Serpent has been setting Inquisitors since 2015 at the rate of about two a year. Currently, he is the editor of The Times crosswords.
The preamble told us that clues are presented in the usual order and the grid has 180-degree symmetry. Extra letters in nine consecutive down clues must be removed to enable solving; the extra letters identify a thematic object. Solvers must construct an exact outline of the object making use of five points, each lying on the intersection of two gridlines. Five across clues contain an extra word; the positions of the extra words and their first and last letters will enable solvers to locate the points. Four of these points are corners of the outline; solvers must deduce the positions of the outline’s other two corners (which do not lie on the intersection of grid lines). Solvers must also enter the name of the object’s designer in the grid, changing the contents of 16 cells and creating eleven new words in the process. Bars and numbers are not required.
One answer is an abbreviation.
My first reaction was that there was a lot to take in from the preamble and I noted that we would have to create the grid even if we didn’t have to display the numbers and bars at the end. I always find it easier to work with bars when creating a grid for a puzzle of this type.
An analysis of answer lengths in the across clues led me to the conclusion that:
row 1 had to be 10, 6, 4, meaning that answer 1 began in the top left cell and answer 3 finished in the top right cell;
row 2 had to be 6, 8, 5 with one cell unused;
row 3 had to be 9, 9 with two cells unused; and
row 4 had to be 4, 6, 4 with 6 cells unused.
180% degree symettry determined the layout for rows 5 to 8
Looking at the down clues, I noted there were four of length 8, all of which would have to run from row 1 to Row 8. Given that the first down entry was length 8 it seemed likely that the first and fourteenth down entries formed columns 1 and 20. All the entries of length 5 would have to be in columns of their own. There is no unique central column, so the 4-letter down entries would have to form four pairs, with two columns having just one 4-letter entry.
I made a good start in the top left corner with BRICKBAT, REPOT and EVER falling quickly along with REVAMP (first across entry in row 2). I also solved PALTRY for the rightmost entry in row 7.
I confidently placed REVAMP in columns 1 to 6 of row 2. This error held me up for a while later on as I struggled a bit to make some of the other entries fit. Eventually, using the symmetry of the 8-letter down entry positions, I worked out what was wrong and moved REVAMP one column to the right. Everything flowed fairly smoothly after that in terms of grid filling.
It also became clear fairly early on that the down clues with an extra letter comprised the final nine clues. As is often the case, I transcribed one of the extra letters incorrectly, so I was looking at SPAD_BIRD as the thematic object for a while. At that point I was omitting the D from ‘canid’ in the clue for CAIRN. I couldn’t make much sense of the object. Eventually, I realised that my A should be an E, the object was likely to be SPEEDBIRD and I should be removing E from ‘cute’ rather than the D from ‘canid’.
The original filled grid looked like this
A bit of internet research identified that the SPEEDBIRD logo was designed for Imperial Airways in 1932 by THEYRE LEE-ELLIOTT [born David Lee Theyre Elliott, 1903 – 1988]. BOAC adopted the logo in 1939. As for many logos and brands, changes occurred further down the line. British Airways (BA) no longer uses the 1932 logo, but it does continue to use SPEEDBIRD as the call sign for its aircraft.
Given that entering THEYRE LEE-ELLIOTT into the grid would generate eleven new words, it became clear fairly quickly that the change would have to occur in the bottom row, as attempting to create new down entries in the other rows would not produce the eleven valid new words.
The only place where THEYRE LEE-ELLIOTT would fit and create 11 new down entries was in cells 5 to 20 of row 8.
The word changes were as follows:
NATIVISM to NATIVIST;
FORTE to FORTH;
CARL to CARE;
ASKED to ASKER;
CHILI to CHILL;
ALES to ALEE;
TOPI to TOPE;
MISSPELT to MISSPELL;
ANTE to ANTI;
CAIRN to CAIRO; and
INTERNEE to INTERNET
The amended grid looked like this:
The internet search mentioned above also threw up the image below:
which showed how to construct the logo.
The image helped to make sense of the preamble instruction relating to the words omitted from five across clues. I had identified NarroW, NotablE and StatE as extra words in the first three Across clues plus SaW and SenatE in the third last and last across clues. Clearly, the first and last letters gave compass positions – NW, NE, SE, SW and SE. The numerical annotations on the Construction image explained why the grid for this puzzle was 20 columns by 8 rows. A study of the five relevant clues showed that the extra words fell in words 1, 5, 4, 1 and 10 of the clue. In my grid, I positioned red dots in the designated compass point corners of cells 1, 5, 4, 1 and 10 of the associated entries and saw that they fitted well with the construction diagram. By drawing the construction lines in the image, I was able to generate two more important points at the intersections of two pairs of construction lines. Finally, using four of the original red dots and the two green dots at the important construction line intersections, I had enough data to draw the logo accurately. The two green dots did not lie at the intersection of grid cells, as required by the preamble.
Running the various steps in the development of the logo together is illustrated in the animation below.
I thought this was a very clever Inquisitor puzzle where all the many pieces came together in a very clear construction of the iconic SPEEDBIRD logo.
Some of Serpent’s clues were quite challenging, but there were enough entry points which helped to generate crossing letters for some of the more intractable clues. The parsing of all the clues is set out in the detailed table further below.
I am unsure of the relevance of the puzzle’s title RUNTIME, a term that generally relates to the time taken to execute a computer program. I know that airlines refer to Flight Time, but I can’t find a use of Run Time. No doubt someone will explain what I have missed.
| No | Detail | Adjustments |
| Across | ||
| 1 |
Narrow body of water opening into deep channel in East Anglia (10, 2 words) Body of water opening into deep channel in East Anglia (10, 2 words) BARENTS SEA (marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia; body of water) RENT (fissure; opening) contained in (into) (BASS [deep] + EA (drainage channel in the Fens [part of East Anglia]) BA (RENT) S S EA |
NARROW – NW |
| 2 |
Still blame suspect protecting notable criminal originally (6) Still blame suspect protecting criminal originally (6) BECALM ([make] still) Anagram of (suspect) BLAME containing (protecting) C (first letter of [originally] Criminal) BE (C) ALM* |
NOTABLE – NE |
| 3 |
Enlarged cells neofascist state contains (4) Enlarged cells neofascist contains (4) ASCI (enlarged cells) ASCI (hidden word in [contains] neofASCIst) ASCI |
STATE – SE |
| 4 |
Overhaul image of state backed politician (6) REVAMP (give a new appearance to; overhaul image of) AVER (state) reversed (backed) + MP (Member of Parliament; politician) REVA< MP |
|
| 5 |
Plan supported by sticking prices up (8) CONSPIRE (plot; plan) ON (supported by) contained in (sticking) an anagram of (up) PRICES C (ON) SPIRE* |
|
| 6 |
Home Guards race back to Bury in vessel (5) INURN (to place cremated ashes in an urn; to bury in a vessel) IN (home) containing (guards) (RUN [race] reversed [back]) I (NUR<) N |
|
| 7 |
Hastily conceived incentive Open University stops (9) IMPETUOUS (without consideration; hastily conceived) OU (Open University) contained in (stops) IMPETUS (incentive) IMPETU (OU) S |
|
| 8 |
Drink a great deal in the end (9, 2 words) CREAM SODA (a drink) REAMS (large quantity; great deal) contained in (in) CODA (musical term describing the passage forming the completion of a piece; the end) C (REAM S) ODA |
|
| 9 |
Uncertainty embodied by Right’s disagreement (4) RIFT (disagreement) IF (an uncertainty) contained in (embodied by) RT (right) R (IF) T |
|
| 10 |
Start of master’s course that’s believed to enhance one’s prospects (6) MASCOT (supposed bringer of good luck; that’s believed to enhance one’s prospects) M (first letter of [start of] Master) + ASCOT (racecourse in Berkshire) M ASCOT |
|
| 11 |
Top club transferring money elsewhere (4) ACME (top or highest point) MACE (metal-headed war club) with the M (money) moved from position 1 to position 3 to form ACME [money transferred elsewhere] ACME |
|
| 12 |
Grasping individual in Scottish corporation (4) KITE (rapacious person; grasping individual) KITE (Scottish word for paunch or belly [corporation]) double definition KITE |
|
| 13 |
Answer complex maths problem with inspiration (6) ASTHMA (respiratory problem; problem with inspiration) A (answer) + an anagram of (complex) MATHS A STHMA* |
|
| 14 |
Get money from adult material (4) TAPA (a fabric made from paper mulberry bark) TAP (slang term meaning ‘to get money from’) + A (adult) TAP A |
|
| 15 |
Journey starts to exhaust country kids on vacation (9, 2 words) TAXI RANKS (positions from which journeys start) TAX (drain; exhaust) + IRAN (country in the Middle East) + KS (letters remaining in KidS when the central letters ID are removed [on vacation]) TAX I RAN KS |
|
| 16 |
Central European novel about boring North American is recalled (9) SLOVENIAN (a Central European) NOVEL reversed (about) contained in (boring) (N [North] + A [American] + IS) reversed (recalled) (S (LOVEN<) I A N)< |
|
| 17 |
Author unfortunately adopts pen name? (5) ALIAS (name by which someone is also known; pen name for an author perhaps) ALAS (unfortunately) containing (adopts) I (the writer; author) AL (I) AS |
|
| 18 |
Unswervingly committed singer going round university twice, on separate occasions (8) TRUE-BLUE (a person unswervingly faithful or committed) TREBLE (highest part for a singer, applied especially to boys’ voices) containing (going round) U (university) in two distinct places (on separate occasions) TR (U) E BL (U) E |
|
| 19 |
Worthless essay on China (6) PALTRY (worthless) PAL (mate; china) + TRY (attempt; essay) PAL TRY |
|
| 20 |
Saw company satisfied about advance returns (4) Company satisfied about advance returns (4) TEAM (company) (MET [satisfied] containing [about] A [advance]) reversed (returns) (TE (A) M)< |
SAW – SW |
| 21 |
Lord’s setting for variation of old English tune (6) MELODY (tune) MY (expression of surprise; lord!) containing (setting for) (an anagram of [variation of] OLD and E [English]) M (ELOD*) Y |
|
| 22 |
Cardinal sin is condemned, at first, by church urging senate (10) Cardinal sin is condemned, at first, by church urging(10) INSISTENCE (urging) (Anagram of [condemned] SIN IS] + TEN (a cardinal number) + CE (Church [of England]) – ‘at first’ tells us that the anagram of SIN IS precedes TEN INSIS* TEN CE |
SENATE – SE |
| Down | ||
| 1 |
Criticism of stack of material bound by book club (8) BRICKBAT (critical remark; criticism) RICK (stack, of hay, for example) contained in (bound by) (B [book] + BAT [club]) B (RICK) BAT |
|
| 2 |
Move site for growing extremely rare cannabis (5) REPOT (move the ‘site for growing’ of a plant by moving to a new pot) RE (outer letters of [extremely] RarE + POT (cannabis) RE POT |
|
| 3 |
Always worship without constraints imposed by religious education (4) EVER (always) rEVERe (worship) excluding the outer letters R and E (without constraints) EVER |
|
| 4 |
Fellow upset about visit that’s changed view on innate abilities (8) NATIVISM (the belief that the mind possesses some ideas or forms of thought that are inborn and not derived from sensation; view on innate abilities) MAN (fellow) reversed (upset; down entry) and containing (about) an anagram of (that’s changed) VISIT NA (TIVIS*) M< |
|
| 5 |
Identify situation that causes embarrassment (4) SPOT (identify) SPOT (awkward situation that causes embarrassment) double definition SPOT |
|
| 6 |
Unpleasant film about problem cases? (4) SCUM (matter coming to or floating on the surface of liquid, especially in the form of foam or froth; unpleasant film) SUM (problem) containing (cases) C (circa; about) S (C) UM |
|
| 7 |
Germany’s dread of member of criminal organisation destroying their border (5) ANGST (word from German meaning anxiety or dread) gANGSTa (American slang for a member of a criminal organisation) excluding the outer letters G and A (destroying their border) ANGST |
|
| 8 |
Extra power plugs boosted computer chip (5) EPROM (an abbreviation of erasable programmable read-only memory; computer chip) P (power) contained in (plugs) MORE (extra) reversed (boosted; pushed up; down entry) E (P) ROM< |
|
| 9 |
She sculpted this person as a symbol of their ancient ancestors (4) ARAB (ancient ancestor of the people referenced in the wordplay) SC (she sculpted) + ARAB gives SCARAB (in ancient Egyptian mythology, this beetle was associated with the divine manifestation [a symbol] of the early morning sun) ARAB The internet tells me that there is debate about the ethnicity of Egyprtians. Culturally and linguistically they are Arab, but genetically their ancestors may not be. |
|
| 10 |
Proposition in conclusion of sentimental novel (5) LEMMA (preliminary proposition) L (last letter of [in conclusion] sentimentaL) + EMMA (title of a novel by Jane Austen [1775 – 1817]) L EMMA |
|
| 11 |
How one might describe simplest anagrams? (8) MISSPELT (an anagram which is only one letter different from its correct spelling may just be seen as a misspelt word) One of the anagrams of SIMPLEST is MISSPELT so may be described as such MISSPELT |
|
| 12 |
Bovine character of old appearing in literary anthology (4) ANOA (the sapiutan, or wild ox of Sulawesi in Indonesia; a bovine character) O (old) contained in (appearing in) ANA (collection of anecdotes; literary anthology) AN (O) A |
|
| 13 |
Crowds get lost cycling (5) CRAMS (crowds) If SCRAM (instruction to get lost) is cycled one letter to the left and the first letter is moved to the last place, the result is CRAMS CRAMS |
|
| 14 |
American doctor last to examine prisoner (8) INTERNEE (inmate; prisoner) INTERNE (American term for a resident assistant surgeon) + E (final letter of [last to] examinE) INTERNE E |
|
| 15 |
Contemptible person almost granted legal ownership (5) TITLE (legal ownership) TIT (contemptible person) + LEt (granted) excluding the final letter [almost] T TIT LE |
|
| 16 |
Orchestrated rest of loud passage of music (5) Orchestrated ret of loud passage of music (5) FORTE (loud passage in music) Anagram of (orchestrated) RET OF FORTE* |
S |
| 17 |
Pleads for king’s exemplary discretion, as previously requested (5) Leads for king’s exemplary discretion, as previously requested (5) ASKED (requested) AS + KED (first letters of [leads for] King, Exemplary and Discretion) AS KED – AS is placed previous to KED |
P |
| 18 |
Wind is ceaseless while in Channel Islands (5) Wind is caseless while in Channel Islands (5) CHILI (a hot dry wind of N Africa) wHILe excluding the outer letters W and E (caseless) contained in (in) CI (Channel Islands) C (HIL) I |
E |
| 19 |
Dog and cute canid originally related in some way (5) Dog and cut canid originally related in some way (5) CAIRN (breed of dog) Anagram of (in some way) CANId excluding the final letter D (cut) and R (first letter of [originally] Related) CAIRN* |
E |
| 20 |
Test dispensed with scaling marks (4) Test dispense with scaling marks (4) EXAM (test) AXE (dispense with) reversed (scaling; down entry) + M (marks) EXA< M |
D |
| 21 |
Bold worker roughly supported by both sides (4) Old worker roughly supported by both sides (4) CARL (husbandman or churl; an old workman) CA (circa; about; roughly) + (R [right] and L [left] giving both sides). As this is a down the entry the letters RL are ‘supporting’ the letters CA CA R L |
B |
| 22 |
Drunken ladies wanting daughter’s drinks (4) Drunken lades wanting daughter’s drinks (4) ALES (drinks) Anagram of (drunken) LAdES excluding (wanting) D (daughter) ALES* |
I |
| 23 |
Chief heard of Internet browser (4) Chief head of Internet browser (4) TOPI (a privacy-focused internet browser for Windows that is based on Chromium and includes features like a built-in VPN, ad blocker, and anti-tracking capabilities. This software allows users to browse the internet, but it’s a niche option compared to major browsers) TOP (chief) + I (first letter of [head of] Internet) TOP I |
R |
| 24 |
Advance payment and regular instalments of rent returned (4) Advance payment an regular instalments of rent returned (4) ANTE (advance payment) AN + ET (letters 2 and 4 [regular instalments of] rEnT) reversed (returned) AN TE< |
D |
A wonderful puzzle, not least because I love air travel as well as doing ‘Inquisitor art’, so the endgame was a great combination.
I couldn’t actually find the drawing instructions that are copied above, but after much head-scratching landed on the same outcome based on the instructions referring to corners, etc. How elegant!
I’m not a big fan of cartes blanches, but, as Duncan says, the symmetry and grid shape made things a lot easier than they might normally be, with limited options.
One small comment, I assumed the ‘browser’ referred to in 23d is Topi the ‘large African antelope’ (per Chambers) not the obscure Internet software. Which makes it a much better clue surface as well.
Thank you to setter and blogger!
I decided that the title “runtime” was made up from run =speed, and time = bird (in prison)
A brilliant design and execution of an original theme. Having got SPEEDBIRD and the five ‘points’, I drew the shape with reference also to a diagram of the logo. I had to admire the way the setter led us to the data we needed for it. I expected to find the designer’s 16-letter name in a straight horizontal line and was pleased to see that it would fit along the bottom of the grid in just about the only place where it does not cross or touch the Speedbird outline.
Like Arnold, I do not always favour cartes blanches, but I enjoyed this one. The clues were excellent, although ARAB was a problem clue for me, and I left it unsolved. (I did not know ‘sc’, meaning ‘he/she sculpted’, and it was my bad luck that Rachel ARA is a prominent (British) female sculptor! The apparent wordplay gave me ARAI, a non-word.)
Thanks to both Serpent and Duncan.