The rubric read: Thirty-two clues contain a letter that must be removed before solving. In clue order, these letters indicate (i) a modification that should be applied to the answers to nine normal clues before entry in the grid and to five adjacent cells lying in a straight line in the completed grid; and (ii) the word that must be entered in the grid to complete the puzzle. All grid entries are real words. Letter-counts refer to lengths of grid entries.
It took me a long time to get started on this one. (I now know that 1A and 6A were two of the nine modified answers, so starting at the top was not easy!) I stared at a grid with ARSENIATE, LOAF, GLUT and ANTHER in the bottom half for an unreasonable time. Returning to it later in the day certain clues became clear and the extra letters began to emerge, some in the definition, some in the wordplay. I also got the first one that had to undergo “a modification”, 30D NOTICEABLE. This had three letters to be removed – probably ICE leaving NOTABLE. Later I found the megaphone (6A) which I realised was LOUDHAILER from which HAIL (more ice) would be removed and the theme emerged in the extra letters, after quite a lot of reverse engineering, as ELIMINATION OF UNDESIRABLE ELEMENTS.
I started looking actively for things like snow, rain, fog etc. and the nine slowly emerged as follows:
| 1A | RESTRAINING |
| 6A | LOUDHAILER |
| 42A | MARTINGALE |
| 45A | SNOWBALL |
| 1D | MISTRUST |
| 5D | FOGGAGE |
| 23D | SWINDLING |
| 30D | NOTICEABLE |
| 38D | BARNSTORM |
All that remained was to eliminate the five-letter word mentioned in the rubric. There, in the middle of the grid, was CLOUD. This had to be eliminated as undesirable and replaced to complete the puzzle. The first letter of the replacement was P,M or K (ATO?). Second was T,W or U (S?ING). Third was R (WO?DY). Fourth was A or G (VEN?E) and the last was B,E,H,L,W or Y (?ARN).
The first word to emerge was MURAL, but this had no relevance that I could see. A second alternative was PURGE which could be defined as eliminate undesirable elements.
Now I had to write this blog. To do that I needed to finish parsing the six clues where I had question marks and to understand the title. I can see the Wipeout bit but not why it is Total. Maybe one of the setters is a Richard Hammond fan. Or, as the puzzle was published on the Bank Holiday weekend, maybe it refers to the typical British Bank Holiday weather!
Nice puzzle eXtent (eXternal and Serpent if I remember correctly), particularly for one about to sail to Holland overnight, where the elimination of undesirable elements, particularly fog, mist, rain, storm and gales would be very helpful. Snow and ice are not likely to worry us but wind, in reasonable quantities and in the right direction, is desirable!
The colours and shading in the grid are for illustration only.
Across |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition) [extra letter] | Answer [element] | Wordplay | X or element |
| 1 | Checking start of script in preparation for new role (7) | REST[RAIN]ING | S(cript) in RETRAINING | RAIN |
| 6 | Flash and shock enveloping both ends of large megaphone (6) | LOUD[HAIL]ER | LOUD (flash) + HAIR (shock) round L(arg)E | HAIL |
| 11 | Part of [e]pee bureaucrat conceals (4) | UREA | Hidden in beaUREAcrat | E |
| 12 | Swear and point the finger at [l]over without children and empty house (9) | BLASPHEME | BLAME (point the finger at) round (over = from one side to the other) SP (sine prole – without children) + H(ous)E | L |
| 13 | Par[i]ty growing in communities (6) | SOCIAL | Double definition – party and growing in communities | I |
| 15 | Red Muslim revolutionaries repelled tra[m]ps (6) | VERMIL | Hidden backwards in MusLIM REVolutionaries | M |
| 17 | Ma[i]d evaded heartless evil spirit (4) | DEEV | [EV(ad)ED]* – mad is anag ind | I |
| 19 | New In[n] affected a small amount (4) | HINT | HIT (affected) round N(ew) | N |
| 20 | Use brush with ne[a]t implement to catch insects (8) | SWEEPNET | SWEEP (use brush) + NET | A |
| 22 | Part of window frame with bits wrapped in [t]issue (8) | SCOINSON | COINS (bits) in SON (issue) | T |
| 24 | Gun shot ru[i]ns life (5) | RIFLE | [R(uns) + LIFE]* – shot is anag ind | I |
| 27 | Skunk leads to taking opiates and cocaine indiscriminately (4) | ATOC | [T(aking) O(piates) A(nd) C(ocaine)]* | |
| 29 | Position that’s been stitched up is something of little value (4) | DARN | Double definition (see DAMN for something of little value) | |
| 31 | What priest may do before death and [o]bit of Indian elephant (5) | ANELE | Hidden in IndiAN ELEphant | O |
| 33 | Setter’s ha[n]d taking credit away from institution’s ability to conceptualise (8) | IDEATION | I (setter) + ‘D (had) + (cr)EATION (institution = starting up) | N |
| 35 | One word meaning many build up case for Russian writer’s backing (8) | HYPERNYM | HYPE (build up) + R(ussia)N + MY (writer’s) reversed | |
| 37 | American win[o]’s first footwear (4) | GETA | A(merican) preceded by GET (win) | O |
| 39 | Surplus [f]lour’s beginning to be invested in corporation (4) | GLUT | GUT (corporation) round L (lour’s beginning) | F |
| 42 | Part of tack fixing a metal ring (6) | MARTIN[GALE] | [A METAL RING]* | GALE |
| 43 | Name given to female bird (6) | PHOEBE | Double definition: bird and girl’s name | |
| 44 | R[u]in tea brewed with sea salt (9) | ARSENIATE | [RIN TEA SEA]* | U |
| 45 | Mushroom cocktail (4) | [SNOW]BALL | Double definition – a cocktail and to grow greater | SNOW |
| 46 | Pathetic s[n]ob returned branded jeans without name (6) | SNIVEL | LEVIS (branded jeans) reversed round N(ame) | N |
| 47 | Anticipate[d] cost of service housing rose unexpectedly (7) | FORESEE | FEE (cost of service) round [ROSE]* | D |
Down |
||||
| No. | Clue (definition) [extra letter] | Answer [element] | Wordplay | X or element |
| 1 | Suspect new stretch limousine is losing oil, hence on the blink (4) | [MIST]RUST | STReTch liMoUSIne minus OIL HENCE anagrammed. i.e. [STRTMUSI]* | MIST |
| 2 | Not[e] totally bitter, ripped up provocative material (7) | EROTICA | ACI(d) (not all bitter) + TORE (ripped up) all reversed | E |
| 3 | [S]tone bridges are to weaken (5) | TAINT | TINT (tone) round (bridges) A(re) | S |
| 4 | African city a[i]d restricted by current embargo (6) | IBADAN | I (current) + BAN (embargo) round AD | I |
| 5 | Grass to choke feeding dinosaur, almost (4) | [FOG]GAGE | GAG (choke) in FOGE(y) (dinosaur, almost) | FOG |
| 7 | [R]aid to access banks in Poole occupying expert (6) | OPENER | P(ool)E in ONER (expert) | R |
| 8 | Short time in unsavoury p[a]lace to become familiar (5) | DEMON | MO (short time) in DEN (unsavoury place) | A |
| 9 | [B]leak season coming up (4) | EMIT | TIME (season) reversed | B |
| 10 | Manipulate treadle for ki[l]n (7) | RELATED | [TREADLE]* | L |
| 14 | Corps[e] lacking head to signify sacrificial place (6) | CENOTE | C (corps) + (d)ENOTE (signify, headless) | E |
| 16 | Ulcer on horse breaking wind from bottom (5) | RUPIA | UP (on horse) in AIR (wind) reversed | |
| 18 | Way to avoid a meeting place (5) | VENUE | AVENUE (way) minus A | |
| 21 | Perhaps like kindling romance daily on vacation (5) | WOODY | WOO (romance) + D(ail)Y (on vacation = after emptying) | |
| 23 | Square lecturer taken in by devious act of fraud (5) | S[WIND]LING | S(quare) + WINDING (devious) round L(ecturer) | WIND |
| 25 | Rid[e]s in auditorium exhibiting classical structure (6) | FRIEZE | Sounds like FREES (rids) | E |
| 26 | Whaler capsized with Viking go[l]d south of Malta, former Crown colony (7) | BAHAMAS | AHAB (whaler) reversed + M(alta) + AS (Viking god) | L |
| 28 | Love f[e]ast having a smell (5) | OLENT | O (love) + LENT (fast) | E |
| 30 | Cable tie with no plastic evident (7) | NOT[ICE]ABLE | [CABLE TIE NO]* – plastic is anag ind | ICE |
| 32 | German [m]a has room inside winter coat (6) | ERMINE | EINE (one, or a, in German) round RM (room) | M |
| 34 | Part of plan[e]t in grip of madman, the Republican (6) | ANTHER | Hidden in madmAN THE Republican | E |
| 36 | Average Italian ye[n]s for Zoroastrian descendant (5) | PARSI | PAR (average) + SI (Italian yes) | N |
| 37 | Earth [t]ends to granulate around worm (5) | GLOBE | G(ranulat)E (ends) round LOB (worm) | T |
| 38 | Force good man in Rambo cast to tour, giving performances (4) | BARN[STORM] | RN (force) + ST (good man) in [RAMBO]* | STORM |
| 40 | See alto and female [s]mooch (4) | LOAF | LO (see) + A(lto) + F(emale) | S |
| 41 | Remove learner driver submerged in river (4) | DELE | L(earner driver) in DEE (river) | |
A good one. Similar slow progress here, until my breakthrough in the lower left quadrant with BARN(STORM) and MARTIN(GALE). Even with that start, the surplus-weather words didn’t come easily … it was a long time before I finished them off with S(WIND)LING.
When extra letters seemed to be spelling “ELIMINATION … ELEMENTS”, I convinced myself it was going to be a quote from George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”, and that therefore the final substitution would be PURGE because the phrase was a euphemism for Stalinist purges. When CLOUD became visible I felt all vindicated – until I checked the Orwell essay and found he’d said “unreliable” not “undesirable”. All a red-herring distraction from mere dictionary definitions; but quite a useful one as it turned out.
Lots of thanks to eXtent and Hihoba.
Definitely on the tricky side. Even after working out what the message was supposed to read it still took me an age to work out what to do with the modified entries. If I’d got 33ac right first time it might have helped, admittedly, as 30d was one of the first of them I got, and of course none of the letters fitted. All in all an enjoyable challenge.
Inexplicably, for the longest time I stuck with ‘hailer’ as the answer to 6a (taking the F away from ‘flash’ to leave ‘lash’ and thus a generously doubled definition of hair) – even though I had quite early worked out that cold and wet weather was to be removed. One of those puzzles that stays tricky to the end, and I liked the slow emergence of the sinister subtext.
Thanks to eXtent for a terrific puzzle, and to Hihoba for 5d (there’s always one I can’t get).
As with David Langford @1, I started with BARN(STORM) and MARTIN(GALE) in the bottom left. And yes, the going was slow.
Decent enough puzzle, tho’ not as enjoyable as some. Having got the theme, and several of the “undesirable elements”, it was a bit dull digging out the last couple, inferring which clues they came from out of the few I had left to solve – not helped by having made the same mistake, and for the same reason, as Neil Hunter @3 (HAILER as the answer to 6a, with HAIR doubly defined, thus generating a spare F).
Thanks to setter(s) and blogger – enjoy the sailing.
The first two I found were WIND and GALE which initially led me to think that there was a Beaufort theme and all of the missing words would be wind-related. I did wonder how ‘HURRICANE’ might have been incorporated though. Seeing HAIL made me realise that the theme was more generic. I found it a struggle to locate the last few thematic words. Thanks to eXtent and Hihoba for the clear explanations.
Filled the grid except for mistRUST and fogGAGE which defeated me. I would not have guessed foggage but no excuse for mistrust as I had the wordplay deciphered and I had mist on my list of possible elements but for some reason I just couldn’t see the solution.
I didn’t find CLOUD due to my own illegible writing, but having seen the solution I think it might have been better to just call it a day after the clues were solved. It felt a bit strained and a pointless addition. Perhaps “Purge the Cloud” has some cultural connotation that I do not understand, in which case I apologize now.
I found this slow going all the way, even after guessing the theme, but it was satisfying to get close to finishing. Thanks to all.
A late response here owing to holidays, visitors and commitments getting in the way of keeping up to date with IQ.
Yes, a slow one but ultimately satisfying. BARN(STORM) & MARTIN(GALE) were also my way into the theme and I was comforted to note that others had fallen for a redundant F in 6A.
BTW, I think TOTAL in the title links the final entry of PURGE to the activities of a certain Mr Stalin.
Thanks to eXtent and Hihoba (all 5 of you?)