pages tagged inquisitornoteshttp://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/tag/inquisitor/notesikiwiki2015-02-06T11:35:05Zinquisitor 1367http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2015/inquisitor_1367/2015-02-06T11:35:05Z2015-02-06T11:35:05Z
<p>Welcome to 2015! Since I have way too much work to do before term
restarts, obviously I will distract myself with a crossword...</p>
<blockquote><p>To compensate for the loss of half of the clues, the editor has
inserted (in an appropriate order) an extra letter in each of the
remaining clues (most of which didn’t make much sense). One clued
answer is a seldom used variant spelling given in <em>Collins</em></p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>14ac: <strong>AMNION</strong> [Q]: Man with no I<s>Q</s> ruptured a <u>membrane</u> (6): *(MAN NO I)</li>
<li>15ac: <strong>ELEGY</strong> [J]: <s>J</s>on replaces Victor and Elizabeth in every <u>song</u> (5): EVERY - V(ictor) - ER (Elizabeth) + LEG (on)</li>
<li>17ac: <strong>BODLE</strong> [C]: <u>Coi<s>g</s>n</u> initially discovered in earthy clay (5): D(iscovered) in BOLE (earthy clay)</li>
<li>20ac: <strong>GROATS</strong> [L]: <u>Crushed grain</u> about to be eaten by ca<s>l</s>ves (6): A(bout) in GROTS (caves)</li>
<li>22ac: <strong>LOLLARD</strong> [H]: Lines are penned by s<s>h</s>ire <u>layabout</u> (7): LL (lines) A(re) in LORD (sire)</li>
<li>26ac: <strong>EGIS</strong> [V]: Gi<s>v</s>e wayward son <u>protection</u> (4): *(GIE) + S(one)</li>
<li>37ac: <strong>MANX</strong> [T]: <s>T</s>he unknown <u>language</u> (4): MAN (he) + X (unknown)</li>
<li>38ac: <strong>ROSCIAN</strong> [R]: Osric <s>r</s>an off <u>like a great actor</u> (7): *(OSRIC AN)</li>
<li>40ac: <strong>PRISSY</strong> [E]: <u>Prim<s>e</s></u> Minister finally is trapped by foreign spy (6): (ministe)R + IS in *(SPY)</li>
<li>45ac: <strong>KYLOE</strong> [X]: Narrow passage concealing o<s>x</s>, <u>one of MacDonald’s cattle</u>: KYLE (narrow passage) around O</li>
<li>46ac: <strong>NOREEN</strong> [F]: <u>Irish girl</u> definitely not <s>f</s>ree before November (6): NO (definitely not) + REE + N(ovember)</li>
<li>48ac: <strong>OSTIARY</strong> [N]: <u>Doorkeeper</u> we<s>n</s>t back into very large yard (7): RAIT (wet) reversed in OS (very large) Y(ard)</li>
<li>2dn: <strong>UGLY</strong> [K]: <u>Ill-natured</u> guy <s>k</s>new about inductance (4): *(GUY) around L (inductance)</li>
<li>3dn: <strong>BAGDAD</strong> [Y]: Father is south of poke<s>y</s> <u>city on the Tigris</u> (6): DAD (father) under BAG (poke)</li>
<li>4dn: <strong>EMYS</strong> [U]: Em<s>u</s>’s devouring 150 <u>terrapins</u> (4): EMS around Y (150)</li>
<li>5dn: <strong>CALLS</strong> [I]: <u>Cit<s>i</s>es</u> entirely in constant sun (5): ALL (entirely) in C(onstant) S(un)</li>
<li>8dn: <strong>TOOTLE</strong> [C]: <s>C</s>at let loose after ordinary <u>drive</u> (6): TO (at) + O(rdinary) + *(LET)</li>
<li>11dn: <strong>EMENDS</strong> [W]: Chaps extremely dolourous following the end of Julie <u><s>W</s>alters</u> (6): MEN (chaps) + D(olorou)S after (juli)E</li>
<li>21dn: <strong>T-REX</strong> [D]: <u>Popular group</u> tenor supported by <s>d</s>river and former partner (4, two words): T(enor) + R(iver) + EX (former partner)</li>
<li>25dn: <strong>BRER</strong> [B]: Branch initially exposed by <s>b</s>right <u>American relative</u> (4): BR(anch) + E(xposed) + R(ight)</li>
<li>28dn: <strong>ECOMAPS</strong> [M]: <u>Interaction diagrams</u> come out before spa<s>m</s> is broadcast (7): *(COME) + *(SPA)</li>
<li>29dn: <strong>TRAILER</strong> [O]: Doorkeeper taking in g<s>o</s>od <u>film extract</u> (7): TILER (doorkeeper) around RA (god)</li>
<li>33dn: <strong>ERINGO</strong> [A]: Earth <s>a</s>round old <u>candied root</u> (6): E(arth) RING (round) O(ld)</li>
<li>34dn: <strong>OCTROI</strong> [S]: <u>Du<s>s</s>ty</u> fellow leaves Corfiot in a mess (6): *(CORFIOT) - F(ellow)</li>
<li>37dn: <strong>MINYAN</strong> [P]: Many <s>p</s>in up <u>at least ten men</u> (6): *(MANY IN)</li>
<li>42dn: <strong>EKKA</strong> [Z]: <u>Horse-drawn carriage</u> accommodating two kings in eastern <s>z</s>one (4): KK (two kings) in E(astern) A (one)</li>
</ul>
<p>Fairly quickly it occurred to me to count the clues, and having done
that and noticed that there were 26 of them, it wasn’t too hard to
guess what was going on. It took a little while to drop the idea of
just using the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet">NATO Phonetic Alphabet</a>,
but with <code>.XY.E.</code> in the grid that was pretty untenable, and then the natural
(second) interpretation of the crossword title “Shortness of Clues”
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P%C3%B3lya">Pólya</a>:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It">Did you use all the data?</a>)
came to light: the extra letters were the clues, in order, of the
missing entries.</p>
<ul>
<li>Q (6): <strong>QUEBEC</strong></li>
<li>J (7): <strong>JUSTICE</strong></li>
<li>G (4): <strong>GRAM</strong></li>
<li>L (4): <strong>LEFT</strong></li>
<li>H (4): <strong>HARD</strong></li>
<li>V (4): <strong>VERB</strong></li>
<li>T (5): <strong>TENSE</strong></li>
<li>R (5): <strong>ROMEO</strong></li>
<li>E (4): <strong>ECHO</strong></li>
<li>X (4): <strong>XRAY</strong></li>
<li>F (4): <strong>FINE</strong></li>
<li>N (5): <strong>NAIRI</strong></li>
<li>K (4): <strong>KAON</strong></li>
<li>Y (6): <strong>YANKEE</strong></li>
<li>U (7): <strong>UNIFORM</strong></li>
<li>I (5): <strong>INDIA</strong></li>
<li>C (7): <strong>CALORIE</strong></li>
<li>W (6): <strong>WEIGHT</strong></li>
<li>D (4): <strong>DELE</strong></li>
<li>B (4): <strong>BORN</strong></li>
<li>M (4): <strong>MASS</strong></li>
<li>O (6): <strong>OXYGEN</strong></li>
<li>A (4): <strong>ANNA</strong></li>
<li>S (5): <strong>SAINT</strong></li>
<li>P (5): <strong>PENNY</strong></li>
<li>Z (4): <strong>ZONE</strong></li>
</ul>
inquisitor 1352http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/inquisitor_1352/2014-10-02T08:39:47Z2014-10-02T08:39:47Z
<p>I <em>think</em> I’ve got this one, but it’s a little hard to tell. Starting
off with a completely empty grid is rarely straightforward (I suppose
that’s the point...) and it wasn’t until late in the process, after
getting 9dn and most of the across clues, that I started being able to
make real deductions about the layout; on the plus side, maybe to make
this crossword tractable at all, the clues themselves were noticeably
more straightforward than usual. I feel as if I might be missing a
little something about the end of the rubric; unless it really means
exactly what it says (you don’t strictly <em>need</em> the numbers in the
grid), I don’t know what it actually means.</p>
<h2>Identity Crisis</h2>
<blockquote><p>The grid should be appropriately filled by correctly locating the
solutions to the normal, correctly numbered clues. Numbers are not
essential in the completed grid, which displays 180° symmetry, but
their inclusion may assist solvers in arriving at the solution.</p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>8ac: <strong>TAMED</strong>: A little bit about me being <u>under control</u>: TAD (a little bit) around ME</li>
<li>10ac: <strong>SEVERE</strong>: <u>Very bad</u> cut to top of ear...: SEVER (cut) + E(ar)</li>
<li>11ac: <strong>SLASH</strong>: ... <u>and another</u> small one on edge of eyelid: S(mall) + LASH (one on edge of eyelid)</li>
<li>13ac: <strong>GREASED</strong>: <u>Did this to palms, maybe</u> – as in avarice: AS in GREED (avarice)</li>
<li>14ac: <strong>INKED</strong>: Shut one eye with hit, <u>made black</u>: WINKED (shut one eye) - W(ith)</li>
<li>15ac: <strong>IDAHO</strong>: <u>State</u> out loud: “I owned a sort of garden tool”: I’D A HOE</li>
<li>16ac: <strong>KNEE</strong>: King born <u>to genuflect? Once</u>: K(ing) + NEE (born)</li>
<li>17ac: <strong>TUNER</strong>: <u>It picks up radio signals</u>: the sounds of fish?: TUNA</li>
<li>19ac: <strong>BATES</strong>: Wild beast <u>rages</u>: *(BEAST)</li>
<li>22ac: <strong>TANA</strong>: <u>Shrew</u> in a <u>cop shop</u>?: Double Definition</li>
<li>23ac: <strong>PEERS</strong>: <u>Looks short-sightedly</u> at <u>Members of the Upper House</u>: Double Definition</li>
<li>24ac: <strong>TILTH</strong>: Tent put on hospital <u>land</u>: TILT (tent) + H(ospital)</li>
<li>25ac: <strong>ORLEANS</strong>: <u>Fabric</u> – or thin bit of stuff: OR + LEAN (thin) + S(tuff)</li>
<li>26ac: <strong>DIET</strong>: Finish with last of burnt <u>food</u>?: DIE (finish) + (burn)T</li>
<li>27ac: <strong>TEARY</strong>: <u>Crying</u>: “Rent boy’s rear end!”: TEAR (rent) + (bo)Y</li>
<li>28ac: <strong>KICKER</strong>: <u>Player</u> showing <u>an unpaired card</u>: Double Definition</li>
<li>29ac: <strong>BUYER</strong>: First of emeralds set with ruby for <u>customer</u>: E(meralds) in *(RUBY)</li>
<li>30ac: <strong>LOPED</strong>: <u>Took a running jump</u> – and cut off half of cheese!: LOP (cut) + ED(am) (half of cheese)</li>
<li>1dn: <strong>SAVANNA</strong>: Rescue nearly ready for old Asian in <u>African landscape</u>: SAV(e) (rescue) + ANNA (old Indian “ready”, <em>i.e.</em> money)</li>
<li>2dn: <strong>LESSEE</strong>: The French notice <u>one who rents</u>: LES (fr. “the”) + SEE (notice)</li>
<li>3dn: <strong>IDLED</strong>: <u>Didn’t do very much</u>, as I’d been out in front: I’Ð LED</li>
<li>4dn: <strong>TRAGIC</strong>: Time to give up Havana, perhaps? <u>It’s very sad</u>: T(ime) + CIGAR (Havana, perhaps) reversed</li>
<li>5dn: <strong>REHEAT</strong>: Theatre not started? Organise <u>warm-up</u>: *((t)HEATRE)</li>
<li>7dn: <strong>DEODAR</strong>: Fix up cutting very expensive <u>tree</u>: DO (fix) reversed in DEAR (very expensive)</li>
<li>9dn: <strong>MARKETPLACE</strong>: World of commerce in which metal-packer’s involved: *(METALPACKER)</li>
<li>18dn: <strong>ENTERED</strong>: <u>Went in</u> and perhaps uprooted 7, for example, in the finale: *(TREE) (7, for example) in END (finale)</li>
<li>20dn: <strong>SEATED</strong>: Teased terribly, <u>not standing for it</u>!: *(TEASED)</li>
<li>21dn: <strong>ASSAIL</strong>: <u>Attack</u> like a ship: AS SAIL</li>
<li>22dn: <strong>TIDY UP</strong>: <u>Put everything back</u> three times a day? Yes! (2 words): TID (three times a day) + YUP (yes)</li>
<li>24dn: <strong>TURBO</strong>: <u>Jet-powered</u> <u>mollusc</u>?: Double Definition</li>
</ul>
<p>I had alternative solutions for 28ac (JOKER) and 24dn (SQUID) which
misled me for a while, but once I had most of the pieces, putting them
together wasn’t too bad; once you’ve deduced that 9dn must be on the
second row, it’s easy to put together plausible crossings for it, and
the rest follows. That gives the notion that the crossword is
undecided between <strong>BARS</strong> (12ac) and <strong>BLOCKS</strong> (19dn), and hence has
a <strong>SPLIT PERSONALITY</strong> (1ac/6dn).</p>
<p>All told, then:</p>
<pre><code>█SPLIT█R█P█D
TAMEDRSEVERE
█VASLASH█R█O
BARSEGREASED
INKEDIDAHO█A
KNEE█C█TUNER
BATES█A█TANA
L█PEERSTILTH
ORLEANSUDIET
C█A█TEARYTR█
KICKERIBUYER
S█E█D█LOPED█
</code></pre>
<p>I wonder whether it’s wise for a new setter (“IQ debutant Jago”,
according to Nimrod) to set a crossword whose theme is, basically,
crosswords? To me, it doesn’t feel quite special enough – unless, of
course, I have missed something in the rubric to suggest an extra
step?</p>
inquisitor 1351http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/inquisitor_1351/2014-09-24T13:06:09Z2014-09-24T13:06:09Z
<p>Another <a href="http://www.deprofundis.org.uk"><em>De Profundis</em></a> weekend,
another pair of train journeys, another crossword – and, surprisingly,
another success. Unlike <a href="http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/inquisitor_1350/">last week</a>, no external
motivation was necessary, and it all fell into place quite nicely.</p>
<h2>How to Spell CAT</h2>
<blockquote><p>Six words, occupying three rows of the grid in total, are clued
without their common definition. Using that common definition, with
particular reference to one of the six and an answer elsewhere in
the grid, each of the three rows can be converted into a letter,
spelling the word to be entered below the puzzle. Failed attempts
at spelling will need to be removed from clues before solving,
adjusting punctuation and spacing where necessary.</p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>*3ac: <strong>CONFOUND</strong>: Study institute (8): CON (study) + FOUND (institute)</li>
<li>11ac: <strong>ONUS</strong>: Australian crook shirking college <u>responsibility</u> (4):</li>
<li>12ac: <strong>DEER</strong>: Put off dismissing fellow in <u>moo<s>t ca</s>se, say</u> (4): DEFER (put off) - F(ellow)</li>
<li>13ac: <strong>CREMASTERS</strong>: <u>Male muscles</u> concerning male among film scouts? (10): RE (concerning) + M(ale) in CASTERS (film scouts)</li>
<li>14ac: <strong>AUSTER</strong>: <u>American author</u>? American ou<s>tca</s>st, nothing less, about to backtrack (6): A(merican) + OUST - O (nothing) + reversed RE (about); ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Auster">Paul Auster</a> <a href="http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/azed_2178/">again!</a></li>
<li>15ac: <strong>OORIAL</strong>: See one creature from Oz coming back – <u>a sheep</u> (6): LA (see) + I (one) + ROO (creature from Oz) all reversed</li>
<li>16ac: <strong>NEIF</strong>: Dire<s>ct a</s>ction for Newcastle’s provided by <u>elderly duke</u> (4): NE (Newcastle’s region is ‘the North East’) + IF (provided)</li>
<li>17ac: <strong>MENU</strong>: <u>Cho<s>cta</s>w</u> soldiers heading for Utah (4): MEN (soldiers) + U(tah)</li>
<li>19ac: <strong>ESTH</strong>: <u>Religious book</u>, <u>one of religious origin</u> (4): Double Definition</li>
<li>20ac: <strong>OUTDO</strong>: <u>Perform better than</u> party that’s not elected? (5): OUT (not elected) DO (party)</li>
<li>22ac: <strong>SPIKY</strong>: Spot punctured by one <s>tac</s>k with sharp point (5): SPY (spot) around I (one) K</li>
<li>*24ac: <strong>BLOW</strong>: Bass, definitely not soprano... (4): B(ass) + LOW (not soprano)</li>
<li>*25ac: <strong>RUSH</strong>: ... consequence of time off hard for tenor... (4): RUST (consequence of time off) - T(enor) + H(ard)</li>
<li>*26ac: <strong>LONG</strong>: ... soprano abandoning hard work to secure note (4): SLOG (hard work) - S(oprano) around N(ote)</li>
<li>27ac: <strong>ESTEEM</strong>: <u>Regard</u> half of bees in front of swarm (6): (be)ES + TEEM (swarm)</li>
<li>28ac: <strong>I SAY</strong>: <u>Look at this</u> approach to saving yen (4, two words): ISA (approach to saving; ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_Savings_Account">ISA</a>) + Y(en)</li>
<li>32ac: <strong>FARE</strong>: Funk’s heading live <u>do</u> (4): F(unk) + ARE (live)</li>
<li>34ac: <strong>TEEN</strong>: No participant in society recalls <u>this grief of old</u> (4): NEET (no participant in society; ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEET">NEET</a>) reversed</li>
<li>36ac: <strong>COOS</strong>: Old relative ignoring fashionable <u>signs of affection</u> (4): COOSIN (obs. “cousin”) - IN (fashionable)</li>
<li>37ac: <strong>YUAN</strong>: Chinese plant not accepting pounds – but accepting these? (4): YULAN (Chinese plant) - L (pounds) &lit.</li>
<li>39ac: <strong>SCOUTHER</strong>: Spy that woman’s <u>toast in Edinburgh</u> (8): SCOUT (spy) + HER (that woman)</li>
<li>40ac: <strong>SLOB</strong>: Awkward, lacking dash, recalled as a <u>boor</u> (4):</li>
<li>41ac: <strong>DELI</strong>: Composer avoiding us in <u>foodstore</u> (6): DELIUS (ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Delius">Frederick Delius</a>) - US</li>
<li>42ac: <strong>FEES</strong>: <u>Payment</u> f<s>act</s> judge rejected (4): F + SEE (judge) reversed</li>
<li>*43ac: <strong>HYPHEN</strong>: Offend old woman disrepectfully (6): HYP (obs. “offend”) + HEN (<em>slang</em> “woman”)</li>
<li>*44ac: <strong>SPRINT</strong>: Journey time includes end of tour (6): SPIN (journey) + T(ime) around (tou)R</li>
<li>1dn: <strong>ROMANO-BRITISH</strong>: Harm bistro with <s>act</s>ion arranged as <u>description of historic style</u>? (13): *(HARM BISTRO ION)</li>
<li>2dn: <strong>ON CUE</strong>: L<s>act</s>ate around third quarter of hour, <u>when required</u> (5, two words): ONCE (late) around (ho)U(r)</li>
<li>3dn: <strong>CURSITOR</strong>: <u>Ancient Court official</u> ruined our t<s>act</s>ics before King (8): *(OUR TICS) + R (King)</li>
<li>4dn: <strong>NAME</strong>: A million resident in Nebraska <u>state</u> (4): A M(illion) in NE (Nebraska)</li>
<li>5dn: <strong>FLARE-OUT</strong>: Area not about to be placed in mock <u>component of airstrip design</u>: AREA - A(bout) in FLOUT (mock)</li>
<li>6dn: <strong>OPSONISE</strong>: <u>Improve edibility of</u> pies, soon, with cooking (8): *(PIES SOON)</li>
<li>7dn: <strong>UNTO</strong>: <u>To</u> point, as before, shows no hint of politeness (5): PUNTO (obs. “point”) - P(oliteness)</li>
<li>8dn: <strong>DERISION</strong>: <u><s>Tac</s>it gibes</u> rumoured to circle around King and I (8): NOISED (rumoured) reversed around R (King) + I</li>
<li>9dn: <strong>RESAT</strong>: Stun gun, kicking upward, <u>was tested again</u> (5): TASER (stun gun) reversed</li>
<li>10dn: <strong>ORAL HYGIENIST</strong>: This legionary in a fl<s>at c</s>ap could do for <u>health worker</u> (13): *(THIS LEGIONARY)</li>
<li>17dn: <strong>MORSE CODE</strong>: <u>Symbolic language</u>, increasingly imitating English, used around Sweden (9, two words): MORE (increasingly) + COD (imitating) + E(nglish) around S(weden)</li>
<li>18dn: <strong>USHERSHIP</strong>: <u>Escort’s function</u>, taking our group plundering up north (9): US (our group) + HERSHIP (Scot. “plundering”, <a href="http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/azed_2199/">again</a>)</li>
<li>21dn: <strong>ULES</strong>: Top’s worn off red <u>rubbers</u> (4): (g)ULES (red)</li>
<li>23dn: <strong>KNAR</strong>: <s>Tac</s>k North on a river, making <u>one knot</u> (4): K + N(orth) + A + R(iver)</li>
<li>29dn: <strong>AESOP</strong>: <u>Story-teller</u>’s promoted main work (5): SEA (main) reversed + OP (work)</li>
<li>30dn: <strong>ROUEN</strong>: Libertine taking on new <u>he<s>cta</s>re in France</u>? (5): ROUE (libertine) + N(ew)</li>
<li>31dn: <strong>ROTLS</strong>: Talks nonsense, including pound in <u>variable quantities</u> (5): ROTS (talks nonsense) around L (pound)</li>
<li>33dn: <strong>AUREI</strong>: Former operation’s brought in excellent <u>antique gold coins</u> (5): URE (obs. “operation”) in AI (excellent)</li>
<li>35dn: <strong>EELY</strong>: No longer happy to relinquish first <u>of fish</u> (4): (s)EELY (obs. “happy”)</li>
<li>38dn: <strong>AMEN</strong>: Agree broth’s recipe’s forgotten (4): RAMEN (broth) - R(ecipe)</li>
</ul>
<p>Anagrams of CAT (not quite all of them; they’re left alone in 37ac)
have to be removed from some of the clues before solving; I
particularly liked “in a flat cap” → “in a flap”. The unclued
entries’ common definition is <u>dash</u>; writing them out gives —/—
— —/— —, or with particular reference to MORSE CODE, ‘TOM’. Which is
how to spell CAT.</p>
inquisitor 1350http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/inquisitor_1350/2014-09-16T21:34:07Z2014-09-16T21:34:07Z
<p>I’ve been on holiday abroad, so away from crosswords. What little
reflection I did on holiday (<a href="http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/pgcert_essays/">see also</a>) gave rise to an ambition to graduate from
Azed to something one step harder – if only so that I leave time and
space on this blog for non-crossword entries. So, coming home to
<a href="http://www.fifteensquared.net/2014/09/10/inquisitor-1349-walk-this-way-by-ifor/">Inquisitor 1349</a>,
I obviously proceeded to solve a total of zero clues.</p>
<p>However! The following weekend was a
<a href="http://www.deprofundis.org.uk/"><em>De Profundis</em></a> weekend (too late to
blog encouraging you all to come! Lovely Josquin, Brumel, and other
Franco-Flemish superstars; next gig 25th April), and <em>De Profundis</em>
weekends offer a certain amount of train travel, which itself affords
almost-uninterrupted crossword contemplation. So, I took along
Inquisitor 1350, and made some decent progress on the way up to
Cambridge, and a bit more in my rehearsal breaks. And then I met up
with Uri, my old friend and partner in crossword solving, who quite
unfairly had most of Sunday free while I had more intense rehearsal
and travel away from reference books. Cheating! So when he e-mailed
to say that he had identified the theme and solved most of the grid,
that was enough motivation to stay up past bedtime (mine as well as
the rest of the household’s) banging my head against the crossword,
then the wall as the pieces finally started fitting together.</p>
<h2>3 Down</h2>
<blockquote><p>The unclued grey grid entries include three thematic film titles
(chronologically, 3dn/10ac/40ac, 9dn and 35ac. The name of the
protagonist of the first film (32dn) is also associated with 35ac.
5dn’s 9dn to become 3dn/10ac/40ac was a success: contents of pink
squares can be arranged to form a word that hints at a failure who
must be highlighted in the completed grid (6 cells)</p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>1ac: <strong>KAT</strong>: <u>Stimulant</u> to swallow doing the rounds when there’s no ecstasy (3): TAKE (swallow) reversed - E(cstasy)</li>
<li>4ac: <strong>RIFLE</strong>: <u>Firearm</u> <u>sack</u> (5): Double Definition</li>
<li>7ac: <strong>OWS</strong>: <u>Pained expressions</u> and arguments start off (3): (r)OWS (arguments)</li>
<li>11ac: <strong>REEST</strong>: Birds with little time <u>go off for bacon</u> (5): REES (birds) + T(ime)</li>
<li>12ac: <strong>LOUDLY</strong>: Look duly chastened – how people shout! (6): LO (look) + *(DULY)</li>
<li>13ac: <strong>DINE OFF</strong>: <u>Make a meal of</u> cooking fine food half-heartedly (7, two words): *(FINE FO(o)D)</li>
<li>15ac: <strong>MOATS</strong>: <u>Water surrounds</u> a thousand cereal crops (5): M (thousand) + OATS (cereal crops)</li>
<li>16ac: <strong>ANURA</strong>: Two adults hurry back inside for <u>amphibians</u> (5): RUN (hurry) reversed inside A A (two adults)</li>
<li>17ac: <strong>ABETTAL</strong>: <u>Suspect help</u>’s coming from retro coffee bar shortly (7): LATTE (coffee) + BA(r) reversed</li>
<li>19ac: <strong>ZEREBA</strong>: Authorize rebate that includes <u>animal protection measure</u> (6): authoriZE REBAte</li>
<li>20ac: <strong>OOSE</strong>: <u>Tartan nap</u> more likely to fall off without covers (4): (l)OOSE(r) (more likely to fall off)</li>
<li>22ac: <strong>GUEREZA</strong>: For colobus Montezuma’s revenge struck after faltering movements noth taken (7): *(MONTEZUMAS REVENGE - MOVEMENTS N(orth))</li>
<li>24ac: <strong>VACUUMS</strong>: <u>Cleaners</u> regularly dug up mess after holiday (7): VAC (holiday) + dUg Up MeSs</li>
<li>25ac: <strong>STAR</strong>: <u>Celebrity</u>’s <u>rush for Scotch</u> (4): Double Definition(?)</li>
<li>29ac: <strong>GAINST</strong>: <u>A poet’s not in favour of</u> financial profit – good man! (6): GAIN (financial profit) + ST (saint)</li>
<li>31ac: <strong>TATOUAY</strong>: <u>Armadillo</u> always following French film star, not once united (7): TATOU (ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Tautou">Audrey Tatou</a>) - U(nited) + AY (always)</li>
<li>33ac: <strong>APING</strong>: <u>Taking off</u> recording that’s not starting (5): (t)APING (recording)</li>
<li>34ac: <strong>CTENE</strong>: Cardinal gripped by church <u>organ that’s moving</u> (5): TEN (cardinal number) in CE (Church of England)</li>
<li>36ac: <strong>EILEEN</strong>: In hearing I have a preference for <u>Irish girl</u> (6): sounds like “I lean” (I have a preference for)</li>
<li>37ac: <strong>JETES</strong>: <u>Leaps</u> narrow streams consuming energy (5): JETS (narrow streams) around E(nergy)</li>
<li>38ac: <strong>CONVERTOR</strong>: Cover torn, with end torn off and put inside – <u>it makes a change currently</u>? (9): COVER TORN - N around N</li>
<li>39ac: <strong>EEK</strong>: Decapitated nerd? <u>Gulp</u>! (3): (g)EEK</li>
<li>41ac: <strong>NEY</strong>: <u>French marshal</u> longing to make a comeback (3): YEN (longing); ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Ney">Michel Ney</a> <a href="http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/guardian_21666/">again</a></li>
<li>1dn: <strong>KARAMAZOV</strong>: Bangle of 50% vanadium worn by mum and unknown <u>literary brothers</u> (9): KARA (bangle) + O(f) + V (50% of VA(nadium)) around MA (mum) + Z (unknown); ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Karamazov"><em>The Brothers Karamazov</em></a></li>
<li>2dn: <strong>AWESOME</strong>: <u>Dreadful</u> pitiful scotch after knocking first two back (7): WAESOME (Scot. “pitiful”) with first two letters reversed</li>
<li>4dn: <strong>ROSE TREE</strong>: Reassembling stereo in middle of area is a <u>standard bloomer</u> (8, two words): *(STEREO) in (a)RE(a)</li>
<li>6dn: <strong>ELUENTS</strong>: Washing liquids free-flowing when top is off going in different directions (7): (f)LUENT (free-flowing) in E S (different directions)</li>
<li>8dn: <strong>WOLFRAM</strong>: <u>Elemental example of US</u> beasts (7): WOLF + RAM</li>
<li>14dn: <strong>OUTLET</strong>: <u>Retail market</u> of stateside egg dish switching from Maine to Utah (6): OMELET (Am. egg dish) - ME (Maine) + UT(ah)</li>
<li>18dn: <strong>EWES</strong>: <u>Sheep</u>’s milk, say (4): sounds like “use” (milk)</li>
<li>21dn: <strong>SCOTIA</strong>: Company invested in islands up in <u>Burns’ home</u>? (6): CO(mpany) in AITS (islands) reversed</li>
<li>22dn: <strong>GURU</strong>: Returned wig to university teacher (4): RUG (wig) reversed + U(niversity)</li>
<li>23dn: <strong>ARTLESSLY</strong>: He goes off in a callous way <u>like some innocent</u> (9): (he)ARTLESSLY (in a callous way)</li>
<li>25dn: <strong>SIXTIETH</strong>: An unknown knot seen in this tangled <u>diamond</u>? (8): X (unknown) TIE (knot) in *(THIS)</li>
<li>26dn: <strong>ETAGERE</strong>: <u>A stand made by shelving</u> retired menial film actor (7): ETA (menial) + GERE (film actor; ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Gere">Richard Gere</a>)</li>
<li>27dn: <strong>CAPRICE</strong>: <u>Fancy</u> hat with woody bits for locals? (7): CAP (hat) + RICE (dial. woody bits)</li>
<li>28dn: <strong>CONVENE</strong>: Very little space within 3-D structure for <u>rally</u> (7): V(ery) EN (little space) in CONE (3-D structure)</li>
<li>30dn: <strong>SINCERE</strong>: <u>Genuine</u> increase without a high (7): *(INCREASE - A)</li>
</ul>
<p>I think key for me in this puzzle was getting 9dn (SKYFALL), realising
that that was currently the <em>latest</em> of the James Bond films (hence
not followed by anything chronologically), casting around for other
things to be the theme, and then having a night-time epiphany of THE
MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (3dn/10ac/40ac). After that it was plain
sailing to include FELIX BAUMGARTNER (5dn), GRAVITY (35ac), NEWTON
(32dn); with a couple of Ws and an X in the pink squares, it was
fairly easy to guess that ICARUS (6 cells, falling head-first down and
to the right) who has a WAX WING was the failure.</p>
inquisitor 1326http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/inquisitor_1326/2014-04-03T15:36:49Z2014-04-03T15:36:49Z
<p>Another fun one; I somewhat prefer the inquisitors with slightly more
obscure vocabulary and slightly less messing with clues – perhaps
because at least I stand a chance.</p>
<blockquote><p>In the completed grid, one member of a family is leaving a location.
One member of another family is entering the same location. Each
uses the same technique to pass an obstacle, different in each case.
Solvers must highlight both members. Unchecked letters of the
unclued families, location, technique and obstacles could form LOCAL
ACT, VIVA RACE.</p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>8ac: <strong>URAO</strong>: Beginning of unholy row over <u>onshore deposit</u>:
U(nholy) + OAR (row) reversed</li>
<li>9ac: <strong>GATS</strong>: <u>Guns</u> to follow in retreat: STAG (follow) reversed</li>
<li>12ac: <strong>TENNOS</strong>: Recall verse <u>titles</u>: SONNET reversed</li>
<li>13ac: <strong>SOREE</strong>: <u>Rail</u> about joining members of secret
service: RE (about) inside SOE
(ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive">Special Operations Executive</a>)</li>
<li>15ac: <strong>DROMOI</strong>: Gypsy involved in swindle; the first to occur in
Irish <u>racecourses</u>: ROM
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people">Gypsy</a>) in DO
(swindle) + I(rish)</li>
<li>18ac: <strong>MOA</strong>: <u>Bird no longer</u> starts to moult outside aviary:
M(oult) O(utside) A(viary);
ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moa">Moa</a></li>
<li>21ac: <strong>RENAME</strong>: Marlene left out mobile to <u>call again</u>: *(MARLENE)
- L</li>
<li>26ac: <strong>FOEHN</strong>: <u>Wind</u> flipping over fluttering hen:
F(lipping) O(ver) + *(HEN)</li>
<li>27ac: <strong>AROUSE</strong>: Nothing in a trick generates <u>alarm</u>: O in A
RUSE</li>
<li>29ac: <strong>OGEE</strong>: <u>Moulding</u>'s highest point apparently missing:
APOGEE - AP(parently)</li>
<li>30ac: <strong>DRIP</strong>: <u>Weak person</u> finally shed tear: (she)D + RIP
(tear)</li>
<li>1dn: <strong>AUTO</strong>: Mini drama?: Double definition</li>
<li>2dn: <strong>RANEES</strong>: Princesses fled uprising to await further: RAN
(fled) + SEE (await further) reversed</li>
<li>3dn: <strong>ION</strong>: <u>Play by Euripides</u> – one currently being
performed: I (one) + ON (currently being performed);
ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_%28play%29">Ion</a></li>
<li>4dn: <strong>EASE</strong>: <u>Manoeuvre bit by bit</u> to stop Corps leaving:
CEASE (stop) - C(orps)</li>
<li>5dn: <strong>ISOPOD</strong>: <u>Woodlouse say</u>, in case belonging to audio
player: SO (in case) inside IPOD
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod">audio player</a>)</li>
<li>6dn: <strong>DARI</strong>: Organized raid to find <u>grass</u>: *(RAID)</li>
<li>7dn: <strong>ELEGIES</strong>: Support that is shown in El Salvador for
<u>songs</u>: LEG (support) + IE (that is) in E(l) S(alvador)</li>
<li>9dn: <strong>GOLEM</strong>: <u>Robot</u> to work with moon vehicle: GO (work) +
LEM
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Lunar_Module">Lunar Excursion Module</a>)</li>
<li>10dn: <strong>TSAR</strong>: <u>Despot</u> so far heading north in Turkey: AS (so
far) reversed + TR (Turkey)</li>
<li>11dn: <strong>VENOM</strong>: Divers move to contain nuclear <u>poison</u>...:
*(MOVE) around N(uclear)</li>
<li>14dn: <strong>CARAFES</strong>: ...carriage made safe in <u>flasks</u>: CAR
(carriage) + *(SAFE)</li>
<li>15dn: <strong>DOE</strong>: Drover regularly encountered <u>deer</u>: DrOvEr</li>
<li>17dn: <strong>FATHOM</strong>: Discover money in short: FAT (money) + HOM(e)
(in, shortened)</li>
<li>19dn: <strong>AFORE</strong>: Going about Faroes almost <u>getting lost once</u>:
*(FAROE(s))</li>
<li>20dn: <strong>PLEURA</strong>: Dispute besieging ancient city's
<u>side-walls</u>: PLEA (dispute) around UR (ancient city)</li>
<li>22dn: <strong>MING</strong>: Aircraft designers engulf navy in <u>stink</u>: MIG
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiG">aircraft designers</a>) around
N(avy)</li>
<li>23ac: <strong>CELL</strong>: Mobile phone's a disappointment by the sound of it:
homophone with SELL (disappointment)</li>
<li>24ac: <strong>CAEN</strong>: John goes round Eastern <u>French city</u>: CAN
(John) around E(astern)</li>
<li>25ac: <strong>NEPS</strong>: Dispensaries stocking up catmints in some places:
diSPENsaries reversed</li>
<li>28ac: <strong>ODD</strong>: <u>Out-of-the-way</u> force deserted: OD
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odic_force">force</a>) + D(eserted)</li>
</ul>
<p>It then turns out that a LEMMING, a member of the CRICETIDAE family,
deals with a CLEVE by OVERLEAPING it, while a SALMON, a member of the
SALMONIDAIE family, also passes FALLS by OVERLEAPING. (LEMMING
appears vertically downwards through CLEVE, while SALMON goes upwards
through FALLS. Nice touch.)</p>
inquisitor 1324http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/inquisitor_1324/2014-03-21T22:11:12Z2014-03-21T22:11:12Z
<p>An enjoyable puzzle. I didn't know the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind">Gone With the Wind</a>
quote, but I had enough letters to guess “childbirth”, and it happened
to be the top Google hit for me for “childbirth quote”. As for the
other... more on that a bit later.</p>
<blockquote><p>The three unclued rows contain two part-quotations. A superfluous
letter is yielded by the wordplay in each clue. Read in order,
these letters complete the first quotation. The surname of the
author of the second one should be highlighted in the grid.</p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><strong>T</strong> 10ac: <strong>ACCESSORY</strong>: <u>Additional</u> trial involving
difficult company cases: not entirely sure about the wordplay here;
maybe TRY around *(CO CASES)?</li>
<li><strong>H</strong> 13ac: <strong>ORCA</strong>: <u>Tolkein's ogre</u> finally got away from
old enclosed fruit garden: ORCHA(t); I think the definition is
wrong, sadly.</li>
<li><strong>E</strong> 14ac: <strong>SPOOM</strong>: US elks retreating gathering power, <u>scud
before the wind</u>: MOOSE (US elks) reversed around P(ower)</li>
<li><strong>R</strong> 15ac: <strong>SENNA</strong>: Nurse slipped back <u>laxative drug</u>: SEN
(ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licensed_Practical_Nurse">State Enrolled Nurse</a>) + RAN (= slipped)</li>
<li><strong>E</strong> 17ac: <strong>LAPSANG</strong>: <u>Variety of tea</u>, unlimited range
after falling away: LAPSE (= falling away) + (r)ANG(e);
ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapsang_souchong">Lapsang souchong</a></li>
<li><strong>S</strong> 19ac: <strong>LIER</strong>: More secretive <u>one who is incumbent</u>:
Double Definition (SLIER = more secretive; LIER = one who lies
down)</li>
<li><strong>N</strong> 20ac: <strong>LOOK YOU</strong>: <u>Welsh observe</u> liberal sex with
African fellow: L(iberal) + NOOKY + OU (South African slang for
man)</li>
<li><strong>E</strong> 21ac: <strong>EATING</strong>: <u>Consumption</u> surprisingly negative,
lacking value initially: *(NEGATIVE - V(alue))</li>
<li><strong>V</strong> 27ac: <strong>CACOON</strong>: Decrepit van with rotten coco <u>seed</u>:
*(VAN COCO)</li>
<li><strong>E</strong> 29ac: <strong>PLAYERS</strong>: <u>Actors</u>' appeal not accepted in very
long time: PLEA + YEARS - A(ccepted)</li>
<li><strong>R</strong> 32ac: <strong>TRON</strong>: Bishop among people who are in Lanark
<u>market place</u>: RR (bishop) in TON (dial. people)</li>
<li><strong>A</strong> 35ac: <strong>BUFFOON</strong>: Wrongly making fun of Abo <u>comic</u>:
*(FUN OF ABO)</li>
<li><strong>N</strong> 36ac: <strong>ALIST</strong>: Stalin perversely <u>belonging to top star
group</u>: *(STALIN)</li>
<li><strong>Y</strong> 37ac: <strong>ROTOR</strong>: <u>Revolving constituent</u> operations
research returned Conservative: O(perations) R(esearch) reversed
+ TORY</li>
<li><strong>C</strong> 38ac: <strong>GAEA</strong>: Fixed cage about <u>divinity</u>: *(CAGE) +
A(bout)</li>
<li><strong>O</strong> 39ac: <strong>SEPTUPLET</strong>: <u>Group of notes</u> curiously spelt out
<em>en passant</em>: *(SPELT OUT E(n) P(assant))</li>
<li><strong>N</strong> 1dn: <strong>DAMSEL</strong>: <u>Old unmarried woman</u> to censure Scots
individual: DAMN (censure) + SEL (Scot. self)</li>
<li><strong>V</strong> 2dn: <strong>ECHELON</strong>: Mostly authentic half-speed (loosely)
pursued by new <u>ranked arrangement of troops</u>: ECH(t)
(authentic) + VELO(city) (speed, loosely) + N(ew)</li>
<li><strong>E</strong> 3dn: <strong>TERNE</strong>: Unchangeable <u>old alloy</u>: Double
Definition (ETERNE = unchangeable)</li>
<li><strong>N</strong> 4dn: <strong>AS ALSO</strong>: Concerning nose bone turned round
<u>too</u>: NASAL (concerning nose) + OS (bone) reversed</li>
<li><strong>I</strong> 5dn: <strong>NOGAKU</strong>: <u>Drama</u> organised in August briefly OK:
*(IN AUG OK)</li>
<li><strong>E</strong> 6dn: <strong>DRIPFED</strong>: <u>Supplied food through tube</u>,
irregularly predefined, flustered nurse away: *(PREDEFINED -
E(nrolled) N(urse)); isn't it great that there are so many kinds
of nurse?</li>
<li><strong>N</strong> 7dn: <strong>APPALTI</strong>: Italian turns up supporting mate chasing
cloth <u>contracts in Rome</u>: NAP (cloth) + PAL (mate) on IT
(Italian) reversed</li>
<li><strong>T</strong> 8dn: <strong>EXOGEN</strong>: <u>Old plant</u> export not originally
convincing: EX(port) + (c)OGENT (convincing)</li>
<li><strong>T</strong> 9dn: <strong>SIMURGH</strong>: Rising fog by old city with bodiless
ghoulish <u>monstrous bird</u>: MIST reversed + UR (old city) +
G(houlis)H; ref. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simurgh">Simurgh</a>.
Has everyone read
<a href="http://parahumans.wordpress.com/table-of-contents/">Worm</a> yet?
Budget some spare time, then go read it.</li>
<li><strong>I</strong> 11dn: <strong>CON-ROD</strong>: <u>Short linking device</u> working within
raised type of Greek pillar: ON (working) in DORIC (Greek pillar)
reversed</li>
<li><strong>M</strong> 12dn: <strong>NONI</strong>: <u>Plant</u> found in overblown omnipresence:
overblowN OMNIpresence</li>
<li><strong>E</strong> 16dn: <strong>ANYHOW</strong>: Maltreated husband one way <u>at least</u>:
*(H ONE WAY)</li>
<li><strong>F</strong> 18dn: <strong>KABAYA</strong>: Indeed getting into spirit securing
excellent <u>short tunic</u>: AY (indeed) inside KA (spirit)
outside FAB (excellent)</li>
<li><strong>O</strong> 22dn: <strong>ACT DROP</strong>: Advanced mode of cutting including one's
own <u>curtain</u>: A(dvanced) + CROP (cutting) around TOD (own)</li>
<li><strong>R</strong> 23dn: <strong>CONFORM</strong>: <u>Adapt</u> grain species: CORN (grain) +
FORM (species)</li>
<li><strong>A</strong> 24dn: <strong>INWOVEN</strong>: <u>Complicated</u> hotel, hosting without
formal greeting: INN (hotel) around WO (without) + AVE (formal
greeting)</li>
<li><strong>N</strong> 25dn: <strong>RETIAL</strong>: <u>Of a network of nerves</u> connected with
light sensitive tissue: Double Definition (RETINAL = regarding the
retina)</li>
<li><strong>Y</strong> 26dn: <strong>TRESSEL</strong>: Very French cunning accepting English
<u>support</u>: TRES (Fr. very) + SLY (cunning) around E(nglish)</li>
<li><strong>O</strong> 28dn: <strong>ARBOUR</strong>: Furiously roar about cropped <u>bower of
trees</u>: *(ROA(r) ABOU(t))</li>
<li><strong>F</strong> 29dn: <strong>PROMPT</strong>: Don associated with politician to primarily
<u>help with words</u>: PROF (university don) + MP (politician) +
T(o)</li>
<li><strong>T</strong> 30dn: <strong>LENGTH</strong>: <u>Stretch</u> temporarily provided great
height: LENT (temporarily provided) + GT (great) + H(eight)</li>
<li><strong>H</strong> 31dn: <strong>SHTETL</strong>: <u>Jewish village</u> hotel regularly
supporting troubled Esth: H(o)T(e)L under *(ESTH)</li>
<li><strong>E</strong> 33dn: <strong>OUTS</strong>: Excels, abandoning party, <u>reveals sexual
orientation</u>: OUTDOES (excels) - DO (party)</li>
<li><strong>M</strong> 34dn: <strong>ALEPH</strong>: Heartless paragraph at end of masculine
<u>letter</u>: P(aragrap)H after MALE (masculine)</li>
</ul>
<p>So the extra words complete the quotation in 1ac and 22ac, which read
(after filling in the blanks) “Death and taxes and childbirth”. The
bottom line read PR?M?NTH?H?LL, and after a little bit of meandering –
“prom on the hill”? – the obvious “pram in the hall” came to mind, and
indeed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Connolly">Connolly</a> is
visible down the main diagonal.</p>
<p>That gives me an opportunity to mention (relatively safely, since
surely no-one reads these crossword blogs) another aspect of my
productivity. Like
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/17/gender.uk">some</a>, I
don't think that a pram in the hall is necessarily the ultimate
“sombre enemy of good art”, but I think it is true that having
children can change priorities: in BC days, it was perfectly possible
and reasonably common for me to stay at work late, or work in the
evenings or weekends in addition to a more-than-full working week.
This is not to say that this doesn't happen at all any more, but it's
certainly much less routine, and to an extent the evening and weekend
work is now necessary to get my working time up to a full working
week, given the need to do school runs or hospital appointments. And
one thing that successful work in academia might share with art is its
vulnerability to distraction: in academia, prestige and progression
come from high-profile <em>research</em>, which both needs focus and tends to
be what is achieved after all the other things have been dealt with:
teaching, certainly, and any substantial administrative
responsibilities. It's perfectly possible to do useful amounts of
administration in the 20-minute block of time when a child is
entertaining themselves; deep thought, as with programming “flow”,
takes time to achieve.</p>
<p>And maybe the moral is that it comes back: in retrospect, it might not
have been sensible to move house, start
<a href="http://www.teclo.net/">a company</a> and have a child within the space
of one year. I suspect there's no good time to do any of those
things, let alone all three, and some of the lack of motivation and
energy was down to, well, <em>tiredness</em>: but it feels like I am
substantially more productive than I was two years ago, and that is a
good feeling.</p>
inquisitor 1322http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/inquisitor_1322/2014-03-05T17:01:05Z2014-03-05T17:01:05Z
<p>I like Inquisitors; solving them usually teaches me something. This
one was no exception; I did not know that the Brownies were known as
the Rosebuds until 1915. In this one, the rubric did not look too scary:</p>
<blockquote><p>Clashes in a small number of cells must be resolved, and the central
square filled, to display a prominent 25 associated a century ago
with the name at 6ac. The revised name, adopted the following year,
must be entered in the blank space at 40, forming new words
downwards. One answer is an acronym.</p></blockquote>
<p>Not only did it not look too scary, but 25dn was clued, and
<strong>CITIZEN</strong> came out fairly quickly, and when I saw <strong>WELLES</strong> down
the main diagonal, and the final D in 6 across from <strong>DOTS</strong>, that
gave <strong>ROSEBUD</strong>, and the clashes in the grid could be resolved to
give <strong>ORSON</strong> to precede Welles, and all looks well. But!
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Kane">Citizen Kane</a> was from
1941: by no stretch of the imagination was that a century ago. So,
what were the other letters from the clashes? <strong>DENP</strong>. Hm. Oh,
look, the first two letters on the main diagonal are <strong>BA</strong> – and
<strong>BADEN-POWELL</strong> would indeed fit the preamble. And 6ac clues for
<strong>ROSEBUD</strong> in both contexts. <em>Very</em> nice indeed. (See
<a href="http://www.fifteensquared.net/2014/03/05/inquisitor-1322-any-other-name-by-nutmeg/">fifteensquared</a>
for more analysis.)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>6ac: <strong>ROSEBUD</strong>: Potential peace maker?: Cryptic Definition; see
above</p></li>
<li><p>40ac: <strong>BROWNIE</strong> (unclued)</p></li>
</ul>
inquisitor 1317http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/inquisitor_1317/2014-01-30T10:49:37Z2014-01-30T10:49:37Z
<p>My word. I buy the <em>Independent</em> newspaper on Saturdays, largely out
of the habit formed having discovered as a student that the crossword
(then in the magazine supplement, not at that point called the
<em>Inquisitor</em>) was achievable. I had a pretty good hit rate at the
time; my (partial) recollection is that two weeks in three I would
have a decent stab at it, often in Saturday morning maths lectures.
(To any of my then lecturers I offer an apology, at the very least for
my lack of discretion; any of my students coming across this should
not use my behaviour then as an example now.)</p>
<p>One of my prouder moments was not only completing a crossword, but
getting round to sending it in and receiving a dictionary through the
post a couple of weeks later – not without some puzzlement, since at
the time the prize advertised was a bottle of champagne or olive oil.
Sadly the online archives of the crossword don't go back far enough
for me to link to any evidence, but some of the puzzlement went away
when I saw my name under lights; specifically, listed as a winner
under crossword number 100 (which would make the one I won crossword
number 97, though beware the
<a href="http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/01/12/inquisitor-1-message-from-loda/">renumberings</a>
in Inquisitor space – maybe it was really number 346).</p>
<p>In the (many) intervening years, I have continued to enjoy attempting
crosswords; I eventually ‘discovered’
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_(compiler">Araucaria</a>),
occasionally have a crack at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azed">Azed</a>
(never with success, I hasten to add), and generally enjoy my
fortnightly dose of smut in
<a href="http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=crossword">Eye Crossword</a>.
I retain a particular soft spot for the themed crosswords; there's
something satisfying about solving a puzzle which has taken
considerable, conspicuous artistry to construct; what I generally lack
is the <em>time</em> to do justice to an attempt at them (attack some clues,
sit down with reference books, regret that the dictionary I won –
<em>Chambers</em> 1993 – is no longer up to the minute).</p>
<p>I was therefore surprised to find that <em>Inquisitor</em> 1317 (<em>Who's the
Daddy</em> by Ecologue, published Saturday 18th January 2014) yielded to a
mildly sustained attempt over just one day: I think I was lucky to
have solved as some of my early clues the ones interesecting with the
theme light to give <code>W.....MB....</code> as the first author: leaping to
William Blake wasn't too hard, and since the corrected letters from
clues towards the end fit with “symmetry”, I was fairly confident I
had a match. The rest of the clues fell fairly straightforwardly;
they're a <em>lot</em> easier to solve when you're not trying to guess the
misprint, though even then I spent a fair amount of time trying to
justify “orisons” (16ac) and “joe” (8dn) rather than “posions” and
“jet”. I hadn't actually come across
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Bright">John Steinbeck's <em>Burning Bright</em></a>;
<em>The Tyger</em> is apparently a sufficiently common source of title fodder
for there to be a
<a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/titles-from-poetry-blake-vs-marvell">list of F&SF works with titles derived from it</a>,
but some more careful searching eventually turned up the Steinbeck.</p>
<p>Clue analysis:</p>
<ul>
<li>1ac: <strong>BEFRIENDED</strong>: <u>Made budd<s>l</s><b>i</b>es with</u> fine red
drunk during sex: *(FINERED) in BED (sex);</li>
<li>10ac: <strong>APEPSY</strong>: <u>It may cause wi<s>l</s><b>n</b>d</u> primate mind
to be half abstracted: APE + PSY(che)</li>
<li>12ac: <strong>POILU</strong>: <u>In Paris solda<s>n</s><b>t</b></u>'s two
Hawaiian dishes chucked to the French: POI + LU(au)</li>
<li>13ac: <strong>TATI</strong>: <u>His Gallic <s>t</s><b>h</b>umour was evident</u>
from agitation: agiTATIon
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Tati">Jacques Tati</a>)</li>
<li>14ac: <strong>LIMN</strong>: <u>Initially l<s>i</s><b>e</b>tter intricately
majestic notation</u> (initials; <em>& lit.</em>)</li>
<li>15ac: <strong>ARGOT</strong>: <u>Low-li<s>n</s><b>f</b>e language</u> to work in
deception: GO in ART</li>
<li>16ac: <strong>GASES</strong>: <u>Perhaps p<s>r</s><b>o</b>isons</u> have all
sections behind government letter: A (all) SES (sections) behind G
(government letter)?</li>
<li>18ac: <strong>MORPHEW</strong>: <u>Possibly <s>w</s><b>r</b>ash</u> hack after
easy romp: *(ROMP) + HEW (hack) = spots</li>
<li>19ac: <strong>TAFT</strong>: Army on foot in <u>former pr<s>i</s><b>e</b>ses
according to Jock</u>: TA
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_Army">Territorial Army</a>) + FT (foot) =
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft">William Howard Taft</a>
(preses = Scot. president)</li>
<li>20ac: <strong>BOER</strong>: Neighbour around East <u>farming
<s>w</s><b>s</b>ort</u>: BOR around E(ast).</li>
<li>21ac: <strong>RETRO</strong>: <u>Da<s>z</s><b>t</b>ed</u> before casualty comes
round – about time!: OR (before) + ER (Emergency Room = casualty
department) around T(ime)</li>
<li>24ac: <strong>AFRAID</strong>: Fellow taking part in an attack.
<u><s>W</s><b>S</b>hy</u>?: F(ellow) in A RAID</li>
<li>28ac: <strong>STATUE</strong>: <u>It's cut from r<s>u</s><b>o</b>ck, say</u>, in
astute turnover: *(ASTUTE)</li>
<li>31ac: <strong>ETENS</strong>: <u>Large <s>b</s><b>f</b>ellows</u> set about round
nut: *(SET) around EN = nut (printing)</li>
<li>32ac: <u>Ma<s>r</s><b>t</b>ch for his</u> queen ensconced with Home
Secretary: H(ome) S(ecretary) around ER = queen</li>
<li>33ac: <strong>NORN</strong>: In the early hours measure is halved for <u>one of
T<s>i</s><b>h</b>ree</u>: ? =
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norns">Norse analogue of Greek <em>Fate</em></a></li>
<li>34ac: <strong>POTSHOT</strong>: Bags stolen in <u>random fir<s>m</s><b>e</b></u>:
POTS (= bags) + HOT (= stolen)</li>
<li>37ac: <strong>EDGES</strong>: Thank God in butcher's returning
<u>fri<s>d</s><b>n</b>ges</u>: DG (Deo Gratias = thanks be to God)
in SEE (= butcher's hook: look)</li>
<li>40ac: <strong>EVITA</strong>: <u>R<s>a</s><b>i</b>ce lyrically wrote this</u>
part of <em>The Return of the Native</em>: in nATIVE reversed;
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Rice">Tim Rice</a> wrote the book for
the musical <em>Evita</em>.</li>
<li>41ac: <strong>TRUE</strong>: <u><s>H</s><b>G</b>ood</u>'s time to regret: T(ime) +
RUE</li>
<li>42ac: <strong>ETAS</strong>: <u><s>J</s><b>H</b>umble folk</u> to stuff round:
SATE reversed (lower-class Japanese menial workers)</li>
<li>43ac: <strong>RENEW</strong>: Flying wren with energy <u>to
ex<s>p</s><b>t</b>end</u>: *(WREN + E(nergy))</li>
<li>44ac: <strong>ERRANT</strong>: Engaged in <s>p</s><b>c</b>rime tirade following
hesitation: ER + RANT</li>
<li>45ac: <strong>POPLINETTE</strong>: Daddy's clear of position being outside
<u>c<s>a</s><b>o</b>rded stuff</u>: POP + NETT (clear of) in LIE
(position)</li>
<li>1dn: <strong>BATATA</strong>: <u>T<s>i</s><b>u</b>ber</u> essence cheers: BA
(soul in ancient Egypt) + TATA (bye-bye)</li>
<li>2dn: <strong>FETA</strong>: <u>Product of mi<s>n</s><b>l</b>k</u> loudly chewed
up: F + ATE reversed (=
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feta">Feta cheese</a>)</li>
<li>3dn: <strong>ISLE</strong>: <u>Lan<s>t</s><b>d</b> in water</u> lives – headless
eel rises: IS (= lives) + EL reversed</li>
<li>4dn: <strong>NIMMER</strong>: Check up French gentlemen within
<u>li<s>t</s><b>f</b>ter</u>: MM (fr. Messieurs) + REIN (check) reversed (=
thief)</li>
<li>5dn: <strong>DONOR</strong>: A fellow has gold <u>give<s>n</s><b>r</b></u>: DON
(university Fellow) + OR (gold)</li>
<li>6dn: <strong>DORP</strong>: Poke e.g. with stick up <u>isolated
alde<s>r</s><b>a</b></u>: PROD reversed (= isolated village; aldea =
Sp. village/hamlet)</li>
<li>7dn: <strong>NIGHTMAN</strong>: <u><s>B</s><b>M</b>inder of bricks, say</u>, close
to Mother and Nature at first: NIGH (= close) + MA + N(ature)</li>
<li>8dn: <strong>SLOE</strong>: <u>Perhaps j<s>o</s><b>e</b>t</u> seven down it's
said: S (mediaeval Roman numeral 7) + LOE (homonym for low = down)</li>
<li>9dn: <strong>OUTWORE</strong>: Dissolute roue has a couple
<u>las<s>h</s><b>t</b>ed longer</u>: *(ROUE) outside TWO</li>
<li>11dn: <strong>PISTOL</strong>: <u>S<s>c</s><b>h</b>ooter</u> on track mostly over
line: PIST(e) + O(ver) + L(ine)</li>
<li>16dn: <strong>GALIOT</strong>: <u>Galle<s>d</s><b>y</b></u> by riot girl first
without right: GAL + (r)IOT (var. galliot = small galley)</li>
<li>17dn: <strong>SOFA</strong>: <u>Might it provide basic com<s>p</s><b>f</b>ort</u>
from the South of America: S(outh) + OF + A(merica)</li>
<li>20dn: <strong>BAITS</strong>: <u>Lur<s>k</s><b>e</b>s</u> a bit suspiciously at
top of shop: *(A BIT) + S(hop)</li>
<li>21dn: <strong>RIBES</strong>: <u>Curr<s>e</s><b>a</b>nts</u> found in Carib
estuary: caRIB EStuary (= saxifrage currant)</li>
<li>22dn: <strong>RAKERS</strong>: <u>They clea<s>n</s><b>r</b> lawns, say</u>, right
old pain to scientists: R(ight) + AKE (obs. = ache) + RS
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_society">Royal Society</a>)</li>
<li>23dn: <strong>SLEETING</strong>: <u>Having wintry <s>p</s><b>f</b>all</u>
settling unsteadily over the east with temperature dropping:
*(SETTLING + E(ast)) - T(emperature)</li>
<li>25dn: <strong>WEEPERS</strong>: <u>Those who bl<s>a</s><b>u</b>bber</u>:
footballer's moving south: SWEEPER (= footballing position) with
S(outh) moved</li>
<li>26dn: <strong>MURE</strong>: <u>Will's to wal<s>k</s><b>l</b> up</u> with energy
after a rise in spirit: RUM reversed + E(energy)</li>
<li>27dn: <strong>LINGER</strong>: <u>Pa<s>l</s><b>s</b>s in tedium</u> in sector of
Berlin, Germany: berLIN GERmany</li>
<li>29dn: <strong>TETRYL</strong>: <u><s>B</s><b>Y</b>ellow explosive</u> let off
during test? On the contrary: TRY in *(LET)</li>
<li>30dn: <strong>SNASTE</strong>: <u><s>R</s><b>M</b>iddle of candle that's
burnt</u> tin brewing teas: SN (tin) + *(TEAS) (= wick)</li>
<li>32dn: <strong>HOT UP</strong>: <u>Get war<s>d</s><b>m</b>er</u> excited on
horseback</li>
<li>35dn: <strong>OVER</strong>: <u>Don<s>a</s><b>e</b></u> Trevor holds up: tREVOr
reversed</li>
<li>36dn: <strong>STEP</strong>: <u><s>D</s><b>T</b>read</u> note in special case: TE
(leading note) in SP (special case?)</li>
<li>38dn: <strong>DERN</strong>: <u>Antiquarian da<s>n</s><b>r</b>k, perhaps</u>,
underneath clothes: unDERNeath (= archaic secret)</li>
<li>39dn: <strong>ETAT</strong>: <u>L<s>o</s><b>y</b>on's rank</u> is revoked in
statement: sTATEment reversed (= Fr. rank)</li>
</ul>
<p>and once all that's in, replacing WILLIAM BLAKE with JOHN STEINBECK
allows highlighting of JOE SAUL and MORDEEN as well as FRIEND ED,
leaving VICTOR as the Daddy of the title.</p>
<p>And what is it about synchronicity of obscure words? I had a go at
the <a href="http://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/azed_2172/">Sunday 19th January <em>Azed</em></a>, and what is 21dn?
“<u>Old cargo boat</u>: flap about slick when it's capsized?” – OIL in
TAG reversed, or <strong>GALIOT</strong>.</p>