Preamble
Four clues each contain an extra word which should
be removed prior to solving. These four
words can be rearranged to identify the author of a verse, the first line of
which is formed from corrections to misprints in the definitions of the
remaining clues in the order presented.
Solvers must draw a continuous line through the fifty contiguous cells
which provide the next line and illustrate the point being made.
Solution
The extra words in four clues are BESEECH LINK TIGHT
ROTTER which as well as being whimsically thematic is an anagram of GILBERT
KEITH CHESTERTON, the author of THE ROLLING ENGLISH ROAD published in 1914, to
which the first two lines are:-
Before the Roman came to Rye or out to
Severn strode,
The Rolling English drunkard made the
rolling English road.
The first line is formed from corrections to
misprints in the remaining clues, while the second line can be found through
the thematic ‘rolling’ path in the grid.
Inquisitor 1626 Civil Engineering by Eclogue
Hi Eclogue,
Thank you for an enjoyable puzzle with a particularly fun theme. I do vaguely remember coming across the poem before, but reading it now made me laugh. A not dissimilar idea appeared not that long ago, if I remember correctly, based on a drunken pirate’s journey.
The last clue I solved was the devious 10A for OUZEL, which I needed to understand to be able to resolve whether to enter OUSEL or OUZEL in the grid. I assumed that in 19D for EUAN, lamb was used in its verbal sense “to give birth to a lamb” which is clearly the context of the Shakespearean “ean” although not defined explicitly so in Chambers. My favourite misprint was in the definition at 7D for UNAUS “…denizens of the (f/t)ree world?” although I thought that strictly speaking “is” rather than “are” might be the best connective for the crossword grammar compared to surface reading.
Best wishes and Happy Christmas
Andrew Varney (aka Brock) 24/12/19
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Inquisitor 1626 Civil Engineering by Eclogue
Hi Eclogue,
Thank you for an enjoyable puzzle with a particularly fun theme. I do vaguely remember coming across the poem before, but reading it now made me laugh. A not dissimilar idea appeared not that long ago, if I remember correctly, based on a drunken pirate’s journey.
The last clue I solved was the devious 10A for OUZEL, which I needed to understand to be able to resolve whether to enter OUSEL or OUZEL in the grid. I assumed that in 19D for EUAN, lamb was used in its verbal sense “to give birth to a lamb” which is clearly the context of the Shakespearean “ean” although not defined explicitly so in Chambers. My favourite misprint was in the definition at 7D for UNAUS “…denizens of the (f/t)ree world?” although I thought that strictly speaking “is” rather than “are” might be the best connective for the crossword grammar compared to surface reading.
Best wishes and Happy Christmas
Andrew Varney (aka Brock) 24/12/19
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