Beetee Latier
42 Solves & 76 Attempts
- BRIANCOX
This is a science- and logistics-themed puzzle, tying in with Beetee Latier’s background as an inventor.
The first part of the puzzle is simple -- solve the nonogram. The resulting grid may not mean much at this point in time, so we proceed to the second part -- solving cryptic crossword clues.
Below are the cryptic crossword clues and their explanations. The part of each clue which provides the definition is bolded. One observation you might quickly make is that the answers are arranged in alphabetical order, which allows you to narrow down possibilities for some clues, but more importantly, suggests some reordering is required later.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main arteries eat return on assets, going left (6) | ‘return on assets’ = ROA, ‘going left’ indicates reversed letters (EAT + ROA) | AORTAE |
| Bobbins' genus put you in arm (4) | put U in ARM | ARUM |
| Organ first enables you everyday (3) | ‘first’ indicates initials (of ‘enables you everyday’) | EYE |
| Valve shooter which cat has eighteen of? (4,4) | a cat has nine lives, thus eighteen half-lives | HALF LIFE |
| Tool crucially lacking helper (10) | ‘crucially’ = instrumentally, ‘helper’ = ally; ‘lacking’ indicates the removal of ALLY from INSTRUMENTALLY | INSTRUMENT |
| Potassium tastes kilometres (6) | ‘potassium’ = K, ‘tastes’ = LICKS | KLICKS |
| Lithium oxonitrate flooring (4) | double definition: ‘lithium oxonitrate’ = LiNO; lino is a type of flooring | LINO |
| Natural liver, for example, in charge (7) | ‘liver, for example’ = ORGAN, ‘in charge’ = IC | ORGANIC |
| Response regarding move (8) | ‘regarding’ = RE, ‘move’ = ACTION | REACTION |
| Fastener in his crew (5) | ‘in’ indicates the answer is found within ‘HIS CREW’ | SCREW |
| Two consecutive notes are sun energy (5) | ‘two consecutive notes’ = SO, LA, ‘are’ = R | SOLAR |
| SMS novel study guide (8) | ‘SMS’ = TEXT, ‘novel’ = BOOK | TEXTBOOK |
| Before Japanese plum, heraldic wings sound level (6) | ‘Japanese plum’ = UME; before that comes ‘heraldic wings’ = VOL | VOLUME |
| Down | ||
|---|---|---|
| Forms thin film on surface of solid pop-ups, globes (7) | ‘pop-ups’ = ADS, ‘globes’ = ORBS | ADSORBS |
| Genie scrambled own, innate German prefix (5) | ‘scrambled’ indicates an anagram of GENIE | EIGEN |
| Car tire shaken, jerky (7) | ‘shaken’ indicates an anagram of CAR TIRE | ERRATIC |
| State operating system to deal with equipment playing canary role (9) | ‘state’ (of matter) = GAS, ‘operating system’ = OS, ‘to deal with’ = COPE | GASOSCOPE |
| I pose to confused element variant (7) | ‘confused’ indicates an anagram of I POSE TO | ISOTOPE |
| Bond Fleming after amphibian upon classical mechanics (9) | ‘Bond Fleming’ = IAN, which comes after ‘amphibian’ = NEWT, ‘upon’ = ON | NEWTONIAN |
| Alternatively, nipped eye socket (5) | ‘alternatively’ = OR, ‘nipped’ = BIT | ORBIT |
| Enter upwards, with energy, pine tar hydrocarbon (6) | ‘upwards’ indicates reversed ENTER (=RETEN), ‘energy’ = E | RETENE |
| Plant pore particles agitated (5) | ‘particles’ = ATOMS, ‘agitated’ indicates an anagram thereof | STOMA |
| Transmit or transport tarmac jeep cat, oddly (7) | ‘oddly’ indicates the odd letters of TARMAC JEEP CAT | TRAJECT |
| Rootless potato lab equipment (4) | ‘rootless’ indicates that ‘potato’ (=TUBER) is missing its last letter | TUBE |
| Vinyl follows fan sound, headless idiot swirling water (9) | ‘vinyl’ = LP, which follows ‘fan sound’ = WHIR; ‘headless’ indicates that idiot (= FOOL) is missing its first letter | WHIRLPOOL |
Looking back at the completed nonogram, one would realise that this is actually the crossword grid for these cryptic crossword clues. There is a unique way to fill these answers into the grid, as shown below:
As per a normal crossword puzzle, the clues are usually ordered based on the order of their appearance in the crossword grid. Rearranging your answers and looking at the first letters gives the cluephrase: SOLVE THIS AKARI TO GET ANSWER.
| Across | Down |
|---|---|
| SOLAR | ISOTOPE |
| ORGANIC | TRAJECT |
| LINO | ORBIT |
| VOLUME | GASOSCOPE |
| EYE | EIGEN |
| TEXTBOOK | TUBE |
| HALFLIFE | ADSORBS |
| INSTRUMENT | NEWTONIAN |
| SCREW | STOMA |
| ARUM | WHIRLPOOL |
| KLICKS | ERRATIC |
| AORTAE | RETENE |
| REACTION |
This suggests that the final grid with numbers is actually an Akari puzzle, which should be overlaid over your existing nonogram/crossword grid. A simple Google search should give the rules of the Akari puzzle. This light bulb puzzle is also a thematic nod at Beetee Latier, who is an expert in electronics and wore a bulb studded outfit during the Third Quarter Quell. Solving this puzzle (answer below, with light bulb positions in yellow) gives you the final cluephrase: SCIENCE OF DR WHO WRITER. The writer of this series is physicist BRIAN COX, which is the thematic answer to this scientific puzzle.
