Once again I get to blog a Genius by a new setter – so welcome, Glyph!
A delightfully clever, pleasing and ingenious solve taking less than three hours – so fitting the bill in every department and making for a most promising debut – thanks to Peter – as I’m told the setter’s name is, alias Bard in The Independent.
The instructions tell us Entrants must pick a side. This suggests the alternative entries for 17 across, the central light. This is defined as game show contestants and may be entered as THE TRAITORS or THE FAITHFUL – the two sides in the BBC game show. The whole clue reads: 7 and 20 could be games show contestants and 7 and 20 down solve as FAWKES and JUDAS (traitors) and 7 and 20 across as FRIAR and JESUITS (faithful).
Then the instructions continue: the majority of down clues must have a letter removed before solving. These letters, taken in clue order, inform the solver of one who may not pick a side. The letters to be deleted in all but 6 of the down clues spell out CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN (highlighted in red in the relevant clues and capitalised to the right), the host of the show who remains neutral throughout.
The rubric goes on: Five further clues are ambiguous. One of these is 17 across which centres the whole structure; the other four are the down clues which do not lose a letter or are not 7 and 20 – these are 6, 15, 16 and 18, whose alternative answers offer the alternative “sides”. And four more (clues) are undefined: these are 7 and 20 across and down, the examples of traitors and faithful.
Although we are told we have to pick a side, the entry form requires both alternatives to be offered in all five cases. It does not (as with so many Geniuses) check whether one has come up with the host – but it would be hard to solve most of the down clues without doing so.
The alternative grids thus are:
On top of all which, the grid is a pangram. Definitions are underlined
Across
7 Day endlessly difficult (5)
FRIAR
FRI (day) + hARd – difficult without either end. Not defined
8 Like a huntsman, cunning – stealing a new / old identity (9)
ARACHNOID
ARCH (cunning) around (stealing) A followed by N (new) + O (old) +ID (identity)
10 Salaries go back and forth, cast keep haggling (4,7)
WAGE PACKETS
WAG (go back and forth + anagram (haggling) of CAST KEEP
12 Haircut Henri rudely snipped (3)
FRO
FROG (Henri – a Frenchman, rudely) without last letter – snipped. Definition – short for AFRO – I was aware of the abbreviation …
13 Outrageously we blame young female (3-4)
EWE LAMB
Anagram (outrageously) of WE BLAME
16 Introduce official inside measurement, approximately 30 inches (7)
PREFACE
REF (official) inside PACE (measurement, approximately 30 inches)
17 7 and 20 could be game show contestants (3,8)
THE TRAITORS (if FAWKES and JUDAS) or
THE FAITHFUL (if FRIAR and JESUITS)
20 Glyph in Calais attracting whistles from Londoners (7)
JESUITS
JE (Glyph – setter = I, in French) + SUITS (Cockney slang for which is Whistles – and flutes). Not defined
22 Followers from Europe backtracking after concerning ITN broadcast (7)
RETINUE
UE – reverse (backtracking) of EU (Europe) after RE (concerning + TIN (anagram – broadcast – of ITN)
25 Expected performance to end early (3)
DUE
DUET (performance) without ending – to end early
26 Rewriting DNA history in smart way to reposition data sequences (3,3,5)
CUT AND PASTE
Anagram (rewriting) of DNA + PAST (history) all inside CUTE (smart way)
30 Tough to find a fitting place for this nerd, games ultimately challenging (6,3)
SQUARE PEG
Square (= nerd) + PE (games – physical exercise) + G last letter (ultimately) of challenging
31 Organic material from waxy lemon (5)
XYLEM
Hidden in waXY LEMon. Xylem (I learn) is the vascular material that transports water upwards in plants.
Down
1 Fact US soldier embellished, at first, for VIP (6) C
BIGGIE
BIG (fat) + GI (US soldier) + E (first letter of embellished)
2 Support Dad winning Marlie’s heart (4) L
PROP
POP (Dad) containing (winning) R (Marie’s heart)
3 Powder starts to tickle Aunt Alisa’s cheeks (4) A
TALC
Starts (first letters) to Tickle Aunt Lisa’s Cheeks
4 Elaborate system of gauze no good after minute (4) U
MAZE
AZE (gaze without G for good) after M (minute)
5 Vestal college had setter regularly thrown out (6) D
CHASTE
C (college) + HA + alternate letters (regularly) of SeTtEr
6 Upturn in British trade – metal (old money) and sporting kit (4,4)
GOLF BAGS
Reversal (upturn in down clue) of B (British) + FLOG (trade) followed by AG (abbreviation for silver – metal) + S (shilling in old coinage)
OR
GOLF BALL
Reversal (upturn in down clue) of B (British) + FLOG (trade) followed by AL (symbol for aluminium -metal) + L (pound in old coinage)
7 Women into counterfeit Monets, perhaps (6)
FAWKES
W (women) inside (into) FAKES – counterfeit artworks – Monets, perhaps). Not defined
9 Hoist e.g. Tesla or Ford’s rear end up (5) I
DROVE
EV (electric vehicle – eg Tesla) + OR +D (Ford’s rear) – all reversed UP in a down clue). Definition – as in a drove of cattle. My LOI – knew there had to be a V to complete the pangram but could not get the (obvious) EV
11 Tray of Chai (masala) (3) A
AIM
Hidden in chAI Masala. Definition: to aim is to try to do something
14 Parrot gawped, wings clipped (3) W
APE
The “wings” (first and last letters) of GAPED are clipped
15 Reveals, for audience, shoulders (5)
BEARS or BARES
with definition “shoulders”, a homonym of BARES (reveals)
with definition !reveals”, homonym of BEARS )shoulders)
16 Father Rafa insistent offence only taken on one side in Puerto Rico (5)
PRIOR or PATER
First letters (taken on one side) of Insistent Offence Only in PR (Puerto Rico)
or: Last letters (only taken on one side) of rafA insistenT offencE in PR
17 Old volunteers I busted replaced – this may reveal bitterness (5,3) I
TASTE BUD
Anagram (replaced) of TA (Territorial Army – old volunteers) + BUSTED
18 Flapjack ingredient one of last two in BOGOF mate discovered (3)
OAT or FAT
Either O (as one of last two in BOGOF) + AT (MATE uncovered)
Or F (as one of last two in BOGOF) + AT
19 Sent free advice once by retired writer (6) N
REDEEM
REDE (old-fashioned word for advice) + EM (ME – writer – reversed)
20 Like Punch’s wife – short, over the top (5)
JUDAS
AS (like) with above it (over the top) JUD (Judy – short-ened). Not defined
21 Maybe fostered kin race around (2,4) K
IN CARE
Anagram (maybe) of IN RACE
23 Bishop falls off zigzag slide on playing field (3) L
END
B (Bishop) removed from (falls off) zigzag (BEND). Definition – as in the two ends of a football field
24 Cuddle up in cheat’s den with liberal European (6) E
NESTLE
NEST ( the den of – eg -a chat) + L (liberal) E (European)
27 Mistakem? Yes and no! (4) M
TYPO
Mistakem could be a typo but without the M would not be – but would still be a synonym for typo
28 Goat’s hindquarters struck following a refusal – it’s futile (2,2) A
NO GO
GO – goat without (struck) the A or T (its hindquarters) after (following) NO – a refusal
29 Poor quality coordinates south of Paston’s outskirts (4) N
POXY
X and Y (co-ordinates – horizontal and vertical axes) after (south of) PO – beginning and end (outskirts) of PASTO
Thanks Glyph (Welcome!) and Prospero.
Got C L A U D as the first 5 letters from the down clues. Also got FAWKES and JUDAS; FRIAR and JESUITS.
Without knowing much about the game show, but knowing FAWKES and JUDAS were traitors, I entered THE TRAITORS in 17a, with some crossers in place, choosing BARES, PRIOR, OAT and GOLF BAGS.
Entry form forced me to look at the puzzle again, and saw that clue for 17a does not say specifically 7d and 20d. Because, I knew the traitors, I assumed it refers to 7d, 20d. Obviously it could be 7a and 20a, too.
At that point, I Googled the game show, and learnt about THE FAITHFUL.
Entering that in 17a forced entering the alternative set: BEARS, PATER, FAT and GOLF BALL.
Of course, the extra letters were: C L A U D I A W I N K L E M A N
Interesting puzzle UKGK notwithstanding – and thanks to Google.
There was a Bard puzzle in Indy that Saturday!
Quite early I had found both answers to 16d and 18d which meant that 17a presumably was also ambiguous, but it took me too long to realise that there each of 7 and 20 could refer to two different answers which would obviously help with that ambiguity. Once I had worked out the theme it seemed the puzzle wasn’t as hard as I initially thought it would be.
When I first read ‘Entrants must pick a side’ I thought it referred to the solvers of this puzzle, but I think it’s supposed to refer to the entrants of the game show.
I solved 27d as in the blog, but I wasn’t happy about it because the letter is supposed to be removed before solving so the solution shouldn’t require me to remember what the clue said before I removed the letter.
I thought it would have been easier if we could have somehow entered both answers to the ambiguous clues in the same text box, but maybe there’s some technical reason the actual entry method was easier to mark.
Thanks, prospero and Glyph.
“Delightfully clever, pleasing and ingenious” sums this up nicely for me -thanks to Glyph and prospero.
I think 27d does work if you remove the extra letter before solving – “mistake ” is a definition of TYPO, but it is correctly spelt so isn’t one. The extra letter just adds another twist.
The ancient Egyptians used herbicide. I think that it was heiroglyphosate…
Remarkable construction, which like ilippu I didn’t appreciate until I tried to enter my answers based on Traitors. The instructions are a bit confusing as we did not choose a side, we had to consider both of them.
It took me a long time to be happy with Biggie as the answer to 1d, but I did find it in Chambers (informal).
Many thanks Prospero and especially Glyph.
Fantastic puzzle! Thought it would go the Roman Emperor route at first, before solving the later down clues.
Greetings all. Dropping by to say thanks for solving, and big thanks to Prospero for the excellent write up!
DuncT hits the nail on the head for 27d.
Very good of you to drop by, Peter, and thanks for the compliment. I wish I were able to set a crossword as well as you!
Belated thanks to Glyph and Prospero for a wonderful puzzle and blog! A very nice job of leading us gently into the tricks, even for someone who wasn’t familiar with the game show. When the omitted letters started to come together, I looked up Ms. Winkleman and said “Oh, another Strictly Come Dancing puzzle.” Fortunately I was eventually able to find the right show.
Also had a bit of trouble because, though the instructions were clear, for a while I thought I was deleting a letter from the result of the wordplay–which often but not always amounts to the same thing! Penny dropped when working out TALC which I knew had to be the answer.
I think I may have had to look up DROVE (having had the same block as our host on EV, and not seeing the pangram) and DNP JESUITS; I forgot to double check the setter’s name and DNK whistles = suits. Very clever misdirection on 7d which I kept trying to make an anagram of MONETS around W!
A note about the blog–31a is a hidden, not an anagram.
Thanks again Glyph and prospero!
Thank you, Matt W @10 – a moment of misremembering when writing up the wordplay!
What a clever crossword! Not knowing anything of the game show made it tricky, though I had Fawkes and Judas from the word play so thought 17A must be The Traitors. With a bit of on-line searching, found there was a UK show that involved a team called the traitors and the host was Claudia Winkleman. I had a lot of the extraneous letters from the Downs by then, and this helped a lot. I did not however even twig that 17A had a different possible answer, so I only got the first grid done, and thought I’d nailed it. Not being an entrant for the prize, I was unaware of an alternative grid. Should have seen it though with a bit more delving into the details of the game show.