When you see the name Schadenfreude you can be sure that you are going get a challenging but scrupulously fair puzzle with a number of layers to peel away as you work your way through to the conclusion.
The preamble stated " The initial and final grids will contains some empty cells and all entries are real words or proper nouns. Corrections to single letter misprints in across clue definitions spell out an instruction. Single letters to be removed from down clues before solving (never leaving a non-word) spell out a helpful phrase. 18 down must be thematically filled. Numbers in brackets give the total space available for grid entries".
Having experience of Schadenfreude’s puzzles in the past I know that it is not always the most obvious word that has the misprint or extra letter, so I didn’t bother to scan the clues for funny looking words before solving. I just dived in to see what I could solve. I got my foothold with BERET, the soft lid at 30 across and ANGELICO, the Fresco painter at 34 across. I had initially thought the L and the E resulting from the corrections to these two entries would be the start of the word LETTERS (a common word in hidden instructions of this sort).
However, the first word I deduced in the message was CORRECT. In the down clues, VOLCANIC was the first word I deduced. For a while, neither of these words helped me in solving the remaining clues.
Eventually I realised that there were going to be a number of empty cells in the left hand column.
I was fairly slow in understanding what was going on. I deduced that KRAKATOA would fill all the empty cells and generate new valid across entries, plus the two extended down entries involved. Eventually, the penny dropped when I saw that KRAKATOA was present from the entries forming or finishing in the right hand column. Moving KRAKATOA from East to West left valid shorter words on the right hand side. A little bit of online research confirmed that KRAKATOA is actually West of JAVA, (thematic entry at 18 down) rather than East as the title of 1969 disaster film EAST OF JAVA, starring Maximilian Schell and Brian Keith, suggests. With KRAKATOA in the Western column we have now CORRECTed the FILM TITLE ERROR (coloured letters indicate message spelled out by corrected letters in misprint) and we have focused on a GREAT VOLCANIC ERUPTION. (coloured letters indicate helpful phrase spelled out by the redundant letters in the down clues)
The detail of the blog indicates all the misprints in the across clues and shows both the original and shortened forms of the amended words in the down clues.
In the entries, the movement of KRAKATOA generated MIKRA at 1 down and OAKY at 33 down. New across entries were RAMBLERS (16 across), AGOGO (17 across), KARENA (20 across – girl’s name), AGATE (23 across), THERMAE (28 across) and ACELLULAR (37 across). On the right hand (East) side, 11 down is shortened to KO and 32 down becomes ST (abbreviation). The across changes generate CRAN (15 across), MIASM (19 across), SLEE (22 across), TAMAR (26 across – River in Devon), BERE (30 across) and ANGELIC (34 across)..
The initial and final grids are depicted in the animation below.
There was plenty of misdirection in the clues. Just in the first four acrosses we had ‘fall over’ when ‘fall’ was acting as a definition for AUTUMN, and Victorian referring to Australia.
The title of the puzzle, NOTE, is a play on the phrase NOT E (NOT East)
As ever Schadenfreude has given us an enjoyable puzzle where real words were apparent at all stages of the solve.
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Across |
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| No | Clue | Letter and Change | Wordplay | Entry |
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1
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Almost fall over penning chapter insert (6)
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C insert – insect
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(AUTUMN [known as Fall in some countries] excluding the final letter [almost] N) reversed (over) containing (penning) C (chapter) MUTU (C) A< |
MUTUCA (a large Brazilian biting fly of the family Tabanidae; insect)
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| 7 |
Leave religious king lost in Baku (5)
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O lost – loot
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GO (leave) + PI (religious) + K (king)
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GOPIK (monetary unit of Azerbaijan [Baku is the capital city])
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12
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Geisha’s contained one knight and retreating soldiers (4)
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R contained – container
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I (one) + N (knight in chess terminology) + (OR [other ranks; soldiers] reversed [retreating]) I N RO< |
INRO (small Japanese [Geisha] container for oils and medicines)
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13
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Boisterous emotional expression of poet possessing primarily red Victorian cheeks (6) |
R cheeks – cheers
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HOO-OO (Shakespearean [poet] word for expressing boisterous emotion) containing (possessing) R (first letter of [primarily] RED) HOO (R) OO |
HOOROO (Australian [e.g. Victorian] word for goodbye, cheerio; cheers)
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14
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More British continue unchanged (4)
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E more – mere
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B (British) + ARE (continue unchanged)
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BARE (mere)
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15
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Caught with excessive ease (5)
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C ease – case
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C (caught; cricket notation) + RANK (excessive)
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CRANK (eccentric; case)
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16
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Bookmakers’ clients: golf aside, they have easy gains (8)
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T gains- gaits
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GAMBLERS (bookmakers clients) excluding (aside) G (Golf is the International Radio codeword for the letter G)
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AMBLERS (people who move at an easy pace; they have easy gaits) NB Entry shorter than the space available. |
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17
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Leave dusty matter full of lice (5)
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F lice – life
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GO (leave) + GO (Chambers states that GO is an archaic [I am interpreting dusty as meaning old-fashioned or archaic in this case] word for matter)
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GOGO (full of energy; lively; full of life) NB Entry shorter than the space available. |
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19
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This air will make you all like months chasing independence in Morocco (6)
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I all – ill
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(I [independence] + AS [like] + M [months]) contained in (in) MA (International Vehicle Registration for Morocco) M (I AS M) A |
MIASMA (foul vapours or unwholesome atmosphere, air which will make you ill)
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20
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Mists absent near ground (6)
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L Mists – Lists
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A (absent) + an anagram of (ground) NEAR A RENA* |
ARENA (one of the definitions of ‘lists’ in Chambers is ‘the boundary of a jousting-ground or similar area, hence the ground itself’ which I guess is the same as ARENA in its definition as ‘originally part of an ancient amphitheatre covered with sand for combats’) NB Entry shorter than the space available. |
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22
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Call to make a search round lake (5)
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M Call – Calm
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SEEK (to make a search) containing (round) L (lake) S (L) EEK |
SLEEK (calm or soothe)
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23
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German consumed pork in the past (5)
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T pork – port |
G (German) + ATE (consumed)
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GATE (port is an obsolete [in the past] word for GATE or GATEway) NB Entry shorter than the space available. |
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26
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Spaces bracken covers in the morning (6)
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I Spaces – Spices
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TARA (a variety of bracken found in New Zealand and Tasmania) containing (covers) AM (ante meridiem; in the morning) T (AM) ARA |
TAMARA ( mixture of cinnamon, cloves, coriander, etc; spices)
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28
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More than one bush mother planted inside at this time (7)
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T bush – bust
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MA (mother) contained in ((planted inside) HERE (at this time) HER (MA) E |
HERMAE (heads or busts) NB Entry shorter than the space available. |
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30
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Soft kid about to stop gamble (5)
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L kid – lid
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RE (about) contained in (to stop) BET (gamble) BE (RE) T |
BERET (a flat, round, woollen or felt cap[lid] worn by Basques and others)
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34
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Frisco painter, genial relaxed with company (8)
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E Frisco – Fresco
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Anagram of (relaxed) GENIAL + CO (company) ANGELI* CO |
ANGELICO (reference Fra ANGELICO [1395 – 1455] an early Italian Renaissance painter, noted for his frescoes)
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37
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Church, quiet, backing onto a river with many ports (9)
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E ports – pores
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CE (Church [of England]) + (LULL [quiet] reversed [backing]) + A + R (river) CE LLUL< AR |
CELLULAR (porous; with many pores) NB Entry shorter than the space available. |
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38
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Beat knockout amateur joining US city (5)
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R Beat – Bear
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KO (knock out) + A (amateur) + LA (Los Angeles; US city)
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KOALA (an Australian marsupial, like a small bear, also called KOALA bear)
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39
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Legions died in French city, friendless (4)
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R Legions – Regions
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D (died) contained in (in) (AMIENS [French city] excluding […less] AMI [friend]) EN (D) S |
ENDS (regions, for example the ENDS of a playing field could be considered as regions of the playing field))
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40
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OK to eat national Japanese dish (4)
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O dish – dosh
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YES (OK) containing (to eat) N (national)
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YENS (I assume this refers to Japanese currency; Japanese dosh) Chambers, Collins and the Shorter Oxford all say the plural of YEN is still YEN without an S , so I am slightly confused by this entry
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41
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Female trial to net for example most cash (7)
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R cash – rash
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(F [female] + TEST {trial]) containing (to net) AS (for example) F (AS) TEST |
FASTEST (most hasty; most rash)
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| Down |
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| No | Clue | Letter and Change | Wordplay | Entry |
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1
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I’m turning back Gray’s follower (5)
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G Gray – ray
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I’M reversed (returning) MI< |
MI (follows ray in the tonic solfa doh, ray, mi etc) NB Entry shorter than the space available. |
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2
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One local joker to remove the silencer (5)
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R joker – joke
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UN (a dialect [local] word for one) + GAG (joke)
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UNGAG (remove the silencer)
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3
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More to follow very short thrill (6)
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E More – Mor
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TRES (very) excluding the final letter (short) S + MOR
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TREMOR (thrill)
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4
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A Chinese unique cell growth inhibitor (4)
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A A –
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CH (Chinese) + ALONE (unique)
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CHALONE (one of a group of chemicals occurring in animal tissues, whose action inhibits the growth and differentiation of cells in the tissue)
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5
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A 100 ton measure (4)
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T ton – on
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A + C (Roman numeral for 100) + RE (about; on)
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ACRE ( a measure of area)
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6
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Producer of great heat not quite in that place every time (8)
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V every – eery
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THERE (in that place) excluding the final letter (not quite) E + an anagram of (eery) TIME THER MITE* |
THERMITE (a mixture of aluminium powder with oxide of metal (esp iron), which when ignited produces great heat)
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8
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Roam perhaps over valley next to Ohio lake (6)
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O Roam – Ram
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O (over; cricket notation) + O (Ohio) + RIA (drowned valley) + L (lake)
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OORIAL (Himalayan wild sheep which in form is a ram)
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9
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Cry up softly and growl (6)
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L growl – grow
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P (piano; softly) + RAISE (grow)
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PRAISE (extol; glorify;proclaim; cry up)
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10
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Product of bonding cold province in Ireland (7)
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C cold – old
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(O [old] + NOME [a province or department, esp in ancient Egypt or modern Greece]) contained in (in) IR (Ireland) I (O NOME) R |
IONOMER (the product of ionic bonding action between long-chain molecules)
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11
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Wood certainly right to be stored by Baird at Gleneagles (5)
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A Baird – bird
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(OK [certainly] + R [right]) contained in (stored by) KA (Scottish [Gleneagles word for jackdaw; variant spelling of KAE) K (OK R) A |
KOKRA (the wood of an Indian tree)
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18
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See preamble
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JAVA
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21
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Arena in this year occupied by Government chief officer (4)
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N Arena – Area
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(A [area] + HA [hoc anno {Latin}; in this year]) containing (occupied by) G (government) A (G) HA |
AGHA (chief officer)
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22
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One in Sion heads members of an ancient people (7)
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I Sion – son
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A (one) contained in (in) (S [son] + BEANS [heads]) S (A) BEANS |
SABEANS (of the Sheba or Saba, an ancient people of Yemen)
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24
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Once Scottish cherry tree of Hellenic islands (6)
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C Once – One
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AE (Scottish word for one) + GEAN (European wild cherry)
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AEGEAN (of Hellenic islands
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25
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Aged spines curl in quiet turning (6)
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E spines – spins
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ROLL (curl) contained in (in) (‘ST [hush; quiet] reversed [turning]) T (ROLL) S< |
TROLLS (archaic [aged] word for spins)
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27
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Sprain dogs Unitarian female (6)
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R Sprain – Spain
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ARIAN (a person who adheres to the doctrines of Arius; a Unitarian) + E (International Vehicle Registration for Spain)
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ARIANE (a lady’s name; female))
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29
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Tongue imbued by mother (5)
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U Imbued – embed
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MA (mother) + LAY (imbed [variant spelling of embed])
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MALAY (language)
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31
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Pearl mocks archaic mild oaths (5)
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P Pearl – earl
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E (earl) + CODS (mocks)
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ECODS (archaic [old] word for mild oaths)
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32
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Brindisi fort accepted holy man (5)
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T fort – for
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TO (for) + A + ST (saint; holy man)
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TOAST (brindisi is defined as a toast or drinking song)
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33
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I start to keep 150 cows for MacDonald (4)
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I I –
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K (first letter of [start to] KEEP) + Y (medieval Roman numeral for 150)
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KY (Scottish [MacDonald] word for cows)
NB Entry shorter than the space available. |
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35
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Rising frivolity stopped by Franco fairly (4)
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O Franco – Franc
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(F [France] contained in [stopped by] FUN [frivolity) all reversed (rising; down clue) (NU (F) F)< |
NUFF (slang or dialect from of enough; fairly)
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36
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Nerve tissue gene indisposition is over (4)
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N gene – gee
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G (gee) + (AIL [indisposition] reversed [rising; down clue]) G LIA< |
GLIA (neuroglie; the supporting tissue of the brain and spinal cord, etc;.nerve tissue)
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As ever a hugely enjoyable puzzle from Schadenfreude.
One very minor quibble – for 15a I had entered COVER fairly early on (C + OVER (“excessive”), assuming the E of EASE was to be changed to C for CASE. It was one of my first in so at that stage it didn’t occur to me that there was anything untoward with it. Ambiguities like this are I suppose more liable to occur with ‘definition misprint’ clues.
bingybong@1
I’ll admit to COVER and case as well – for quite a long time before it clearly couldn’t be.
Thanks Duncan for explaining 17a. I never spotted that interpretation of GO despite closely scrutinising the entry in Chambers several times over.
I saw “volcanic” emerging fairly early on and was then looking to have “etna” or “lava” in 18d. It was only when I saw “correct” and “film” emerge that the penny finally dropped and I realised I already had the letters for Krakatoa in place on the “eastern” side.
Thanks Schadenfreude for such a fun puzzle.
Yes, a delightful puzzle with a very neat finale. I too went through an ETNA/LAVA phase. Although it is apparently technically true, thank goodness there was no sequel ‘Lava East of Krakatoa’.
Not for me, this one. Only got one answer all week (34ac, if anyone is interested). Seems to be the way with the Inquisitor: some weeks I breeze through and fill in most of the squares (even if I don’t always get the final twist), some weeks I can barely start it. And it’s not as if the answers or the wordplay is that obscure, but there’s just that one extra level of misdirection that defeats me.
We forgot to keep the puzzle but from memory we didn’t have too much of a problem. There was one point when we thought LAVA would fill the middle squares but then we had enough letters to realise that KRAKATOA would fit.
Thanks Duncan for the excellent blog and Schafenfreude for the entertainment.
Great Puzzle. Brilliant and beautifully detailed blog.
I had the same problem/quibble as Duncan with 40a: YENS – the plural of YEN is just YEN.
Also a little ‘nose wriggle’ with CRANK at 15a – not the COVER issue mentioned @1 & @2, but with the definition “case”. Sure, it’s synonymous with CRANKHANDLE, but not really with the CRANKCASE itself.
Anyway, another v.g. ‘firm but fair’ puzzle from Schadenfreude – I was well aware of the East/West problem with the film title, so that helped a bit. And thanks to Duncan for the blog – I picked up on many of the same points as he.
Dormouse @5 (oh dear) – persevere – go through the answers (with the help of the blog), and the solving experience will improve. Before you know what, you’ll be blogging!
Thanks, HolyGhost, but I’ve been doing crosswords for well over forty years now. I think my solving abilities plateaued years ago. 🙁
About 15ac.
I thought the blog explained this nicely.
Crank = case (short for nutcase. “He’s a case”.)
jonsurdy @10: your comment jogged my memory – I did in fact reach the correct explanation of CRANK = “case” when solving the puzzle (rejecting my earlier explanation that I moaned about above). By the time it came to commenting on the blog, I had forgotten – so thanks for reminding me.
We’ll thank goodness for the blog. All the clues solved and the instruction and helpful phrase identified fairly early in the week. Then absolutely no further progress. First failure of the year but I guess an honourable one beaten by a master setter.
I thought this was a real challenge but one that was scrupulously fair and just offered enough hints as the solving process progressed. Like you Duncan I deduced CORRECT and VOLCANIC as the first ‘miising letters’ words so was on the lookout for relevant words in the grid. I actually guessed KRAKATOA to fit in the left, ‘west’ hand side of the grid, with the gaps, before I saw it materialise in the right ‘east’.
I vaguely remember the film being on at the local ABC cinema in Huddersfield…..all very exotic for a West Riding lad !
Thanks very much Duncan and Schadenfreude.
It made me laugh when I got the final connection…a pretty basic error to put in a film title!
Classic Schadenfreude, made harder by the perfect fit for ‘cover’ which I also fell for, and which stopped me getting ‘Krakatoa’ for a long time. Also had ‘Lava’ in the centre, until the PDM, when it all fell beautifully into place.
Last week’s puzzle also had two clues with obvious, but incorrect answers which made the solve harder. I wonder if the setters are conscious of these when they write them? If so, I’m impressed, although I’m inclined to think that they happen by accident.
Thanks to Schadenfreude and duncanshiell.