Enigmatic Variations No. 1571 – Dotty Links by Wickball

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This is the third Wickball EV I have blogged, and the previous two were pretty chewy!…What can DOTTY LINKS mean? A golf reference? Someone nicknamed Dotty?…

I had the pleasure of meeting Wickball at the recent York get-together, and we had a nice chat – he was very appreciative of those previous blogs (EV 1439 and EV 1491), which was nice feedback!

The preamble states that:

“Entries in the shaded cells comprise the names of two shows (one briefly), the actor appearing in both and his role in one. Wordplay in 29 clues fails to give one or two letters: solvers must mark each of the 35 cells involved with a bold dot at the midpoint of the left-hand edge. Eight clues contain an extra word: reading the first then the third letter clue by clue identifies two sources, to be written under the grid. The remaining seven clues are normal. Finally, using a highlighter, selected DOTTY LINKS, straight and curved, must be drawn between the dots to spell a phrase of 10 characters.”

That ‘one or two letters‘ adds a degree of complexity to parsing wordplay…thank goodness for the seven normal clues!

After a couple of re-reads to try and make sense, and to allow the preamble to osmose into my short-term memory, there was nothing left but to dive in to solving and see how tricky those missing letters and extra words were going to be to wheedle out.

Luckily for me, the first few clues fell out pretty quickly, and in sequential order (which is quite rare for me!).

  • 10A looked like it should be SCHOOLS, and I could see the S_S around the outside and C and H (initial letters of Can and Help), so I pencilled it in, even though I didn’t fully parse it until later
  • 11A was probably PENANCE from the definition, humbling performance, and the initial letters ENNCE suggested that the P and the A were the to-be-dotted cells
  • 13A looked like a straight clue – ER in PRY to give PERRY
  • 14A seemed to have most of the anagram fodder (cultivated) for UNIVERSES, with just one R to be added/dotted
  • 16A looked like a straight double definition

So far so good, and those first few gave me some crossers to start attacking the Down clues along the top. From which I soon made out the framework of JOHN LE MESURIER, who must be the actor from the preamble. Fortunately for me, or so I thought, I had recently watched a BBC4 documentary about Hattie Jacques, from which I learned that she had been married to JLM. So when I confidently put DAD’S ARMY as the first half of that central row, I had an H and a T in the remainder, and equally confidently put in HATTIE, on the basis that I misremembered there being a sitcom called HATTIE, and he might have starred in it.

This slowed me down a bit on the bottom half! But after a bit of disentangling I finally managed to replace HATTIE with H_GTT_, and from the ‘briefly’ in the preamble I deduced it must be an abbreviation, but it took me an embarrassing while to get from that to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). (Embarrassing, as I am (was) a huge fan, but much beer has flowed under the bridge of my nose since I last read/watched…) And I have to shamefacedly admit I didn’t even remember the character ‘THE WISE OLD BIRD’, played in the radio version by JLM, although in my defence I don’t think I ever listened to the whole radio series…(so maybe not that huge a fan?!)

Anyway, all that remained was to identify the last few dots and work out how to join them together. It soon became clear that the phrase would be ‘DON’T PANIC!’, said many times in Dad’s Army by Lance Corporal Jones (LC PL JO NE S from the extra words), and displayed on the cover of ‘T HE BO OK’ in HHGTTG. But I wasted more time here thinking the 10th character was a ! at the bottom right, when in fact it was the apostrophe. The book cover doesn’t have the pling, although there is usually a sense of urgency and an implied exclamation when Lcpl Jones says it…

 

NB. I haven’t added the dots in the animation above – too fiddly – but I hope you get the picture!

I also never worked out the significance of the title – whether it just refers to the device of using the dots to link things together, or whether there is something more subtle…I’m sure this will be explained below if there is more than meets the eye.

And I only noticed much later a couple of nice touches – the creators of Dad’s Army – (Jimmy) PERRY & (David) CROFT at 13A and 34D – and (Douglas) ADAMS at 33D of HHGTTG fame – all make appearances. Indeed, looking back, 14A with ‘universe’s and ‘everything’ was a far too subtle hint as well…shame there wasn’t a clue 42!

All that remains is to thank Wickball for an impressive tour de force – an inspired spot to notice the connections of actor and catchphrase between the two series, and very cleverly woven together. Still a bit chewy maybe, but a little lighter, I feel, in subject matter and overall difficulty, compared to those earlier puzzles.

And I trust all is clear above and below…

 

Across
Clue No Missing letter(s) / 

Extra Word

 Solution /

Entry

 Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/Parsing (extra letters bold and in brackets)
10 C SHOOLS /

SCHOOLS

 Swimming groups can initially help going back on board ship (7)

S_S (SS, steamship) around (carrying on board) HOOL (LOO, toilet, or can, plus H, initial letter of Help, going back)
11 PA ENNCE /

PENANCE

 Humbling performance, starts in every night, never changing essentials (7)

starts, or first letters, of ‘Every Night Never Changing Essentials’
13 PERRY Without hesitation, poke one’s nose in drink (5)

P_RY (poke one’s nose in) around (without) ER (er, interjection indicating hesitation)
14 R UNIVESES /

UNIVERSES

 Cultivated vine uses absolutely everything? (9)

anag, i.e. cultivated, of VINE USES
16 ARMS Supplies weapons to members (4)

double defn. – to ARM can be to supply weapons; and ARMS are bodily members, or appendages
17 LOCUM TEAR PIT Locum races around hospitals centre after ear wax gland (7, two words)

T_T (TT, Tourist Trophy, motorcycle races on Isle of Man) around EAR + PI (centre of hosPItal)
18 PILOT IN CAMERA American pilot working privately (8, two words)

anag, i.e. working, of AMERICAN
20 R TITLAK /

TITLARK

 Flier’s careless talk about sex (7)

T_LAK (anag, i.e. careless, of TALK) around IT (euphemism for, you know, thingy, how’s yer father…S-E-X)
21 EI TRCO /

TERCIO

 Regiment trustee company (6)

TR (trustee) + CO (company)
27 T AEASE /

AT EASE

 Chilled aged soprano taken in by one in the Highlands (6, two words)

AE (aetatis, Latin, aged x years) + A_E (one, Scottish, i.e. in the Highlands) around (taking in) S (soprano)
30 IA SPRAE /

SPIRAEA

 Spray killing unknown Eastern shrub (7)

SPRA (spray, dropping, or killing, Y – unknown quantity in maths) + E (Eastern)
35 REOPENED Started again fitting old feather into pipe (8)

RE_ED (pipe) around (fitting in) O + PEN (feather)
36 ET RPOSI /

REPOSIT

 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra returning briefly in South Bank (7)

RPO (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) + SI (initial letters, i.e. briefly, of In and South, returning)
37 E OVN /

OVEN

 Victor has leg over in heated environment (4)

O_N (leg, cricket, on-side of field, as opposed to off-side) around (over) V (victor, phonetic alphabet)
38 JEOPARDISES ORIGENIST Old sectarian jeopardises corrupt religion having left out saint (9)

ORIGENI (subtractive anag, i.e. corrupt, of RELIGION, leaving out L – left) + ST (saint)
39 NEEDLESSLY KELIM Milk spilt needlessly over English rug (5)

K_LIM (anag, i.e. split, of MILK) around (over) E (English)
40 L FETTES /

FETTLES

 Potters about having time in holidays (7)

FET_ES (holidays) around T (time)
41 FS AERIE /

FAERIES

 La Belle Dame’s kinsfolk acting by Great Lake (7)

A (acting) + ERIE (one of the Great Lakes)
Down
Clue No Missing letter(s) /

Extra Word

 Solution /

Entry

 Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/Parsing (extra letters bold and in brackets)
1 I OCEANA / OCEANIA Canoe upset by a group of Pacific islands (7)

OCEAN (anag, i.e. upset, of CANOE) + A
2 M NORAL /

NORMAL

 New exam standard (6)

N (new) + ORAL (exam)
3 S LOY /

LOYS

 Irish diggers of brass, for instance, but not Aluminium (4)

(AL)LOY (alloy, but not Al, aluminium)
4 L EUDER /

ELUDER

 Erudite, but without personal magnetism, Artful Dodger (6)

subtractive anagram, i.e. artful, of ERUD(IT)E, without IT – personal magnetism, sex appeal
5 X EPITAY /

EPITAXY

 Crystal growth is a type I damaged (7)

anag, i.e. damaged, of A TYPE I
6 SEVENTH She wildly embraces opening note at interval (7)

SE_H (anag, i.e. wildly, of SHE) around (embracing) VENT (opening) + E (musical note)
7 N UEASE /

UNEASE

 Anxiety of running water locally in use (6)

U_SE around EA (dialect, i.e. locally, for a drainiage channel, or running water)
8 N ISPECT /

INSPECT

 Case turning septic (7)

anag, i.e. turning, of SEPTIC

[case, as in ‘case the joint’]
9 E RSTS /

RESTS

 Resets oddly special lights (5)

RST (odd letters from ReSeTs) + S (special)

[lights, as in alights, settles, rests]
10 SITING SPLIT Open display with International Day disrupted and lost over siting it (5)

SPL (subtractive anagram, i.e. lost, of (DI)SPL(AY), without I, international, and the disrupted letters of DAY) + IT
12 C EILI /

CEILI

 Fable about current Irish dance (5)

EIL (lie, or fable, about) + I (electric current, physics)
15 A NRK /

NARK

 One currying favour near king (4)

NR (near, abbreviation) + K (king, chess notation)
19 ERG Saharan area’s green space abandoned on reflection (3)

GRE(EN) abandoning EN – printing term, space – and reflected = ERG
22 HIERARCHY DESPITE Notwithstanding venom, hierarchy supporting of French (7)

DE (of, French) + SPITE (venom)
23 D SA /

SAD

 Like climbing down (3)

SA (as, like, climbing)
24 E RFINES /

REFINES

 Tweaks recipe with penalties (7)

R (recipe, Latin, take…) + FINES (penalties)
25 S MORTIE /

MORTISE

 Me, introducing performing trio in slot (7)

M_E around (introducing) ORTI (anag, i.e. performing, of TRIO)
26 BLOOMS TEENIER Smaller blooms rein back after support (7)

TEE (support, for a gold ball) + NIER (rein, back)
28 E THER /

THERE

 Word of sympathy from mother (5)

THER = part of moTHER
29 S SEELI /

SESELI

 Umbelliferous plant genus, v51? (6)

SEE (v, Latin, vide, see!) + LI (51, Roman numerals)
30 S ENS /

SENS

 Being no longer from that time on (4)

thematic/subtractive double defn. – ENS means a being, or entity; and SENS is an obsolete word for since, or from that time on
31 ORKNEY POSTAL Staff are lost at first, regarding Orkney deliveries (6)

POST (pole, or staff) + AL (first letters of Are Lost)
32 RR EVEB /

REVERB

 Echo 5 Live rebounding in this? (6)

E (echo, phonetic alphabet) + V (5, Roman numeral) + EB (be, live, rebounding)
33 ADAMS US President once, mad as bananas (5)

anag, i.e. bananas, of MAD AS
34 CROFT Farmland’s old TV piece about Old French, all very brief (5)

CR_T (cathode ray tube, component of early televisions) around OF (Old French); ‘all very brief’ indicating that both are abbreviations)
37 E OKD /

OKED

 Passed nothing knocked down (4)

O (zero, nothing) + KD (Knocked Down, in price – business term)

7 comments on “Enigmatic Variations No. 1571 – Dotty Links by Wickball”

  1. Yes, a splendid thing to spot the one actor who I think must be the only person to appear in both programmes. And I entirely missed ADAMS/CROFT/PERRY – very neat. The Wise Old Bird, as I’m sure you now recall, lived in Arthur Dent’s ear.

    I did, of course, write SERGEANT WILSON along the bottom row once I’d spotted Dad’s Army. Perhaps JLM liked to pick roles the same length as his name.

  2. What a massive intricate job both by Wickball and by mc_rapper67: respect and thanks to both. I enjoyed working steadily through the puzzle, but failed at the final stage. Did not know HHG well enough – spent time looking for another JLM TV show or film before trying radio – did not know ‘the book’, and thus not the link with LCpl Jones. Might have struggled through in the end and joined the dots, but was diverted by the following week’s EV – another story, a happier ending. I hope that others got absorbed in ‘Dotty Links’ and will be articulate in supporting this distinctive feature of the puzzle world, which from time to time seems to come under threat: or maybe the threat has passed for now?

  4. JLM was not the only actor to appear in both programmes, but surely the best known.

    That topic in fact provides a (non-dotty) link of sorts to the puzzle from three weeks earlier, Coexistence by Skylark, on the theme of Barbara Pym. Jonathan Cecil appeared in both Dad’s Army and HHGTTG, while his father, Lord David Cecil, was (along with Philip Larkin) responsible for the resurgence of interest in Barbara Pym’s books in the late 1970s.

  5. Back in November I had the pleasure of blogging Wickball’s contribution to the York S&B proceedings–a friendly solve if you can get your hands on a copy of the puzzle.

    I have been intrigued for some time by the blogs on EV, but this was the first one I attempted (and, to my surprise, completed). (Access to the puzzles, in the first place, is, unfortunately, a serious issue.) If I had not been conversant with both of the theme elements, I am not sure that I would have been able to finish the endgame connect-the-dots, inasmuch as the dots by themselves are not terribly suggestive of any pattern. The apostrophe “character” was that extra little bit of devious instruction that eluded me for quite a while. The clues themselves were, by-and-large, not that difficult, but I did find myself checking and rechecking which “extra” letters I needed to consider for dots. (I think there are minor typos above on 14A and 12D.) I spotted the Adams reference, but the Perry/Croft references blew right past me. A very nice blog, and thanks to Wickball for a fun challenge.

  6. Thanks for all the comments and feedback so far – much appreciated, as always.

    Phi at #1 – the ‘in Arthur Dent’s ear’ thing still eludes me, so maybe a re-visit is in order… I recently started using hearing aids, which connect via Bluetooth to my phone, and I think of them as modern day ‘babel fish’! (Means I can sit and listen to cricket commentary, or HHGTTG, or whatever, without anyone realising it…they just think I haven’t turned them on so I’m not listening to them!)

    quenbarrow at #2 – very good of you to come and say nice things about a puzzle that ultimately defeated you – the journey being of comparable enjoyment to the arrival?!…

    crypticsue at #3 – thanks for the link – I usually add it in, but forgot today…some interesting background there.

    Phibs at #4 – thank for the interesting extra factoid there!

    Cineraria at #5 – glad to hear you have joined the ranks of EV solvers – welcome aboard! Minor typos duly updated, thanks.

    The S&B puzzles, including the Wickball one you mention, are available on this site here. The Wickball one comes out as a strangely formatted Word doc, so may need some tidying up…

    Yes, access to the EV is rather limited – you need to either buy the dead tree copy of the paper, or subscribe to a ‘facsimile copy’ version, such as PressReader. There is a tip from Tyro in comment #5 on the blog for EV 1570 which explains how to access the PressReader version for free (30 days at a time) using a UK Library Card number. I can’t vouch for that method, as I already subscribe, but may be worth giving it a try…and you can also use a UK Library Card no to access the full Oxford Reference Library online

  7. I’d forgotten Jonathan Cecil, one of those jobbing actors who turned up in all sorts of things.

    The birds live in the ear of a giant statue of Arthur Dent failing to get the machine on the Heart of Gold to produce a drink that was almost, but not quite, exactly unlike tea. I might be wrong but I think they only ever appeared on the radio programme, and didn’t make it to the books.

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