EV 1658 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1658 (Hints)

Pseudonym by Gaston

Hints and tips by The Numpties

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This will be Gaston’s 29th EV crossword. He has been setting two or three a year for ten years, so you will probably have solved his crosswords before and know what a range of themes he handles – and that you are in good hands.

Preamble:  Clues are presented in normal order, but there are nine unclued entries. One is the theme’s creator; the other eight comprise the seven members of a thematic group, with one member covering two entries. 22 clues each contain a single-letter misprint. Read in clue order, the correct letters produce two names; the first eleven (all from across clues) spell out the theme’s central character, thought to be a PSEUDONYM for the eleven-letter second name (all from down clues). Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended. 

With no word lengths or clue numbers, we were somewhat nonplussed, especially when we read that there were going to be nine unclued entries in our final grid. We hoped they would be in a symmetrical pattern to give us some help as we went along. Somebody had ‘created’ the theme. Would this be a song or a literary work? Then we read that 22 clues would contain misprints and clearly these could be in any part of the clue – not just, say, in the definition. We had to identify the correct letters and spot some kind of PSEUDONYM. Gaston was not giving us an easy task. Nothing to do but solve.

Rotors having to remain inside poles
We remember that we are looking for a misprint somewhere in more than two-thirds of the clues. The word for ‘remain’ was  a short one that went into the longer one giving us an unusual Scottish form of ‘poles’.

Samuel upsetting those who explain the law
The underlining of the definition will help solvers here.

Jobs maybe involving one Scottish farm
‘Jobs’ maybe hints at somewhat familiar ‘Jobs’ and ‘one’ had to go into the word to give the Scottish word. (Remember that misprints appear in most of the clues.)

One who can’t tackle life at the end
Simply put together words for ‘life’ and ‘at the end’ to give this answer.

Disease of barmy partners
Again the underlining prompts solvers that there are two clue elements, the second being two of the usual ‘partners’ used in crosswords.

Cover sand near to land
Gaston has been subtle with a misprint here, and has played with a homophone.

Endless disgustingly boiled fish
‘Endless’ suggests not that we will be served tasteless fish interminably, but that we must adapt the word that the disgusting term suggests to produce the fish.

Fellow hosting uplifting broadcast concerning antiseptic treatment
‘Hosting’ here, was a container indicator. The word for ‘broadcast’ had to be ‘uplifting’ (prompting us that this was a down clue) and it was ‘hosted’ by the longer word giving us a term that reminded us of the person who developed the earliest antiseptic treatment. The length of this solution might help solvers who are struggling because of the numerous unclued entries.

Two notes for self in part of the Baltic
Just two notes put together to produce something you might need in one of the Baltic nations.

Staggers and tampers with fish not caught
Of course, we are still looking for misprints to correct. We realize that the abbreviation for ‘caught’ must be removed from a longer word to give the ‘staggers’.

With energy at rock bottom, send message: “corn expired“
We remember that ‘expired’ can be prompting us that a word is obsolete. Again, we are obviously dealing with a down clue where ‘energy is at rock bottom’. The ‘send message’ is the usual one most of us do every day.

There you are! Swap over current and on stage she’s dressed as a man!
Gaston combines a French word with a Shakespearean reference here and the ‘current’ brings in a bit of technology.

Old marketplace overlooking top white mall in Delhi
The ‘old marketplace’ appears frequently in crosswords. Here we needed to ‘overlook its top’ to give us a word that was new to us.

Of course, it was difficult to place the first answers we had, but solving became easier as we progressed and some very familiar names appeared in what looked likely to be the nine unclueds. Such a well-loved ear-worm has been haunting me since the penny dropped and I have had to listen to it (with pleasure – what a fine creation!) to complete some of the other unclueds and work out what the theme’s central character has to do with the more famous second name.

Do please send in your entry and add your comments here and to the setters’ blogs that are appearing on Big Dave’s site on Thursdays and to the detailed blogs that also appear on Thursdays on  fifteensquared.

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