EV 972 Extraction by Oxymoron

[dr b]

Oh no, it's Mr. O! Greetings you Brits, Swiss (honorary) and any Croatians who may be lurking.

A difficult EV, I thought, that would not be out of place as a Listener. Many obscure words for answers; the only saving grace was that the extra letter was usually fairly easy to spot. The instructions revealed themselves at about the 2/3 point; working backwards the rest of the way made things simpler. A straightforward but very nice endgame!

Almost time for the US Open where I will be rooting for Rory to not blow it this time.

[turnerjmw]

Agreed, dr b, a tough test, but scrupulously fair as always from Mr O. Not a difficult endgame, it's true, but well executed. I could probably have saved myself some work by guessing the extra letters and spotting the instructions earlier, but as usual I didn't

[devadolly]

You took the words right out of my mouth with your opening exclaimation drb! Have made a tentative start but the garden has beckoned very loudly today, first of the spuds to dig and some tree planting, so will strain the brain a little later. Don't any of you go away as I suspect I will need some help later in the week!

[kayakamina]

Hi all.
Back home after a very enjoyable visit to Italy to see my new grandson, and I find myself facing a puzzle from Mr O!
It was quite heavy going until the instruction became clear and I found the whole project really quite satisfying.

Rory is only off at 8,20 UK time so a few hours to worry for him! He learned an important lesson at the Masters and I expect him to hold on this time.

[AndrewG-S]

Late start and enjoyable puzzle. Not as tricky as previous Mr O offerings I thought, although I have not yet got the final two unclued entries yet so may regret saying that.

[haggis58]

Struggling with this one. Have completed the left-hand side bar the unclued entry but only a have couple on the right-hand side. I keep staring at the clues especially for 4a, 8d and 9d. Any help out there?

[AndrewG-S]

Haggis58

Feel free to drop me an email on [email protected]

[kayakamina]

Hi haggis

4a The extracted letter is E so if you break the clue down into SAFE + COD
you should get the material.
This will help you with the two down clues.

Two diagonals will give you the theme and the instruction to be followed to
enable you to highlight the relevant name.

[novalis]

Have managed to look at this on and off over the last three days. Have solved all the clues and can manage the first part of the instruction but can't see the second even though ( I think ) I know what i'm looking for. Beyond that I'm not sure about the unchecked letter in each of the two unclued answers although there seems to be only one possibilty for the second of them. Any pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated.

[copelander]

Evening all, Kk, I too am just back from Italy (Puglia) where the sunshine and blue skies were just wonderful,so I came to this EV a bit late. All completed apart from the 2 unclued "theme" words. I can deduce the 4 letter one but unless I've gone wrong somewhere I can make no sense of the 7 letter one. ....a bit like Novalis, I think.

[haggis58]

Kayakamina
Thanks, got there in the end. The theme is clear and have identified the provider. Solved all clues and I have to say my copy of Chambers has never been so well thumbed! However still can't see the relevance of the two unclued entries and like Novalis not sure what the unchecked letters are.

[dr b]

The preamble states that the unclued answers "provide the theme". If you have the theme, look it up in Wikipedia and see who has, in the past, provided us with various versions of the theme.

[kayakamina]

Both unclued lights wrote about the provider. If you google the provider's name it will give you the two names - one from the 2nd century.

[copelander]

Thank you KK and Drb..that's another new name for me!

[haggis58]

Thanks drb and kayakamina - like Copelander I have eventually got there!

[turast]

I think this was my first encounter with Oxymoron. Wow! Even with all the clues solved, those two unchecked letters in the unclued entries still had me baffled as to the theme. Eventually I stopped trying to identify felines, (I'd solved 1 to 31 Ac, but not 27Ac), obliterate teeth, isolate dentists, locate masseurs, concoct anagrams of the 2 unclued words until I finally saw the neatness of the construction, as is usual with "wordsearches", staring me right in the face! My last act was to complete the unclued entries. I'd never heard of the longer one. Bravo Mr O!

[bobbycollins]

A satisfying puzzle, which I actually enjoyed more than Listener 4142. The latter has received rave reviews, but I wasn't particularly overwhelmed. Chacun a son gout, I guess.

[novalis]

Many thanks for the guidance. I couldn't see the letters reflecting the second part of the instructions through looking too hard. As for the unclued answers I should have reached out to a book which is some 30 inches away from where I'm sitting. The irony is that the shorter unclued answer is the name of the town where I live!

[devadolly]

I'm floundering! Yes, yes, again! Where do you live Novalis??????

[devadolly]

Sorry, forgot to add, what has this got to do with extremely large ginger mogs?

[novalis]

Hi Devadolly!

In a little town on the outskirts east of Oldham. It is on the map.