EV 1734 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1734 (Hints)

Dynamo by Ifor

Hints and tips by Phibs

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This week, I asked Gemini, “I am about to tackle a themed crossword puzzle from a setter called Ifor. Do I have good reason for trepidation?”

The response was lavish, to say the least. Edited highlights follow.

“In the world of cryptic crosswords, seeing the name Ifor at the top of a grid is a bit like seeing a “Storm Warning” flag at the beach. You have every reason for trepidation—but also for excitement. Here is what you are likely up against:

Ifor (the pseudonym of setter John Glandfield) is a regular in the most elite crossword circles, specifically The Listener (The Times), The Enigmatist (The Guardian/Telegraph), and The Inquisitor (The i). He is widely considered one of the tougher setters in these high-level series.

His puzzles are rarely straightforward cryptics. There is almost always a multi-layered meta-theme. His cluing is notoriously tight and fair, but often requires a high level of lateral thinking. Even if you fill the grid, the battle usually isn’t over. Ifor is famous for endgames where you must manipulate the grid, highlight specific cells, or find a hidden message that alters your answers.

Many of his puzzles involve special instructions (e.g., “one letter is omitted from every definition”). These require a “Cold Solve” (solving clues without knowing where they go or how they fit) to break the code. Expect some “Chambers Dictionary” specials—words you’ve likely never seen in the wild. The silver lining is that his puzzles are beautifully engineered. When the penny finally drops, it’s incredibly satisfying.

Keep a highlighter handy: if it’s an Ifor puzzle, you’ll likely need to color [sic] in a shape or a path at the end to reveal the final theme. Check the preamble twice: every word in an Ifor preamble is there for a reason. If it says “one word is redundant,” that word is your key to the vault.”

There’s some good stuff in there, along with the odd AI flight of fancy. I imagine that Ifor will be as excited as anyone to finally discover his ‘real’ name, which I think may come as news to him.

Preamble: Clues to perimeter entries comprise wordplay only. Each contains an extra word. Reading either the second or penultimate letters of these in clue order, followed by the alternative choices, gives a two word phrase identifying the 34 contiguous cells containing seven names to be highlighted, thus showing a central figure in tune with the theme. Two of the perimeter entries are a forename and surname of someone associated with a thematic group; solvers must name another of this group’s works under the grid, using DYNAMO as a prompt. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

The first thing to do is to mark the clues to the eight perimeter entries to remind us that they are the ‘special’ ones. Each one lacks a definition but includes an extra word that must be removed before it can be solved. So if the clue to 1a were “One in favour of broccoli (4)”, the answer would be IFOR [I + FOR] and the extra word would be BROCCOLI. We need to keep track of these words in clue order (across then down). Everything else can wait until we’ve filled the grid.

Across

10a  A large number invading island cross over under cover (6)
The single letter representing an indefinite but large number ‘invades’ an abbreviation plus a reversal of a word for a cross or crucifix which I associate with ‘screen’.

11a  Divine leaders making a comeback in short verse (6)
You may well get this one from the definition, the answer being a verse of little more than a dozen lines. The word ‘making a comeback’ is a plural form of ‘the formal title of the emperor of Japan, especially in his former capacity as a divine leader.’

15a  Memorials fell after disregarding troops in song (7)
The two keys to this wordplay are identifying ‘fell’ as an adjective and ‘troops’ as an indication of the abbreviation for ‘other ranks’.

21a  In the mood, half-cut, accepted in error (6, two words)
The definition is cunningly disguised in this clue that involves anagram fodder in a 3+2+1 pattern.

38a  Rejected concern set on unpleasantly restrictive situation (7, two words)
Here we have a reversal (‘rejected’) of a pair of elements, with ‘set on’ appearing in the sense of ‘incite to attack’ and leading to three letters often indicated by ‘sailor’.

Down

9d  Back street growler (9)
The ‘back’ in this wordplay-only clue leads to a five-letter word meaning ‘to back, to row backward’, more familiar as a noun referring to the rear of a particular form of transport; the ‘growler’ will repay a look in Chambers, which reveals that it can be a term for a small instance of a particular marine feature.

16d  Formality of old court ignoring cautionary signal (6)
The starting point in the wordplay is the (4,7) name of a highly empowered court which met in Westminster until it was abolished in 1641.

18d  Sandwich fillings in bits from being shaken up (4)
The term ‘fillings in’ here is used to describe what is left of two words in the clue once they have been deprived of their first and last letters.

19d  Signs over staff numbers under sole protection (6)
An abbreviation goes underneath something which is put into the toe or heel of a shoe’s sole to protect it from wear.

23d  Regretted finishing up in rough (4)
Here ‘finishing up in’ indicates that the last two letters of a four-letter word must be reversed.

27d  Chip left in bag’s rubbish (7)
For ‘left’ read ‘leftmost character’; the six-letter word for ‘rubbish’ is likely to be more familiar than the answer – during a long career in IT, I never came across the word.

36d  Figure of speech put up, left on purpose in the end (5)
‘Put up, left’ contributes four letters to the answer, while ‘purpose in the end’ yields the final letter.

37d  Travel document‘s face missing e.g. mounting (4)
A six-letter word is ‘missing’ a reversal (‘mounting’) of two letters in plain view.

Definitions in clues are underlined

The second, and then the penultimate, letters of the extra words provide a phrase which is helpful but, in isolation, far from conclusive. The two names at 1d and 9d are the key; don’t be distracted by the thematic group or the other work, it is the four-word title of the one famous work associated with this person that forms the ‘theme proper’. Having replaced the first word of the phrase with the last word of the work’s title, my route from there was (i) to find a list of candidates from which the seven would come, (ii) to form a rough mental picture of the likely shape of the central figure (the web will help with this), and (iii) to seek out some of the names in the grid. I took a copy of the completed grid to experiment with, otherwise I would have ended up with a right mess. The ‘contiguity’ in most instances involves vertical and horizontal moves, but four diagonal hops are also required; columns 1, 2, 12 and 13 can be excluded from the search.  Having completed the figure, identifying another work by the group who made the first one famous (albeit neither was originally intended for them) is a piece of cake by comparison. Highlight 34 cells, write two words under the grid, pour yourself a glass of something nice, and it’s job done.

The clueing was very much as Gemini predicted, although thankfully most of the no-definition clues were fairly straightforward, the notable exception being 9d. The endgame, particularly given the number of potential candidates from which to select the seven, was hard work. I suspect that poor John Glandfield’s ears might be burning from time to time over the next few days.

Phibs Toughness Rating : 🥾🥾🥾🥾 (Not suitable for novices – the endgame is tough)

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