Fabulous puzzle from the eXternal/Serpent duo. Complex rubric:
In 13 down clues, a letter has been omitted wherever it occurs and must be reinstated before solving the clue. These letters spell out the title of a book. The answer to each across clue must have a letter removed wherever it occurs before entry in the grid: wordplay and enumeration refer to the grid entry; removed letters must be entered in the outer cells of rows (first entry to the left, second to the right). These letters encode what was believed to be an optimal solution. Solvers must then rearrange these letters to similarly encode a better solution revealed in the book. Solvers must also highlight the author and the central character(s) in the completed grid (13 letters in three separate straight lines).
I found it very difficult to get started. My first across answers were TITICACA (21a) and NARDOO (30a) but until I re-read the rubric I was not clear which letter to move. The clue to 21a was particularly clever, containing the words island (I) and about which could be either C or CA which confused the issue nicely! Once the grid was about a quarter full it became easier. The clues were as complicated as usual for an eXtent puzzle and at the time of starting this blog a few are still not fully parsed.
One of the problems was spotting, in both across and down clues, how many instances of the key letter were to be dealt with. Mostly it was one or two, but in one case 4 esses were to be moved!
Anyway I ploughed slowly on through the clues and eventually came to the conclusion that the first word of the book title was ELLA, followed by *N*W*P*. I googled “ella novel” and came across a novel I’d never heard of, ELLA MINNOW PEA. This sounded promising, so I looked at the Wiki article about the book, written by MARK DUNN. This is an epistolary lipogrammatic (look it up!) novel concerning the mythical island nation, Nollop, whose government uses letter tiles dropping from the memorial of the island’s founder Nervin Nollop as a reason to enact laws banning their use in all written and printed matter and even in speech on pain of fine, physical punishment and eventual banishment. The memorial has the inscription THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG – the “optimal” pangram which Nollop supposedly invented. The first letter to fall is Z which may seem insignificant, but causes the closure of all libraries and destruction of books – they all contain at least one Z and the situation escalates from there.
The title of the puzzle refers to the novel’s plot. Eventually, as more and more letters fall and are banned, the island becomes pretty well depopulated and a project is started to replace Nollop’s sentence with a more concise one – 32 letters instead of 35 (proper nouns not allowed!). Ella Minnow Pea (N.B. sounds like LMNOP!!) discovers the sentence PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DOZEN LIQUOR JUGS, in a letter from her father, a “better solution”, to free the island from tyranny. Towards the end of the novel, the only letters remaining are LMNOP, allowing Ella to be able to sign her letters, but not to include any meaningful text!
Having read this I took another look at the letters moved to the side columns and saw that they started with THE KWICK ???W? . . . Having amended KORAN to QORAN at 16a this now looked like a good lead! So I entered BROWN at the bottom of the left hand side the puzzled over ?XJM??V??Z??? on the right. This had to be FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG, but there were too many letters left for the 13 spaces available. I realised that this pangram had to be reduced to the 26 letters of the alphabet by removing any letters already listed on the left. Hence we had FXJMPSVLAZYDG down the right column.
All OK so far, but what of the author and central character(s)? The character(s) was easy – LMNOP appeared in the middle of the grid and that plus MARK DUNN came to 13 letters as required. The final stage was Solvers must then rearrange these letters to similarly encode a better solution revealed in the book. i.e. replace the 26 letters in the outer columns by the same letters, but in the sequence of PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DOZEN LIQUOR JUGS – i.e. PACKMYBOXWITH on the left and FVEDZNLQURJGS on the right. Now MARK and DUNN appeared on diagonals as shown in the final grid below.
Stunning stuff eXtent! Brilliant grid construction, interesting ways of treating missing letters and a lead-in to an interesting novel which I have found and read. The end of the novel includes some other pangrams including (if you allow proper nouns) this 29 letter one: QUICK ZEPHYRS BLOW VEXING DAFT JIM. {A couple of 28 letter ones exist, involving sphinx and dwarf, but don’t appear in the novel. There’s a page of examples here.}
This puzzle will definitely have my vote when that time comes round again.
| Across | |||
| Clue definition | Answer: moved letter [L] [R] | Wordplay | |
| 1 Rating’s behind excellent article being rejected (4) | ABAF[T] | FAB (excellent) + A all reversed | T |
| 4 Reporter uses this particular skill (4) | [F]ORTE | Hidden in repORTEr | F |
| 10 Webster’s overplayed source of “kitsch” in dictionary (4) | [H]OKED | K(itsch) in OED (dictionary) | H |
| 11 Outer skin of game fish (6) | E[X]OCARP | EO (game) + CARP (fish) | X |
| 12 Advance argument for annual test (6) | PROMOT[E] | PRO (argument for) + MOT (annual test) | E |
| 14 Drink in oxygenated breeze from the east (4) | RIO[J]A | AIR (breeze) round O (oxygenated) all reversed (from the east) | J |
| 16 Hero managed without that woman’s religious work (4) | [Q]ORAN | (Her)O RAN (managed) (omit that woman’s – i.e.her) | Q |
| 17 Grumble when you are on the phone repeatedly (4) | [M]UR[M]UR | UR sounds like (on the phone) you are | M |
| 18 Your drinking wine brought about bad language (5) | R[U]DERY | YR (your) round RED (wine) all reversed | U |
| 19 Rough beam contains splinters at one end (4) | RAS[P]Y | RAY (beam) round S (first or last of S(plinter)S) | P |
| 21 Races around island and twice around lake (6) | T[I]T[I]CACA | TT (races around island) + CA (about) twice | I |
| 22 Fires fade and die when ignored to begin with (5) | DI[S]MI[S][S]E[S] | DIM (fade) + (d)IE | S |
| 23 Acting part cut short musical number (4) | [C]AROL | A(cting) +ROL(e) | C |
| 26 Hollow filled with earth and covered with slabs (4) | PA[V]EN | PAN (hollow) round E(arth) | V |
| 27 Done by hand, pruned antipodean tree (5) | MANU[K]A | MANUA(l) (by hand) pruned | K |
| 28 Metal from Asian land Greek character brought back (6) | THA[L][L]IUM | THAI (Asian land) + MU (Greek character) reversed | L |
| 29 Abandon useless crushed boxes (4) | SCRU[B] | uselesS CRUshed hides (boxes) it | B |
| 30 Number holding recipe cook Aboriginal food (5) | N[A]RDOO | NO (number) round R(ecipe) + DO (cook) | A |
| 32 Place with perfect conditions, but not to ulcer (4) | [R]UPIA | U(to)PIA (place with perfect conditions) but not TO | R |
| 34 Former colonial districts institute legislation after the West leaves (4) | [Z]ILAS | I(nstitute) LA(w)S (legislation minus West) | Z |
| 36 Gas escaped deserted blocks (4) | RAD[O]N | RAN (escaped) round D(eserted) | O |
| 37 A place to sleep for rodent (6) | ACOUCH[Y] | A COUCH (place to sleep) | Y |
| 38 Bug before found in mixture of tripe (6) | [W]IRETAP | A (ante – before) in [TRIPE]* | W |
| 39 Developing sector of Edinburgh (4, 2 words) | IN BU[D] | Hidden in edINBUrgh | D |
| 40 Artist turned away from sea (4) | I[N]LA[N]D | DALI (artist) turned (reversed) | N |
| 41 Special pale urn, regularly used clay container (4) | SA[G][G]ER | S(pecial) + pAlE uRn {remember the sagger-maker’s bottom knocker?} | G |
| Down | |||
| Clue definition missing letter | Answer | Wordplay | Title |
| 1 Like minced meat to contain standard flavouring (9) | ASPARTAME | AS (like) + [MEAT]* round PAR (standard) | |
| 2 Caught management showing little interest (5) | BORED | Sounds like (caught) BOARD (management) | |
| 3 Thigh’s wobbling head to mortify Florae (7) | FEMORAL | Anagram (wobbling) of [M(ortify) FLORAE]* | E |
| 4 Gold inspiring contents of lode raised a stink in America? (4) | ODOR | OR (gold) round (inspiring) (l)OD(e) | L |
| 5 Storm as well bloated by river and at sea (7) | TORNADO | TOO (as well) round R(iver) + [AND]* | L |
| 6 AMount belonging to recruit is off-white (4) | ECRU | Hidden in rECRUit | A |
| 7 Railway reportedly forced to open platform for female employees (10) | DAIRYMAIDS | RY (railway) + MAID (sounds like made) in DAIS (platform) | |
| 8 Follower of band trimmed dealer that’s good for cocaine (7) | GROUPIE | CROUPIE(r) (dealer trimmed) with G(ood) replacing C(ocaine) | M |
| 9 Extra waives goodbye, at last, to box (4) | SPAR | SPAR(e) omitting (goodby)E | I |
| 13 Spider is cross about rant? Look! (9) | TARANTULA | TAU (cross) round RANT + LA (look!) | N |
| 15 Hosted by bishop, Eastern do hand review (10) | RECONSIDER | RR (bishop) round E(astern) + CON (do) + SIDE (hand) | N |
| 20 Sacramento’s female leader rallied the omen in drive (9, 2 words) | DEN MOTHER | US term: DR (drive) round [THE OMEN]* | O |
| 24 WEight falling heavily cut from whole in mound (7) | RAMPART | RAM (falling weight) + PART (cut from whole) | W |
| 25 Union’s independence from military is raised (7) | MARITAL | MARTIAL (military) with the I (independence) “raised” | |
| 26 Those preaching page are mostly male relatives (7) | PARSONS | P(age) + AR(e) (mostly) + SONS (male relatives) | P |
| 31 At right point, lead in unholy wears bust cone (5, 2 words) | ON CUE | U(nholy) in [CONE]* | E |
| 32 In wee heard ewe put on endless grain (4) | URIC | U (sounds like ewe) + RIC(e) (endless grain) | A |
| 33 Shelled insect seemingly worshipping opponent (4) | ANTI | (Worshipping = praying) (m)ANTI(s) “shelled” | |
| 35 Keen auxiliary nurses first to conference (4) | ACID | AID (auxiliary) round C(onference) | |
Unlike Hihoba, I got off to a flying start with this one, and recorded another finish again. Not a book I’ve read (or even heard of to tell the truth), but the Internet is a blessing on such occasions. Very cleverly constructed ending, I particularly liked the way that the two correctly altered outer columns allowed the authors name to be located, whilst the LMNOP (Ella Minnow Pea) was sat there staring at us all the time!
I have a couple of niggles:
10A: Why is “Webster’s” needed in the clue – (is the answer is ONLY listed in the Webster’s dictionary?) – if so, that seems a bit unfair – should have been mentioned in the rubric.
1D: I’m not sure that ASPARTAME can be called a flavouring – additive yes – flavouring no. It is a sugar substitute, and like sugar, is NOT listed under flavouring in the Chamber’s Crossword Dictionary.
Other than those minor niggles, a fun puzzle. Many thanks, as always to both setter and blogger.
Me Sat, Websters is used in the clue to indicate that the answer is an American spelling.
I mean ” American usage” not “spelling”.
Tony @2 & @3: Many thanks.
A great puzzle with an end game that was quite something, but I must admit that the letters in the left and right columns meant nothing to me until I found the Wikipedia entry for the book. An unlucky stab at KORAN won’t have helped (I’m glad I wasn’t alone there), but mostly I’ll have to blame general grid blindness and an overdue trip to the opticians. Getting both phrases in the columns, together with the author’s name, and central characters (very cheekily hidden in full sight in the centre of the grid all along) was very impressive.
Got to first base with a little help but didnt fancy going to room 101
The word ‘code’ normally makes me run for the hills, but I thought I’d stick around at least to identify the book, and then began to find the outer columns surprisingly legible. I agree with Me_Sat that hiding the author’s name in the adjusted version was very pleasing (and helpful), and with Hihoba that this is one of the year’s picks, even if, as ever with codes, I didn’t get it well enough to properly reduce the liquor jugs.
Many thanks to eXtent and Hihoba.
Quite demanding in places but great fun. I made most progress with the across clues in the NW quadrant and wondered what THEKU-CKB meant. Then I got the missing I and was puzzled by KUICK until I remembered the other spelling of KORAN. Suddenly, I realised what the quote was and was able to fill the remaining blanks in the outer columns, which was a great help in fully parsing and solving the rest of the grid. I had not come across the book but Wiki came to the rescue and I was able to update the code. I thought it was a nice touch that this last step was essential to reveal the author.
There were some deviously clever multiple use of omitted letters in the down clues. I especially liked 26D.
Many thanks to both halves of Extent and to Hihoba.
A brilliant puzzle I thought, but it’s always more pleasing when you manage to finish it – this time aided by getting ELLA MI fairly quickly, which greatly sped up the rest.
Many thanks to all involved
A lovely & delightful puzzle – not too difficult for me and my way through it seems to be a bit different from some of the contributors above. It was most enjoyable the way the layers of the puzzle revealed themselves one by one. So, pick of the year (so far) for me.
I ordered the book almost as soon as I finished the puzzle, and it arrived yesterday; many thanks to eXtent, and to Hi for the blog. (You omitted an “m” from “lipogramatic”.)
Portez ce vieux whisky au juge blond qui fume.
HG #10. I’ve updated my spelling mistake, thank you. I’m glad you also thought it was a candidate for Pick of the Year. Love your French pangram!
I liked the French pangram too.
@11 & @12: … and note that no consonant is repeated in the French pangram
Many thanks all round. I felt incredibly lucky with this one because I read Ella Minnow Pea back in 2004, still have the book, and guessed it from the preamble and left-hand column. I’d forgotten the author (so had to look up the review I published back in the day), but remembered PACK MY BOX etc, which had been a very slight disappointment because I was sort of expecting a clever new pangram rather than one well known to word-gamers. (A bit much to ask of the author, admittedly.) Wonderful stuff!
Many thanks to Hihoba for the excellent blog and to everyone who has commented. I’m delighted the puzzle has gone down well with everyone. Love the French pangram @10 – thanks HolyGhost!
We loved this puzzle which was quite a challenge. We really appreciated the time that must have been needed for the construction in this puzzle, to enable the author to be revealed at the end.
We had never heard of the book but we’d love to have a go at reading it sometime. Our local library does not stock it unfortunately!
Thanks HolyGhost and many congratulations to the Devious Duo. This puzzle will feature highly in our Puzzle of the Year.
Superb puzzle. Brilliant construction, high quality clues (as you’d expect) and 2 PDMs
I’d echo the above comments, this was very good indeed – thanks eXtent.
However, I’m probably being dim here but could anyone explain in what sense the outer columns are encoded? Don’t they just contain two separate phrases (or modified versions to avoid repeated letters)?
Kippax #18 Chambers has “to record in a form other than plain written or printed text;” which is what is happening here I suppose. Leaving out repeated letters in a pangram might be deemed encoding it.