Published by Crossword Club, March 2019 (Issue 491) as its leading or 'first' puzzle, Select by Eclogue.
Preamble
Unclued entries are of a kind. Every clue is obscured by a misprint in the
definition. In clue order, corrections
spell a couplet from a 'top ten' song (with the omission of two words). The group responsible can be formed from the highlighted cells. Solvers must select corresponding alternatives
for each of the unclued entries in accordance with the title of that song. All entries in the final grid are real words
or proper nouns.
Solution Grids
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| Interim Grid |
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| Final Grid |
Postscript
Corrected misprints provide “We dress up in disguise, to get away from
(all those) prying eyes”, a couplet from WE ARE DETECTIVE by THOMPSON TWINS,
descriptive of the final entries. The
four unclued entries are the surnames of four crime fiction authors, Dorothy L
SAYERS, Ruth RENDELL, Elizabeth GEORGE and Georges SIMENON. Their names are to be replaced by the
surnames of their most famous detectives, respectively WIMSEY, WEXFORD, LYNSEY and
MAIGRET. All final entries are real
words or proper nouns.
The title also refers to the song chorus, “We are detective, we are
select…”
The use of ‘obscured’ (in disguise) in the preamble is deliberate.
*********************************************************************************
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| Dorothy L Sayers |
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| Lord Peter Wimsey |
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| Ruth Rendell |
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| Inspector Wexford |
*********************************************************************************
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| Elizabeth George |
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| Inspector Lynley |
*********************************************************************************
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| Georges Simenon |
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| Maigret |
*********************************************************************************
Solvers' Comments
“Nice construction to find writers and their detectives of
the same length and to ensure words with both.
20ac. MISO is the
paste, not the beans from which it is made.
7Dn. Is GLAIR a food?
9Dn. puzzling
25Dn. Is the
corrected reading ‘Jason’s man’? Surely
ARGO was the ship. I’m not sure its use
in ‘man-o-war’ qualifies its use on its own.”
“Some tricky clues.
I’m still not sure about Keith and his jackdaw at 26a!
Clever to find crime writers with
the same numbers of letters as their detectives and to end up with real words
at the end.”
“Never heard of the Thompson Twins, or the song!
Such a
clever construction. Got SAYERS quickly,
so rest fell into place without too much heartache.”
“The vacuous and largely unmusical world of pop music holds
no pleasures for me, so the mention of ‘pop song’ and ‘top ten’ was an
immediate barrier. The only chance of
solving the pop words was the internet.
That was not easy but eventually led to a song and singers I’d never
heard of. However, a clever design of
author/detective changes. Is the title
another obscure pop music reference?”
“How many Club members are ‘up’ in pop music and crime
fiction? Not me; the internet was
required. SE corner of grid was tricky.”
“I have very little knowledge of pop music and even less
interest in it. Detective stories are
almost equally beyond my ken. Luckily
googling overcomes these drawbacks and I could enjoy a tricky but fair puzzle
from Eclogue. Many thanks.”
“So clever that I came close to overlooking the final
stage. Having never heard of the group
or the song I was obliged to consult Mr Google and it was surprising how many
hits were supplied for the phrase ‘emptying eyes’ which was my first guess.
Some
very wittily concealed definition misprints (not all of which I have solved –
9d eludes me, as does the route by which MEG can produce MB).
But, as
stated, witty and clever so enjoyable overall.”
“Quite challenging in the early stages, especially since
some connections to the misprints (e g hest from heat) were not easy to deduce.
Since I
had not heard of the pop group (or one of the four authors) I was glad that
Google came to the rescue.”
“Fortunately, it is not necessary to know the pop song/group.
(I hope).”
“Very enjoyable.”
“A very fine crossword which kept us intrigued for many
hours. There were some excellent clues,
notably 32ac and 23dn. 9dn arrived in
the grid without us understanding why.
It was very clever to leave real words after changing the names of
authors to their detectives.”
“’Corresponding alternatives’ not understood. Are the four authors to stay or be replaced?”
“Always amazed to find that compilers find coincidences such
as authors and characters with equal length names.”
“Very clever and challenging. Never heard of the group nor the song. Not sure that I actually want to!
Unlike
‘Arachnoid’, the title didn’t seem to help but this was a satisfying crossword
to complete.”
“Brilliant!
How did
Eclogue even dare to think this was a possibility when (s)he started compiling
this puzzle?
I am
filled with admiration.
Much
enjoyed. Many thanks.”
“The most satisfying club puzzle for a long while. Beautifully conceived, with superbly
disguised misprints. I must confess that
I had never heard of Elizabeth George.”
“I am always so impressed when a setter manages to include
changed words in his final grid and still has ‘all real words’ – such an
achievement.”
Eclogue write:
"Many thanks to all solvers who commented. In
compilation, this was a rare case of knowing how the puzzle mechanics would
work a good while before the thematic entries were found which proved that it
was going to be possible. SELECT started in January / February 2018 as a
simple quiz question, namely to find (at least) four well-known fictional
detectives whose surnames were the same length as their authors. The four
used were the first and indeed only ones we could come up with – there may well
be others, but we leave members to muse on that at their leisure.
We thought these four would be reasonably accessible though, as all four have
been televised, including the late George Baker as Chief Inspector Wexford
filmed in the Editor’s (and half of Eclogue’s former) home town of Romsey,
which was regularly converted to Kings Markham for the purpose. The title
has both a specific, but also tangential relevance. The most direct being of
course in the preamble, namely the need to choose between the entries once all
other information was available. The more oblique reference is to
part of the chorus of the thematic song, “We are detective. We are
select”. For one half of Eclogue, the 80’s are ‘his era’, but in
the finalisation process, it was agreed to highlight letters forming the group,
allowing a reference like the “Guinness British Hit Albums and Singles” to come
into play. There we find that the Thompson Twins had only five top-10
hits, the title of only one of which had any relevance to the unclued
entries. While we cannot promise to find themes that interest every
solver (although why such a like or dislike for the theme should alter the
solving experience remains beyond us) but have found both personally and from
the vast majority of solvers’ feedback that the juxtaposition of often
completely unconnected elements make for some of our most interesting
challenges. For info, GLAIRING is coating in egg-white (hence ‘varnishing
food’), Chambers confirms ‘man’ as a ship (from man-of-war), while 9dn refers
to the setting for The Taming of the Shrew. But yes, 20a should have been
“product of beats / beans” for MISO. Until next time…."
