Charybdis provides this week’s IQ challenge.
The preamble: Solvers must find and highlight three related thematic two-word phrases (a total of 35 cells). A related phrase (3 words, including an apostrophe) must be considered self-referentially and acted upon to illustrate a thematically catastrophic event. This concerns the jumbled content of a correctly shaped item depicted as a single group of 13 cells in the filled grid, joined at cell edges and/or corners. Ignoring spaces, the final grid of 156 filled cells contains only real words or proper nouns.
As usual with IQs, reading through the preamble fills us with trepidation – can we ever make sense of it? At least in this particular IQ, the clues are apparently straightforward with no extra words, extra letters or misprints.
So, we set to solving the clues, some of which seemed surprisingly easy, but others were quite obscure – either unusual words as answers or unusual definitions. However, we eventually managed to fill the grid with no idea of the theme.
Looking at the completed grid, we noticed that we have FLASK in the top row and PHIAL in the first column, so we ‘investigoogled’ DEVIL’S FLASK and BOLOGNA PHIAL ….. and lo and behold, we discovered that there is such a thing as a BOLOGNA Bottle, also referred to as a PHIAL. This extraordinary object has great external strength- sufficient to use it as a hammer to drive in an nail, but even a small scratch in the inside causes it to shatter. It is apparently used in several magic effects, including the ‘DEVIL’S FLASK’.
So…. we had stumbled upon two of the three thematic 2-word phrases in the perimeter – we then checked BATAVIAN TEAR (in the last column) and found that this is a glass bead with a long neck that is strong enough at the bulbous end to withstand a hammer blow or a bullet(!), but disintegrates if the neck is broken – a similar concept to the Bologna phial – giving us the 35 perimeter cells to highlight.
The Batavian Tear is more commonly known as ‘PRINCE RUPERT’S DROP’ – the thematic 3-word phrase. We realised that PRINCE RUPERT’S would fit across the bottom row and we eventually found the 13 cells containing the jumbled letters forming the ‘shape of the item’.
The ‘catastrophic event’ occurs when the bead shatters and the pieces DROP (part of 22ac) to the bottom line, creating new words at 36, 32, 37, 26, 33, 39 and 28 down, with the empty cells forming new words at 13, 17, 24, 26 & 30ac and 11, 3, 21, 4, 6, 15 & 27d.
We had never come across the extraordinary BOLOGNA PHIAL before – so many thanks to Charybdis for the science lesson! Click
here for a video demonstration of this remarkable glass container!
ACROSS
2. Skivvies dwelt round back of stables (6)
DEVILS
A reversal (”round’) of LIVED (dwelt) + S (last letter or ‘back’ of stables)
6. Knocking to include edge of glass decanter (5)
FLASK
FLAK (‘knocking’ – as in criticism) round (‘including’) S (last letter or ‘edge’ of glass)
10. On the way over, guillotined men of straw (5)
OATEN
A reversal (‘over’) of TAO (‘the way’ – in Taoism) + mEN missing the first letter (‘guillotined’)
12. Red Sea represented as its pale complement? (6)
RESEDA
An anagram (‘represented’) of RED SEA – a pale green colour, the complementary colour to red
13. A selection of fairly resonant shells (5)
LYRES
Hidden (‘a selection of’) in fairLY RESonant
14. Maintain audio-visual overview on vacation (4)
AVOW
AV (audio-visual) OvervieW missing the middle letters (‘on vacation’)
16. Test and Trace initially’s included without a phone message (4)
TEXT
T T (first or ‘initial’ letters of Test and Trace) round (‘including’) EX (without)
17. Japanese dish as part of sacrament (5)
RAMEN
Hidden (‘part of’) in sacRAMENt
18. With no trace of vacuum I avoid circulating fungal spores (5)
OIDIA
An anagram (‘circulating’) of I AvOID without the ‘v’ (first letter or ‘trace’ of vacuum)
20. Trinkets of China travel by ship (4)
GOSS
22. Soviet leader to fall in one short month (8)
ANDROPOV
DROP (fall) in A (one) NOV (‘short’ month – November)
23. Boy returns with hard tack (4)
NOSH
A reversal (‘returns’) of SON (boy) + H (hard)
24. According to Georgia Stokes it’s a short service before mass (8)
ASPERGES
AS PER (according to) GE (Georgia) S (Stokes)
25. Soul shown by monarch that used to be Prince (5)
AMEER
AME (soul) ER (Queen Elizabeth – ‘monarch that used to be’)
26. Sea squirts and large fish surrounding island catamaran (8)
TUNICATA
TUNA (large fish) ‘surrounding’ I (island) CAT (catamaran)
29. Risk of soft stale Italian bread being returned (5)
PERIL
P (soft) + a reversal (‘being returned’) of LIRE (old – ‘stale’ – Italian currency or ‘bread’)
30. Solid fat and bits of adipose refuse kept in big mug (7)
STEARIN
A R (first letters or ‘bits’ of adipose refuse) ‘kept’ in STEIN (‘big mug’)
31. Worker holds company in France and a ranch in Spain (8)
HACIENDA
HAND (worker) round (‘holding’) CIE (‘company in France’) + A
35. Dye compound from India applied to silk (6)
ISATIN
I (India in the phonetic alphabet) SATIN (silk)
38. Former dancer reportedly giving hard look that’s old-fashioned (6)
ASTARE
A homophone (‘reportedly’) of ASTAIRE (Fred Astaire – ‘former dancer’)
40. A noble uncrowned biblical figure (5)
AARON
A bARON (noble) missing the first letter (‘uncrowned’)
41. A nice gal, if flighty? (8)
ANGELICA
A clue-as-definition: an anagram (‘flighty’) of A NICE GAL
42. A city to avoid (5)
DODGE
43. Prospective life partner? Look again when on the rebound (6)
KEEPER
A reversal (‘on the rebound’) of REPEEK (‘look again’)
DOWN
1. Record breaking goods in Italian town (7)
BOLOGNA
LOG (record) in (‘breaking’) BONA (goods)
2. Final judgement giving refuge for a year in communal area (7, 2 words)
DAY ROOM
DOOM (‘final judgement’) round (‘giving refuge to’) A YR (year)
3. Pays out for shifts (5)
VEERS
4. Transport animals – not very big returns when smuggling one (6)
LLAMAS
A reversal (‘returns’) of SMALL (not very big) round (‘smuggling’) A (one)
5. Cardinal quits on sabbath (5)
SEVEN
EVEN (‘quits’) after (‘on’) S (sabbath)
6. Leafy hideaway in cover (8)
FRONDENT
DEN (hideaway) in FRONT (cover)
7. Alcoholic drink – essentially an aniseed-flavoured one (4)
ASTI
Middle (‘essential’) letters of pASTIs (aniseed-flavoured alcoholic drink)
8. Fruit pip preposterously large? This one’s very small, hard and round (9, 2 words)
SEED PEARL
PEAR (fruit) SEED (pip) swapped over (‘preposterous’) + L (large)
11. Saints splitting more faithful – one packs up (7)
TRUSSER
SS (saints) in (‘splitting’) TRUER (more faithful)
15. Concerned with circular letter rider distributed (7)
WORRIED
W (with) O (circular letter) + an anagram (‘distributed’) of RIDER
19. “Birdy” displaying crest of amber, from beneath mostly green (5)
AVIAN
A (first letter or ‘crest’ of amber) + a reversal (‘from beneath’) of NAIVe (green) missing the last letter (‘mostly’)
21. Standard Latin term for farse in old speech (5)
PARLE
PAR (standard) L (Latin) E (last letter or ‘term’ of farse)
26. Shawl fashion’s navy and silver (6)
TONNAG
TON (fashion) N (navy) AG (silver)
27. One domesticated animal let loose several others (6)
CATTLE
CAT (domesticated animal) + an anagram (‘loose’) of LET
28. Row over church organ stop (6)
TIERCE
29. A sample of morphia liquid in this bottle? (5)
PHIAL
Hidden (‘a sample of’) in morPHIA Liquid
32. Eccentric comb (4)
CARD
33. Take some food in evening (4)
DINE
Hidden (‘some’) in fooD IN Evening
34. Generate a rupture in part? (4)
TEAR
A clue-as-definition: Hidden (‘part’) in generaTE A Rupture
36. Monkey reported to have no tail (3)
SAI
SAId (reported) missing the last letter (‘having no tail’)
37. A number for the auditor in addition (3)
TOO
A homophone (‘for the auditor’) of TWO (number)
39. A letter in bishop’s office (3)
SEE
Having filled the grid I had a problem at first finding any recognisable phrases, let alone three of them, and I was slow to realise that it was worth looking up anything that reads like a phrase. For me it was “Devil’s flask” that opened up that fascinating new subject featuring the Bologna phial, the Batavian tear and Prince Rupert’s drop. It was clear where PRINCE RUPERT’S had to go, but it was not easy to work out exactly which set of (relevant) letters to select for removal, although the C of CATTLE (and of PRINCE) was pretty certain to be one of them, leaving ATTLEE going down, so it was worth building on that. I found the tail (S-P-R-R) last of all. I had to admire the execution of the whole theme, and especially the creation of so many new words or names – an impressive achievement.
Many thanks to Charybdis and Bertandjoyce.
I can’t remember when I last filled an IQ grid so rapidly, but I then ground immediately to a complete stop and stayed there. A “phrase” in my mind has the connotation of being an idea rather than a thing, so it never occurred to me that Devil’s Flask or Bologna Phial might be phrases; if they’d been described as objects I think I would have found them. My lack of imagination. But I have now enjoyed finding out about the curious physical properties of these glass containers, so thanks to Charybdis and Bertandjoyce.