EV 1645 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
View closed comments 

EV 1645 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1645 (Hints)

First Edition by Vismut

Hints and tips by Phibs

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This week I asked Gemini, “Why might a crossword setter have chosen the pseudonym ‘Vismut’?”

The response was as follows:

“There are a couple of reasons why a crossword setter might have chosen the pseudonym ‘Vismut’:

V is for Victory – Pseudonyms for crossword setters often follow a theme and some setters use a pseudonym that starts with V. Vismut could be a way to incorporate a V while also using a more obscure word.
Chemical Element – Vismut is the German word for Bismuth, a brittle metal element. This could be a clue to the setter’s profession or interests, or it could be a random but interesting word the setter liked.
Place Name – Vismut is also the name of an Erzgebirge mountain range in Germany. Again, this could be a clue to the setter’s location or interests, or it could simply be a word the setter found appealing.

Without further context it’s difficult to know for sure why the setter chose “Vismut” but these are some possible explanations.”

The pseudonyms of another EV setter makes me think that the first eXplanation is plausible, but since (and stop me if I’ve mentioned this before) my university thesis was all about bismuth molybdate, I’d like the right answer to be number 2. If it’s to do with the mountain range, then, as Les Dennis used to say on Family Fortunes, “I’ll give you the money meself”.

Preamble: Starting to the right of the blue square, the name of a FIRST EDITION, published by the unclued entry, completes the perimeter. The first letter of an extra word in each clue hints at what to look for and how to cryptically represent the theme in the completed grid. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended

Just one gimmick – every clue has an extra word. It’s implicit with this type of clue that the extra word must be removed prior to solving, ie it actively interferes with the workings of the clue. So in a clue like “Large striped cat? I get alarmed and run” for TIGER [(I GET)* + R], ‘large’ and ‘striped’ are not essential, but they accurately qualify the definition and are not ‘extra words’; however,  in “Large domestic cat? I get alarmed and run”, ‘domestic’ invalidates the definition and is therefore an ‘extra word’ that must be removed. Similarly, in “Large striped cat? I stupidly get alarmed and run”, ‘stupidly’ is the extra word, not ‘large’ or ‘striped’. When seeking the stowaways, look out for words that appear infrequently in clues, and don’t forget that the extra word might be found anywhere in the clue, even part-way through a wordplay element (eg ‘first to reach moon’ for M, extra word ‘reach’, or ‘in the locked attic’ for HEAT, extra word ‘locked’).

Keep track of the first letters of those extra words, and watch for words emerging in the message – these can be very helpful when it comes to identifying the extra words in unsolved clues, which then become easier to parse.

Across

7a    Light Indian meal starter of egg, Charlie’s put out for Joe Blake (5)
A single letter is ‘put out’ from a (5+1) combination. If you don’t ‘come from a land down under’, Chambers will help you with the definition.

8a    Beef extract lake that locally is huge (6)
A (1+2+3) charade leads to the name of a scientist who gave his name to both a beef extract and the sort of water-cooled condenser that I used many times in my chemistry days.

10a    Uncle P cut greenery and flowers (7)
Somewhat unusually, a single letter in the clue leads to a word which is used to represent it verbally, while the greenery that must be ‘cut [off at the end]’ is a term from forest law, describing the vegetation in a wood or forest which is capable of serving as cover for deer.

15a    Mark rag rugs on the counter up 50% (5)
The phrase ‘on the counter’ indicates the reversal of the element which it follows; ‘50%’ likewise applies to the preceding word, this time just as it appears in the clue.

22a    Never squirt Scottish cycling fools (5)
This one is ambiguous, as either of the elements flanking the ‘cycling’ could be having letters moved from end to start to produce the word defined by the other. The underlining indicates which is which, while leaving the stowaway somewhat ‘out on a limb’.

27a    Previously shrank from Father Ted coming back with change of heart (5)
A five-letter word is ‘coming back’, and it is left to the solver to work out what letter must replace its ‘heart’.

29a    Keen on Mark Black before emerald put into vault (6)
A (4+1+1) charade leads to a variant spelling of a familiar word, given by Chambers as ‘obsolete’, hence the ‘before’ qualifying the definition.

31a    Admirer half Latin, of Rome itself (3)
The admirer is specifically ‘a man seeking the love of a woman, or her hand in marriage’, and mentally swapping the first two words in the clue will clarify the wordplay.

Down

3d    Month borderless countries twice partitioned off state (9)
Here a four-letter abbreviation combines with a seven-letter word deprived of its ‘borders’.

4d    Afterthought about drink for elephant toads (5)
The ‘drink’ is a three-letter acronym for a type of beer with a higher than usual alcohol and hop content, intended to help preserve it as it made its slow journey to the colonies.

5d    Core fruit regardless of recommended recipe for balloon-vine (8)
A five-letter word combines with a four-letter one missing a single letter. The answer looks as though it ought at least to be hyphenated, but Chambers gives it as a single word.

6d    Heard someone cry in row (4)
The word which is a soundalike for the answer is a relatively recent addition to Chambers, an intransitive verb shown as ‘chiefly US’ and a rough synonym for the single word which indicates it in the clue

17d    Common carp, when beheaded, very smelly fish (9)
The tricky thing here is working out what’s what; having identified the definition, the stowaway stands out more obviously, as it has clearly been chosen to reinforce the ‘fishy’ context of the clue. The two wordplay elements contribute 6 and 3 letters to the answer respectively.

20d    Cavalcade opening as big fight stripped trees (8)
The answer is made up of three elements, none of them more than three letters.

24d    River spectacles returning around Long Island with special open boats (7)
The three-letter English river whose ‘stealthy flowings’ Coleridge wrote about is manipulated together with the ‘spectacles’, these being the sort that would represent abject failure for a batter in both innings of a cricket match. Two of the last four words in the wordplay have single letter abbreviations, but ‘Long’ isn’t one of them (according to Chambers, if not M&S).

Definitions in clues are underlined

The high proportion of checked letters around the perimeter, combined with the known starting point and direction of travel, should make it relatively easy to get at least enough of the work’s name that Google (note: other search engines are available) will confirm the full title and author, though it may well be that, like me, you work out the name of the author first. By interpreting the first word of the message as an indication of what to look for in the grid, and the rest as an instruction about what to do with it, the necessary enhancement to the completed grid should be clear. The unchecked perimeter letters can be rearranged to spell out GAINS EAR FROM COSTA (there are several alternatives, mostly unsuitable for publication).

A puzzle where all the difficulty lay in the clues, stemming in large part from the gimmick that involved arbitrary (apart from the first letter) extra words and the low proportion (ie less than two-thirds) of letters checked by other clued answers in the great majority of entries.

Phibs Toughness Rating : 🥾🥾/🥾🥾🥾 (Once the clues have been dealt with, the endgame is straightforward)


Could new readers please read the Welcome post and the FAQ before posting comments or asking questions about the site.

As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES in your comment.

Please read these instructions carefully – they are not subject to debate or discussion. Offending comments may be redacted or, in extreme cases, deleted. In all cases the administrator’s decision is final.


2 comments on “EV 1645 (Hints)

  1. A nice reminder of an obscure yet noteworthy publication. Nice logical clues and not too difficult endgame
    Thanks to Vismut and Phibs

  2. As you note Phibs the low checkers count didn’t help solve some quite tricky clues. The author’s name was clear enough and sufficient for Google to identify the title. The coloured square was the best hint to the endgame. A nice theme, reminding us of important work.
    Thanks for the hints and thanks to Vismut for the challenge.
    Apologies if this [or something similar] posts twice – my browser is having a moment.

Comments are closed.