EV 1679 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1679 (Hints)
No Introduction by Gaston
Hints and tips by Gabriel

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I often wonder how pre-”everything is available online” generations managed to solve thematic puzzles.  I suppose that the answer is that puzzle construction and puzzle decoding have co-evolved.  Compilers must now assume that “full text” searching is at their solvers’ fingertips but in the past could only rely on access to hardcopy indexes.  Or perhaps our ancestors were simply better educated and certainly had better actual libraries.

In any event, this puzzle led me to a long session researching the theme – in fact, I spent far more time reading than solving.  The title wasn’t much help, though after much wikipedia archaeology it does make sense.

Though the puzzle might require no introduction, I think it’s only fair to introduce my solving partner Jpeg who also happens to be a work colleague in Munich but of the American persuasion.  Thanks!

Preamble: The puzzle requires NO INTRODUCTION. Six thematic nouns (one hyphenated) are hidden in the completed grid; unclued entries give four thematically connected adjectives. Five of the former and one of the latter (37 cells in total) must be highlighted to give a pictorial representation of the theme. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

It’s helpful that the clues themselves are “normal” (to the extent cryptic clues can be classified as normal) which means that the main challenge is figuring out the four unclued entries.  Once you have two or three of them, just use “full text search”.

Clues:

Across
9  Plant almost concealing silver items left on seabed (5)
Two wordplay elements here – the obvious abbreviation for “silver” inside something.  “Almost” almost always indicates removing the last letter (sometimes called “detailing”) — and this is no exception.  The 4-letter word thus affected is a transitive verb.

13 Note about Caribbean music (4)
This is just a two-element charade of a Julie Andrews note followed by the well-known abbreviation for “about”.  The music genre was unfamiliar to me I’m ashamed to say.

15 Gaston’s left load (6)
The definition has a perhaps unfamiliar tech sense, also make sure you know who compiled the puzzle.  The reference is not to “Beauty and the Beast”.

17 Oven is regularly elsewhere (4)
Believe the math (“regularly” implies either even or odd letters) and check the only option in the BRB (The Big Red Book)  to reveal an unusual word for the definition.

24 Agency’s recalled vessel (4)
Remember to ignore punctuation and a very common crossword agency that James Bond didn’t join.  Likewise, you might need to confirm the answer in the BRB.

28 Having no issue with a bath (3)
File the two-letter abbreviation for the first three words under “Latin abbreviations you should know”.

34 Lots of love accepted for Charlie’s TV sister (4)
For non-Brit residents, this might require a bit of research into children’s television shows. The two wordplay elements are both abbreviations: the first a TLA that is definitely from the “everything is available online” era.

36 Maybe Shylock, in Measure and Measure, becomes thinner (11)
A containment clue: <something> in <something>.  I would have expected the American spelling of the definition to have been signaled. In the wordplay, recall that “maybe” is often used to indicate “this is an example thereof”.  The containment indicator is a short word that is literally easy to miss.

 

Down
1 A record including rock music from India (5)
In the wordplay, the two-letter rock appearing very early in the dictionary is a very useful “crosswordish” contributor.  Also, the underlining clarifies the need to lift and separate “rock music” which otherwise might mislead.

2 Contracted Bob, perhaps, to wonder no longer (5)
The Bob in question is a musical legend whose name must be reduced by a letter to give an archaic form of a verb.

5 Possibly Lauren is one causing chaos in printing house (5)
This is a double definition where the first can be found on Fifth Avenue and the second is a boy’s name associated with mischief.

12 Time in France set up for old Mexican (6)
Your knowledge of European timezones will help here.  And “up” is a useful reversal indicator in down clues. I had to use “phone a friend” for parsing help.

19 Vitality raised in kiss is benefit for OAP (7, two words)
For non-Brits this benefit might not be obvious. The wordplay has a reversal (this is a down cue) inside a 4-letter synonym of a kiss.

23 Drinks snaring Republican monstrosity (5)
Not another 5-letter name that you might be thinking of.

27 Diana maybe has one for Valentino? (5)
A couple of famous first names, the first one mega-famous but once you’ve figured her out, it’s a small matter of Googling to find the other.

Definitions in clues are underlined

Once you’ve identified the theme, then it will be pretty obvious what you need to find hidden in the grid. There is some overlap between the adjectives and nouns but you will end up highlighting something that indeed sort of looks like the image described by the theme. You can confirm of course by ensuring that you have indeed 37 cells. Once I had done this, I went off to wikipedia to try to understand the title.  Which I think perhaps I have.

Toughness: 2.5 out of 4 on the difficulty scale (if you want to understand the title).

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