Inquisitor 1865: Hero to Zero by eXternal

by

eXternal is a prolific setter of Inquisitor puzzles with interesting themes and cluing devices.

 

 

Today, the preamble told us that a letter must be reinstated in each of 36 clues. The same letter that has been reinstated must replace one of the letters in the answer before entry. In clue order, the letters that have been replaced spell a quotation and source. In the initially-filled grid, solvers must remove a thematic entry to set the scene and draw a line through ten cells in an apt symmetric formation showing the name of someone who, under such circumstances, would have had temporary supremacy before joining the hoi polloi. All entries are (and reinstated letters make) real words.

It was a little while into solving before I fully understood what was going on in the two stage process to get from the clues to the entries.  The table immediately below shows the transition without going through the wordplay.   (The full wordplay can be found further below.)  The Added column indicates which letter has to be added to the clue to make it solvable and generate the answer in the Answer column.  Using the letter in the added column we amend the Answer to produce the Entry.  The letter overwritten in the Answer forms the final column which shows the message and the source:

IN REGIONE CAECORUM REX EST LUSCUS ERASMUS

This quotation by ERASMUS translates as ‘In the land/kingdom/country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king’.  Note that the clues without an added letter or an amended answer are the first and last clues, plus the clues that fall beween each individual word in the quotation and source.

 

Across  Added  Answer  Amended  Excluded
1   LISSOM
5 O GIBLET GOBLET I
9 E NYES EYES N
11   LORICA  
13 W RAKE WAKE R
14 G SAVINES SAVINGS E
15 S SITING SIT-INS G
17 L TATTIER TATTLER I
20 R OILED RILED O
22 S NORI SORI N
23 U SCAPES SCAPUS E
25   BEHOOF  
26 F CLUE FLUE C
31 I RECTA RECTI A
32 G NERVINE NERVING E
34 T CAILLE TAILLE C
37 A OPPOSER APPOSER O
38 I LARD LAID R
39 A EXULTS EXALTS U
40 N MESS NESS M
41   SUNSET  
42 C ROQUET COQUET R
Down    
1 T LEASES LEASTS E
2 A SEXT SEAT X
3   OPEN  
4 L MISSEE MISSEL E
5 Y GLAIRS GLAIRY S
6 N BRITISH BRINISH T
7   LINALOOL  
8 S TALK TASK L
10 K SUITE SKITE U
12 P OVERSEER OVERPEER S
16 N HEROIC HEROIN C
18 A UNCLES ANCLES U
19 U LOSSIEST LOUSIEST S
21   SAUCEPAN  
24 O PETRELS PETROLS E
27 N UNREST UNNEST R
28 E MATRIC METRIC A
29 V ASIAN AVIAN S
30 T AGEISM AGEIST M
33 E GAUS GAES U
35 T ALSO ALTO S
36   LIEU  

In the initially filled grid immediately below, the word ‘EYES‘ stood out a thematic, so I removed it to make the grid ‘blind’.   When EYES is removed we still have real words across the space – LAST, SAT and KITE.

I then looked for a relevant name.  In themed crosswords, the main diagonals or the centre of the grid are worth studying for in a search for thematic material.  Given that we were told to look for a symmetric formation, I concentrated on the centre.  I saw OLYP centrally placed and started looking for a name involving those four letters and using four columns in vertical placement so something involving …OLYPHAVI….  By chance whilst I was searching, Google flashed up POLYPHEMUS once I had typed in OLYPH and I could see that POLYPHEMUS was located  in the grid in a symmetrical pattern as shown in the second grid further below.  Being one-eyed in this ‘blind’ grid, POLYPHEMUS could have temporary supremacy. 

POLYPHEMUS is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer’s Odyssey. The link to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphemus gives more background and mentions the relationship between POLYPHEMUS and Odysseus who is mentioned in the clues.  As I understand it, Odysseus removed POLYPHEMUS‘s eye and thus rendered him blind and removing his temporary supremacy and making him a member of the hoi-polloi [masses; people].

Once the extra letter in the clue was in place, the clues didn’t seem so fearsome, but sometimes I solved them from the definition which helped reverse engineer the wordplay and hence the missing letter.  Towards the end of the solving, after I had enough letters to track down the quotation, I worked backwards from the likely entry and the letter that had to be in the answer to try and deduce the and thus find the letter that had to be added.

I am not 100% sure of the parsing for the answer at 33 down, GUAS, but otherwise I am happy with the parsing.

The title ‘Hero to Zero’ is descriptive of POLYPHEMUS transition from ‘king’ to the ‘hoi-polloi’ after losing his one eye.

Thanks to eXternal for a puzzle with an interesting device to get us from clue to answer to entry.

The detailed table shows the clue before and after the addition of the required letter, plus the transition from Answer to Entry.

No Detail and Answer
 Letter in Entry Letter out
Across  
1 Nimble light infantry by boggy ground retreated (6)

Nimble light infantry by boggy ground retreated (6)

LISSOM (lithe; nimble)

LI (Light Infantry) + MOSS (boggy ground) reversed (retreated)

LI SSOM<

   LISSOM  
5 Try cooking with bilge made from entrails (6)

Troy cooking with bilge made from entrails (6)

GIBLET (something made from entrails of a fowl)

Anagram of (cooking) T (troy [weight] and [with] BILGE)

GIBLET*

 O GIBLET

to

GOBLET

 I
9 Old nests in many states (4)

Old nests in many estates (4)

NYES (alternative word for NIDS [pheasant’s nests])

NYES (hidden word in [in] MANY ESTATES)

NYES

 E NYES

to

EYES

 N
11 Large sea-monster eats one part of protozoan (6)

Large sea-monster eats one part of protozoan (6)

LORICA (the case of a protozoan)

L (large) + (ORCA [mythical sea-monster] containing [eats] I [Roman numeral for one])

L OR (I) CA

   LORICA  
13 Profligate slow don scratching head (4)

Profligate slow down scratching head (4)

RAKE (a debauched or dissolute person; a profligate)

BRAKE (slow down) excluding the first letter (scratching head) B

RAKE

 W RAKE

to

WAKE

 R
14 Rescues robin in junipers (7)

Rescues robing in junipers (7)

SAVINES (species of juniper)

SAVES (rescues) containing (robing) IN

SAV (IN) ES

 G SAVINES

to

SAVINGS

 E
15 Locating rat to retrain it (6)

Locating rat to restrain it (6)

SITING (locating)

SING (turn informer; rat [on]) containing (to restrain) IT

S (IT) ING

 S SITING

to

SIT-INS

 G
17 Rue following Murphy in Scotland, being comparatively fussy (7)

Rule following Murphy in Scotland, being comparatively fussy (7)

TATTIER (fussier; comparatively fussy)

TATTIE (Scottish word for potato.  Murphy is also an informal term for a potato) + R (rule)

TATTIE R

 L TATTIER

to

TATTLER

 I
20 Shaking the fist, was angry and tipsy (5)

Shaking the first, was angry and tipsy (5)

OILED (tipsy)

BOILED (was angry) excluding (shaking) the initial letter (the first) B

OILED

 R
 OILED

to

RILED

 O
22 Seaweed tern turned over (4)

Seaweed stern turned over (4)

NORI (seaweed of the genus Porphyra used as a foodstuff in Japan in the form of dried sheets for wrapping sushi, or as a paste)

IRON (stern) reversed (turned over)

NORI<

 S NORI

to

SORI

 N
23 Transgressions of South Carolina docs, maybe (6)

Transgressions of South Carolina doucs, maybe (6)

SCAPES (transgressions)

SC (South Carolina) + APES (doucs are variegated monkeys of South East Asia)

SC APES

 U SCAPES

to

SCAPUS

 E
25 Stay on foot for convenience (6)

Stay on foot for convenience (6)

BEHOOF (benefit; convenience)

BE (live; stay or occupy a position in space; be) + HOOF (foot)

BE HOOF

  BEHOOF  
26 After that woman’s offed, Hercule rightfully finds evidence (4)

After that woman’s offed, Hercule frightfully finds evidence (4)

CLUE (evidence)

Anagram of (frightfully) HERCULE excluding (after … offed) HER (that woman)

CLUE*

 F CLUE

to

FLUE

 C
31 Intestinal parts Greg cut, say, in regular slices (5)

Intestinal parts Grieg cut, say, in regular slices (5)

RECTA (parts of the large intestine)

RECTA (letters 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 (regular slices) of GRIEG CUT SAY)

RECTA

 I RECTA

to

RECTI

 A
32 Jockey wins in Napoli, never calming (7)

Jockey wings in Napoli, never calming (7)

NERVINE (quieting nervous excitement; calming)

Anagram of (jockey) NI (outer letters of [wings in] NAPOLI) and NEVER

NERVINE*

 G NERVINE

to

NERVING

 E
34 Emptied cage to accommodate a sick game bird of ours (6)

Emptied cage to accommodate a sick game bird of Tours (6)

CAILLE (French [Tours is a French city] cookery word for QUAIL (a game bird)

CE (letters remaining in CAGE after the central letters AG are removed [emptied]) containing (to accommodate) (A + ILL [sick])

C (A ILL) E

 T CAILLE

to

TAILLE

 C
37 Work with riddle, one verse (7)

Work with riddle, one averse (7)

OPPOSER (one with a different opinion; one disinclined or averse)

OP (opus; work) + POSER (puzzling question; riddle)

OP POSER

 A OPPOSER

to

APPOSER

 O
38 Fat landowner in Perth, not close to poor (4)

Fat landowner in Perth, not close to poori (4)

LARD (fat)

LAIRD (Scottish [Perth] word for a landowner) excluding (not) I (last letter of [close to] POORI)

LARD

 I LARD

to

LAID

 R
39 Old flame ultimately led in Speedway and is joyful (6)

Old flame ultimately lead in Speedway and is joyful (6)

EXULTS (is joyful)

EX (previous partner; old flame) + ULT (ultimately) + S (first letter of [lead in] SPEEDWAY)

EX ULT S

 A EXULTS

to

EXALTS

 U
40 Bugle player from Argentina having no ego (4)

Bungle player from Argentina having no ego (4)

MESS (bungle)

MESSI (reference Lionel MESSI [born 1987], Argentinian football player) excluding (having no) I (ego)

MESS

 N MESS

to

NESS

 M
41 Decline of society not fixed (6)

Decline of society not fixed (6)

SUNSET (decline)

S (society) + UNSET (not fixed)

S UNSET

   SUNSET
  
42 Queen and earl involved in rumble hit on lawn (6)

Queen and earl involved in crumble hit on lawn (6)

ROQUET (in croquet, a stroke by which the striker’s ball is played against another ball)

(QU [queen] + E [earl]) contained in (involved in) ROT (crumble)

RO (QU E) T

 C ROQUET

to

COQUET

 R
Down        
1 Les stands with lecturer coming up (6)

Lets stands with lecturer coming up (6)

LEASES (grants under lease; lets)

EASELS (stands holding paintings for example) with the L (lecturer) moving up this down entry to become the first letter and form LEASES

LEASES

 T LEASES

to

LEASTS

E
2 Cover box at end with lid for hour (4)

Cover box at end with laid for hour (4)

SEXT (one of the seven canonical hours of the divine office)

SET (laid) containing (to cover) X (last letter of [at the end] BOX

SE (X) T

 A SEXT

to

SEAT

 X
3 Clear denial with navy sunk (4)

Clear denial with navy sunk (4)

OPEN (unrestricted; clear)

NOPE (word indicating denial) with the N (navy] sunk further down the entry to form OPEN

OPEN

   OPEN
  
4 Wrongly observe ass on banks of Elbe (6)

Wrongly observe lass on banks of Elbe (6)

MISSEE (wrongly observe)

MISS (lass) + EE (outer letters of [banks of] ELBE)

MISS EE

 L MISSEE

to

MISSEL

 E
5 Varnishes a girl’s sill (6)

Varnishes a girl’s silly (6)

GLAIRS (varnishes with the white of an egg)

Anagram of (silly) A GIRL’S

GLAIRS*

 Y GLAIRS

to

GLAIRY

 S
6 I note in bedroom silence of insular lad (7)

I note in bedroom silence of insular land (7)

BRITISH (descriptive of someone who lives in an island country, the United Kingdom being such a country)

(I + TI [note of the tonic sol-fa]) contained in (in) (BR [bedroom] + SH [direction to be quiet])

BR (I TI) SH

 N BRITISH

to

BRINISH

 T
7 Smelly liquid lines around in a toilet (8)

Smelly liquid lines around in a toilet (8)

LINALOOL (fragrant liquid alcohol, used as an ingredient of perfume; smelly liquid)

LL (lines) containing (IN + A + LOO [toilet])

L (IN A LOO) L

   LINALOOL
  
8 Top track to get to peak (4)

Top track to get to speak (4)

TALK (speak)

STALK (track) excluding the first letter (top) S

TALK

 S TALK

to

TASK

 L
10 Occasionally sipped soup in the train (5)

Occasionally skipped soup in the train (5)

SUITE (train)

SUITE (letters 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 of [occasionally skipped)] SOUP IN THE

SUITE

 K SUITE

to

SKITE

 U
12 Superior love poetry elder deleted (8)

Superior love poetry elder depleted (8)

OVERSEER (a superior in the management chain)

O (zero; love score in tennis) + VERSE (poetry) + ER (letters remaining in ELDER when the central letters LDE are removed ; depleted)

O VERSE ER

 P OVERSEER

to

OVERPEER

 S
16 Daring Henry to put on early Beethoven symphony (6)

Daring Henry to put on nearly Beethoven symphony (6)

HEROIC (courageous; daring)

H (henry; unit of inductance) + EROICA (name of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55) excluding the final letter (nearly) A

H EROIC

 N HEROIC

to

HEROIN

 C
18 Pawnbrokers cart in two French articles (6)

Pawnbrokers carat in two French articles (6)

UNCLES (slang term for pawnbrokers)

C (carat) contained in (in) (UN [one form of the indefinite article, a, in French] + LES [one form of the definitive article, the, in French] giving two articles)

UN (C) LES

 A UNCLES

to

ANCLES

U
19 Odysseus gutted being stuck in islet’s bogs is most wasteful of energy (8)

Odysseus gutted being stuck in islet’s bogus is most wasteful of energy (8)

LOSSIEST (dissipating the most energy; most wasteful of energy)

OS (letters remaining in ODYSSEUS when the central letters DYSSEU are removed [gutted]) contained in (being stuck in) an anagram of (bogus) ISLETS

L (OS) SIEST*

 U LOSSIEST

to

LOUSIEST

 S
21 Vessel can pause at sea (8)

Vessel can pause at sea (8)

SAUCEPAN ([cooking] vessel)

Anagram of (at sea) CAN PAUSE

SAUCEPAN*

   SAUCEPAN
  
24 Birds kip upside-down sheltering tense rok (7)

Birds kip upside-down sheltering tense rook (7)

PETRELS (birds)

SLEEP (kip) reversed (upside-down; down entry) containing (sheltering) (T [tense] + R [rook, in chess notation])

PE (T R) ELS<

 O PETRELS

to

PETROLS

 E
27 Discontent extremists in Uganda joining others (6)

Discontent extremists in Ugandan joining others (6)

UNREST (discontent)

UN (outer letters of [extremists in] UGANDAN) + REST (others)

UN REST

 N UNREST

to

UNNEST

 R
28 Entrance exam mother had in town not entirely productive (6)

Entrance exam mother head in town not entirely productive (6)

MATRIC (an entrance examination)

MA (mother) + T (first letter of [head in] TOWN) + RICH (productive) excluding the final letter (not entirely)

MA T RIC

 E MATRIC

to

METRIC

 A
29 A girl from the alleys of Laos, say (5)

A girl from the valleys of Laos, say (5)

ASIAN (a person from Laos is an ASIAN)

A + SIAN (Welsh female name; girl from the valleys)

A SIAN

 V ASIAN

to

AVIAN

 S
30 Maybe discrimination against grandpa’s ails in walking, niece aims to change (6)

Maybe discrimination against grandpa’s tails in walking, niece aims to change (6)

AGEISM (a form of discrimination against older people such as grandpa)

Anagram of (to change) GE (last letters of [tails in] WALKING and NIECE) and AIMS

AGEISM*

 T AGEISM

to

AGEIST

 M
33 Ancient German districts give up bits for all to see (4)

Ancient German districts give up bites for all to see (4)

GAUS (territorial districts of ancient Germany)

I am not sure of the wordplay here.  It looks like GAS containing (bites)  U.  I am OK with U as the cinema classification meaning that the film is OK for all to see, but I can’t relate GAS to ‘give up’ although GAS can means ’emit’  [give up?]

GA (U) S ?

 E GAUS

to

GAES

 U
35 Further hears of bad bully in case (4)

Further hearts of bad bully in case (4)

ALSO (further)

AL (central letters of [hearts of] BAD and BULLY) + SO (in case)

AL SO

 T ALSO

to

ALTO

  S
36 Porky United substitute (4)

Porky United substitute (4)

LIEU (substitute)

LIE (porky [pie]) + U (united)

LIE U

   LIEU
  

14 comments on “Inquisitor 1865: Hero to Zero by eXternal”

  1. It also took me a while to get used to the missing/replaced letter device used in all except eight of the clues and answers, but as I got more fluent with it I realised how well implemented it was, and I sometimes got the replacement letter before the missing one.

    The scope of the theme was smaller than I have got used to with this setter, but it was executed to perfection, and I enjoyed the endgame as well as solving all the clues. I particularly liked the fact that the eight normal clues coincided with the word gaps in the quotation spelled out by the replaced letters (as noted in the blog). I have encountered this particular feature before in at least one other puzzle by the same setter, I believe.

    I could not think beyond Lord Nelson and Cyclops for a ‘one-eyed man’, and fortunately, when I looked up the latter, I found a name I did not know: POLYPHEMUS. The fact that the quotation was in Latin was in a sense a good thing because it never became obvious.

    A mention of Odysseus in the clue to 19d might have been a hint for some, but not for me – I made the connection only after completing the puzzle.

    A well-designed puzzle with excellent clues. Thanks to eXternal and Duncan.

  2. I enjoyed reading the blog and learnt a lot (will to solve these puzzles one day, I think). Great blog. Thanks duncan!

    GAUS
    give=SAG (in the sense of ‘yield’) & it’s reversed (up)?

  3. A puzzle for the classicists, which matched my knowledge set fairly well. As others have said, the double sets of letters to be added or replaced was initially confusing, and led to some highly unlikely looking letter combinations when I occasionally wrote down the wrong one, but once Erasmus emerged as the likely author and I realised we might well going into Latin for the quotation, things sorted themselves out pretty fast, and I went looking for Polyphemus. I hadn’t noticed the natural clues forming spaces between the modified ones, so particular thanks to Duncan for once again showing just how clever the setters are. KVa – I am sure your parsing of GAUS is right. Many thanks to eXternal and Duncan.

  6. Beautifully executed puzzle, even though the add / replace methodology occasionally confused me even once I had understood it.

    I’m assuming the use of “hoi polloi” [a greek expression] rather than say “masses” was not accidental and meant to further point us towards the Greek hero to be identified.

    Just what an Inquisitor should be – thank you!

  8. I think arnold @6 puts it perfectly, matching my solving experience & ultimate view of the puzzle. I did get a little confused right near the end with SCAPES at 23a changing to SCAPUS, and LOSSIEST at 19d changing to LOUSIEST – with all other intersections a letter changed to form the entry is unchanged in the crossing answer.

    A handful of niggles though (rather minor):
    in 11a LORICA, Chambers has ORC as a sea-monster (no A), and ORCA as a killer-whale;
    in 33d I initially had GAUE for the plural of GAU as it is in German, instead of GAUS;
    and should I mind about the misuse of hoi polloi in the preamble – ‘hoi’ translates as ‘the’ – or should I join the so-called rabble and swallow calling them the hoi polloi? (Shades of PIN number?)

    Still, lovely stuff from eXternal and a very comprehensive blog from Duncan – thanks, both.
    (PS When you remove EYES you are left with LASTS, not just LAST.)

  9. I found this an unusually intricate, even fiddly, solving experience, but the challenge proved addictive. Sadly, there were three clues I did not solve, and one of them was ‘eyes. Thanks to eXternal for a brilliant device; duncanshiell for an invaluable blog, and chatGPT for finding the quote.

  10. Great puzzle. A rare example of the clueing device being a test for the setter that was also a surprising pleasure for the solver

  11. I got as far as IN REGION E and drew a blank in the ODQ-still a rookie on these.
    I knew the translation but Latin was my lowest grade O Level’
    Thanks for blog

  12. I almost managed to complete this, but confused myself with the reinstated letters and didn’t have enough of the quotation to understand what was going on.
    A very enjoyable solve for me, in spite of the DNF – many thanks eXternal!

  13. Holidays having got in the way, I only started the puzzle this week. I found it quite a difficult but enjoyable solve. All the clues were fair and “easy” in retrospect. I echo all the positive comments above so won’t repeat them.
    I thought the “hoi polloi” comment in the preamble was mystifying until I spotted in 19D that OS from Odysseus (the Hero) changed to US, the hoi polloi (Zero) . If this was External’s intention, it was a nice touch, but it was not mentioned in the published solution on Saturday.
    By the way, I thought his grid construction was an incredible achievement.
    Belated thanks to him and Duncan.

  14. Me @13.
    Oops, another senior moment re 19D! Of course, it is SS that changes to US.

    A pity there is no such word as LOOSIEST.

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