The preamble for this puzzle by Nimrod stated that "Yes, in one case (enemy repulsed); no, in another (enemy just maybe appropriately positioned). The 43 cells containing letters that are ignored in clue wordplay (up to 4 letters per answer) must be highlighted to tell both stories. One answer is a verbal back-formation from an entry in Collins. ODE justifies some other non-Chambers entries/usages."
This is my second Inquisitor Nimrod puzzle to blog in succession following the one focused on the 50th birthday celebration in Sheffield last month. 43 cells without reference in the word play is just over 25% of the 13 * 13 grid, so I hoped the clues would be on the easy side in places to enable solvers to get a foot hold. The first one I nearly solved was MIAOU at 11 across although I struggled to find the required spelling in any dictionary, be it Chambers, Collins, ODE or even the SOED. In the end, I found it in Wiktionary. At least it was obvious that the A was ignored in the wordplay. One letter down, 42 to go. I then got AGO (1 across) but no unclued letters. Looking at 3 down, one of crossword compilers favoutite Scottish engineers is James WATT and the W could be clued by ‘women’, leaving the remaining 75% of the word unclued. By the time the puzzle was solved it came clear that 3 unclued letters out of 4 was not the extreme case. 15 down, WALDO was clued only by the O, leaving 80% of the word unclued.
After a very quiet start looking at an almost empty grid and intractable clues for some time, I eventually got a substantial foothold in the South East quadrant through KNAG, VERNE and TRADE-INS Often the definition yielded the entry with the wordplay following later. The NE corner began to fall next through LOESSES, DUSSELDORF and TINCTURE. The breakthrough for one of the them came when I realised the desert at 32 down had to be spelled MOHAVE or MOJAVE. One of thee gave a three consecutive cells of unclued letters spelling out JFK. Given that it was the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination and the word MOTORCADE, made up from unclued letters could possibly surround JFK, I felt that progress was being made. It took me a while to spot OSWALD, despite WALDO being very likely as an answer by this time The KNOLL was spotted later.
For the other thematic case, it was the unclued WHO in KNOWHOW that cracked it. Given the shape of MOTORCADE, I looked for something similar around WHO and found THE TARDIS beginning to appear. DALEK was also forming. The final letters needed a bit of research as I was unaware that SKARO was the home planet of the DALEKs Lat weekend was awash with 50th anniversary programmes about Doctor WHO.
The obvious unclued letters helped me solve some clues that I hadn’t yet solved. Also, the unclued letters were an aid to parsing the wordplay elements of some clues.
There was a good deal of clever thematic material in this puzzle. It wasn’t till I came to write the blog and construct a copy of the grid that I realised that the grid wasn’t symmetrical.
In ther body of the blog below, I have indicated where I think Collins and the Oxford Dictionary of English are involved.
The final grid looked like this:
The title of the puzzle – A POSITION OF SAFETY? – with its question mark reflects the fact that THE TARDIS was a place of safety, but the MOTORCADE wasn’t. The ‘just maybe‘ reference in the preamble hints at the continuing debate about whether LEE HARVEY OSWALD was the assassin, whether the grassy KNOLL was a key location in the events of the day.
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Across |
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| No | Clue | Wordplay | Letters(s) | Entry |
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1
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Accepted success in the past (3)
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A (accepted) + GO (success)
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AGO (in the past)
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5
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Open book features early abbreviated material, back covers (8)
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(STUFF [material] excluding the final letter [abbreviated] F, reversed [back]) containing (covers) OLD (early) F (OLD) UTS< |
O |
FOLDOUTS (large pages, eg containing a diagram, FOLDed to fit into a book, and to be unFOLDed for reading |
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11
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"I promise to pay Mike first" – that’s what Felix says (5)
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M (Mike is the international radio communication code word for the letter M) + IOU (a signed slip of paper or other document acknowledging a debt [especially of money] to a specified person, stating the date and nature of the debt; promise to pay)
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A
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MIAOU (characteristic cry of a cat [Felix is a fairly well known cat that appears in adverts]) this spelling is in Wiktionary
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12
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An embodied spirit, I ground squirrel! (7)
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SOUL (embodied spirit) + I
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S, K
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SOUSLIK (ground squirrel)
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13
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Savvy rendition of Lear (8, 2 words)
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Anagram of (rendition) LEAR ALRE* |
LTHE |
ALL THERE
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16
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The old girl’s weight (3)
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MA (mother; the old girl)
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N
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MNA (a Greek weight)
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17
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College party (4)
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C (college)
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SE, T
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SECT (party)
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19
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Bones very taken aback by surgeon’s opening (4)
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SO (very) reversed (taken aback) + S (first letter of [opening] SURGEON’S) OS< S |
A |
OSSA (bones)
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20
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Was the lucky recipient of spinning skills (7)
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WON (was the lucky recipient of) reversed (spinning) NOW< |
K, WHO
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KNOWHOW (skills)
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21
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Purify? Discover sexless! (5)
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NEUTER (apparently sexless) excluding the first and last [covering] letters N and R by dis-covering(?) the word. No wonder that clue got an exclamation mark!
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L
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ELUTE (purify)
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22
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Bamboozled one in lab coat? (7)
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Anagram of (bamboozled) ONE NOE* |
A, DIS
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ANODISE ( to form a protective or decorative coat on [a metal] by using it as an anode in electrolysis. This will almost certainly be done in a laboratory, hence ‘lab coat’)
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25
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Just about get over ages of the past (4)
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SEE (understand; get) excluding the final letter (just about) E, reversed (over) ES< |
LD
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ELDS (archaic word for [of the past] ages)
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26
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Crooked hat put on again (5)
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TILE (hat) reversed (crooked; bent) I think it’s a reversal rather than an anagram. as it would be an indirect anagram if it was. Whether ‘crooked’ means ‘reverse‘ is debatable. ELIT< |
R |
RELIT (put on again [e.g. of a fire])
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27
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Portrait painter beheaded too long ago (3)
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HALS (reference Franz HALS [1582 – 1666], portrait painter) excluding the first letter (beheaded) H
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ALS (obsolete [long ago] word for ALSO; too)
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28
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Present in wedding party, grimacing (5)
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DO (party) + WRY (grimacing)
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DOWRY (sometimes a gift given to or for a wife at marriage)
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31
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Without protective clothing, attends smouldering fire (7)
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IS HERE (attends) excluding the first and last letters (without protective clothing) I and E
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MOT |
SMOTHER (smouldering fire)
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34
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US magistrate‘s answer cut short by President (6)
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P (President, although I can’t find it any dictionary. In the abbreviation POTUS [President Of The United States] listed in the Oxford Dictionary of English, the P is used for President) + (RETORT [answer] excluding the final letter [cut short] T)
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PRETOR (the American spelling for PRAETOR [a magistrate of ancient Rome next in rank to the consuls])
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35
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Indium injected into just over 3 mushrooms (7)
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IN (chemical symbol for Indium) contained in (injected into) PI (the value of Pi is 3.14159…..; just over 3) P (IN) I |
ORC |
PORCINI
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36
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Devices that for successful American fishing trip upset it, together with contents of litter basket (6)
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IT reversed (upset) + PUPS (young animals; part of the litter; contents of litter basket) TI< PUPS |
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TIP-UPS (devices used in ice-fishing in America in which a wire attached to the rod is tripped, raising a signal flag when a fish takes the bait)
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38
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New silver peg (4)
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N (new) + AG (chemical symbol for silver)
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K
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KNAG (peg)
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39
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Mac’s held back merriment about deals (8)
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SNIRT (Scottish [Mac] word for smothered laugh; merriment) reversed (held back) TRINS< |
ADE
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TRADE–INS (deals which contribute cash for a new purchase)
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41
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Almost come off worse in swindle (7, 2 words)
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LOSE (come off worst) contained in (in) CON (swindle) C (LOSE) ON |
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CLOSE ON (almost) Oxford Dictionary of English
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42
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Author in ship departing Scottish city (5)
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INVERNESS (Scottish city) excluding (departing) (IN and SS [steamship])
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VERNE (reference Jules VERNE [1828 – 1905], French novelist, poet and playwright)
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43
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Retro London Inn, one of two publican has cut out of Times, I swear (8, 3 words)
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(TEMPLE [there are two Inns of Court with TEMPLE in the tilte: Inner TEMPLE and Middle TEMPLE] + HOST [publican] with each word excluding [cut out] a T [time] giving the exclusion of’ times’) all reversed (retro) (SO HELP ME)< |
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SO HELP ME (a form of solemn oath; on my word; I swear)
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44
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Break in continuity between an opening and a passage (3)
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GAP (break in continuity) – GAP (space between) – GAP (opening) the middle definition may be stretching a point.
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GAP (passage) triple (or quadruple) definition
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| Down |
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| No | Clue | Wordplay |
Letters(s) |
Entry |
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1
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Done in the way of the state (6)
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À LA (done in the way of)
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SKA
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ALASKA (State of the United States of America)
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2
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Growing up, carrying can, nameless young family member chills, crudely? (8)
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(SCION [young member of a family] excluding [less] N [name] containing [carrying] LOO [toilet; can]) all reversed (growing up; down clue) (OIC (OOL) S)< |
L
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OILCOOLS (chills something by circulating OIL [crude]) I think this is the verbal back-formation from OIL-COOLED which is an entry in Collins
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3
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The Scots engineer women (4)
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W (women)
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ATT
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WATT (reference James WATT [1736 – 1819], Scottish engineerr)
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4
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Old and stupid I am (3) |
O (old)
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D, H
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DOH
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5
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Privileged Basque bodies give one endless pleasure! (6)
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FUN (pleasure) excluding the final letter (endless) N
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EROS
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FUEROS (a code or body of law or privileges, esp in the Basque provinces)
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6
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Deposits being accepted by old character (7)
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ESSE (actual existence; being) contained in (accepted by) LOS (obsolete [old] word for ‘reputation’; old character) LO (ESSE) S |
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LOESSES (windblown loamy deposits found in river valleys)
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7
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Guides suddenly reveal this city on route north (10)
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DUSSED (hidden word in [reveal] GUIDES SUDDENLY reversed [on route north; down clue]) DUSSED< |
L, ORF
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DUSSELDORF (city [in Germany])
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8
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Industrial German city cultivated tree (4)
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ULM (Industrial city in Germany)
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O |
ULMO (a Chilean eucryphia tee which is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental) Oxford Dictionary of English
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9
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Decoy on lawn covering uphill course in some colour (8) |
TICE (a ball played as a decoy to tempt one’s opponent at lawn croquet) containing (covering) (RUT [course] reversed [uphill; down clue]) TIC (TUR<) E |
N
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TINCTURE (tinge; shade; colour)
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10
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Curry, perhaps, a provider of full prandial contentment? (6)
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SATER (one who satisfies fully in rewlation to food and drink; a provider of full pradial contentment)
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K
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SKATER (reference John Curry, 1949 – 1994], British skater – Olympic and World figure skating champion in 1976)
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14
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Take up position after twisting or turning goad with wheel (9)
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(R (take) + UP + SLEW (a position taken after a twist) + OR) all reversed (turning) (RO WELS PU R)< |
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ROWELSPUR (a SPUR [goad] with a small spiked wheel)
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15
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Ordinary remote control? (5)
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O (ordinary)
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WALD |
WALDO (a mechanical gadget, especially a remote control device.)
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18
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Unscrupulous adviser‘s bound to break the line (10)
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(HOP [bound] contained in [to break] THE) + L (line) T (HOP) HE L |
AHI
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AHITHOPHEL (adviser to King David, considered to be a unscrupulous person in some reference books)
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23
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A little African egg dropped by a cook (8)
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ONE (a) + GRILL (cook) with the O (egg shape) dropping to the end NEGRILLO |
NEGRILLO (a member of any of a number of short-statured black African peoples)
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24
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Something authoritative said outside Court One? I doubt it (6)
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(I [one – added, see comments @ 1 and 2 below] + UM [I doubt it]) containing (outside) CT (court) I (CT) UM |
D
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DICTUM (something authoritative said)
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27
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Where fliers put down couples given to cycling (7)
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PAIRS + TO with the initial P cycling to the end AIRSTOP |
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AIRSTOP (stopping place for helicopters; where fliers put down)
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29
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Plaintive pre-Liberal politician finally elected as constituent (7)
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(N [last letter of {finally} POLITICIAN] + IN [elected]) contained in (as constituent) WHIG ( name applied to members of one of the great English political parties, in the late 17century applied to those upholding popular rights and opposed to the King; after 1830 almost superseded by Liberals) WHI (N IN) G |
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WHINING (plaintive)
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30
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Science branch puts in cash on and off (6)
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PTICS (letters 1,3,5,7 and 9 [on and off] of PUTS IN CASH)
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O
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OPTICS
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32
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Wings shot off over desert (6)
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VE (central letters of OVER remaining after the first and last letters [wings] O and R are excluded [shot off])
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MOJA
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MOJAVE (reference MOJAVE desert in California)
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33
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Dresses sadly not uninvolved in queer posturing (6, 2 words)
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Anagram of (queer) POSTURING excluding ([sadly] uninvolved]) NOT, leaving an anagram of PSURIG
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RIGS UP (dresses)
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37
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"It’s nice to keep up pressure!" That’s contemptible! (4)
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P (pressure) + OOH! (expressing pleasure; it’s nice). As this is a down clue, the letters OOH appear to be holding up the P
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POOH (exclamation of disgust or disdain; that’s contempible)
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38
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Run out: this enables Vettori to drive (4)
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RO (run out in cricket scoring notation)
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KE
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KERO (New Zealand term for kerosene, a fuel which may enable New Zealand’s most capped cricketer Daniel Vettori to drive)
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40
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Where you might see wild animal dash (3)
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EN (a dash that is an EN long where EN is also a term in printing measurement)
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D
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DEN
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Much as I ever understand these things but where does the one fit in in 24D-surely the I and the one are a duplication.
Gordon @ 1
I took the I to be ‘one’ and the UM to be ‘I doubt it’. I ‘m not sure why I left out [one] in the blog after the I in the description of the wordplay. I’ll add it to the blog soon.
Thanks duncan,
This was my second go at an Inquisitor and it defeated me in again. Trying to guess unknown words (that are not even in my dictionary) from difficult clues that in some cases only provide a single letter of the solution was just too much. I got about half the solutions and had a few more pencilled in as pure guesses. Nevertheless, I did better than last time, hopefully I will crack it next go.
I took MIAOU to be the French spelling as Felix is a popular French name.
An ingenious puzzle but I’m with PeeDee on this having had little success it. I would never have got words like kero.
We (Ho and I) got the grid about 80% filled, with an almost blank North East quadrant, but never got near finding a denouement. Congratulations to you Duncan on being able to finish and blog this very difficult puzzle.
I have to say that I’m not too happy about clues where only one letter is clued (like DOH and WALDO). I’d love to know how our other readers got on, and how they felt about it!
Thanks Duncan for an excellent blog.
I got there in the end, after quite a few wrong turns – trying to make sense of the omitted letters by reading from top to bottom, left to right and then highlighting the wrong ones in some instances(the first W in 20A, KNOWHOW, for instance, so not then seeing WHO). So, a real struggle then especially as there were no hints about the no. of letters to be omitted in clues or the positioning of the protagonists or places of safety in the grid.
It was the WALDO in the NW and JFK in the SE that got me on my way eventually.
Ambivalent about the 1-letter solutions. They were used as a contrivance – an instance of the ‘tail’ solution leading the ‘dog’clue – but I thought these were obvious enough in most instances(WATT, DEN) and I doubt whether I would have completed the puzzle without them.
Thanks to Nimrod for an ultimately very enjoyable work-out.
A very slow start for me, where I was fairly convinced I wouldn’t get close to finishing, then it all came together quite swiftly once a handful of letters were pencilled in and one or two thematic words showed up.
Luckily we had two brains working on this one. Given the denouement, we were not surprised by some of Nimrod’s contrivances but count us in the camp that really enjoyed the struggle! Bringing together the two anniversaries was a masterpiece.
Thanks Duncan for the blog – we do hope you did’t have to solve this alone!
Thanks Nimrod for the challenge – it’s what the Inquisitor is all about as far as we are concerned!
Yes – this was certainly a tough one. As with others, finding JFK surrounded by a MOTORCADE, and then WHO in the TARDIS, finally got me over the hump.
I failed to parse DOWRY at 28a correctly, and assumed it was somehow derived from DOUR, so thanks to blogger for putting me right. And CLOSE ON at 41a is in fact in Chambers.
Thanks go to Duncan and Nimrod.
PS Still no kitchen!
Like most others I found this really tough going, but by mustering all the electronic aids at my disposal I got there in the end. I had to rely on the theme to deduce the last letter in 4d as ULMO isn’t in any of my dictionaries and, although I correctly deduced DOH for 4d, I doubted that I had identified the definition part of the clue correctly – I had.
I was so pleased with myself for completing the puzzle that I decided to enter the competition on the basis that its toughness would result in fewer entries so increasing my chances. In the early days of Inquisitor I won twice but gave up submitting entries several years ago when further success failed to materialise.
Thanks Nimrod and Duncan
I’m with BertandJoyce on this one. A truly brilliant puzzle which should have been easier to deduce considering last week’s anniversaries.
Tony @ 4…. get thee to a Chambers! (Although some defs were not in). I find Inquisitors almost impossible without it (just to verify, of course).
Howard L @10…. I sympathise, having drawn a few myself, but I think its important for the future of any competition puzzle that solvers send their entries in.
Thanks to Nimrod for never disappointing on the hardness front!
And of course, Brave Duncan for the blog.
Regalize @ 11
That’s the whole point. I do have Chambers and other reference books but words like kero are not in them. All right, it’s in an online dictionary but there comes a limit. And do New Zealanders put kerosene in their cars?
Tony @12: kero is in my Chambers; it says “(Aust and NZ inf) a short form of kerosene.” (However, the connection between kerosene & driving, in the clue, is unclear to me.)
I must get the latest edition of Chambers!
I pretty much gave up on this one after staring at a blank grid for several hours, but rather than throw it away, I kept it on me, and, gradually, the answers started to come. I finally finished it on Friday evening…just in time for the next one!
Extremely difficult…made more so by non-Chambers entries. I couldn’t justify giving it this much time every week…is this what the Listener is like?
Thanks to Nimrod and duncanshiell
Dan at #16, re Listener, I’d suggest you just try one – if you can tackle these IQs, you’d certainly be able to make progress. The difficulty level varies quite a bit but they are all ultimately solvable.
Combination of difficult clueing and multitude of missing letters did for me; I can’t remember when I made so little progress with an Inquisitor. Happily, the next one proved much easier. Heroic blogging, here, I feel.