As this was a jigsaw-type puzzle, I am unable to format this the way that I normally do, as PeeDee’s otherwise excellent blogging interface is not set up to accommodate puzzles like this.
Apologies, therefore, if the formatting is not as clear as it could be. I’ve attached pictures of the solved puzzle (shadows were unavoidable and you probably need to zoom in a bit, sorry!).
To the puzzle: I always start jigsaws with trepidation, especially when there are more than 26 clues as it means that you can’t delete used initial letters, which normally makes solving a little easier. However, the solutions presented themselves at a fairly even pace, and the whole puzzle was finished in about half an hour. The clues are mainly excellent, with maybe a couple of very minor quibbles, and one solution that I can’t fully parse.
Solutions in order given by the setter are:
Support deleted boffin’s email folder (2-3)
- IN-BOX (this in the one I couldn’t fully parse)
Southfork open for development? Sold! (6,3)
- SPOKEN FOR (anagram of S FORK OPEN)
Flies to America (7)
- ZIPPERS (Cryptic definition)
Elects Putin at last, following Soviet revolution (5,2)
- VOTES IN (last letter of PUTIN following anagram of SOVIET)
Pink ‘un teaches new interns “no nonsense on this paper!” (4-5)
- FACT-SHEET (FT (pink ‘un) “interning” anagram of TEACHES)
Chemist behind back street in Dole (7)
- PASTEUR (PAST = behind + <=RUE (street in Dole, the town in France where Pasteur was born)
Checked the books of car firm Tesla (East Germany) (7)
- AUDITED (AUDI + T(esla) + E + D)
British acting school “gutted”; well, it has a point! (7)
- BRADAWL (B(ritish) + RADA + W(el)L
Old Python Cleese ultimately displays gem-like quality (7)
- OPALINE (O(ld) + (Michael)PALIN + (clees)E)
Czech oversensitive about poetry technique (4,5)
- ECHO VERSE (Hidden in “CzECH OVERSEnsitive”)
Spanish nobleman concealed a large ring (7)
- HIDALGO (HID A Lg. O)
Drench Tibetan ox, according to Spooner, to make original food parcel (4-3)
- YOLK-SAC (Spoonerism of SOAK YAK)
It’s dispensed over the bar on the rocks (7)
- JUST ICE (just ice = “on the rocks”)
Exposed backside after gentleman sent back Italian dish (7)
- RISOTTO (<=SIR + (b)OTTO(m) “exposed backside” ~ backside with no covers)
Making films in black and white often shown in theatre (1-6)
- X-RAYING (Cryptic definition)
Dance provocatively, resistance melting for a change (5)
- TWEAK (The R of TWERK replaced by A – On my grid, I put in TWEAK and TWERK, but on reflection, the wordplay definitely leads to TWEAK)
Monsieur, Etna is unstable for climbers (12)
- MOUNTAINEERS (Anagram of MONSIEUR ETNA)
Chicken soup supply is missing: investigate (5,2,2)
- CHECK UP ON (anagram of CHCKEN OUP – “chicken soup” minus” is)
A hard man – not a gentleman – turns up in Vladimir’s cottage (5)
- DACHA <=A H CAD) (A dacha is a cottage in some parts of Russia, hence “Vladimir’s cottage”)
Choose carefully – The Devil guards hellish pit! (7)
- NITPICK (NICK “guards” an anagram of PIT)
Escoffier’s special ingredient? (2,2,4,4)
- JE NE SAIS QUOI (Cryptic definition – Escoffier was a famous French chef, so his special ingredient would have been rendered in French)
Band hanger-on carries the can for rehab class (5,7)
- GROUP THERAPY (GROUPY “carries” THE RAP)
Arab state’s had a change of heart about United stars (7)
- QUASARS (QATAR’s with a change of heart – R to S – “about” U(nited))
Greek doctor had Latin translation of chiaroscuro (5,3,4)
- LIGHT AND DARK (Anagram of Gk. Dr. HAD LATIN)
Berlioz finally settled in Vienna to grow old and wrinkly (5)
- WIZEN ((berlio(Z) in WIEN – the German for Vienna)
University links allegedly create financial security (7)
- UNITISE (UNI + homophone of TIES)
Massage involving extreme pressure for joint protection (4,3)
- KNEE PAD (KNEAD “involving” E(xtreme) P(ressure)) Thanks, Julius, for confirming this.
I’m fed up, off and on, during whole midsummer (3,2,2)
- WOE IS ME (take alternative letters of “WhOlE mIdSuMmEr)
INBOX = brainbox (boffin) minus bra (support)
Thanks loonapick and special thanks to Julius for an ambitious puzzle which was a joy to solve. passerby got in first with regard to inbox.
Having started with ‘light and dark’ down the left hand side (it fitted with kneepad) I soon realised my error and printed out a fresh version and it was (highly enjoyable) plain sailing from there.
Less a stroll in the park, though, more a walk in the Black Forest. 🙂
I solved 3 of the 4 ones with 9 letters, and they could only be entered in one way. Then with 2 crossers in place I got the 4th one. Then it was plain sailing for me.
Thanks Julius, very good, as it combines my two favourite indoor pastimes.
MOUNTAINEERS was my first solve, followed by a few of the shorter ones and then GROUP THERAPY and JE NE SAIS QUOI in quick succession. A quick check of the initial letters that I had gave me enough to have a punt at the correct orientation of the G and the J and I was away. Especially liked YOLK-SAC, PASTEUR and QUASARS, and slapped my forehead at WOE IS ME – my LOI.
Lovely puzzle, and an especially good grid-fill – an alphabetical jigsaw in such a solver-friendly grid is a great achievement.
Thanks for the blog loonapick, and thanks to those who have commented.
I must apologise for the wording of the preamble, which is complete bobbins; the last word should read grid entry/solution and not clue.
In the wordplay for KNEE PAD, “ep”= “extreme pressure” is in Chambers- it’s a term used in grading of lubricants, apparently (who knew?)
regards to all,
Rob/Julius
Very enjoyable. I must say it took me somewhat longer than 30 minutes.
But as the late great Ronnie Scott would have said-if you enjoyed it half as much as I did, then I enjoyed it twice as much as you!!
Another work of art from Julius. Much easier than it seemed at first glance – the key was seeing that JE NE SAIS QUOI could only be the top row. UNITISE was last in.
Thanks to Julius and loonapick
Sorry, but I think this is unfair to solvers of a normal daily puzzle. The incomparable Araucaria (Cinephile on the FT) grouped the clues by initial letters of the answers. So should this have done.
Brilliant fun and a very rewarding solve – many thanks to Julius. Not nearly as daunting as it first appeared, and once the 9-letter words were fitted together the rest developed slowly but surely.
Goujeers @ 8
Why?
After all, there are no rules for setting crosswords.
And just because the (I agree, great) Araucaria did so, there’s no reason that any other solver should.
And the (slightly flawed in the presentation) recent FT Gozo gave the unnumbered clues in initial letter sequence, without stating what those initial letters were.
All fine by me, it’s a game between setter and solver, so if the puzzle is solvable that’s enough for me. YMMV (probably does!)
Good fun. Daunting at first but it all fell into place easily enough.
TWEAK/TWERK and X-RAYING (I wanted the entry to be X-RATING) held me up at the end.
Surely the preamble should have read “at the beginning of each *answer*” – anyway – I took it to mean that.
Same challenge as an Araucaria-style alphabetical – ie get lots of answers cold – then see what you can do with them. Maybe I was just lucky but with the application of a bit of logic I got the necessary toehold – the possible lack of which was what made it look daunting.
BTW – in the old Araucaria alphabeticals the preamsble didn’t actually say that the answer to each clue started with the indicated letter – to begin with the pattern emerged as you went along so you twigged what was intended – eventually we all knew that was the idea – even though it wasn’t explicitly stated.
I believe Araucaria is credited with having invented this style of puzzle.
@Goujeers
Completely understood. However, the FT grid library contains only three candidates for this type of puzzle (the last across light must be numbered 26) and they all have long perimeter lights. In this example, had the clues been listed by first letter, by solving the pair of J clues the solver would get another five starts immediately. Therefore, I jumbled the clues in an effort to rebalance the challenge.
I don’t know whether the Revd. gentleman set any alphabeticals in the FT as Cinephile, but if he did he would have faced the same issue. I don’t set for the Guardian, but there is a broader range of possibilities in the library there. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the puzzle, anyhow.
@Jolly Swagman
Yep; I’m very sorry about the preamble (see my comment @5)
@baerchen
Point taken about the grid library and the consequent problem with arranging clues by alphabetical order of solution. What I found very irritating once I got going was having to keep scanning the list for the correct length – so perhaps you could have ordered the clues by length of solution.
Agree with Chalmie @13 about ordering the clues by length of solution. Incidentally, there are a few errors in the blog as regards solution length etc.
CHECK UP ON 5,2,2 not 12
JE NE SAIS QUOI 2,2,4,4
LIGHT AND DARK 5,3,4
KNEE PAD 4,3
Sorry to NITPICK loonapick, but I have just been solving from the blog, hiding the underlining of the definition, it is clearer than my printout – now to fill the grid…
My apologies, Cookie – I was trying to fit the blog into my lunch break, so am surprised there aren’t more errors, to be honest. Now amended along with IN-BOX, although on most e-mail platforms, this would be INBOX?
Well, what can I say?
Firstly, chapeau to loonapick and all other solvers who did this in a (sort of) flash.
And secondly, chapeau to Julius for delivering this, in my opinion, toughie that perhaps should have been a Saturday Prize.
I am not very good at solving stand-alone clues.
Unlike in ‘normal’ alphabeticals there was nothing to hang on to (other than the grid).
It took me literally hours to find exactly half of the answers.
Because no two had the same starting letter, I could not make a start filling the grid.
There were so many 7-letter words that one was lost for choice.
Then I found JE NE SAIS QUOI, only by trying to find something French in the form 2,2,4,4.
I don’t think I liked this clue but I decided that that one should occupy the first row.
What followed was a domino effect, now helped by the grid that indeed turned out to be quite friendly.
In the end, they lived happily ever after.
So, Friday morning, one day after publication, done & dusted.
I wasn’t sure about EP for ‘extreme pressure’ but Julius cleared that up.
The quibbles that Chalmie and Jolly Swagman raised were similar to mine.
Slightly irritating to have the clues in seemingly random order, and indeed the last word of the preamble was unfortunate (though, clear enough).
All very well clued.
Perhaps, purists wouldn’t like the past tense ‘had’ in QUASARS.
Fun (and I’m glad I persevered).
Thank you Julius and loonapick (all is forgiven).
A lovely crossword. Solving the clues in order made it clear that the last five answers must start with K,L,U or W, or have a repeated letter. I could not solve the last clue, so started to fill in the grid. It was obvious that only JE NE SAIS QUOI could be across the top and the rest followed leaving WIZEN without a down entry starting with W. Looked again at the last clue and spotted WOE IS ME!
P.S. I forgot to say that I guessed the answer to the clue for OPALINE since it was clear it might begin with O, but could not parse it.
Thanks Julius and loonapick
Thought that this was a great challenge, especially the day before the ‘FT holiday’ when no puzzle is printed on Good Friday, so that there was extra time to solve if it was required. It certainly took me more than the half hour and needed three progressively longer sittings to get it out. Needed to solve about 12-13 clues cold before I could start entering them into the grid. My first one solved was OPALINE and it was the LIGHT AND DARK / KNEEPAD crossers that kicked off the actual entries into the grid.
Thought that all of the clues were very fair and a variety of devices made it a very enjoyable solve. Don’t understand the arguments with regard to the ordering of how the clues were listed – it really had no impact on where they were going to be placed in the grid. Agree with the setter that if the initial letters had been displayed with the clue, it would have then simplified it too much.
Finished up with JUSTICE, UNITISE and BRADAWL as the last few in.