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Lines by Pandiculator
In the completed grid, solvers must replace two cells’ contents with digits and draw two thematic lines, each joining two grid edges. Each answer whose entry crosses the shorter line must be thematically treated to form its entry, while each clue whose entry crosses the longer line contains a misprint representative of the change resulting from the crossing.
All other clues contain an extra word which must be removed before solving. The first letters of these spell: (i) an abbreviated form of a third line that had a property notably associated with the first two; and (ii) three things that must be highlighted (30 cells) to form a diagram of a notable claimed occurrence. Ignoring digits, real words are maintained throughout.
Enumerations refer to entry length.
First thoughts: since the grid is rectangular rather than square, maybe the lines are across the middle and down the centre. Next thing: forget the above completely.
Anyway, on to the solve. I found it very hard to get started not knowing what kind of clue we were dealing with. After what felt like months, I only had 42a. Soon though, the clues started to fall. 12a frced me to look at 35d, which thankfully surrendered easily. This led to me solving 12a but realising it wouldn’t fit. Could this be one of the answers that had to be thematically treated? Then it struck me that we were looking at a diagram of The Earth (given that, as we all know, The Earth is flat) and 12a INDIA was going to have to lose a D{ay) as it crosses the International Date Line. Then presumably the answers that cross The Equator have to be treated in some way. This certainly helped identify the thematic entries.
The first down thematic I solved was 22d, which caused me a little bit of embarrassment as I emailed the editor asking if there was a misprint in 22d only to quickly follow it with a “D’oh! I’m an idiot” message. Obviously, in hindsight, there is an “S” in the clue that must change to an “N” as we traverse the equator from south to north.
So that was that but clearly some more research was required as the generated letters started to form. They spell out N ZEALAND SHIPPING CO SEASONS CENTURIES SHIP.
A scout through Wikipedia tells us about the SS WARRIMOO, which allegedly crossed the International Date Line and The Equator exactly at midnight on 31 December 1899. Meaning that it occupied the northern, eastern, southern and western hemispheres at the time that the century changed and thus was in summer and winter at the same time. In the grid there are two Cs indicating the two centuries. And across the top we can see WINTER, SUMMER along the bottom and WARRIMOO across the diagonal.
Then I ground to a halt after fiddling about with the two Cs for a while. I left it for a couple of days and on revisiting it I realised that the century number were lurking in the leftmost and rightmost columns as long as you changed the B to a 9 and the R to an 8 giving 1900 and 1800, respectively.
Typical of these extra word clues, once the extra word is identified, the clues themselves are actually quite gentle. All-in-all, I really enjoyed this puzzle, Many thanks to Pandiculator. Almost definitely in my POTY long-list.
PS: Sorry about the IDL and equator in my grid. They were perfectly placed when I copied them. I’ll be out for the bulk of the day so don’t expect much in the way of responses.
| Aacross | Entry | Letter | Wordplay | |
| 1 Apple in California victory following undisguised negotiation (7) | BALDWIN | N |
{BALD} (undisguised)+{WIN} (victory) | |
| 6 Nappy opened by zip not available in more than two components (7) | TERNARY | Z |
{TERRY} (nappy) around {NA} (not available) | |
| 11 Australian PM enjoys springtime on Hoy cycling (4) | ARVO | E |
{VOAR) (springtime in Shetland) with two halves cycled | |
| 12 Country’s six places ahead of 35 on the radio (4) | INDIA | (INDIA} is six places ahead of OSCAR (35 down) in NATO alphabet | ||
| 14 Preposterous period – utter anarchy (4) | EMIT | A |
{TIME} (period; rev: preposterous) | |
| 15 Counter in France – I polled libertarians from the right (5) | JETON | L |
{JE} (I in France)+{NOT} (polled; rev: from the right) | |
| 16 Ever-changing aura being second in aged soul (6) | AMOEBA | A |
{AE.} (aged)+{MO} (second)+{BA} (soul) | |
| 17 Veterans and 16-25s say king surrounded by gauche radicals (8) | RAILCARDS | {RADICALS} (anag: gauche) around {R} (king) I’m not overly happy with the definition. Maybe it’s a UK thing that has passed me by. |
||
| 18 Ed’s attack from box office now obstacle to progress (6) | BODRAG | N |
{BO} (box office)+{DRAG} (obstacle to progress) | |
| 21 Carabinieri finally pursuing a minor diplomat, manoeuvring for their cupids (7) | AMORINI | D |
{A MINOR} (anag: manoeuvring)+[carabinier]{I} (finally) | |
| 23 Curry pilgrimage obscuring another’s key spice (5) | BHAJI | S |
I’m afraid I can’t quite see this. I have HAJ (pilgrimage) but otherwise I’m stuck | |
| 24 Most uncertain is cited poorly (6) | DICIEST | {IS CITED} (anag: poorly) | ||
| 26 Kill late-starting deciduous tree with no early external signs of xylem (6) | ENDARCH | {END} (kill)+[l]{ARCH} (deciduous tree; minus first letter) | ||
| 30 Forest by river in US gorge protected by one old hermit (5) | IGAPO | H |
{I} (one)+{GAP} (gorge)+{O}ld | |
| 32 Playwright’s ones perhaps from twelve months’ intermission without acting (7) | ONEYERS | I |
{ONE YE}[a]{RS} (twelve months) minus Acting | |
| 36 Lines should thematically represent Pandiculator’s idea accurately, especially at first (6) | STRIAE | P |
{S}[hould]+{T}[hematically]+{R}[epresent]+{I}[dea]+{A}[ccurately]+{E}[specially] (at first) | |
| 38 Trustee sacking posh financial examiners who surrendered books under pressure (8) | TRADITORS | {TR}ustee+{A}[u]{DITORS} (financial examiners; minus U: posh) | ||
| 39 Victim embraces Welsh Nationalist procuring dried fruit for Will (6) | PREWYN | P |
{PREY} (victim) around {W}elsh followed by {N}ational | |
| 41 Classical tenor assuming role of church interpreter in far north (5) | ATTIC | I |
{A}[rc]{TIC} (far north) with RC (church) replaced by {T}enor | |
| 42 Polynesian plant suppressed by chlorates – nature’s making a comeback (4) | TARO | N |
chl{ORAT}es (hidden: suppressed; rev: making a comeback) | |
| 43 Exhaust artist drawn in by racket (4) | DRAIN | {DIN} (racket) around {RA} (artist) | ||
| 44 Goad buffalo that’s barely sexual (4) | ARNA | G |
[c]{ARNA[l] (sexual; barely: outside letters removed) | |
| 45 Marsupial carer returning note probing work problem (7) | OPOSSUM | C |
{OP} (work)+{SO} (note; rev: returning)+{SUM} (problem) | |
| 46 Less sober newly remarried officer loses both parts of case for award (7) | MERRIER | O |
{REM}[a]{RRIE}[d] (minus AwarD; first and last letters) | |
| Down | ||||
| 1 Junior salmon caught by short worm perhaps and grain (5) | BAJRI | S |
{BAI}[t] (worm perhaps; caught short) around {JR} (junior) | |
| 2 Court house supporting region to seize old estate (6) | AREACH | E |
{AREA} (region)+{C.H.} (court house) | |
| 3 Vacuous detective subduing topless cretin aggravates old pain (5) | DOOLE | A |
{D}[etectiv]{E} (vacuous) around [f]{OOL} (cretin; topless) | |
| 4 Symbols in around six engravings (6) | INCAVI | S |
{IN}+{CA} (around)+{VI} (six) | |
| 5 Organisers essentially cut out prank containing certain element (6) | NITRIC | O |
[orga]{NI}[sers] (essentially)+{TRIC}[k] (prank; cut) | |
| 6 You shouldn’t have nonsense arresting fool with musical neckwear (5) | TASSA | N |
{TA} (you shouldn’t have) around {ASS} (fool) | |
| 7 Promotion scandal overshadows revival of movement (4) | ROMO | S |
p{ROMO}ntion (hidden: overshadows) | |
| 8 Channel translating one Italian’s language (3) | NEO | C |
{ONE} (anag: translating) | |
| 9 Maybe Texasn club’s enthralled by a Canadian (8) | AMERICAN | I’m sure I solved this but now I can’t see it | ||
| 10 Strip plough with efficiency (6) | RIBAND | E |
{RIB} (plough)+{AND} (with) | |
| 12 Casnt wearing nothing hauled up in church (7) | INCLINE | {IN}+{NIL} (rev: hauled up)+{CE} (church) | ||
| 13 Northern European sailor covering top of outrigger in a little netting (5) | SABME | N |
{S}[o]{ME} (a little) with {AB} (sailor) replacing {O}[utrigger] (top of) | |
| 19 Prepared with thisn slicing, meat dish is stuck in toasting iron (4) | GIRO | toastin{G IRO}n (hidden: stuck in) | ||
| 20 Old Gusn the German’s in baroque opera (8) | PADERERO | {OPERA} (anag: baroque) around {DER} (the in German) | ||
| 22 Large Middle-Eastern country taking on institute concerning God isn Egypt (7) | OSIRIAN | {OS} (large)+{I}nstitution+{IRAN} (country) | ||
| 23 Indications of snot approving delivered alcohol (4) | BOOS | Sounds like BOOZE (alcohol) | ||
| 25 Catch lover nearly lifting tension (6) | ENTRAP | T |
{PARTNE}[r] (lover; rev: lifting) | |
| 27 Unreserved standing one time in venue (5) | ARENA | U |
{AN} (one)+{ERA} (time) rev: standing | |
| 28 My family recycles material for shoes (6) | CORFAM | R |
{COR} (my)+{FAM}ily | |
| 29 Try item that is hirsute for Elizabethan (6) | HEARIE | I |
{HEAR} (try)+{IE} (that is) | |
| 31 Hint of pepper number one ingredient in chain eatery (6) | PURINE | E |
{P}[epper] (hint of)+{URINE) (number one) | |
| 33 Take some months ascending overwhelming hill (5) | STORM | S |
{MS} (months; rev: ascending) around {TOR} (hill) | |
| 34 Oil run heralded by rock containing dry salts (5) | ATTAR | S |
{AA} (rock) around {TT} (dry)+{R}un | |
| 35 Windows have perhaps primarily come as replacement for old Victorian cash (5) | OSCAR | H |
{OS} (operating system; Windows perhaps)+{C}[ome]+{A}[s]+{R}[eplacement] (primarily) | |
| 37 Swimmers finally interacting freely in Australia (4) | AYUS | I |
{AUS}tralia around [freel]{Y} (finally) | |
| 40 Past misfortunes prevent plant coming up (3) | WOS | P |
{SOW} (plant; rev: coming up) | |
Ken – I think you need to shade the S’s below each of 1800 & 1900 to make the number of cells highlighted up to the required 30.
BHAJI
BaltI (another curry)
HAJ obscuring ‘alt’ (key)
This had all the hallmarks of a great Inquisitor for me: Good clueing with some ingenious changes (S>N and removing D) plus a really interesting story and a great endgame. Fantastic! Although it took me too long to realise that the lines would be between answers rather than through them.
Picking up on Ken’s question, 17a is a very UK definition. We have a number of different Railcards for sale here including Veterans’ Railcard, 16-25 Railcard but also Friends & Family Railcard, Two Together Railcard etc. The D still needs to be highlighted here as well as in ENDARCH and DRAIN
One technical question about the story, am I wrong in thinking that the ship doesn’t actually have to cross at midnight, but anytime on the 1st of January 1900 (western hemisphere time) would do? Because crossing anytime that day will put you on the 31st of December 1899 (eastern hemisphere time), and the north/south bit is true all the time anyway (winter/summer only from December to March, I guess).
PS: I also highlighted the Ss not the Cs
and the instructions say replace 2 cells with digits, so 18 and 19 go in one cell each, leaving real words
graham – 8 and 9 are digits. 18 and 19 are not digits. (Or perhaps I have misunderstood your comment?)
Very clever! While I saw the equator and date lines, and identified the seasons and the centuries, I assumed that these last would simply be 100s, with the required digits being changed letters in the middle that would label the relevant longitude. Hence I wasn’t thinking of shading them, and was looking for a 10 letter ship owned by the New Zealand Shipping Company (which had a lengthy history and owned plenty of ships), and never got to the real theme of the puzzle. As ever, the proper solution is much more satisfying. Grateful to Ken for the informative blog, and admiring of Pandiculator for the ingenuity.
I Googled ‘New Zealand Shipping Company’ and learned far more than I ever wanted or needed to about its history but there was no reference to the thematic event at all on its Wiki page and frankly life is too short for me to spend hours researching elsewhere so I suppose you could say I failed, notwithstanding the fact that I completed the grid. Not one of my favorites i’m afraid
Bingy, I googled “New Zealand Shipping company seasons centuries ship” and it came straight up.
I wasted a bit of time trying to draw the date line as it actually is – ie, not straight, and I failed to work out which cells to change to digits, but I enjoyed the puzzle.
I enjoyed this a lot, quite tough but ultimately extremely satisfying – and educational!
One minor query I still have … and I am somewhat geographically inept, so there may be a logical explanation for this, but: I had the “1800s” on the left and the “1900s” on the right – is this wrong, and if so, why? 🤔
Many thanks both.
@9
Time zones always confuse me but I reasoned that NZ is among the first to celebrate NewYear and they’re at the eastern end of the western hemisphere if you see what I mean.
Rob @9 because as you go west to east across the date line, you go back (i.e., “win”) a day. That’s because going west to east across all other time zones, you “lose” hours (eg New York > London +5 hours) so eventually you need to make up the 24 hours that you’ve lost by winning back the whole day in one go.
Which is also why places just west of the line (like Tonga) always celebrate New Year’s first whereas places just east (like Midway Is.) celebrate last. And if you’re keen you can celebrate twice by taking a morning flight from say Tokyo to Seattle.
Arguably that means those answers crossing the line should have added, not removed a D…
Thanks @10 and @11 !
When I did maths single-digits, double digits, etc were all classed as digits, but that seems to be grammatically wrong! The fact that the preceding letters are both “i” suggests so. But that means the “i” does simultaneous duty as “i” and “1”.
i=1 in clues of course, but in a grid both?
And I still don’t know how canadian becomes american. Has Trump gone and done it?
@13 I have MERI = “war-club” in my Chambers app.
Hence A (MERI) CAN
Thanks Arnold.
@14
Well done. I was, of course, fixated on C=club
I thought this was an absolutely brilliant Inquisitor. Bravo Pandiculator on creating such a grid from a curious and intersting story. Many thanks to kenmac for the comprehensive blog.
Thanks KVa @2 for explaining BALTI -> BHAJI.
As with bingy @7, the obvious Wikipedia page was little help until somehow I stumbled upon the name of the ship, but it was still quite a while before I found the centuries, and even then I had them the wrong way round at first.
Thanks to Ken for the blog, and to Pandiculator for the puzzle – and to leading me to learn the correct term for what our cat does shortly after waking from a snooze.
This was a tough one – happy to get most of it in the end, although I couldn’t find the centuries, possibly because I had BAJRA rather than BAJRI. So 8/10 this week. Thanks to Pandiculator for a puzzle that revealed an event I’d never heard of before, and also to Ken for persevering on our behalf. As well as representing a flat earth, the lines give the grid an appearance not dissimilar to the NZ Shipping Co flag (which other diligent Googlers have no doubt also picked up).