Inquisitor 1813: Cross World Squares by Arcadia

We have a new Inquisitor setter this week, so welcome to Arcadia

 

 

 

I don’t know whether Arcadia has started with the longest ever preamble for a puzzle, but he/she must be fairly close.

The preamble stated:

The grid consists of nine separate “Worlds” of equal shape and size, whose cells must be filled by one longer and one shorter nonoverlapping entry; each pair being clued together without overlap. One pair contains an entry made up of two words. Both the length of each pair’s answers and their combined shape for entry are suggested by the title. The shorter entry of each pair starts at one of four cells relative to the entry shape; the longer starts at either the top or the bottom cell of the shape and follows a systematic path, albeit in different orientations. The central World’s longer entry is jumbled, although its most central letter is thematic.

Twelve of the answers to the given across and down clues are entered reversed.

Unclued entries, to be deduced, are entered normally.

In the completed grid solvers must highlight a name (four cells in thematic shape) traditionally associated with the nine Worlds and write below the grid the word obtained from the eight different letters in silver cells which connects the Worlds.

All unclued entries are in The Chambers Dictionary (2016).

My first thoughts turned to the identical shapes of the 9 worlds.  The grid has 117 cells which, not surprisingly, divides by 9 to give 13 cells in each shape.  Thee is a strong hint of a diamond about the unfilled grid with the top 3 rows being 1, 3 and 5 cells in length.  If we make that pattern symmetric to get a shape of 1, 3, 5, 3 and 1 cells per row [total 13 cells] we get a clear diamond shape and have the potential for further diamonds of similar shape.  Continuing to form diamonds we get the required nine identical shapes as shown in the second graphic below

After a bit of cold solving, it seemed likely that the long answers in the Worlds were going to be 9 letters long and the short answers 4 letters long.  Given that 9 and 4 are both ‘Squares’, it seems we now have two of the thematic words in the title – Squares and World.

For solving the clues I looked at the Acrosses and Downs first as we hade answer lengths for them.  I then began fitting them into the grid and analysed possible intersections to try and determine which would be entered normally and which would be entered in reverse.  The first concrete entries were TEE-SHIRTS (7 across) and REST (3 down) which could only intersect as TEESHIRTS across and TSER down, crossing on the first E of TEE-SHIRTS.  I then got WELL-OILED (10 across), fortunately not literally, and WITE (6 down), both in reverse, intersecting on the W

I built up a few more of the numbered clues before looking to fit some World answers.  My first success came with ADMONITOR and NESS where I already had letters from TRIHYDRIC, MENSTRUAL, ANNS and SCOLIOSIS.  This ‘World’ also suggested that the four letter entry would form a diamond of its own within the larger world diamond.

I had been having more success with the four letter World clues with ETUI, ARNA, HALL and HOLD than with the 9 letter words. Trying to place these 4 letter  helped in determining the numbering order for the nine world clues.  The preamble hinted that these words would also be entered as a diamond shape where it stated that ‘the shorter entry of each pair starts at one of four cells relative to the entry shape’

Ideas about the nature of the Worlds had formed in my mind as relating to either of Tolkien’s Middle Earth or Norse Mythology.  There was a reference to Middle-Earth in one clue, which clearly hinted at Tolkien.  However, I could see that the majority of allusions in the clues pointed to the 9 Worlds of Norse Mythology.   These were Loki, Elf-lord, Hel, Ori and Edda, even though Ori and Elf-lord could also have been Tolkien related.  JUst before publication of the blog, I was still confused about the reference to Middle-Earth in the clue for the short word, MEIR,  in World 9, but Ken Mackenzie tells me that the word Mediterranean is derived from the Latin for Middle and Earth, so Golda MEIR was Prime Minister of a Middle Earth country.

At this point I also started to make sense of the unclued entries.  First of all I thought they would be related to Norse Mythology, but it soon became obvious that would have been impossible for the setter to do and the entries were simply words of any meaning that could be found in Chambers that could fit in the available empty cells, especially the intersecting ones.  I think Arcadia did very well to come up with a 180º symmetrical grid.

Eventually after three or four sessions, I had everything solved and had ealised that the long words were entered in one of two patterns of entry, top down to the right, then middle up to the left and finally down to the right, OR bottom up left, middle down right, top up left.  The short words went clockwise or anti-clockwise

It also became clear that the positioning of the 9 World diamonds within the full grid in clue order, followed the top down, middle up,bottom down pattern of the 9 letter World entries.

I found the long world clues difficult with the definition for FILLED OUT being fairly unhelpful.  There were also some obscure words in the wordplay components, but that is to be expected in a barred weekend puzzle.

The final three stages were to identify the jumbled entry form of OXYHALIDE in World 5,  together with its central letter; find a name traditionally associated with the Worlds, in a thematic shape; and to write the name of  the item that connects the Worlds using the distinct letters from the eight silvered cells.

From the title we have used World and Squares, so that leaves Cross. which I took to be the X in OXYHALIDE.  For the name, I looked for the God ODIN for a while as many internet references talked about him.  However, I couldn’t find him, but THOR, son of ODIN and a major Norse God in his own right, is formed in a square [thematic shape] within the grid.

The connecting word is a bit problematic.  There are 8 distinct letters – YRGDILAS

Chambers gives three possible spellings for the tree: YGDRASIL – one occurrence of each of the 8 distinct letters in the silver cells; YGGDRASIL – using the G twice; and YGGDRASILL – using both the G and the L twice.

The most common spelling in internet references seems to be YGGDRASIL using the G twice

The preamble is a bit ambiguous as it doesn’t state categorically that the word has to be an anagram of the 8 letters.    It refers to ‘the word obtained from the eight different letters in silver cells’ which could imply that you can use the letters more than once.  There is only one G in the grid, so there was no option to highlight a second G.  There are lots of Ls, so I think another silver square holding an L would have been added if YGGDRASILL was to be the required word.  Either of YGGDRASIL or YGDRASIL are possibilities.  When the correct solution gets published in Saturday’s i newspaper we will know what was required.

The detailed blog table below shows the parsing of the words and also indicated which direction they were entered into the grid.

An animation of the key component parts and entry methods plus several still images are shown below.  Many thanks to John Lowe for his sterling and impressive work on preparing the animations showing the development of the grid.

Firstly, an animation of the complete puzzle with sections in the following order – Numbered across clues entered normally, Numbered across clues entered in reverse, Numbered down clues entered normally, Numbered down clues entered in reverse, 9 letter World entries, 4 letter World entries, All across entries, All down entries, Unclued entries, and finally THOR and YGDRASIL / YGGDRASSIL

Click anywhere in the image to start the animation which will open in a new window

The still images of the important elements of the grid are shown further below

Secondly, an image showing the relationship between the World clues and their location in the full grid

Thirdly, a still of all the across and down entries (cells with a yellow background, answers entered normally shown in black letters with reverse entries shown in red). If across and down clash in direction of entry, the intersecting letter is shown as red

Fourthly, all the unclued entries shown against a blue background

These 23 entries are Across – ANN, LOSS, CURB, CATE, IRAN, CHIT, SOHO, YELL, ASIA, ERE and Down – COE, HOLE, TOED, ALEE, BIER, TRIE, EARD, SURE, EDDY, EATH, NOIL, GAIR and NAT.  All of these words can be found in Chambers and I think they are the only words that would fit the grid.  At least, John Lowe and both came up with the same words independently.

Fifthly. the letters in the silver squares

Finally, the complete grid (ex silver squares) with THOR and YGGDRASIL / YGDRASSIL highlighted

                   YGDRASSIL / YGGDRASSIL

 

Thanks to Arcadia for giving us a tour-de-force in grid design and grid entry methods as well as producing some very challenging clues.

The three words in the title CROSS WORLD SQUARES have all been referenced earlier in the blog

This has been a fairly complex blog, with many edits along the way.  Apologies if any typos remain.

No	Detail
Worlds
1	Circulation of The Herald in Scotland just concentrates The Sun on pitching into sales Circulation of The Herald in Scotland just ONLY (just) entered anti-clockwise LYON (the chief herald of Scotland) with the letters cycled 2 characters to the left (circulation of) to form ONLY  Could also be described as cycling 2 characters to the right. ONLY Concentrates The Sun on pitching into sales INSOLATES (expose to the sun’s rays; concentrates the sun [?]) entered top down Anagram of (pitching) INTO SALES INSOLATES*
2	Without question, quite odd case takes sense away from letters covering the body of scientific knowledge Without question, quite odd case ETUI (small case for holding sewing articles) entered anti-clockwise Anagram of (odd) QUITE excluding (without) Q (question) ETUI* Takes sense away from letters covering the body of scientific knowledge ETHERISES (to stupefy or anaesthetise [takes sense awry from] with ETHER) entered bottom up (ESES [the letters S]) containing (covering) (THE + RI [Royal Institution of Great Britain [body of scientific knowledge]) E (THE RI) SES
3	Jointly penning, subduing (without slowing down) bovid in Karnataka Jointly penning, subduing (without slowing down) CO-WRITING (jointly penning [WRITING]) entered bottom up COWING (subduing) containing (without; outside) RIT (RITardando [musical direction indicating diminishing speed]) COW (RIT) ING Bovid in Karnataka ARNA (the Indian water buffalo, a bovine creature) entered clockwise ARNA (hidden word in [in] KARNATAKA) ARNA
4	Bit of old song runs about giants being only human, but this perhaps overheard suspicion dogs girl Bit of old song runs about RYAL (any of various coins [bits] , such as an old English gold coin worth about 10 shillings [bit of old]) entered anti-clockwise (LAY [song] + R [runs]) all reversed (about) (R YAL)< Giants being only human, but this perhaps overheard suspicion dogs girl FILLED OUT (giant human people could possibly be described as being ‘FILLED OUT‘) – this strikes me as a fairly odd definition – entered top down FILLE (girl) + (follows; dogs] DOUT (sounds like [overheard] DOUBT [suspicion]) FILLE D OUT
5	Old, old march unknowns have entering compound where banquets may be held, some with All-father Old, old march unknowns have entering compound OXYHALIDE (compound of an element or radical with oxygen and a halogen) entered jumbled (X + Y [two letters frequently used as unknowns in equations] + HA‘ [shortened form of HAve]) contained in (entering) (O [old] + LIDE [old or dialect word for the month of March]) O (X Y) HA LIDE Where banquets may be held, some with All-father HALL (a room or space where banquets may be held) entered anti-clockwise HALL (hidden word in [some] WITH ALL-FATHER) HALL
6	Moment in time European Communication Satellite flight protectors reportedly destroyed Sky Moment in time European Communication Satellite flight protectors TECTRICES (feather covering the quill bases on a bird’s wing or tail; flight protectors) entered bottom up TRICE (moment) contained in (in) (T [time] + ECS [European Communication Satellite]) T EC (TRICE) S Reportedly destroyed Sky BLUE (the sky) entered clockwise BLUE [sounds like [reportedly] BLEW [destroyed]) BLUE
7	“Entry to Hel’s ancient fortress, both feet bound together” runs line of play in forgotten composition “Entry to Hel’s ancient fortress HOLD (stronghold; fortress) entered anti-clockwise H (first letter of [entry to] HEL) + OLD (ancient) H OLD Both feet bound together” runs line of play in forgotten composition DITROCHEE (trochaic dipody [[double { bound together?} foot of two syllables]]) entered top down (R [runs] + OCHE [the line from which darts are thrown in the game of the same name]) contained in (in) DITE (obsolete [forgotten] word for a composition) DIT (R OCHE) E
8	He counsels Ori to damn hellish headland, reputed home of monster He counsels Ori to damn hellish ADMONITOR (one who counsels) entered bottom up Anagram of (hellish) ORI TO DAMN ADMONITOR* Headland, reputed home of monster NESS (headland)entered clockwise NESS (reference Loch NESS in Scotland, reputed home of the Loch NESS monster)  double definition NESS
9	Enthralled by half-forgotten lore and Edda, listens to repeated rime about old leader of “Middle-earth” nation Enthralled by half-forgotten lore and Edda, listens to repeated REHEARSED (repeated) entered top down HEARS (listens to) contained in (enthralled by) (RE [two of the four letters [half-forgotten] of LORE + ED [two of the four letters [half-forgotten] of EDDA) RE (HEARS) ED Rime about old leader of “Middle-earth” nation  MEIR (reference Golda MEIR [1898-1978], former Prime Minister [leader] of Israel, a Middle-East nation)  Middle-Earth is a fictional location in the works of J R R Tolkien.  I couldn’t find any link myself between Middle Earth and Middle East, so I wondered if there was a typo in the clue  or whether Arcadia was trying to suggest that the theme was Tolkien rather than Norse mythology.?   However, as mentioned in the preamble, Ken Mackenzie has pointed out that Mediterranean translates from the Latin as Middle Earth. entered anti-clockwise Anagram of (about) RIME MEIR*
Across
5	Take notice before second grandchild (4) OYES (the call of a public crier or officer of a law court for attention before making a proclamation; take notice!) Entered in reverse as SEYO (1 of 12) OYE (Scottish word for a grandchild) + S (second) OYE S
7	Things to slip on litter his street (9, 2 words) TEE SHIRTS (clothes that one can slip on) – entered normally Anagram of (litter) HIS STREET TEE SHIRTS*
10	After spring Loki already regularly sloshed (9) WELL-OILED (drunk; sloshed) Entered in reverse as DELIOLLEW (2 of 12) WELL (spring) + OILED (letters 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 [regularly] of LOKI ALREADY) WELL–OILED
11	Through embracing sloth makes a typical Scot! (4) IAIN (Scottish spelling of the name IAN; typical [representative of] a [male] Scot) Entered in reverse as NIAI (3 of 12) IN (through) containing (embracing) AI (a sloth) I (AI) N
12	Small defence wishing to have time (4) FORT (small fortress; small defence) – entered normally FOR (wanting or wishing to have) + T (time) FOR T
13	Outlaw gangster poet (4) HOOD (reference Robin HOOD, legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore) – entered normally HOOD (gangster) HOOD (reference Thomas HOOD [1799-1845], English poet, author and humorist)  triple definition HOOD
14	Short way to reportedly cache stack of glycerol? (9) TRIHYDRIC (descriptive of glycerol which is a TRIHYDRIC alcohol) – entered normally TRIP (a single journey, one way or to and fro) excluding the last letter (short) P + HYD (sounds like [reportedly] HIDE [cache]) + RIC (sounds like [reportedly] RICK [stack, of hay for instance]) TRI HYD RIC
15	Border force left abandoned by desperate Elf-lord, saving daughter (4) ORLE (heraldic term for a border within a shield at a short distance from the edge) Entered in reverse as ELRO (4 of 12) Anagram of (desperate) ELFLORD  excluding (abandoned) F (force) and L (left) and also excluding (saving) D (daughter) ORLE*
17	Monthly repast carries new strong hint of umami (9) MENSTRUAL (monthly) – entered normally MEAL (repast) containing (carries) (N [new] + STR [strong] + U [first letter of {hint of} UMAMI]) ME (N STR U) AL
19	Note vetch, mostly spread locally (4) TEER (dialect [locally] term for daub or ‘spread’) Entered in reverse as REET (5 of 12) TE (note of the tonic sol-fa) + ERS (bitter vetch) excluding the final letter (mostly) S TE ER
Down
1	Contrarily wanting poetry in the heart of poets! (4) INLY (poetic word for ‘in the heart’) – entered normally INVERSELY (directly opposite; contrarily) excluding (wanting) VERSE (poetry) INLY
2	Nothing’s honourable about antipodean lout (4) HOON (Australian and New Zealand word for a lout; Antipodean lout) Entered in reverse as NOOH (6 of 12) HON (Honourable) containing (about) O (character representing zero or nothing) HO (O) N – either O could be the one contained
3	Tranquillity before storm gathers (4) REST (tranquility) Entered in reverse as TSER (7 of 12) REST (hidden word in [gathers] BEFORE STORM) REST
4	Prince, for one, limits payments for work (9) ROYALTIES (payments for use of, or performances of, works) Entered in reverse as SEITLAYOR (8 of 12) ROYAL (a Prince is a ROYAL) + TIES (constraints; limits) ROYAL TIES
6	Elderly blame partners limiting sex (4) WITE (obsolete [elderly] word for ‘blame’) Entered in reverse as ETIW (9 of 12) WE (West and East, partners in the game of bridge) containing (limiting) IT (sex) W (IT) E
8	Cold dish on board is back with a twist, due to this (9) SCOLIOSIS (abnormal curvature of the spine; back with a twist) – entered normally (C [cold] + OLIO [savoury dish of different sorts of meat and vegetables]) contained in (on board) SS (steamship, a vessel on which one can be on board) + IS  S (C OLIO) S IS<
9	God of gods on earth, for all to see (4) DIEU (God) Entered in reverse as UEID (10 of 12) DI (plural of deus [god] to give ‘gods’) + E (earth) + U (classification indicating that a film is suitable for all ages to see) DI E U
16	Soon dropping round special payments to Scottish Widows (4) ANNS (Scottish legal term for the half-year’s stipend payable after a parish minister’s death to his widow or next of kin from 1672 to 1925) Entered in reverse as SNNA (11 of 12) ANON (soon) excluding (dropping) O (a round-shaped character) + S (special) ANN S
18	After space, earth initially unnerves grounded flier (4) EMEU (alternative spelling of EMU [a flightless [grounded] bird) Entered in reverse as UEME (12 of 12) EM (a space in printing terminology) + E (earth) + U (first letter of [initially] UNNERVES) EM E U