Penumbra makes his first appearance since 1660, a puzzle that marked the year that King Charles II assumed the throne of England. Did anything of equal significance happen in 1768? Well, apparently John Wilkes was imprisoned for writing an article severely criticizing King George III. Better be careful.
Preamble: Some of the across clues have a misprint in the definition; the correct letters spell a phrase that describes each of the four unclued entries. The features to which they are idiomatically and cryptically related must be completed (two words for each). Solvers must also change three letters in the completed grid to reveal the origin of the ideal MD, appropriately placed; there are hints among the clued entries. All entries in the final grid are real words or phrases (one is an abbreviation). The thematic idioms are confirmed by Collins.
I’ll be open about this – I don’t like clues that refer to the answers to other clues (in blocked grids they’re OK), and there were 4 or 5 in this puzzle. OK, gripe over.
I started off quite brightly, not fast but certainly not slow. I managed to solve 13d CONTEXTS without the answer to 1d (to which the clue refers) and likewise later with 31d STIR. It was only then that it became apparent that 1d was JAILBIRD, or possibly GAOLBIRD – that wouldn’t be resolved until the top row was filled. The pace slowed down as I winkled out the last four or five clues. I had been unsure about a couple of the corrections, but when the ones I had gave me FRAME O? MI?D it was obvious that 30a had “… in f[d]og?” and 44a had “n[?]” – it had to be in 44a to maintain the pattern of the corrections being in alternating clues – and the only sensible choice was “… allowed to n[k]ick …”. Saturday evening, all clues solved, and not a lot on TV. JOY & EXULTATION or DEPRESSION & WOE?
Rather busy Sunday, but enough time for phase 2: complete the idioms and cryptic relations. It seemed pretty clear to me that this would involve entering something in each barred off cell, and before very long I highlighted [OVER] THE MOON & just a little later [UNDER] A CLOUD. Noted that JOY/WOE just managed to be over/under THE MOON/A CLOUD – neat. A quick look at phase 3, find the three letters to change, but nothing immediate so I left it for Monday.
Much huffing & puffing later (and much of Monday, homing in on despair) I decided to calm down and take stock. The word(s) that would “reveal the origin of the ideal MD, appropriately placed” would almost certainly appear in the middle row, probably symmetrically placed. But how long? Since the intersecting down entries had to be real words, phrases or an abbreviation, I checked out those: SAPPHIRE could become SAMPHIRE, ENSLAVE had to stay, PREM for POEM maybe, loads of options for ANTS, then ANNATTA/O and CONTEX/N/STS. I investigated HYPER…IS for far too long – on reflection HYPER… just felt wrong. Next up for consideration was HOMEO…IS and bingo! HOMEOSTASIS it was. Phew. (OST at 28a is the abbreviation, and AS IS at 29a the phrase.)
MD is of course the ‘frame’ of “MIND”. Thanks Penumbra – a few positives to note: the 11-letter word is symmetrically placed, as are the three changed letters; and, as already noted, the corrections are in alternating clues. But (… I don’t always have a “but”), I spent about 45% of my time & effort on the clues, 5% on THE MOON & A CLOUD, and 50% on sorting out the three letters to change. (OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but that’s what it felt like at the time.) And I still don’t know what were the “hints among the clued entries” or why we needed Collins for confirmation.
| No. | Clue ✓[✗] | ✓ | Answer | Wordplay |
| Across | ||||
| 10 | In Yucatan the Mexicans sporting f[t]ans may enjoy this song (6) | F | ANTHEM | (Yucat)AN THE M(exicans) |
| 12 | Applied to church as soon as … (4) | ONCE | ON (applied to) CE (church) | |
| 14 | … one in char[n]ge of convent had unpacked books, holy books (5) | R | ABBOT | (h)A(d) BB (books) OT (Old Testament, holy books) |
| 16 | Bumpkins with no head for local taxes (4) | OUTS | (l)OUTS (bumpkins) | |
| 17 | School following na[o]tional French scheme, even bits of play scheme (5) | A | LYCEÉ | (p)L(a)Y (s)C(h)E(m)E |
| 18 | Performing as Annie could make this girl Little Orphan at last (5) | ANAÏS | [AS ANNIE]* ¬ (littl)E (orpha)N | |
| 19 | What turns No 11 into tip? Someone often immersed in m[b]aths? (6) | M | PASCAL |
“P” AS “CAL” in TICAL (see 11d) gives “tip” {this feels more like “CAL” AS “P”} |
| 22 | Line held in place to save woman taken from river (4) | ISLA | L(ine) in ISA (place to save) | |
| 24 | Author expressing purpose of place supplying stone carved by Moore[s]? (8) | E | PENTELIC | PEN (author) TELIC (expressing purpose) |
| 26 | Man inspiring confidence in work? The opposite (4) | HOPE | OP (work) in HE (man) | |
| 28 | Top pirouetting is what you do in ballo[e]t (3) | O | OPT | TOP with letters cycled |
| 29 | Alliance Washington’s cut continues without change (4) | AXIS | AX (cut, N American) IS (continues without change) | |
| 30 | Spam ends up in f[d]og? (8) | F | DAMPNESS | [SPAM ENDS]* |
| 33 | Wrote memoir partly to show side as it was (4) | TEME | (wro)TE ME(moir) | |
| 37 | Dishevelled m[l]ass in America caught by its lure (6) | M | TOUSLE | US (America) in TOLE (lure, US) |
| 39 | Nothing’s lost, investors having imagined no returns at the outset (5) | NIHIL | L(ost) I(nvestors) H(aving) I(magined) N(o) all< | |
| 41 | In smoky Ai[y]r Scots dry out strae (5) | I | REAST | [STRAE]* |
| 43 | Vat for bleaching what’s more stained, but not at home (4) | KIER | INKIER (more stained) ¬ IN (at home) | |
| 44 | Informally, University officers allowed to n[k]ick cycling child (5) | N | PROGS | SPROG (child) with letters cycled |
| 45 | Double vaccination not entirely ready for Sofia (4) | LEVA | (doub)LE VA(ccination) | |
| 46 | McGrew’s lady’s flushed on return, producing more d[g]in (6) | D | LOUDER | LOU (McGrew’s lady, ref: The Shooting of Dan M.) RED< (flushed) |
| Down | ||||
| 1 | One big house in California after another? He’s used to that (8) | JAILBIRD | JAIL & BIRD (prison, big house, US sl) | |
| 2 | Just pull down half of French city (4) | ONLY | LYON (French city) with half moved later | |
| 3 | What’s right in old instruments may be wrong in these old ships (6) | XEBECS | REBECS (medieval instruments) with R(ight) replaced by X (wrong) | |
| 4 | Ghost writing’s dismissed by setter (5) | UMBRA | PENUMBRA (setter) ¬ PEN (writing) | |
| 5 | Terms of bet do not proscribe betting-machine (4) | TOTE | (be)T (d)O (no)T (proscrib)E | |
| 6 | A yak, some might say, is bright orange (7) | ANNATTA | homophone A NATTER (yak) | |
| 7 | Maybe that’s the tops in Usk as name? (5) | IEUAN | IE (that’s) U(sk) A(s) N(ame) &lit | |
| 8 | Boundless 26ac that primarily takes upbeat note and is source of morale (8) | OPTIMISM | (h)OP(e) (hope, 26ac) T(akes) MI< (note) IS M(orale) &lit | |
| 9 | Nessie almost flips (all but head), becoming a benevolent creature (5) | NISSE | NESSI(e) reversed apart from first letter | |
| 11 | A vast number appeal to return lost coin (5) | TICAL | LAC (vast number) IT (appeal) | |
| 13 | Settings from which 1dn sends messages (8) | CONTEXTS | CON (jailbird, 1dn) TEXTS (messages) | |
| 15 | What at heart makes tutor leave small charges at the border? (4) | ORLE | (tut)OR LE(ave) | |
| 20 | Harpies parking haphazardly make us intensely blue (8) | SAPPHIRE | [HARPIES P(arking)]* | |
| 21 | Workers drop first of demands (4) | ANTS | (w)ANTS (demands) | |
| 23 | Member of sect: ‘I eat fish battered’ (8) | SHAFIITE | [I EAT FISH]* | |
| 24 | Composition got up by yours truly out of print (4) | POEM | ME (yours truly) OP (out of print) | |
| 25 | Outrageously cute rear, being … (8) | CREATURE | [CUTE REAR]* | |
| 27 | … seen wantonly to engross john, subject to domination (7) | ENSLAVE | [SEEN]* around LAV (john) | |
| 31 | Commotion in ‘home’ of 1dn (4) | STIR | STIR (home of jailbird, 1dn) | |
| 32 | In Selkirk we eat up dish of oatmeal (6) | BURGOO | OO (we, Scots) GRUB (eat) all< | |
| 34 | It’s like an elk found among Icelanders (5) | ELAND | (Ic)ELAND(ers) | |
| 35 | Up North it’s strange and heartless to drop a name (5) | UNKID | UNKIND (heartless) ¬ N(ame) | |
| 36 | Among people in general low pressure’s hard to bear (5) | WHELP | H(ard) in WE (people in general) LP (low pressure) | |
| 38 | Romanov oligarch can afford ornamental mouldings (5) | OVOLI | (Roman)OV OLI(garch) | |
| 40 | Second half of 19ac stays for a bath (4) | SPAS | S(econd) PAS(cal) (Pascal, 19ac) | |
| 42 | Hank’s in shed – old shed in Kirkwall (4) | SKEO | SKEIN (hank) ¬ IN O(ld) | |
Thanks to Penumbra and HolyGhost. I enjoyed this overall but likewise took what seemed like forever over the middle row. At least I knew the word — a favourite of Philip K. Dick’s when writing SF about cybernetics and “homeostatic systems” — but it didn’t dawn on me until I saw the possibility of SAMPHIRE (“dreadful trade!”).
I wonder whether it was deliberate that the long word nestles between two Rs, or R&R.
A vague preamble I thought this week – I failed badly at the final step, opting for RAY as the origin of the ideal frame of mind (“ray of hope”), replacing OPT, which also gives real words / names in the crossing clues. It sort of works (to my mind at least). 🙂 Perhaps further hints at the last step were in order, or maybe everybody else breezed through it and it was just me. The rest though I enjoyed, especially over THE MOON and under A CLOUD.
I really enjoyed grappling with the great variety of clues in this puzzle. They seemed to get harder as I got further down the grid, but I eventually solved them all, SKEO being my last one in. I also got FRAME OF MIND from the corrected letters in the Across clues.
The four abstract nouns in the highlighted entries, indicating the nature of the theme, were clear to see. In the penumbra, as it were, THE MOON and A CLOUD could be made to appear in the rows next to the top and bottom, but finding the right word or words across the middle (in the umbra, so to speak) took much longer. I tried various possibilities, including HYPER…, before hitting on …STASIS, which I admit was rather lucky, as the answer then came pretty quickly. A very nice way to resolve the theme.
In the preamble, ‘MD’ made no sense (thanks, HG, for the enlightenment), and the phrase ‘hints among the clued entries’ led me nowhere – and were apparently not needed.
Many thanks to Penumbra and HolyGhost.
I suppose ‘hope’ and ‘optimism’ might be the hints, but I fastened on Pascal and looked for the ‘Pensees’, because he must have had something to say on the subject, and quickly failed, and fled to this blog. Fun while it lasted though, and thanks to Penumbra and HolyGhost.
One for the mindreaders
Well done HolyGhost if you only spent 50% of the time on the endgame. For me the grid fill was fairly quick, and the variety and clarity of the clues was excellent. But finding 3 letters to change in the endgame proved a real struggle, not helped I thought by the vagueness of this part of the rubric. Like Neil+Hunter@4 I went for HOPE and OPTIMISM as the hints, but I’m at a loss as to why they relate to homeostasis. Nor am I sure why it’s appropriately placed.
Jon_S@2 … I actually prefer your RAY as the solution, even though ANYS as a crossing answer is a bit weak.
I could change 3 letters to make W H SMITH, but I don’t think that really fits the brief.
An enjoyable solve with some neat clues. I thought 19A was a brilliant idea – it works OK if you read “as” as “in place of ” but I admit it is ambiguous. Saw EXULTATION pretty early on. Then, on completion , I spotted THE MOON & A CLOUD fairly quickly. But the ending defeated me.
Thanks to Penumbra and HG.
My 3rd DNF In a row where I did most of the hard work in solving clues but couldn’t stick the landing.
I completed the grid, spotted CLOUD but not OVER THE MOON (embarrassing).
I too thought I should focus on the middle row but confined myself to OPT, when clearly I should have looked further.
Having completed a grid, which is hard enough, I somewhat resent having to do a lot more work. This is something I need to work on.
I echo the comments about the ambiguity of the rubric, and ensuing frustration.
Having completed the grid and identified the phrase ratively quickly, I even cottoned onto MD = Frame of Mind.
But unlike others I was unable to find CLOUD and MOON, despite reading and re-reading “The features to which they are idiomatically and cryptically related must be completed (two words for each).” Could this have been expressed more clearly, perhaps with a reference to the empty cell?
I also failed to spot HOMEOSTASIS despite correctly guessing that it would be located “between hope and optimism” as hinted – but I’d like to posit that describing it as the “ideal frame of mind” is a bit of a stretch given its definition as a stable equilibrium overall, rather than of the mind.
Luckily my crossword partner Pearl bailed me out on the Monday, avoiding another week of frustration.
A nice challenge overall but I agree that the the endgame should be 10% of the work and not 50%+
Sadly another DNF for me, and a major one, I only solved and parsed fourteen clues. Massively distracted as I was by the multiple ceremonial events culminating in yesterday’s Royal Funeral, I just couldn’t find enough time to do this puzzle justice. That said, given the complexity of the task (as evidenced by the comments from a number of seasoned campaigners above), I’m not sure that I would have finished this one even if I had more time.
Filled it all in and then got stuck and a bit annoyed with the endgame. My arbitrary ratio is 95% – 5%.
I really did enjoy solving the clues, but the vague preamble and endgame completely eluded me, like others.
Looking back on this site, it seems to be a common theme in Penumbra’s Inquisitor crosswords …which really is a shame.
Anyway, I’m full of HOPE and OPTIMISM that I’ll be more successful with the next one!
Thanks to both setter and blogger.
I got part way through the end-game but then like some others here gave up. HG as the blogger is obliged to spend as much time as it takes to hunt down something in the grid, but without that motivation I find it hard to keep going. Sometimes the IQ feels like an endgame with a quick crossword thrown in as a starter to get the solver warmed up. Anyway, the crossword part was very enjoyable, thanks to all.
Today I learned that blocked off squares must have something put in them at some point to reach the eventual solution.
I still don’t see how homeostasis is “the origin of the ideal frame of mind”, although it now seems that must be what Penumbra meant by “the origin of the ideal MD”. But what homeostasis means does not, to me, constitute the origin of an ideal frame of mind at all. Perhaps Penumbra has a warped idea of what an ideal frame of mind is.
Despite getting that the MD in the title of the puzzle was the “frame” of “mind” spelled out in the across clue corrected letters, in the final step I was vainly looking for somewhere to put the originator of the ideal doctor, Hippocrates, or Cos/Kos, where he was born, appropriately located in Greece, the Aegean or the Med).