Enigmatic Variations 1739 (Hints)
ABC Order by Vagans
Hints and tips by Gabriel
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
Vagans has us thinking today of our alphabet or maybe the Jackson 5. Eight names in ABC ORDER seems like the top left might start with A or B.
When I asked Gemini, it was very interested in the unchecked letters phrase and summarily informed me that when unjumbled they spelt TWENTY-FOUR CORIC RIMES. It also confidently claimed that they must be entered in alphabetical order, moving clockwise from the top-left corner.
Preamble: The unclued perimeter is made up of eight names in ABC ORDER, starting in the top left and running in a clockwise direction. Its unchecked letters could spell WRY CRUCIFORM TYPES WIN. Extra letters generated by the wordplay of each down clue provide an instruction to continue the order. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.
Often setters will insert a sly reference to the theme when they introduce a phrase to identify the unchecked letters. This is no exception.
At least there’s no ambiguity about which clues generate extra letters. While solving I was thinking that these clues seem quite accessible which had me thinking, “I bet the endgame will be a challenge”. We shall see.
Clues:
Across
9 Feature of common actions with single-rayed spicules (6)
Generously the setter used the Chambers definition verbatim since only subject matter experts would be familiar with it.
15 Nurse and OT back good book to do with insects (7)
This adjective can be formed from an abbreviation, a reversal of one abbreviation and another abbreviation (of something contained within something that the first abbreviation can also represent). The OT is a biblical hint.
26 Ithaca graduate has stew for Roman: warmer on manoeuvres (6)
This historical noun can be formed in wordplay from a charade of an abbreviation in Latin (not American) form and a word from a Latin-derived language. Ithaca isn’t in Greece.
32 Beach award presented by indecent female convict (8, two words)
I wasn’t aware of this particular award, but I’ll definitely use it as a decision-maker parameter in the future. Wordplay is a charade of a 4-letter synonym, a single letter abbreviation and then a 3-letter synonym.
35 Maiden wearing nothing reflected in dated picture (4)
The BRB has this word as a verb. The wordplay has a reversed word containing an abbreviation.
Down
2 The Beatles’ first single – awful hovel demo (8, three words)
Sometimes being a boomer is helpful, at least when it comes to 60s pop.
4 Take risks lowering rope in break in glacier (7, two words)
Wordplay is a charade of a 4-letter word followed by a surprising 4-letter synonym of a two-word term.
7 That woman? In charge? … Fine! (4)
Not a particularly hard clue but you might find the wordplay here thematically helpful.
13 Thus old cows leave when ill (6)
A pair of older words combine to form a bit of modern jargon.
16 End ceasefire with friary oddly obliterated (5)
In the USA there is a gameshow (Jeopardy!) with a category called “Stupid Answers” where the obvious answer is the correct one. Sometimes this holds true in cryptics as well.
18 Love seen in swelling wife for shrike (6)
The definition is a name of African origin. Only once I was pretty sure of the generated message did I manage to understand the wordplay: a four-letter surrounding the usual single letter abbreviation, followed by a two-letter Latin abbreviation.
19 C Kent’s girlfriend up to turning up in Welsh town (8)
A bit of pop culture comes in handy here. The town in question has a common prefix: note the form of the name in the clue and use a similar form for the name in the wordplay. Suffix that with a reversed preposition.
Definitions in clues are underlined.
I was mystified by the end of the generated message until I finally looked it up – I found it to be Latin abbreviation of somewhere familiar. A slight lateral jump led me to a series of well-known names for which I needed wikipedia. I was right to be suspicious of the title which ends up making (a different) sense
Despite all the letters around the perimeter to fill, the solvable clues made for a satisfying puzzle (which taught us something as do all good puzzles). And the title made sense albeit not alphabetical.
Difficulty: 2/5
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Accessible clues, including the downs, enabled a quick grid fill. I too was mystified and checked for a couple of misprints before looking the final word up. After that it was straightforward.
Thanks to Vagans and Gabriel.
Nice solvable clues today…Still not sure of the parsing of a few of them (especially 13d) but I cracked the theme fairly on by having a guess at one of the names in the RH column and then the instruction was fairly obvious from the preamble. That said..I have the first two words of the instruction and the rest is gobble de gook.
Shocked by the realisation that I can remember all but the first of the eight names, and that I had to look up the one that continued.
Fair clues all round, and largely easy.
Thx to Vagans and Gabriel