Whoosh.
A clash in one cell of each column may be resolved unambiguously so that the completed grid contains only real words or phrases. In each case, the rejected letter must be placed in the corresponding silver cell at the foot of the column, spelling a thematic phenomenon of which this process is loosely mimetic. Given an article, accepted letters spell a thematic quotation referring to the source of this phenomenon. In the completed grid, solvers must highlight four types of this source, each laid out in an appropriate if sometimes tortuous manner (36 cells in total).
That was the sound of that preamble going right over my head. Too many big words for this particular Saturday morning. Perhaps I’m just too distracted by the sounds drifting across the ether from a field somewhere in England, the likes of PJ Harvey, Kasabian, The Breeders, and Gossip proving to be more than amply distracting.
Oh yes, festivals. Rain was a dead cert this weekend of all weekends, but nul points. The sun is shining, some would say that we are veritably basking in it, barely a cloud to be seen, and baking too.
Clouds, that bane of the Welsh climate, and the stuff that falls from them being our theme of the week. The latter I spotted quickly enough after getting a couple of the clashes. Down they fell into the bottom row, though it would only be at the close that I would get the quotation, being one from Shelley’s fevered mind. The Cloud, you see, NURSLING OF the SKY.
Highlight a few clouds I’d like to say that I knew but only half did, and Bob’s your uncle.
CIRRUS
ALTOSTRATUS
CUMULONIMBUS
CUMULUS
According to the preamble they’re positioned as you’d expect to find them. Let’s hope I’ve picked the right ones.
Pretty neat, eh? And the title? Oh yes, I keep forgetting, I’m contractually obliged to explain it. It’s all that lark you learnt in school about how clouds are formed, innit?
A veritable feast of clues this week, so much so that the editor’s column got the elbow. Lots of hiddens it felt like, but perhaps that was just the sheer volume there were to get through. And enjoy? Oh yes, enjoy.
| Clue | Answer | Wordplay | |
| ACROSS | |||
| 1 | Wealthy man originally nicked 12d (5) | NABOB | N A BOB (a shilling) |
| 5 | Hydrogen bomb nearly disrupts ceremonial dance, setting back commemoration of temple (8) | HANUKKAH | H + NUKe in a reversal of HAKA |
| 12 | One behind Nice at heart, here in Toulouse (3) | ICI | nICe + I |
| 13 | Rurality of city ruins misinterpreted amid yap (9, 3 words) | RUS IN URBE | An anagram of RUINS inside RUBE (a bumpkin, yap) |
| 14 | Peruvian city supermarket changing note for copper (5) | CUSCO | CU for the te in teSCO |
| 15 | Stimulating leaf is folded over, edge clipped (4) | SIRI | A reversal of IS + RIm. No, not that one. |
| 17 | Vendor’s objective not initiated before celebrations (4) | ALES | sALES |
| 19 | Daughter gets baron crude painting (4) | DAUB | DAU + B |
| 20 | Caught in shot (4) | CHIP | C HIP |
| 22 | Price paid to relocate special beds (4) | COTS | Move the S in costs |
| 24 | In retreat, oddly missing vigor (4) | GISM | MiSsIG reversed. Ooh er missus. |
| 26 | Old violas surprisingly last with a little oil (5) | ALTOS | An anagram of LAST + O |
| 27 | Chiefs that I find annoying keeping title of respect (5) | RATUS | U (A Burmese title of respect) inside RATS |
| 28 | Anathematization: $100 for legal support (4) | BANC | BAN + C – a judge’s bench |
| 29 | Republican a former Tory leader attacks (5) | RAIDS | R A IDS (Iain Duncan Smith, in case you’ve forgotten him given the number we’ve got through since) |
| 31 | Hasten to steal a Caledonian roe (4) | RAUN | R(A)UN |
| 34 | Spirit or liquor reportedly not intoxicating, but only the first drops (5) | JINNI | JIN (sounds like gin) + first letters from Not Intoxicating |
| 36 | Waste a month following retirement? Not at all (5) | GUANO | AUG reversed + NO |
| 37 | Outworn apron bloody split! (4) | BRAT | B (the blood group) + RAT (split) |
| 38 | Up to the west in Scotland these, for a start? (4) | UIST | The U from Up (the west) + first letters from In Scotland These giving an island that is indeed to the west of mainland Scotland |
| 39 | Forgetting first slice of nutritious toast, left in huff (4) | SULK | L inside SUnK (done for, toast) |
| 40 | American plan to evade satellite’s extreme point in sinuous curve (4) | OGEE | apOGEE without AP (American plan) |
| 42 | Become firmly established in jumper, given time (4) | ROOT | ROO T |
| 46 | In total, 100 despicable people (4) | SCUM | S(C)UM |
| 48 | Impertinent behaviour universal when visiting South American church (5) | SAUCE | SA(U)CE |
| 49 | Marauding rodents he removes from seat (9) | DETHRONES | An anagram of RODENTS HE |
| 50 | In the eyes of Daedalus, Icarus starts to soar overly near (3) | SON | Starts to Soar Overly Near – a bit of culture there for you |
| 51 | More inquisitive about no ordinary twisted spire (8) | SNOOPIER | An anagram of SPIRE about NO O |
| 52 | Recalling a piece of drowsy Elgar is looking askance at Usher Hall (5) | GLEYS | Reverse hidden in drowSY ELGar |
| DOWN | |||
| 1 | Skipping first and last step of instructions, served up ready for old Indian (4) | PICE | rECIPe reversed. It’s an old currency, like. |
| 2 | Mavourneen, casual in dalliance with husband (7) | ACUSHLA | An anagram for CASUAL and H to give an Irish term for darling, of which mavourneen is another |
| 3 | Workers reportedly wind around Switzerland (4) | BISE | Sounds like bees, I presume |
| 4 | Killer disguised by unaccounted-for camouflage (4) | ORCA | Hidden inside unaccounted-fOR CAmouflage |
| 5 | Entering abode objectively, I see damp (6) | HUMECT | HU(ME C)T |
| 6 | When I should have mentioned snakes (4) | ASPS | AS PS |
| 7 | Wrong to elevate such a friendly spirit (3) | NIS | SIN reversed |
| 8 | Individuals getting lift first in Uber, dropping off threesomes (5) | UNITS | Reverse hidden in firST IN Uber to all effects and purposes |
| 9 | Knocked down walls initially upset retainer who calls Batman home? (4) | KURD | K(U R)D – no, not the Dark Knight, but somewhere in Turkey is the Batman you’re looking for |
| 10 | Rosy of cheek, a hint of breast, attractive (6) | ABLUSH | A B LUSH. Blimey. |
| 11 | No thanks – when going uphill, intake of air is perhaps sage (4) | HERB | BREatH reversed |
| 13 | Ejecting a drunken sailor is annoying in local (5) | ROILS | An anagram of SaILOR |
| 16 | Sister entertaining a Capuchin or two? (4) | SAIS | S(A)IS – think monkeys |
| 18 | Blast from the past, over 500 years? (4) | EGAD | D + AGE reversed |
| 21 | Suggest weed is about to get involved (5) | POSIT | POT about a reversal of IS |
| 23 | Avifauna welcomes in robins, returning swallows (5) | ORNIS | Reverse hidden in welcomeS IN RObins |
| 24 | Mongolian tents housing posh spirit guides (5) | GURUS | GUR(U)S |
| 25 | Spy boss in old raincoat (4) | MINO | M IN O which is made from hemp, you may be interested to know. Or not. |
| 26 | Drink, after a month (4) | ABIB | A BIB (to drink, tipple) – it’s an old name for Nisan. No, not the car. |
| 30 | Old woman’s not finished colouring plant (4) | ANIL | ANILe |
| 32 | Doomed university, clunky in organisation (7) | UNLUCKY | U + an anagram of CLUNKY |
| 33 | Bill’s wooden energy bugs naked chick (6) | EUGHEN | E bUGs HEN. Steady on. |
| 34 | Casual drinks and clashes (4) | JARS | A double definition |
| 35 | First sign of Count being released by keeper, Dracula’s father? (6) | STOKER | Bram STOcKER |
| 36 | Gauss perambulating headland – this underfoot, perhaps? (5) | GRASS | G(RAS)S |
| 38 | Typically, middle of deer-park is appropriate (5) | USURP | USU (usually) + deeRPark |
| 40 | Inequality to breed sad conflicts in the end (4) | ODDS | tO breeD saD conflictS |
| 41 | Send back some of the chocolates (4) | ECHO | Hidden in thE CHOolates |
| 42 | Kafka’s only returning east to make canto for the Kalevala (4) | RUNE | NUR (the German for only) E |
| 43 | Dundee cake very much needed on loch (4) | FARL | by FAR L |
| 44 | Ponder over letters with hint of elation (4) | MUSE | MUS E |
| 45 | These lead to the solution: A and B, perhaps (4) | KEYS | A and B are musical KEYS, naturally |
| 47 | Grimace within: repomen returning (3) | MOP | Reverse hidden in rePOMen |
Thought I wasn’t going to finish this one (it was a difficult week all round) but returned to it a few days later, whereupon PRECIPITATION — rather than my early guess TRANSPOSITION — fell, as it were, into place. The “tortuous” shading was less tough than feared, with two easy straight-liners to show the way. All thanks to Elpenor and Jon_S. Oh, and Shelley.
This was a pretty tough offering, perhaps even more so than this setter’s previous (first?) puzzle in August last year. There was the same inventiveness and imagination evident in the clues, a few of which I had to study again after finishing the puzzle to be sure that I understood them. The thematic design was even more impressive than that of the earlier puzzle.
The grid yielded (over time!) generally in a clockwise direction from the top right round to the top left. When it was about one third full I had five letters in the bottom row, and I dared to think the word might be PRECIPITATION, as NIMBUS also suggested itself on the right of the grid, followed later by CIRRUS on the left. Clearly I had got into the theme, and I got all the clouds before (finally) getting NURSLING OF [the] SKY. CUMULO-NIMBUS was a tricky one because another CUMULUS was also available there.
I tried to look up the quotation in the ODQ, but from the relevant four lines of verse in ‘The Cloud’ by P B Shelley only the words Earth and Water are in the index. I managed to find the quotation elsewhere, though.
Thanks to Elpenor and Jon_S.
I needed a fair bit of help but absolutely love the poem
And that word “NURSLING”
Very clever design here and nice blog
I didnt get all the clouds however
Should have been playing Joni’s second album
Thanks all.
For the cumulonimbus entry, I wondered if we should highlight all the possible routes, to represent the physical shape. But we’re told to highlight 36 cells. So is any variation correct?
Very tough and I had to back-solve quite a few of the clashes from the letters required for PRECIPITATION and NURSLING.
Overall though in terms of grid design and end game this was a very well executed Inquisitor, particularly the end game which I thought was very enjoyable (and indeed not too tortuous).
My only very minor niggle was – as others have said – the slight ambiguity of having multiple options for CUMULONIMBUS (I actually went for the other one to have a big base and a big anvil on top). Something that could have easily been avoided by changing SULK to eg SILK.
But overall brilliant, so thank you.
Thanks Jon_S for the blog. It was a tough puzzle to crack but definitely a well-executed one.
It took us a while to cotton onto why NURSLING was involved but the clouds at the end formed fairly quickly.
Thanks Elpenor for a very enjoyable IQ.
Pretty hard, but eventually worth the time it took.
My highlighting of CUMULONIMBUS was I suspect the same as arnold’s @5: Left Up Right Up (rather than Up Left Up Right) …, and yes, changing SULK to SILK would have avoided this ambiguity. I also considered having a little flourish at the start of CIRRUS and ALTOSTRATUS by starting in the row below since they are almost certainly not perfectly horizontal.
Thanks to Elpenor for the puzzle and Jon_S for the blog – I get the impression he completed the puzzle more quickly than I did.
I see in the published solution that the highlighting of CUMULONIMBUS avoids the U in the middle of UNLUCKY and terminates in the S that resolves the clash between SIRI & SIRS. Who’d have thought?
Late to comment, but I thought this was chewy in all the right ways, and if some clouds were ambiguous, thankfully they were not so tortuous…