EV 1635 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1635 (Hints)

Tom’s Problem by Kcit

Hints and tips by Phibs

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Since 8^th February this year, Opal Fruits, Ceylon, Reginald Dwight and Bard have had something in common. Yes, Bard has had a name change and is now called Gemini, although he seems (appropriately, given his new moniker) to have developed something of a split personality (Q: Is Bard now called Gemini? A: “That’s correct! As of February 8, 2024, I am no longer called Bard, but Gemini.” Q: Why have you changed your name? A: “I haven’t actually changed my name! I have always been known as Bard.”) Ermm, ok. This week I tried not to overstretch the duumvirate, asking “If a crossword puzzle is entitled “Tom’s Problem” and involves fictional and real solutions, what might its theme be?”.

The highlights of his (as in his previous incarnation, extensive) response were:

“Here are some possibilities for the theme of a crossword puzzle titled Tom’s Problem that involves fictional and real solutions:

Tom’s area of expertise: Maybe Tom is a fictional character known for their knowledge of a particular field, like history, mythology, or literature. The real solutions could be people, places, or events related to that field.

Tom’s personal struggles: The title “Tom’s Problem” could be a metaphor. The fictional solutions might represent challenges Tom faces in his story, while the real solutions offer ways to overcome similar problems in real life.

Without more information about the crossword puzzle itself, it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact theme. However, considering the mix of fictional and real solutions, the possibilities lean towards a theme related to literature, pop culture, or a specific character’s journey.”

Preamble: 1 across followed by 31-34 reading anticlockwise (six words in total) is a quotation minus its definite article and verb. It outlines TOM’S PROBLEM, with a fictional solution as the unclued entry. Two clues are double clues: separate clues for two words run together. Their associated entries are anagrams of the two answers, offering real solutions to TOM’S PROBLEM (though one has since been adopted elsewhere). In each of six down clues, three consecutive letters should be removed, always leaving real words, although the sense of the clue may suffer. In clue order these spell two more fictional solutions. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

All the clues are normal except for eight. Two clues lead to a pair of answers – since the entry is an anagram of the two words combined and is unclued, there is very little chance that we will be able to enter it until we have a handle on the theme. Six down clues must each have three consecutive letters removed before they can be solved – these are to be used in clue order, so if we can get a couple of trios from clues which are close together then we may be able to work out what is being spelt out and thus, perhaps, what we need to look for in the other similar clues. When we solve these clues, the answers can be entered normally.

Across

12a    African blade docking ape twice (4)
The ape, perhaps more often seen as an adjective meaning ‘ape-like’, must twice have its tail removed.

15a    Something drawn up with bad intent (4)
A 1+3 charade produces the name of something that could indeed be ‘drawn up’, as well as proved or contested.

17a    Note extremes for Verdi in most of every chorus in Il Trovatore? (5)
Involved in the wordplay here are a single-letter abbreviation, a first/last letter selection, and a word deprived of its last letter. Regarding the definition, I imagine that I can hear a particular crossword editor saying “It isn’t a chorus, it’s the name given to a chorus’. Technically he’d be right, of course, but we all know what Kcit is banging on about.

23a    Impudent behaviour from local woman, extra large (4)
I can’t recall anyone other than myself using ‘extra’, a preposition meaning ‘outside’, as a containment indicator – my first thought was that our setter here had joined that exclusive club, but on reflection I concluded that it could simply be meant to suggest that the abbreviation for ‘large’ on the local woman’s rear end should be repeated. The required abbreviation is one of those inexplicable omissions from Chambers, along with S=small, though not M=medium, and L=live and N=neutral, but not E=earth. I gather that the next edition of Chambers is ‘likely to be published in the next couple of years’ – I would like to think that the abbreviations therein will have been given a thorough overhaul, but I suspect it’s unlikely.

25a    Military figure occupying house rejected wages (7)
The ‘military figure’ is identified by three initials, and could be a corporal or a sergeant, while the other component of the wordplay is an informal term used to describe a house of a particular type. The verb ‘reject’ is derived from the Latin for ‘throw back’, and that is the sense required here, although Chambers doesn’t include that meaning and OED shows it as ‘rare’.

28a  Obscure Conservative restricting Government (5)
The ‘Conservative’ has been deceptively capitalized, the four-letter word that we seek being a derogatory term for the sort of person personified by Colonel Blimp.

30a  Easy thing to install power duct – audibly questions amount of power (9)
The underlining is a bit of a giveaway here, while the second wordplay is a homophone of a rather unusual sort.

35a    Old film to stop holding water, on reflection (6)
The answer here is an old, informal term for a three-dimensional film, as opposed to a ‘flattie’.

36a    Western film not featuring source of horse sound (4)
The name of a 1953 film starring Alan Ladd must have a single letter removed.

Down

3d    First Italy upheld ancient language, then Italy invested in it (7)
The wordplay needs to be interpreted along the lines of  ‘Italy, ancient language upheld with Italy invested in it’.

5d    Shopper not entirely accepting metre or other metric units (5)
The ‘shopper’ here is indeed someone who shops, but at the police station rather than Asda.

6d    OPEC output to thwart maintaining rise in European currency (7, two words)
In the wordplay, ‘maintaining’ is used in the sense of ‘securing’, and the currency would be useful in Romania or Moldova.

7d    Near archaic Magus abandoning soul Goth will lose heart (5)
The indicator ‘abandoning’ is a handy one for setters, as ‘X abandoning Y’ can mean either that X is omitted from Y or that Y is omitted from X; here it is the former, with a five-letter word for the soul losing two letters that are in plain view…after a fashion. The second part of the wordplay sees a word that is truly in plain view dropping a couple of letters.

19d    Is unable to handle match in regional division? Not any more (7)
The wordplay in this clue can be considered as a single entity leading to a (4,3) phrase.

22d    Motorway diversion keeping one climbing and turning (7)
The first two words in the wordplay lead to a single letter and to a five-letter word which describes a diversion, but definitely not the sort that starts with a ‘Road Ahead Closed’ sign and ends in total confusion.

Definitions in clues are underlined

Unless you guess the theme from the title, there are three possible ways in – the peripheral quotation (minus THE and IS), the unclued entry at 19½ across, or the omitted triplets. As it happens, the first pair of triplets did it for me, but the high proportion of checked letters in the others means that no-one should have too much trouble establishing the theme without reference to external sources. That might not be true of the entries derived from the double clues, which you may well need assistance to validate unless you are extremely familiar with Tom and his doings. Depending on what reference you consult, you might feel that one of the ‘fictional’ solutions is actually a real one, while one of the ‘real’ ones may be fictional.

The relatively gentle and very fair (though often nicely deceptive) clues meant that the solve proceeded steadily. The pleasingly accessible theme was not hard to spot, and the double clues served to confirm the unchecked letters in the relevant entries. And what of Gemini? Well, I suppose he didn’t do too badly given that it turned out to have been a pretty tough ask.

Phibs Toughness Rating : 🥾🥾/🥾🥾🥾 (Not a trivial solve, but suitable for all)

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