A complex preamble to say the least. Two set s of clue amendments to produce two messages – extra letters to be removed from the clue and wordplay with an additional letter. Add an unusually shaped grid and two letter groups to find – with one to be written as a single word beneath the grid. I’m sure all will become clear after applying some logic.
Quite an odd experience with this one with two quick bursts of filling separated by a day – I ground to a halt after completing most of the top half of the grid. Proof that it’s often better to leave a puzzle and look again the following day.
The messages proved to be:
FILL IN THE BALLS
ERASE AND REORDER AS OUTCOME
The 6 O’s on the SW to NE diagonal appeared to be the balls in question – As to whether the other 4 O’s should be filled in I assumed not – though there is a certain slightly off symmetry to their placement.
The word placement in the preamble of spares and strikes and frame as the title got me to the theme of ten-pin bowling.
Following the 6 O’s the triangle in the NE corner spelled out
P
IN
TAR
GETS.
i.e. Pin Targets – So those should be erased and yield the anagram SPATTERING to be written beneath the grid. Or that’s what I think anyway.
Thanks Ifor for a puzzle that felt a little different to the norm and one I needed two sittings to complete.
Any assistance parsing 14ac greatly received.
Key;
Rev. reverse; DD Double definition; Underline definition;* anagram
| Across | ||
| 1 Fairy unfit to follow through (4) | ||
| F | 1 Fairy unit to follow through (4) | |
| Per (through) + I (unit) = PERI | ||
| 4 Movie trips for me and my kids, perhaps (5) | ||
| I | 4 Move trips for me and my kids, perhaps (5) | |
| (trips)* = STIRP | ||
| 8 Benedictine nun chasing a man from sacred garden (4) | ||
| E | A + dame(Benedictine nun) = ADAM | |
| 9 Arsenic contaminated compound in milk (6) | ||
| R | (arsenic)* = CASEIN | |
| 12 Pleasant corner maintaining temperature, thanks (6) | ||
| L | 12 Peasant corner maintaining temperature, thanks (6) | |
| Cor (corner) around t (temperature) + ta (thanks) = COTTAR | ||
| 13 Warnings breaking one down in the absence of protective father (6) | ||
| A | 1dn (palaestra – pa)* = ALERTS | |
| 14 Fathers not quite first to be settling to produce a meal (6) | ||
| L | 14 Fathers not quite first to be setting to produce a meal (6) | |
| BEGETS | ||
| 18 Japanese pasta cut short sounds fantastic (4) | ||
| S | (sounds-s)* = UDON | |
| 21 Herb sprinkled over almost everything (5) | ||
| E | (over)* + all (everything) – l = OVRAL | |
| 22 Feudal lord waiving religion, abandoning Latin after Sabbath (8) | ||
| I | 22 Feudal lord waving religion, abandoning Latin after Sabbath (8) | |
| S (Sabbath) + (religion – l) = SEIGNIOR | ||
| 23 Unfrocked canon admits false doctrine (8) | ||
| A | (canon admits – c-s)* = DONATISM | |
| 24 Exhausted alibi taken to upset legal principle (5) | ||
| 24 Exhausted alibi take to upset legal principle (5) | ||
| N | (ai + r (take) + to)* = RATIO | |
| 25 Help that is short and rendered poorly (4) | ||
| N | (ie (that is) + and)* = AIDE | |
| 26 Radio playing so melodiously (6) | ||
| D | (radio + so)* = ARIOSO | |
| 27 Deny use after firing a stun shot (6) | ||
| T | 27 Deny use after firing a sun shot (6) | |
| (use after – a – s)* = REFUTE | ||
| 30 Term one used as small part of speech (6) | ||
| R | (term one)* = TONEME | |
| 33 Unsophisticated innocent chasing another’s heart (6) | ||
| H | 33 Unsophisticated innocent casing another’s heart (6) | |
| Naive(innocent) around t (another’s heart) = NATIVE | ||
| 34 Educated move to the right side (4) | ||
| E | Ed (educated) + gee (move to the right) = EDGE | |
| 35 Tip of razor-sharp lance thrown with line speared shellfish (5) | ||
| E | 35 Tip of razor-sharp lance thrown with line spared shellfish (5) | |
| (r + lance – l)* = NACRE | ||
| 36 Costly ordeal nearly over (4) | ||
| O | (ordeal – l)* = DEAR | |
| Down | ||
| 1 Gym circuit reflecting returning skills after beach is rejected (9) | ||
| B | 1 Gym circuit reflecting returning skills after each is rejected (9) | |
| Rev. lap (circuit) + Rev. (ea (each)) + Rev. (arts (skills)) = PALAESTRA | ||
| 2 Extent of terra ignota (4) | ||
| R | (terra)* = RATE | |
| 3 Morbid about good news from the Gabba reverting to perplexing situation (9) | ||
| D | (morbid)* + g (good) + Rev. (oil (good news (Australian) = IMBROGLIO | |
| 4 Dropping cases regulated outside (4) | ||
| E | Ca(cases) in set (regulated) = SCAT | |
| 5 Met line of storms developing born in ugly riots (8) | ||
| R | (born + riots)* = ISOBRONT | |
| 6 Steep rent reversed (3) | ||
| A | Re. (tear (rent)) = RET | |
| 7 Amine stocked by hospitals (3) | ||
| A | 7 Mine stocked by hospitals (3) | |
| Hidden hosPITals = PIT | ||
| 10 Navy going to sea returned unused with reference to group of surface vessels (7) | ||
| S | n (navy) + Rev. (sea) + void (unused) = NAEVOID | |
| 11 Hospital abandons auger-hole after sorting out patient’s drainage problem (7, two words) | ||
| O | (auger-hole – h)* = GLUE EAR | |
| 15 Pleased, being second to have figured it out (9) | ||
| U | (figured it + a (second to have))* = GRATIFIED | |
| 16 Pieces of armour put on after retreating immediately to rear to dress (7) | ||
| T | Rev. (stat – immediately) + set (put on) + s (rear to dres)TASSETS | |
| 17 Train rumbles round curve, occasionally missing sleeper (9) | ||
| C | (rumbles)* around CuRvE = SLUMBERER | |
| 19 Like a lengthy verse turned into speech (7) | ||
| O | Odic (like a lengthy verse) + (into)* = DICTION | |
| 20 Ecological opening for two, one in common ground (8) | ||
| M | Bi (two) + (I + common)* = BIONOMIC | |
| 28 What pricks receipted lover, cutting the odds? (4) | ||
| L | 28 What pricks receipted over, cutting the odds? (4) | |
| Rev. rEcEiPtEd = EPEE | ||
| 29 Murder with blanks fired, pointed on target say (4) | ||
| L | 29 Murder with banks fired, pointed on target say (4) | |
| (murder – mr)* = URDE | ||
| 31 Bread van coming from next afternoon, not like it used to be (3) | ||
| E | N (van coming from next) + a (afternoon) + ne (not) = NAN | |
| 32 Menial worker’s mates snaked around (3) | ||
| S | 32 Menial worker’s mates naked around (3) | |
| Rev.(Mates – ms (naked)) = ETA | ||
Very relieved to see I wasn’t the only one to put SPATTERING.
I wasn’t sure about the other four balls either.
Thanks to Ifor and twencelas.
Re 14A, I think it might be BES(t) (not quite first) around GET (to produce a meal).