It must be 30-plus years since I last drew a CIRCUIT DIAGRAM, in ‘O’ and ‘A’ level physics, so this offering from Granville (a new setter on the scene?) had me thinking OMG (‘Ohm’ My Goodness!)…do I have the capacitance to solve this, or will the puzzle put up too much resistance?…I need to get the blog done by next ‘Faraday’ evening…
(That’s enough puns, Ed…) The preamble states that:
“In CIRCUIT DIAGRAM, each clue contains a word from which one or more consecutive letters must be deleted before solving (in 12 cases, an entire word), the mutilated clue containing only real words. In clue order the deleted letters identify the subject of the puzzle; solvers must connect the shaded cells in an appropriate way to illustrate the subject. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended ”
‘Mutilated’ sounds a bit extreme – but the only practical approach seemed to attack the clues and see what might transpire…
First to go was 16A with the ‘flipping swine’ (GIP) holding a queen (R) looking like BAG, instead of BRAG – so a single-letter mutilation there. Then 6D had to be a PIG’S EAR – with ES the extra letters. And so on, with some quick wins, a few others put on the back (Bunsen) burner…
After a few returns to this during the week, I didn’t seem to be making much progress, and it was only on the train to work the following Monday that I had a bit of an LBM (light bulb moment). 1A and 8A seemed to be two of the entire word cases – RED and GATE – and 29D and 32D similarly had HEAT and CROFT. This didn’t look like it was going to be a phrase or quotation, but given that I still thought we were in the realms of physics/electrical circuits, I wondered if Messrs REDGATE and (W?)HEATCROFT might be famous physicists/electrical scientists…
Fortunately for me, the subsequent Go-ogle search came up trumps – REDGATE and WHEATCROFT (STRAIGHT) are parts of the DONINGTON PARK race track – and we are talking a different type of ‘circuit’! From here, things fell into place rather quickly, with a few swerves and skids on oil patches – and a couple of pit-stops to take on solving fuel.
So the extra letters/words list all the curves/straights around the track, and the shaded cells spelled out DONINGTON PARK:
Fantastic grid and clue construction, to fit in so much thematic material, and a pretty-much perfect shape fit as well. (Is it just me, or does that look like the front end of a whale?…)
I can’t find any other puzzles on the site from this setter, so if this is a debut (rather than ‘Granville’ being a composite of existing regular setters?) then welcome, and quite an opening lap!
NB. This brought to mind EV 1283, which I blogged back in July – tracing the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway…ok, maybe a more serene subject, but the linking of geographical points and an obvious affinity for the subject matter shine through in both.
NB2. I did have a bit of a ‘flat tyre’ with 3D – USER is confirmed by four crossing letters, but I couldn’t parse this devious clue – any assistance welcomed in the comments below…
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Extra letter(s) | Entry | Clue (definition underlined, extra (let)ters in bold) / Logic/Parsing |
| 1 | RED | ROUNDUPS | Spur(red) don on to hold posh gatherings (8) / ROUND_PS (anag, i.e. on, of SPUR(RED) DON, around (holding) U (posh, not non-U!) |
| 8 | GATE | MNEME | Recall yours truly holding (gate)men back (5) / M_E (ypurs truly) arund NEM ((GATE)MEN, back) |
| 13 | CRANE | SCENIC | Picturesque church by small (crane) and unfinished jail (6) / S (small) + CE (Church of England) + NIC(K) (unfinished jail) |
| 14 | R | RYA RUG | A year back, uncovered drugs in Nordic ma(r)t (6, two words) / RYA (A + YR – year – back) + (D)RUG(S) (uncovered dRUGs) |
| 15 | CU | STEW | Old scholar studied the Egyptian world’s first (cu)bits (4) / first letters ((cu)bits) of ‘Studied The Egyptian World’) |
| 16 | R | GRIP | Flipping swine holding queen in b(r)ag (4) / G_IP (PIG, swine, flipping) around (holding) R (Regina, queen) |
| 18 | VES | GRATES | Do(ves) over stage with take in cages (6) / G_ATES (anag, i.e. do(ves) over, of STAGE) around R (recipe, Latin, ‘take’) |
| 20 | OLD | VIVACE | Lively police unit boxing against (old) academy (6) / VI_CE (police unit, Vice Squad) around (boxing) V (versus), against) + A (?old? academy) |
| 21 | HAIR | TORTURER | Retro (hair)cut hampering routine about Iron Maiden fan? (8) / TOR_ER (anag, i.e. (hair)cut, of RETRO) around (hampering) TUR (rut, routine, about) |
| 23 | PIN | ET AL | (Pin)ta breaks the heart of Celt and others (4, two words) / E_L (centre, or heart, of cELt) around (brken by) (PIN)TA |
| 25 | STAR | SEEM | Appear a little madam after (star) notice (4) / SEE (notice) + M (first letter of, or a little of, madam) |
| 28 | KEYS | AUTOMATA | Car (keys) assistant cut with advanced machines (8) / AUTO (car) + MAT€ (assistanct, cut) + A (advanced) |
| 30 | BRIDGE | RAPIER | Weapon support with artillery at (bridge)head (6) / RA (Royal Artillery) at (bridge)head of PIER (support) |
| 31 | M | NETTLE | (M)anger that’s rather stingy? (6) / double defn. to NETTLE can be to (m)anger someone, and a NETTLE can be rather sting-y |
| 34 | CLEANS | SAND | Polish hospital (cleans) department (4) / SAN (sanatorium, hospital) + D (department) |
| 35 | C | MINE | Quarry on(c)e covered with working men (4) / M_NE (anag, i.e. working, of MEN) around (covering) I (on(c)e) |
| 36 | OPP | DE TROP | Nancy’s in the way, annoying p(opp)et or daughter (6, two words) / anag, i.e. annoying, of P(OPP)ET + OR + D (daughter) |
| 37 | ICE | PLANAR | Not(ice) pretty individual leaving Arabic flat (6) / PLA(I)N (not pretty, with I – one, individual – leaving) + AR (Arabic) |
| 38 | STARK | DREAD | Fear finale of (stark) naked lecture (5) / D (finale of nakeD) + READ (study) |
| 39 | EY | SERGEANT | Officer Green sat with a whisk(ey) (8) / anag, i.e. with a whisk(ey), of GREEN SAT |
| Down | |||
| Clue No | Extra letter(s) | Entry | Clue (definition underlined, extra (let)ters in bold) / Logic/Parsing |
| 1 | SS | RESETS | Tre(ss)es plastered with special gels again (6) / anag, i.e. plastered, of TRE(SS)ES + S (special) |
| 2 | TRA | OUTGO | Expenditure that isn’t (tra)in travel (5) / OUT (something that isn’t (tra)in) + GO (travel) |
| 3 | IGHT | USER | He(ight) exercises lacking in height(4) / ?I can see ‘he exercises’ as the definition for ‘USER’, but can’t make ‘lacking in height’ work – it could be USHER lacking H – with things overlapping a bit, but an usher directs, rather than exercises…? |
| 4 | THE | DENTURES | Wallies sent (the) rude snaps (8) / anag, i.e. snaps, of SENT RUDE |
| 5 | ES | UNDER WRAPS | German article reveals host(es)s kept quiet (10, two words) / UN_WRAPS (reveals) around (hosting) DER (the, article, in German) |
| 6 | SES | PIG’S EAR | As(ses) gripe about botched job? (7, two words) / anag, i.e. about, of AS(SES) GRIPE |
| 7 | MEL | PRIVATE WAR | (Mel)low soldier bitter about illegal conflict (10, two words) / PRIVATE ((mel)low soldier) + WAR (raw, bitter, about) |
| 9 | B | NAÏVE | Primitive (b)one found in part of church (5) / NAVE (part of church) around I ((b)one) |
| 10 | OUR | ERRATA | Mistakes are on the up, (our) informant charges (6) / ER_A (ARE, on the up) around (charged by) RAT (informant) |
| 11 | NE | MUSCA | Star group wants sweet wine, but no(ne) finish (5) / MUSCA(T) – sweet wine, with no(ne) finish |
| 12 | H | EGO | Unwrapped gel to repair one’s s(h)elf (3) / E (gEl unwrapped, with outer letters removed) + GO (repair to) |
| 17 | AIR | PILOTING | In control of craft stacking round (air)port regularly (8) / PIL_ING (stacking) around OT ((air)pOrT, regularly) |
| 19 | PIN / G | TRUNDLE | (Pin/g) number date left in trusty old truck (7) / TRU_E (trusty) around N (number) + D (date) + L (left) |
| 22 | ODD | REPUTE | Name (odd) tree a plum tree, after taking occasional samples (6) / occasional samples (letters) from ‘tReE a PlUm TrEe’ |
| 24 | ARD | LAMENT | Mourn (ard)our leaving love affair, fast to get over that! (6) / L_ENT (fast) around (getting over) AM (am(our), love affair, losing (ard)our) |
| 26 | S | EAGER | Finally notice(s) German nurses are up for it (5) / E (last letter of noticE(s)) + Ger (German), around (nursing) A (are) |
| 27 | W | MIKRA | Old units (w)arm up to take on heads of Islamic kalifate (5) / M_RA ((w)ARM, up) around (taking on) IK (leading letters of Islamic Kalifate) |
| 29 | HEAT | TENON | Tense nurse against joint (heat) projection (5) / T (tense0 = EN (Enrolled Nurse0 = ON (against) |
| 32 | CROFT | LIRA | Lara (Croft) prefers one to first advance money (4) / L(A)RA with I (one) for A (first letter of Advance) = LIRA |
| 33 | STRAIGHT | ADD | Put in a dope-fiend’s (straight)jacket (3) / A + DD (jacket, or outside letters, of Dope-fiend) |
I think Granville is a combo of Serpent and someone else.
I wasnt familiar with the subject but got it from the anagrind of shaded letters. And I googled it and there it was to be traced. My artwork wasnt up to much but I do admire the skill of the whole thing.
Circuit Diagram was indeed a joint effort, by Hoskins and Serpent (first names David and Jason, respectively, hence the pseudonym).
Thanks to mc_rapper67 for the excellent blog. There was a misprint in 3d, which should have read Height exercises attendant lacking in height, so it’s unsurprising you couldn’t parse it! (It’s strange because my copy of the final proof has the correct clue.)
I can confirm that “attendant” was in the clue for 3D in the newspaper copy.
I assume the omission was on the website.
Thanks for the comments and feedback – and to Jason/Serpent for explaining ‘Granville’.
I tend to print the EV from the Telegraph puzzle site as my working copy – because it is available just after midnight on the Saturday – and this was missing ‘attendant’ in 3D.
I also subscribe to the e-paper (to get the Griddler, which isn’t included on the puzzle site, for some strange reason) and I now see that the (e)paper version does include ‘attendant’ – as Cap’n P’ng’n points out.
A case of the (recently) lesser-spotted EV gremlin?!