[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
A third offering from Hedge-sparrow, a relative newcomer to the illustrious company of Inquisitor setters. The rubric read:
One letter per grid row is not indicated by the wordplay of the clues. These letters must be copied across to the corresponding cells in the column to the right of the grid to create a thematic entity. Eight appropriately-placed items (seven specific, one more general, not all in Chambers) must be highlighted in the completed grid (76 cells in total): solvers may optionally use colours for enhanced effect. One answer is an abbreviation.
I made a good start, unusually in the centre of the grid (it’s usually the bottom right!) with 23A MHO – the advantage of being an aged scientist! – and worked steadily out from there. Nothing too taxing and the fact that the answers were entered without modification was a great help. I noticed PIMENTO and PEPPER in the grid quite early on, and thought there might be something fiery in the theme – Hot and Cold? Scotch Bonnet also appeared confirming this impression. The letters to be moved meant nothing to me and I had S?OVILLES?ALE before googling chilli peppers and chancing upon the word SCOVILLE. I discovered that the SCOVILLE SCALE is a measure of the heat of a chilli.
I noted that CAPS… appeared in the top row and wondered if this might have something to do with capsicums, and found in Chambers the word CAPSAICIN, the heat-generating substance in some chillis. That must be the one more general item mentioned in the rubric. The remainder should be chilli varieties arranged in order of hotness (appropriately-placed items). A Wiki article contained this table:
| Scoville heat units | Examples |
| 1,500,000–3,000,000+ | Most law enforcement grade pepper spray, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Pepper X, Carolina Reaper, Dragon’s Breath |
| 750,000–1,500,000 | Naga Viper pepper, Infinity Chilli, Bhut Jolokia chili pepper, Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper, Bedfordshire Super Naga |
| 350,000–750,000 | Red Savina habanero, Chocolate habanero, Habanaga, Nagabon |
| 100,000–350,000 | Habanero chili, Scotch bonnet pepper, Datil pepper, Rocoto, Piri Piri Ndungu, Madame Jeanette, Peruvian White Habanero, Jamaican hot pepper, Guyana Wiri Wiri, Dalle Khursani, Fatalii |
| 50,000–100,000 | Byadgi chilli, Bird’s eye chili (a.k.a. Thai Chili Pepper), Malagueta pepper, Chiltepin pepper, Piri piri (African bird’s eye), Pequin pepper |
| 25,000–50,000 | Guntur chilli, Cayenne pepper, Ají pepper, Tabasco pepper, Cumari pepper (Capsicum Chinense), Peperoncini, Katara (spicy), Arbol pepper |
| 10,000–25,000 | Serrano pepper, Peter pepper, Aleppo pepper |
| 2,500–10,000 | Espelette pepper, Jalapeño pepper, Chipotle, Guajillo pepper, New Mexican varieties of Anaheim pepper, Hungarian wax pepper, Bullet pepper |
| 1,000–2,500 | Anaheim pepper, Poblano pepper, Rocotillo pepper, Peppadew |
| 100–1,000 | Pimento, Banana pepper |
| 0–100 | Bell pepper, Cubanelle, Aji dulce, Senise pepper |
So the list was:
| 0 | CAPSAICIN |
| 1 | CAROLINA REAPER |
| 2 | NAGA VIPER |
| 3 | SCOTCH BONNET |
| 4 | JALAPENO |
| 5 | ANAHEIM |
| 6 | PIMENTO |
| 7 | BELL PEPPER |
And that was it. Excellent grid construction. I found it remarkable that the names of the chillis were so long and hidden (at least to a non-chilli expert) so well. Some testing clues, but not too taxing a grid fill. Thanks to Hedge-sparrow. I look forward to your next offering.
In the grids below, I have indicated the letters with missing wordplay in the left one and the relative heat of the highlighted chillis on the Scoville Scale in the right one – i.e. I have optionally used colours for enhanced effect.
Across |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition) | Answer Omitted letter |
Wordplay | |
| 1 | I walk westwards crossing cold (frozen) mountain peaks (7) | ICECAPS | I + PACE (walk) reversed round C(old) | S |
| 7 | Day spent in chequering concreted coating (5) | ICING | DICING (chequering) minus D(ay) – spent | |
| 12 | Accepted reduced function in a former British colony in North America (8) | CAROLINA | A(ccepted) + ROL(e) (function reduced) + IN + A | C |
| 13 | Unsheathed epee shoved in back causes death (6) | REAPER | (e)PE(e) in REAR (back) | |
| 14 | Being full of cavities, takes in air, expelling spent argon (7, 2 words) | IN HOLES | INH(A)LES minus A(rgon) | O |
| 16 | Mistress encountering active and highly resistant bacterium (4) | MRSA | MRS (Mistress) + A(ctive) (the abbreviation) | |
| 19 | Cask containing tellurium, silver and zinc? (7) | TUTENAG | TUN (cask) round TE(llurium) + AG (silver) | |
| 20 | Snake snapping top off peppers (5) | VIPER | (P)IPER (peppers) minus top (P) | V |
| 21 | Noise made by sucker, perhaps, conman finally snared in fair (4) | OINK | (conma)N (finally) in OK (fair) | I |
| 23 | Former unit of conductance used by Helmholtz (3) | MHO | Hidden in HelMHOltz | |
| 25 | Baffled retired ship’s officer (4) | MATE | Double definition: ship’s officer and old word for baffled | |
| 26 | Put an end to the Auld Kirk? (6) | SCOTCH | Kirk can mean the Church of Scotland – i.e. SCOT CH | |
| 29 | Bobbin securing back of apron for French maid (5) | BONNE | BONE (bobbin) round (apro)N | |
| 32 | Hill in Arabia troglodyte’s hollowed out (3) | TEL | T(roglodyt)E | L |
| 33 | With great difficulty, make one’s way to Italy (4) | TOIL | TO + I(taly) | L |
| 34 | See rose at last grow purplish red (6) | CERISE | C (see) + (ros)E + RISE (grow) | |
| 37 | Parts of lap joint transposed to hide a purgative root (5) | JALAP | [LAP J(oint)]* round A {I remember my granny reciting “If you want a regular starter, Take ginger jalap and cream of tartar”!!} | |
| 39 | New and Old Testament set to music (4) | NOTE | N(ew) + OT (Old Testament) | E |
| 40 | Native American denied Earth God’s ability to inspire belief (4) | CRED | CRE(e) (Native American minus E(arth)) + D (God)) | |
| 42 | Shift vehicle going round motorway the wrong way (5) | CIMAR | CAR round MI reversed | |
| 45 | Almost calm great waves (4) | SEAS | Almost EAS(e) | S |
| 46 | Hit the roof after losing government stock (4) | RACE | RA(g)E (hit the roof)minus G(overnment) | C |
| 47 | One place engaging ambassador is where one might see Pluto? (7) | ANAHEIM | ANAHEIM (Cal.) is the home of Disneyland where you might see Pluto. AN (one) AIM (place) round H(is) E(xcelency) (ambassador) | |
| 48 | Endlessly dig around after black, oil-yielding seed (6) | BEN-NUT | B(lack) + TUNNE(l) (endlessly dig) reversed | |
| 50 | Noises arousing sensation that’s not understood (7) | ANOESIS | [NOISES]* | A |
| 51 | Pitmen fermenting vintage spiced wine (6) | PIMENT | [PITMEN]* | |
| 52 | US helicopter’s lost height – not many soared higher (8) | OVERFLEW | (h)OVER (US Helicopter minus H(eight) + FEW | L |
| 53 | It is not permitted in law to accept award for Swedish chemist (5) | NOBEL | NL (non licet – not permitted) round OBE (award) | |
| 54 | Irritable peer receiving European People’s Party backing (7) | PEPPERY | PRY (peer) round EPP (European People’s Party) reversed | E |
Down |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition) | Answer Omitted letter |
Wordplay | |
| 2 | Inclination to lead company in dancing-match (7) | CANTICO | CANT (inclination) + CO(mpany) | |
| 3 | Chinese instrument that’s bowed and overhung in the middle (4) | ERHU | Middle of (ov)ERHU(ng) | |
| 4 | Something very funny about to go up back lane (5) | ALLEY | YELL (something very funny) + A(bout) all reversed | |
| 5 | Confusion over terminal’s outward-pointing angle (5) | PIEND | PI (confusion) + END (terminal) | |
| 6 | Average annual rainfall falling on Ghana causes cry of anguish (5) | AARGH | A(verage) A(nnual) R(ainfall) + GH(ana) | |
| 7 | German girl’s Irish mother (4) | IRMA | IR(ish) + MA (mother) | |
| 8 | Fawn-coloured cycling hat Catherine’s discarded (7) | CERVINE | CERINE = CATHERINE minus ATH – cycling HAT | |
| 9 | Ridge of gravel connecting islands and Romanian city (4) | IASI | ÅS (ridge of gravel) In two I(sland)s | |
| 10 | Jenny’s fur (5) | GENET | Double definition: Jenny = jenny-donkey = jennet = genet, and the fur of the genet (civet) | |
| 11 | Sees 13 animated previews (11) | PRERELEASES | [SEES REAPER(13a)]* | |
| 15 | Past master heading up Highland ball’s syncopated dance (5) | SAMBA | MAS (Obsolete form of master) reversed + BA’ (Scots ball) | |
| 17 | Calcium-based mineral a little bird’s fed to monkey (7) | APATITE | A TIT (a little bird) in APE (monkey) | |
| 18 | Supplementary page unruly Scots previously tore up (10) | POSTSCRIPT | P(age) + [SCOTS]* + RIPT (obsolete form of ripped – tore up) | |
| 22 | Sound troubles on local radio (5) | NOISE | Sounds like NOYS (troubles in dialect ) | |
| 24 | Former Catholic plastered by drink (4) | ONCE | ONE (drink) round C(atholic) | |
| 27 | No chance to dance old Spanish dance (8) | CHACONNE | [NO CHANCE]* | |
| 28 | Fish barrel propping up Henry I (7) | HALIBUT | HAL I (Henry I) + BUT (= butt = barrel) | |
| 30 | Round up anonymous old man in Cape Town (4) | OUPA | O (round) + UP + A(nonymous) | |
| 31 | Asteroid giving rise to mineral source (4) | EROS | ORE (mineral source) reversed | |
| 35 | More disreputable barmy armies (7) | SEAMIER | [ARMIES]* | |
| 36 | One gathering Indian grain harvest produces essence of gum (6) | ARABIN | AN (one) round RABI (Indian grain harvest) | |
| 38 | High explosive I confiscated from violin maker on Circle Line (6) | AMATOL | AMAT(i) (violin maker minus I) + O (circle) + L(ine) {Good clue for me, a violinist and a Chemistry teacher!} | |
| 41 | Dutch space probe taking off for ascendant star (5) | DENEB | D(utch) + EN (space) + (pro)BE reversed (taking off PRO = for) | |
| 43 | Executed East Indian queen (5) | RANEE | RAN (executed) + E(ast) | |
| 44 | Leading characters in tragedy – Horatio, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Prince Hamlet (5) | THORP | T(ragedy) H(oratio) O(phelia) R(osencrantz) P(rince) | |
| 48 | European footing is key (4) | ISLE | IS + E(uropean) | |
I was familiar with Hedge-Sparrow’s name from Magpie, where his/her puzzles are generally more taxing than this one. My experience was very similar to yours, Hihoba, with the theme becoming apparent well before the grid was full. I was also unfamiliar with the Scoville scale, and had never heard of the Carolina Reaper or the Naga Viper, but the wordplay was precise and 76 cells with thematic entries is an impressive total, as is the fact that they are aligned in ascending order of hotness on the scale. After a run of fairly tough puzzles, it was a relief to have one that, while challenging, was never frustrating.
I needed a cold beer after that one.
Thanks for puzzle and colour coded blog
A very well-executed theme, with more than one possible entry-point. I got into it by completing the first four rows and getting SCOV… in the column of letters. The names SCOTCH BONNET, JALAPENO and PIMENTO popped up not long after that.
One of the names that was new to me was CAPSAICIN, the ingredient. Obviously its place had to be at the top of the scale. I had to look up three of the peppers: I had entries for CAROLINA and REAPER but had no idea they were connected, and NAGA VIPER and ANAHEIM were also new to me.
It was a good set of clues, which I found quite easy in the top half but less so in the bottom half.
(For some reason I too find that I often start in the bottom right corner, but I got going with this one in the top left – a refreshing change.)
Thanks to Hedge-sparrow and Hihoba.
Nice puzzle on a theme I knew nothing at all about despite a very half heated attempt at growing chillis this year. The fact that it was one letter per grid row rather than clue helped no end, as we had a choice of crossing across and downs when it came to untangling the parsing. My range of highlighters weren’t up to the job of shading at all accurately, but I liked to think that I had a decent stab. 🙂
All done here, apart from a few parsings I didn’t get. I’d come across the Scoville scale, CAPSAICIN and the names of most of the peppers before, but the penny didn’t drop until I was about halfway through – I had __OV_L_ES_ALE in the right-hand column, and thought it must be TWO-VALUE SCALE (corresponding with the “hot and cold” of the title). I was looking for similar pairs of opposites in the grid and couldn’t see any!
One of the more accessible puzzles in the series, I thought. There was a slight ambiguity in the preamble: “one letter per grid row is not indicated by the wordplay of the clues” could have meant (for example) that none of the E’s in the bottom row were indicated in wordplay. I guessed the right interpretation but maybe “one occurrence of a letter” would have been clearer.
Other than that, no real complaints!
Jon-S@4 I like “half heated attempt”
Hot stuff! Once the Scoville scale revealed itself and I looked it up, the thematic entries made the grid fill much easier. But as Bridgesong says, it was big achievement to have 76 thematic cells and the relevant items in order. A novel idea for a theme and an interesting one. Thanks, Hedge-Sparrow.
Copmus@6 I’d like to be able to say that it was deliberate. 🙂
An impressive grid fill. It wasn’t until near the end of the solve that we spotted BELL PEPPER, PIMENTO and then JALAPENO. We had to resort to a word search for the scale which then helped us with the last entries.
Not too taxing but a very enjoyable solve. We learnt the names of a couple of peppers too.
Will certainly feature in our choice of the best IQs if John gives us an opportunity to vote again.
Took me almost as long to find the highlighted entries as it did to complete the grid. I exaggerate, but did take ages to find them all, especially my last one, CAPSAISIN, which I only guessed from its first 4 letters.
I found most of the clues not too difficult and soon had enough missing letters for me wrongly anticipate the rest. As a result, I spent far too long fruitlessly surfing for the non-existent S COVILLE’S TALE! I had not heard of the Scale or most of the peppers, so this was an educational experience, presented in a very neat way which I much enjoyed.
Many of the clues, not to mention the theme, have a chemical/scientific flavour, perhaps indicating that H-S is/was from a similar discipline to Hi.
Thanks to them both.
I always enjoy Hedge-Sparrow’s puzzles and this one was no different. I got in via the Scoville Scale, which my husband knew because he grows chillis every year. I hadn’t appreciated that the chillis actually corresponded to the scale going down the grid so Kudos to HS. Always nice to have a very clear endgame too. Thanks H-S for the puzzle and Hi for the blog.