Last week we had Kruger’s 62nd Inquisitor. Kruger is the third most prolific setter in the Inquisitor list. This week we have Phi equalling Schadenfreude’s record of 81 Inquisitors. Unfortunately Schadenfreude is no longer with us.
Phi has given us a wide and varied selection of themes over the years, so you never you know what you are going to find in a Phi puzzle.
The preamble told us that some down clues have wordplay that ignores one or two letters in the answer. These letters (plus one unchecked across letter) must fall to a position in 41ac at the bottom of the grid, where nine of them add to the existing clued answers to form new words (the remaining two may be placed by inspection). Definitions for these nine new words appear as a redundant word or words in nine across clues. Solvers must highlight the name for the process illustrated. Chambers gives one answer only as an abbreviation.
This preamble was fairly clear, but I often find the best way of clarifying any lingering queries about the meaning of anything in the preamble is to solve the clues and see what drops out in terms of extra words in the clues or devices in the wordplay. All became clear later on.
Detection of extra words in the across clues proved to be easier than deducing letters omitted from the down wordplay. Omitted letters usually become clearer after the entry has been derived from the definition such that reverse engineering the wordplay can identify the letters not used.
From the across clues we had the following extra words or phrases:
| Clue Number | Extra word or phrase |
| 7 | excellent |
| 11 | without a plan |
| 14 | junctions |
| 24 | extent |
| 28 | ale |
| 32 | of swamps |
| 34 | border |
| 38 | Head for France |
| 39 | rarely scanty |
I had a few of the letters omitted from wordplay before the grid was completely full. Eventually they were all found in the down clues from 2 to 8 inclusive as follows:
| Clue Number | Omitted Letters |
| 2 | D in DYABLE |
| 3 | C in SCI |
| 4 | P in SPECS |
| 5 | ES in ESNE |
| 6 | SE in SEDGE |
| 7 | BA in BAA |
| 8 | I in IDEAD |
The penultimate stage in the end game required fitting these 10 letters and one unchecked letter from an across entry into the cells at 41 across. Two letters had to be allocated by inspection, presumably to ensure 41 across formed a viable word or words.
The table below shows how new words were created feeding into 41 across:
| Clue | Existing answer | New entry | Definition from omitted words |
| 26d | RAPHE | RAPHES (seam-like junctions) | junctions |
| 27d | SCRIM | SCRIMP (a rare word for scanty) | rarely scanty |
| 29d | LENTI | LENTIC (associated with standing water; inhabiting ponds, swamps, etc.) | of swamps |
| 35d | TET | TETE (French for ‘head’) | head from France |
| 20d | SCREE | SCREED (a border) | border |
| 33d | RANG | RANGE (extent) | extent |
| 31d | SUPER | SUPERB (supremely excellent) | excellent |
| 36d | BEE | BEER (ale) | ale |
| 25d | MAPLES | MAPLESS (without a map, plan or chart) | without a plan |
At this point 41 across looked like SP_CEDEBR_S and we had an A left over from the letters omitted from wordplay. It was obvious that the full entry would be SPACE DEBRIS thereby using the A and leaving me to find an R from an unchecked across letter. The R in 7 across BIRLER looked the likely candidate given that all other omitted letters were situated in the top two rows of the grid.
Allowing the omitted letters to fall from these top two rows down to 41 across, left us with KESSLER SYNDROME remaining in rows one and two. A little bit of research identified this link which looks at the difficulties faced by the management of SPACE DEBRIS given the amount of out-of-date material that is already there, even before we factor in the impact of extra items that will be launched in the future.
With letters falling from the top two rows down to 41 across at the bottom, the grid illustrates the potential movement of SPACE DEBRIS. Some of it will stay up there for a long time, some will fall to earth but the potential for collisions rises all the time.
The two grids below show the original grid (first) and the the final one after the DEBRIS falls to earth.
The clues are all parsed in the detailed table below which also shows the ‘before’ and ‘after’ versions of the clues with redundant words.
The title Don’t Look Up is no doubt telling us we might be hit by SPACE DEBRIS if we look up into the sky. I wonder if the black square in the centre of the grid is meant to be the Earth with the rest of the grid representing space, but I really don’t know.
For me, this was an enjoyable Inquisitor where the clues were very fair and the endgame didn’t require too much head scratching. Thanks to Phi for the challenge.
| Across | Wordplay detail |
Word(s) or
Letter(s) omitted |
| 2 | Poet’s places to write: ‘Romeo gets out of clothes’ (6)
DESSES (Edmund Spenser’s [1552 – 1599, English poet] word for desks; poet’s places to write) DRESSES (clothes) excluding (gets out of) R (Romeo is the international radio communications codeword for the letter R) DESSES |
|
| 7 | Scots stress swallowing excellent beer without head in Scots boozer (6)
Scots stress swallowing beer without head in Scots boozer (6) BIRLER (Scottish word for carouser or boozer) BIRR (Scottish word for emphasis or stress in speech) containing (swallowing) ALE (beer) excluding the first letter (without head) A BIR (LE) R |
excellent |
| 11 | Agreement: without a plan US city regresses in South Carolina (4)
Agreement: US city regresses in South Carolina (4) SYNC (SYNChronisation or agreement) NY (New York [US city]) reversed (regresses) contained in (in) SC (South Carolina) S (YN<) C |
without a plan |
| 12 | Dull European city accepting European terminal in the main (8) SEADROME (floating aerodrome; terminal in the main [SEA]) SAD (dull) containing (accepting) E (European) + ROME (European city) S (E) AD ROME |
|
| 13 | Country house account I complete, residing in hot area (8)
HACIENDA (country house in Spain or South America) (AC [account] + I + END [complete]) contained in (residing) (H [hot] + A [area]) H (AC I END) A |
|
| 14 | Bishop to regret carrying cross round junctions in semi-rural area (5)
Bishop to regret carrying cross round in semi-rural area (5) EXURB (a residential area, especially a prosperous one, outside the suburbs of a town; semi-rural area) (B + [RUE {regret} containing [carrying] X [a cross shape]) all reversed (round) (E (X) UR B)< |
junctions |
| 16 | Carry off old American barrel – fool’s forgotten name (6)
ABDUCE (earlier form [old] of ABDUCT [to take away by deception or violence; to carry off]) A (American) + B (barrel) + DUNCE (fool) excluding (forgotten) N (name) A B DUCE |
|
| 19 | Greeting husband: one method wife abandoned after reflection (4)
HIYA (a word used in greeting) H (husband) + I (Roman numeral for one) + (WAY [method] excluding [abandoned] W [wife]) reversed (after reflection) H I YA< |
|
| 20 | Left with agreed cleaning fluids (4)
LYES (cleaning fluids) L (left) + YES (agreed) L YES |
|
| 21 | Top players learn from the sign (5)
SEEDS (top players) SEE (understand; learn from) + DS (document signed; the sign [?]) – see comment 5 below by Sagittarius below which explains DS properly SEE DS |
|
| 23 | Produce new version of limitations to Rome Treaty, please (6)
RETYPE (produce new version of) RE (outer letters of [limitations to] ROME) + TY (outer letters of [limitations to] TREATY) + PE (outer letters of [limitations to] PLEASE) RE TY PE |
|
| 24 | Floor covering’s so long, I’m folding over extent (6)
Floor covering’s so long, I’m folding over (6) TATAMI (type of mat, of a standard size, made from rice stalks, used as a floor-covering) TA-TA (goodbye; so long) + I’M reversed (folding over) TATA MI< |
extent |
| 28 | Opening small ale with a flick (5)
Opening small with a flick (5) SLASH (a cut or opening) S (small) + LASH (whisk or flick) S LASH |
ale |
| 31 | Recalled a very American Pacific city (4)
SUVA (capital city of Fiji, island state located in the Pacific Ocean) (A + V [very] + US [United States; American]) all reversed (recalled) (SU V A)< |
|
| 32 | Yard to the rear of swamps emitting boron gas (4)
Yard to the rear emitting boron gas (4) YACK (chatter; has) Y (yard) + BACK (to the rear of) excluding (emitting) B (chemical symbol for Boron) Y ACK |
of swamps |
| 33 | Prompt adopting a Parisian’s revolutionary approaches (6)
RUN-UPS (approaches) (SPUR [prompt]) containing [adopting] UN [one of the French [Parisian] forms of the indefinite article]) all reversed (revolutionary) (RU (NU) PS)< |
|
| 34 | Article favouring new border protection (5)
Article favouring new protection (5) APRON (piece of cloth, leather, etc worn in front, especially to protect clothes from dirt or damage) A (indefinite article) + PRO (in favour of) + N (new) A PRO N |
border |
| 35 | No longer game to take carriage to dance (8)
TRAPBALL (old [no longer] game played with a BALL, bat, and TRAP) TRAP (a light carriage) + BALL (dance) TRAP BALL |
|
| 37 | Missing hotel room? Entire hotel upset after this initially (8)
THIRTEEN (many hotels omit room number 13 as some guests believe the number brings bad luck) T (first letter of [initially] THIS) + an anagram of (upset) ENTIRE and H (hotel) T HIRTEEN* |
|
| 38 | Head for France, each taking in the French home of philosophy (4)
Each taking in the French home of philosophy (4) ELEA (The ELEAtics were a group of pre-Socratic philosophers and school of thought in the 5th century BC centered around the ancient Greek colony of ELEA; home of philosophy) EA (each) containing (taking in) LE (one of the French forms of ‘the’) E (LE) A |
Head for France |
| 39 | Male taken in by revolutionary Scottish underwear, rarely scanty (6)
Male taken in by revolutionary Scottish underwear (6) SEMMIT (Scottish word for a vest or undershirt) M (male) contained in (taken in) TIMES (by; ’10 times 7′ can be written ’10 by 7′) reversed (revolutionary) SEM (M) IT< – either M could be the one contained |
rarely scanty |
| 40 | Departure, say, will have journalists heading away (6)
EGRESS (departure) E.G. (for example; say) + PRESS (journalists) excluding the first letter (heading away) P EG RESS |
|
| 41 | See preamble (11, 2 words)
SPACE DEBRIS (words formed by adding the omitted letters described in the preamble to existing down entries to form real words. The A and the I are placed by inspection to form SPACE DEBRIS rather than SPICE DEBRAS) SPACE DEBRIS |
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | Risky rambling around Balmoral, say, with a military figure from India (9)
KSHATRIYA (member of the second or military caste among the Brahmanic Hindus) (Anagram of [rambling] RISKY containing [around] HAT [a Balmoral is a type of HAT]) + A KS (HAT) RIY* A |
|
| 2 | US University accepting book ready for colouring in? (6)
DYABLE (ready for dyeing; ready for colouring in) YALE (American university) containing (accepting) B (book) D YA (B) LE |
D |
| 3 | School subject, in brief, is on the rise (3)
SCI (abbreviation [in brief] for SCIence; a school subject) IS reversed (on the rise; down entry) SCI< |
C |
| 4 | What will help you see in moments? (5)
SPECS (SPECtacleS [something that will help you see better]r) SECS (moments) SPECS |
P |
| 5 | Ancient slave, not entirely recent (4)
ESNE (domestic slave in Anglo-Saxon times [ancient]) NEW (recent) excluding the final letter (not entirely) W ESNE |
ES |
| 6 | Old magistrate to dispose of old herons (5)
SEDGE (alternative spelling of SIEGE [{a company of} herons]) DOGE (formerly [old] the title of the chief magistrate in republican Venice and Genoa) excluding (to dispose of) O (old) SEDGE |
SE |
| 7 | Sound you might hear from middle of grass? (3)
BAA (sound you might hear from a sheep, usually found in the middle of a grassy field) A (central letter of [middle of] GRASS) BAA – for the endgame, it has to be the first A that is omitted from the wordplay. |
BA |
| 8 | Not quick with plans (5)
IDEAD (having plans) DEAD (inactive; not quick) IDEAD |
I |
| 9 | A lot of bling is old money (5)
LOUIS (a French gold coin superseded in 1795 by the 20-franc piece; old money) LOUD (large and conspicuous; bling) excluding the final letter (a lot of) D + IS LOU IS |
|
| 10 | Welsh guy filling river with terrapins? On the contrary (5)
EMRYS (Welsh name for a man; Welsh guy) R (river) contained in (filling) EMYS (any member of a genus of freshwater and marsh terrapins) – this is the opposite (on the contrary) of the construction described in the clue EM (R) YS |
|
| 15 | Manure, class I, mixed, in sack (9, 2 words)
BASIC SLAG (a by-product of the basic process, rich in lime and used as manure) Anagram of (mixed) CLASS I contained in (in) BAG (sack) BA (SIC SLA*) G or B (ASIC SL*) AG |
|
| 17 | Some uneasy Europeans raised Albanese’s volte-faces (4)
UEYS (Australian informal term for U-turns; volte-face; Anthony Albanese is currently the Prime Minister of Australia) UEYS (reversed [raised; down entry] hidden word in [some] UNEASY EUROPEANS) UEYS< |
|
| 18 | Satisfied with heroin, an illegal drug (4)
METH (METHadone [synthetic addictive drug similar to morphine, longer-acting than heroin]; illegal drug) MET (satisfied [the requirements]) + H (heroin) MET H |
|
| 21 | Obligation to secrecy means happiness for some (4)
SEAL (an obligation to secrecy) SEAL (alternative spelling of SEEL, a dialect word for ‘happiness’) double definition SEAL |
|
| 22 | Source of heat restricting temperature provides shock (4)
STUN (shock) SUN (a source of heat) containing (restricting) T (temperature) S (T) UN |
|
| 25 | Stags nipping first of pear trees (6)
MAPLES (trees) MALES (stags) containing (nipping) P (initial letter of [first of] PEAR) MA (P) LES |
|
| 26 | Blow on left half of head doing for cerebral connection (5)
RAPHE (a broad connecting ridge between the halves of the vertebrate brain; cerebral connection) RAP (a blow) + HE (leftmost two of the four [half] letters in HEAD) RAP HE |
|
| 27 | Hood topped with special fabric (5)
SCRIM (open fabric used in upholstery, bookbinding, for curtains, etc) S (special) + CRIM (a criminal; a hood [violent criminal]) S CRIM |
|
| 29 | They’ll have slow pulse or incomplete pulse (5)
LENTI (musical term for playing slowly; slow time; slow pulse) LENTIL (a pulse) excluding the final letter (incomplete) L LENTI |
|
| 30 | Evidence of landslip taking off end of row of trees (5)
SCREE (a sloping mass of loose weathered rock at the base of a cliff or on the face of a mountain, that could be evidence of a landslip) SCREEN (row of trees) excluding the final letter (taking off the end of) N SCREE |
|
| 31 | Excellent series, maintaining success (5)
SUPER (excellent) SER (series) containing (maintaining) UP (high point; success) S (UP) ER |
|
| 33 | Plane crash, detaching front of plane, made a loud noise (4)
RANG (made a loud noise) PRANG (airplane crash) excluding (detaching) P (the first letter of [front of] PLANE) RANG |
|
| 35 | Red wine not initially needed for Asian festival (3)
TET (the Vietnamese lunar new year festival; Asian festival) TENT (a deep-red Spanish wine) excluding (not) N (first letter of [initially] NEEDED) TET |
|
| 36 | Competitive gathering electronic sound cut short (3)
BEE (a gathering of persons to unite their labour for the benefit of one individual or family, or for some joint amusement, exercise or competition) BEEP (electronic sound) excluding the final letter (cut short) P BEE |
Very enjoyable indeed — lots of thanks to Phi and duncanshiell!
I must have come across Kessler Syndrome in the past but had forgotten the phrase. Having it clearly spelled out when the fallen letters were actually erased (a step one is naughtily tempted to omit when the puzzle can’t be sent in) was very welcome, converting previous bafflement to illumination.
Entirely agree; educational as well as enjoyable. Very clever too, as Kessler Syndrome emerged from the chaos of space debris at the top of the puzzle. I still don’t quite get the title though. Many thanks to Phi and Duncan.
Somehow failed to clock that an eraser was required; along with a couple of key unparsed answers, this meant I got the debris but not the syndrome. Still very enjoyable; thanks to Phi and Duncan.
An excellent crossword. The clues to DESSES, SEDGE and SEMMIT took me the longest to solve and parse, but I thought the precision and clarity in the clues as a whole was commendable, as was the thematic construction, which must have taken much time and ingenuity.
Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
Duncan: on 21A, the DS stands for Del Segno, the musical notation indicating that a piece should be repeated from whatever point in the score the ‘sign’ is written – the shape of the sign itself varies, but it needs to be prominent and unusual.
Sagittarius @ 5
Thanks – that makes a lot more sense than my attempt to use Document Signed (which is one of the entries for DS in Chambers). My musical knowledge is very poor and I failed to look up the meaning of Del Segno.
Thanks Phi and DS 🙂 and thanks to Sagittarius for the DS explanation – I too settled for document signed=ds.
indeed an educational puzzle — which triggered an interesting wiki-exploration.
There’s a blog at: https://phionline.net.nz/setters-blogs/dont-look-up/
Just a reminder that the Inquisitor numbering is based on the full run from the Independent Saturday magazine in 1988. On that basis, this was my 174th Inquisitor, though that includes a few from (S)PINK. (Who knows but that there might be more such collaborations in the future?)
Sagittarius @2: this puzzle is way above my pay grade as a solver but I glanced at the blog and saw your query about the title. I suspect it is referring to the movie Don’t Look Up which postulates a world ending collision with space debris.
Very good – I got derailed by thinking that protection rather than border was the spare word in 34 AC so had screen rather than screed – also found a poet (1 AC.) called Raphel. You can imagine how much head-scratching and unsuccessful Googling followed! Thanks to setter and blogger. As I filled most of the grid without looking things up I’m giving myself 5/10. It’s nearly Christmas after all.
PostMark@9: many thanks for that reference. I thought there had to be something clever going on!
Good stuff – and perhaps on the more accessible side of Phi IQs? For me anyway. I liked that the various devices ended up being helpful for each other, as I could piece together SPACE DEBRIS as a phrase before I’d solved all the clues, and spotting the phrase ‘head for French’ helped me with TET/E, for example. Finding KESSLER SYNDROME was the last thing to click, as I hadn’t initially realised that ‘dropping’ the letters meant erasing them (I had originally just copied them down below)… but as is quite often the case a careful re-read of the preamble paid dividends.
My only remaining question is the reason for the black square in the middle. I thought perhaps some relevance would emerge either from the puzzle or this blog, but perhaps it was just to facilitate a working grid-fill 🙂
Many thanks to Phi and duncanshiell.
Like Neil@3, the penny did not drop that the letters should actually drop from the top rows. So I spent ages looking for something elsewhere in the completed grid. All I could find was IMPACT traceable at bottom left but was not convinced. Also, there seemed to be an unusually large number of Ys.
I did, however, enjoy the grid-fill, so thanks to Phi and Duncan
Further to my comment @13, I am sure I would have cracked the endgame if the preamble had been a little more explicit. I saw that leaving gaps did not always leave real words, so decided that this was not required. (LER is not in Chambers and SYN only as an abbreviation). An extra clause in the second sentence would have covered this.
Dave W @14 (and others): I too left the jumbled SPACE DEBRIS in the top two rows so didn’t spot KESSLER SYNDROME until I got a nudge to ignore it. I then forwarded the hint to my solving friend … we each thought that leaving non-words in the finished grid wasn’t appropriate without some mention in the preamble.
And Phi @8: Early in 2011 I was in touch with Mike Laws, the then editor, about extending the tables of setters & puzzles back to when they started in 1988. He sent me a sample of what he had to see if it was viable – it was, so we decided to proceed. Sadly, Mike died a few months later. I did contact the new editor, John H, later that year but unfortunately nothing ever came of it. I’m sure that Charybdis, Dysart†, Kruger, Lato, Loda, Schadenfreude† and others would also have their puzzle counts boosted if we’d made progress but none of them remind us about it.