Crossword Centre Prize Puzzle October 2023

 Strauss Work? by Chalicea

30 lies between 15 and 36 (all unclued). Solvers must appropriately shade 26 cells including the correct state, and obey a further instruction given by corrections of misprints appearing in the definition parts of 18 clues. 

PDF Version

 Across

    1    Southern conservative local taxes involving regularly well-set villeins (10)

    10  Barn's moved into depths of wood, space being of short tenure for starters (6)

    15    See preamble (2 words)

    17    Advantage to whatever degree arranged (5)

    19    Tacky mischarge, supported by unlawful mind-set (5)

    20    Curved shape in bark removed from deciduous conifer (3)

    21    Husband taken in by former shaper (5)

    22    Diminish, we're told, pet exercise (6)

    24    Information concerning literary style (5)

    25    Units of acceleration maintaining heart of patronage for Jags (5)

    26    One French king, top of pate trimmed, not peruked (6)

    29    Court in school returned, singing in harmony (6)

    30    See preamble (three words)

    33    Creatively cheer a maiden met in Dublin (7)

    34    Hillside facing glacial flow seen principally to be in violent commotion (5)

    35    Dark side claims coffers (4)

    36    See preamble (3 words)

Down

    1    Formation in cave of mostly tainted glassy rock base losing initial mass (8)

    2    About difficult deals comprehending ordinary volume of work (8)

    3    Masterly Scots lassie dancing around (6)

    4    Short like playlet, regularly cut (3)

    5    Scotch egg mash was valid, enthralling university (4)

    6    Wild Filipino creature's endlessly traumatic wandering (7)

    7    Without one of sex functions associated with a circle (4)

    8    Critically examine sulphur and tin (4)

    9    Beetle's way out, it's said (4)

    10    Beheld European constant primarily calculating energy (4)

    11    Holey portion of omelette (3)

    12    Aware of wife being drawn along (5, 2 words)

    13    Shylock dubiously admitting opening of commerce of inferior quality (8)

    14    Very French and mostly out of date art of interfering with another's property (8)

    16    Cold rage about student is a cross blunder (7)

    18    Person hauling mediaeval war machine (5)

    23    Exceptional Hasid, one who has attained perfection (5)

    24    Grand old school hoard (5, two words)

    25    Damaged goods producing an obsolete oath (5)

    27    Character's aces (putting clubs last) (4)

    28    Upset touchy deity representing Jove for the Greeks (4)

    29    Record find - second half lost (4)

    31   Wash up ornamental cutlery stand (3)

    32   Chatter just in the past (3)

To enter this competition, send your entry as an image or in list format describing the final grid, to ccpuzzles@talktalk.net before 8^th November 2023. The first correct entry drawn from the hat will receive a book from the Chambers range, which has been donated by Chambers.

Crossword News September 2023

 Crossword News September 2023

The August Prize Puzzle was Right is Wrong by Flowerman. Extra words had pairs of consecutive letters, some in the right order and some in the wrong order. However, only examples of the reverse order pattern can replace letters in perimeter cells such that all new entries in the grid are real words.

The title suggests which is the particular pattern to enable completion of the puzzle: “right”, ie correct, is the reverse pattern as exemplified by ON in WRONG, while the forward pattern as exemplified by GH in RIGHT is “wrong”.

Here are some of the comments from solvers.

Great idea for a puzzle, brilliantly executed - many thanks to Flowerman and the Crossword Centre!

Enjoyed this puzzle, had a fair idea of what was coming in the end game as the solving progressed, but the neat part was that till every entry and extra word was sorted out, changes could not be visualised.  As it happened (and expected!), the pattern from extra words sorted themselves out into 2 neat groups of 10 each, so the title came in handy in the end.  Amazing grid construction skills and intricate clues.  It was satisfying that in the final grid AZ also materialised, so all 26 possible pairs were accounted for.  Many thanks.

A neat puzzle. The preamble and the unusual words were a bit of a giveaway, but I liked the way the twenty extra words were made up of two sets, and it was the reversed pairs that we needed. Adjusting the perimeter was a nice final challenge.  Thanks to Flowerman!

There were 36 entries, of which 8 were marked incorrect. The lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat, was Rod Beards who will be receiving a prize of a book donated by Chambers.

There is a full solution and notes at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2023/09/solution-to-right-is-wrong-by-flowerman.html

You have until 8th October to email your solution to the September challenge, Farewell by Hedge-sparrow.

The October Prize Puzzle will be Strauss Work? By Chalicea.

Since my last newsletter, I have received three submissions and the puzzles are fantastic! The pipeline is now full up to February. I am very grateful.
***
In a fascinating article by Alan Connor in the Guardian, he tells of how Douglas Adams and A J Ayer tackled the puzzles of Araucaria. In the article you can link to the relevant crosswords. The puzzle that Ayer attempted was one of Araucaria’s imaginative inventions – a Scrabble jigsaw puzzle!
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2023/sep/18/crossword-roundup-can-you-solve-guardian-puzzles-tackled-by-douglas-adams-and-aj-ayer
***
An article in the International Business Times lists Influential Masters In The Crossword World. They are mainly American masters but Ximenes gets a mention. You can read it here
***
Frank Paul’s book The Twelve Quizzes of Christmas will be published in paperback on the 26 October. You can pre-order now on Amazon.

Also recently published is the Sunday Times Cryptic Crossword Book 3.
***
The 2023 Times Crossword Championship will be held on Saturday October 21st at Times HQ. Booking started on 4^th September and there is room for 200 participants. There will be no space for spectators, although there is bound to be a gathering of like-minded souls at the George Inn on Borough High St.
***
The latest Azed Slip is available on the Crossword Centre at http://www.crossword.org.uk/Azedslip.html
In the competition for DEFINIENDA, our puzzle marker, Robert Teuton, gained first prize with this nice clue for a difficult word.

I find last ones in puzzle recondite and struggling I may look them up in Chambers

(anag. incl. e, e).
***
An article in the Guardian, with the sub-title not just a hobby for men like Inspector Morse, seemed interesting. However, it was, as Richard Heald commented, a scattergun piece that reads like an AI experiment. Make your own conclusion here

***
Finally, birthday greetings to John Green, whose 75th was celebrated in Tiburon’s Listener crossword which asked solvers to send a birthday card and not the grid. He must have received a record number of cards!

Best Wishes
Derek

Solution to Right is Wrong by Flowerman

 Right is Wrong by Flowerman - SOLUTION

In the twenty extra words, there are ten showing the pattern of two consecutive letters of the alphabet, and ten showing the pattern of two consecutive letters in reverse order. Entries provide five additional examples of the former pattern, meaning that ten examples are still available for the final requirement. They also provide seven additional examples of the latter pattern, meaning that there are eight examples still available.  At this point, potentially either pattern could be the particular one needed to enable completion of the puzzle. However, only examples of the reverse order pattern can replace letters in perimeter cells such that all new entries in the grid are real words. 

The title suggests which is the particular pattern to enable completion of the puzzle: “right”, ie correct, is the reverse pattern as exemplified by ON in WRONG, while the forward pattern as exemplified by GH in RIGHT is “wrong”.

Initial grid

Final grid.

Explanations

For across clues, extra words are shown after the entry. The relevant 2-letter pattern is shown in square brackets.

Across

1 HOUMMOS                  ca[fe]                    MUSH(r)OOM*

6 IDEATE                          [vu]lgar                 I D(uk)E ATE

10 ASSIGN                       [po]licy                 (S(pooner) GAINS)*

11 TRISTE                                                       ("tea" RITE) around S

14 FUROR                                                      FUR O R

15 LARI                             bijoux                   (spectacu)LAR I(n)

16 TEARS                                                       E in TARS

18 LUBES                         Wolfgang             SUB(t)LE*

19 WREAKS                     solemn                 (S(tage-struc)K W ARE)*

21 GENRES                      Rajkot                   NR in GEES

23 ARABICA                     fo[lk]                     A RABI(d) CA

24 JIGGLE                         churc[hg]oing      J (n)IGGLE(d)

25 ANEMONE FISH         top-quality           (E MEN FASHION)*

29 NATTER                       meanin[gf]ul        REAGAN< with TT for A G

31 SCORNED                    Ma[cb]eth            CRONES* D

33 PANNES                      sexy                      P SENNA<

35 TEWITS                       lo[wv]eld              (WEST I(n)t(o))*

37 NASAL                         loc[kj]aw              (LAS AN)<

41 SACRA                         cocc[yx]                (ACR(os)S* A

43 GITS                            anecdotes            GI(f)TS

44 UNDER                                                      (ch)UNDER

45 SEALCH                                                     SEARCH with R becoming L

46 REDCAR                      hubcaps               RED CAR

47 RESCUE                       QR-code               RES CUE

48 UNHANDS                  Byzantine             (NUNS HAD)*

 

Down

1 HALT                             (c)H(art) ALT

2 OSIER                            O RISE*

3 MIHRAB                        BAM< around (I HR)

4 ONUS                            (b)ONUS

5 STRIG                            (cross-section’)S TRIG(onal)

6 IRON                              NORI<

7 DIRL                               LaIRD*

8 ATABEG                        (A BEG) around TA

9 TERES                            (af)TER ES(timates)

12 MISREADS                  (SIRE DAMS)*

13 PAEAN                        PA(g)EAN(t)

15 LURGI                          IRREGULAR* - RARE*

17 SKIM                           (e)SKIM(o)

19 WARNINGS                N in (WAR IN GS)

20 SCORE                         SCARE with A replaced by O

22 EJECT                           C(arp) in (E JET)

26 ETNAS                         (A(re) SENT)*

27 FOES                           OF< ES

28 SNICK                          SN (qu)ICK

30 TASTES                        (SET(h) SAT)<

32 RWANDA                    W in (R AND A)

33 PAISE                          P(r)AISE

34 SADHU                        SAD H(ind)U

36 TREAD                         (philatelis)T READ

38 LULU                           (hopef)UL UL(timately)<

39 ANCE                           ANC(l)E

40 TERN                           "turn"

42 AIRS                            (ch)AIRS

Crossword Centre Prize Puzzle September 2023

 Farewell by Hedge-sparrow

PDF version

A 1 describes a 19 defined by 28.  Extra letters removed from thirteen clues prior to solving give the name of the 1, while clashes produced by crossing entries in eleven cells indicate 28 which the 1 refers to: the 28 should be indicated in the grid by their first and final letters.  In the filled grid, solvers must show the approximate 19 by drawing a line passing through cells containing the 28.  One of the 28 omits an article, and another incorporates an abbreviation.  Enumerations refer to entry lengths. Chambers 2016 is the primary reference.

Across

1 Unclued (9, two words)

8 Italian sport’s pitch rejected by Tito Gobbi? (4)

11 Clergyman discarding what’s reportedly sea salt (5)

12 According to Gnostics, power of God exorcising daemon’s Lord and Master (4)

13 Come round at intervals in preference to encountering dog (5)

14 Outlaws baiting some  Gujarati traders (7)

15 Endures frost and blazing sun at the outset (6, two words)

16 Believer endlessly casing Troy is Achilles’ man (6)

17 Brief flood overwhelming northern hill initially swamps weasel cats (7)

19 Unclued (5)

22 Girls test the revamped illuminations in Mayfair, say (8)

25 Numskull’s ancient prayer taking an hour (4)

27 Malt liquor consumed by reserve firemen? (6)

29 Learner twice ejected from avant-garde health club amenity on seafront (4, two words)

31 Classical French architect – artsman extraordinaire! (3)

33 Ed’s fixed member in rowing-boat (4)

35 Posited missing sailor’s deserted (4)

36 Tableau incorporating Titian’s original Daughter with Bouquet (6)

37 Displays velocity and volume of respirable gas (8)

40 Advocates independent politician’s swearing involving extremes of behaviour (7)

41 Hop about with workmate retreating about a foot (5)

42 American range incorporating hot receptacle for charred remains (6)

43 Growing out, having eaten extravagantly (5)

44 In brief outburst, she is highly sentimental (4)

45 What stops citizens ignoring standard? (6)

46 In review, sum up English mythical prose (4)

Down

1 Hitch lifts in vehicle heading north for dormitory town (6)

2 Klee’s last love imbued with abstract art’s divine inspiration (5)

3 Swelling you once found after recurrent case of tetanus (4)

4 US picture-house not showing Top Gun to older folks there (6)

5 Lens distorting crown of subject’s head (4)

6 In the Highlands, slay creature skirting a traditional paddock there (4)

7 Callous diplomat abandons innocent (7)

8 Miscreant buys teapot in Land’s End, maybe (10, two words)

9 Regrets being seen outside haunt of vice and – ultimately - amorous vulgarity (4)

10 Country hotel trashed by hardline criminal (3)

12 Cordial Australian is in demand (7)

15 Fortune-teller’s reading for one supporting lad (4)

18 Cutting grass, spot a little fluttering Australasian bird (8)

20 Like restless spirits, mostly in subjection before the day (3)

21 Notice dandy turning up where dudes may board streetcars (7)

23 Feel discontent on Tiree (6)

24 Blonde US agent arresting idiot (7)

26 Honour Byzantine saint, showing reverence (6)

28 Birds and animals essentially block signposts (6)

30 Billy, cycling in scruffy Aussie’s aboriginal sack (5, two words)

32 Upright tablets of stone recalled the Bard’s evil? (5)

34 Squeeze queen into van (5)

38 Stable having no supply of food possibly woke pair of horses (4)

39 Perhaps Saudi Lord and King? (4)

Crossword News August 2023

 Crossword News August 2023

The July Prize Puzzle was Gravest by Stick Insect. First and last letters of clues give IN TITLE REPLACE ONE CLUE ANSWER WITH ITS NUMBER TO SHOW ADDRESS and CHANGE A LETTER IN EACH OF TEN ANSWERS. HIGHLIGHT PAST RESIDENTS.  Inserting Ten Down for “rave” in the title indicates TEN DOWN IN G ST.  The final grid shows ten prime ministers, past residents of 10 Downing St.

Here are some of the comments from solvers.

This was an excellent puzzle with a lot going on. Identifying the two letters to omit was tough initially but, as I got accustomed to the clueing 'style', it got a bit easier and the instructions emerged. The use of the title to identify the theme was inspired and the inclusion of 10 PMs impressive.  Thanks to the Crossword Centre and Stick Insect.

Stick Insect's offerings are always interesting and this was equally true to form.  A nice device to reveal the theme, and both the theme and requirements became clear only very late in the process, so well concealed to maintain the X factor.  Lovely clues too, in all, a nicely rounded package.  Many thanks.

Nice job to include so much thematic material and leave real words in the final grid. Took me far too long to realize what "10 down in g street" meant, duh.

There were 49 entries, of which 8 were marked incorrect, mainly for shading errors. The lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat, was Philip Wood, who will be receiving a book donated by Chambers.

There is a solution here https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2023/08/solution-to-gravest-by-stick-insect.html

You still have time to tackle the August puzzle, Right is Wrong by Flowerman.
https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2023/07/crossword-centre-prize-puzzle-august.html

The September Prize Puzzle will be Farewell by Hedge-sparrow.

We are still short of puzzles and our pipe-line is looking quite bare. Chalicea has sent me another puzzle which I can publish in October and the Eclogue duo have taken the December spot with another Seasons Greetings. However, we do not have anything for November. Any submissions would be welcomed.

***
Mick Hodgkin has announced that after a four-year gap, the Times Crossword Championship is back.

The 2023 Championship will be held on Saturday October 21st at Times HQ, the News Building, right by London Bridge station. We are returning to an in-person event, largely following the format of the 2019 contest - two qualifying sessions, a semi-final session for the highest finishers in each qualifier, and a grand final in which the top three semi-finalists tackle one puzzle.

The winner will receive £1000 and will get to take home the coveted Times Crossword Championship trophy, and there will be further runner-up prizes, details to come.

There are no qualifying puzzles, and tickets will go on sale at the start of September, priced at £40 (£32 for Times subscribers), including refreshments. The 50 high-ranking 2019 semi-finalists who were offered a guarantee of a place for 2020 will be contacted early to ensure they get a chance to book.

Further details, including a link to the competition website and information on how to book, will be given here on the Crossword Club, in the puzzles newsletter and in the paper over the next few weeks.

If you want to sign up for Mick’s crossword newsletters you do so here - https://home.thetimes.co.uk/myNews Although I am not sure if you have to be a Times subscriber.

In his latest newsletter, Mick, Puzzles Editor at The Times, published a nice summary of my book The Apex Letters. Here it is.

The online world is increasingly dominated by a few big tech companies, but in the early days of the Internet part of the driving force behind the explosion of content and the social connections it threw up was the enthusiasm of amateurs. It was like that in the case of crosswords anyway. For me, the catalyst behind cryptic crosswords becoming a shared interest was the discovery in the mid-Noughties of The Crossword Centre website run by Derek Harrison.

 

It was great to find a forum where enthusiasts would discuss clues and exchange news and views, and reading other solvers' weekly comments on the Listener crossword prompted me to have a go at solving that puzzle myself. I went on to meet many other solvers and setters as a result.

 

Sadly, one person I never met was Eric Chalkley, the crossword compiler Apex, who died in 2006. His warmth and enthusiasm come out clearly in correspondence Derek has collected in The Apex Letters. The two men wrote to each other over several decades mainly, but not exclusively, about crosswords, with Derek providing illustrations for various Christmas special puzzles that Eric would circulate. 

 

Eric loved to create special puzzles on various themes and post them to people he admired, which led to a long correspondence with the crossword-loving US composers Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein.  In 2002 Eric was awarded the MBE, the first crossword compiler thus honoured for his contribution to puzzles. 

 

In 1997, after being given a modem (remember them?) by his children, Derek set up a website to showcase Apex's crosswords. "This Internet becomes more and more intriguing," Eric wrote to him after first viewing the site. "I've no idea how it works but it seems that everyone will soon be doing it."

 

They were indeed, and by 2000 Derek's website had become The Crossword Centre, with the url www.crossword.org.uk. This was the moment when  crossword solvers moved from communicating by long-distance postal correspondence to debating clues online on a daily basis, a shift reflected in the account Derek gives through the letters he has gathered here. 

 
***
John Henderson has announced details of the York S & B on the weekend of the 27/28 October. I intend to be there on the Saturday and John has asked me to bring some copies of the Apex Letters in case anyone wants to buy one. You can get more details here. https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/08/02/sb-york-2023-friday-27th-saturday-28th-october-2023/
***
You can still read the Azed Slip on the Crossword Centre http://www.crossword.org.uk/Azedslip.html

The results of the SONDAGE competition are out now. Richard Heald won with this beauty.

Use of lead perhaps means dog ignoring master needs training

(anag. less M; lead2 = plummet for sounding).
***
An article in The Atlantic discusses what clues would be acceptable in an American definition-only crossword. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/08/writing-crossword-puzzle-clues-rules-grammar-compositionality/674938/
***
Finally some personal news. As my friends know, I have suffered from spinal stenosis for the past 10 years which has made it painful for me to walk or stand. Five weeks I went into the Wansbeck Hospital for a lumbar decompression operation. The result is amazing! I can now walk without pain and have gradually increased the distance I can walk. Now that the scar tissue has healed, I am hoping to start cycling again soon.

Best wishes
Derek Harrison

Solution to Gravest by Stick Insect

 Solution to Gravest by Stick Insect

Initial grid

Final grid

First and last letters of clues give IN TITLE REPLACE ONE CLUE ANSWER WITH ITS NUMBER TO SHOW ADDRESS and CHANGE A LETTER IN EACH OF TEN ANSWERS. HIGHLIGHT PAST RESIDENTS.  Inserting Ten Down for “rave” in the title indicates TEN DOWN IN G ST.  The final grid shows ten prime ministers, past residents of 10 Downing St.

Crossword Centre Prize Puzzle August 2023

 Right is Wrong by Flowerman

PDF version

Twenty across clues contain an extra word which must be removed before solving. Ten of these extra words contain a particular pattern of letters, with a different example in each. Several more examples of the pattern occur in clue answers. Solvers must introduce eight more examples (ie, different to those in extra words and answers) of the pattern into the perimeter by changing letters in some cells. All resulting new entries are real words, including a comparative form and an abbreviation.

Across

1 Cafe right out of pickled mushroom spread (7)

6 Duke leaving country after one took vulgar picture (6)

10 Spooner's capital gains affected policy transfer (6)

11 Dismal old tenor beginning to snore during ceremony (6)

14 Excitement in Wiesbaden for Ocker on vacation (5)

15 Some spectacular bijoux in Asian tin (4)

16 Base probing sailors' careers (5)

18 Wolfgang’s subtle about rejecting the local oils (5)

19 Extremely slack Welsh alumni are lost causes (6)

21 Types near Rajkot wearing American suits (6)

23 Are folk endlessly fanatical about coffee? (7)

24 Jack irritated after losing case to churchgoing jerk (6)

25 Dashing European men fashion top-quality swimmers (11, 2 words)

29 In retreat, US president getting abstainer in for a good meaningful talk (6)

31 Devious crones had disdained Macbeth (7)

33 Pressure sexy racing driver to return fabrics (6)

35 Birds migrating west regularly into lowveld (6)

37 Sound articles in Spanish and English about lockjaw (5)

41 Bones strewn across area not including coccyx bone (5)

43 Fools’ anecdotes disheartened geniuses (4)

44 Subordinate to heave Aussie out of church (5)

45 Change side in hunt for animal in Moray Firth (6)

46 Vehicle with revolutionary hubcaps in English town (6)

47 Deliver QR-code signal with reservation (6)

48 Releases by byzantine Greek character backing workers (7)

Down

1 Draw up chart's second key (4)

2 Tree with pliant branches on rocky rise (5)

3 City in Iran upset about 60 Minutes showing part of mosque (6)

4 Commission dismissing Britain's obligation (4)

5 Stalk in cross-section's trigonal (5)

6 Seaweed turning up in stern (4)

7 Laird ignoring a ground tremor in the Highlands (4)

8 A petition going around cheers Turkish ruler (6)

9 After estimates retain contractor (5)

12 Sire frolicking with dams gets the wrong idea (8)

13 Spectacle shortened with no grand song of triumph (5)

15 Disease of bats irregular but not unusually rare (5)

17 Top layer of coat shed by Arctic inhabitant (4)

19 Amid conflict in grammar school, new threats (8)

20 Total panic when Australian out for duck (5)

22 Release first of carp into English stream (5)

26 Retiring soldiers are sent faulty heaters (5)

27 Opponents of uprising are French (4)

28 Cut tin’s sharp without question (5)

30 Abel’s brother mostly brooded over experiences (6)

32 Country women visiting golf club (6)

33 Commendation after Rex left bread in Nepal (5)

34 Wretched Hindu shunning Indian holy man (5)

36 Philatelist finally studied stamp (5)

38 Hopeful ultimately showing up who’s outstanding (4)

39 Lambert abandoning old joint in the Dales long ago (4)

40 Aquatic bird shot in sound (4)

42 Convenors disregarding children’s voices (4)

To enter this competition, send your entry as an image or in list format, to ccpuzzles@talktalk.net before 8th September 2023. The first correct entry drawn from the hat will receive a book from the Chambers range, which has been donated by Chambers.