EV 1741 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1741 (Hints)
Ex Troubles by Deuce
Hints and tips by Gabriel

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Well, Gemini you really have to start paying attention to your prompts: this time it confidently corrected me: “This is EV 1664 by Cid, which you may have seen mislabeled or re-indexed as 1741 in certain digital archives or collections. Here is the definitive interpretation of that preamble…” followed by nonsense.

Though it did accidentally hit upon something that turned out to be thematically relevant later by highlighting: “Let Go”.

Preamble: A number of clues giving EX TROUBLES consist of wordplay only and must have one letter let go before solving; in clue order, letters let go spell out characters central to the theme. In the completed grid, solvers must modify the grid in two different ways to exemplify the missing two members of the thematic set. The final grid contains real words and proper names, and there is one abbreviation in each of the initial and final grids. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended. 

Identifying “some” clues is always daunting given the level of uncertainty involved. This class of clues I will hereafter refer to as “funky” since they have two abnormalities: namely, no definition and an extra letter.

The preamble notes that there is an abbreviation in the initial and final grids and kind of implies that they are different. We will need to remember this in the endgame.

Clues:
Across
1 Orb flickering in warm square (6)
Pretty important to solve this correctly as it has an endgame role. I really struggled with the definition but it’s there verbally in Chambers – the wordplay is straightforward. 

5 Great Lakes surrounding short isthmus for New Yorkers (7)
This definition isn’t usually associated with New York but there it is in Chambers. Wordplay is a truncated 4-letter synonym inside a somewhat poetic 4-letter term.

10 Place tramps select vacated (7)
Doubly funky since there is another possible wordplay you might consider that misled me. Anyway, recall that “vacated” simply empties letters from its “argument”.

14 Opening of phone line interrupted by ChatGPT? (4)
I suspected this was “funky” since I couldn’t identify an obvious definition. I then thought that ChatGPT was being used to indicate a 2-letter eponym – finally, I had to decide what the extra letter was.

19 Windows comes back to life after switching binary digit (5)
Binary digits come in two flavours O and I – need to replace one with the other.

26 Fifth card of clubs uncovered (5)
A pretty important clue to solve correctly as you’ll see in the endgame. Wordplay is a seven letter synonym less its surroundings.

 37 Deity in extremes of fear ignoring Gaea (6)
How’s your Norse mythology? Wordplay is just a series of pairs.

41 Piece of cake, but not soon (4)
Funky but gettable once you understand the theme.

43 Diet in Scottish monster’s home: carrion sandwiches (7)
The answer is an instance of the definition abroad (and slightly thematic) and nothing to do with eating. Wordplay is the only 4-letter option from Scotland, that I know of, inside a 3-letter synonym (also Scots).

Down
4 First person comprised by New Street’s touchy one in Hackney? (4)
Almost my LOI – it’s our abbreviation which was NTM (new to me). Wordplay is a charade of a single-letter abbreviation containing a one-letter word followed by the usual two-letter abbreviation. Worth noting that capitalisation can mislead. 

8 Throw up a throw involving boulder, essentially? (8)
Took me a bit to untangle this given the two “throws”. The first two words define a familiar (to crossword solvers) verb for being sick. Once you have that, the rest becomes clearer. I love &lits!

25 Original rule bound by seal (7)
My last funky answer – only backed myself into the wordplay once I had asked Chambers what could fit here. The wordplay is a 2-letter eponym and a single letter abbreviation inside a 4-letter synonym.

27 Have beaten, without the last of Butch Cassidy? (3)
The trailing question mark is part of the definition, hinting at a specific instance.

35 Day gone badly for one in Rovers Return? (5)
The anagram is indicated quite clearly but you might need to consult Google to decode the Brit pop culture reference.

 37 Spare tyre flourished on German motorway (4)
Surprisingly I could only solve this once I had all 3 checked letters. Wordplay is a 2-letter abbreviation followed by another – both of which I was unfamiliar with.

Definitions in clues are underlined.

The lack of underlining in some clues above obviously indicates “funkiness”. 

I only noticed topicality as I wrote up these notes and understood the “hint” that Gemini discovered. Let’s just say it’s Easter Sunday today.

Solving proceeded much faster once the theme emerged since I was able to see where the other members of the wordplay-only thematic set could fit. Moreover, many of the non-funky clues were pretty easy which helped – however, some of the funky clues were rather opaque and I had to reverse engineer into them having figured out the thematic set. Which is nicely indirectly referenced to by the title.

You’ll be left indeed with two members that you need to creatively represent in the final grid. As a final hint, recall that the abbreviation in the initial grid is different from that in the final grid.

Difficulty: 2/5

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