I had been on tenterhooks since the Magpie get-together in January, where KGB informed me he had the April Genius slot, and I started having traumatic flashbacks to his previous one (Genius 265, the ‘redaction puzzle‘)…
The preamble states that:
“Both sets of clues are in normal order. Solvers should enter Round 1 answers before the execution of uncovered instructions, disregarding a fragmented downward note, then the entries for Round 2. One central final answer is a simple derived form not in Chambers. Unchecked Round 2 letters can be arranged to give LEAKY REASONS.”
Hmmm…a normal-order ‘jigsaw’, two ’rounds’ (whatever that means) and some uncovered instructions – and a strange-looking grid!
Didn’t make too much sense to start with, except that we are given enumerations – so with the first three clues as 7, 3, 7, the two sevens probably go at the start of rows 1 and 3 respectively – and the fifth clue is a 6, so probably starts row 5. But that means there are some threes (assuming the split clue is two threes) to fit into some of the 5s in between. The Downs started with two 5s and an 8 (4,4) , which seemed to fit the first three Down slots…but then lots of 5s, with seemingly more slots than 5-letter words before the next 8.
There was nothing for it but to get on with some cold solving, to see what crossers might help to fit the jigsaw pieces.
After a while, it kind of became clear that the top right corner was going to be empty, as I could fit and cross all the answers I had (so far) down the left and bottom right. But I still didn’t quite understand the Round 1/Round 2 concept – were some of the clues Round 1 and some Round 2? Some grid-staring went on, and there seemed to be a hidden message ‘SQAURES CONTAIN SCRIPT EXTRA PUZZLE’ on alternate rows, but I couldn’t quite get my head around that either.
At some point, I went back to the website to download a clean version of the PDF – to scrape the clues for the blog – as I had been working on the original on my iPad and had scribbles all over it. I noticed on the entry form that the clues were referred to as ‘Round 1 Across’ and ‘Round 1 Down’, which wasn’t indicated on the PDF, and there was a separate section for ‘Round 2’ answers. So all the given clues must be in ‘Round 1’. I also re-noticed the letters a-g in the blank grid that I had lost sight of on my working grid.
The a-g entries eventually gave ‘BLACK THREE SQUARES, CLEAR EVERY OTHER ROW’, and blacking out three connecting squares around the top-right quadrant explains the three-letter answers fitting into 5-cell slots. Clearing every other row – and ignoring the letters N-O-T-E, the fragmented downward note, gave:
- ‘SQUARES CONTAIN SCRIPT’, which I took to refer to the a-g letters in some squares, leading to the instruction
- ‘EXTRA PUZZLE’ – the now-detached top right quadrant
- ‘ACROSS / DOWNS’ – six clues for that extra puzzle
- SNAKE – COBRA
- YESES – OKAYS
- REAPS – EARNS
- OUTBYE – CLOSE
- BLEATER – BAAER
- DONKEYS – ASSES
Wow! Despite his moniker, I don’t think KGB has any Russian connections, but this puzzle brings to mind the description Churchill once applied to Russia:
‘ It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key…’
(I realise the grid animation mentions a-f rather than a-g, and also that when I black the three squares top right it also clears the symmetrically corresponding ones…I just don’t have the bandwidth to go back and re-do the grid!)
This took me on a mind-bending journey which lasted a couple of days, with lots of putting down and coming back to…and in the end it required some thinking outside of the box about a box within the box.
My thanks (I think!) to KGB for a very interesting and challenging puzzle, which I hope I have got to the bottom of…a fitting addition to the ‘Genius‘ series…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/Parsing |
||
| * | SQUARES | Settles user’s Q&A easily (7)
anag, i.e. easily, of USERS QA |
||
| * | APE | Take off a lesson on sport (3)
A + PE (physical education, sport) |
||
| * | CONTAIN | Hold against corruption, mostly (7)
CON (against) + TAIN( |
||
| * | DAD(OES) | (i) & (ii) Cleans round plug in room’s wooden railings here? (6, split entry)
D_OES (cleans) around AD (advertisement, plug) |
||
| * | SCRIPT | Lines part after trimmed upholstery fabric (6)
SCRI( |
||
| * | ROW | Two thirds of staff wait to leave island in boat (3)
RO( |
||
| * | EXTRA | Minor player outside (5)
double defn. – an EXTRA can be a minor, usually non-speaking, actor in a film/play; and EXTRA as a prefix can mean outside of: extra-curricular, extra-marital…) |
||
| * | PUZZLE | Moan about unknowns – a crossword? (6)
PU_LE (whine, moan) around ZZ (z is often an unknown, e.g. in a mathematical equation) |
||
| * | PEA | Sounds like wee chickling? (3)
homophone, i.e. sounds like – PEA (of which chickling is a type) can sounds like PEE (wee) |
||
| * | ACROSS | What may be borne to the other side? (6)
A CROSS might be borne! |
||
| * | DOWNS | In the end crossword holds entries from the other list? (5)
D (the end of crossworD) + OWNS (holds) |
||
| * | OES | (ii) See (i) above (3)
see (i) |
||
| * | SNAKE | Cause to harness north wind (5)
S_AKE (cause) around (harnessing) N (north) |
||
| * | OUTBYE | It’s known I’m off to the mine shaft (6)
OUT (in the open, knowm) + BYE (I’m off!) |
||
| * | ABHOR | Cry right after muscle contracted; can’t stand (5)
AB (abdominal, muscle, ‘contracted!) + HO (interjection, cry) + R (right) |
||
| * | YESES | Bill’s got it backwards, that makes multiple agreements (5)
SESEY is a Shakespearean (i.e. Bill’s) exclamation, perhaps meaning ‘Got it!’, which becomes YESES backwards |
||
| * | BLEATER | One having grouse tipping pound at diner (7)
BL (lb, pound, tipped over) + EATER (diner) |
||
| * | THREE | Unfortunately there’s more than one or two (5)
anag, i.e. unfortunately, of THERE |
||
| * | REAPS | Cuts down on juice after cycling (5)
RE (regarding, on) + APS (sap, or juice, cycling first letter to last) |
||
| * | DONKEYS | Instrument to stop Godfather’s drug runners (7)
DON_S (godfathers) around (stopped by) KEY (locking/unlocking instrument) |
||
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/Parsing |
||
| * | QUODS | Improperly imprisons which Roman saint? (5)
QUOD (Latin, which) + S (saint) |
||
| * | ALTER | Maybe airbrush afterwards (giving Adele’s face slight lift) (5)
L( |
||
| * | SAND TRAP | Then in street hit hazard whilst driving (4,4)
S_T (street) around AND (then) + RAP (hit) [fairway hazard when driving off in golf!] |
||
| * | ENDOW | Leave wife following scrap, parted with nothing (5)
END (scrap) + O (nothing) + W (wife) |
||
| * | CLEAR | Easily grasped status in Scientology (5)
double defn. – something easily grasped might be CLEAR; and CLEARness is a state in Scientology, on the way to the ‘Bridge to Total Freedom’!) |
||
| * | IOTAS | Is moon spinning around satellite? (5)
IO (moon of Jupiter) + TAS (sat, or satellite, spinning around) [Is as in multiple I’s – with iota being the Greek letter for I] |
||
| * | UNWET | Dry note describing new novel (5)
U_T (first note of the sol-fa scale, equivalent to the do of do, re, mi) around (describing) NWE (anag, i.e. novel, of NEW) |
||
| * | ZESTY | Skinny set modelled wearing Zoey’s skirts? (5)
Z_Y (skirts, or outer letters, of ZoeY) around (wearing) EST (anag, i.e. modelled, of SET) [the zest of a lemon or orange being the skin, so zest-y = skin-ny!] |
||
| * | ADSORBED | Built up film of liquid on surface of sideboard when drunk? Not I! (8)
subtractive anag, i.e. drunk, of S( |
||
| * | ASSAYER | When announcer is analyst (7)
AS (when) + SAYER (announcer) |
||
| * | OTHER | Second seedy hotel changing hands (5)
substitutive anagram, i.e. seedy, of HOTE( |
||
| * | AT SEA | Lost flower, having trimmed borders (2,3)
( |
||
| * | EASTS | Ultimately nurse replacing second of spat-out son’s dummies? (5)
EAST (substitutive anagram, of S( [the East hand being a dummy hand in bridge?] |
||
| * | BLACK | One a couple beyond blue belt, regularly attacking, driving out six circling characters (5)
BL (regular letters from BeLt) + ( [a judo practitioner a couple beyond a blue belt would be a black belt?!] |
||
| * | EVERY | … forever yours, hugs and all (5)
hidden word in, i.e. hugged by, ‘forEVER Yours’ |
||
This was, indeed, a toughie but incredibly satisfying to, eventually, finish. I did have to collaborate with a fellow solver as neither of us felt capable of finishing it single-handedly.
Thanks to KGB and to mc for a thorough blog.