Chalicea is a frequent setter of puzzles in the Inquisitor series. with two or three offerings each year. Her puzzles provide an excellent introduction to themed barred crosswords. Chalicea presents a wide range of themes that cater for solvers with interest in the arts, literature, science and general knowledge.
This week the preamble was reasonably short – "2ac and 43 (minus an article) give the fate of the first and last of the line in a work by an author whose name must be highlighted, together with what separates the events (24 cells in total). Corrected misprints in the definition parts of seven clues spell a word from the original title."
With Chalicea, I find the best approach is simply to work through the clues and see what thematic material is generated, with an added bonus if a misprint (or whatever device is being used to treat the clues) is detected.
I found a few misprints but the letters seemed to be forming a slightly odd word. The first hint of the theme was deducing that the main left to right diagonal from top to bottom was going to spell out A HUNDRED YEARS.
The grid filled reasonably quickly and I found I had T_E_T_AT_EE in the silvered cells in the top row (2 across) and EA_EN_Y_N_S in the bottom row (43 across). Given that the top 2 across was said to have 4 words, I guessed that the last two word were probably A TREE. The bottom row was slightly more intractable, so I looked for a name.
I am more of a scientist than a literature buff, but I was vaguely aware of an author named MARQUEZ and when I saw GARCIA a few rows above, I had confidence to track down the complete theme.
Gabriel GARCIA MARQUEZ (1927-2014) was a Colombian novelist who most famous book is titled CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD in Spanish. At this point I realised that the corrected misprints were spelling out SOLEDAD (a word from the original title). The location of the misprints and the corrections to the clues are shown in the detailed table below (they were in 21, 34 and 38 across, plus 2, 3,16 and 36 down)
CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD translates to One Hundred Years of Solitude. The novel tells the story of the Buendia family and relates how the first in the line covered by the story was TIED TO A TREE before he died and ONE HUNDRED YEARS later, the last in the line was EATEN BY ANTS. I deduced the EATEN BY ANTS entry by reading about the novel on the internet and didn’t think about the missing article until I read the preamble again before writing the blog. A bit more research turned up a quote from GARCIA MARQUEZ that mirrored the preamble and read "The first of the line is TIED TO A TREE and the last is being EATEN BY THE ANTS"
The words ONE HUNDRED YEARS and GARCIA MARQUEZ involve 26 letters but two letters in the name are also on the diagonal, giving us 24 distinct cells to highlight.
The clues were very clear with understandable wordplay. Chalicea seems to be a fan of Edmund Spenser as there were a few entries associated with his vocabulary.
I came across the Finnish Parliament, EDUSKUNTA, recently. That too was in a crossword and it’s a word that stuck in my mind.
The animated grid below shows how the grid developed and the highlighting became clear.
I am not entirely sure why the title of the puzzle is Single Parent. I expect there are solvers who will comment and explain succinctly why the title is appropriate.
You can read about the novel by clicking HERE
Thanks to Chalicea for an introduction to a novel I knew little about.
Finally I wonder if Chalicea started off trying to devise a grid with GABRIEL as well as GARCIA MARQUEZ?
| No | Clue | Letter | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 2 |
See preamble (11, 4 words) TIED TO A TREE See introduction to the blog to understand where the phrase TIED TO A TREE comes from |
||
| 10 |
Bind in bundles, lugs back to front (6) SHEAVE (bind in bundles) HEAVES (drags HEAVily; lugs) with the final letter (back) S moved to the beginning (to front) SHEAVE |
||
| 11 |
Publicise dance; one that fails to meet its target (7) AIRBALL (in sport, a shot that completely fails to touch the target) AIR (publicise) + BALL (dance) AIR BALL |
||
| 12 |
Elderly ox fed with old greens now and then outside at first producing water (9) UROGENOUS (producing urine; producing water) URUS (wild ox, extinct since 1627 [elderly]) containing (fed with) (O [old] + GEN (letters 1, 3 and 5 [now and then] of GREENS + O [initial letter of {at first} OUTSIDE]) UR (O GEN O) US |
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| 13 |
Everyone on the radio; what bores! (3) AWL (a tool that bores small holes) AWL (sounds like [on the radio] ALL [everyone]) AWL |
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| 14 |
Script upset modern Persia, obscuring good acting (6) NAGARI (the script in which Sanskrit, Hindi and other Indian languages are written) IRAN (modern name for the old country of Persia) reversed (upset) containing (obscuring) (G [good] + A [acting]) NA (G A) RI< |
||
| 17 |
Speedily making a comeback of Listener (4) OTIC (relating to the ear [listener]) CITO (Latin for quickly) reversed (making a comeback) OTIC< |
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| 18 |
Made serrated twines involving plant genus (6) RESEDA (the mignonette genus) RESEDA (reversed [twines; twists] hidden word [involving] MADE SERRATED) RESEDA< |
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| 21 |
Shed containing knives in ordered places, extremely like a pantry (7) Shed containing knives in ordered places, extremely like a pastry (7) CAKIEST (most [extremely] like a pastry) CAST (throw off; shed) containing (containing) KIE (letters 1, 3 and 5 [in ordered place] of KNIFE) CA (KIE) ST |
S | |
| 22 |
Mania the French overturned for product of sour alcohol (6) ALEGAR (vinegar made from sour ale) (RAGE [mania] + LA [one of the French forms of ‘the’) all reversed (overturned) (AL EGAR)< |
||
| 24 |
Chase native of Italian island without a name (3) SIC (alternative spelling of SICK [set upon or chase]) SICAN (native of the Italian island of Sicily) excluding (without) (A + N [name]) SIC |
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| 26 |
Fruit with no limits lets man get trim bod (7) ETAERIO (an aggregated fruit, a group of achenes or drupels) ET (letters remaining in LETS when the outer letters are removed [with no limits]) + A (similar treatment of MAN) + E (similar treatment of GET) + RI (similar treatment of TRIM) + O (similar treatment of BOD) ET A E RI O |
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| 27 |
Characters in tone of invented language (3) NEO (artificial language launched in 1961) NEO (hidden word in [characters in] TONE OF) NEO |
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| 30 |
Fasteners in large number in US returned after finish (6) DOWELS (pin for fastening things together by fitting into a hole in each) DO (complete or finish; kill or finish) + SLEW (American term for a large number]) reversed (returned) DO WELS< |
||
| 32 |
Loiter randomly around ordinary tree (7) TROOLIE (bussu palm; tree) Anagram of (randomly) LOITER containing (around) O (ordinary) TRO (O) LIE* – either O could be the one contained |
||
| 33 |
Language in most of Cairo rejected after void study (6) SYRIAC (ancient Aramaic dialect of SYRIA; a modern form of this dialect still spoken in the Middle East and in the USA) SY (letters remaining in STUDY after the central letters TUD are removed [void]) + CAIR (4 of the 5 letters of [mostly] CAIRO) SY RIAC< |
||
| 34 |
Saw glamour (4) Sow glamour (4) GILT (young sow) GILT (glamour) double definition GILT |
O | |
| 35 |
German author not concerned with brand name (6) MARQUE (brand or make, especially of a car) REMARQUE (reference Erich Maria REMARQUE [1898-1970], German author of All Quiet on the Western Front) excluding (not) RE (about; concerned with) MARQUE |
||
| 38 |
Hybrid mare housed at first for love in animal park (3) Hybrid male housed at first for love in animal park (3) ZHO (be a cross between the male yak and the common horned cow; the male of this cross; hybrid male) H (initial letter of [at first] HOUSED) replacing (for) the first O (character representing zero or love score in tennis) in ZOO (animal park). I don’t think the clue specifies the first O ZHO |
L | |
| 39 |
Northern parliament in task with undue switching around (9) EDUSKUNTA (Parliament of Finland; northern parliament) Anagram of (switching around) TASK and UNDUE EDUSKUNTA* |
||
| 41 |
Firmly fixed in the mind for Ed, men missing motorway went very fast (7) ENRACED (Edmund Spenser’s [Ed] word meaning implanted or firmly fixed in the mind) MEN excluding (missing) M (motorway) + RACED (went very fast) EN RACED |
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| 42 |
Unrestrainedly gave your free acknowledgement of Mr Spenser (6) AVOURE (Spenserian word for avowal [acknowledgement]) AV (letters remaining in GAVE when the outer letters G and E are removed) + OU (similar treatment for YOUR) + RE (similar treatment for FREE) AV OU RE |
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| 43 |
See preamble (11, 3 words) EATEN BY ANTS See introduction to the blog to understand where the phrase EATEN BY ANTS comes from. |
||
| Down | |||
| 1 |
Organised safaris go east, bearing in mind certain limitations (13, 5 words) AS FAR AS IT GOES (bearing in mind certain limitations) Anagram of (organised) SAFARIS GO EAST AS FAR AS IT GOES* |
||
| 2 |
Absorbent cloth covering top of hut for old pig (6) Absorbent cloth covering top of hut for old peg (6) THOWEL (obsolete form of [old] THOLE [a peg]) TOWEL (absorbent cloth) containing (covering) H (first letter of [top of] HUT) T (H) OWEL |
E | |
| 3 |
Reserve pledges with half disregarded (4) Deserve pledges with half disregarded (4) EARN (deserve) EARNESTS (pledges) excluding the second half of the word (half disregarded) ESTS EARN |
D | |
| 4 |
After pursuing, finally catch upset young sheep (4) TEGG (a sheep in its second year) (G [last letter of {finally} PURSUING] + GET [understand; see]) all reversed (upset; down entry) (TEG G)< |
||
| 5 |
Gains with no restrictions belonging to oneself in Ayrshire (3) AIN (Scottish [Ayrshire] word for own [belonging to me]) GAINS excluding the outer letters (with no restrictions) G and S AIN |
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| 6 |
Horse-drawn vehicle turning up in Nagasaki or Tokyo (6) TROIKA (Russian vehicle drawn by three horses abreast) TROIKA (reversed [turning up; down entry] hidden word in [in] NAGASAKI OR TOKYO) TROIKA< |
||
| 7 |
Circling sea bird, from Asia maybe (7) EASTERN (situated in the EAST as Asia is relative to the United Kingdom) Anagram of (circling) SEA + TERN (long-winged aquatic bird) EAS* TERN |
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| 8 |
Self-willed, perversely evil second husband (6) ELVISH (self-willed) Anagram of (perversely) EVIL + S (second) + H (husband) ELVI* S H |
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| 9 |
Muddled selector covers measuring instruments (13) ELECTROSCOPES (instruments for detecting the presence of electricity in a body and the nature of it) Anagram of (muddled) SELECTOR + COPES (semi-circular covers) ELECTROS* COPES |
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| 15 |
Agreeable type of tree covering more than half of another (7) ACCEDER (one who assents or agrees; agreeable type) ACER (type of tree) containing (covering) CED (3 of 5 [more than half] of the letters in CEDAR [another type of tree]) AC (CED) ER |
||
| 16 |
Disregard missing dead, for example, after curing rickets (in Glasgow, say) (6) Disregard missing dead, for example, after curing rackets (in Glasgow, say) (6) RAIRDS (Scottish [Glasgow] word for uproars, dins etc; rackets) Anagram of (after curing) DISREGARD excluding (missing) D [dead] and EG [for example) Either D could be excluded RAIRDS* |
A | |
| 19 |
Some feeble geriatric bore (4) EGER (alternative spelling of EAGRE [bore or sudden rise of the tide in a river]) EGER (hidden word in [some] FEEBLE GERIATRIC) EGER |
||
| 20 |
Air around unrestrained tall plant of ivy family (6) ARALIA (a plant of the ivy family) ARIA (song; air) containing (around) AL (letters remaining TALL when the outer letters T and L are removed [unrestrained]) AR (AL) IA |
||
| 23 |
Poet’s muscle resistance lowered in forehead (4) BOWR (Edmund Spenser’s [poet’s] word for muscle) BROW (forehead) with R (resistance) lowered [down entry] to form BOWR BOWR |
||
| 25 |
Scrape in new car produces serious complaint (7) CHOLERA (acute disease; serious complaint) HOLE (difficult situation; scrape) contained in (in) an anagram of (new) CAR C (HOLE) RA* |
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| 28 |
Frame of mind about religious instruction’s description of Trinity (6) TRIUNE (three in one; a trinity in union) TUNE (frame of mind) containing (about) RI (religious instruction) T (RI) UNE |
||
| 29 |
Lame duck uncovered torn hood (6) ALMUCE (furred hood) Anagram of (torn) LAME and UC (letters remaining in DUCK when the outer letters D and K are removed [uncovered]) ALMUCE* |
||
| 31 |
US City with endless severe mud-flows (6) LAHARS (mud-flows) LA (Los Angeles; US city) + HARSH (severe) excluding the final letter [endless] H LA HARS |
||
| 36 |
Shipping lock that’s essential, it’s said (4) Shipping dock that’s essential, it’s said (4) QUAY (wharf for the loading or unloading of vessels; shipping dock) QUAY (sounds like [it’s said] KEY [essential) QUAY |
D | |
| 37 |
This college overturned record (4) ETON (reference ETON college [public school in Berkshire, England] where twenty British Prime Ministers have been educated) NOTE (enter into the record; note) reversed (overturned) ETON< |
||
| 40 |
Money not all dispatched (3) SEN (monetary unit of Japan, 1/100 of a yen) SENT (dispatched) excluding the final letter (not all) T SEN |
Single Parent is a cryptic reference to SOLE DAD.
TonyG – D’Oh! I can’t believe I didn’t spot that. Thanks for that illumination, and thanks to Chalicea and Duncan too.
The best part of this was discovering the theme from the two phrases shaded in the grid and then finding out all about it by looking it up. I had only vaguely heard of this work before and did not recognise the author’s name even though he won the Nobel Prize for literature (in 1982). You live and learn!
I found only five of the seven misprinted letters while solving, but the word clearly had to be SOLEDAD, and that made it possible to pick out the two letters that I had somehow failed to derive from the clues. SIC was the hardest and my last clue, as I did not know either SIC (with this meaning) or SICA.
Thanks to Chalicea for the enjoyable crossword and the well-chosen theme, and to duncanshiell for the blog and the extra information on the subject of the theme.
I really enjoyed this one – quite tricky but fair, and with an endgame that did not require hunting for random phrases.
However, possibly a new record for words I hadn’t heard of as it felt like every other one was new!
I too struggled to get the 7 misprints but figured them out eventually by trial and error, “hybrid maLe” being the last one as I believe a ZHO can be of either gender? It’s certainly not a mare though.
And I also thought the addition of “minus an article” was unnecessary as the final like wasn’t really a direct quote (I don’t think) but rather a description? I doesn’t really matter either way.
Its a while since i read it but it was very welcome.
Bit of a tall order fitting in all three of his names
In fact I love his books and really liked this puzzle
Thanks all.
I loved the book 30 years ago, but tried to re-read it last year, and found it all too much. I think I prefer his shorter novels, and I presume ‘cholera’ was a mischievous misdirection towards one of them?
Nice puzzle, thanks to Chalicea and duncanshiell
My thanks as well to Chalicea and duncanshiell. I enjoyed this too, though it’s a long time since I read the big fat book and I had to check Wikipedia to confirm the forgotten tree and ants. (When I guessed the bottom line started EATEN BY, the first word that sprang to mind was OWLS, the fate of Lord Sepulchrave in Titus Groan. This did not help.)
Thank you duncanshiell. Indeed ‘Single Parent’ was a sneaky reference to ‘soledad’. This touch came from a suggestion by Ifor who kindly test-solved the puzzle. I don’t think I attempted to include GABRIEL even in my earliest grid attempts. The book is hefty but a wonderful read if you can get into it and not become too stressed about the plethora of characters. Yes, CHOLERA was a glance at another of his works, not quite so enjoyable to my mind.