Stats – The puzzle page had 652 views. We had 28 solvers completing and submitting the grid (excluding 2 duplicate submissions). Of those who submitted 15 managed to complete the grid with zero errors and 14 went on to get the maximum possible score of 152.
Here are the instructions for the Puzzle:
Three thematic clues lack further definition.
Their wordplay gives two worded answers each, of which one answer will also most likely be your choice for “Grid Headline”.
Irrespective of your choice, the longer word of all the three thematic answers (which has been enumerated) is to be entered at the respective clue lights.
However, only one of the three shorter words corresponding to your choice for the grid headline, is to be entered at 23.
Remaining two are to be discarded.
Further, depending on your entry at 23, only a fragment of the clues for the grid entries intersecting 23 is to be used for wordplay and definition.
Click on the Icons in the left for various options – Clicking “Solution” will display the completed grid.
Click here for the PDF Version
Bonus Question
1.What’s the grid headline (2 words)?
2.What were the alternate answers for 23 that you discarded?
3.What are the alternate answers for 24 and 26 due to the discarded 23?
Click here for the PDF Version
Click Here for the Solution /Annotations:
Across:
8 {LE}{TITL(I)E}, 9 RE(NT)(-V)AL<-, 10 (T T CHAMPION)*, 11 EVER(-t), 12 L(OO)P, 13 NO {V(AK DJ(-uice)(-v)O(-d)K(-a)OV)IC(-e)}, 15 {E G D ERROR FREE}, 18 US RU<- {SER(-ena)}*, 20 EPI(-c) {DU(-e)(RA)L}, 22 MaRia SharApova discoNcerts jitTery, 24 {B} {OLD}/BA{L}D, 25 {YES STEFF(-i)(+a)(+u)}*, 26 caFES TERrace/ F+ASTER +CD, 27 EAG(+L)E R(A)(-l)Y.
Down: 1 {T} {MONICA SELES (-c)(-s)(-i)}* , 2 koHli ICC UP, 3 CD, 4 GET I TON, 5 O(-v)(+R) ATIONS, 6 {ANT(ER)I OR}, 7 {T} (-p)A{X}ES, 14 {G(-i) R(-l) AND S} L AM, 16 EX {PE(DI<-) TE}, 17 {(-v)ENUS SER(-v)(-e)D}*, 19 {GRAF} {TER(-m)}, 21 LETS GO(-ran), 22 RAFA(+e)L(-e) {AND}* AL.
Answer to the Bonus Question:
1. The expected answer was the NINA – “THE GOAT” – prominently displayed at the top row.
The instructions had mentioned that one of the shorter words corresponding to your choice of the grid headline should be entered in 23D and the other two discarded – indicating that the “grid headline” is not exactly the same as your choice..
It was also mentioned that the grid headline is two words while the solution above pertaining to your “choice” was only one word. Even so, many solvers had put the full two words corresponding to their choice for “THE GOAT” as the Grid headline..
Based on the feedback from solvers and after due deliberation, the Setter has decided to accept both answers as valid.
2. Depending on your entry for 23D, it could be any 2 of ROGER, NADAL or NOVAK
3. Depending on your entries in the grid it could be either BOLD and FESTER or BALD and FASTER.
Based on your responses, for 23D, Roger was picked 16 times, Nadal was picked 6 times and Novak was chosen 4 times. One person had entered “LAVER” and another had chosen “WOMAN”.
Here’s the Score card (sorted by total and then alphabetically)
Congrats to the 14 solvers who maxed the score and to every one who participated. Very well tried.
Grid Rating: The puzzle got an excellent score of 8.93. It got 12 perfect 10s – i.e 43% of those who submitted thought it was perfect. The minimum score was 6.
Top 3 Clues: The most favorite clues were for “MATCH POINT” with 17 votes, “GRAND SLAM” with 8 votes and “ELOPED” with 7 votes.
I personally had a blast test solving and presenting this puzzle and hope you all enjoyed this fun puzzle too. Thank you Spiffytrix. It takes a lot hard work to create a themed grid that works at so many levels. Great to have you back and hope we will see more of your grids here. Thanks to all our solvers for your support and encouraging comments.
Comments on the Puzzle
1. Very good indeed – many thanks. It was only not a 10 because some of the surfaces were too strained or convoluted to make them tennis related.
2. A very interesting workout, reasonably good challenge. Good idea and concept worked into the grid and clues, and quite intricate wordplay in many cases. However in an effort to incorporate all that, some discordant notes also appear in a few clues and surfaces (17d was pure gibberish for surface for example). Overall quite enjoyable
3. Theme is my favorite. However, some clues are vague and instructions too convoluted. Simpler is better. May be it is just me …
4. WONDERFUL GRID
5. Absolutely wonderful puzzle. Very enjoyable!
6. Brilliant puzzle in several ways
7. This is a stunning debut by Spiffytrix. Extremely intelligent and crisp clues. Nothing soggy about them.
8. Spiffytrix at his-come-back-best. The cluing was top class.Thoroughly enjoyed solving.
9. Quite tough – very clever. The most trouble I had was with the weird phrasing of the instructions, which took a bit of understanding!
10. Tough and challenging…enjoyed the twist in the end 🙂
11. FANTASTIC CLUES AND WAS GREAT FUN
12. Tough grid, but enjoyable!
13. Loved the way the theme unfolded… loved the way it was worked into unrelated words
14. Tough puzzle to solve
15. Loved the idea and execution! Took me a while to understand the instructions initially but everything fell into place as I started solving. I also liked how most of the clues had surfaces connected to the tennis theme (or sports in general), and they were pretty smooth too. Overall a really enjoyable grid + puzzle.
16. Not a major fan of letter substitutions in synonyms. And this grid had a fair bit of such clues
17. Very interesting. Most clues were clear. Some such as 13A, 18A, 15A and 22D not easy to parse. Made me work hard.
18. Superb. No improvement needed. Keep setting Spiffytrix!
19. quite tough
20. Enjoyed it. Somewhat higher degree of abstraction.
21. A little challenging this time for me. Still enjoyable though – very nice clues!
22. Well crafted puzzle.
23. Really challenging grid
24. Awesome!
25. Super puzzle. Took some time to interpret the special clues but I think I got it right finally!
“26. 7D something of a guess – I couldn’t find an Indian GS winner to fit.
It would be interesting to see the percentage of each name at 23D.”
27. Interesting grid
28. Ingenious concept based on the current top players’ names. I learned a few things about the current tennis world. Entertaining clues, nearly every one fitting the theme. The instruction about “two worded answers each” could be clearer.