This Inquisitor by Gila brought back a few memories of evenings sat in front of the television.
There was a fairly lengthy preamble that stated "Three across and three down answers share a common thematic definition and are clued by wordplay only. Wordplay in remaining clues generates an extra letter. In order, those from across clues provide details of the gamble being undertaken; those from the down clues provide information relating to the six thematic entries. Single letter clashes in the grid must be resolved to show – reading left to right – the result of the gamble, which must be highlighted. Finally solvers should write the alternative outcome of the gamble under the grid."
I just dived in hoping all would come clear as I solved the puzzle. First entries in were ACRID (18 across), SWOOSH (25 across), TIPPLE (33 across), SINICAL (35 across), EMPATHIC (4 down), LOUSE (7 down) and RESELL (28 down). I always try to solve each clue cold before looking at intersections. Possibly not the best strategy for speedy solving, but one that tests the brain cells initially. These initial entries gave me one clash at the first letter of 28 down where I had the H of SWOOSH and the R of RESELL.
The first thematic entries I solved were SKITE (30 across) and GLANCE (6 a cross) but that wasn’t enough to give me the theme. It was the third one, LAUNCH (2 down) that gave me the first inkling of the theme when I noticed the word ‘dart’ appearing in the various definitions of the thematic words. I had enough extra letters from the across clue wordplay to suggest that BULLSEYE was going to be the first word in the message. The word CLUE also looked likely as the first word in the down message.
Eventually the penny dropped and the quiz / darts programme BULLSEYE came to mind. A little bit of research reminded me that finalists had the chance to gamble for BULLY‘s STAR PRIZE.. The message in the across clues was actually BULLSEYE STAR PRIZE. The down message was CLUE NOS GIVE SCORE. In the programme the winning contestants could gamble all the prizes they had won to date for a chance to win the STAR PRIZE. To win the two players (darts player and quiz question player) had to score 101 or more with 6 darts.
Looking at the clue numbers of the six thematic answers that all involve ‘dart’ somewhere in one of their definitions we have
Across: 6 GLANCE, 20 WHEECH, 30 SKITE
Down: 2 LAUNCH, 15 STEN and 24 COOK.
Taken together we have 6+20+30+2+15+24=97 which means we fall short of the required 101.
There were only 3 clashes in the grid, symmetrically spaced BISCUIT / CRATER at 22 across and down, TOPLOFTINESS / ACONITE in the cell starting 21 across and the aforementioned R/H clash.
Clearly one of the words was CAR and the other had to be BFH. Back to the research then which showed BFH as an abbreviation for Bus Fare Home if you didn’t win the STAR PRIZE The final grid therefore highlighted the B, F and H with the word CAR to be written below the grid.
The puzzle was a pleasant stroll down memory lane with very fair clues. None of the extra letters were particularly difficult to identify although I didn’t get them all immediately as I filled the grid. On writing the blog it all became clear.
The most obscure entries for me were IACHIMO (11 across), MUSROL (14 across) and SCISSEL (37 across) in the acrosses, plus TOPLOFTINESS (5 down) and ENLEVE (10 down) in the downs.
The final grid looked like this;
CAR
The title of the puzzle, GAMBLE is self-explanatory given the preamble and the context.
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Across |
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| No | Clue | Wordplay | Letter | Entry |
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1
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Old woman is horrible when in a huff (7)
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BLACK (horrible) contained in (in) PET (huff) P (LACK) ET |
B
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PLACKET (archaic [old] term for a woman; old woman)
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6
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New candy boxes (6)
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GLACÉ (sweet) containing (boxes) N (new) GLA (N) CE |
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GLANCE (to dart a reflected ray)
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11
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Cry of joy welcomes one in a much-evolved Shakespearean role (7)
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IO (cry of joy) containing (welcomes) (I [one] contained in [in] an anagram of (evolved) A MUCH) I (ACH (I) M*) O |
U
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IACHIMO (a villain in Cymbeline; Shakespearean role)
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12
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Control manual covering ships (6)
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GLOVE (manual covering as in covering the hand [manual]) + RN (Royal Navy; ships)
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L
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GOVERN (control)
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13
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Pipe aficionado about to get ready to play (6, 2 words)
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(PULE [to pipe, whimper or whine] + NUT [aficionado]) all reversed [about] (TUN E UP)< |
L
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TUNE UP (get ready to play)
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14
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Old band seen around The Nag’s Head write music with non-electronic parts (6) |
MUS (music) + (ROLES [parts] excluding [non] E [electronic])
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S
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MUSROL (obsolete [old] word for a bridle [the band round the nag’s head])
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17
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Doctor gets disrupted by every single bladder complaint (9)
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(Anagram of [doctor] GETS containing [disrupted by] ALL [every]) + ONE (single) G (ALL) ST* ONE |
E
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GALLSTONE (bladder complaint)
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18
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First bit of cheese dairy manufactured is pungent (5)
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Anagram of (manufactured) (C [first letter of {first bit of} CHEESE] and DAIRY)
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Y
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ACRID (pungent)
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20
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Husband hugged by number one companion (6)
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(H [husband] contained in [hugged by] WEE [number one in excretory slang]) + CH (companion) W (H) EE CH |
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WHEECH (to dart [through])
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21
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Boiling action initiates extremely effective poison (7)
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Anagram of (boiling) (ACTION and EE [the first letters of {initiates} each of EXTREMELY and EFFECTIVE])
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E
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ACONITE (a poison)
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22
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A bit of Hibiscus I trimmed is pale brown (7)
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BISCUIT (hidden word in [a bit of] HIBISCUS I TRIMMED)
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S
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BISCUIT (pale brown colour)
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25
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Water initially shoots all over the place, making this noise (6)
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Anagram of (all over the place) (W [first letter of {initially} WATER] and SHOOTS)
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T
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SWOOSH (noise made by water shooting all over the place)
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30
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Supplies London area houses (5)
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SE (South East; London area) contains (houses) KIT (supplies) S (KIT) E |
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SKITE (to dart or glide obliquely)
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31
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A nasty little opening cut in the belly (9)
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A + BAD (nasty) + (NOMINAL [small; little] excluding [cut] the first letter [opening] N)
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A
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ABDOMINAL (in the belly)
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32
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One drawing a large bird about to be eaten by a dinosaur (6)
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(ROK [large bird from Arabian legend] reversed [about]) contained in (eaten by) T-REX (tyrannosaurus rex; dinosaur) T RE (K O<) X |
R
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TREK-OX (an animal that draws a wagon)
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33
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Dump fruit not accepted for a drink (6)
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TIP (dump) + (APPLE [fruit] excluding [not] A [accepted]) NB: any one of the three Ps could be the extra letter
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P
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TIPPLE (drink)
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34
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Ineffective person to go around EU chain stores (6)
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(EU + CH [chain]) containing (stores) (RUN [go] reversed [round]) EU (NU<) CH |
R |
EUNUCH (ineffectual person)
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35
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Stupid politicians opt to take leave of a function (7)
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Anagram of (stupid) (POLITICIANS excluding [to take leave] OPT) NB: any one of the Is could be the extra letter
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I
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SINICAL (related to the SINE trigonometrical function)
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36
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Retired old Russian criminal about to come back for another shot (6)
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RET (retired) + ([ZEK {an inmate of a prison or labour camp in the former USSR.; Russian criminal} + A {about}] all reversed [to come back]) RET (A KE)< |
Z
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RETAKE (another shot)
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| 37 | In India, they drive around and mostly sell scrap metal (7) |
(SICES [chauffeurs, especially in India; in India they drive] reversed [around]) + (SELL excluding the final letter [mostly] L) SCIS< SEL |
E |
SCISSEL (scrap metal left when blanks have been cut out) |
| Down |
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|||
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Letter | Entry |
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1
|
Ancient Briton grasped a cutting tool (6)
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PICT (ancient Briton) + SAW (understood; grasped)
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C |
PITSAW (cutting tool)
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2
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Washerwoman scrubbing clothes for children (6)
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LAUNDRESS (washerwoman) with DRESS (clothes) excluded (scrubbing) and replaced by (for) CH (children)
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LAUNCH (to dart)
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3
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Gum chomped while in church (6)
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Anagram of (chomped) WHILE contained in (in) CE (Church [of England]) C (HEWI*) E |
L |
CHEWIE (chewing gum)
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4
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Getting into the spirit, I chat ’em up when drunk (8)
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Anagram of (when drunk) I CHAT EM UP
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U
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EMPATHIC (feeling the spirit of something)
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5
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Cover and somehow stifle one’s arrogance (12)
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TOP (cover) + an anagram of (somehow) STIFLE ONES TOP LOFTINESS* NB: either E can be omitted |
E
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TOPLOFTINESS (haughtiness; arrogance)
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7
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Contemptible person primarily loves being worthless (5)
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L (first letter of [primarily] LOVES) + NO USE (worthless)
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N
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LOUSE (contemptible person)
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8
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No Turkish bread is served up when eating stew – it’s aromatic (9, 2 words)
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NO + ([LIRE {Turkish money; Turkish bread} reversed {served up}] containing [when eating] OLIO [a savoury stew]) N ER (OLI O) IL< |
O
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NEROLI OIL (an aromatic oil distilled from orange flowers)
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9
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Companion cut and arranged old horse’s hair (6)
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(CRONY [intimate companion] excluding the final letter [cut] Y) + SET (arranged)
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S
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CRONET (the hair growing over the top of a horse’s hoof.)
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10
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A nurse very overwhelmed with joy gets carried away (6)
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EN (Enrolled Nurse) + (V [very] contained in [overwhelmed with] GLEE [joy]) EN LE (V) E |
G
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ENLEVÉ (carried away or kidnapped)
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15
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Knock back some Cabernet Sauvignon (4)
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STEN (hidden word [some] reversed [knocked back] in CABERNET SAUVIGNON) STEN< |
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STEN (dart of pain)
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16
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Manage return of money for Ford, for example (9)
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PRESIDE (manage) + (TIN [money] reversed [return of]) PRESIDE NT< |
I
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PRESIDENT (reference Gerald FORD [1913 – 2006], PRESIDENT of the United States from 1974 to 1977)
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19
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High as a kite, criminal acts tense during vice bust (8)
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(Anagram of [criminal] ACTS + T [tense]) contained in (during) an anagram of (bust) VICE E (CSTA* T) IC* |
V
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ECSTATIC (over-excited; high as a kite)
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22
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Ancient bowl found alongside river (6)
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CREATE (establish; found) + R (river)
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E
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CRATER (variant spelling of KRATER [a larchaelogical {old} large two-handed bowl for mixing wine]).
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23
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I’m British and enjoy getting wet (6)
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I’M (I am) + BR (British) + USE (enjoy)
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S
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IMBRUE (wet or moisten)
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24
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Heads of college ought to get an endorsement (4)
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CO (first letters of [heads of] each of COLLEGE and OUGHT) + OK (okay; endorsement)
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COOK (Scottish word meaning to dart in and out of sight)
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26
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Reasonable amateur photos showing African mammals (6)
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OK (okay; reasonable) + A (amateur) + PICS (photographs)
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C
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OKAPIS (animals of Central Africa, related to the giraffe)
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27
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Tablets manufactured to ease onset of lumbago (6)
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Anagram of (manufactured) (TO EASE and L [first letter of {onset of} LUMBAGO)
|
O
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STELAE (upright stone slabs or tablets)
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28
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Research relating to Latin market again (6)
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RES (research) + RE (relating to) + LL (Late or Low Latin)
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R
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RESELL (market again)
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29
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Old woman about to be overcome by fumes (5)
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C (circa [about) contained in (overcome by) SMOKE (fumes) SMO (C) K |
E
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SMOCK (obsolete word [old] for woman or wench)
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