Ifor has now crept into fourth place in the count of Inquisitor crosswords set.
Preamble: All across clues contain an extra word, to be removed before solving. The second or penultimate letters of the extra words in clue order describe the theme; alternative choices name its creator. Solvers must highlight 27 cells in four groups showing the Front Line and connect the centres of another 11 cells (all in unhighlighted rows and appropriately positioned) with seven straight lines to show literally everyone else.
I began this during the flight back from Sicily, but after solving 6 or 7 down clues and about the same number of ones across I put my phone away – screen was on the small side which made the activity rather cumbersome. Still, the top 4 or 5 rows had only a few blanks so I felt I’d made a good start.
I didn’t get back to it for a couple of days – it still surprises me how much fallout there is after just a week away. But a good session on Tuesday evening resulted in a filled grid, this being very much on the easy side for Ifor.
OK. I knew I was looking for an EVENING STANDARD CARTOON by DAVID (ALEXANDER CECIL) LOW, so I naturally turned to Google & Wikipedia. After a short time I discovered The Harmony Boys depicting HITLER conducting MUSSOLINI, FRANCO and STALIN – 27 letters, bingo! (Or so I thought.) Search & search the grid – nothing doing. It took a while, but then I saw CLEMENT in column 5, quickly followed by WINSTON (column 2), ERNEST (column 8), and HERBERT (column 11), all standing on the same row. Googling Low cartoon together with Churchill Attlee Bevin Morrison (not Asquith, who died before the onset of WW1) produced “All Behind You, Winston” showing an ‘army’ of MPs (?) with those four in the Front Line, sleeves rolled up, marching from top right towards the bottom left.
I spent ages looking for something (literally everyone else) slanting up & to the right in the first 3 rows. Thursday, out of the front door and 20-minute walk along the lanes, crossword in hand. About halfway through I got it. I’d spotted the preponderance of Ls very early on (6 in all), and also the As (5 of them), but it was only when outdoors, with no distractions, that I pieced it together: join the dots and they spell A L L.
Thanks Ifor – for me, a highly subjective 3 out of 5, as is often the case when the grid-fill is rather fast, the first part of the endgame takes quite a while, and the second part of the endgame even longer.
| No. | Clue [extra] | Answer | Wordplay | |
| Across | ||||
| 2 | A [melody] oddly played shortly after first appearance? (6) | E D | DAY-OLD | [A ODDLY]* |
| 6 | Preliminary returns covering athlete [overseas] (5) | V A | MILER | (p)RELIM(inary)< |
| 10 | Urban clan regularly [believe] Bible’s worthless (4) | E V | RACA | (u)R(b)A(n) C(l)A(n) |
| 11 | Explosive [signs] little restrained after respectful address in ceremonial garb (8) | I N | ROBURITE | RIT(enuto) (restrained) after U (respectful address) in ROBE (ceremonial garb) |
| 12 | Stadium space accommodating indefinite number [ringside] (5) | I D | ARENA | AREA (space) around N (indefinite number) |
| 13 | Absolute shocker [barracking] singer from Glasgow (4) | A N | LULU | double definition (ref: L. Kennedy-Cairns) |
| 16 | Migrant discovered healthy in [agreeably] dated part of Kent (5) | G L | LATHE | [(h)EALTH(y)]* |
| 17 | Unsuspecting [terrorist] representative taken in by confection of lies (6) | E S | SIMPLE | MP (representative) in [LIES]* |
| 18 | Red wine [experts] at entire bottles (6) | X T | NEATEN | (wi)NE AT EN(tire) |
| 20 | [Fatal] guess once limited by square deal (5) | A A | AREDE | (squ)ARE DE(al) |
| 22 | [Animations] do cut role of actors (4) | N N | PART | PART(y) (do) |
| 23 | Baltic tribesman succeeded when overwhelmed by the fearful [odds] (4) | D D | ESTH | S(ucceeded) in [THE]* |
| 26 | Time off suggested by rather empty [canteen]? (5, 3 words) | A E | R AND R | R(athe)R |
| 29 | Stock image that will do, covering time before [artistry] (6) | R R | STEREO | SO (that will do) around T(ime) ERE (before) |
| 30 | Rank order containing grand [accolade] for college (6) | C D | DEGREE | DECREE (order) with G(rand) for C(ollege) |
| 31 | Ten thousand [accounted] for staff (5) | C E | TOMAN | TO (for) MAN (staff) |
| 35 | With [balance] upset, indulges in short walk (4) | A C | STEP | PETS< (indulges) |
| 36 | Solvent in Queer Street, avoiding climax of the [misery] (5) | I R | TERTS | [STREET]* ¬ (th)E |
| 37 | Drier [allotments] dug west of mostly lower ground (8, 2 words) | L T | TEA TOWEL | TEAT before [LOWE(r)]* |
| 38 | Ornate furniture left nave [totally] preposterous (4) | O L | BUHL | L(eft) HUB (nave) all< |
| 39 | Elderly men perhaps impressed feeling [boyhood] returning (5) | O O | ESNES | SENSE< (feeling) |
| 40 | Witness [awakens] so much rage (6) | W N | SEETHE | SEE (witness) THE (so much) |
| Down | ||||
| 1 | Servants sacked promptly before enjoying wearing another’s clothes (12) | TRANSVESTITE | [SERVANTS]* TITE (promptly, obs) | |
| 2 | Drawing no conclusion after evolution? Not him (6) | DARWIN | [DRAWIN(g)]* | |
| 3 | Fell any grand tree for timber (4) | YANG | [ANY]* G(rand) | |
| 4 | Where nothing clear might be spelt out? (6) | ORACLE | O (nothing) [CLEAR]* &lit | |
| 5 | Hang all Olympic rings upside down (4) | LOLL | (a)LL OL(ympic) rev. | |
| 6 | Think about leaving nothing originally vital in casual murder (6) | MULLER | MULL OVER (think about) ¬ O (nothing) ¬ V(ital) | |
| 7 | Pleasant air, a little unfortunate after spilling boiling tea (4) | LILT | [A LITTLE]* ¬ [TEA]* | |
| 8 | One scratching the surface as well as the rest of the lady (6) | ETCHER | ETC (as well as the rest) HER (of the lady) | |
| 9 | Letters from net seller combining cunning with severity (12) | RELENTLESSLY | [NET SELLER]* SLY (cunning) | |
| 14 | Tree moss not previously found in the States (5) | USNEA | NE (not, obs) in USA (the States) | |
| 15 | Soul clutching at past dismay (5) | AMATE | ÂME(soul) around AT | |
| 19 | Delay start, leaving sides really exhausted (5) | TARRY | (s)TAR(t) R(eall)Y | |
| 21 | Rogue function overwritten by director (5) | DRÔLE | ROLE (function) after D(irector) | |
| 24 | Rock group cut short quiet individuals (6) | STONES | ST (quiet) ONES (individuals) | |
| 25 | Elderly couples taking over in Jamaican dances (6) | MENTOS | MENTS (couples, archaic) around O(ver) | |
| 27 | Lie close to number estimated by the French (6) | NESTLE | N(umber) EST(imated) LE (the, Fr) | |
| 28 | Deep collar assigned place on middle of chest (6) | BERTHE | BERTH (assigned place) (ch)E(st) | |
| 32 | Design of little value (4) | MEAN | double definition | |
| 33 | Arm for jabs originally extended twice to keep up record (4) | ÉPÉE | E(xtended)×2 around EP< (record) | |
| 34 | Obligation best discharged after son’s dead (4) | DEBT | [BEST]* with D(ead) for S(on) | |
I thought this was excellent – not least because finally it was time to get the highlighter out again.
Unlike HG, Google led me straight to the correct cartoon (lucky, perhaps) though it took me a while to understand I was looking for Winston (etc) and not Churchill (etc) – as by that point I hadn’t completed the grid.
Just like HG, however, it did take me a long time to spot ALL even though the qualifier “literally” seemed to indicate something of the sort. It didn’t help that for a while I was fixated on using “ETC” in column 11, and that I assumed the 7 lines would be continuous rather than in three groups.
Still, a fun challenge with a satisfying conclusion.
Use of the second and penultimate letter for the second week in a row – I managed to untangle the possible combinations and completed the grid, although a couple of the clues were a bit sticky and took me some time to solve and parse satisfactorily. Endgame: well it was a total fail here I’m afraid – I couldn’t find evidence of the cartoon for love nor money – it all seems so obvious now! That’s the Inquisitor for you I guess. Sadly a DNF recorded here this week, but regardless of that, a very entertaining puzzle indeed.
i thinkPeter Alexander Ustinov also fit the letter count but not the other criteria.
IK was wondering if HIT and MUSS would be in there as its a great Kiwi ism for Hitler and Mussolini,
Love it when someone like this turns up-makes me want to buy a book of his works
i liked the fact that both phrases had AND in the same place but neither featured it as a word.
Top puzzle
Like arnold@1 I too enjoyed this puzzle.
Sometimes I struggle with extra words, but it was made easier because there was one in every across clue. I did think that they were nicely woven into the clues.
Maybe I got lucky with the endgame because the answer also came to me while out walking (without the crossword and highly distracted by Northumbrian scenery) and yet a in moment of inspiration I realised that ALL is made up of 7 straight lines.
In the cartoon is there a fifth person in the front line at the opposite end to Churchill? Maybe Leo Amery?
It’s hard to tell if he’s in the same line or slightly behind.
Anyway this was good fun and thanks to Ifor and HolyGhost for the puzzle and the blog.
My journey was very similar to HG’s…. well almost. I spotted CLEMENT first when I solved 28d, then the other three quickly followed and were confirmed by an internet check. However, the last bit totally eluded me and I conceded defeat after a few days. I am afraid the literal meaning of “literal” went straight over my head. Having seen the answer, I am impressed and amazed I missed it!
As usual, some elegant cluing from Ifor, another excellent, entertainng and informative puzzle.
Thanks to Ifor and HG.
I also thought there were a fair few difficult and hard-to-parse clues (after a quick start). Anyway, eventually got to the cartoon and the four leaders, and like HG assumed ‘literally everyone else’ would somehow be slanting up towards the right. Seeing literally nothing, I gave up, and, seeing the answer now, I’m not at all surprised I didn’t see it before.
Thanks to Ifor and HG
This was another fine crossword with an excellent set of clues. It was nice to have both normal and special clues to grapple with, the Across (special) clues taking longer to solve than the Downs. When the grid was finally complete I had three pairs of letters missing, but I had little difficulty forming the two 22-letter messages from the letters I had, giving me the theme and the creator – also enabling me to resolve all the Across clues to my satisfaction.
For the endgame, I thought the Front Line would be formed from Churchill / Attlee / Bevin / Morrison, as they were in the front row of the famous cartoon, but those names totalled 28 letters. It was a chance glimpse of the name WINSTON going down in the grid that got me on the right track. The leaders’ forenames totalled 27 letters, and the cartoon “All behind you, Winston” was clearly the relevant one.
For the last piece of the puzzle, the instruction was vague. I thought that any of ‘The Coalition’, ‘Everyone else’ and ‘All behind you’ would have met the requirement very well – but they all had 12 letters! I didn’t know what Ifor had in mind, but I found a way of tracing THE in row 12 and COALITION in rows 1, 2 and 3 using exactly 11 cells (the O of LOLL being used twice) and seven straight lines as stipulated. I was happy with that. I felt certain that Ifor had a different solution in mind, and I’m pleased (in a way) that I was at least right about that!
Thanks to Ifor for a super puzzle and to HolyGhost for the blog.
The endgame fell quickly enough here too – the hint regarding unhighlighted rows and the large number of A and Ls being sufficient. The names to highlight were also sufficiently well known as to jump out. I was unfamiliar with the cartoon, but as always Google to the rescue. Overall thoroughly enjoyable – a reasonably straightforward grid fill followed by a quickish endgame.
Small fail here, like others. I saw the four main players but didn’t spot how All went in.
Little to add here. Got there in the end and enjoyed the experience. My online searches produced the cartoon easily enough but it was harder to find a site that spelt out who HERBERT was (I’d blanked on that name). ALL from the caption seemed like the final thing to look for, and — after a cartoon-layout-influenced period of concentrating on upper right rather than the top rows in full — it suddenly sprang out.
Many thanks to Ifor and HolyGhost.
As always, my thanks to everyone commenting, and of course to HG. I’d agree that this was towards the less complex end of the Ifor spectrum; and good to see that “literally” did its job for at least some solvers. HG – I’d always assumed that the “all” were the population as a whole. They could, I suppose, be parliamentarians (not just MPs – Halifax is depicted).
Good to see that at least one commenter was moved to learn more about David Low. He was a man of considerable moral courage, who saw Hitler and Stalin for what they were well before many of the establishment, and didn’t shy away from anathematising them, which earned him a place in the Gestapo’s black book. He also came up with the line that there had only ever been one European war, but “with a twenty-year break for a change of moustache”. Incidentally, Attlee liked the cartoon so much that his wife bought the original for him.
Didn’t find the ALL. Adding this to the ever growing list of puzzles where the endgame requires too much effort for my liking.