quite large enough. Whale blubber and whale parts fell from the sky, smashing into cars and people. No one was hurt, but pretty much everyone was wearing whale bits and pieces.
Exploding-whale engineer George Thornton has died at age 84
Apparently the odour lingered for some time. You can see footage of the incident here.
Thus our endgame. DISTRIBUTE LETTERS OF BLOWN UP INDIVIDUAL.
And how I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
| Clue | Extra Letter (where applicable) | Extra Word (where Applicable) | Answer | Wordplay | |
| Across | |||||
| 1 | Contemptible person time after time curbs ego (4) | TIT | I (ego) in T and T | ||
| 4 | Elementary topics managed to include something exciting (8) | G | POTASSIC | An anagram of TOPICS containing GAS (something exciting – it’s a gas) | |
| 9 | Bank with lots of money ignoring fine charged again (8) | E | RELOADED | REEf without the F and LOADED | |
| 12 | Allied agent shot following advance (7) | AGNATE | A + an anagram of AGENT | ||
| 13 | Develop way to profit from it with someone dodgy (8) | O | MONETISE | An anagram of IT and SOMEONE | |
| 14 | Buy book about taking International Baccalaureate (6) | BRIBE | B + RE about IB | ||
| 16 | Moral character recalled sin involving lie (5) | R | FIBRE | FIB + a reversal of ERR | |
| 17 | New form member to receive prize | G | LEVERET | LEVER (prize) + GET (receive). A form is a hare’s bed, a LEVERET is a young hare | |
| 19 | Spenser’s learned subordinate misses leader (4) | E | COND | sECOND | |
| 20 | Word attached to special generative substance (5) | T | SPERM | SP + TERM | |
| 22 | Thrash anyone that’s not old and healthy (5) | H | WHALE | WHo without the O + HALE. Take your pick about which H you want to lose. | |
| 24 | Palms very small amounts (4) | O | ITAS | IOTAS | |
| 25 | Sudden movement rocks plant (7) | R | STATICE | START + ICE (rocks) | |
| 26 | Flies on beach coming back (5) | N | DARTS | STRAND reversed | |
| 27 | Retracted article about non-dom with special tax status? (6) | METIC | A reversal of ITEM and C (about) – “(in ancient Greece) a resident alien in a city, subject to a special tax” | ||
| 28 | Great American author’s not explicit (8) | T | ALLUSIVE | TALL + US + IVE (author’s) | |
| 30 | Dash church project with potentially damaging results? (7) | ELANCE | ELAN + CE which sounds as nasty as it as when aimed properly | ||
| 32 | Island shortened distance between sailors working together (8, 2 words) | O | IN LEAGUE | IONa reduced + LEAGUE | |
| 33 | Guardians support taking in youngster (8) | N | TRUSTEES | TRUSS “taking in” TEEN | |
| 34 | Formed an alliance with Spain and Germany (4) | WED | W + the usual letters for Spain and Germany | ||
| Down | |||||
| 1 | High voice holds quite loud quaver (7) | F | TREMBLE | TREBLE about MF (Mezzo-Forte). We’ve come over all musical. | |
| 2 | Kind king beset by misfortune (3) | L | ILK | IL(K)L | |
| 3 | What’s in contact with tip of shoe? (4) | TOE | TO E (tip of shoe) | ||
| 4 | Piece of theatre upset reporter covering acting (8) | O | PARTERRE | An anagram of REPORTER about A (acting) | |
| 5 | Service career became permanent (6, 2 words) | R | TEA SET | TEAR + SET | |
| 6 | Cases taken on by Liberal Tyneside council (9) | E | SYNDICATE | An anagram of TYNESIDE about CA (cases) | |
| 7 | Murderous trainee just outside Channel Islands (11) | N | INTERNECIVE | INTERN + EVEN outside CI | |
| 8 | Conservative last to believe in Socialist doctrine (6) | CREED | C + E inside RED | ||
| 10 | Frisk girl smuggling plastic comb (6) | C | GAMBOL | GAL about an anagram of COMB | |
| 11 | He anticipates warning pilot everyone’s aboard (11) | E | FORESTALLER | FORE + STEER about ALL | |
| 15 | Individuals bottling set supply distribute new mother’s milk (9) | DISTRIBUTE | BEESTINGS | BEINGS about an anagram (supply) of SET | |
| 18 | Hoax employs letters US detectives discarded (8) | LETTERS | SHAMUSES | SHAM USES | |
| 21 | Somewhat brazen air of applicant upset islander (6) | OF | PARIAN | Reverse hidden in brazeN AIR APplicant – an inhabitant of the island Paros | |
| 23 | Grass blown around recovered periodically and went back (7) | BLOWN | RECEDED | REED about letters from reCovEreD | |
| 24 | That is a feature of side streets (6, 2 words) | ID EST | Hidden inside sIDE STreets | ||
| 25 | Flowering plant still saving up carbon (6) | UP | SILENE | SILENcE without the C (Carbon) | |
| 29 | Saying what witness did (4) | SAW | Double definition | ||
| 31 | Mature individual laughed regularly (3) | INDIVIDUAL | AGE | Letters from lAuGhEd |
Excellent stuff! Many thanks to Serpent and Jon_S. I’d already had the laugh from Dave Barry’s long-ago column about this stupendous event, but Serpent brought back happy memories. The “instruction” unexpectedly became clear before the individual itself.
Since BRIBE and ELANCE could each take an added R or S, I assume the official published solution will indicate that either way round is acceptable.
thanks J and S! I’m embarrassed to say that I was in school in Portland, Oregon when this happened… and I have no recollection – probably too busy smoking pot.
Brilliant puzzle, after which I spent a very enjoyable half an hour watching hilarious YouTube videos about the whole event
Very Pythonesque-brought back memories of Mr Scribbler who also featured here.
A was my most difficult to relocate Great puzzle.
Jon’s blog says it all – it’s a puzzle that exemplifies the absurd but fascinating pointlessness of this type of crossword, Not a theme that would ever have leaped to my mind, but eminently solvable in the age of Google and Wikipedia, and I duly exploded my sperm whale and stuck in the bits. I wonder whether George Thornton would be pleased or aghast at finding his part in this event so commemorated……Since I am reading Moby Dick, I have a sense of what’s inside a sperm whale, and have every sympathy with the citizens of Florence, Oregon, (as well as with the unfortunate whale itself). Many thanks to Serpent for a lot of fun.
Great fun. I followed a red herring caused by discovering the extra letters “FLOR” and searching for events in Florida in 1970, leading to Apollo 13. Not sure if Serpent set me up deliberately 🙂
For me this is an example of a perfect Inquisitor: Fun theme, hard but doable clues, and a great endgame. I did very much enjoy exploding that whale!
David @1 I don’t have an ENABLER in my Chambers app whereas I do have a BRIBER (slightly strangely), so I’ve also gone with Jon’s solution.
And thanks Bingy @3 for the Youtube tip, I hadn’t thought of finding a video but shall rectify this evening.
Clearly, this really hit the spot: an apt and gruesome dramatisation of a readily-searchable event. What more could we want?
As for Briber / Elances, I followed the same Chambers logic as arnold@7 (but hopefully without AutoCorrrect’s ‘help’)
Thanks to Serpent and Jon_S
Super puzzle, thanks Serpent and Jon. A theme that I had read about somewhere, great to spot it once the extra letters where teased out. Lovely thematic device of the exploding whale too, good fun indeed.
I liked the original theme, which I didn’t suspect even with SPERM/WHALE staring at me while I was busy working it out. The design was brilliant, with a symmetrical grid and (what I spotted much later) symmetrical placements of the 10 letters where they landed after the explosion.
It was an excellent set of clues. The clue counts in the preamble were appreciated and were useful when I was clearing up my last batch of clues on the right side of the grid. I think having three thematic types of clue might be the maximum I can handle in Inquisitor puzzles!
Many thanks to Serpent and Jon_S.
Of course @7 I meant I don’t have an ELANCER in Chambers but I do have a BRIBER.
Not sure what got me onto enabler…
I thoroughly enjoyed that, even if I was 3 cells short of a finish (failed on ALLUSIVE purely because of a wrong crosser that I never spotted: INTERNECI[N]E instead of INTERNECI[V]E). But the endgame was pure joy! The SPERM WHALE exploding all over the grid was magnificent. What a story, and what a puzzle.
Big thanks to Serpent and Jon.
Simply marvellous crossword which had me scurrying to YouTube upon its completion. Hats off to Serpent and another great blog thanks Jon_S. A perfect inquisitor
An amusing puzzle – so thanks to Serpent. Our son now tackles the IQ each week and sent us a link to the news item on YouTube about the event which was also fun to watch.
Thanks Jon for the blog. A good week all round for the IQ.
@12 Oh the pain: I too was stuck on ALLUSIVE for quite a while because of the too easily pencilled in INTERNECINE (“I’ll justify the construction later”).