This week we have a puzzle set by the collaborative duo eXtent who are represented separately by eXternal and Serpent who are both prolific Inquisitor setters in their own right. This is their 16th Inquisitor as a pair.
I reckon this will be the first and last blog I write where I discuss HETEROPATERNAL SUPERFECUNDATION!
The preamble was fairly short and told us that "Six thematic entries are clued by wordplay only. All but one of the remaining clues contains an extra word that must be removed before solving. The first and last letters of these words in clue order spell two thematic messages, each derived in a different way from the letters. Solvers must highlight two entries produced by the message from the down clues".
I made reasonable progress on the first pass where I detected one of the thematic clues with wordplay leading to IPHICLES at 1 down. The name meant nothing to me at that point, but that’s not unusual. I also reckoned the there was another thematic entry at 14a with LYCUS as the final 5 letters. It was a while before I got the first 4 letters, AUTO.
The grid built up slowly but steadily which gave me enough crossing letters to realise that CASTOR and POLLUX were making an appearance at 3 down and 22 down. The final two thematic entries took a bit longer, partly because I had ILIAD rather than ILIAC at 26 across for a while and also because PHILAMMON proved elusive for a long time. The wordplay for PHILAMMON took me a long time to crack as well. it wasn’t until I was writing the blog that I finally understood how it worked.
I didn’t pay much attention to investigating possible messages from the extra words in the clues. The extra words themselves weren’t too difficult to locate as many of the definitions were clear in the clues and the wordplay was usually concise which meant that the rogue words stood out well.
After I filled the grid, the next task was to deduce the messages from the extra words. The table immediately below summaries the extra words, together with their first and last letters.
| Clue No | Extra Word | First | Last | |
| Across | 1 | HORMONE | H | E |
| 6 | THRIVE | T | E | |
| 11 | RATIO | R | O | |
| 12 | PIZZA | P | A | |
| 15 | THEATRE | T | E | |
| 18 | RADIATION | R | N | |
| 19 | ADDITIONAL | A | L | |
| 21 | SHITZU | S | U | |
| 23 | PRINCIPLE | P | E | |
| 24 | REPROOF | R | F | |
| 26 | EPIC | E | C | |
| 29 | UMPTEEN | U | N | |
| 30 | DRAMA | D | A | |
| 31 | TAXI | T | I | |
| 32 | OFTEN | O | N | |
| Down | 2 | CHARISMA | C | A |
| 4 | HELP | H | P | |
| 5 | IDAHO | I | O | |
| 7 | ORAL | O | L | |
| 8 | NATIONAL | N | L | |
| 9 | EURO | E | O | |
| 10 | SCURRY | |||
| 13 | CHURCH | C | H | |
| 16 | HARDWARE | H | E | |
| 20 | INSPECTOR | I | R | |
| 21 | ORGANISM | O | M | |
| 22 | NIECE | N | E | |
| 27 | EMPLOYS | E | S |
Reading the first and last letters of each extra word one after the other in clue order we saw the two word phrase HETEROPATERNAL SUPERFECUNDATION. Nor surprisingly, this phrase needed a bit of research to understand what it meant. In summary it is an extremely rare phenomenon that occurs when a second ova released during the same cycle is additionally fertilized by the sperm cells of a different man in separate intercourse taking place within a short period of time from the first one. Mother effectively gives birth to twins who have different fathers.
The second message has to be read differently. If we take the first letters of all the extra words in the Down clues we find two occurrences of CHIONE. The final letters read in the same way generate APOLLO and HERMES
The six thematic entries were symmetrically placed in the grid with the ‘twins’ forming symmetric pairs. We had IPHICLES & HERACLES, CASTOR & POLLUX plus AUTOLYCUS & PHILAMMON.
Some more research was required, by me at least, to identify the relevant mothers and fathers which I hoped would clarify the final part of the end game.
IPHICLES was the son of Alcmene and her human husband Amphitryon, whereas HERACLES was her son by Zeus.
CASTOR was the mortal son of Leda and Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while POLLUX was the divine son of Zeus, who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan. Zeus doesn’t seem to come out this puzzle in a particularly good light.
Finally, the internet is not entirely clear about the parentage for the final pair, but for the purposes of this crossword we will go with CHIONE as the mother of AUTOLYCUS and PHILAMMON by APOLLO and HERMES, respectively. As this fits perfectly with the ‘message’ from the Down extra words, I have highlighted AUTOLYCUS and PHILAMMON in the grid below.
I had DIXIES as the entry at 32a as I was convinced that ‘finishes ‘would be DIES. but I couldn’t get the definition to work. Finally I tried a different letter and came up with DOXIES for the entry (correct definition) and DOES for ‘finishes’.’
The completed grid is shown below.
The title Mixed Doubles is fairly ,self-explanatory given the ‘twins’ [doubles] born with different fathers [mixed].
Thanks to eXtent for an educative puzzle
| No | Detail | Letters |
| Across | ||
| 1 |
Emetic hormone found in unripe cactus (6) Emetic found in unripe cactus (6) IPECAC (the dried root of various South American plants, used as a purgative, emetic and expectorant) IPECAC (hidden word in [found in] UNRIPE CACTUS) IPECAC |
H E |
| 6 |
Fish thrive in extremes of weather and stormy seas (6) Fish in extremes of weather and stormy seas (6) WRASSE (any of several brightly-coloured bony fishes of the family Labridae) WR (first and last letters of [extremes of] WEATHER) + an anagram of (stormy) SEAS WR ASSE* |
T E |
| 11 |
Perfect ratio models work in standard answer (8) Perfect models work in standard answer (8) PARAGONS (models of perfection) GO (work) contained in (in) (PAR [standard] + ANS [answer]) PAR A (GO) NS |
R O |
| 12 |
Club beginning to make excellent pizza (4) Club beginning to make excellent (4) MACE (metal or metal-headed war-CLUB, often spiked) M (first letter of [beginning to] MAKE) + ACE (excellent) M ACE |
P A |
| 14 |
Dramatic production plays clubs regularly (9) This is a thematic entry, clued by wordplay only, so there is no definition. AUTOLYCUS AUTO (a drama, especially a short religious one; an AUTO-da-fé) + LYCUS (letters 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 [regularly] of PLAYS CLUBS) AUTO LYCUS |
|
| 15 |
Perhaps critic’s brief summary of work enraged theatre (5) Perhaps critic’s brief summary of work enraged (5) IRATE (enraged) I RATE (consider worthy of praise) could be a very brief critical review of a piece of artistic work or performance I RATE |
T E |
| 18 |
Man admits story misrepresented means of reducing heat radiation (8) Man admits story misrepresented means of reducing heat (8) CRYOSTAT (apparatus for achieving or demonstrating cooling by evaporation; any apparatus for maintaining a low temperature; means of reducing heat) CAT (slang term for a man or chap) containing (admits) an anagram of (misrepresented) STORY C (RYOST*) AT |
R N |
| 19 |
Tedious additional job taking back old paint (5) Tedious job taking back old paint (5) OCHRE (paint manufactured from a native pigment composed of fine clay and an iron oxide) CHORE (tedious job) with O moved left (taken back) in the word to the front to form OCHRE OCHRE |
A L |
| 21 |
Litter of shitzu puppies woke finally and played (5) Litter of puppies woke finally and played (5) SEDAN (both a litter and a SEDAN are carriages or stretchers carried on poles) SE (last letters [finally] of each of PUPPIES and WOKE) + an anagram of (played) AND SE DAN* |
S U |
| 23 |
Briefly aim to exert influence and establish principle in law (5) Briefly aim to exert influence and establish in law (5) ENACT (establish in law) END (aim) excluding the final letter (briefly) + ACT (exert influence) EN ACT |
P E |
| 24 |
Reason reproof is changing minds (8) Reason is changing minds (8) SENSORIA (brains; minds) Anagram of (changing) REASON IS SENSORIA* |
R F |
| 26 |
Trojan epic about one having trouble returning (5) Trojan about one having trouble returning (5) ILIAC (relating to Troy; Trojan) ([C {circa; about} + I {Roman numeral for one}] containing [having] AIL [trouble]) all reversed (returning) (I (LIA) C)< |
E C |
| 28 |
Greek character left round noon (9) This is a thematic entry, clued by wordplay only, so there is no definition. PHILAMMON PHI (Greek character) + L (left) + AMMO (ammunition; a round is a volley of ammunition being fired) + N (noon) PHI L AMMO N |
|
| 29 |
Me and you condensed list of umpteen options (4) Me and you condensed list of options (4) MENU (list of options) ME + ‘N [abbreviation [condensed] form of AND] + U [textspeak [condensed] form of YOU) ME N U |
U N |
| 30 |
Grande dame lives next door to drama queen in Hackney? (8) Grande dame lives next door to queen in Hackney? (8) MARQUISE (title of nobility ranking next above a countess in various European countries; Grande dame) (QU [queen] + IS [exists; lives]) contained in (in) MARE (a Hackney can be defined as horse for hire, which may well be a mare) MAR (QU IS) E |
D A |
| 31 |
Rushing in taxi without insurance for emergency (6) Rushing in without insurance for emergency (6) URGENT (calling for immediate attention; in emergency) INSURGENT (rushing in) excluding (without) INS (insurance) URGENT |
T I |
| 32 |
Loose Women often finishes around 11 (6) Loose Women finishes around 11 (6) DOXIES (loose women) DOES (finished) containing (around) XI (Roman numerals for eleven) DO (XI) ES |
O N |
| Down | ||
| 1 |
Altered photorealistic, striking art too jarringly (8) This is a thematic entry, clued by wordplay only, so there is no definition. IPHICLES Anagram of (altered) PHOTOREALISTIC excluding (striking) an anagram of (jarringly) ART TOO wherever those letters are located IPHICLES* |
|
| 2 |
Mate’s brilliant charisma on radio (4) Mate’s brilliant on radio (4) PAIR (to mate) PAIR (sounds like [on the radio] PEAR [in gem cutting, a PEAR-shaped brilliant]) PAIR |
C A |
| 3 |
Group of players with gold on arms (6) This is a thematic entry, clued by wordplay only, so there is no definition. CASTOR CAST (group of players) + OR (heraldic [e.g. coat of arms] term for yellow / gold tincture) CAST OR |
|
| 4 |
Aristo considers help to box contents of desk (8) Aristo considers to box contents of desk (8) COUNTESS (aristocrat) COUNTS (considers) containing (to box) ES (central letters of [contents of] DESK) COUNT (ES) S |
H P |
| 5 |
In Idaho, dealer with man ignoring end of needle within skin (11) In dealer with man ignoring end of needle within skin (11) INTRADERMAL (within the skin) IN + TRADER (dealer) + MALE (man) excluding (ignoring) E [last letter of [end of] NEEDLE) IN TRADER MAL |
I O |
| 7 |
I can’t wait for oral type of deodorant (6) I can’t wait for type of deodorant (6) ROLL-ON (type of deodorant) ROLL ON (I want this to come quickly; I can’t wait) – this could be a double definition, or maybe ROLL ON is just wordplay as the hyphen isn’t used in the ‘I can’t wait’ spelling. ROLL-ON |
O L |
| 8 |
Radical I’m surprised gets involved in the national French uprising (4) Radical I’m surprised gets involved in the French uprising (4) AMYL (an alcohol radical) MY (gosh!; I’m surprised!) contained in (gets involved in) (LA [one of the French forms of ‘the’] reversed [uprising; down entry]) A (MY) L< |
N L |
| 9 |
Sweetener of one hundred Euro in pouch almost tearing (9) Sweetener of one hundred in pouch almost tearing (9) SACCHARIN (artificial sweetener) (C [Roman numeral for 100] contained in [in] SAC [pouch]) + HARING (racing; tearing) excluding the final letter (almost) G SA (C) C HARIN |
E O |
| 10 |
Son and dog on track hasten briskly (6) This is the one normal clue without an extra word SCURRY (hasten briskly) S (son) + CUR (dog) + RY (railway; track) S CUR RY |
|
| 13 |
Ambushing off and on both church leaders disregarded (9) Ambushing off and on both leaders disregarded (9) WAYLAYING (ambushing) AWAY (off) [on one’s travels, for instance] excluding (disregarded) the first letter (leader) A + PLAYING (on; ‘they are playing’, the game is on) excluding (disregarded) the first letter (leader) P – therefore both leaders are disregarded WAY LAYING |
C H |
| 16 |
Supporting dons endure university hardware (8) Supporting dons endure university (8) STANFORD (private research university in California) FOR (in favour of; supporting) contained in (wears; down) STAND (endure) STAN (FOR) D |
H E |
| 17 |
High explosive topped people believed to be wise (8) This is a thematic entry, clued by wordplay only, so there is no definition. HERACLES HE (high explosive) + ORACLES (people believed to be wise) excluding the first letter (topped) O HE RACLES |
|
| 20 |
Part of plant important inspector hereby restricts (6) Part of plant important hereby restricts (6) ANTHER (the part of a stamen that produces the pollen; part of a plant) ANTHER (hidden word in [restricts] IMPORTANT HEREBY) ANTHER |
I R |
| 21 |
Sat scrubbing organism acting on shower, type of bacterium (6) Sat scrubbing acting on shower, type of bacterium (6) STRAIN (variety of bacterium) SAT excluding (scrubbing) A + RAIN (reference a shower of RAIN) ST RAIN |
O M |
| 22 |
Unionist interrupting two votes (6) This is a thematic entry, clued by wordplay only, so there is no definition. POLLUX U (unionist) contained in (interrupting) (POLL [a vote] + X [a mark made to indicate a choice in a vote; a vote]) POLL (U) X |
|
| 25 |
Auditor’s niece sounded depressed (4) Auditor’s sounded depressed (4) BLUE (depressed) BLUE (sounds like [auditor’s] BLEW [sounded]) BLUE |
N E |
| 27 |
Monkey hiding employs special recess (4) Monkey hiding special recess (4) APSE (semicircular or polygonal recess, especially at the east end of a church choir, and where, in the Roman basilica, the praetor’s chair stood) APE (monkey) containing (hiding) S (special) AP (S) E |
E S |
This one was a lot of fun. All thanks to eXtent and duncanshiell. I was lucky in that CASTOR was the first wordplay-only answer I saw, which in view of the title set me looking for POLLUX. Their symmetrical placement helped elsewhere, as did a classical dictionary (e.g. I knew HERACLES but not IPHICLES). No doubt many other IQ regulars spent the rest of the day happily muttering HETEROPATERNAL SUPERFECUNDATION….
By the way, I wondered whether COUNTESS and STANFORD were symmetrically placed as a red herring to be best-guess-highlighted by hypothetical solvers who failed to read the down-clues message — Stanford University having conducted a famous survey of twins while the Countess of Chester hospital was where that nasty woman tried to murder two sets of twins.
I got thrown by an imagined ambiguity in the rubric’s last sentence, expecting to highlight two entries from the down clues (as opposed to: produced by the second half of the message). Of course, that would have acknowledged that the first half of the message has no actual function (except to bring delight). Thanks to eXtent and duncanshiell (and David Langford for the extension of the education).
Make that a double Chione!
Thanks Duncan and eXternal
In my estimation this was a classic Inquisitor with well-crafted clues (WAYLAYING being my personal favourite) and a well-executed thematic design. I thoroughly enjoyed solving it. Seeing the symmetrical placement of the six thematic entries was a bonus, and Mixed Doubles was a nice pithy title for a theme on the subject of Heteropaternal Superfecundation.
Thanks Duncan for yet another super blog! Very informative and neat.
IRATE
critic’s brief summary of work-my take:
Critic gives a brief summary of his/her work saying, “I RATE”.
A nice puzzle (as expected – but still appreciated – for an eXtent offering!) but I was left slightly perturbed by the titular concept. Unsurprisingly quite rare in humans (Greek gods excepted), though apparently more frequent in animals such as cats and dogs!
I found this pleasantly straightforward, which made a change after recent weeks of struggle. I agree with KVa @6 that the critic’s job is to rate things. Many thanks to eXtent and Duncan.
A classic(al) puzzle – everything an Inquisitor should be, from a fine duo of setters. Thanks too to Duncan for the blog. (You got off lightly with so few clues to explain.)