Enigmatic Variations No.1666 – DROP by proXimal

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“All clues are normal, but a letter must DROP out wherever it occurs before entry in each down answer. Dropped letters, in clue order, spell two phrases pinpointing a year when an event befell the unclued entry. In the final grid, the event must be re-enacted by replacing one entry with another leaving empty cells. All entries are real words or names at every stage (ignoring gaps).”

This was a fun puzzle. I cannot do it justice today – November 5th – partly because I am exhausted, and partly for the more prosaic reason that it was quite a while ago that I actually completed it!

The dropping motif ties in nicely with your friend and mine, ISAAC NEWTON (actually, not a very friendly man, but fond of fruit). He had a rather noteworthy 1666.

I found the endgame very pleasing. Partly because – at least for me, and I hope for you – there wasn’t a whiff of ‘guess what I’m thinking’ in it, and partly because… well it’s a falling APPLE!

Thanks, proXimal!

Definition word
Indicator [word]
Anagram WORD*
Reversal <WORD
Homophone “WORD”

 

Across
1 Eager desires of PI (Greek character) [after] AS (seeing that) RATIONS (food) (11) ASPIRATIONS
8 SH (Quiet) [going round] PL (place) OS (opening) humorous display prominently (6) SPLOSH
9 Cite AD (bill) [put before] DUCE (wartime leader) (6) ADDUCE
13 < (Backing) {EU (confederation) IN} island country (4) NIUE
14 Author ABLY (skilfully) [dispatching introduction] with TON (great speed) (6) BLYTON
15 COY (Evasive) [bears] [start to] LOOK weary (4) CLOY
16 HOMBRES (Men in Acapulco) [uncovered] and outnumbered opponent (5) OMBRE
18 Blag HOIST (lift), [getting RIDE [ultimately] for O (nothing)] (5) HEIST
22 BRAVENESS [sacrificing] RAVEN (black) queen (4) BESS
23 IN DAB (touch) with < SA (South Africa) [about] concerns there (7) INDABAS
25 Patch up I (island) [shed] in SOLDIER (private) (6) SOLDER
27 SATIRE’S* [cast] and KING (Rex) is starring (11) ASTERISKING
30 Chemical compounds [start to leave] FESTERS (sores) (6) ESTERS
33 EEK (I’m frightened) [to feed] BITE (smart) bird of prey (7) BEEKITE
34 {SALMON SPEAR}* [striking] SOLEMN P (pastor) [swimming] river (4) SAAR
35 Base unit MET (was introduced to) RANGE [lacking content] (5) METRE
38 Extreme LT (officer) [in] U (uniform) [beside] RA (gunners) (5) ULTRA
40 PEEPS (Person’s friends) [shortly] begin to appear (4) PEEP
41 Stuff in ship’s hold truSTEE VExedly protects (6) STEEVE
42 Secure E (base) [moved to far side of] TEAK (wood) (4) TAKE
43 RE (About) [to thread into] TORT (wrong) ring on harness (6) TORRET
44 Lecturer TA (thanks) LIKER (admirer) [without] I (ego) (6) TALKER
Down
T 1 HAPPY (Fortunate) [unlimited] LET (grant) for computer program (6) APPLET
H 2 [Brief] PHONE (call) by Y (unknown) is fraudulent (5) PHONY
E 3 HE (That man)[‘s covered in] RUM (weird) mucous discharge (5) RHEUM
G 4 GAME (Sport) BAGS (trousers) which stalker might fill (8, two words) GAME BAGS
R 5 Reluctant worker TIREDLY* [shelled] [nuts] (5) IDLER
E 6 < {ELY (See) DO (complete)} [revolutionary] force, purportedly (5) ODYLE
A 7 Nodded NUT (head) AT ED (journalist) (7) NUTATED
T 8 [Ragged] DISHCLOTHS* [wiping] OLD dishes from Russia (7) SHTCHIS
P 10 Body of R (queen) [found in] COPSE (dense thicket) (6) CORPSE
L 11 Supplies END (region) [in] LS (Lesotho) (5) LENDS
A 12 Escapes from {S (special) OVA (cells) [blocked by] < DI (inspector)} [turning up] (6) AVOIDS
G 17 Comparatively dull “GROCER” (shopkeeper) [in conversation] (7) GROSSER
U 19 Cook quickly SALUTE (greeting) [bar] LANDLADY [at first] (5) SAUTE
E 20 [Engineer] {ALTERS A}* driveable road surface in NZ (7, two words) TAR SEAL
A 21 Roused A (American) and E (European) [to capture] WOK (vessel) (5) AWOKE
N 24 BEE (Flying beast) [circling] [outskirts of] RWANDAN capital (5) BERNE
N 26 Compare “LICHEN” (fungus and alga living symbiotically) [in auditorium] (5) LIKEN
U 28 [Almost] RETINUE (train) [up] joiner (6) UNITER
S 29 < REP’S (Agent’s) [about] [to secure] WEE (small Scottish) defender (7) SWEEPER
M 31 Coloured glass SO (well) [filled with] MALT (liquor) (6) SMALTO
I 32 [Somehow] STRIVE* [to host] A (Australian) raves in Perth (7) TAIVERS
R 33 Marsh bird BITTER (extremely cold) [close to] ABERDEEN (7) BITTERN
A 34 SAINT (Virtuous person) [having N -> S reversal of direction] speaks to Milton (5) SAIST
B 36 BORE (Had) [to abandon] O (old) MEN (fellows) somewhere in Germany (6) BREMEN
I 37 USED TRAIL [uncovered] to find unfurnished inn (5) SERAI
L 38 [Revised] VALUE* of organ part (5) UVEAL
I 39 Furious PIRATE (marauder at sea) [losing head] (5) IRATE
S 40 Inferior wheat SuPpEr LaTe [regularly] (5) SPELT

Before changes:

A S P I R A T I O N S
S P L O S H M A D D U C E
H P V N I U E B L Y T O N
C L O Y O M B R E L T R D
H E I S T T A O W B E S S
I N D A B A S S O L D E R
S A S T E R I S K I N G W
E S T E R S B E E K I T E
S A A R E A I R M E T R E
I L V S U L T R A P E E P
S T E E V E T A K E R M E
T O R R E T E T A L K E R
I S A A C N E W T O N

After changes:

S P I R A T I O N S
S L O S H M A D D U C E
H V N I U E B L Y T O N
C O Y O M B R E L T R D
H I S T T A O W B E S S
I N D A B A S S O L D E R
S A S T E R I S K I N G W
E A T E R S B E E K I T E
S P A R E A I R M E T R E
I P V S U L T R A P E E P
S L E E V E T A K E R M E
T E R R E T E T A L K E R
I S A A C N E W T O N

4 comments on “Enigmatic Variations No.1666 – DROP by proXimal”

  2. Thanks proXimal. I was fortunate enough to guess ‘Isaac Newton’ along the bottom row relatively early and that was a big help. Still tricky to finish, although I did make things more difficult for myself by failing to take on board the guidance that real words featured at all stages 🙁

  4. Thank you proXimal and MisterSting.
    Being French (and over 40), this puzzle was guaranteed to make me smile.
    Isaac Newton and the apple were a regular feature of a French comic strip, la Rubrique A Brac, by Gotlib. Poor Isaac Newton was often depicted dizzy, with a bump on the top of his head, after being hit by an apple (and by gravity). An exaggerated take on history, I heard.

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