Samuel is a prolific setter for many publications that feature barred crosswords and his crosswords usually have a quirky theme. I think Samuel is now the editor of the Enigmatic Variations series in The Sunday Telegraph, so it is interesting to see his work in a competitive newspaper. Perhaps though Saturday papers don’t compete with Sunday papers.
The preamble for this Inquisitor told us that "the answer to each of ten clues (one of three words) is thematically linked with another word / phrase which forms the grid entry (to which letter and word counts refer). Solvers must make a further substitution in the completed grid, leaving behind all real words".
It took me a while before I found one of the thematic answers, but I made steady early progress with clues that were normal. The first thematic clue that I ‘solved’ was the one at 4 across where it looked as if COURSES would fit and the clue wasn’t yielding anything resembling COURSES. It was 18 down yielding TAKE A TURN together with a think about the title (Options) that yielded the penny drop moment. It became clear that we were dealing with a theme where the phrase X for Y came into play. X was the answer to the clue with Y being entered.
As is often the case with barred crosswords, symmetry was useful as the 10 thematic clues were symmetrically placed. This helped identify a number of the thematic clues.
The ten X for Ys were
4 across – HORSES for COURSES
15 across – LOOK for TROUBLE
28 across – SHIFT for ONESELF
38 across – HELL for LEATHER
1 down – LEAVE for DEAD
3 down – HIT for SIX
9 down – SIGHT for SORE EYES
18 down – TAKE A TURN for THE WORSE
31 down – NOT for NUTS and
35 down – MONEY for JAM
I can’t say I have come across all of these phrases before (SHIFT for ONESELF and NOT for NUTS) are new to me, but all of them are in Chambers.
The final stage of the puzzle was to identify the further substitution. The diagonals are usually the first port of call when looking for hidden words and that strategy paid off with the discovery of SPOILT down the diagonal from top left to bottom right. The phrase SPOILT for CHOICE seemed appropriate. Substituting CHOICE in place of SPOILT generated real words in all the crossing lights.
The initial grid and its metamorphosis to the final grid is shown below:
The title Options is well reflected in the various phrases X for Y.
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Across |
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| No | Clue | Wordplay | Answer | Entry |
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1
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Platform shoes ultimately aid criminal (4)
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Anagram of (criminal) S (last letter of [ultimately] SHOES and AID) DAIS* |
DAIS (platform)
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DAIS
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4
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Playing these frames of snooker could make so-so refs start to need hooker (7)
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The only way I can parse this is via a long compound anagram [playing these … could make] as follows: The letters HORSES OF SNOOKER can be re-arranged to form SO SO REFS HOOKER and N [first letter of {start to} NEED]
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HORSES([wooden] frames) I started off thinking the definition was probably ‘playing these’ with references to playing the HORSES, but I couldn’t make anything work with the wordplay, so I changed my mind. It all looks a bit tortuous but it seems to work.
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COURSES
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10
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Playwright’s to gloss over terrible leading actor initially getting lost (6)
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Anagram of (terrible) LEADING excluding (getting lost) A (first letter of [initially] ACTOR) ENGILD* |
ENGILD (Shakespearean [playwright] word for GILD {to gloss over}])
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ENGILD
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11
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Male active near plant (6)
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TOM (male of various animals) + A (active) + TO (near)
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TOMATO (plant)
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TOMATO
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13
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Nude area distracted German leader (8)
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Anagram of (distracted) NUDE AREA ADENAUER* |
ADENAUER (reference Konrad ADENAUER [1876 – 1967], Chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963)
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ADENAUER
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14
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Slate bond issue houses (4)
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DISS (hidden word [houses] in BOND ISSUE)
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DISS (to treat with disrespect or contempt; slate)
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DISS
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15
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Expect 1980s Gang leader to be in recession (7)
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KOOL (reference KOOL and the Gang, American jazz, R&B, soul, funk and disco group most successful in the 1980s) reversed (be in recession) LOOK< |
LOOK (expect)
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TROUBLE |
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19
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Quietly endures first local’s yarn (4)
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HAS (endures) + P (piano; quietly)
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HASP (dialect [local] word for a skein of yarn)
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HASP
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22
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Idiotic bird flies regularly (5)
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ANI (tropical American bird) + LE (letters 2 and 4 [regularly] of FLIES)
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ANILE (imbecile; idiotic)
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ANILE
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23
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Edge over to be taken by effective remark with upper-class language (8, 2 words)
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(RIM [edge] + O [over, in cricket terminology]) contained in (taken by) HIT (effective remark) + U (upper-class) HI (RIM O) T U |
HIRI MOTU (a pidgin form of the Motu language, spoken in Papua New Guinea)
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HIRI MOTU
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25
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Start backing Greek character with sex appeal in Italy (8)
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(ETA [Greek character] + IT [sex appeal] + IN + I [International Vehicle Registration for Italy]) all reversed (backing) (I NI TI ATE)< |
INITIATE (start)
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INITIATE
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26
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Love being embraced by wild animal tribe (5)
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O (zero; love score at tennis) contained in (embraced by) WOLF (wild animal) WOL (O) F |
WOLOF (a tribe living near the Senegal River in western Africa)
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WOLOF |
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27
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Cores added to this fast could generate electrons (4)
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LENT (CORES and LENT can be anagrammed [could generate] ELECTRONS)
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LENT (period of fasting)
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LENT
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28
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Sell hospital in fits when drunk (7)
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H (hospital) contained in (in) an anagram of (when drunk) FITS S (H) IFT* |
SHIFT (sell)
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ONESELF |
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29
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Sailor’s second to snorkel in body of water (4)
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TAR (sailor) + N (second letter of [second to] SNORKEL)
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TARN (small mountain lake; body of water)
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TARN |
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32
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React angrily over South American city’s ethnic violence (8, 2 words)
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Anagram of (angrily) REACT containing (over) RIO (reference RIO de Janiero, South American city) RACE (RIO) T* |
RACE RIOT (ethnic violence)
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RACE RIOT |
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36
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Set to get undressed only in broad daylight? (6)
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SUIT (set) containing (to get) NL (middle letters of ONLY having undressed itself of the outside letters OY) SU (NL) IT |
SUNLIT (lighted by the sun; in broad daylight) Is that definition OK? Things can be sunlit by the setting or rising sun. | SUNLIT |
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37
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Pirate gutted fish from the right – it might get turned into butter (6)
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PE (first and last letters of PEANUT after central letters have been removed [gutted]) + (TUNA [fish] reversed [from the right]) PE ANUT< |
PEANUT (an ingredient used in one particular form of butter)
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PEANUT |
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38
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Ruin all but the start of scale (7)
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SHELL (scale) excluding the first letter (all but the start of) S
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HELL (ruin)
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LEATHER
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39
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Asian’s special battle-ground (4)
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MON (a member of a people inhabiting parts of Myanmar (Burma) and West Thailand; Asian) + S (special)
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MONS (Belgian battle-ground of World War 1)
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MONS |
| Down |
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| No | Clue | Wordplay | Answer | Entry |
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1
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Unite about jumping ship to depart (4)
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CLEAVE (unite; CLEAVE is one of these words that seems to have two diametrically opposed meanings) excluding (jumping ship) C (circa; about)
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LEAVE (depart)
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DEAD |
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2
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Trick missing Conservative objector (4)
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ANTIC (trick) excluding (missing) C (Conservative)
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ANTI (objector)
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ANTI
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3
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Kill jerk, having rejected church (3)
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HITCH (jerk) excluding (having rejected) CH (church)
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HIT (murder by a gang of criminals; kill)
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SIX
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4
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Catch openers of Australian side placed beneath Sri Lanka (5)
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CL (International Vehicle Registration for Sri Lanka [ex Ceylon]) + ASP (first letters [openers] of each of AUSTRALIA SIDE and PLACED)
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CLASP (catch)
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CLASP (catch)
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5
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Had too much like 11 or 37? (3)
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ODD (both 11 and 37 are ODD numbers)
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ODD (overdosed) double definition
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ODD
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6
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Is it true lunatic inflamed condition? (8)
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Anagram of (lunatic) IS IT TRUE UTERITIS* |
UTERITIS (inflammation of the womb)
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UTERITIS
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7
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Wee in first-class mail (3)
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SMA (hidden word in [in] FIRST-CLASS MAIL)
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SMA little; (wee)
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SMA
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8
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McCartney, perhaps mostly excellent (6)
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STELLAR (excellent) excluding the final letter (mostly) R
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STELLA (reference STELLA McCartney [1971 to date]; fashion designer)
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STELLA
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9
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Broadcast position for a great deal (8, 2 words)
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SIGHT (sounds like [broadcast] SITE [position])
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SIGHT (a great deal)
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SORE EYES
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12
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Normally, Scots all savour rubber (7, 3 words)
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A (Scots form of all) + SAR (Scots form of savour) + ULE (crude rubber from a tree of the same name)
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AS A RULE (normally)
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AS A RULE
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16
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Free BBC? Not accepted! (5)
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AUNTIE (facetious name for the BBC) excluding (not) A (accepted)
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UNTIE (free)
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UNTIE
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17
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British destroyed animal with two hands (7)
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B (British) + an anagram of (destroyed) ANIMAL B IMANAL* |
BIMANAL (having two hands, especially as distinct from feet)
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BIMANAL |
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18
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"Go for a walk", karate nut ordered (8, 2 words)
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Anagram of (ordered) KARATE NUT TAKE A TURN* |
TAKE A TURN (go for a walk)
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FOR THE WORSE
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20
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Appeal about Israel’s missile storage facilities (5)
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SOS (appeal for help or rescue) containing IL (international Vehicle Registration for Israel) S (IL) OS |
SILOS (missile storage facilities)
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SILOS
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21
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"Block moonlight dancing", German spat out (8)
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Anagram of (dancing) MOONLIGHT excluding (spat out) G MONOLITH* |
MONOLITH (single block of stone)
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MONOLITH
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24
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Around Ontario, beat flier (6)
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MAUL (beat) containing (around) ON (Ontario) M (ON) AUL |
MONAUL (Himalayan pheasant; bird; flier)
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MONAUL
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27
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Most recent note stops Libya (5)
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TE (note of the tonic solfa) contained in (stops) LAR (Libyan Arab Republic) LA (TE) R |
LATER (most recent)
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LATER
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30
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Manufacturer of electrical goods beheaded fish for lassie (4)
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BRAUN (Manufacturer of electrical goods) excluding the first letter (beheaded) B
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RAUN (female [lassie?] fish; fish roe)
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RAUN
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31
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Contemptible person finally sails off with crew cut? (4)
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SNOT (contemptible person) excluding (off) S (last letter of [finally] SAILS)
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NOT (with close cut hair; with crew cut)
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NUTS
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33
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Pele unveiled America’s highest pitch (3)
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EL (letters of PELE without the first and last [unveiled] PE) + A (America)
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ELA (highest pitch)
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ELA
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34
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Poetically undo shortened cord and run out (3)
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ROPE (cord) excluding (out) R (run in cricket scoring notation)
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OPE (poetic shortened form of open; poetically undo shortened)
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OPE
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35
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Smash rabbit with mark (not coloured) (5)
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CONEY (rabbit) excluding (not) C (coloured) and replacing it with (for) M (mark [former German currency]) MONEY |
MONEY (smash is slang for cash [money])
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JAM
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I was enjoying this until I got stuck on the bottom right corner and the last three clues have frustrated me all week. It was HIT for SIX that gave me my PDM, together with TAKE A TURN …, but I hadn’t noticed the symmetry in the thematic clues – not that it would have helped me much. I’ve heard of them both but neither MONEY for JAM nor NOT for NUTS are ‘for’ phrases that leap to mind and their clues seem particularly obscure. I’ve never heard of ‘smash’ as being a synonym for cash, ‘snot’ as a contemptible person or ‘not’ as a crew cut and MONS, my final hold-out, seems equally obscure though I probably should have got it as a four letter worn ending in n and almost certainly s. So a good puzzle marred by a, I think justifiable, failure to complete the grid for me.
Thanks to Samuel for all but the bottom right corner and for another fine blog Duncan, though I do feel a little sea-sick now looking at the jiggling grid for more than a few seconds!
Didn’t finish this, got about half of it, but that must make it the easiest Inquisitor for some weeks, if not months. Mind you, I didn’t help myself by entering URETITIS at 6dn. OK, it’s not spelled that way, but my excuse is I’ve been seeing a urologist recently so my attention was distracted in that direction.
Re 27d, would someone please explain how ‘most recent’ defines ‘LATER’?
It is obviously the only parsing, but in my world ‘later’ is ‘more recent’ and ‘latest’ is ‘most recent’.
As with Duncan, I hadn’t come across SHIFT for ONESELF or NOT for NUTS before.
My only query is the same as Laphria’s @3: “LATER” is comparative whereas “most” indicates the superlative (although Chambers does give “most recent” as a meaning of late).
Re 27d, although I initially shared the reservations of Laphria@3 and HolyGhost@4, I think the definition is OK as long as you restrict the number of events to two, i.e. the “later” of two events would be the “most recent”. It’s a bit like the use of “better” rather than “best” when comparing just two things.
#5 – Hmmm. I was educated to believe that if you are comparing two different things one is earlier and the other later, but neither is earliest or latest. Throw another different one into the mix and you do have and earliest and a latest.
Better/best is the same – better of two; best of three.
Maybe I am just old-fashioned …
Not too tricky this week, though I’d also share some of the views regarding later/latest. The right side of the grid seemed a lot easier than the left, to me anyway.
The second week in a row that pop music parsing has passed me by.
Not for nuts was a new one for me too.
Thanks go to Duncan and Samuel for the enjoyment.
Late arrival at the ball.
Excellent blog, very entertaining puzzle.
I think this was one of those where some clues are pretty easy – but a minority are maddeningly impenetrable. Deliberately so?
Interesting to see the debate re 27D. The grammatical argument could go on forever,with either side being considered right or wrong. Or even righter or wronger. I had LATER but wasn’t really happy with that matching the definition, but eventually entered it in the grid because it couldn’t be anything else.
I was familiar with all the expressions apart from NOT FOR NUTS. Because the grid entry looked like it could only be one of three familiar words, I looked in BRB for entries on ‘nets’,’nits’and ‘nuts’. Got there in the end, but a bit too much reading glasses dictionary work for me.
Money for jam. I am very familiar with this – but not heard it used for many years. Is it possibly a usage more common in the northern part of England?
Over the years, I have noticed a tendency for Northenisms to be used as definitions or answers.
(Is there such a thing as Southernisms? I am sure most people here are going to deplore both these coinages. Whatever. The thing that really makes my heart sink are clues with Scottishisms in them – whether in wordplay, definition or entry.)
Like others we’d never heard of not for nuts or shift for oneself but we got there in the end although we sat for quite a while with a single blank in the grid until Chambers gave us not for nuts. Didn’t really notice the later/ most recent issue at the time but now that others mention it it doesn’t seem quite right. Many thanks to Samuel for a very enjoyable puzzle and to Duncan for the blog.
Just noticed Duncan’s question mark in his suggested explanation for 30d, RAUN clued as “… fish for lassie”. I think that “lassie” indicates that the answer is Scottish, rather than a female fish.
PS If you really want people to respond to questions, you probably need to make them stand out more – HG
A very enjoyable puzzle, this one. Thanks for the very helpful blog.
Am I the only person to have entered ‘nits’ for 31d? Nit plus ‘s’ from finally sails; and nits are what come off with a crew cut. I assumed 27d was where the substitution was going on…
It seems to me that in general, if not in all cases, the clues for ‘X’s’ (as in X’s for Y’s) were a degree harder than the straight-forward clues. Good examples being 4A HORSES, 31A NOT and 35D MONEY. If right then I would presume it a deliberate ploy by Samuel. In most instances for me the Y emerged first. Until Duncan’s blog I never did solve/parse the three examples above even though I got the answers.