Hedgesparrow appears as a setter in the Inquisitor series just over once a year. This is the ninth puzzle from this setter in seven years. The previous puzzles have all had interesting themes, so no doubt this one will as well.
The puzzle had one of the longest preambles we have had for a while.
We were told that single extra letters in across clues (to be removed before solving) suggest a source of information which solvers may find helpful.
Crossing entries clash in eight cells: the retained letters, which give real words across and down, can be arranged into a thematic two-word phrase.
Four down clues include an extra word (of four or more letters), to be removed before solving. Each shares a single letter with its associated entry: reading clockwise in the grid, these letters spell a thematic name.
In the filled grid, solvers must:
(i) highlight twelve thematic names (in straight lines, 69 cells in total, one comprising two words);
(ii) draw a closed shape passing through the four cells to represent the remaining thematic – and topical – name.
There is a lot going on then. As is usual, the best way to understand the preamble fully is to start solving clues and see what develops. I made reasonable progress and gradually built up the useful source of information to the point when I could deduce the full source was THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY. Knowing the full source helped me work out which letters had to be omitted from the across clues I had yet to solve.
The clashes also built up steadily. Interestingly, the letter that formed real words in the intersection was always chosen from the across entry. These letters could be rearranged to form FULL MOON. The four clues with an extra word that had one common letter with the associated answer were 14d (geology / WASTER / E), 20d (clay / WHOLE / L), 23d (outlaw / NGUNIS / U) and 25d (undrinkable / BOSS / B)
The down entries that changed from their answers due to the clashes were:
| Clue | Answer | Entry |
| 3d | ROAR | REAR |
| 6d | ENDEW | ENMEW |
| 10d | BEAKER | LEAKER |
| 14d | WASTER | WAFTER |
| 18d | EBOR | EBON |
| 24d | BETTER | BELTER |
| 25d | BOSS | BOOS |
| 31d | FIND | FUND |
The first grid below shows the locations of the clashes plus the positions of the letters from the down entries. Reading the thematic letters from the downs in clockwise order yields BLUE
The next step was to identify twelve thematic names in straight lines. I had visions of looking for horizontal, vertical and diagonal names with shared letters making it more difficult to assess the number of cells used. Fortunately, the names were all written horizontally, one in each row. The phrase FULL MOON and the word BLUE, plus the fact there are twelve (one for each month) in the grid, helped identify what we needed to do.
THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY website is but one source of information about the names given to the full moon each month, but it does list FULL CORN for September, while other sites suggest HARVEST or BARLEY.
Inspection of the grid shows the names for each month’s FULL MOON. I’m impressed that these are presented in monthly order reading down the grid. We have
| Month | Moon’s Name | Letters |
| January | WOLF | 4 |
| February | SNOW | 4 |
| March | WORM | 4 |
| April | PINK | 4 |
| May | FLOWER | 6 |
| June | STRAWBERRY | 10 |
| July | BUCK | 4 |
| August | STURGEON | 8 |
| September | FULL CORN | 8 |
| October | HUNTERS | 7 |
| November | BEAVER | 6 |
| December | COLD | 4 |
| 69 |
The final stage was to draw a shape passing through the four cells contributing to BLUE to represent a BLUE moon. It took longer than it should, to realise that I could draw a circle, centred on the midpoint of the grid through these letters.
The reason that a BLUE moon is a topical name is because there are sometimes two FULL MOONs in a single month. The time between two consecutive full moons is 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes on average. Because this cycle is slightly shorter than standard calendar months, FULL MOONs slowly shift their dates so you will occasionally see two FULL MOONs in a single month. The second FULL MOON in a month is known as a BLUE moon.
This puzzle was published on Saturday 30th May 2026. The second FULL MOON in May 2026 occurred on Sunday 31st May, so it was a BLUE moon.
The title of the puzzle is Face Time. The “face” of the moon refers to the near side, the hemisphere permanently locked to face Earth via tidal locking. The dark, smooth, cooled lava plains known as maria create the illusion of familiar shapes from Earth, such as the “Man in the Moon”
I also learned that FULL MOON names mostly originate from a blend of traditional Native American lunar calendars, Colonial American history and ancient European (Anglo-Saxon and Celtic) traditions.
This was a very enjoyable Inquisitor where the endgame fell into place quite quickly. The devices with the clues led to helpful information. Thanks to Hedgesparrow. I hope it’s not another year before your next one.
| Letter | ||
| Across | ||
| 1 |
Views art broadcast by American TV channels? (8) Views ar broadcast by American TV channels? (8) AIRWAVES (broadcasting channels such as TV channels) A (American) + an anagram of (broadcast) VIEWS AR A IRWAVES* |
T |
| 8 |
Casanova knocking back fine pheasant? (4) Casanova knocking back fine peasant? (4) WOLF (a man who insatiably pursues and seduces women; a Casanova) (F [fine] + LOW [peasant [member of a lowly class]) all reversed (knocking back) (WOL F)< |
H |
| 12 |
Frigid character now means to cycle (7) Frigid character now mans to cycle (7) SNOWMAN (a very cold [frigid] character) If you cycle NOW MANS one character to the right with the last character moving the front you create SNOWMAN SNOWMAN |
E |
| 13 |
Drive away, turning right to left in short race (5) Drive away, turning right to left in short ace (5) EXPEL (drive away) EXPERt (ace) excluding the final letter (short) T and then converting (turning) R (right) into L (left) EXPEL |
R |
| 14 |
Amphibious corps breaking abandoned course rule for one squirming (6) Amphibious corps breaking abandoned curse rule for one squirming (6) WORMER (one who squirms) (RM [Royal Marine, an amphibious corps of soldiers] contained in [breaking] WOE [an obsolete {abandoned] word for curse]) + R (rule) WO (RM) E R |
O |
| 15 |
Goofy skinned cartoon mouse (3) Goof skinned cartoon mouse (3) ERR (to blunder; to goof) ERR (letters remaining in jERRy, a cartoon mouse associated with Tom, a cartoon cat) excluding the outer letters J and Y (skinned) ERR |
Y |
| 16 |
Sparing over bedding new plants (5) Spring over bedding new plants (5) PINKS (plants or flowers of the caryophyllaceous genus Dianthus, including carnation and sweet william) SKIP (spring) reversed (over) containing (bedding) N (new) PI (N) KS< |
A |
| 17 |
Wicked fairy pruning lone inferior radial floret (9, 2 words) Wicked fairy pruning one inferior radial floret (9, 2 words) RAY FLOWER (any of the small flowers radiating out from the margin of the flower-head of certain composite plants, also termed RAY FLORET) Anagram of (wicked) FAiRY excluding (pruning) I (Roman numeral for one) + LOWER (inferior) RAY F* LOWER |
L |
| 19 |
Boy admitting blunder after viral excrescences turned pinkish-red (10) By admitting blunder after viral excrescences turned pinkish-red (10) STRAWBERRY (a pinkish-red colour) WARTS (viral excrescences) reversed (turned) + (BY containing [admitting] ERR [blunder] ) STRAW< B (ERR) Y |
O |
| 21 |
Local interbreeding population repelled sea beast (4) Local interbreeding population repelled sea east (4) DEME (a local population of interbreeding organisms) MED (MEDiterranean [a sea]) reversed (repelled) + E (East) DEM< E |
B |
| 25 |
Old dandy is ejected from US vehicle (4) Old dandy I ejected from US vehicle (4) BUCK (archaic [old] word for a dandy) BUiCK (brand of US vehicle) excluding (ejected) I BUCK |
S |
| 29 |
Fish – one following head of tide in flood (8) Fish – on following head of tide in flood (8) STURGEON (any member of a genus Acipenser of large fishes of North temperate waters) (T [first letter of [head of] Tide] contained in [in] SURGE [flood]) + ON S (T) URGE ON |
E |
| 30 |
Poker to scour and beat nearly a third of black sheep’s wool? (6) Poke to scour and beat nearly a third of black sheep’s wool? (6) BAGFUL (the nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep ends with the words ‘three bags full’, so one third of this would be a BAGFUL) BAG (poke or pouch, think of the phrase a ‘pig in a poke’) + FULl (to scour and beat as a means of finishing woollens) excluding the final letter (nearly) L BAG FUL |
R |
| 32 |
Ornate curve cut on horn (5) Ornate cure cut on horn (5) CORNU (horn) Anagram of (ornate) CURe excluding the final letter (cut) E and ON CORNU* |
V |
| 33 |
Sides in crisis suppressing hoarse grumbles (8) Sides in crisis suppressing horse grumbles (8) CHUNTERS (grumbles) CS (outer letters of [sides in] CrisiS) containing (suppressing) HUNTER (a horse used in foxhunting) C (HUNTER) S |
A |
| 34 |
National occupying room at Nizwa? (5) National occupying room a Nizwa? (5) OMANI (a native / national of Oman) OMANI (hidden word in [occupying] roOM A NIzwa) – Nizwa is a major city in Oman OMANI |
T |
| 35 |
Young scout from Olive State (6) Young scout from live State (6) BEAVER (a member of one of the stages of progress through today’s Scouting movement: Squirrels, BEAVERs, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers / Venturers; young Scout) BE (live) + AVER (state) BE AVER |
O |
| 36 |
Having raged inwardly, Catholic Saint chills (5) Having aged inwardly, Catholic Saint chills (5) COLDS (chills) (C [Catholic + S [Saint]) containing (having inwardly) OLD [aged] C (OLD) S |
R |
| 37 |
Early risers evacuated by key midshipmen (7) Earl risers evacuated by key midshipmen (7) REEFERS (midshipmen) REEF (a key is a low island or REEF) + E (Earl) + RS (letters remaining in RiserS when the central letters iser are removed [evacuated]) REEF E RS |
Y |
| Down |
Word Letter |
|
| 1 |
East winds free southern starfish (8) ASTERIDS (starfish) Anagram of (winds) EAST + RID (free) + S (southern) ASTE* RID S |
|
| 2 |
Transient unexpectedly taking out core of warship’s private web (8) INTRANET (a restricted network of computers, eg within a company; private web) Anagram of (unexpectedly) TRANsIENT excluding (taking out) S (central letter of [core of] warShip) INTRANET* |
|
| 3 |
Humdrum bare behind (4) REAR (behind) dREARy (humdrum) excluding the outer letters D and Y (bare) REAR Clash – entered as ROAR |
|
| 4 |
Second coat of arms adorns prophet (4) AMOS (Old Testament prophet) AS (outer letters of [coat of] ArmS) containing (adorns) MO (moment; second) A (MO) S |
|
| 5 |
Blunt dart pierces very active parasitic mite (6) VARROA (an Asiatic mite which parasitises and kills the honey bee) ARROw (dart) excluding the final letter W (blunt) contained in (pierces) (V [very] + A [active]) V (ARRO) A |
|
| 6 |
Provide with poetical view, half dismissed after death (5) ENDEW (Spenserian [poetic] term for ‘endow or provide with’) END + EW (half of viEW ) END EW Clash – entered as ENMEW |
|
| 7 |
Agent finally escaping from rapidly rising ooze (4) SEEP (ooze) StEEP (rising rapidly) excluding (escaping from) T (last letter of [finally] agenT) SEEP |
|
| 9 |
Expert holding exercises for beginner (6) OPENER (beginner) ONER (an expert) containing (holding) PE (physical education; exercise) O (PE) NER |
|
| 10 |
More cheerless, having lost league cup (6) BEAKER (cup) BlEAKER (more cheerless) excluding (having lost) L (league) BEAKER Clash – entered as LEAKER |
|
| 11 |
Loud insect devouring wood (6) FLASHY (showy; bold; loud) FLY (insect) containing (devouring) ASH (a type of wood) FL (ASH) Y |
|
| 14 |
Good-for-nothing succeeded in geology class (6) Good-for-nothing succeeded in class (6) WASTER (good-for-nothing) S (succeeded) contained in (in) WATER (quality, excellence, class – of the first or purest WATER) WA (S) TER Clash – entered as WAFTER |
geology E |
| 18 |
Dress up in York, once contracted (4) EBOR (shortened form of EBORacum, a Roman name for an English city that evolved in modern-day York) ROBE (dress) reversed (up; down entry) EBOR< Clash – entered as EBON |
|
| 20 |
Welsh clay pit as yet unworked (5) Welsh pit as yet unworked (5) WHOLE (a mining term describing an as yet unworked seam) W (Welsh) + HOLE (pit) W HOLE |
clay L |
| 22 |
Mongolian’s raucous laugh in pursuit of money (6) MUGHAL (a Mongolian, especially one of the followers of Baber, the conqueror of India [1483 – 1530]) M (money, as used in the money supply indices M0 to M5) + an anagram of (raucous) LAUGH M UGHAL* |
|
| 23 |
Africans outlaw firearm to stem soaring crime (6) Africans firearm to stem soaring crime (6) NGUNIS (members of a group of Bantu-speaking peoples living in southern and eastern Africa) GUN (weapon) contained in (to stem) SIN (crime) reversed (soaring; down clue) N (GUN) IS< |
outlaw U |
| 24 |
Abstemious type, overcome by drink, recovered (6) BETTER (recovered, as in the patient got BETTER) TT (teetotaller; abstemious type) contained in (overcome by) BEER (a drink) BE (TT) ER Clash – entered as BELTER |
|
| 25 |
Foreman’s undrinkable “one over the eight” not contributing to emaciation (4) Foreman’s “one over the eight” not contributing to emaciation (4) BOSS (foreman) BOnineSS (emaciation) excluding (not contributing to) NINE (one over the eight) BOSS Clash – entered as BOOS |
undrinkable B |
| 26 |
Nervous, almost quaking, removed rope from block (6) UNROVE (removed rope from block – based on alternative spelling of reeve [to pass the end of a rope through]) Anagram of (quaking) NERVOUs excluding the final letter (almost) S UNROVE* |
|
| 27 |
Consult judge about tracking prisoner (6) CONFER (confer) CON (prisoner) + REF (REFeree; judge) reversed (about) – REF comes after (is tracking) CON CON FER |
|
| 28 |
Race up river, speed initially below a thousand knots (6) KNURRS (knots in trees) K (a thousand) + RUN (race) reversed (up; down entry) + R (river) + S (first letter of [initially] Speed) K NUR< R S |
|
| 30 |
Move king out of check in league (4) BLOC (league) BLOCk (check) excluding (move .. out) K (king) BLOC |
|
| 31 |
Meet with heartless devil (4) FIND (come upon or meet with) FIeND (devil) excluding the middle letter (heartless) E FIND Clash – entered as FUND |
|
| 32 |
Native American’s system of belief that rejects God (4) CREE (a member of a Native American tribe living in Montana and parts of Canada) CREEd (system of belief) excluding (that rejects) D (Deus; God) CREE |
I got ENDEW for 6D: poetical ENDOW. Then EW is simply half of view.
I think the answer to 6d is ENDEW, Spenser spelling. Clash resulting in ENMEW.
With the clue manipulations in the Across clues, the clues were pitched just right, and it was a pleasure to work through them all and end up with a completed grid, plus the two thematic items THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY and FULL MOON. I just needed a second pass of the Down clues to isolate ‘geology’ and ‘undrinkable’ to add to ‘clay’ and ‘outlaw’, thereby yielding E, B, L and U to make BLUE.
The endgame was a real treat. At first I saw nothing recognisable as having any connection with phases or periods of the moon, knowing the terms FULL, BLUE and NEW but little else. I now wish I had gone to the Observatory’s website to find the names, but I actually resorted to using a search engine to get all twelve of them – all in plain sight, and in order, in the completed grid, except for FULL CORN in place of HARVEST. As Duncan said, an impressive feat by the setter.
Thanks to Hedge-sparrow and duncanshiell.
It looks as if Hedgesparrow puzzles turn up pretty literally once in a blue moon. Congratulations to the editor for finding the appropriate weekend for this one. An enjoyable solve with the right amount of trickiness in deciding on superfluous words and clashing or extra letters, with the occasional rethink necessary but all emerging satisfactorily. Thanks to Hedgesparrow and Duncan.
Thanks to everyone who pointed out the ENDOW / ENDEW and ENMOW / ENMEW errors.
I have updated the parsing and the graphics.
Another very enjoyable puzzle from Hedge-sparrow. My grid-fill progress was similar to Duncan’s. I could not parse Cornu but it had to be correct. Likewise with Bagful – I loved the definition and learned a new word for “scour & beat”. I had Endew for 6d – a poet’s spelling had to be odd, especially Spenser’s.
Like Duncan, I was at first perplexed by the 12 names, despite the hints provided. Then I wondered if some of the actual entries were nicknames for our new lunar exploration team. So, I fed a selection into the search engine and, bingo, I was there in a flash. I had encountered Hunter’s, Blue (and Harvest) Moons but none of the rest. So, once again a bit of education from IQ.
Thanks to Hedge-sparrow and Duncan.
Thanks Duncan for standing in for us. We managed to solve this before we went away but would not have had time to compile a blog which did credit for such a good puzzle.
The solving experience was enjoyable but even better was discovering the names of all the full moons which we had never heard of. Finding them in the correct order made us smile even more.
Thanks Hedgesparrow. This will feature in our list of best IQs this year.
Nothing to add really. Much enjoyed. I’m another who knew only Hunter’s and Harvest (much fretful checking of reversed and diagonal possibilities there) and Blue moons. But my wife suggested Wolf and there it was, so I took the hint and went to the Royal Observatory website. How very neat indeed to show them all in order!
All thanks to Hedgesparrow and duncanshiell.
Hello everyone,
Thank you, Duncanshiell, for your excellent blog, and everyone for your kind comments – very pleased that you enjoyed solving Face Time.
Hedge-sparrow