Vismut is a setter who contributes regularly to the Inquisitor and Enigmatic Variations series of of barred puzzles. This is her twelfth Inquisitor and a study of the previous ones shows that the theme could be anything that takes Vismut’s fancy at the time.
A medium length preamble this week tells us that “from 17 across clues and 15 down clues a superfluous word must be removed before solving. For across clues, the first letter of this word and that of the next word in the clue spell two sides going up and two sides going down. For down clues, the first and last letter of this word and the first letter of the next word in the clue spell two sides going up and one going down. Solvers must complete three sides in the grid and draw a line through two more to show a thematic shape. Finally two letters in one answer should be swapped (leaving real-word crossing entries) to reveal what this formation has now become.”
With reference to sides going up and sides going down my first thought was that the theme would involve promotion and relegation. However, I tend to put the end-game to one side until I have solved the majority of the clues so I focused on the solve first.
I got a foothold with EWER, DAUB and DYELINE and started building from there. I noted some of the superfluous words as I went along , but I didn’t always get them when I solved the individual clues. The clues looked quite fearsome originally but became a lot clearer once the required word was removed.
The initial grid looked like this:
At this point I started looking closely at the superfluous words that I was sure of plus one or two other likely contenders. By extracting the letters mentioned in the preamble I realised that I was looking at English Football Clubs [sides], so I continued to think about promotion and relegation. Eventually the penny dropped that ‘going up and going down’ related to the direction of reading the names of the Clubs as shown in the table below. Initially, I didn’t have all the superfluous words, but the letters I had made it fairly easy to deduce the full titles of the Clubs and hence I could then identify the missing superfluous words in the clues and the words following them.
| Across | Letter 1 | Letter 2 | Letter 3 | ||
| 4 | ARTICULATE | NAUGHTY | A | N | |
| 10 | SCALES | ODD | S | O | |
| 11 | TABLOIDS | TIMES | T | T | |
| 12 | OVERCOOKED | GRUB | O | G | |
| 13 | NOTHING | NATIONALIST | N | N | |
| 14 | VENTILATION | IN | V | I | |
| 16 | ITEM | REGULARLY | I | R | |
| 17 | LOCAL | CHURCH | L | C | |
| 18 | LAST | CONTAINER | L | C | |
| 20 | ALLEMANDE | AT | A | A | |
| 24 | |||||
| 25 | |||||
| 26 | BANKER | NEIL | B | N | |
| 27 | ULTRAVOX | ORIGINALLY | U | O | |
| 28 | ROMANCE | TWICE | R | T | |
| 29 | NEVER | RETIRING | N | R | |
| 34 | LARGELY | ENTERTAINED | L | E | |
| 35 | ELECTRIC | VARIATION | E | V | |
| 36 | YELLOW | EMBLEM | Y | E | |
| 37 | |||||
| 38 | |||||
| Down | |||||
| 1 | |||||
| 2 | |||||
| 3 | DRAB | SPACE | D | B | S |
| 5 | NERO | RUINED | N | O | R |
| 6 | EYEBALL | ELEVATED | E | L | E |
| 7 | HAPPIEST | VAGRANT | H | T | V |
| 8 | TANGO | OFF | T | O | O |
| 9 | ROMANIAN | RESTAURANT | R | N | R |
| 15 | OUTGREW | NEW | O | W | N |
| 16 | NAUSEA | RUNS | N | A | R |
| 19 | NINETEEN | U-BOATS | N | N | U |
| 21 | ODD | BIRD | O | D | B |
| 22 | THEODORE | KIRKPATRICK | T | E | K |
| 23 | SPEAKER | CONCERNING | S | R | C |
| 29 | EMPLOYEE | ABSENT | E | E | A |
| 30 | RETAILER | LEFT | R | R | L |
| 31 | PREVENTS | BISHOP | P | S | B |
| 32 | |||||
| 33 |
The Across clues yield ASTON VILLA and BURNLEY reading down through the first letters of the words that are removed from the clues plus EVERTON and ACCRINGTON reading upwards from the first letters of the clue words that follow the removed words.
The Down clues yield PRESTON NORTH END reading upwards through the first letters of the removed words, with BOLTON WANDERERS reading down from the last letters of the same words plus BLACKBURN ROVERS reading upwards from the first letters of the clue words following the removed words.
By now it was very clear that we were looking at football teams which made completing the perimeter [sides, using a different meaning] fairly simple. Starting at the right hand end of the first row and reading clockwise we have WEST BROMWICH ALBION, WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS and STOKE.
Now we had 10 of the 12 teams that formed the Football League on 17th April 1888. The remaining two founder members were DERBY COUNTY and NOTTS COUNTY, both of whom can be seen located centrally in the grid with COUNTY serving as the second word for both DERBY and NOTTS. The letters of these two teams can be passed through with an unbroken circle [representing a football] as shown in the second grid graphic below.
Finally we had to swap two letters in one answer and likely candidate seemed to be the entry in the white cells in the top row. By changing ELF to EFL we get the English Football League. The Football League was rebranded as the EFL in 2016-17 some 24 years after the Premier League split off from the Football League in 1992. A few of the founding Clubs are now in the Premier League, but the majority remain in the EFL. The change generates two new down entries FOINS and LINOS, both of which are real words.
The Club names used in the puzzle are the exact names of the Clubs that formed the League in 1888. STOKE became STOKE CITY in 1925 when the town of STOKE-ON-TRENT was granted city status in that year. ACCRINGTON folded in 1894. The current ACCRINGTON STANLEY playing in League 2 has a shorter history.
Thanks to Vismut for overcoming all the challenges:
- to get appropriate words into the clues in order to spell the required Clubs;
- to fit three more Clubs round the perimeter;
- to select entries that allowed the final two Clubs to appear in a circle.
- to make best use of Clubs with the same number of letters for use in the clues and in the centre of the grid
It was also clever to utilise two meanings of sides (Clubs and edges of the grid).
The title FORMATION is self-explanatory given that the puzzle focus on the FORMATION of the Football League.
| No | Original Clue Amended Clue (or unamended clue in some cases) Wordplay |
L1 | L2 | L3 |
| Across | ||||
| 4 | Head off once very articulate naughty child (3)
Head off once very naughty child (3) ELF (a mischievous [naughty] or fairy-like being, especially a child) SELF (archaic [once] word for ‘very’) excluding the first letter (head off) S ELF |
A | N | |
| 10 | Toothlike scales odd skinned bonitos might produce (8)
Toothlike odd skinned bonitos might produce (8) ODONTOID (toothlike) Anagram of (might produce) ODD and ONITO (letters remaining when the outer letters B and S of BONITOS are removed [skinned]) ODONTOID* |
S | O | |
| 11 | Found both tabloids Times ignored covering a European banker (4)
Found both Times ignored covering a European banker (4) SAAR (European river [banker] flowing through France and Germany) START (establish; found) excluding both Ts (time) and containing (covering) A SA (A) R – either A could be the one contained |
T | T | |
| 12 | Making red overcooked grub, daring starters abandoned (9)
Making red grub, daring starters abandoned (9) RUBEFYING (reddening; making red) GRUB + DARING with each excluding the first letter (starters abandoned) G and D RUB EFYING |
O | G | |
| 13 | Scottish intended nothing, Nationalist leaves annoyed (6)
Scottish intended, Nationalist leaves annoyed (6) ETTLED (Scottish word for ‘intended’) NETTLED (annoyed) excluding (leaves) N (nationalist) ETTLED |
N | N | |
| 14 | Used poor mobile ventilation in plant (5)
Used poor mobile in plant (5) SEDUM (any rock plant of the genus Sedum, with white, yellow or pink flowers) Anagram of (poor) USED + M (mobile, usually referring to mobile technology or a mobile telephone number) SEDU* M |
V | I | |
| 16 | Posh site’s item regularly calls for attention (5)
Posh site’s regularly calls for attention (5) PSSTS (surreptitious calls for attention) PSSTS (Letters 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 of POSH SITE’S) PSSTS |
I | R | |
| 17 | Exercises with local church seat (3)
Exercises with church seat (3) PEW (an enclosed compartment or fixed bench in a church) PE (physical exercises) + W (with) PE W |
L | C | |
| 18 | Water last container you and I put in emergency room (4)
Water container you and I put in emergency room (4) EWER (large water jug with a wide spout; water container) WE (you and I) contained in (put in) ER (Emergency Room). E (WE) R |
L | C | |
| 20 | Tenor inside playing tuba allemande at Italian beat (7)
Tenor inside playing tuba at Italian beat (7) BATTUTA (Italian word for ‘a beat’) T (tenor) contained in (inside) an anagram of (playing) TUBA AT BA (T) TUTA* – either of the middle Ts could be the one contained |
A | A | |
| 24 | Starts to draw another ugly blue painting (4)
Starts to draw another ugly blue painting (4) DAUB (a crude painting) DAUB (initial letters of [starts to] each of DRAW, ANOTHER, UGLY and BLUE DAUB |
|||
| 25 | __ and span’s trim bullocks finally snap (4)
__ and span’s trim bullocks finally snap (4) SPIC (missing word from the phrase SPIC and SPAN meaning ‘trim’. SPIC is an alternative spelling for SPICK) S (last letter of [finally] BULLOCKS) + PIC (picture; photo; snap) S PIC |
|||
| 26 | Date the old banker Neil forged photocopy (7)
Date the old Neil forged photocopy (7) DYELINE (a copy made by exposure to light; photocopy) D (date) + YE (old version ‘the’) + an anagram of (forged) NEIL D YE LINE* |
B | N | |
| 27 | Yes and Ultravox originally heavy without verse (4)
Yes and originally heavy without verse (4) YEAH (yes) Anagram of (originally in the sense of being odd in character) HEAVY excluding (without) V (verse) YEAH* |
U | O | |
| 28 | Husband caught in romance twice before – what a surprise! (3)
Husband caught in twice before – what a surprise! (3) AHA (expression of surprise) H (husband) contained in (caught in) (A [before] + A [before] – twice before) A (H) A |
R | T | |
| 29 | Ed’s still almost the best, never retiring (5)
Ed’s still almost the best, retiring (5) ACCOY (Edmund Spenser’s word for ‘to still’) ACE (the best) excluding the final letter (almost) E + COY (shy and retiring) AC COY |
N | R | |
| 34 | Lieutenant largely entertained by half of Wessex bands (5)
Lieutenant entertained by half of Wessex bands (5) WELTS (bands, strips or ribbed borders fastened to an edge to give strength) LT (Lieutenant) contained in (entertained by) WES (three of the six [half] letters of WESSEX) WE (LT) S |
L | E | |
| 35 | Unreal electric variation of the nerves (6)
Unreal variation of the nerves (6) NEURAL (of the nerves) Anagram of (variation) UNREAL NEURAL* |
E | V | |
| 36 | Reported change to finish of yellow emblem beside black monumental memorial (9)
Reported change to finish of emblem beside black monumental memorial (9) ALTAR-TOMB (monumental memorial, in form like an altar, often with a canopy) ALTAR (sounds like [reported] ALTER [change]) + TO + M (last letter of [finish of] EMBLEM + B (black, when describing pencil lead) ALTAR TO M B |
Y | E | |
| 37 | Parisienne where? Banks of Seine river (4)
Parisienne where? Banks of Seine river (4) OUSE (river in England) OU (French [Parisienne] for ‘where?’) + SE (outer letters of [banks of] SEINE]) OU SE |
|||
| 38 | Dicky got a pure gold coin (8)
Dicky got a pure gold coin (8) PORTAGUE (an old Portuguese gold coin of the 16th and 17th centuries) Anagram of (dicky) GOT A PURE PORTAGUE* |
|||
| Down | ||||
| 1 | Expresses disapproval about old ticket sellers at the gate (5)
Expresses disapproval about old ticket sellers at the gate (5) TOUTS (ticket sellers at the gate hoping to make a profit) TUTS (expresses disapproval) containing (about) O (old) T (O) UTS |
|||
| 2 | King Cole’s beheaded bats and cuckoos (5)
King Cole’s beheaded bats and cuckoos (5) KOELS (Asian and Australasian cuckoos of the genus Eudynamys) K (king) + an anagram of (bats) COLES excluding the first letter (beheaded) C K OELS* |
|||
| 3 | Deplete drab space – cost billed now and again (8)
Deplete space – cost billed now and again (8) ENFEEBLE (weaken; deplete) EN (printing term for a space the width of letter n) + FEE (cost) + BLE (letters 1, 3 and 5 [now and again] of BILLED) EN FEE BLE |
D | B | S |
| 5 | Nero ruined lion’s pieces of meat (5)
Ruined lion’s pieces of meat (5) LOINS (pieces of meat from the lower part of an animal’s back) Anagram of (ruined) LION‘S LOINS* |
N | O | R |
| 6 | Drinks issue if eyeball elevated (5)
Drinks issue if elevated (5) FINOS (dry sherries; drinks) (SON [child; issue] + IF) reversed (elevated; down entry) (FI NOS)< |
E | L | E |
| 7 | Sense happiest vagrant workers that weren’t free (5)
Sense vagrant workers that weren’t free (5) ESNES (domestic slaves in Anglo-Saxon times; people who weren’t free) Anagram of (vagrant) SENSE ESNES* |
H | T | V |
| 8 | Smooth tango off apples and pears lacks stylish leaps (9)
Smooth off apples and pears lacks stylish leaps (9) SANDPAPER (to smooth with material of the same name) SANDPAPER (anagram of [off] APPLES AND PEARS excluding [lacks] an anagram of [stylish] LEAPS) – LEAPS could be formed in a number of different ways from the letters of APPLES AND PEARS which has 1 L, 2 Es, 3 As 3 Ps and 2 Ss SANDPAPER* |
T | O | O |
| 9 | Thanks two queens about welcoming independent Romanian restaurant (8)
Thanks two queens about welcoming independent restaurant (8) TAQUERIA (Mexican restaurant that serves mainly tacos) TA (thanks) + ([QU {queen} + ER {Elizabeth Regina; queen} – 2 queens + A {about}] containing [welcoming] I [independent]) TA QU ER (I) A |
R | N | R |
| 15 | Outgrew new mail after war stopped by Crusades’ last ruling lord’s order (9)
New mail after war stopped by Crusades’ last ruling lord’s order (9) FEUDALISM (system of social organization prevalent in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, in which powerful land-owning lords granted degrees of privilege and protection to lesser subjects holding a range of positions within a rigid social hierarchy; ruling Lord’s order) FEUD (war) + (an anagram of [new] MAIL containing (stopped by) S (final letter of [last] CRUSADES) FEUD ALI (S) M* |
O | W | N |
| 16 | Positive nausea – runs away from bar bucket (4)
Positive – runs away from bar bucket (4) PAIL (bucket) P (positive) + RAIL (a bar) excluding (away from) R (runs) P AIL |
N | A | R |
| 19 | Washington cast off first of nineteen U-boats quietly swept to shore (8, 2 words)
Washington cast off first of U-boats quietly swept to shore (8, 2 words) WASHED UP (swept to shore by the sea) WA (abbreviation for Washington State in America) + SHED (cast off) + U (initial letter of [first of] U-BOATS) + P (piano; quietly) WA SHED U P |
N | N | U |
| 21 | Odd bird selecting prime locations for studio (3)
Bird selecting prime locations for studio (3) TUI (New Zealand bird) TUI (letters 2, 3 and 5 [the first three prime numbers; prime locations] of STUDIO) TUI |
O | D | B |
| 22 | Little Theodore Kirkpatrick expelled by Unite over yard (4)
Little Kirkpatrick expelled by Unite over yard (4) TINY (little) KNIT (unit) excluding (expelled by) K (Kirkpatrick [catalogue of the works of Dominico Scarlatti [1685 – 1757], Italian composer) then reversed (over; down entry) + Y (yard) TIN< Y |
T | E | K |
| 23 | A lecturer college sacked muddled speaker concerning duct in waterworks (8)
A lecturer college sacked muddled concerning duct in waterworks (8) URETERAL (relating to the URETER, a duct that conveys urine from the kidneys to the bladder or cloaca) Anagram of (muddled) A LECTURER excluding (sacked) C (college) URETERAL* |
S | R | C |
| 29 | Disorganised employee absent cycling home (5, 2 words)
Disorganised absent cycling home (5, 2 words) AT SEA (totally disorganised) A (absent) + SEAT ([stately] home) with the letters cycled one place to the right and the last letter becoming the first to form TSEA) A T SEA |
E | E | A |
| 30 | Fashionable retailer left up Republican’s American flag (5)
Fashionable left up Republican’s American flag (5) COLOR (American word for flag) COOL (in; fashionable) with the L (left) moved up this down entry to form COLO + R (Republican) COLO R |
R | R | L |
| 31 | Fantastic fight prevents bishop missing lesson (5)
Fantastic fight bishop missing lesson (5) OUTRE (fantastic) BOUT (boxing match; fight) excluding (missing) B (bishop) + RE (Religious Education, name of a lesson in school) OUT RE |
P | S | B |
| 32 | Live through letters from scout gossip (5)
Live through letters from scout gossip (5) OUTGO (live through) OUTGO (hidden word in [letters from] SCOUT GOSSIP) OUTGO |
|||
| 33 | Managed to eat Vismut’s Japanese dish (5)
Managed to eat Vismut’s Japanese dish (5) RAMEN (Japanese dish of clear broth containing vegetables, noodles and often pieces of meat) RAN (managed) containing (to eat) ME (Vismut is the setter of the puzzle) RA (ME) N |
Apologies for the nerdy geographical point but it was the 6 towns of the Potteries (one of which is Stoke-upon-Trent) that were federated and granted city status 100 years ago
I enjoyed the puzzle – the theme was very much up my street
I thoroughly enjoyed solving the clues of this puzzle, with the neat device (in two varieties) that applied to all but 4 Across clues and all but 4 Downs. After filling the grid I read and recognised all seven of the names (‘sides’).
I also recognised and filled in the names of the three soccer sides in the silvered cells round the perimeter of the grid. I got stuck after that, though, as I could not see any related names through which I could draw a line – not thinking of a crooked line at the time. I was lucky, however, to spot the simple change from ELF to EFL, and for some reason DERBY then became visible, leading me to a symmetrical shape covering two (overlapping) names: DERBY COUNTY and NOTTS COUNTY. (I missed the point about the formation of the football league in 1888 – hence the extra work I gave myself in finding my last two of twelve.)
Thanks to Vismut and Duncan.
Enjoyed this despite my passionate lack of interest in football. I left the letters from extra words to the last but spotted WEST BROMWICH ALBION and (after a little thinking) WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS, which left me knowing roughly what to expect when I braced myself to tackle the up-and-down “sides”.
Lots of thanks to Vismut and duncanshiell.
Bingy @1, according to my researches Stoke-upon-Trent is one of those six towns (Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall) that together comprise Stoke-on-Trent. So duncanshiell is correct.
Tony G. I don’t need to research – I’m from there. The ‘town’ of Stoke upon Trent was and is one of the 6 towns that came together to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent. The town of Stoke on its own did not become a city. duncanshiel’s blog – excellent as it is – erroneously suggests otherwise
Thanks for a wonderfully comprehensive blog Duncanshiel. It’s always useful to know what approach has been taken and whether or not solvers have enjoyed the puzzle.
It’s also given me some fuel for another puzzle…..maybe about Stoke-on-Trent.
I certainly enjoyed the first half, completing the grid and noting the theme, but was undone by my failure to notice the cunning double meaning of ‘sides’, or even the two letters to be switched – which in retrospect seem to be spotlit. Many thanks to Vismut and Duncanshiel.
As so often I was ultimately undone by under-estimating the setter’s skill. I solved the puzzle and quickly identified that we were talking football teams, so found the two central Counties and the football shape without much trouble. But I foolishly thought they were just a random set of clubs and never identified the Football League founder link; hence couldn’t see the EFL change; and could only assume that the final instruction referred to a so far unpublicised kit change for West Brom to ditch their blue and white stripes for all white and become West Bromwich Albino. Apologies to Vismut for not appreciating her artistry, and thanks to Duncan for the enlightenment.
12A loses the D of DEFYING
Brilliant puzzle, thank you!
For a while I wondered whether “going up” and “going down” was also a reference to teams’ league positions, but it looks like that was one step too far.
And then it was one of those puzzles where once you get the theme, you go from 50% to 80% complete in one quick step, but I didn’t mind that at all.
And I can only admire in awe the ingenious grid construction, taking advantage of the clubs’ letter counts.
The grid-fill was rather quick, but it took me a long while to “draw a line through two more to show a thematic shape” – 4-4-2 formation anyone? But I spotted COUNTY etc and then it was on to the “swap two letters”; I nearly gave up and finally put all the teams into a search engine – hey presto!
Thanks to Duncan for the blog & Vismut for the puzzle – maybe I shouldn’t have tried so hard to try complete it without Google & Wikipedia.