Enigmatic Variations 1678 (Hints)
Local Disturbance by Cranberry
Hints and tips by Phibs
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My most recent experience of cranberry was in an M&S Christmas Sando (very nice), but now we have a puzzle by a setter of that name.
‘Cranberry’ (or ‘craneberry’) is a relatively recent introduction to the English language; the fruits were known to early herbalists by names such as ‘marsh-whorts’ or ‘fen-berries’. It would seem that the term originated in the American colonies and crossed the pond along with the (larger, obviously) American cranberry. I wonder if we can expect something tasty – and saucy – today?
Preamble: Clashes in 13 cells can be resolved to help reveal, obliquely, either a LOCAL DISTURBANCE or a thematic question. Select the question, thus eliminating the problem, and thematically modify four answers (of a kind) to illustrate its answer (30 cells), involving characters well-placed to deal with the issue. Enumerations refer to grid entries, which include non-words after thematic treatment. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.
Thirteen clashes, and four ‘thematic modifications’ prior to entry. The bit about the enumerations suggests that the modified answers will undergo a length change, so we need to be looking out for answers of the ‘wrong’ length. The only lights longer than nine letters are four of thirteen letters, and their clues seem very short compared to others in the puzzle. Hmmmm…
For puzzles where clashes are involved, I recommend simply cracking on with entering the answers – in pencil – as you get them, but trying always to keep in mind (at least until a pattern of clashes emerges) that no checkers can be entirely trusted.
Across
1a Stumbles over when drinking the first bottle (13)
We start off with a reversal and the containment of a Roman ordinal, seen in the names of British monarchs (though not during their lifetime).
14a Picked up cool cat in a Rolls-Royce (13)
I am no fan of partial homophones, particularly when they lead, as here, to a non-word (since no-one knows how any given non-word would be pronounced). It might seem that you are looking for a series of letters which would sound like an adjective, but in the cryptic reading ‘cool’ is a verb. Incidentally, the second element of the wordplay can’t be part of the homophone, because its pronunciation doesn’t match the second syllable of the answer.
17a Previously asserted cruel lover “just a little mixed up at heart” (6)
I think the ‘cruel lover’ whose heart gets mixed up might more accurately be described as a ‘cruelty lover’. The qualifier ‘previously’ indicates that the answer is shown by Chambers as archaic.
19a Welcome change for those attending church’s top table (9, two words)
Another homophone, but this one leads to two real words, the same pair that form the answer.
21a Lady perhaps rolling joint shortly after noon (5)
The ‘joint’ which follows a single-letter abbreviation undergoes two cryptic manipulations. The ‘perhaps’ tells us that ‘Lady’ is a definition by example.
23a Poet’s completed prime selection of poetry (3)
A prime is a number, other than one, divisible only by itself or one…
33a Milk shortage leaving Ken Bruce, initially, fuming: black tea again! (9)
Convention suggests that in a subtractive anagram there should be two anagram indicators when the string to be removed does not appear ‘as is’ in the main fodder. Here we only have one, and the punctuation seems to imply that a second one is missing from the end of the clue.
43a In epitome of treachery, America turns to old creep (5)
One single letter abbreviation is replaced by another.
44a There’s no sunlight in this part of the Highlands (13)
You’ll probably need to get the answer from the first definition before consulting Chambers to check out another word with the same spelling. Since ‘part’ isn’t a noun in the cryptic reading, the word ‘of’ would ideally be something like ‘in’ or ‘from’.
Down
2d Pop? House? Every so often, we choose smooth rock (8)
The first two words each deliver two letters to the answer, with the rest of the wordplay contributing the last four.
4d It jams Tube line: railway workers enthralled (8)
There are four wordplay elements involved here, the longest (at three letters) corresponding to ‘tube’. The verb ‘jam’ is one of very few (‘assume’ being another) which yield dual-purpose indicators for both containment and insertion; here the ‘jams’ has the sense of ‘blocks’.
5d Floor covering about right for diner? (6)
The wordplay has a five-letter word ‘covering’ (ie clothing) a single-letter abbreviation. Chambers would seem to suggest that the definition is valid, but in truth it should be more along the lines of ‘right to graze’.
8d Star turned up at international festival’s close in typically 80s style? (8)
The words ‘turned’ and ‘up’ are part of different wordplay elements, indicating similar manipulations to two words in plain view. Don’t forget that in barred puzzles hyphenated answers are enumerated as single words, so WORD-FINDER would be shown as ‘(10)’; in some crosswords (such as Azed), apostrophes are still mentioned in the enumerations, but the modern trend is to ignore them.
20d Suppressing indication of primitive urge to catch animal (5)
The key to resolving the wordplay here is to insert a comma between ‘primitive’ and ‘urge’. The ‘indication of primitive’ leads not to a word but to a two-letter prefix (hence the ‘indication’ bit) meaning ‘primitive’.
22d Large amounts of goods, number unknown so far (8)
The ‘of’ is there simply to link the definition to the wordplay, the latter producing elements of 4, 1, 1 and 2 letters – those who know a bit of Latin (or remember Julian and Sandy in Round the Horne) will be at an advantage when it comes to the first of these.
24d More astute in Conservative Party elevated former leader (8)
It is generally considered acceptable to deceptively put an initial capital on a word which does not require it in the cryptic reading, as with ‘Tube’ in 4d and ‘Party’ here. Whether the UK’s head of state is the country’s ‘leader’ might be open to debate.
31d Pressing at the bottom is usual way of working gadget (5)
‘Pressing at the rear’ would be more to my taste as the first element of this 1+2+2 wordplay, given that the word ‘Pressing’ appears horizontally in the clue.
36d Fairy-bluebirds flying in cut-off area (5)
There is no requirement for setters to flag up proper nouns which do not appear in Chambers; I couldn’t find this one in any dictionary, but it’s readily verifiable on the web.
Definitions in clues are underlined
It will probably become clear quite quickly which answers require modification prior to entry, with the general nature of the changes following a little later. The cells with clashes should also start to form a pattern; clashes in puzzles are often limited to one per entry, but here a single entry is doubly affected, so two of its checkers are false. One possible way into the endgame is to identify enough letters in the new part of one or two entries to work out what is being added. If you’re familiar with the theme, a light bulb may already have gone on; otherwise, some googling will be required. Alternatively, once you’ve found a good proportion of the clashes (particularly those to the left of the grid), and the meaning of that ‘obliquely’ in the preamble has been revealed, you should be able to find a permutation of the ‘either/or’ letters which – including one letter common to both messages – will spell out something meaningful; the unselected letters will produce another sequence of words. Even if, like me, you’re not au fait with the central work, the phrase which constitutes a question should ring a bell. Make sure that it is this question which occupies the ‘disputed’ cells in the final grid (note that there will be non-words involved here in addition to the four answers modified on entry).
The clues seemed to have something of a ‘back page’ feel, and there were some reasonably chewy ones among them; the clashes meant that several entries had only half of their letters checked, which added to the difficulty.
Phibs Toughness Rating : 🥾🥾🥾🥾 (Some pretty challenging clues, made trickier by the entry gimmicks. Not one for novices)
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A two-day event for sure. Whilst there were a few gimmes the clues were, indeed, somewhat chewy and I failed to solve 1d until after the endgame. Had I done I would probably have twigged [from 14a] what was going on with the 4 clues to be modified a bit earlier. “Obliquely” was a kind help to interpretation of the clashes and revealed an eminently Googlable catchphrase as key to the endgame. The rest followed, as per…
The impressive construction was matched by the sense of achievement on finishing the thing. Thanks to Cranberry and thanks to Phibs for hints to the chewiest.
Still in the messy middle with this and suspect something’s afoot with those 13-letter entries. A few more nights’ sleep might do the trick. Well done to those who have already solved this. 👍