EV 1595 Hints

Enigmatic Variations 1595 (Hints)

Barred Off by Chalicea

Hints and tips by Phibs

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To say that Chalicea is a prolific setter is akin to describing Elon Musk as quite well off. As with any puzzle by my fellow EV blogger, we can expect sound clues, accurate definitions, and a level of difficulty towards the lower end of the spectrum.

Preamble: In one answer in each column the definition and wordplay give a pair of words differing by one letter. The shorter word must be entered in the main grid and the unused letter must be put in the BARRED-OFF area above. The wordplay in all the other clues leads to an extra letter that is not required by the answer. These, read in clue order, will tell you what you have done when you have completed the puzzle. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

Let’s be clear about this – in each across clue, the wordplay leads to an extra letter which we simply need to take a note of; similarly with ten of the down clues, but in eleven instances (one per column) the clue leads to two answers. One of these answers is indicated by a definition, and the other by the wordplay, but don’t forget that ‘wordplay’ in a clue can take the form of a second definition, so ‘Ten children smell’ could indicate TENCH/STENCH, but so could ‘Fish smell’. The shorter word is entered in the grid (in this example, TENCH) and the letter by which it differs from the longer word (here, S) is written in the cell at the top of the column.

Across

9a    Rough and ill-mannered in behaviour to a chum, say (6)
The first two wordplay elements are in plain sight, but a consultation with Chambers may pay dividends when it comes to the ‘chum’.

11a    Play with ball in deserted yard (5)
On occasion ‘deserted’ appears in cryptic clues as a ‘first and last’ indicator, but here it is one of two words which lead to single-letter abbreviations, while ‘with’ is there simply to join the definition and the wordplay. Incidentally, ‘d’ for ‘deserted’ is one of those slightly mysterious abbreviations that is found in Chambers but, seemingly, nowhere else. It’s use is fine in a barred puzzle like this, where anything goes as long as it’s in Chambers, but should probably be avoided in blocked crosswords where no primary reference is given. I can’t find any evidence of it being used in military or genealogical records, and surely a single letter would in any event carry too high a risk of confusion, particularly with ‘d’ = ‘died’. If anyone knows where in the real world ‘d’ is used as shorthand for ‘deserted’, do let me know.

19a    Historically Japanese elder statesman bountiful (not as above) (5)
Solvers will probably be familiar with the two-letter abbreviation for ‘see above’, being the first two letters of the equivalent phrase in Latin, but the analogous abbreviation of ‘as above’ is less commonly seen.

34a    Unkempt mongrel essentially kills seagull and wading bird (6)
The wordplay produces elements in a 3+1+3 pattern, with the name of the gull also being a term for the sound which one makes.

36a    Fancies once turning over new being (5)
There is a high probability that the word ‘being’ in a wordplay will lead to a particular three-letter word used in philosophy which offers setters a very handy combination of letters.

Down

1d    Thoroughly searching on the way (6)
One of those down clues where the wordplay is in fact a second definition leading to the second word; I have underlined the definition of the (shorter) grid entry.

12d    Article about small church wine container to fall due (6)
A (1,1,5) charade, with the ‘small church wine container’ perhaps being more familiar as a jar for condiments seen on the dining tables of people who have dumb waiters and chafing dishes.

20d    All at once crammed together, stripped off and changed, ready as needed (6, two words)
The wordplay here indicates that three words must have the intervening spaces removed (‘crammed together’) before the first and last letters are stripped off. Without the ‘crammed together’, the operation would be applied to each word separately, so ‘hardy gents stripped off’ would deliver ARDENT rather than ARDYGENT.

22d    Chief shoots elderly contracts (6)
Again, the definition of the grid entry is underlined (‘elderly’ indicating a meaning shown by Chambers as ‘obsolete’), but you will probably get the answer from the second definition, which is for the oversized word.

27d    With no copyright, copied newspaper page expressing writer’s opinions (4)
A word in the clue must undergo the deletion of a single-character abbreviation followed by the removal of the ‘bonus’ letter.

Definitions in clues are underlined

The combination of the message and the contents of the barred-off area will leave you in no doubt that you have successfully completed the puzzle.

As a rule I avoid giving my opinion on the quality of a puzzle in these blogs (it’s a highly subjective thing), but I will make an exception by saying that I thought this was a great example for would-be setters – a beautifully realised theme and a puzzle that, while it was not too difficult, was not trivial to solve. I would strongly advise new setters to aim at this level of complexity. The considerable variations in difficulty is one of the great appeals of the themed puzzle – like many solvers, along with the easier puzzles I enjoy a few chewy ones, but only if they’ve not been made tough just for the sake of it.

Phibs Toughness Rating : 🥾/🥾🥾 (Suitable for solvers of all standards)

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