Hedge-sparrow provides this week’s IQ.
The Preamble: A person’s surname (8), and two phrases from a memorandum he wrote (one missing a word), fill the outer cells, anticlockwise from *: the missing word forms the unclued entry. Letters in unchecked outer cells could give AHA – A ROPY ANGLO ABASHED – FINE! Sadly, some other entries reflect just the missing word rather than the full phrases, leading to four outcomes (precisely what the writer sought to avoid) which solvers must highlight in the filled grid (in straight lines, 32 cells in total).
As usual, there is no hope of discovering the theme directly from the preamble, so we started solving to see how the entries could fit together and to try to figure out the perimeter name and phrases.
Our first one in was 3d, rapidly followed by 2d and 19ac. Next up was 23ac, but the A of LADDER clashes with the D of DRIVER in 3d. As we solved more of the clues that crossed with 3d, we realised that we had to treat LADDER thematically, as the other across entries did not clash with 3d. When we solved PERIDOT at 12ac (which does not clash with 3d) we realised that WRITES (2d) also has to be treated thematically as the T clashes with the R in PERIDOT. Working through the grid, we realised that ‘some other entries’ (from the preamble) are non-word anagrams of the solution – those entries are 22ac (BANE), 23ac (LADDER), 2d (WRITES), 4d (NONNIES), 6d (GIRO), 17d (RIBIBES), 26d (NESS) and 31d (VELD). In most cases the order of the letters in the jumbled words was apparent from the crossing entries, but there were still a lot of gaps in the perimeter.
Once we had most of the grid filled we tried to work out the surname and phrases in the perimeter and the unclued down entry. Having -OB-LE- -G-O- as the letters in the ‘missing word’ (unclued down entry), we fairly quickly established that this must be GOBBLEDYGOOK. This made sense of the preamble’s comment about the ‘other entries reflecting the missing word’ – ie they are entered as non-words.
The task then was to work out the perimeter. We had M- – -R-CK for the 8-letter surname (with V as the most likely third letter from VELD at 31d) it had to be MAVERICK, but was this something to do with the Wild West (from the TV series of our youth) or was it just a generic term for a non-conformist (as per the title of the puzzle)? Some electronic help revealed that there was an American called MAURY MAVERICK who coined the word GOBBLEDYGOOK and wrote a number of memos to his staff at Smaller War Plants Corporation imploring them to stop using complicated bureaucratic language and jargon. One of his 1944 memos included the perimeter phrases ‘BE SHORT AND USE PLAIN ENGLISH’ and ‘STAY OFF (GOBBLEDYGOOK) LANGUAGE’.
Having entered the 8 non-words and completed the perimeter, the four ‘outcomes’ become apparent: NONSENSE, GIBBERISH, TWADDLE and BALDERDASH, highlighted in orange in the completed grid below. Other letters of the non-words are highlighted in pale yellow.
We always expect some unusual words in barred puzzles, but there seemed to be more than usual in this one, needing a lot of time delving through Chambers and other sources – not the most enjoyable experience, especially working with non-word entries. However, it was worth it in the end, so thanks to Hedge-sparrow for the challenge.
In the parsing below the unjumbled solution to the thematic entries is included alongside the non-word ENTRY in (GREEN)
A reversal (turned) of UP with OIL (an Australian – ‘from Oz’ – word for ‘info’) inside
iNTRO (opening) missing the first letter or ‘beginner’ in COL (mountain pass)
Double definition – neither of which we have come across before
BIAs (prejudice) missing the ‘s’ (south) or ‘pointless’ in or ‘occupying’ NUN (‘religieuse’)
PERI (fairy) DusT with ‘us’ (me – informal) ‘turning into’ O (first letter or ‘bit’ of opalescent)
A reversal (‘reviewed’) of EG (‘say’) IT (sexual activity)
LENT (fast) O (first letter or ‘opening’ of oratorio)
A reversal (‘about’) of ANAL (obsessive) + I (one)
rOYSTERs (revels) missing the first and last letters or ‘out of bounds’
U (a homophone – ‘reportedly’ – of yew) after tOMB (grave) missing the first letter or ‘faceless’
urBANE (civilised) missing or ‘avoiding’ ‘UR’ (ancient city)
L (first letter of lady) ADDER (summer)
RIDdER (‘individual who frees’) missing one of the ‘d’s or ‘half-hearted’
OM (Order of Merit – ‘honour’) in a reversal (‘retiring’) of NEW (young)
The ‘leader’ of the New York Times might be described as a US ED (editor) – an archaic (‘dated’) definition
S (southern) AGGER (elevation – from Roman history) round or ‘crossing’ I (island)
L (lecturer) in or ‘donning’ SAVED (protected)
OR (gold) BIT (coin)
MET (balanced) E (electromotive force) in GAS (fuel)
A reversal (‘revolutionary’) of SOLO (single-seater bike) round or ‘incorporating’ E (electronic)
TO (at) KEN (house of ill repute) – we came across this use of ‘KEN’ in our first IQ blog.
RITE (ceremony) in or ‘penned by’ W (with) S (special)
An anagram (‘to relax’) of ADVISE DRY RUN
NiNNIES (fools) with O (love) replacing ‘i’ (first or ‘primary’ letter of idle)
gET AT (verbally attack) missing or ‘losing’ ‘g’ (last letter of rag)
A reversal (‘switch’) of ORIGin (source) missing or ‘withdrawing’ ‘in’ (popular)
An anagram (‘rolls’) of PREPARE
Double definition, the first a Scottish word for ‘ankle’
A reversal (‘raised’) of H (last letter or ‘bed’ of Irish) MAIN (sea)
MARabout (witch doctor) missing or ‘dematerialising’ ‘about’ + A – when we came to write up the blog, we had forgotten how we had parsed this one – having struggled online to find the NHO witch doctor – thanks to the IQ blogging community for jogging our memory!
I BE (continue) in or ‘cracking’ RIBS (bones)
ABIdES (bears) missing or ‘scratching’ ‘d’ (dead)
Alternate or ‘regular’ letters of OiLmAn round or ‘eating’ E (English)
A reversal (‘recalled’) of CID (detectives) after or ‘supporting’ TRIAl (examination) missing the last letter or ‘brief’
An anagram (‘whimsical’) of mEmORIES with each ‘m’ (member) omitted or ‘lost’
doNE (exhausted) missing ‘do’ (party) SchoolS (missing middle letters or ‘vacated’)
An anagram (‘blighted’) of SOME with B (black) in the centre
Double definition
Hidden (‘included’) in traVEL Destinations
My route through this one was quite different from B&J’s with the same PDMs but not necessarily in the same order (I’ve heard that before!). Progress was slow but steady as there were quite a few words and definitions unfamiliar to me, for instance, in 1D, the definitions for both TOKEN and KEN. The first treated entry I found was DLEV, giving me M, V, R and C in the surname, strongly suggesting MAVERICK, given the title. I had a few cross checks for the unclued entry and, with a bit of technical help, found GOBBLEDEGOOK. Before long, BALDERDASH jumped out at me, shortly followed by the other 3 outcomes. All of these had some gaps but by filling them I could then identify which entries had to be rearranged.
Having completed the unshaded grid, I searched online for the surname and found the fondly remembered TV series and the 1994 film but nothing useful. Then I typed Maverick Memorandum and bingo! What a joyful surprise, an expression of a sentiment I wholly agree with, wittily presented over 80 years ago. I am considering framing and displaying my copy of the document.
In hindsight, I should, of course, have done the search earlier and completed the perimeter, making the remaining grid fill easier.
Many thanks to Hedgesparrow for a solid but satisfying puzzle with a great ending. And to B&J for the comprehensive blog.
A very satisfying puzzle, helped by a bit of good fortune in guessing Maverick from MVRC followed by Gobbledygook from GK only! This allowed me to complete the perimeter very early on and made the rest comparatively easy.
The anagrams were a nice finale and the story of Maury Maverick and indeed his grandfather Samuel (‘inventor’ of the word maverick as we know it) was a fun one to discover.
Thank you both!
Yes, to learn the origins of both gobbledegook and maverick makes this a twofer. If answers must be scrambled, it’s deeply satisfying that they then make new sense (or nonsense). I thought this was very enjoyable – and went rapidly from being almost unsolveable to very gettable. My way in was to guess ‘gobbledegook’ and then the other columns of rubbish. Many thanks to Hedgesparrow and Bertandjoyce
This was an excellent Inquisitor that was pitched just right. I think it was the clues to WRITES, RIBIBES and GIRO that led me to think that the unclued light going down would be a word meaning ‘jumbled’ (or similar), and when I got the string ?OB?L to begin that word I even ventured to guess GOBBLEDYGOOK. On looking that up I found the writer and the two phrases, which then helped me to complete the puzzle.
It was very interesting to read about the origin of the word GOBBLEDYGOOK. Naturally, those letters helped me with the clues that I had previously passed on as well as point me to the phrases, and I enjoyed solving what I thought was a very good set of clues. I was particularly impressed by the fact that more than half of the cells in the grid (88 out of 168) were occupied by thematic items (made up of 58 originally silvered cells plus 30 newly highlighted cells for the four ‘outcomes’).
Thanks to Hedge-sparrow and Bertandjoyce.
Much enjoyed here too. All thanks to Hedge-sparrow and Bertandjoyce. A nice switch from bafflement to plain sailing when GOBBLEDYGOOK emerged and I googled that plus MEMORANDUM. When I spotted BALDERDASH my wife (without looking at the grid) instantly suggested TWADDLE and lo and behold, there it was.
@1 — 1D gave me a lot of trouble too. I’d become fixated on the “ill repute” bit being DEN as in den of vice, which Did Not Help.
A good IQ I thought, nice difficulty level and a great sense of satisfaction when the penny dropped. I guessed from the preamble that some answers needed to be jumbled or reversed (such modifications tend to be one or the other) and the exact wording of the preamble seemed to lean towards jumbling. Like others I clicked on the endgame by spotting a few letters that in a squint resembled MAVERICK, then another few that looked like they could form GOBBLEDYGOOK, then a little light Googling for the actual phrases.
Great fun so thanks to Hedge-sparrow and Bertandjoyce.
For some unfathomable reason I never managed to find Twaddle in the grid, despite knowing the sort of thing I was seeking, entering all the answers correctly, and spotting three of the nonsense words. It’s odd how the brain sometimes cannot make out what is literally in front of one’s nose. Mind you I had originally expected some of the words that Mr Maverick’s memo specifically said he hated, such as Activation, Implementation, Effectuating and Dynamics. Thanks as ever to Hedge-sparrow and Bertandjoyce.
Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments, and especially Bertandjoyce for your detailed review. I’m glad the puzzle provided some enjoyment, which is the main thing I always hope for with the puzzles I set. I wish also to acknowledge my fellow setter Vismut who very kindly offered me the idea of “GOBBLEDYGOOK” as a potential theme for a Hedge-sparrow puzzle – fitted the Hedge-sparrow character perfectly! 😊