Enigmatic Variations 844 (4th Jan): A Bit on the Side by Glow-worm

No EV last week, it got bumped by a £500 Cryptic (I bet that had a few entries). However, the number still got used, so it’s onwards to 844 this week.

The EV puzzles have a convention that the title is repeated in the preamble in capital letters. Sometimes this works to make the preamble more amusing or pleasing, sometimes it just starts “In THIS PUZZLE, you need to do something”. Here we are told that eight clues need A BIT ON THE SIDE before entry, but the title is just “On the Side”. I think this is a bit of printer’s devilry and the title is incomplete.

So, fairly straightforward instructions, in fact more information than we’ve been used to recently. The subsidiary indication in each of eight across clues needs a pair of letters added to either the front or the back to give the defined answer. We’re even told where to find these two letters, although that won’t help until the two longest (8-letter) unclued entries are derived. Finally, the remaining unclued entries are described by “a bit on the side”.

PARAPHERNALIA was an easy 1A, although only the RAPHERNALIA was given by the subsidiary indication, so PA appears somewhere in the two 8-letter words. For me, I got enough acrosses after about twenty minutes that PARAMOUR was a fairly obvious candidate for one of the unclued 8-letter words. MISTRESS came soon after, thus giving two “bits on the side”, nudge, nudge, wink, wink! Quite quick progress after this given the fair, and not too difficult, clues.

Finally, the four remaining unclued entries had to be deduced, and they all turned out to be synonyms of, or types of, “bit”. They were all to be found in the first or last columns … ie, on the side.

All in all, nothing too difficult with the clues. 19A was the one that took me longest to work out.

Solving time: about 90 minutes. Are EVs getting easier?

Legend:
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
blue for the letters added from PARAMOUR and MISTRESS
purple for the unclued BITs

Across
1	PARAPHERNALIA	all sorts of things: (A HARP I LEARN)*
7	OPERA HAT	formal wear: HARE< (hurry back) after OP (work) + AT (outskirts of Ascot)
10	RASURE	obliteration: RA (gunners) + SUB (U-boat) – B (first of broadsides)
11	STAGING	raised platform: ST (holy man) + AGING (getting on)
12	TITI	2 meanings: small tree & monkey
14	STEDDE	condition (Spenser): S (second) + TE (note) + DD (theologian + E (earl)
15	EMYDES	terrapins: in hatE MY DESign; the strange plural of emys
18	LOUR	threatening one (referring to look): LO (look)
19	OTTO	oil: BLOTTO (smashed) – BL (barrel)
20	MISMATCH	failure to agree exactly: S (son) + MATCH (inflammable material)
21	PUMPKIN	choice for excavation on October 31st: PUMP (question) + KIN (family); refers to scooping out a pumpkin on Hallowe’en
24	MOSS-ROSE	flower: S (southern) + S (Sweden) + ROSE (came up)
26	RAIN	shower: IN (during)
27	DIEU	almighty: DI(N) (row not concluded) + EU (group of states, ie European Union)
28	STOATS	animals: OATS (grass)
30	ITALIC	type: ALI (girl) kept in check by ITC (Independent Television Commission, the forerunner of Ofcom, but that’s only mentioned in Chambers (2008))
33	TREF	can’t be eaten, ie not kosher: in ouTRE Food
34	GUNLESS	unarmed: LUNGE*; fails for the anagram indicator
35	BEG OFF	excuse oneself: E (opening of exhibition) in BG (Bulgaria) + OFF (poorly)
36	SEASONAL	only sometimes available: (AS ON SALE)*
37	TRANSGRESSIVE	sinful: (SISTER + RN (Registered Nurse) + GAVE + S (services initially))*
Down
	PORTION	unclued: a BIT on the side, ie a small amount
2	RESTATE	repeat: RES (research) + TATE (gallery)
	PARAMOUR	unclued: a BIT on the side, ie lover
3	EASE	relaxation: EASE (initial letters of Earnest After School Ends)
4	NEATS	cattle: NEAT (well-groomed) + S (southern)
5	ANGELA	she (ie girl’s name): AN (one) GEL (posh word for girl) + A (academician)
6	LAID	placed: DIAL< (face up)
	AUGER	unclued: a BIT on the side, here the bit for a carpenter’s brace
8	HERY	praise (Spenser): in thatcHER Years
9	INDUCTIVE	type of logic: (CU (copper) INVITED)*
13	INTROITUS	private (as in anatomical) entrance (cavity): (TOURIST IN)*
16	DIPSO	drinker: DIPS (pawns, vt) + O (bit of ormolu)
17	ESK	flower: ESKIMO (inuit, perhaps) – I (one) – MO (more)
	MISTRESS	unclued: a BIT on the side, ie lover
22	MOT	2 meanings: call of the hunter & clump of trees
23	PADRONI	innkeepers: (APRON I’D)*
	SNAFFLE	unclued: a BIT on the side, here the piece held in a horse’s mouth
25	SULLEN	dull: (NELL (girl) + S (Scotland’s top) + U (university))<
	DIGIT	unclued: a BIT on the side, as in binary digit
28	SIENS	descendants (Shakespeare): (suburbS NE ISlington)<
29	ABBA	father: AB (sailor) + BA (degree)
31	ANNA	2 meanings: girl & coin
32	USER	addict: (RASURE (10 across) – RA (Royal Academy))*