Enigmatic Variations 942: Block Capitals by Nutmeg

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In my last blog, I suggested that very easy puzzles should have an ‘easy’ rating to attract solvers who would normally give the EV puzzle a wide berth. I think it worth adding that it would also be a good idea to mark hard puzzles so that we poor reporters on this blog site can prepare ourselves accordingly! I commiserate with mc_rapper67 who was brave enough to post an admission of failure last week for Salamanca’s The Sign of Four.

I jest, of course. Suffice it to say that, apart from some final steps recently, I found this the toughest solve for a very long time.

I got 7dn DECEMBER, too long for its grid entry, and after a bit of a struggle 1ac COLD CATHODES, followed by 6dn SLOP OUT crossing its second O. It seemed natural to think that the S and L of SLOP OUT were to be dropped; I pencilled them in above the ninth column. It also meant that I put DECEMB in the grid and ER above its column. As you can see, it was all going horribly downhill. At some point, I guessed that capital cities were involved somehow, with SL being part of Oslo, but it all stumbled on for far too long!

What was going on, of course, was that sometimes more than one character needed to be entered in these squares, so that, for example BER from DECEMBER combined with LIN from FLINTY to give ^BER_LIN in row 6 column 10. In all there were ten capital cities in the grid, and from the very artistic map to the right, you can see that they were all positioned pretty much spot on in relation to each other. (Apologies I’ve made Ireland a bit small … it was either that or put Dublin in Northern Ireland!!)

I think I enjoyed the puzzle, although I did spend too long swearing at the grid! I suppose that’s what tough puzzles are all about. I’ve come across entry methods like this before, where some squares hold more than one letter, and I think this was the hardest, possibly because extra letters were involved as well.

Finally, the message spelt out by those extra letters: BLOCK MEANS A BLACK CELL, so all that hard work entering the capital cities in tiny writing went up in smoke as I blacked them all out! This may also explain why “Block capitals” in the preamble was not capitalised like the title normally is for an EV. I’m also not sure that the message “offers clarification to the solver” as stated in the preamble … it’s more an instruction as to what to do.

Solving time: several hours of dipping in and out

Legend:
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
LON = letters contributing to capital cities
X = extra letters in subsidiary indications

ACROSS
1	B	COLD CATHODES	electrodes: (BOTH CLAD)* in CODES (rules)
9	L	OMASA	stomachs: [LAS (notes) + A MO (doctor)]<
11	O	REPENT	regret: RENT (tear) around POE (US writer)
12	C	WELL IN	prosperous (in Australia): CELL (unit) in WIN (success)
14	K	SHYLOCK	moneylender: LOCK (make safe) after SHAKY (loose) – A (article)
15	M	QUEAN	Scot’s girl: in brusQUE MANner
17	E	ERNIE	system for picking winners: N (number) in EERIE (weird)
18	A	ONSET	charge, perhaps: ON SEAT (where bum may be counted)
20	N	OINTED	oiled (Dryden): IN (at home) in NOTED (eminent)
22	S	FLINTY	hard: FLINT (pirate captain in book, Treasure Island) in SY (Seychelles)
23	A	SPAG	Italian (offensive): PA (father) in SAG (decline); not really sure why offensive is in brackets at the beginning of this clue
25	B	SPARTANS	Greeks: [SNAB (old highland cobbler) + TRAPS (captures)]<
27	L	JESS	it may restrain (in Merlin’s time): LESS (without) with J (justice) initially
29	A	BRAIL	nautical rope: AB< (sailor) + RAIL (banter); the sailor being thrown back seems a bit iffy and superfluous even though it makes better surface reading (sorry, probably just me)
30	C	EBONIES	trees: BO (chap) in EN (heart of kENt) + ICES (kills)
32	K	VERIDICAL	truthful: (VICAR LIKED)*
33	C	DROMES	where fliers may be found: DR (doctor) COMES (turns up)
34	E	NOCAKE	meal: CON< (prisoner) + AKEE (exotic fruit)
35	L	LORDS	rulers: LOLLARDS (religious reformers) – LA (the, French)
36	L	GUERNSEY LILY	amaryllis’s relative: (YELLING SURELY)*

DOWN
1		COWLED	like a monk?: COW (neat) + LED (under control)
2		LA-LA	provide accompaniment: LAMA (eastern monk) with L (left) for M (mass)
3		CASSETTE	reel of film: SET (go down) in CAST (shed) + E (initially Extracting)
4		ASHBLONDES	striking girls: [BOSS HANDLED – D (director)]*
5		TRYPS	little parasites: sounds like TRIPS (outings)
6		SLOP OUT	what we do when loo’s put out of order?: (LOO’S PUT)*; not quite &lit
7		DECEMBER	a few weeks: DECREE* restraining MB (doctor)
8		STINGY	such as Scrooge: NITS< (Idiots) + G(U)Y
10		METROPOLIS	city: L (learner) IS under OP (work) in METRO (underground, à la Paris)
13		DUBBING	accolade: BUDDING as Spooner might say; ?
16		RIGHTSIZED	adapted for greater efficiency: RIGHT (Tories maybe) + SEIZED (caught) – E (energy)
19		EXTERNALLY	apparently: EX (former) TALLY (account) around E (English) RN (navy)
21		DISSUADE	put off: (ISSUE DAD)*
22		FARAD	engineer’s unit (of electrical capacitance): FAR (not close) + AD (active duty)
23		SEEING	witnessing: SEEKING (courting) – K (king)
24		APIECE	each: ACE (great service) round PIE (church rule book)
26		CLASSY	showing style: CLASSIFY (regiment) – IF
27		JEMADAR	officer: [DAME (lady) in RAJ (colonial rule)]<
28		SYCES	Indian attendants: [ECY (regularly tEtChY)]< in SS (on board)
31		PERI	spirit: PERIOD (of age) – DO< (party)