EV 1680 (Hints) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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EV 1680 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1680 (Hints)

Double Acts by Ifor

Hints and tips by Phibs

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Hoping to make a flying start, I asked ChatGPT, “A puzzle involves two ‘double acts’ with a connection of some kind. What might these two double acts be?”

As usual, ChatGPT was not short on ideas:

The term “double acts” typically refers to famous pairs in comedy, entertainment, or history. Given that the puzzle mentions a connection between the two double acts, they might share a common theme, such as nationality, time period, or type of entertainment. Here are a few possible pairs of double acts with potential connections:

Laurel and Hardy & Morecambe and Wise. Connection: Both are famous comedy duos with a significant influence on British humor [sic].

The Wright Brothers & Orville and Wilbur Wright. Connection: Both are actually the same historical pair, emphasizing a play on names.

Tom and Jerry & Itchy and Scratchy. Connection: Both pairs involve cartoon rivalries with a slapstick humor style.

Simon and Garfunkel & Lennon and McCartney. Connection: Both are famous musical duos from the 20th century.

I have pruned the list somewhat, but you get the idea. If the ‘double acts’ turn out to be the Wright brothers & Orville and Wilbur Wright I will, as Les Dennis used to say on Family Fortunes, “give you the money meself”.

Preamble: Answers to all across clues except those to the top and bottom rows must be changed to new words or names in one of two ways. The relationship displayed by answer / entry pairs, together with four of the remaining across entries, will lead solvers to two descriptions involving DOUBLE ACTS to be written under the grid. Numbers in brackets count spaces available. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; 10 is in Collins.

No clue gimmicks, and the answers for all the down clues as well as the first three and last three across clues can be put straight into the grid as we get them. We’ll have to keep track of the other across answers until we work out the two entry methods, but we know that the entries themselves will be real words (with at least one proper noun among them). It looks as though length changes will be involved for some or all of the modified answers.

Across

4a  Established Church concealing irrational monster (4)
There are only two ‘irrationals’ (ie irrational numbers) likely to turn up in crosswords – one is represented by the symbol ‘e’ and often indicated by ‘base’, while the symbol for the other has a two-letter name.

11a  Someone pitching rings exactly right when gripping one (6)
The ‘one’ which is being ‘gripped’ is not, as you might initially think, an A or an I, but another single letter representing one of those ‘rings’ mentioned earlier in the clue.

18a  Late to start changes in first sign of astrologers (4)
I can’t remember coming across ‘late to start’ before as an indication that the first letter of a word should be omitted.

26a  Return regularly junked freebee paper when slightly damaged (7)
The first wordplay element here is a three-letter abbreviation corresponding to the first word in the clue; the next three words deliver the remainder of the answer.

31a  Broken promise to quit worsened change in Samoa (5)
The ‘quitting’ here involves one, er, word being removed (in two parts, hence the ‘broken’) from a word in plain view, thus producing the answer.

35a  Privy to number halving on the spot (5, two words)
A two-letter abbreviation is ‘halving’ (dividing into two equal pieces) a word for, among many other things, ‘on the spot’ (a meaning given by Chambers with the sense, I think, of ‘at the place in question’).

36a I go to France, returning on this, possibly (4)
In the 1+2+2 wordplay, you need to separate the ‘I’ and the ‘go’, mentally replace ‘go to France’ with ‘go! in France’, and don’t try to make the French verb agree with the English pronoun. The definition should be interpreted in the Gallic context established by the wordplay.

38a  Safe call for Trump (5)
It is usually considered acceptable to deceptively capitalize a word in a clue which does not require a capital in the cryptic reading (the reverse, removing the capital from a word – eg putting ‘nice man’ when the cryptic reading leads to HOMME – is not allowed). The first word defined here will be familiar to solvers who have a sideline as safe-blowers, while the second will be known to bridge and whist aficionados, although only the latter will associate this precise meaning with it.

Down

3d  Single market upset US citizen from Mexico’s perspective (7)
A combination of two words is manipulated, the second of them being a crossword regular, a ‘chiefly Scots’ word for a public weighing-machine and, by association, the place where one was set up, ie a market-place.

4d  Housewife discovered duties to perform (4)
The term ‘discovered’ is used with its obsolete sense of ‘deprived of covering’, while the final meaning of ‘housewife’ given by Chambers is relevant.

6d  Limits of cover held in suspect issue (8)
You might think that ‘held in’ would indicate an insertion, but in fact the words (or the letters thereof) need to be used without any interpretation.

8d  Root potato twisted snail’s tongue (6)
The ‘root’ leads to a three-letter abbreviation of a Latin word used in mathematics. The ‘potato’ (which must be twisted) is a less common spelling of a four-letter word from Indian cookery, often seen alongside ‘sag’.

13d  Former favourite corgi accepted when barking thus (8)
The anagram indicated by ‘barking’ includes a single-letter abbreviation and is followed by a two-letter word.

15d  Promoter of sugar uptake sent free sample after taking fine line (8)
The anagram fodder here has two single-letter abbreviations removed. The ‘roused to ecstasy’ meaning of ‘sent’ could perhaps suggest derangement.

19d  Series half-right after they uncovered unorthodoxies (8)
If something is half-right, then it must also be half-wrong, in other words only one half of it needs to be corrected. I suspect that ‘unorthodoxy’ is actually one of those abstract (uncountable) nouns like ‘probity’ which has no plural.

23d  Two networks (one local) in regression happening again and again (7)
Not only is one of the networks local, it is also a three-letter abbreviation. The other is likely to be made up of blood vessels or nerves.

Definitions in clues are underlined

After solving a couple of the ‘answer to be modified’ clues and getting a few crossers (remembering that all entries are real words), it should become clear what is going on, and that the choice of mechanism depends on the length of the answer. The modifications alone may not enable you to complete the final step, but those ‘four of the remaining across entries’ will surely get you over the line, even if only one pair is known to you and a little googling is needed. The formatting of the space under the grid indicates how the descriptions are to be combined and entered – note that the underline before the slash is longer than the one after it.

A nicely constructed puzzle – it’s always good to see a final grid containing only real words. I was familiar with the double acts involved, and although I well remember one of the partnerships coming to an untimely end, I was very surprised to find that it had lasted only just over a year. While the Wright brothers were clearly Wrong, I don’t think we could have expected ChatGPT to get much closer to the answer. But DeepSeek would surely have made short work of it…

Phibs Toughness Rating : 🥾🥾🥾/🥾🥾🥾🥾 (Tricky, but suitable for anyone with themed puzzle experience)


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3 comments on “EV 1680 (Hints)
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  1. Completing the grid yesterday evening was achievement enough. Some very chewy and extremely ingenious clues made solving the crossword great fun. Today was Google day and one double act eventually emerged, followed by a lightbulb moment and more Googling to confirm the other double act. Very clever: very enjoyable.
    Thanks Ifor and Phibs.

  2. Tough one this….really needed the hints to get going. I managed to spot two of the names fairly easily and then twigged you had to do what you did in the rest of the puzzle to get to the other pairing – who I had completely forgotten about! Used to love them back in the day! My stumbling block was that even with Phibs’s hint I couldn’t get 38a …I had ‘ lever’ in…which is a bridge term …but not the right one at all. Very clever puzzle!

  3. I got one of the word changes early on, and then the other by a touch of logic which worked. Only later did I remember to make two pairs of names. The theme then became obvious, though I had to check one of them – it was so long ago. Had to give it rest though in order to complete the trickier clues. Just hoping I have the correct answers.
    Thx to Ifor and Phibs

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