Lacking an Inquisitor reprieve, this will be my penultimate blog. If your haven’t already done so, please sign the petition for the continuance of the Inquisitor which can be found HERE.
This Schadenfreude offering was typically tricky – gaps in the grid, a perimeter to be filled in, misprints in the clues and some unusual words, both before and after augmentation. The preamble read:
The perimeter is to contain three items. Corrections to single letter misprints in clue definitions give four more items. Solvers must complete the grid to reveal an eighth item and the originator of all eight items. Final grid entries consist only of real words, phrases or proper names. Numbers in brackets give the lengths of grid entries; including any initially vacant cells.
The misprints in the clue definitions were well hidden, but gradually emerged. THE R?I?BOW appeared as one of the “items”. Now being a Nottingham lad, I was well aware of a famous author (who incidentally went to my old school, Nottingham High School) who wrote a novel called THE RAINBOW. I had ?ARO?SRGD for the first of the items revealed by the misprints. Once I had amended the misprint in 17A (ADAM) from (b)Guy to b(u)Oy this became AARON’S ROD, another novel by the same author.
I had early on realised that all the blank squares were on the diagonals, so I searched and found D.H.LAWRENCE on the top left to bottom right diagonal and KANGAROO (another of his novels) on the bottom left to top right diagonal.
Despite my early connection to D.H.Lawrence, I have never been a great fan of his books, finding them heavy reading – though being of a certain age and living through the trial, I read Lady Chatterley’s Lover as a schoolboy, like almost everyone else!
So I now searched Wikipedia for his writings and was able to fill in the perimeter with THE PLUMED SERPENT, SONS AND LOVERS and THE WHITE PEACOCK, and to find the missing misprints giving AARON’S ROD, THE TRESPASSER, THE RAINBOW and ST. MAWR. All are novels, with the exception of St. Mawr which is a short story collection.
Lawrence was a Europhile and wrote Movements in European History which might account for the title – Euro. He died of TB on March 2nd 1930, aged only 45, 85 years before the publication date of this blog.
Thanks to Schadenfreude for a good workout and a reminder of a troubled literary figure who rose from a poor mining family background via a scholarship to a Public School (wouldn’t happen now!) to be a great writer.
In the grid below, red letters are letters added “to complete the grid”. The highlighting is mine, and not required when submitting the puzzle.
Across |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue definition (misprint) CORRECTION | Answer | Grid Entry | Mis prnt | Wordplay |
| 9 | Ba(l)Al perhaps left by Cook after one (4) | IDOL | A | I (one) + DO (cook) + L(eft) | |
| 10 | Nag(s)A caught by Oscar with support (5) | COBRA | A | C(aught) + O(scar) + BRA (support) | |
| 11 | American Independent and Liberal feel (t)Rough (4) | AIL | HAIL | R | A(mericn) + I(ndependent) + L(iberal) |
| 12 | German and short golfer c(a)Ome together (4) | GEL | GOEL | O | G(erman) + EL(s) – Ernie Els is a golfer |
| 13 | Court beside deserted pi(l)Ne? (5) | WOOD | WOOLD | N | WOO (court) + D(eserted) |
| 14 | These (h)Sands shift some work (4) | ERG | ERGO | S | Double definition: shifting sands and a unit of work |
| 15 | Sue dancing with fan, not all (n)Right (7) | UNSAFE | UNSAFER | R | [SUE FAN]* |
| 17 | B(u)Oy mobile stolen from capricious woman (4) | ADAM | O | M(obile) removed from (M)ADAM (a capricious woman) | |
| 18 | Henry at first exclaimed “what a weak noise made by a (m)Donkey!” (6) | HEEHAW | D | H(enry) + E(xclaimed) + EH (what) + A + W(eak) | |
| 20 | In Rome he had an important pos(h)T retrograde to suppress (6) | EDILE | AEDILE | T | ELIDE (suppress) reversed |
| 22 | Tense hour in English (p)Host for Ailsa (6) | THRANG | H | T(ense) + HR (hour) + ANG. (in English) | |
| 25 | Did te(s)Eter start to load earth into Jock’s yard? (6) | REELED | E | L(oad) + E(arth) in REED (Scottish yard) | |
| 26 | Special American mea(l)T (4) | SPAM | T | SP(ecial + AM(erican) {though my dictionaries do NOT have AM as an abbreviation for American!} | |
| 27 | (F)Retching old uncle is about seventy (7) | EMESIS | NEMESIS | R | EME (old uncle) IS round S (seventy in Mediaeval Roman numerals) |
| 31 | A tub-thumper do(n)Es this yellow headgear in Bermondsey East (6) | ORATE | ORNATE | E | OR (Yellow) + ‘AT (headgear in Bermondsey) + E(ast) |
| 33 | Victor quits the day before McG0wan’s (f)Sight (3) | EE | EEK | S | EVE (day before) minus V(ictor) |
| 34 | A to(m)Pe academician throws back (5) | STUPA | P | A(cademician) + PUTS (throws) all reversed | |
| 35 | Contend with Welsh w(i)Atch (4) | VIEW | A | VIE (contend) + W(elsh) | |
| 36 | This can make you (k)Sick Rex in the middle of walk (6) | STREP | STREEP | S | R(ex) in STEP (walk) |
Down |
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| No. | Clue definition (misprint) correction | Answer | Grid Entry | Mis prnt | Wordplay |
| 1 | Eccentric European erected an underground (d)Swelling (4) | EDDO | S | ODD (eccentric) + E(uropean) all reversed | |
| 2 | Note (C)E regularly used by Aeolian (4) | E-LA | EL AL | E | Alternate letters in aEoLiAn |
| 3 | Bar(m)Ren are free (4) | ARID | R | A(re) + RID (free) | |
| 4 | You might see this on a s(u)Tave catholic chef, having left for Hungary (5, 2 words) | C CLEF | T | C(atholic) + CHEF with H(ungary) replaced by L(eft) | |
| 5 | Protective covering without a cas(e)H (6) | OCHRE | OCHREA | H | OCHREA minus A |
| 6 | Leav(y)E millet gruel (7) | CONGEE | CONGREE | E | |
| 7 | Musical gen(i)Re to move swiftly upwards (5) | TRAD | TROAD | R | Double definition: Leave and millet gruel |
| 8 | Eastern porter clutching base of claret filled vas(e)A (6) | HAEMAL | A | Claret = blood: HAMAL (Eastern porter) round E (base) | |
| 11 | Dr(u)Ink getting intoxicated with ecstasy (4) | ONE | HONE | I | ON (getting intoxicated) + E(cstasy) |
| 16 | Protection department nobbles clumsy co(w)Nmen (6) | SHAMS | SHAMAS | N | SS (protection department) round HAM (clumsy) |
| 17 | “A (w)Bard’s hell”, advanced surgeon stopped by head of ENT (4) | ADES | B | A(dvanced) + DS (surgeon) round E(NT) | |
| 19 | Some artisan at Tamar (G)Orange colouring (7) | ANATTA | ANNATTA | O | Hidden in artisAN AT TAmar |
| 21 | (H)Wide bones about 536 metres inside Iowa (5) | ILIA | ILIAC | W | IA (Iowa) round LI (Chinese distance – a third of a mile, approx 536m) |
| 23 | Group supported by Germany quickly (f)Sailed (6) | RACED | RACKED | S | RACE (group) + D (Germany) |
| 24 | Pas(s)T tenant-farmers for example lifting bricks (6) | GEBURS | T | EG (for example) reversed + BURS (bricks) | |
| 28 | Important date for a (r)Muse (5) | ERATO | M | ERA (important date) + TO (for) | |
| 29 | (T)Ayr’s bound to catch up after seven (5) | STEN | STEEN | A | S (seven in Mediaeval Roman numerals) + NET (catch) reversed (up) |
| 30 | (S)Wimple world for the auditor (4) | VEIL | W | Sounds like VALE (the world) | |
| 32 | More than one gap fille(d)R in our shrubbery (4) | URS | NURS | R | hidden in oUR Shrubbery |
Page 1 of 8
Ah! Undone again by laziness.
Looked up STUPA but only read definition as far as ‘dome’, which I duly entered.
But lovely puzzle, and beautifully blogged.
Was never keen on DHL as a writer – but very good at delivering parcels
Re the title…. The Euro is the arid-zone sub-species of the most widespread kangaroo, the Common Wallaroo
No wonder we didn’t join it.
Toughest of the year so far for me, as may be expected from Schadenfreude. Some of the misprints were a real pig to track down so many thanks for highlighting the handful I struggled with. Rather like Hihoba, my eventual way in as to what was going on was to spot the makings of The Rainbow and after that the jigsaw started to pier together, albeit at a slow pace. This probably took me three days on and off. I also had no idea as to the relevance of the title.
Like everyone here, I’ve crossed all digits for the Inquisitor’s future. Thanks for the blog Hihoba, hopefully not your penultimate IQ one.
Tough but fair – much enjoyed. AARON’S ROD was the first “item” to come clear; after a very long pause a little D H Lawrence bell rang and THE WHITE PEACOCK looked plausible as a perimeter item. The road to KANGAROO was unfortunately blocked for some time by my having entered ERGS (just about permitted by the clue?) rather than ERG[space] at 14A. Silly me.
Fingers likewise crossed here for some kind of future for this great institution….
I almost gave up on this, with the right half of the grid stubbornly unsolved, and attempts to google Aaronstad or Aaronstadt or some other likely Euro spa proving unhelpful… but then, suddenly, The Trespasser appeared, and all became clear. Very fair clueing, excellent puzzle, and thank you for the blog.
I’ve signed the petition and written the emails, but I do hope, if The Inquisitor is not carried over, some other method might be find for its continuation… maybe even via subscription?
Another excellent puzzle from Schadenfraude, but my comment concerns Dave Tilley’s petition. I thought I had signed this weeks ago from my iPad but couldn’t find my comment when I searched for it this morning. I have since signed it from my PC and it now appears. In other words I don’t think it can be signed from an iPad. I urge others who thought they had signed via an iPad to check. I don’t know whether the same applies to Android tablets.
Anoter very enjoyable puzzle from Schadenfreude. Although it wasn’t too difficut to spot the clues with the gaps in the grid the key was identifying where the gaps in the grid were. Like Hihoba I twigged quite early that these were along the diagonals but it took me some time for the theme to emerge- like Neil Hunter@6, THE TRESPASSER emerged from the mist eventually and the theme fell into place after that.
Siged the petition ages ago….any news of Indy management response as yet or do they have “greater” considerations at the moment? If it’s ultimately all about finance (and what isn’t in these benighted times), I guess a strict cost-benefit analysis would strongly favour the retention of the Inquisitor !
Thanks, Hihoba, for clearly explaining everything. Like one or two others, I managed to put spaces in the wrong places. I already knew the Euro/Kangaroo connection so as soon as AARON’S ROD emerged, I realised there might be a DHL theme. Because of the aforementioned misplaced spaces, I couldn’t find either Lawrence or his blessed kangaroo – and wondered if they had hopped right off the grid. I found some of the clues to be stretching things a bit and was getting rather frustrated towards the end. Nevertheless if this is the last Schadenfreude, heaven forbid, then I’ll miss the bugger and his colleagues (it’s a bit like Stockholm Syndrome, I guess).
I enjoyed the challenge here, which was sustained right to the end. I don’t think there was anything I was still uncertain about by the end, though plenty during the process. I found rainbow early on and although D H Lawrence may have flitted briefly through my mind I got distracted by some idea of symbols of peace. Having got W_ITE_EAC… I’d speculated on white peace lily (the white possibly being some sort of conflation in my head with white poppies). It was only pondering on my journey to work on Monday morning that I remembered having read The White Peacock and everything had fallen into place by late Monday evening. I’m surprised how many D H Lawrence books I hadn’t heard of, or remembered hearing of. I thought I’d read them all in my youth, but clearly not. Maybe it’s time to revisit him. Perhaps if the Inquisitor is continued somewhere I’ll have time to read again!
We lost our comment about the puzzle but just wanted to say that we hope someone is listening to us. If we lose all the puzzles that are currently in the pdf version the Indy will lose some very loyal readers.
I don’t recall having too much difficulty with this – well, no more than the average Sch…. Empty diagonals appeared quite early, tho’ as with David Langford @5 I suffered later from the ERGS/ERG[ ] problem. “St.Mawr” (read & enjoyed both times) eventually appeared, then “Aaron’s Rod”, and that was more or less that. To finish, “Kangaroo” was slotted in – it made me smile with its explanation of the otherwise puzzling title.
Thanks to Hihoba for his penultimate (?) blog – I for one haven’t read Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
Next weekend is my final paper Inquisitor to blog – let’s hope that I’ll blog the first e-Inquisitor after Easter.
I got precisely nowhere with this puzzle but do have some possible news on the future of the Inquisitor. I received an email yesterday from a member of the Independent production team saying that there are plans for the IQ to go to the i, although these are yet to be confirmed. There should be more info in the next couple of weeks. I do believe that our voices are being heard.
Thanks Kippax – best news possible on this front if true.
Thanks, Kippax, for that very heartening news.
Thanks to Schadenfreude for another gem and I sincerely hope it’s not his last under this banner. We followed one law of advanced crosswords (If there are gaps, they will probably be in the diagonals), which speeded things up considerably; but then ignored another (Don’t assume the perimeter word sequence starts in the NW corner), which held us up for a long time. We’d filled about a third of the grid before spotting “Aaron’s Rod” and my first assumption was that the theme was botanical, but Mrs T recalled that this is the title of a Lawrence novel and after that it was plain sailing, as the perimeter titles could be easily deduced and the rest of the misprints identified. Very impressive feat to ensure all grid entries are real words, but we expect nothing less from this setter. Did not understand the title, but it turned out to be topical as the puzzle was published on the day the EU referendum date was announced!
You searched on Wikipedia!!!??? Surely that is not acceptable!!!??? A bit (un)like Bobby Jones who hit his ball into the trees, came out a moment or two later and said to his playing partner, “I touched my ball, so am now playing a second shot.” Incredulously his partner replied that he need not have mentioned it. Jones said that he’d sooner rob a bank than not acknowledge such a infringement!!
What are your views on bank-robbing, Hihoba?
I have no hesitation in using Wikipedia Hannah (#17)!!! I could spend a lot of money and time on research tomes, or use the library but, like schoolchildren nowadays, I can see no reason to make life difficult for myself. I feel no shame in not knowing all the works of DHL, even if I did go to the same school. It’s hard enough solving the crossword and writing the blog!
As far as bank robbing is concerned, how do YOU feel about the fact that the banks, or more particularly the bankers, have been robbing us for years. Overpaid and stupid, most of them, particularly those in senior positions!!! (I speak as a one-time bank employee!)
Sorry. Yes, apologies. I appreciate that research is acceptable for some good folk. However, that route is not one that I am happy to traverse.
“I can see no reason to make life difficult for myself.”
For me, making life difficult, or in modern parlance “challenging”, is the essence, my raison d’etre, what makes life worth living!!! I had to delve deep within the confines of my meagre inadequate cranial cortex for some knowledge of Dr Black, DH Lawrence, good ole Tarzan of the Apes, etc.. Sometimes one needs 20-20 vision. If it is not there, if I have not the knowledge of too many cooks, then I take my bonnet off to Schadenfreude, Phi, Nimrod et al.. I accept defeat with good grace, as I did when I could not see the ‘Invisible (Letters)Man’ hidden in the grid the other week!?
Hannah, If you are blogging the puzzle, taking your hat of and admitting defeat is not really an option! I use my brain as far as I can, but it can’t hold everything, and our puzzle setters are more free to use challenging and unusual themes (such as Linus van Pelt and the Invisible Man) and can expect us to be able to solve them, than was the case even a few years ago.
I can’t see the difference between looking things up online and using an online dictionary (on my tablet) when I don’t have access to Chambers while on the move!
I’ve tended to see puzzles like this one as an excuse to research things I’d otherwise maybe never have bothered to look at before, so wikipedia or the equivalent is a part of my repertoire. The IQ, Listener and EV have been essential in broadening my cultural horizons, in that sense! Kudos to anyone who knows this stuff already, but for myself I prefer taking puzzles with themes I’d not previously encountered as a chance to learn more about the theme — ones that are right up my street already can sometimes, depending on the execution, be a bit flat because of the lost chance to learn something new.
I really enjoyed this one. I got maybe 70% of the way to filling the grid with just Chambers for company then like Hannah Clarke I took off my hat and admitted defeat.
Unlike Hannah I then put my hat back on and managed to get up to 95% with Wikipedia’s help and learned a lot on the way too.
Thanks to Schadenfreude and Hihoba.