“Each quadrant represents one of five ELEMENTARY SOLUTIONS; solvers must determine which quadrant each set belongs to. Clues are in normal order within each group. All entries except one at every stage are real words or names. Initial answers may not fit the space allocated. Solvers must highlight four examples of the fifth solution, each spanning two quadrants (16 cells). Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
This one was rather like four (mini) crosswords in one!
SET A related to the process whereby PLANTS turn carbon dioxide (COO) into OXYGEN. I imagine quite a few solvers will have been tripped up by the use of misprints, despite the clear indication in the preamble!
SET F related to using AGROFORESTRY as a solution to the problem of FIRE.
SET E related to using a HE/AT PU/MP instead of GA/S, O/IL, and PE/TR/OL, which create carbon monoxide (CO). The first four pairs of letters were entered into four initially blank cells. I wonder how many solvers went astray trying to fit one letter per cell!
SET W related to the depletion of groundwater resources. The down answers were entered as anagrams and, where necessary, one letter was dropped to the bottom row to spell WATERS.
Finally, one had to highlight four trees: NIPA, YEW, APPLE, and ACER. I’m not aware of a system that puts WOOD on a par with AIR, FIRE, EARTH, and WATER (I didn’t notice the reason for the set names until after I’d filled the grid – d’oh!), but trees are certainly important!
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Definition | word |
| Indicator | [word] |
| Anagram | WORD* |
| Reversal | <WORD |
| Homophone | “WORD” |
| Removed half-word | thefts |
| Set A | ||
|---|---|---|
| The last Across answer must be reduced before entry, creating a non-word. The process to get from the change to the unclued entry depends upon certain ‘factories’ to be discovered from consecutive misprints, occurring once in the definition part of each Down clue. | ||
| Unclued | OXYGEN | |
| MI (Note): A OWS (cry or two of pain), catcalls? | MIAOWS | |
| Letters [discovered in] |
OES | |
| Crazy person [pointing < TUN (barrel) backwards] | NUT | |
| Promise P (quiet) LEDGE (place to perch) | PLEDGE | |
| COOP (Store) E (energy) and RAGE (temper) in cask-maker’s workshop | COOPERAGE | |
| P | < NEMO (Captain) [is coming up]: maybe something goop? [good] | OMEN |
| L | [Half of] |
YATTER |
| A | GO ON (Continue) to stand by D (daughter) with A criminal tape [type] | GOONDA |
| N | Pincher [pitcher] with EWE (sheep) and R (rook) | EWER |
| T | Shot [shoe] hoofed beast | MULE |
| S | Dusk [duck] sees ME [in] SE (Kent?) | SMEE |
| Set F | ||
| Single misprints in each clue need correcting before solving: the middle four corrections give a problem. Changing one to the letter it corrected gives a solution (12) involving a clearing process, to be exemplified by replacing one entry with a word formed from corrections to obelised clues. | ||
| A | C ([Herd of] CATTLE) [tucking into] BRUS |
SCRUB |
| G | {ARAK B (barrel) I}* [upset] flooded Zambezian forge † | KARIBA |
| R | DR (Medic) [wearing] AY (APOTHECARY[’s coat]), once patched | ADRY |
| O | [Dodging A (about) L (left) and R (right)], |
TINE |
| F | TOUR* [detective] AN (one) passed | OUTRAN |
| I | Very timid W (with) [lovely] SUSY* | WUSSY |
| R | [Neatly] SKI |
SKI TOW |
| E | A (Suction) AP ([voided] A |
SAP |
| S | CANTS (Elopes) [bearing] R (King) William’s garland † | CRANTS |
| T | RIDS (Quips) [about] ER (Queen)’s cavalry? † | RIDERS |
| R | Backing BAY (recess) IN G (government) | BAYING |
| Y | Very stale | WAY |
| Set E | ||
| Each clue includes two extra letters (not always consecutive), to be removed before solving, leaving real words. Solvers must deduce which four pairs to install where space allows (initially empty cells in entries from obelised clues) and which pairs not to use. | ||
| Eccentricity by comic animals † | MICE | |
| Informal shirt “TaIl“[in audience] † | TEE | |
| R (Hear) SON (boy)[’s outside] Ian’s to gatecrash | SORN | |
| V (Victor) [blocks] NAY (old Nato) fleet that’s passing | NAVY | |
| SCH (School) [pu |
SCHEMA | |
| Lawmakers for Empire, SEA (Ocean) AND* [Waves]? | SEANAD | |
| TO (Peat) NS (not specified) a lot † | TONS | |
| MEN (Thrills) with ACE (winning serve) [under] pressure | MENACE | |
| Olives: |
IS | |
| Traveller [seen in] |
ROMA | |
| PENNE (Pasta) [(no starter)] and < soDA [served up] for nine | ENNEAD | |
| Long MilE [away from] YE |
YEN | |
| Set W | ||
| Down answers are modified enabling completion of the unclued entry to show the reversal of a current process. | ||
| Noble ST (street) [in] A RIO (major port) | ARISTO | |
| Brown DUN |
DUN | |
| Primate? DO GAPE (Please stare) | DOGAPE | |
| Baby, once affected, LET* [loose] [in] LEE (shelter) | LEETLE | |
| Chance |
HAP | |
| Unclued | WATERS | |
| Move awkwardly, [heading away from] |
WADDLE [ADDLE] | |
| TINES (Some points) [capturing] G (good) colours | TINGES [INGEST] | |
| SH (Mum) [grasps] NEAT (trim) scythe handle | SNEATH [SNATHE] | |
| T (Tense) R.I.P. (comment after death) voyage | TRIP [TIP] | |
| Brush S (small) WEEP (pipe) | SWEEP [WEEPS] | |
| Worry EA (each) T (time) | EAT [ETA] | |
COMPLETED GRID:
Count me among the solvers tripped up by the pairs of letters in single cells. It meant the NW took me far longer than the entire rest of the puzzle, including the shading of the trees. I also did not note that the pairs spelled out anything of significance. That part of the grid had some of the hardest clues, and I thought the preamble could have been clearer about the pairs not fitting in single cells, but in the end it was a poor assumption on my part. So it was not my favourite solving experience, but entirely fair on the part of the setter(s) and I’m happy that this did not mark the end of the EV series as first planned. Thanks to Mister Sting for pulling it all together for the blog.
Another excellent EV puzzle, and another that I would describe as one of the best this year. This one took rather a long time, but it was interesting and rewarding to solve. It seemed to be the work of collaborators, the four mini-crosswords being written by different setters.
After reading all the instructions I decided to attempt Sets A and W first, then F and finally E, which seemed more complex than the others.
Sets A, W and F were a joy to solve. They were similar but different, with distinctive twists to their respective designs. The placement of each of these sets became clear after solving just a couple of clues.
As expected, Set E, in the top left, took the longest. I duly got all 12 letter pairs, but at first I couldn’t work out how to install the HEAT PUMP in the space available! When I discarded the alternative answer to TEE (‘T’), the correct deployment of the pairs of letters at last became clear – a very satisfying result after a lot of hard work. All that was then left to do was to plant the four trees.
Clearly a lot of skill, ingenuity and effort went into this puzzle. Thanks to the setter(s) and to Mister Sting for the excellent blog.
Mister Sting
There is a simpler explanation for treating the Down clues in Set W. One simply drops a letter from the answer to the bottom row, e.g. the E of SNEATH to make SNATHE.
I’ve already mentioned that one has to choose TEE and not T for the ‘informal shirt’ in Set E. (I saw that only after getting MENACE, my last clue, for the crossing E.)
The letter pair extracted from SCHEMA in Set E has to be PU and not UP, but that becomes obvious when one tries to read the letter pairs.
Thanks, Mister Sting – you’ve ‘taken one for the team’ on the blogging front here!
My initial thought was to lay this aside, with silent thanks that it wasn’t my turn to blog. I then picked it up a couple of days later and applied myself, and found it a very challenging and rewarding solve – five PDMs for the price of one! I’m another who was flummoxed for a while by the installation of the HE AT PU MP, making the top left my LQI – last quarter in…realisation also coming when I changed T to TEE, as per Alan B above.
There is a fairly detailed piece on the gestation of the puzzle (and the preceding series) on the BD site – where the ‘FEW’ are outed as well…
A fun end to the elementary series. I wondered if A Few might be the four setters of the previous puzzles working jointly, so good to see that confirmed. Nice challenge to work out positioning, especially with the information that some entries didn’t fit. Thanks to all setters and to Mister Sting.