Gila presents us with a puzzle entitled One Missing.
The preamble stated: From the answer to 25 clues, a letter must be deleted wherever it appears before entry into the grid; definitions refer to the full unmutilated answer; wordplay and letter counts to the grid entry. In clue order, the omitted letters give a thematically incomplete set. Having identified the theme, solvers must highlight 22 cells in the final grid to show a related, thematically complete set.
This was a preamble that I managed to understand completely on the first read through, something that doesn’t always happen.
I got off to a good start in the North West corner with AMBASSADOR, PLANNED and DARGA going in fairly quickly. The rest of the grid built up slowly and the omitted letters gradually formed a chain although I couldn’t make much sense of it immediately. I could see what looked like SONDHEIM (SONDHIM) with a letter missing in the initial letters of the 25 and WINSLET(WINSLE) with a letter missing from the end letters of the 25. For the middle I had REDRAVETMLAN so at the point I completed the grid my chain was SONDHIMREDRAVETMLANWINSLE
I got my penny drop moment after I had filled in the grid and started looking for words or names hidden in the grid. I could find nothing obvious horizontally or vertically. so started looking diagonally. I saw MORENO going diagonally up right from the M of SAMONSTR in the bottom row and that was mirrored by LEGEND in the North West quadrant.
With SONDHEIM, WINSLET, MORENO and LEGEND as a search group, I started doing a bit of research and hit upon the EGOTs which refers to people who have won each of EMMY (E), GRAMMY (G), OSCAR (O) and TONY (T) awards.
EMMY (awards for artistic and technical merit in the television industry)
GRAMMY (awards presented by the US Recording Academy to recognize "Outstanding Achievement in the music industry" of the United States)
OSCAR (Academy Awards, popularly known as OSCARs are awards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry)
TONY (full name, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the TONY Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre)
A bit more digging led to discovering that Stephen SONDHEIM is missing an Emmy (E), Vanessa REDGRAVE is missing a Grammy (G), Lucy TOMLIN is missing an Oscar (O) and Kate WINSLET is short of a Tony (T). This also forced me to change REDSHARE at 8 down to REDSHIRE and remove an I rather than A and get TMLIN rather than TMLAN. Gila cleverly omitted a letter from the four names generated by the missing clue letters that matched the initial letter of award each person has not yet received. These four names are therefore thematically incomplete in both their names and their full EGOT status.
A study of the sixteen people who have a complete set showed that in addition to Rita MORENO and John LEGEND that I had already found, we also had Helen HAYES and Scott RUDIN in the grid symmetrically placed diagonally in the South West and North East quadrants.
There are plenty of references to EGOT winners and near EGOT winners on the web so I won’t bore you with full details of each individual.
The clues were fair and as the 25 missing letters built up it became possible to deduce what would be missing from some entries. As usual some clues fell much more quickly than others. Having a Scottish background helped me get STOOSHIE early on. My last one in was DEATHDAMP at 30 across.
The final grid with the highlighted 22 cells showing the four EGOTs is displayed below.
The title One Missing is fairly self explanatory once the puzzle has been solved. Presumably if this puzzle ever appears in a compilation, the date of publication of the original will have to be stated as the three people short of an award could still get a complete set. Two of the three are aged over 80.
Thanks to Gila for a good workout.
| No | Clue | Letter | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 1 |
Endless love heralded by a doctor and a diplomat (8) AMBASSADOR (diplomat of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as a permanent representative) A + MB (Bachelor of Medicine; doctor) + A + ADORE (love) excluding the final letter E (endless) A MB A ADOR |
S | AMBAADOR |
| 7 |
Religious ceremony for the PM (4) BORIS (Forename of the current UK Prime Minister) BRIS (Ritual circumcision of male babies, usually at eight days old, regarded as the formal entry of the child to the Jewish community; religious ceremony) BRIS |
O | BRIS |
| 11 |
King gets involved in a certain investigation, if petitioned (9, 2 words) ON REQUEST (if, or when, petitioned) (R [Rex; king] contained in [gets involved in] ONE [a certain]) + QUEST (investigation) ON (R) E QUEST |
ON REQUEST | |
| 12 |
Positive turnover in trade, as intended (5) PLANNED (intended) P (positive) + DEAL (trade) reversed (turnover) P LAED< |
N | PLAED |
| 13 |
Cook used an ice and fruit combo (6) SUNDAE (an ice-cream with syrup or crushed fruit) Anagram of (cook) USED AN SUNDAE* |
SUNDAE | |
| 14 |
Place in India given over for Muslim burial ground (4) DARGA (tomb of a Muslim saint) AGRA (city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, site of the Taj Mahal) reversed (given over) ARGA< |
D | ARGA |
| 15 |
Trouble in Glasgow streets that is about nothing – nothing! (7) STOOSHIE (Scottish [Glasgow] term for a disturbance; trouble in Glasgow) (STS [streets] + IE [id est]) containing (about) (O ([character representing zero; nothing] + another O [character representing zero’ nothing]) ST (O O) S IE |
H | STOOSIE |
| 16 |
Physicist, say, residing in Germany (5) GEIGER (reference Hans GEIGER [1882 – 1945], co-inventor of the radiation detector device that bears his name) EG (for example; say) contained in (residing in) GER (Germany) G (EG) ER |
I | GEGER |
| 17 |
Shirt modelled by a former chat show host (6) TRISHA (reference Patricia Goddard [born 1957] who hosted a series of talk shows on British television from 1998 to 2010, entitled TRISHA) Anagram of (modelled) SHIRT + A TRISH* A |
TRISHA | |
| 19 |
Old friend rejected and subject to ridicule (6) LAMPOON (ridicule by personal satire) (O [old] + PAL [friend]) reversed (rejected) + ON (subject to) (LAP O)< ON |
M | LAPOON |
| 25 |
Excellent drink with editor every now and then (6) SUPERIOR (excellent) SUP (drink) + EIO (letters 1, 3 and 5 [every now and then] of EDITOR) SUP EIO |
R | SUPEIO |
| 27 |
Simple job acquiring a large church hanging (6) DOSSAL (cloth hanging for the back of an altar, sides of a church chancel, etc) DOSS (task very easily accomplished) + A + L (large) DOSS A L |
DOSSAL | |
| 28 |
Kind, considerate lover may need taming at first (5) CLEMENT (kind) CLMNT (initial letters of [at first] CONSIDERATE, LOVER, MAY, NEED and TAMING) CLMNT |
E | CLMNT |
| 30 |
Meat hamper filled with moisture prior to going off? (7) DEATHDAMP (cold sweat preceding death; moisture prior to going off) EATHAMP (hidden word in [filled with] MEAT HAMPER) EATHAMP |
D | EATHAMP |
| 32 |
Norse Gods reversed the ocean current (4) AESIR (Norse Gods) SEA (ocean) reversed + I ([electric] current]) AES< I |
R | AESI |
| 33 |
Fellow overlooked in strange, flowery personal address from the Queen (6, 2 words) ROYAL WE (a monarch’s use of the first person plural when speaking of himself or herself) Anagram of (strange) FLOWERY excluding (overlooked) F (fellow) ROYL WE* |
A | ROYL WE |
| 34 |
Journey right over open country to the west (5) TRAVEL (journey) RT (right) reversed (over) + LEA (open country) reversed (to the west) TR< AEL< |
V | TRAEL |
| 35 |
Place in America you’ll see lots more lasso twirling (9) SALESROOM (American term for an auction room where you will see auction lots for sale) Anagram of (twirling) MORE LASSO SALESROOM* |
SALESROOM | |
| 36 |
Area with mostly very old cattle (4) AVER (obsolete [old] term for cattle) A (area) + VERY excluding the final letter Y (mostly) A VER |
AVER | |
| 37 |
Fabulous water creature regularly aswarm on quiet river (8, 2 words) SEA MONSTER (any huge maritime animal, especially fabulous) SAM (letters 2, 4 and 6 [regularly] of ASWARM) + ON + ST (interject meaning hush or quiet) + R (river) SA M ON ST R |
E | SA MONSTR |
| Down | |||
| 2 |
Dame and earl manipulated and bullied? (8) MALTREATED (used roughly or unkindly; bullied) Anagram of (manipulated) DAME and EARL MALREAED* |
T | MALREAED |
| 3 |
Activist and singer make boastful claims in conversation (5) BRAGG (reference Billy BRAGG [born 1957], English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist) BRAGG (sounds like [in conversation] BRAG [boast or bluster]) BRAGG |
BRAGG | |
| 4 |
Dog is also very strong (7) ANDIRON (a firedog used to support logs in a fire) AND (also) + IRON ([very] strong) AND IRON |
ANDIRON | |
| 5 |
Duke joins Ethiopian prince for some drinks? (4) DRAMS (small drinks of alcohol) D (duke) + RAS (Ethiopian prince) D RAS |
M | DRAS |
| 6 |
Bot distributed to users (7) OESTRUS (gadfly or bot) Anagram of (distributed) TO USERS OESTRUS* |
OESTRUS | |
| 7 |
Huge base supporting cake with a rounded edge (6) BULLNOSE (with a rounded edge) BUN (cake) + OS (outsize; huge) + E (base of natural logarithms) – as a down entry, the letters OSE are supporting the letters BUN BUN OS E |
L | BUNOSE |
| 8 |
Colourful, small mammal almost unable to tolerate extreme heat (7) REDSHIRE (one of the alternative spellings of REDSHORT [brittle at red-heat; unable to tolerate extreme heat]) RED (colourful) + SHREW (small mammal) excluding the final letter W (almost) RED SHRE |
I | REDSHRE |
| 9 |
Old earthenware container spotted outside Troy (5) STEEN (stone or earthenware container with two handles, found in Chambers under STEAN) SEEN (spotted) containing (outside) T (troy) S (T) EEN |
STEEN | |
| 10 |
Thin metal plate ultimately does help a broken leg (6) SPANGLE (small, thin, glittering plate of metal) SP (last letters of [ultimately] each of DOES and HELP) + A + an anagram of (broken) LEG SP A GLE* |
N | SPAGLE |
| 18 |
Bug that secretes in small, exact bursts (8, 2 words) WAX INSECT (an INSECT that secretes WAX) Anagram of (bursts) IN and S (small) and EXACT AX INSECT*, |
W | AX INSECT |
| 20 |
Possible elementary source of line in baroque poetry (7) PROTYLE (name proposed by Sir William Crookes in 1886 for a hypothetical primitive substance from which the chemical elements were thought to have possibly been formed) L (line) contained in (in) an anagram of (baroque) POETRY PROTY (L) E* |
PROTYLE | |
| 21 |
Famous artist taking cocaine behind closed doors (7, 2 words) IN CAMERA (in a judge’s private room; behind closed doors) (NAME [famous] + RA [Royal Academician; artist]) containing (taking) C (cocaine) N (C) AME RA |
I | N CAMERA |
| 22 |
Two people guarding Roman senator for money once (7) DUCATOON (old silver coin in Venice and elsewhere) DUO (two people) containing (guarding) CATO (either of CATO the Elder [234 – 149 BC] or CATO the Younger [95-49 BC], both Roman senators) DU (CATO) O |
N | DUCATOO |
| 23 |
Enemy computers, etc. set up in secret room (6) HOSTILE (enemy) IT (information technology; computers) reversed (set up; down entry) contained in (in) HOLE (secret room for some disreputable business) HO (TI<) LE |
S | HOTILE |
| 24 |
Stone and hard wood will endure longer in the end (6) ASHLER (squared or dressed stone used in building or facing a wall) ASH (a type of hard wood) + LER (last letters of [in the end] each of WILL, ENDURE and LONGER) ASH LER |
ASHLER | |
| 26 |
Tries putting down a poet’s read-through (5) HERSALL (Spenserean [poet’s] word for rehearsal; read-through) HEARS (tries a court case) with the letter A moving further down the answer to form the entry HERSA HERSA |
L | HERSA |
| 29 |
Male singers initially jammed with electronic instruments (5) MEANS (that by whose instrumentality anything is caused or made to happen; instruments) (MAN [male] + S [first letter of [initially] SINGERS) containing (jammed with) E (electronic) M (E) AN S |
MEANS | |
| 31 |
Racecourse rider, second from the bottom (4) EPSOM (racecourse in North Surrey, home of The Derby) PS (postscript; rider [a clause or corollary added to an already complete contract or other legal document]) + MO (moment; second) reversed (from the bottom; down entry) PS OM< |
E | PSOM |
With 1A going in almost immediately, I thought that this might be over really quickly, but about halfway in I suddenly ran out of steam, and it took me another couple of days to complete. All clues parsed acceptably in the end. It would have been nice if we had been given an indicator as to exactly which EGOTs we were looking for, but rotational symmetry proved to be our friend once again, as soon as one of them had been spotted. Overall, a relatively tough puzzle and a very precise finish this week.
Thanks, as always, to both setter and blogger – and a very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Enjoyed this one thoroughly, although it took me quite a while.. All thanks (and Merry Solstice too) to Gila
and duncanshiell!
I’d never come across the term EGOT before, but not long after I’d completed this IQ the fickle finger of fate (insecurely attached to the long arm of coincidence) took me to a science fiction bulletin board where someone had claimed no one had won both a Tony and the SF Hugo Award. To which it was replied that Mel Brooks is a full-fledged EGOT who also has a Hugo for Young Frankenstein.
I enjoyed this as much for the quality of the clues (which more than made up for the slightly annoying device whereby most of the clues did not have the right word lengths) as for the neat implementation of the theme.
I collected enough of the omitted letters to point me to a possible theme, of which I knew a few associated names. In the grid I found four names that I did not recognise, but they were symmetrically placed and had the right number of letters in total. When I looked them up I found an online article that connected all names from both sets to a theme. That is how I found EGOT, which explained what was wrong with the ‘incomplete’ names. Very neatly done, and a very satisfying outcome. I too had to change REDSHARE to REDSHIRE in order to make the name TOMLIN.
Many thanks to Gila and duncanshiell.
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. I’d not heard of EGOT before, but it was clear enough what letters were missing from the names given, and Google helped with the rest. I did wonder if the scheduling was coincidental, given Sondheim’s mention?
As a big Sondheim fan, I was determined to solve it once he put in an appearance, but my search engine was no help with Sondheim and Redgrave (Lynn was once in Company), and I’d ruined ‘Winile’ with a careless ‘i’. However, once Tomlin became guessable, the door opened…
A superior Inquisitor, for me, with no queries, and kind to hide the 4 (lesser known) EGOTS so symmetrically. Many thanks to Gila and duncanshiell.
Very nice puzzle
I thought this was a very enjoyable IQ. Lovely clues and a cute way of leading us to EGOT. I have set a puzzle (not a crossword) about EGOTs before so with that prior knowledge the theme dropped quicker than normal for me.
The SE corner really troubled me, kicked myself when sea monster dropped.
Thanks to Gila for the fun and duncanshiell for the comprehensive blog.
I got a bit bogged down with this about 3/4 of the way through, and my mood wasn’t helped by the appearance at 7a of the lying egotist who is the current incumbent of No.10.
However, when the rather neat endgame revealed itself, coupled with my appreciation of how clever grid construction was, I felt that Gila was to be congratulated. So, thanks go to him, and also to Duncan for the blog.
Season’s greetings, one & all.