Enigmatic Variations 1763 (Hints)
MAGIC SQUARE by KCIT
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
Kcit tends to set hard and clever puzzles and this is no exception – I suppose most people by now know that he’s antipodean and thus his pseudonym is meant to be read backwards. I suspect there’s even more backstory to this than I know of – he also sets at Phi (in The Listener etc.).
Preamble: Clues 10-25 are normal. ‘Magic Square’ clues 1-9 are clues to two words run together, definition and wordplay for the first preceding those for the second, with the division not necessarily marked by punctuation. One is an across answer, one a down, and they cross in a shared square. There is one such shared square in each 4×4 section of the grid. Solvers must enter the shared clue number in that square (along with the letter), setting up a 3×3 MAGIC SQUARE – which doesn’t work. Solvers must therefore rearrange some of the newly numbered cells, including their letters, to make the square work, while forming new words. The Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended, but does not give 15 or 17; both are in Collins.
Back to Gemini (after briefly flirting with Claude) which slightly misinterpreted the first part of the preamble: ”Each clue 1–9 contains two complete cryptic clues concatenated together: Def1 + Wordplay1 followed by Def2 + Wordplay2” which means it (they?) literally thought “definition and wordplay” implies strict ordering. Ah… the ambiguity of English. But it was (they were?) very helpful with the magic square itself:
- When placed according to their clue numbers, the 3×3 layout will not sum to 15 along all rows, columns, and diagonals.
- You’ll need to rearrange some of the cells (both the digit and the letter in that cell) so that the 3×3 configuration becomes a valid magic square (where every row, column, and main diagonal sums to 15, with 5 in the center, even digits in the corners, and odd digits on the edges).
To be honest, I just asked for the canonical 3×3 magic square itself at this point.
One thing worth noting is that in the Magic Square hints below, (both) the definitions indeed are underlined. I debated whether or not to indicate the division between the first and second clues. I decided not to since the underlining and the hints themselves should be enough. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Clues
Magic Square clues
1 Rather dim fool besetting one student copyist subsequently capturing major conflict about rule
The first answer is a straightforward container construction: where the container is a 4-letter synonym that surrounds two single-letter abbreviations. The second on other the hand is more complicated: double containment where the innermost item is a single-letter abbreviation surrounded by a 3-letter acronym for one of the two major conflicts of the 20C – further contained by a 5-letter synonym.
2 Top performer getting round the old horse for a long distance free on rail, with dull finish as the plan
The second answer is generated from a 3-letter acronym (which is a Britishism) that is also a familiar a 3-letter word followed by a 3-letter synonym.
4 Helping head to detain lecturer about old bloodhound in country
For the first word the definition is a noun. The wordplay consists of a single letter abbreviation embedded in 4-letter synonym. The second word is typically poetic – it consists of a one-letter abbreviation followed by an archaic word. TBH, these were my LOI – (last ones in) I backed into the answers here once I had figured out how to correct my Magic Square.
9 No longer quiet coach upset young female scholarly and religious writer returning aboard cab and rail, possibly
The first word is an archaic term for subdued, composed of a reversed 3-letter word and then a 4-letter synonym. The second is a longer adjective and involves a short reversed 3-letter word inside a jumble.
Across
16 One observes age restricting Henry (8)
Put a single-letter abbreviation inside of a two word verb phrase – and, lo, there is the noun we seek.
25 Certainly suppressing row may turn malicious (6)
Place a 3-letter word inside another and reverse everything to get this passive-aggressive adjective.
Down
10 High point is American chopper saving first couple of people (4)
Just to note that “American” is often mentioned to indicate American spelling (rule of thumb: always opts for brevity).
17 I note video about science describing hydrodynamic flow (8)
Remember that this word is not in the BRB but in Collins. An adjective that is a charade of two one-letter abbreviations followed by a three-letter abbreviation inside of another three-letter abbreviation.
22 I will support suggestion for dwelling in the prairies (4)
The prairies in question are in North America. Put a letter after a short word that maybe refers to what we are giving you here.
23 Turkish man’s line captured small fish (4)
Embed a single-letter abbreviation inside a word that historically referred to a governor but now applies to any man to get this variant name for a fish.
Definitions are underlined.
While solving the Magic Square clues, you won’t get any indication from the clues themselves as to answer length so consider keeping track of the answer lengths and where they might fit in the unnumbered grid lights.
The instructions are pretty clear about how to build the initial 3×3 matrix: since the grid is 12×12, it divides up cleanly to 9=3×3 subgrids of 4×4 – each of which will have exactly one pair of magic square clues that contribute a crossing letter. Draw that magic square out and then note how similar it is to the canonical 3×3 square. From there the replacements will be obvious. And that’s the extent of the endgame. To be fair, I found the magic square clues quite hard to solve and place which explains the overall difficulty.
Difficulty 3 / 5
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