Inquisitor 1971: Holiday by Ifor
Silvered rows contain answers to non-standard clues. In each of these the first clue comprises a definition of a short word to which a letter-string must be inserted or added to form the real-word entry given by wordplay. The second comprises wordplay to a longer word from which a letter-string has been removed to form the defined entry.
Enumerations refer to wordplay outcomes; all strings are different.
A five-word phrase suggesting these changes must be written under the grid.
Remaining clues each contain an extra word; these words appear in clue order in the source of the phrase.
As usual, the preamble is confusing at first, so let’s dive in and (try to) solve some clues. elmac has a free Saturday so we teamed up.
First to succumb was 35d, followed by 40a and 28d. Soon we had 41a and we could see that SUN was only there from the wordplay. So, are we adding heavenly bodies or what?
Very soon 38d fell and we could see the extra SAT. Oooh, maybe it’s days of the week. This of course turned out to be the case. There are seven silver rows, each representing a day of the week from MON through SUN.
The left hand side tumbled fairly quickly after that but we had hardly anything on the right.
Knowing that TRES is very in French, 42a wanted to be TRESS but it took quite a while to get a handle on how the second clues in silvered rows work. Still, dogged determination over a couple of days led us to the end.
The second clues all had to have a type of music removed and some of them were a bit obscure.
As the redundant words started to reveal themselves, they didn’t mean much but when FALLOUT (from 3d) appeared, I started singing snatches of American Pie, in particular, “the birds flew off to the fallout shelter.” This is when pennies started to drop. We were inserting days and removing music, thus indicating THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED, which is the last line in each verse of American Pie by Don McLean and has to be written below the completed grid.
American Pie is one of my favourite songs but please, not the Madonna version – that was abysmal in my opinion.
I used to know all the words and I’ve reproduced what I remember below. And I’ve highlighted the found words in order. Some of the words appear more than once but the fact that Ifor tells us that they’re in order, deals with any ambiguity.
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
| Long, long time ago I can still remember how the music Used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they’d be happy for a while But February made me shiver With every paper I’d deliver Bad news on the doorstep I couldn’t take one more step I can’t remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride But something touched me deep inside The day the music died |
Did you write the book of love? And do you have faith in God above If the Bible tells you so? Now, do you believe in rock ‘n’ roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow? Well, I know that you’re in love with him ‘Cause I saw you dancing in the gym You both kicked off your shoes Man, I dig those rhythm and blues I was a lonely teenage broncing buck With a pink carnation and a pickup truck But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died |
Now, for ten years, we’ve been on our own And moss grows fat on a rolling stone But that’s not how it used to be When the jester sang for the king and queen In a coat he’d borrowed from James Dean And a voice that came from you and me Oh, and while the king was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned And while Lenin read a book on Marx A quartet practiced in the park And we sang dirges in the dark The day the music died |
| 4 |
5 |
6 |
| Helter skelter in the summer swelter The birds flew off to the fallout shelter Eight miles high and falling fast It landed foul on the grass The players tried for a forward pass With the jester on the sidelines in a cast Now, the halftime air was sweet perfume While sergeants played a marching tune We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance ‘Cause the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died? |
Oh, and there we were all in one place A generation lost in space With no time left to start again So, come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick ‘Cause fire is the Devil’s only friend Oh, and as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in Hell Could break that Satan’s spell And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died |
I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away I went down to the sacred store Where I heard the music years before But the man there said the music wouldn’t play And in the streets, the children screamed The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken And the three men I admire the most The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died |
The song is, essentially, about the death of Buddy Holly (and Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper) on February 2nd 1959. It was released in 1971 and the date of the song’s release doesn’t seem significant in any way.
I’m guessing the title, Holiday, is a play on Holly-Day but I may be way off the mark.
I think that the grid is meant to be a partial representation of the American flag.
Anyway, I hesitate to use the word “slog” but this puzzle was hard work but nonetheless enjoyable. Many thanks to Ifor.
| Clue | Entry | Wordplay | ||
| ACROSS | ||||
| 1 Magical line affected only me (6) | LEMONY | ONLY ME (anag: affected) | ||
| 7 Main Street apparel in novel fashion (9) | STA[R-AP]PLE | STreet+apparel (anag: in novel fashion) | ||
| 12 Priest taking heart from the best chance (5) | ELITE | ELI (priest)+T[h]E (minus its middle letter) | ||
| 13 Understood, maybe without having drug injected (4) | SEEN | SENza (without) around E (drug) | ||
| 14 Rage about Trade Union racket (6) | BATTUE | BATE (rage) around Trade Union | ||
| 15 Soprano left at sea in grand chant (8) | S[PORT]ING | Soprano+PORT (left at sea)+IN Grant | ||
| 16 Paper works out of print are coming back (5) | OPERA | O/P (out of prin)+ARE (rev: coming back) | ||
| 17 Break in step interrupts, roughly sent away (6) | IRRUPT | I[ent]RRUPT[s] (minus letters of SENT) anag: roughly | ||
| 18 Function is in retrospect ultimately low in demand (7) | SINEWED | IS (rev: in retrospect)+NEED (demand) around [lo]W (ultimately) | ||
| 20 Tilt coach end briefly; Ifor’s head pops out (9) | CAR[RAG]EEN | CARR[i]AGE (coach; minus I[for] (head))+EN[d] (briefly) | ||
| 21 Sudden rise in applause, not broken as bride quakes (6) | UPLEAP | APPL[a]U[s]E (minus letters of AS) anag: quakes | ||
| 24 Preserves in salt, dished up hot into cold jars (8) | COTHURNS | Cold+HOT (anag: dished up)+URNS (jars) | ||
| 25 Legal document stained with content of overturned beer (7) | DE[LAY]ED | DYED (stained) around ALE (beer; rev: overturned) | ||
| 27 Gloom about coming back at the heart of faith (4) | AMID | DIM (gloom)+About (rev: coming back) | ||
| 29 Gym rats rationed exercises (8) | RODENTIA | RATIONED (anag: exercised) | ||
| 31 Crowns prepared for start of next misfortunes (8, 2 words) | NO FRILLS | FOR+N[ext] (start of) anag: prepared+ILLS (misfortunes) | ||
| 34 Unit noting pressure troops into hills (9) | TOR[MENTO]R | TOR TOR (hills) around MEN (troops) | ||
| 36 Country blues isn’t bad on endless reels (6) | BOSNIA | ISN’[t] BA[d] O[n] (all endless) anag: reels | ||
| 38 Pipe salute blown behind leader of parade (7) | PULSATE | P[arade] (leader of)+SALUTE (anag: blown) | ||
| 39 Sailor evacuated, hating Antarctic trips (11) | RAT[CATCH]-ING | H[atin]G (evacuated)+ANTARCTIC anag: trips | ||
| 40 Behaved as King Claudius deems, ripe for slaughter (9) | EMPERISED | DEEMS RIPE (anag: for slaughter) | ||
| 41 Guys in Wall St heading to earnings from illicit bonuses (6) | BOSUNS | BONUS[e]S (minus E[arnings] (heading to)) anag: illicit | ||
| 42 Very French, holding several over long hair (8, 2 words) | TRE[E MO]SS | TRES (very in French) around SOME (several; rev: over) | ||
| DOWN | ||||
| 1 Like a brain free to accommodate British voice (6) | LOBOSE | LOOSE (free) around British | ||
| 2 Snakish fence lifted courtroom papers (6) | ELAPID | PALE (fence; rev: lifted)+ID (papers) | ||
| 3 Measure fallout encountered over earth (4) | METE | MET (encountered)+Earth (over is OK as it’s a down clue) |
||
| 4 Fantastic tangle for some as forward netted (5) | OUTRÉ | ORE (tangle: seaweed) around UT (as) (Latin) | ||
| 5 Support for surveyors when measuring yard, field and drainage ditch (6) | Y-LEVEL | Yard+LEVEL (drainage ditch) | ||
| 6 Creditors’ payoff split across new generation (8) | DIVIDEND | DIVIDED (split) around New | ||
| 7 Stage prison movement (4) | STIR | (double def) | ||
| 8 Light temporary buildings initially positioned in fields of view (9) | TERRAPINS | TERRAINS (fields of view) around P[ositioned] (initially) | ||
| 9 Sacrificial promise; money’s right within claim (6) | ASSURE | ASSU[m]E (claim) with Right replacing Money | ||
| 10 Meagre delight in catch brought back after loan from Arbroath (6) | LENTEN | LEN’ (Scottish loan)+NET (catch; rev: brought back) | ||
| 11 Contrived dead happy ending, ruined after beginning repeats (7) dead indicating archaic |
ENGINED | ENDING (anag: ruined) following E[nding] (beginning, repeated) | ||
| 19 Declare news unless unknown (6) | NOTIFY | NOT IF (unless)+Y (unknown) | ||
| 20 Odd character smiled while entering empty cage (4) | CASE | C[ag]E (emptied) around AS (while) | ||
| 22 Small cake marks sacred feast of deliverance (5) | PURIM | PURI (small cake [of bread])+Marks (former German currency) | ||
| 23 Remove eg salt, spread in side streets once drained (8) | DEIONISE | IN SIDE O[nc]E (drained) anag: spread | ||
| 24 Children stick around before a meal, at first shunning small savouries (7) | CANAPES | CANE (stick) around AP (before a meal)+S[hunning] (at first) | ||
| 26 Lovers run out of jewellery in small ropes (7) | EARINGS | EAR[r]INGS (jewellery) minus Run | ||
| 28 South Syrians dreamed, suffering duress (6) | DRUSES | DURESS (anag: suffering) | ||
| 30 Feature of Listener followers leaving arguments spoken about (6) | TRAGUS | ARGU[men]TS (minus MEN (followers); anag: about) | ||
| 32 Contents of plate belonging to Roman Catholic church (5) | LATIN | [p]LAT[e] (contents of)+IN (belonging to) | ||
| 33 Broken deposit in river valley, not so much around Ohio (5) | LOESS | LESS (not so much) around Ohio | ||
| 35 Hint of moon in rural puddle? Stupid men! (4) | DUMB | M[oon] (hint of) inside DUB (puddle) | ||
| 36 Plot pulled up widower before choking son (4) | BREW | |||
| 37 Leading traitors last to turn up (4) | STAR |
1971 song celebrated in IQ1971. After Chalicea a few weeks ago I’ll be on the lookout for more late 20th Century culture in the next few weeks! I convinced myself from the title that the relevant quote was “That one time, at band-camp” from another American Pie–a list of activities day by day–but fortunately I righted myself :-). Struggled a lot with the inserted strings but got there in the end!
I followed the same path as Ken, and having, like him, once memorised the words to American Pie, I found they are still retrievable with a bit of dredging. The song’s central motif is indeed the death of Buddy Holly, but that’s extended to a musing on the death of innocence in American music over the succeeding 10 years, moving from Holly’s upbeat cheerfulness (That’ll Be the Day) through the Beatles (‘the quartet’ with the homophonic Lenin), and psychedelia (8 miles high) to the infamous Rolling Stones concert at Altamont (Jack Flash, Satan). My initial assumption for the key 5 word phrase was Bye Bye Miss American Pie, but that rapidly led nowhere. It was a tough puzzle, and I now know that Port and Mento have musical connotations; I would be interested to hear whether anyone totally unfamiliar with the key song could find the way to it, because there’s no obvious phrase to search for. But I enjoyed it, and thanks to Ifor and Ken (I disagree with the odd word in his AP lyrics, but won’t bore the world by listing them!)
Definitely a tough one for a non-musical solver who never consciously listened to the song, but I’ve seen the key line quoted often enough to make a guess when I had all the inserted days (pretty straightforward) and eventually saw that music was being removed (a real challenge, especially PORT and MENTO). I then tried Googling a few surplus words: presumably I didn’t have enough from across clues, which yielded nothing useful, but a handful from down clues took me to this page, which helped sort out such cunning placements as “faith” at the end of 27A:
https://genius.com/Don-mclean-american-pie-lyrics
Many thanks to Ifor and kenmac!
It was satisfying to complete this quite tricky crossword with its two sets of special clues. Those in the ‘first’ set were relatively straightforward, but the ‘second’ set proved to be quite tough. Unlike the first, the second set yielded strings of letters that made some words but, at first, no sense. It took me a while to realise that these words all had a music connection.
I picked up all 32 ‘extra words’ from the clues, but, not knowing what ‘phrase’ Ifor had in mind, I had no use for them. To the best of my knowledge, I have not seen or heard the phrase given in Ken’s blog.
Thanks to Ifor anyway for the first-rate crossword with its splendid construction: it was a shame that I could not appreciate it as a themed puzzle. And thanks to Ken for the blog.