The Inquisitor series moves into Ladies month with this puzzle from Chalicea.
We had a very short preamble this week telling us that a scientist whose name must be highlighted in the grid commented that two items (also to be highlighted) are 39ac. Solvers must shade a further 15 cells that cryptically illustrate his statement. (34 highlighted cells in all).
Nothing in the preamble referred to extra letters or other twists in the clues so we have a standard set which is unusual for an Inquisitor.
I think the scientists among the solvers will have liked quite a few of the clues and entries. Of course the end game had a scientific theme, so it’s perhaps not surprising that we had the scientific theme in some clues.
In terms of clue solving, I felt this puzzle was towards the easier end of the Inquisitor spectrum, but we need a range of difficulty to cater for a wide range of solvers.
With the grid filled, the next step was to find the scientist. I know from experience that Chalicea often uses the main diagonals for thematic detail. FRED HOYLE can be seen in the diagonal from top left to bottom right. We were told that FRED said something that relates to the entry at 39 across – NEAR THINGS. At this point I was helped by a crossword in The Magpie that I solved recently with a similar theme. HOYLE‘s statement was that "Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards". We have SPACE in SPACEships as part of the top row and we have EARTH in NEAR THINGS in the bottom row, so it was worth looking at the columns to see if there was a connection between the two ‘objects’. In column 5 we can see AN HOURS DRIVE rising from EARTH to SPACE. Counting up the cells already identified, I realised that we were still a few cells short. Further study of the grid revealed YOUR CAR vertically upward in column 8.There are some cells that contribute to more than one word of the thematic highlighting, so although all the words to be highlighted have 38 letters, only 34 cells are involved and only 15 new cells were involved in AN HOURS DRIVE YOUR CAR.
The completed grid with highlighting is shown below.
The title DAY TRIP indicate’s that you could make a DAY TRIP from EARTH to SPACE given that it is only AN HOUR’S DRIVE away if YOUR CAR could go straight upwards.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Steps very fashionable on board long-distance vehicles (10) SPACESHIPS (vehicles designed for long distance travel) (PACES [steps] + HIP [trendy; fashionable]) contained in [on board] SS (steamship). In the wordplay the term ‘on board’ implies containment within a ship [SS] S (PACES HIP) S |
| 11 |
Without limits gave your free acknowledgement in times gone by (6) AVOURE (avowal [acknowledgement]) AV (letters remaining in GAVE when the outer letters G and E are removed [without limits] The words YOUR and FREE are similarly treated to produce OU and RE AV OU RE |
| 12 |
Measure age going west (3) ARE (a unit of area measurement equal to 100 square metres) ERA (an age) reversed (going west) ARE< |
| 13 |
Role I essentially mimed to some extent in the Colosseum (6) PARTIM (Latin [Roman; Colosseum] word for in part [to some extent]) PART (role) + I + M (middle letter of [essentially] MIMED) PART I M |
| 14 |
Influence advanced study involving time (5, 2 words) ACT ON (to exert an influence on) A (advanced) + (CON [study] containing [involving] T [time]) A C (T) ON |
| 15 |
Take in support for nosy fellow (5) PRIER (a nosy person) R (recipe, Latin for take) contained in (in) PIER ( a support) P (R) IER |
| 16 |
Ragged children found in church institutions (7) URCHINS (raggedly dressed children) URCHINS (hidden word in [found in] CHURCH INSTITUTIONS) URCHINS |
| 17 |
Grey reptile not unknown (5) LIARD (grey) LIZARD (reptile) excluding (not) Z (a letter often used to denote an unknown value in equations) LIARD |
| 19 |
Press you at first for amusing sarcasm (5) IRONY (conveyance of meaning [generally satirical] by words whose literal meaning is the opposite, especially words of praise used as a criticism or condemnation; amusing sarcasm) IRON (press) + Y (initial letter of [at first] YOU) IRON Y |
| 21 |
Engaged new setter: I put forward mum! (6, 2 words) IN MESH ([of gear-teeth, etc] engaged) I + N (new) + ME (the setter) + SH (quiet; mum) I N ME SH |
| 22 |
Furrowed skull oddly scaly when unwrapped (6) SULCAL (furrowed) SUL (letters 1, 3 and 5 [oddly] of SKULL) + CAL (letters remaining in SCALY when the outer letters S and Y are removed [unwrapped]) SUL CAL |
| 24 |
Issued artist equipment for creating pictures (6) CAMERA (device for taking pictures) CAME (issued) + RA (Royal Academician; artist) CAME RA |
| 26 |
Limestone in can overturned – it finally broke (6) OOLITE (type of limestone) LOO (toilet; can) reversed (overturned) + IT + E (last letter of [finally] BROKE) OOL< IT E |
| 27 |
Transformer of lightweight metal inserted into rotated point (5) BALUN (transformer used to connect a balanced circuit and an unbalanced one) AL (chemical symbol for aluminium [lightweight metal]) contained in (inserted into) NUB (point or gist) reversed (rotated) B (AL) UN< |
| 29 |
The endless reef tipped over sailing ship (5) YACHT (sailing vessel) (THE excluding the final letter [endless] E + CAY [low island or reef]) all reversed (tipping over) (YAC HT)< |
| 31 |
Fish – prepared sole – included in Vietnamese festival (7) TELEOST (a bony fish) Anagram of (prepared) SOLE contained in (included in) TET (Vietnamese lunar new year festival) TE (LEOS*) T |
| 33 |
Stunt of dog, removing lead (5) OLLIE (skateboarding stunt) COLLIE (breed of dog) excluding (removing) the first letter (lead) OLLIE |
| 35 |
Reflection of glamour surrounding male Indian staff (5) OMLAH (a staff of officials in India.) (HALO [an ideal or sentimental glory or glamour attaching to anything] containing [surrounding] M [male]) all reversed (reflection of) (O (M) LAH)< |
| 36 |
Pig being in Scottish version of flummery (6) SOWENS (Scottish word for flummery) SOW (pig) + ENS (being or existence) SOW ENS |
| 37 |
Not totally revile African music (3) RAI (a modern, North African form of popular music) RAIL (revile) excluding the final letter (not totally) L RAI |
| 38 |
Unwonted wheeziness with no perverse wish to make explosive expulsion of air (6) SNEEZE (an explosive expulsion of air) Anagram of (unwonted) WHEEZINESS excluding (with no) an anagram of (perverse) WISH SNEEZE* |
| 39 |
He’s ranting about close misses (10, 2 words) NEAR THINGS (close misses) Anagram of (about) HE’S RANTING NEAR THINGS* |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Humbly entreating deviously soapy culprit (12) SUPPLICATORY (humbly entreating) Anagram of (deviously) SOAPY CULPRIT SUPPLICATORY* |
| 2 |
A formal examination not completed in chambers (5) ATRIA (chambers of the heart) A + TRIAL (former examination) excluding the final letter (not completed) L A TRIA |
| 3 |
Regurgitate eastern outdated delicacy (4) CATE (archaic [outdated] word for a delicacy) CAT (vomit; regurgitate) + E (eastern) CAT E |
| 4 |
Tons, for example, or just what one can take (6, 2 words) SO MUCH (to a great extent; tones, for example) SO MUCH (just what one can take, e.g. SO MUCH and no more) double definition SO MUCH |
| 5 |
Arrogance of British leaving scattered rubbish (6) HUBRIS (arrogance) Anagram of (scattered) RUBBISH excluding (leaving) B (British) HUBRIS* |
| 6 |
Pant in Lanark sports clubs husband supports (4) PECH (Scottish [Lanark] word for pant) PE (physical education; sports) + C (clubs) + H (husband) PE C H |
| 7 |
Material of South American metal container (5) SATIN (closely woven silk; material) SA (South American) + TIN (container) SA TIN |
| 8 |
On entering, greet sidekick (5) CRONY (intimate companion; sidekick) ON contained in (entering) CRY (greet [Scottish term for weep or CRY]) CR (ON) Y |
| 9 |
Means of establishing elasticity, manipulating steeliness, toughness principally and temperature (12, 2 words) TENSILE TESTS (means of assessing elasticity) Anagram of (manipulating) STEELINESS and T (first letter of [principally] TOUGHNESS) and T (temperature) TENSILE TESTS* |
| 10 |
Provisions for table mostly in American meal (6) FARINA (ground corn; meal) FARE (food; provisions for the table) excluding the final letter (mostly) E + IN + A (American) FAR IN A |
| 18 |
Stagger – look lecherously round (4) REEL (stagger) LEER (look lecherously) reversed (round) REEL< |
| 20 |
Totality of things old turning up in miscellany (4) OLLA (olio; miscellany) (ALL [totality of things] + O [old]) reversed (turning up; down entry) (O LLA)< |
| 23 |
All in Stirling, say, producing a tense unrestrained peevish complaint (6) A’THING (Scottish word [Stirling] for everything [all]) A + T + WHINGE (peevish complaint) excluding the outer letters W and E (unrestrained) A T HING |
| 25 |
A reply initially covering four points? (6) ANSWER (reply) A + R (first letter of [initially] REPLY) containing (covering) NSWE (north, south, west, east; four compass points) A (NSWE) R |
| 26 |
Start of Open University exam set up (6) OUTSET (start) OU (Open University) + TEST (examination) reversed (set up; down entry) OU TSET< |
| 27 |
In times past enrage principally bitter upset lady (5) BEMAD [archaic [in times past] word for enrage) B (first letter of [principally] BITTER) + DAME (lady) reversed (upset) B EMAD< |
| 28 |
Exhausted, lacking courage for a start, withdraw from circulation (5, 2 words) ALL IN (exhausted) CALL IN (withdraw from circulation) excluding the first letter (lacking) C (first letter of [for a start] COURAGE) ALL IN |
| 30 |
Quite cold and unproductive (5) CLEAN (entirely; quite) C (cold) + LEAN (unproductive) C LEAN |
| 32 |
Relieve of boundless tricky question (4) EASE (relieve) TEASER (tricky question) excluding the outer letters (boundless) T and R EASE |
| 34 |
African rhino’s included in local weigh-in (4) LWEI (monetary unit [rhino] of Angola) LWEI (hidden word in [included in[ LOCAL WEIGH-IN) LWEI |
As 39a was mentioned in the preamble I thought I would go for that clue to make a start if I could. As it turned out I solved it, and from there (not quite literally) I had an hour’s drive upwards in the grid from EARTH to SPACE, not knowing that I would be finding those thematic items later. It actually took longer than an hour to fill the grid, but that didn’t matter.
I found FRED HOYLE easily enough – as the blogger did, I looked in the diagonals first. However, it took me longer than it should have to think of looking up something the great man said rather than what he achieved. After all, the preamble referred to ‘his statement’. My ODQ told me everything I needed – a quotable quote that I had not encountered before. A very satisfying finish.
Thanks to Chalicea for the puzzle, and for adding to my historical knowledge of a subject I am interested in, and to duncanshiell for the blog.
Another puzzle almost identical to a recent Magpie. Chalicea and Skylark must be on the same wavelength.
Definitely one of the easiest ones I’ve done, particularly in terms of gridfill – indeed helped by NEAR THINGS being a fairly straightforward anagram start.
The highlighting took me a little longer as I stupidly looked for a second “near thing” in addition to space, rather than making the connection with earth at the other end.
Nonetheless a very enjoyable puzzle with a well constructed grid so thank you!
Much enjoyed — many thanks all round. I too was surprised to find the important 39A almost instantly crackable; it could I think have been left unclued.
Nice to see dear old Fred Hoyle appearing. I confess to being more familiar with his science fiction than his contributions to Real Science….
Light, fluffy, and thoroughly enjoyable. A welcome change of gear.
A delightful crossword. If a beginner asked for my advice about getting started on the Inquisitor, I would happily recommend this puzzle. Thanks to Chalicea and duncanshiell!
An enjoyable crossword. Not too difficult thank goodness as we have been busy.
Thanks to Chalicea and Duncan.
Obviously I should get hold of the ODQ, because despite reading a couple of (very interesting) articles about the dimly remembered FH, I couldn’t quite see how to connect earth and space. So a nice endgame; I would have preferred some of the very gentle clues to be a tad more resistant. But thanks to Chalicea and Duncan.
Another puzzle clued at the easier end of the difficulty spectrum – answers just flew in, grid complete within a couple of hours. Endgame I found trickier, located FRED HOYLE, SPACE and EARTH and I assumed that the quote was concerning driving a car upwards for an hour, but I was completely stumped and couldn’t find the fifteen final cells to be highlighted – I must have gone blind, because it seems so obvious now – so a poor ending recorded by me – a second DNF in a row.
Many thanks to Chalicea for a fun puzzle, to duncanshiell for the blog and to fellow commenters for sharing their thoughts.
As is usual with Chalicea, a fairly easy grid fill and I soon spotted Fred Hoyle. But, I am ashamed to admit, that was the end of it for me. The professor is not in my ancient ODQ (I must save up for a new one) and despite seeing the first few words of quote online I totally missed its significance. Instead, I managed to locate very twisted spellings of MARS & URANUS, which, on a galactic scale are NEAR THINGS, I suppose, but that was it. Having seen the correct denouement, I must congratulate Chalicea for an elegant and witty interpretation of the quote. I am sorry I was unable to give her puzzle the justice it deserved.
Thanks to Chalicea and DS.
… or you could buy the Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations, which has one single quote from Fred Hoyle, the very one that would have done the job for this puzzle. All I had to do was walk over to the bookshelf.
There is also Google – heresy I know 🙂
Continuing the sub-theme of the ODQ: there are two entries for Fred Hoyle in my 2014 Edition. The first (from 1979 in the Observer) is the one discussed here. The second is marked ‘attributed’ and reads
“There is a coherent plan to the universe, though I don’t know what it’s a plan for.”
[Just in case that is of interest.]
Indeed, Tony Edwards. I was really bothered when Skylark’s recent Magpie used the same theme and in a similar way. We are in touch (as two of the rare lady compilers) but we had no idea that we were both using the Fred Hoyle theme. I did wonder whether I should withdraw mine but John, the editor, saw no reason to do that (it was submitted, of course quite a long time ago, as was Skylark’s Magpie, I am sure). I am glad that it gave pleasure and that folk are happy to have an easier one from time to time.
Chalicea
That’s very interesting. My comment was just to indicate my surprise, it did not affect my enjoyment of your puzzle at all, and I should have said that.