I was a bit worried by a long rubric with drawing instructions:
Each across clue and ten down clues contain an extra letter to be discarded before solving. The across letters in clue order indicate where solvers should draw two larger arcs and six much smaller ones (affecting 24 cells in total) to highlight hidden words. The down letters spell out a statement on the grid which solvers must use to resolve two clashing cells in favour of the same third letter; the statement can read true before and after the change. Solvers must highlight a thematic statement in the final grid (six cells).
Nothing to do, as Duncan often says, but get on and solve some clues. There were a few glaring anagrams which helped to get started (e.g. 5A [jutecap(e)]*) and I eventually managed to arrive at a fairly full grid. I was confused at first by the idea that the extra letters involved the word ORCHARD (stupid – can’t count!), but eventually realised that it was MR CHAD, who I hadn’t heard of by that name, but had seen in many graffiti involving WOT NO … and KILROY. My favourite Kilroy was “Hip hooray and jump for joy, I was here before Kilroy!”, but WOT NO SUN at the seaside and WOT NO PETROL during the petrol crisis were also fun.
Anyway the extra letters from across clues spelled out DEPICT BODY PARTS OF MR CHAD. The down statement was more difficult to find, but eventually led to THERE IS NOW.
I searched the grid for the two large arcs and eventually hit on the words BRAIN CASE for the largest arc, the skull, and PROBOSCIS for the the second one, the nose. Level with the top of the “wall” were the six letters DIG…….ITS for the fingers (normally circles rather than arcs, but OK). It was nice to note that the two Os in kinOs and actOr formed the eyes. That was the first instruction completed.
I had ?IL?OPY for 24D and my best searches yielded no answer, so I tried lokking for ????OPY which gave nothing meaningful either, so I tried ?IL?O?Y (thinking mistakenly of KILROY) as I wasn’t completely comfortable with SPOTS for 40A, and there was PILLORY, so the clash was on row 12, column 3. It was followed by OT, so looked like a WOT NO! and if you replaced the clash with W you got real words, PILLOWY and SWOTS. Good start. As I had 26D as CASHES at the time, I had to search for the other clash and eventually realised that the “recording” in the clue for 26D was CD and it should have been CASHED with another clash at row 12 column 10. Replacing the clash by W as in the instructions gave real words CASHEW and WANE, and the statement in full was WOT, NO W? THERE IS NOW! At this point I realised that the grid otherwise contained no Ws and the statement can read true before and after the change (see rubric) meant that it could be read as THERE IS NO (letter) W before the change or as THERE IS NOW after the change – brilliant!
I have previously blogged two of eXternal’s previous four Inquisitors, and they were excellent too – the A team from 2012 and the mark of Zorro from 2014. This one is up with those two, involving some tricky clues and some art work. I look forward to eXternal’s future offerings.
Across |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue, definition, (extra letter) | Answer | Wordplay | X |
| 1 | Bar(d) with teeth broken by extreme pressure to make alternative arrangement (6) | REPACK | RACK (bar with teeth) round E(xtreme) P(ressure | D |
| 5 | Aromatic oil transformed jute cap(e) (7) | CAJEPUT | [JUTE CAP]* | E |
| 10 | (P)hew, returned by noon for test (4) | EXAM | AXE (hew) reversed + M (noon) | P |
| 12 | Mischievous sprite abandoning Gob(i)’s deep ravine (3) | LIN | GOBLIN (mischievous sprite) minus GOB | I |
| 13 | One hundred (c)hives, perhaps, fail disastrously (5) | CRASH | C (100) + RASH (e.g. hives) | C |
| 15 | (T)old boy about short- lived art movement (4) | DADA | DAD (old boy) + A(bout) | T |
| 16 | Nodding head, (b)ring in a loaf of bread (8) | NUTATION | NUT (head) + A TIN (a loaf of bread) round O (ring) | B |
| 17 | Misty local waterway included in sho(o)t (5) | TEARY | EA (local waterway) in TRY (shot) | O |
| 20 | Horribly ru(d)e nieces showing needy rapacity (9) | ESURIENCE | [RUE NIECES]* | D |
| 21 | Taunt heartless lady with extremely peach(y) ornament (7) | DIGLYPH | DIG (taunt) + L(ad)Y + P(eac)H | Y |
| 23 | (P)rod with spades around lake reveals secrets (6) | SPLITS | SPIT (rod) + S(pades) round L(ake) | P |
| 25 | Big bird going around (a)isle for computer (5) | ERNIE | ERNE (big bird) round I(sle) | A |
| 28 | Nobleman tense(r), shifting over to the rear (6) | ARISTO | AORIST (tense) with O(ver) shifted to the rear | R |
| 29 | Sibling follows tenor in switched (t)one to get syllable elongation (7) | ECTASIS | SIS (sibling) follows T(enor) in ACE (one) reversed | T |
| 32 | Inner revilement as bus feel(s) rocky (9) | SELF-ABUSE | [AS BUS FEEL]* | S |
| 37 | Sedge roughly catching p(o)et, almost (5) | CHUFA | CA (roughly) round HUF(F) (pet, almost). {Reminds me of Groucho Marx – “If you can’t get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that’s too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff.”} | O |
| 38 | Rock-chick’s double (f)right after I got involved in sport (8, 2 words) | RIOT GRRL | [IGOT]* + RR (double right) in R(ugby) L(eague) | F |
| 39 | Weird to lose head, affected by (m)ale (4) | EERY | (B)EERY (affected by ale) | M |
| 40 | St(r)eamer placed around large stake tarnishes (5) | SPOTS | SS (steamer) round POT (large stake) | R |
| 41 | Not (c)love stuffed in sides of naan (3) | NON | N(aa)N round O (love) | C |
| 42 | (H)all there, atrium originally enclosed by all directions but west (4) | SANE | A(trium) in SNE(W) | H |
| 43 | Dwarf breed (a)live, captured by New England historian (7) | TOYNBEE | TOY (dwarf breed) + BE (live) in N(ew) E(ngland) | A |
| 44 | (D)yes covering run occupying a young pig (6) | PORKER | OK (yes) round R(un) in PER (a) | D |
Down |
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| No. | Clue, definition, (extra letter) | Answer | Wordplay | X |
| 1 | Wretched tree did bloom in water (7, 2 words) | RED TIDE | [TREE DID]* | |
| 2 | Martial artist in interval going up Asian field (6) | PADANG | DAN (martial artist) in GAP reversed | |
| 3 | Civil Engineer about to locate unknown variable like ductile material (6) | CLAYEY | C(ivil) E(ngineer) round LAY (locate) + Y (unknown variable) | |
| 4 | Rough oiks squeezing new(t) to get resinous substances (5) | KINOS | [OIKS]* round N(ew) | T |
| 5 | S(h)aw’s written about Norse son of Forkbeard (4) | CNUT | CUT (saw) round N(orse) | H |
| 6 | Player in Scotland to drive up hill (5) | ACTOR | CA (drive in Scotland) reversed + TOR (hill) | |
| 7 | Food batters, beginning to go off (4) | EATS | (B)EATS (batters) | |
| 8 | Like particle of some Greek architecture found under centre of apse (7) | PSIONIC | (a)PS(e) + IONIC (Greek architecture) | |
| 9 | Colours vibrate, shedding luminance on square (6) | TINGES | TINGLE (vibrate) minus L(uminance) + S(quare) | |
| 11 | H(e)ard rock music initially blare out (6) | MARBLE | M(usic) + [BLARE]* | E |
| 14 | Hot play in Australia, one with trendy flyer (8) | HOACTZIN | H(ot) + ACT (play) in OZ (Australia) + IN (trendy) {“one” seems to be redundant!} | |
| 18 | What might supply liquid energy after spo(r)t (4) | PIPE | PIP (spot) + E(nergy) | R |
| 19 | Tiny difference in pitch, when punctured by concerning mark (8) | DIERESIS | DIESIS (tiny difference in pitch) round RE (concerning) | |
| 22 | King punches humourless wizard (3) | PRO | R (king) in PO (humourless) | |
| 23 | So, crook’s without base (3) | SIC | SIC(k) (crook = ill = sick) | |
| 24 | Hold up to ridicule b(e)ad circle piercing nose (7) | PILLORY | ILL (bad) + O (circle) in PRY (nose) | E |
| 25 | Earth on rag is rank (4) | ETAT | E(arth) + TAT (rag) | |
| 26 | So fa(i)r, that man cuts recording to be exchanged for money (6) | CASHED | AS (so far) + HE (that man) in CD (recording) | I |
| 27 | Metal tester to tell between arsenic and erbium (7) | ASSAYER | SAY (tell) between AS (arsenic) and ER (Erbium) | |
| 28 | Astronomer with as(s) protruding in ancient times (6) | ASTRUT | ASTR(onomer) + UT (as in Latin) | S |
| 30 | Note church number’s music style (6) | TECHNO | TE (note) + CH (church) + NO (number) | |
| 31 | Ra(n)t with Kelvin to push out left a tiny amount (6) | SQUEAK | SQUEAL (rat) minus L(eft) + K(elvin) | N |
| 33 | Polish revolutionary south-east, where corporal is held (5) | BURSE | RUB (polish) reversed + SE (southeast) | |
| 34 | Hot drink so(o)n, and a prune (5) | SALOP | S(on) + A + LOP (prune) | O |
| 35 | Alien with o(w)n school (4) | ETON | ET (alien) + ON | W |
| 36 | River dividing a certain French department (4) | ORNE | ONE (a certain) round R(iver) | |
Thank you external for a very very enjoyable puzzle, which I thought was a good blend of seriousness and fun.
And many thanks to Hihoba. I suspect this was not necessarily the easiest puzzle to blog. Or, indeed to render graphically. I’ve the greatest admiration for all the bloggers for how they go about puzzles like this that require shapes rather than just highlighting. (My own favourite graphic/animations were the Pink Floyd spectrum, and the boat being lowered by lockgates. Not to mention Lusitania being sunk quite a while ago.
I really loved the whole ‘W’ thing. Very clever.
I am kicking myself about 12A. Got locked into it being ‘gremLIN’. Even though there is no such word as ‘grem’.
Even though I knew the extra letter was the I in Gobi. Even though every week I tell myself not to overlook the bl**din’ obvious.
But where I really failed was in the graphic. I am hopeless at word search. That’s why I flunked my entrance exam to Bletchley Park. Okay, I am not quite of that vintage. But in my growing up years I was vaguely aware of the character. But he was just ‘Chad’ without the Mr.
Do I need my eyes (and head) tested? Where in the grid does it say ‘THERE IS NOW’?
This puzzle displayed everything that we like about the Inquisitor. It was not an easy solve to start with and we also made things harder by missing out one of the extra letters in the down clues.
Bert had heard of Mr Chad, Joyce only remembered Kilroy.
It took quite a few tea and coffee times before we found the nose which then helped us locate the other body parts. It brought a smile to both our faces when we realised that we also had the eyes! We hadn’t realised that it was almost a pangram but when we located what letters could be changed and yet still leave proper words, there were smiles all over again.
Many, many thanks eXternal for the excellent puzzle. Our admiration also goes to Hihoba for the superb graphics.
It’s not in the grid. It is spelled out by the extra letters in ten down clues.See preamble.
Nothing really to add here other than to thank eXternal for another challenging but fun puzzle and to Hihoba for the blog.
Actually, two things to add. Extra thanks to external for using TECHNO and RIOT GRRL as solutions and only two cricket abbreviations in the clues.
In 3d I had the last three words of the clue as the definition.
Shouldn’t there be three Rs in Grrrl?
jonsurdy@7
Chambers and ODE both give both possibilities. Maybe it depends on the perceived degree of riotousness …
BF at #6, I will amend 3d – you are right, my mistake.
BF @8. Then the more Ms the better I say.
Sorry. The more Rs. (Which sounds slightly rude.)
jonsurdy@11
There’s a clue in the making right there !
Seriously though. Mr Chad and Riot Girrrl involved in the same puzzle? Depending on which end of the age spectrum, might you know one but not the other. I was only vaguely aware of the second,but I suppose the word play fairly obviously leads to the answer. I wonder what is the average age of setters/joggers/solvers?
Wow, what a very clever idea, beautifully constructed. This was one of those where I had the top half completed with almost no inroads in the bottom half. The Toynbee corner being last in for me, after struggling with Riot Grrl (a new word for me). Re js@13, I’m just about old enough to remember the Chad figure.
Many thanks to eXternal for a cracking puzzle and Hihoba for the blog (and parsing 44A which I couldn’t)
Lovely puzzle. And v.clever with its “There is no W”/”There is now”. (I couldn’t find a V either, but no matter.)
And I didn’t spot the O’s for the eyes until it was pointed out to me – a very nice touch. (I guess difficult to allude to in the preamble without giving too much of the game away?)
A good challenge, and well worth the effort. Thanks to eXternal for another fine puzzle – glad no cutting involved this time round – and of course Hihoba for the blog.
PS For an earlier appearance of riot grrl, see Inquisitor 77 (One Too Many by Raich).
Thanks for the blog and the kenmacesque animation, Hihoba. Really well explained and laid out.
I am kicking myself a little for the omission of the V, as I originally had SAVE instead of SANE in the grid to produce WAVE when the S gets changed. I worked hard to make it a W-less pangram along with all the other constraints, but must have changed it later when writing the clues without realising it was the only V in the grid. Anyway, as HolyGhost kindly mentions, it doesn’t really affect the puzzle.
I was also pleased to get RIOT GRRL in there, not every day you get to clue an entry with five consecutive consonants
(although RIOT GRRRL would have been even nicer).
I think it worked out better not to mention the eyes in the preamble, it’s just a little extra thing for the observant.
Thanks for the kind comments, glad it was well received.
I completed the grid and the acrostic, but try as I might, I just couldn’t locate Chad. I was also led on a wild goose chase by the top right diagonal, “This is no”, and the nearby word pipe, and tried to depict one of the most famous visual paradoxes, René Magritte’s “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”.
RR, I see what you mean. Coincidence, or wot?