EV 1732 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1732 (Hints)

Protection by Check

Hints and tips by Phibs

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

In July 2022, I stepped in for five weeks to give the Numpties an extremely well-deserved break. Little did I know that in February 2026 I would be doing my 100th EV blog…

Of the puzzles for which I’ve provided hints, I’ve enjoyed different ones for different reasons, though it’s fair to say that, irrespective of the quality of the thematic material, I would always prefer a puzzle with well-written clues of a difficulty level that will challenge but not defeat solvers – a brilliant endgame is wasted if people don’t get to enjoy it. I certainly wouldn’t like to pick a favourite from among the hundred, but there are two puzzles that have perhaps lingered longest in my memory – ‘One Hundred with Seven Inside’, which celebrated the EV reaching number 1700 by giving us stranded prepositions to deal with, and ‘Aircon’, in which we were asked to reconstruct the scene in The Great Escape where Steve McQueen repeatedly bounces his baseball off the cell wall.

To all the setters who have entertained me thus far, I say, “Thank you, keep up the good work!” And to those readers who think they might like to have a go at setting an EV, I say, “Do!” If you have any questions about how to get started in barred puzzle setting, drop me an email at the address that’s on my profile (https://bigdave44.com/about/meet-the-bloggers/) or leave a comment on one of my EV blogs.

Preamble: Two unclued entries frame a thematic location. Ten clues must have single words removed before solving. Extra words from across clues identify a thematic individual. Extra words from down clues identify five words to be highlighted, all in the same direction (17 cells). Finally, part of the thematic location (appropriately shaped) must be highlighted along with the abbreviated PROTECTION of the individual, in an appropriate position (10 cells). Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

Just one gimmick to deal with – in ten (unspecified) clues a word must be removed before the clue can be properly solved. For example, in the clue ‘Restraint that’s shown by comic confronting heckler’ for CHECK, the word ‘confronting’ must be removed in order to reveal the hiding place ‘comiC HECKler’. The word “that’s” is technically superfluous, but the clue can be solved satisfactorily irrespective of whether it is there or not, so it doesn’t count as an ‘extra’ word.

Our first challenge is to solve the clues, fill the grid (hoping that we’ll be able to guess the two unchecked letters in each of the unclued entries), and keep track of the extra words. Note that although the preamble says that the extra words in the down clues identify five words to be highlighted, we can’t assume that there will therefore be five extra words in the down clues (spoiler alert: there won’t).

Across

15a  Maybe impression from pony and trap crossing farm ground (8)
The ‘trap’ is the sort that might catch a single fish; the remainder of the wordplay includes a containment indicator and an anagram indicator. Don’t forget that in the EV hyphenated answers are enumerated as single words, so TON-UP would be shown as ‘(5)’.

16a  Rejects son after desire to carry gun loses daughter (7)
If you mentally replace ‘desire to carry gun loses daughter’ with ‘desire, which is carrying gun, loses daughter’, the part of the wordplay which leads to the entire answer apart from the single-letter abbreviation on the end should become clearer.

18a  Credit to Scotch blend breaking borders (3)
The ‘breaking borders’ indicates the removal of the outer letters.

28a  Drop uncertain editor’s case out of High Court division (6)
The convention of underlining the definition leaves one word rather out on a limb here. The wordplay has an eight-letter word losing two letters taken from another word in the clue.

32a  Canadian author’s letter from Athens put in writing uncovered (5)
There aren’t too many Greek letters to choose from for the start of the answer, but the tricky bit is finding the familiar five-letter word, with a less familiar meaning (in Chambers) of ‘put into writing’, which must lose its first and last letters (‘uncovered’) – something like ‘sign up’ would be closer to its modern sense. The author is remembered particularly for her short stories.

Down

9d  Express disapproval over largely deliberate riot (6)
The three-letter word for ‘express disapproval’ describes the sort of thing that I imagine Bertie Wooster’s Aunt Agatha doing; ‘over’ is a containment indicator (not a favourite of mine, it must be said); and ‘deliberate’ in the cryptic reading is a verb.

17d  Auction’s listing British artist’s paintbrushes (6)
The key to this wordplay is knowing that Chambers gives one meaning of ‘list[2]’ as ‘to border’.

22d  Aircraft almost bagging second Dutch warship (7)
Here the aircraft is an unmanned variety, and the ‘second’ leads not to a single-letter abbreviation but to a two-letter ‘informal’ one.

23d  The Gambia smuggles quiet associate holding last of tailor’s Texan cloth (7)
The wordplay equation in terms of letters is (3 around ((2 + 1) around 1)). The IVR code for The Gambia reflects the fact that it is in West Africa (and has no connection with Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy).

25d  Doctor Who’s finale rated ‘R’, losing Tennant’s #1 fan (6)
The first word of the clue is an imperative, and affects fodder of (1 + 5 + 1 – 1) letters.

34d  Zero sex appeal in food for 10 (4)
‘Sex appeal’ is the sort that Clara Bow apparently exuded, and ‘in’ leads to a shortened form of the word itself.

38d  Speech impediment unsettling lecturer that’s raised character in the Iliad (3)
A four-letter word loses a letter before being reversed. The definition suggests that ‘letter from Hamlet’ would be valid for (say) ‘jay’, which I rather doubt.

Definitions in clues are underlined

The four extra words from the across clues, combined with the left-hand location, might be sufficient to get you directly to the ‘thematic individual’. If not, the only realistic option is to seek assistance, either by phoning a friend or googling the four words; I can’t comment on the general knowledge of your friends, but I can vouch for Google’s ability to deliver in my time of need. From that point, there’s more than enough information online to point you towards the 17 cells/5 words indicated by the two groups of extra words from down clues. If you then think about the ‘abbreviated protection’ in a thematic context, you will identify a specific letter to look for; it turns out that there is only one instance of that letter in the completed grid. This should help considerably in the search for the ‘part of the thematic location’, the shape that it takes in the grid being self-evident. With 27 cells highlighted, it’s job done.

Filling the grid was moderately challenging, but was facilitated by the gimmick being restricted to ten clues and there being only two unclued entries. I would have struggled to clear the first hurdle of the endgame without the help of the web, but having identified the person, the rest fell into place quite readily.

Phibs Toughness Rating : 🥾🥾/🥾🥾🥾 (Suitable for anyone except barred puzzle novices)

---

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.

---