EV 900 Times Were A-Changin' by Jaques

[DocHH]

Hello EV N&C Wine Clubbers (plus any TT contributors),
Filled the grid quite quickly and have adapted the normally clued answers to give me 6 adjacent squares that represent the "where", they are seemingly approriately positioned. Not sure however that I have adapted them in a manner that they actually fit the whole quote and show how "Times Were A-Changin'"! For certain I have a number of entries that are no longer words.
Going to resort to a glass of Tempranillo for more inspiration, perhaps even a kosher bacon buttie!

[novalis]

Hi DocHH!

Likewise got through it with no alarums and excursions. You could say it was a bit of a breeze! I actually think that the whole speech from which the quotation is taken suggested that the "Times Were A-Changin'". The adaptation of the normally clued answers into what is entered in the final grid certainly fits in with the missing part of the quote.

To all EVers, you may remember I asked for help with the clue "Optimistic duo". I found the answer ( Turin Brakes, a duo whose first album was "The Optimist" ) but too late for the friend I was trying to help.

[dr b]

Hi Doc. Like you I found this a straightforward grid fill/identify quote & speaker. I am able to change only two letters in the grid in order to highlight the place referred to in the quote, but this seems wholly inadequate given the complexity of the preamble. So I will continue to ponder.

Incidentally, the folks over at fifteensquared noted that, in EV 898 Prime Suspect, every 13th square was omitted. I'm not sure if we ever came to any agreement on what the blanks were meant to represent.

[novalis]

Hi Dr B!

Think of the words missing from the first part of the quote. As I've already stated, it was a bit of a breeze!
To be honest, I was surprised that the puzzle made no reference to its number because 400, 500, 600, 700 and 800 all did.

[dr b]

I figured it has something to do with the second word of the full quote, but nothing's jumping out at me yet. I'll put it aside for a bit & look at it with a fresh eye later this afternoon.

[novalis]

Dr B,

As far as I can see, if the answers are adapted in accordance with the first four words of the quote only the second letter of the six to be highlighted remains the same.

[turnerjmw]

Evening all. Agreed, novalis, that only the second highlight iremains unchanged. A pleasant, accurate and unambiguous puzzle, I thought. I can only imagine the 50th anniversary of the speech this week was thought more topical than a reference to the 900th puzzle.

[dr b]

OK, that was obvious enough - but it seemed so unlikely to me that that particular method of adapting the normal clues could possibly work, that I was not inclined to "waste time" trying it! Instead I was looking for (examples of 2nd word) hidden somewhere in the normal clues.

[novalis]

Agree Dr B, it does seem a bit too obvious.

[turnerjmw]

Thanks for the lowdown on EV898 Prime Suspect, dr b. It does perhaps explain why blank cells might have been appropriate (and also why my alternative arrangement of the answers, which lacked that symmetry, was wrong!)

[Jogler]

The h-g is pleased as he did this one all alone - and still on the wagon! For Prime Suspect I think we were edging to the view that the appropriateness of the placing of the empty squares equalled the fear of thirteen and thus its avoidance. We are gearing up to a visit across the pond and will have to miss out on the next few puzzles unless there is a way of getting them on-line - which I am pretty sure there isn't. Interesting about the optimistic duo, Novalis; those were not easy clues!

[dr b]

jogler, I can email you a pdf of the EV while you're over here, if you're interested. What will you be doing in the US, if I can be nosy? I just need to know if I need to tidy up the house, or anything.

[novalis]

Hi Jogler(s),

Hope you have a great time across the pond. Now my scanner is working I could always email you a copy before I set to work on it. As far as the quiz that I was trying to finish for my friend is concerned, the compiler thereof doesn't like anybody to get all 100 right.( At least I had one small triumph in that direction as we beat his team in the Quiz League last week.We are now level on points with them, one point behind the leaders whom we play on Wednesday. ) When this year's becomes available in December I'll post details of how to obtain a copy on the EV thread for anybody who is interested.

Should have said yesterday evening when I posted, many thanks TurnerJMW for the up date on EV898.

[Jogler]

Thank you dr b and novalis for your kind offers. A pdf would be most appreciated for the next two Sundays. We are flying to Las Vegas for a couple of days and then driving up to Park City, Utah. We rather enjoy the skiing there.... I don't think you are in mountain territory, dr b, so you should be safe from us popping in! As the big red brick will not be accompanying us, I will have to rely on finding everything on-line. I am currently trying to bookmark all the sensible sites onto my daughter's notebook - oh for smaller fingers.

[ulysses100]

As novalis has said I, too, found this one a bit of a breeze, although the first anagram took me a while to find as the alternative spelling is not to be found in older editions of Chambers.

I don't know if any of you do the Inquisitor as well but I am having problems in completing last week's one (1110 entitled "I beg your pardon ?"). This will only make sense if you have done it but some of the thematic entries are "How green was my valet" , "for a song" , "trash" and "torc". The first was the title of an episode in an American series called Get Smart with puns in their titles but I cannot make sense of the others. Can anyone give me a hint as to what to do (am I even on the right track ?).

[dr b]

joglers,

if you send your email info to bbetker (at) yahoo.com I will forward the pdf to you next Saturday.

[devadolly]

Good Morning (haven't had lunch yet!) N & C'ers. Managed to get most of the grid done in the early hours (is insomnia a good or bad thing I ask?) and the quote did spring to light and throttle me quite quickly but I am having difficulty with the adaptation of the letters even though I know what they should be, will try again later after digesting your posts.
Hope all are well and keeping the recycling bins full of glass, wouldn't want thenm to run out would we?

[AndrewG-S]

Hello, I have not posted an answer here before but have found the commentary very useful, so many thanks. My two pennyworth for this week is that I think the Times A Changin' is a reference to a Dylan track, another Dylan track refers to where The Answer is which then ties back into the theme of the puzzle

[devadolly]

Hello AndrewG-S and welcome to the mad-house! hope you join us on a regular basis. I have a feeling that the quote is political rather than musical (more's the pity) and the where is a rather large lump of planet!
Novalis - please do post details of your next quiz.

[AndrewG-S]

Agree the main quote is political and the answer a large part of the planet, I was just struggling with showing how the times were a changin from the preamble. Anyway doesn't change the solution so a bit academic really!

[novalis]

Hi Andrew G-S!

As Devadolly says, welcome to the madhouse. We all must be a little "mad" to subject ourselves to the mind-blowing rigours of EV every week. As far as this week's offering is concerned, whether politically or musically, times were certainly changing when the speech was made.

Devadolly, the quiz I write each year for our local MacMillan's group ( 80 straight general knowledge questions, nothing cryptic ) should be available very soon. Our local organiser should be getting them back from the printer any time now. As soon as it is ready I'll post details on the EV thread. The one where I asked for help comes out every December and raises funds for a local school. That consists of 100 cryptic questions all linked to a theme. It's always very entertaining and worth attempting. Again, when that is available, I'll post details on the EV thread together with the two sample questions which the compiler puts in his notes each year.