Stats -We had a fantastic response to “Fifteen Puzzles” and we received 48 submissions. Of those who submitted, 36 got the full grid score of 44 and 18 people got the maximum possible score of 48. Here’s the Solution grid.
The following special instructions were given to the solvers..
Please look for the following as you solve this puzzle
Rogue ?????????? Break ???????
Nose At War: ?????? Concoction ??????
The two wacky headlines above have two missing words each. In both, the first word can be found via a 15 puzzle and the second word from a NINA. Can you get both?
The correct answers to these were
(1) Rogue PUPPETEERS Break STRINGS
(2) Nose At War: EGGNOG Concoction STINKS
Strings and Stinks were the two NINAs highlighted in the solution grid above
The 15 Puzzle in the top left of this unconventional grid – had the letters ROGUEPUPPETEERS*
The 15 Puzzle in the bottom right of the grid has the letters – NOSEATWAREGGNOG*
Here are the Annotations.
Across:
1 Starts to take off painful blouse, perhaps? (3) – Acrostic
4 Without this idea, human happiness ends (4) – Acrostic of Last letters
7 Same fine quality extract (5) – T
10 Egg’s odour spills: this egg’s good (4) – CA – EGG’SODOUR* = URGE’SGOOD*
11 Simple objective: kick the POS out! (4) – PUR(-pos)E
12 Revolutionary selection from bard, eh? “Art” etc.?? Figures! (10) – Rev T
13 Go through the Reverend’s article (4) – Spoonerism of Seep
14 River and mountain system of country (5) – R Ural
15 Mythical king of Britain, one lacking in grey matter (4) – Bra(-i)n
20 Threaten with brownie point cut, IRL! (7) – IMP E IRL*
21 Follow in the footsteps of Alphabet alum, enjoy retirement stocks (7) – Rev T
23 “It is incontrovertible, unfortunately,” I vented (7) – IVENTED*
25 Live together without a bit of conscience, embracing the ultimate libertine revolution (5-2) – SHA(-c)K UP<E
26 Array elements 2 through 5 provide fast response (4) – letters 2 to 5 of Equip
27 Clean girl’s chamber (5) – G ROOM
29 Accepted losing one medal (4) – GO(-i)NG
33 Heartbroken thus, I, as mime-sans-compare, hide rage (10) – T
34 Happen to be a subject (4) – ARE A
35 Noteworthy events, weather, sports primarily (4) – Acrostic &Lit
36 Fortunate old woman gobbles up the last snack (5) – LUC(+K)Y
37 Win the Ashes resoundingly (4) – HP URN
38 Was able to understand ghost, oddly (3) – G(-h)O(-s)T
Down:
1 Only the beginning and the end of travelogue is consistent with reality (4) – TR(-avelog)UE
2 Monster! So revolting! (4) – ERGO<<
3 Go quietly, sneak a look (4) – PEE P
5 Choppy ax use by gangster, someone not interested in doing it (7) – (AX USE)* AL
6 Top waves, excellent! (7) – SURF ACE
7 Reminder: Honourable leader is in the clutches of corrupt CEO (4) – H(-onourable)<<CEO*
8 He deals with applications and other arrangements for late admissions (10) – CD
9 Master list includes setter at the end (5) – LEA(R)N
10 A deliverer rushes (3) – DD
16 Stand up to wash the bottom portion off (4) – RI(-n)SE
17 Commit positive changes, avoiding move? Positive! (10) – (COMMIT POSITIVE)*
18 Quick cheese fondue fountain! (5) – BRIE F(-ondue)
19 Essentially glum and bad side of the moon (5) – (-g)LU(-m) (-a)N(-d) (-b)A(-d) R
22 Make out with corrupt, top politician? Yes! (4) – P YES*
24 Polishing off one last piece of meat fried in butter as a power source (7) – IN BUT(-T)ER*
25 Pay for kinky pornos after a bit of self-indulgence (7) – S PORNOS*
26 Dull sequel lacks heart (5) – T
28 Boy’s heart usurped by you and me getting engaged (4) – B(-o+US) Y
29 Band’s opening number breaking silence (4) – GA (+N)G
30 About to fill glasses? Sweet! (4) – O (RE) O
31 Amphibian’s unused bottom part? (4) – NEW (-par)T
32 Rising sea levels ultimately point to carbon dioxide, perhaps (3) – Acrostic of Last Letters.
Here is the scorecard (sorted by total score and then in Alphabetical order)
The first entry was submitted by Narayan Mandyam, although it was not the first all-correct entry. The first all-correct entry was from Supriya Mithal and the last all-correct entry was received from Vinayak Ekbote.
Congrats to all of the 18 people who managed to max the score.
28 people rated the puzzle as “Excellent”, 17 rated it “Good” and 3 rated it “Average”. The top clues, picked as favorites in the puzzle were for Surface and Shake-up – which got 10 votes apiece, Turbine which got 11 votes and Undertaker, which got 12 votes.
Thanks to “Gussalufz” for an entertaining puzzle that kept many solvers wondering what a “Fifteen Puzzle” could be. Though it did stump people to start with, soon enough quite a few managed to solve it successfully which is a testimony to the capabilities of our solvers.
Did you enjoy the puzzle? Do you have any feedback for us or for the setter. Do comment in the blog and let us know.
Noseatwareggnog* is at bottom RIGHT not left as given in the post.
Thanks. Have corrected the typo. now.
Setter’s Notes
I think the “endgame” in this puzzle is quite simple if the solver is familiar with what a “15 puzzle” is. Here’s the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_puzzle. Perhaps most folks have actually played with a 15 puzzle, but some may not be familiar with its name. As an aside, the 15 puzzle is usually solved in raster order (left-to-right and top-to-bottom), but there is another way that is mathematically cute: get the top row and the left column right, and now you have reduced the 4×4 puzzle to a 3×3 puzzle. Repeat the same reduction strategy :-).
Minor correction: the anno for 17d should read “(COMMIT POSITIVE)* – MOVE.”