Eclogue is quite a frequent setter, his last two puzzles were the New Year’s Eve puzzle about the dinner sketch, watched religiously in Germany every year, and the Red Dwarf puzzle, so I had high hopes!
Eclogue provided the clues verbally, but each contains one word which has been misheard by the editor, while two clues were missed altogether. The initial letters of the correct words in clue order spell out most of a thematic list, the missing items from which must be highlighted in a contiguous arrangement of the theme.
The device of a “misheard” word in each clue, rather than extra letters or misprints etc. to give a list was new to me and turned out to be pretty tricky. I eventually had to reverse engineer most of them, and am still not sure I have them all correct. As a solver, it really does not matter as long as you have the right first letter but, as a blogger, I have to try to be accurate. I have put a question mark? by the doubtful ones, and would be grateful for improved suggestions. Some of my resulting clues do not make much sense, e.g. 37A with phare for fair. I have failed to parse 1A, so help is required. [Ho is still in hospital, so I lack my usual assistant. Hi]
Some simply flagged anagrams got me started (CUPULAR and DUPLICAND for instance). PILUM came from schoolboy Latin and I was away. Several hours later, I had a filled grid, a few obvious “misheard” words, and the names CORBETT and BARKER in the unclued spaces. The Two Ronnies was a “must watch” in our house. Their most famous sketch, possibly the best known sketch in all comedy, is the “Four Candles” sketch which you can read here and watch here. Ronnie Corbett is the harassed shopkeeper, Ronnie Barker the customer who asks for a series of items which are misheard/misunderstood by the shopkeeper. This is the same device as in the clues. Famously “four candles” is asking for “fork ‘andles – ‘andles for forks”.
The sketch continues with PLUGS (rubber, bathroom/’firteen amp), SAW TIPS (ointment for sore tips/tips to protect saw blades – out of stock), ‘OES (hoes/hose/letter Os), PEES (letter Ps/tins of peas), WASHERS (dishwashers, floor washers, car washers, windscreen washers, back scrubbers, lavatory cleaners/tap washers), and terminates with BILLHOOKS (misread). The comedy timing in the sketch, particularly by Ronnie Corbett is legendary.
All these items, except the four candles, are found in the list formed by the misheard words. There is a lack of consistency about whether the listed items are the actual item (saw tips) or the misheard item (pees). In addition there is a missing S at the end of BILLHOOKS. The missing items are the FOUR CANDLES.
I spent a while fruitlessly searching for the word FOUR to go with (Roman) CANDLES and it was only when I spotted the word CANDLE going down, starting in square 22, that I realised that I was looking for four occurrences of the word CANDLE which I duly found in a square at the bottom right in four different directions.
The final piece of the jigsaw was the title – IVY. IV = four, and the Menorah (the Jewish candle holder) is in the shape of a Y. Four Candles? The best I can come up with. Perhaps someone has a better idea.
Thanks to Eclogue for an intriguing twist, a nicely constructed grid and some clues which were easier to solve than to explain when solved!
Across |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue, definition, [misheard], replacement | Answer | Wordplay | |
| 1 | Dust carrier, second to [fill] p? in for one toilet (6) | ASH-CAN | CAN is toilet, but I don’t understand the ASH part. Any offers? See comment #3 | P |
| 5 | [Luce] Loose one caught round South Africa blues treated with this? (6) | PROZAC | PRO might be prostitute (loose one?) + C(aught) round ZA (South Africa) | L |
| 9 | Part of framework of landau in odd spots behind [yews] Us, initially (4) | ULNA | {framework = skeleton}: U(s) + L(a)N(d)A(u) (odd letters) | U |
| 10 | Naked Lady, [new] gnu initially over prima donna (6) | GODIVA | G(nu) + O(ver) + DIVA (prima donna) | G |
| 12 | Plaguesome [ceiling] sealing fits (4) | AGUE | Hidden in plAGUEsome | S |
| 13 | [Chute] Shoot? up a curl on part of tree fruit? (7) | CUPULAR | [UP A CURL]* How does shoot = anagram? | S |
| 14 | European [heir] air of peace almost a month in Israel (4) | ELUL | E(uropean) + LUL(l) (air of peace almost) | A |
| 15 | This [one] won battles for Rome, turning cheek with hesitation (5) | PILUM | LIP (cheek) reversed + UM (hesitation) | W |
| 16 | What Ian may take for starters? Will’s small boat that is barge taking [tern] turn, Indo-European (12) | COCKIELEEKIE | COCK (cockboat is an old word for a small boat – though there is no reference to Shakespeare in Chambers) + IE (that is) + KEEL (barge) reversed + I(ndo)-E(uropean) | T |
| 19 | [Aisle] Isle having length cut after one more old primitive life-form appears (6) | AMOEBA | A (one) + M(ore) + O(ld) + E(l)BA (isle minus Length) | I |
| 21 | Cook up [fays] phase in goblin ventures (6) | INVENT | Hidden in goblIN VENTures | P |
| 22 | Most evasive in fact [ceding] seeding bed (6) | COYEST | YES (in fact) in COT (bed) | S |
| 24 | They make stars of person who is [wholly] holy intoxicated, it’s said, with the French (12, 2 words) | ROMAN CANDLES | ROMAN (I’m not entirely sure that Roman = holy!) + CAND (sounds like canned = drunk) + LES (the French) | H |
| 28 | Remote Scots colouring rocket at top of [hour] our (5) | WALDO | {Remote control is a waldo}: WALD (Scots yellow dye) + O(ur) | O |
| 30 | In vain, lion [accepted] excepted old yen (4) | IDLY | ID(o)L (lion? Chambers has a person much sought after) minus O(ld) + Y(en) | E |
| 32 | Where [scows] Scouse may be detected in a new country? (7) | ANFIELD | A + N(ew) + FIELD (country) | S |
| 33 | Decline [pail] pale with base (4) | WANE | WAN (pale) + E (base) | P |
| 34 | [High’s] Eye’s left learner occupying tough bird (6) | HARELD | E (Eye’s left) + L(earner) in HARD (tough) | E |
| 35 | [Exorcise] Exercise in Indian dance, returning Hindu at first to choky (4) | NACH | H(indu) + CAN (choky) all reversed (returning) | E |
| 36 | Link [cited] sited in score of shocks (6) | TRESSY | TRY (score) round ESS (a link in a chain) | S |
| 37 | Opts for [fair] phare? conclusion by the Parisian court section (6) | ELECTS | (phar)E + LE (the Parisian) + CT (court) + S(ection) | P |
Down |
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| No. | Clue, definition, [misheard], replacement | Answer | Wordplay | |
| 1 | Measure of fabric in Paris once, before taking in first of [earnings] urnings?, euros initially (4) | AUNE | AN (before) round U(rnings) + E(uros) | U |
| 2 | Zig-zag course also oddly includes left [mail] male (6) | SLALOM | [ALSO]* round L(eft) + M(ale) | M |
| 3 | [Sued] Pied or Puréed? union – lack of sleep at sea (5) | CAULK | [LACK U]* See comment #1 | P |
| 4 | [Ceres] Series involved in drainage systems for a long time (4) | AGES | Hidden in drainAGE Systems | S |
| 6 | Reinforcing iron [rung] wrung containing mixture (7) | RIPIENO | [IRON]* round PIE (mixture) | W |
| 7 | United love [eyrie] aerie or airy? egg (5) | OVULE | [U LOVE]* | A |
| 8 | Excellent [cete’s] seats school trumpeter (5) | AGAMI | GAM (school) in AI (excellent) | S |
| 11 | [Island’s] Highland’s old double annuity? Land Cupid in trouble (9) | DUPLICAND | [LAND CUPID]* | H |
| 13 | Process Roccella, then start to [use] ewes? primer (9) | CLEARCOLE | [ROCELLA + E(wes)]* | E |
| 17 | [Write] Right to block common underground storage structure (4) | CORM | COM(mon) round R(ight) | R |
| 18 | It’s cool for Will sending up glossy expression of [chic] sick? at first (4) | KEEL | (s)LEEK (glossy) minus S(ick) reversed. See comment #1 | S |
| 19 | Cabaret’s [bazaar] bizarre to revive forgotten ideas (7) | ABREACT | [CABARET] | B |
| 20 | Unfortunately bird seen to lose [eyes] Is at first in razzles (7) | BENDERS | [B(i)RD SEEN]* | I |
| 23 | [Lock] Loch in witness with deed lacking a choice (6) | SELECT | L(och) in SEE (witness) + (a)CT (deed minus A) | L |
| 25 | It could be [layered] laird or new, when refreshed (5) | OWNER | [OR NEW]* | L |
| 26 | [Hire] Higher? van with accepted assumed name (5) | ALIAS | SAIL (see van(4) in Chambers) + A(ccepted) all reversed (higher?) | H |
| 27 | Abbott, perhaps, not with [Hon] on? Edwina (5) | DIANE | [ED(w)INA]* but how does on = anagram? See comment #7 | O |
| 29 | Area Welsh daughter left [hoed] ode in Anglesey? (4) | AWDL | A(rea) + W(elsh) + D(aughter) + L(eft) | O |
| 31 | Upper-class twits? Unknown has [nits] knits (4) | YAHS | Y (unknown) + [HAS]* | K |
Like you I think, Hi, I found this had enjoyable elements but overall felt a bit messy, with a number of loose ends. I share many of your question marks. My thinking for 1A was Ah = Phwoar, which at a stretch could by synonymous from their definitions in Chambers. So second (s) to fill in phwoar (ah) makes the ASH. Elsewhere, I had use rather than Us at 9A, sheikh at 18D, which can have the same phonetic spelling as chic according to Chambers, and a speculative pseud at 3D.
I thought the title was probably just meaning that when read aloud ivy = IV, with the candles (in the shape of a #, hence a number?) appearing in the grid.
Hope all is well. Thanks to both Hi and Eclogue.
I had 1a as PHIL instead of FILL.
Sorry. Pressed ENTER too soon.
AS (for one)+pHil+CAN
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m sure there will be more! I like your thinking for 1A kenmac. I was torn between Us and use, OPatrick, but neither seemed to make a lot of sense in the amended clue!
I remember seeing one of Ronnie B’s final appearances in which he said he was never quite satisfied with BILLHOOKS as the final denouement of the sketch, and realised that he should have had a female assistant come on and the final item should have been KNOCKERS!
kenmac’s 1A is much better, I definitely cede that one.
OPatrick and kenmac I have flagged your suggestions in the table.
27d. On = ‘on the way to being drunk’ (Chambers). I have seen that used before.
Thanks Capricornis, also flagged.
Thanks Eclogue for another fun puzzle. I really liked the novel mechanism of using homophones in the clues, although I guess over the course of the entire puzzle it started to get a little stretched.
37a. FAYRE?
7d. I thought it was EERIE as an anagram indicator.
Cheers Hi for the rather fiddly blog!
Sorry Kippax, 37a must start with P, 7d with A
Ah, sorry. I hadn’t managed to work out the whole set of items and clearly ought to have paid more attention before posting!
I suspect I’ve probably just over-thought things, but I opted for a different highlighting at the close. As the list of items contained both the items required, and misheard versions, it seemed to me ambiguous what we should be highlighting – four candles, or fork ‘andles. I also didn’t see how highlighting the four candles could represent a “contiguous arrangement of the theme”. Figuring that the arrangement in the SE corner could be described as being fork(ed), I eventually after much agonising highlighted four ‘ANDLES, reasoning that would represent a contiguous arrangement of the theme.
Elsewhere I also had loads of question marks beside the misheard words throughout, so was less than certain my list was correct.
All in all an enjoyable puzzle, but a little ambiguous for me in terms of outcome. Perhaps it would have been preferable if the list of items had either been the correct items, or the misheard versions, but not a mixture of the two. The missing S off the final item also didn’t instill much confidence.
16a: In my Chambers app on my iPhone, I see:
cock (3) /KOK/ (Shakespeare)
noun
A cockboat
7d: maybe ‘airy (hairy)
Also, thanks to Eclogue for a fun puzzle with a PDM I’ll remember. And thanks to Hi for the tricky blog.
Thanks kenmac. I missed it. I’ll be off the grid for a while as I’m on the train to Torquay, and after that sailing to the Scillies. I’ll be in touch when I have a good service.
What a joy to see one of my all-time favourite comedy sketches appear as a theme!
I also interpreted the title IVY as an approximate homophone of IV. Combined with the CANDLES part of 24 across, that seemed to be job done, but I wasn’t quite satisfied and further searching led to the other three candles. I’m always put off by “contiguous” in a preamble as it usually means there’s going to be much head-scratching over the highlighting.
A delightful puzzle, though perhaps unnecessary doubt could have been removed by not having the S after the most obvious CANDLE. Maybe this was impossible to avoid when constructing the grid?
Very enjoyable. I stupidly wasted some time thinking I would be looking for BORDER CORBETTS in Southern Scotland before the far more obvious BARKER CORBETT dawned on me. I didn’t know the sketch but Wikipedia helped out there. Coincidentally my wife had some friends round for dinner the same week and the subject of the sketch happened to crop up and said guests were dredging their memory banks trying to remember. I was able to trot out all the misheard items as though I were some sort of savant. I didn’t let on about the puzzle obviously, I looked enough of a nerd already without adding to the impression. Very convenient, thank you Eclogue! I am surprised at the number of times IQ themes have had some timely relevance for me. I suppose coincidences are to be expected but still interesting and surprising when they happen.
I didn’t understand the significance of “contiguous arrangement” or “Ivy” but I didn’t worry too much about it. The PDM was fun and the enjoyment to effort ratio tails off after that.
Thanks to Hihoba for the blog.
Cruciverbophile has written much of my intended comment for me!
I enjoyed this a lot. The theme was highly original (at least to one who does not have long experience of these puzzles), and some of the homophones were surprisingly tricky.
I guessed BARKER having all the crossing letters for it, and in the other space with seven blanks it wasn’t hard to guess what the name would be. I was slow to see the candles coming, even after getting ROMAN CANDLES quite early on.
The word ‘contiguous’ in the preamble has been mentioned. I suppose a word like ‘interlocking’ might have been considered too ‘helpful’, and so a less precise word was used. I have had issues with the preamble on a few other of the dozen Inquisitors that I have now tackled – but not with this one.
Many thanks to Eclogue and Hihoba.
Yes, the homophone idea is new to me too, and what a joy when the penny dropped as to why it was used. Very neat also to have four occurences of ‘candle’, rather than the obvious.
I also had many, many queries about the parsing. But a real pleasure, and many thanks to Eclogue and Hihoba.
Thanks Eclogue for a fun solve and a great PDM. Always good to be reminded of the classic sketch.
We thought that IVY was a homophone of IV = four, indicating the 4 candles.
Thanks Hihoba – enjoy the Isles of Scilly.
Belatedly because I was struggling with software problems for most of Wednesday: finished and enjoyed despite a few difficulties recorded by others (I never got “phare” at all). I opted for the Ivy=spoken IV explanation of the title. The usual warm thanks to Eclogue and Hihoba.
@4 Having identified the sketch but forgotten the punchline, I looked it up in Ronnie Barker’s massive 1999 script collection All I Ever Wrote … and was thoroughly confused because he had indeed substituted the KNOCKERS ending with no hint that it had ever been different! Of course the original is online in various places.
Like others I struggled to see some of the rather loose homophones, but got there eventually. I thought it was a very novel and imaginative idea, and just right for the theme, which took me most of the solve to see.
Shouldn’t the preamble have requested a symmetrical arrangement since there are many ways of highlighting four instances of CANDLE in ‘a contiguous arrangement”? I thought that was a weakness of the grid, but I appreciate that some problems in grid construction are difficult to overcome.
Like others I struggled to see some of the rather loose homophones but I got most eventually. I thought it was a very novel and imaginative idea, and just right for the theme.
Shouldn’t the preamble have requested a symmetrical arrangement? There are several ways of highlighting four CANDLEs in a contiguous arrangement, so ‘symmetrical’ was necessary for a unique solution. I thought this was a slight weakness of the grid, but I know grid construction can present problems that are difficult or impossible to overcome.
My first post didn’t appear even after reloading the page, hence the second post The first one must have been hovering in cyber space before deciding to land.
Thank you for all the comments. It would interesting to hear his intentions from Eclogue. I’m currently moored in Falmouth in the sun. Best wishes to all.
Thank you to all contributors and especially to Hihoba for the Blog.
For info, we offer some further thoughts on our Blog here – http://eclogue-eclogue.blogspot.com/
Until next time….
I completely missed the hash-shape of the four candles. Instead, I shaded the Menorah-shaped arrangement which Kenmac alludes to (I think) but does not explain. I have tried to illustrate this below: the shading shows four types of candle, GEL, PILLAR, PENCIL & ROMAN. The P is common to two of these and PENCIL folds back on itself. The arrangement is certainly contigious and it seems too much of a coincidence to be accidental, so I assume it is a bit of naughtiness by Eclogue. I see from today’s “i” that my bright idea was wrong.
———-G
———–E—-LAR
———- LPIL
———–LE
———–IN
———–C
ROMANCANDLE
Thanks to Eclogue for an enjoyable puzzle and to Kenmac for the blog
Somewhat belatedly, in 24a “holy” leads to ROMAN in the sense that Chambers gives Roman = Roman Catholic.