EV 956 Ego Problem by Ifor

[dr b]

Very nice puzzle this week - some hard clues and a lot of thematic material crammed into this one. Lots of cold solving for starters, given that more than half the answers are altered in some way. Things pick up once you get the method of altering the down clues. It's also probably easier to Google the "statement" than to find it in Chambers. I felt that the last bit of highlighting to "illustrate cryptically the first part of the statement" was a slight letdown, but all in all a fun puzzle.

65 degrees in St Louis today, so I'm out to do some much needed yard cleanup.

[devadolly]

Hello dr b. You are obviously quicker off the mark than I am! Have clues nicely written out by their respective numbers but then I am drawing a blank. How does one google the statement if one doesn't know what it is? I can't get past the old faithful gramatical statement, which as it doesn't contain 8 words can't be it. All it has done is clogged my brain up, that and trying to remember where all the 'junk' from the kitchen needs to be replaced after re-decoration is sending me cross-eyed.
Your weather certainly likes to go from one extreme to another, it is really raw here today and apart from admiring the swathes of snowdrops we have, I left 'playing' in the garden to Himself!

[turnerjmw]

Pretty tough for an EV, I thought, but as you say, dr b, once the adjustment method is found it speeds up rapidly. Even so, you really do need to find the quote to make headway. I found it in about two minutes in the BRB, once I started looking, but I may have been lucky. Not my favourite compiler, and it wasn't looking promising after an hour, so relief rather than great pleasure for me.

[dr b]

dd, "How does one google the statement if one doesn't know what it is?" That's very Zen. But, once I got two words in succession I googled them in quotes and the whole thing turned up right away.

Yes, our weather has been extra variable. Last Sunday it was 70, on Wednesday we had an early morning ice storm that caused a 31-car pileup on our major highway thoroughfare, and today it's warm again. It makes it hard to know how to dress in the morning. Layers, is the key.

[AndrewG-S]

Much more tricky than usual and still have a couple of entries to track down. I found the quote pretty quickly in BRB, so I guess it is horses for courses on that one.

[devadolly]

Good Morning. It's no good, I need help! Just cannot get anywhere on this one and as it is year-end tomorrow so browsing the BRB is out of the question. Plus I have the joys of a (hopefully) minor leg op on Thursday to look forward to (can't take a library of ref works in with me) a heavy hint or two as to the 'statement' might make my 'prison sentence' more enjoyable!
What's the weather like in St L today dr b? Exactly how does an ice-storm manifest itself, whatever it does, it doesn't sound good!

[dr b]

dd, hopefully if you stick with it you will have a "Eureka" moment soon (yes, that is a hint of sorts).

The weather got extra wacky last night with the tornado sirens going off at about 11 pm, 60+ mph winds, heavy rain - but it all passed through quickly and this morning it's 39 degrees! We usually don't need to worry about tornadoes until April.

Hope your "minor" op goes well (my definition of minor surgery is surgery performed on someone else!)

[bellabee]

look through 'phrases and quotations from foreign languages' not that many 10 word entries [and it's nearer the front].- best of luck with the op.

[AndrewG-S]

DD. 26a is an anagram + an extra s for sun and is thematic. 19a is also thematic, 8 letters in total. If you can get these then a scan through the appendix of BRB should get you to the relevant quotation.

[kayakamina]

bellabee the 'statement' is 8 words in my BRB.

[bellabee]

sorry that should be '8 word entries' [confusion with the listener there]

[bellabee]

thanks for that nudge though kayakamina.

[DocHH]

Hello everyone,
I made hard work of this. By taking out the wrong word of the appropriate answer in the central row I was looking for the statement in a different language.
Hope the op goes well Devadolly.

[AndrewG-S]

doc hh, i did the same - choice of 2 languages, made it very slow going
dd, good luck with op - hope all goes well

[devadolly]

Hello! Thank you so much for the very good wishes for Thursday, have to admit I am terrified, deep core of bright yellow running straight through the middle! Really couldn't cope with your ice-storms and tornados dr b!
Also thank you for the heavy hints, pretty sure I have found the quote, but not before I happened across two other most suitable entries, the first beginning "aut amat aut......" and the second, "ergo bibamus", which is most appropriate for we N & Cers I think!! Am blundering on with a little success though the W Oz tree is escaping at the moment. Hopefully will be not too brain-dead by next week tho' I suspect offending leg will be incapacitated (doubt very much if it will allow me to abandon the kitchen for longer than an hour!)

[kayakamina]

Good luck on Thursday DD

Re the Oz tree - Disfigure + US State (abbreviation)

[DocHH]

Devadolly,
Not sure about the first quote you cite, but the second I'd certainly drink to! As for the W Oz tree, K has given a good hint, but it could also be clued as " spoil religious instruction"! What you describe as the yellow streak, is nothing more than "white coat syndrome", you'll be fine. Ginger Mog will look after you on your return home.

[haggis58]

Have cracked the theme, highlighted the appropriate letters and have written the final word of the statement beneath the grid. Help - all I need to finish is 28d! Just cant see it.

[slaney]

28d was the last to fall for me too - " Secure shackles over headless monster"
Definition is the last word, a three letter word for secure around "over " headless.

[haggis58]

Thanks Slaney - didn't realise it could be spelt with an i.

[haggis58]

Sorry Slaney - forgot to ask you why shackles is in the clue.