2
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This puzzle is part of the Monthly Topic Challenge #4: Cross-*non*-words


May 4 be in 6.
May the 46 be in 6.

This is a cryptic crossword with a bit of a twist.
You may see that some clues do not match their position in the crossword in terms of word length. Therefore, for each clue (Clues 1 through 47 except clue 43):

  • Find a short word related to the solution to the clue. (The solution to clues with question mark in parentheses are to be treated as cryptic-style wordplay, while the solution to the other clues usually "defines" the short word.)
  • Append the first letter of the word that you entered into the crossword grid for clue 26.
  • Finally, append the first letter of the "short word" related to the solution of the current clue. You will enter the word you now obtain (it thus starts and ends with the same letter) into the crossword grid.

The unclued words can be inferred from the words you entered. All words in the crossword are related to a certain theme that is then related to Clue 1, which is hidden. Try to find the solution to Clue 1.
Twelve of the clues each have an extra word or phrase, which is also related to Clue 1 and the title.

Crossword Grid
The image version of the grid is believed to have been uploaded online several times. The plaintext version is also available below with numbers added (we assume that all the visible characters in the grid are full width characters, and we suggest that you fill the grid with full-width characters as well).

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■㉜■■⑬
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■㉒,,,,
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■,■■,
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■,■■,
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■⑤㉛,,,■,
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■,■,■■■
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■⑨■,■■■■■
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■⑰,,,,■■■■
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■,■,■■■■④
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■,■■■⊚■■,
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■⑫,,㉖,■,■■,
■■■■■■■■■㉕■■■■■■■■■■■,■■⚇,,,
■■■■■■⑮■■,■■■■■■■■㉗■㉘,,,,■■,
■■■■■⓪,,,,,■■■■■■■,■■,■■,■■,
■■■■■■,■■,■■■■■■■■㊲,,,,■,■■■
■■■⑩㉚,,,■■■■■■■■■■,■■■■■■■■■
■■■■,■,■■■■■■■■㊺㊶,,,■■■■■■■■
⑧,,,,■■■■■■■■■■■,■,■■■■■■■■■
■■■■,■⑱■■⑥■■㉔■■■,■■■■■■■■■■■
■■②,,,,■㉞,,,,■■■,■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■,■■,■■,■■㊴,㉙,,■■■■■■■■
■■■■■㊷,,,,,■,■■■■,■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■,■■,■⑦,㊳,,,,■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■,■■■③■■,■■■,■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■■㉟,,,,■㉑,,,,■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■■■,■■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■⑳■■⑪■㊵■,■■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■㊼,,,,■①,,,,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■,■■,■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
㉓,,,,■,■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■,■⑲,⑭,,,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■㊻,,,,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■㊸,,㊱,,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■■■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■㊹㉝,,,,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■,■■■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■,■■■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■⑯,,,,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

Clues

  1. Rebuild more European 7 (4)
  2. Our 46 put online paper with holes which looks like a 35 (8)
  3. Judge a container for dark varnish (5)
  4. An amount of money for part of insulin ran before engineer (9)
  5. Silence to come out on top after exercise (5)
  6. Money smell what some 35 can be (7)
  7. Color bird of quiet lover (6)
  8. Computer company's program of large edges will pass today (5)
  9. Station of swamp of planet hard to the left ? (5,4)
  10. One who tries to keep things inside safe in warehouses - it terminated (11)
  11. RI's 7 without editor's 14 to a very old place, perhaps (8?)
  12. Non-ending punctuation with point from fern (7)
  13. Trade former small amount of money (8)
  14. I led dog of new place to play baseball? (4,5)
  15. Thin stick makes it get care (9)
  16. Shallow flower bend in spaces (5)
  17. A beautiful ancient calculating utensil - Strange at first (6)
  18. Spooner's train court is for long lived creatures (5,8)
  19. Second use of computer hardware (5)
  20. Not so cruel supporter accepts most of Last Workday End (6,8?)
  21. Artist Semi-Diodes of 23 device (5)
  22. Some computer parts with removable leather top double - not drunk at ship (8)
  23. Plateau up each fine non-initial product (5,5)
  24. You and I will be healthy (4)
  25. Ordinary field / deep mountain (5)
  26. It's hard to climb, Let O Grapes run wild (5,5)
  27. Eternal sports group Three Leaf Clover (4)
  28. Ancient country never beginning hold of 4 (3,5)
  29. Changing red-headed wood for cushion medal (5)
  30. Dreaming not shorter than act of railway landscape (7)
  31. Tops of Future Jive , place with great 31 (4)
  32. King papers' joke (3)
  33. A language with 35s and space; good and partly foolish (7)
  34. One of the 1 is a person who rents things to people? (6)
  35. RI's home golf with a member of Phoenix's Red Circle (6,3)
  36. Car's Back In Car Blossom (6)
  37. What to put on a 35? Put a foot on it who (5)
  38. Arms salute and take hats off 47 (3,3,5)
  39. If all corpse with two branches breaks up - speak out clearly (7,6?)
  40. More than two job? 14 that here (5,3)
  41. New health 28 for place for scatter information (9)
  42. Will I tell him about holiday outing first? Sure, it's the way we catch fish (4,1,4)
  43. Flight from RI (a return) sounded 26 (8)
  44. Main starter with cored 9 from tree (5)
  45. Women and men first lived and died, in this place (5)
  46. Hopping creature in feldspar rows (7)

Note: Some clues, especially Clue 12 (I don't seem to be able to find a suitable word for the clue) may need revising.


Task 1: Try to solve this crossword and find out what Clue 1 decodes to.

You may need a dictionary to help you.

Task 2: (optional) Try to make another crossword grid using these fifty words you wrote in my grid, so that if a blank version of your grid (without clue numbers) and a list of the fifty words are given, one can find a unique method to locate each word in your grid, similar to this.

My grid would be a bit hard, as it would be far harder to locate clue 23 if the clue numbers in the grid were removed. Also, it would be better if your grid still remains connected even after removing the clues ⊚, ⚇, and ⓪ (the three unclued ones in my grid apart from Clue 1).

Hint 1:

The title refers to another crossword on this website.

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3
  • $\begingroup$ Clue 18 is probably my best clue. I've had that in my head for months and I finally had the opportunity to use it. $\endgroup$ Oct 16, 2022 at 13:38
  • $\begingroup$ Ah, I see what's going on here, but can't finish my solution now... will finish tomorrow if nobody else has posted one. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi
    Oct 17, 2022 at 8:06
  • $\begingroup$ @Deusovi Sorry, I can't access Imgur. I saw that you posted images for both grids and clue explanations for most cryptic crosswords. Maybe you can use the text grid. Sorry for the inconvenience. $\endgroup$ Oct 17, 2022 at 8:59

1 Answer 1

3
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(partial answer; some clues unsolved)

This puzzle is a reference to two others:

"Neo-futurist poetry" (as referenced by the title) and "Crossword day puzzle" (as mentioned in the hint).

The crossword is filled out directly as in the previous puzzles:

Like "Crossword day puzzle", the words to be filled in are the names of the letters in the radio alphabet; like "Neo-futurist poetry", the puzzle is about the Japanese alphabet.

The Japanese radiotelephony alphabet repeats every letter along with the word starting with it; for instance, the letter ア is read out as "サヒ ノ " (Asahi no a; literally, "the 'a' of Asahi"). This is why the instructions for entering words seem so strange.

As in "Neo-futurist poetry", this puzzle also uses the poem Iroha, which is notable for having every 'letter' once. The clues are ordered as in the poem's order; 1 is "I", 2 is "ro", 3 is "ha"...

There are a few other minor details:

The reason clue 1 is left unclued is that it would be "Iroha no i".
Entry 0 is for the letter ン, which represents "-n"; it does not appear in the poem because it was not a separate letter back then. Entries ·· and ∘ are for the "dakuten" (゛) and "handakuten" (゜), two diacritical marks that can change some syllables' pronunciations.

The above can all be figured out, and the grid can be fully filled, without actually solving the clues.


As for the actual clues, they don't work quite as in the referenced puzzles:

instead, each one clues the English translation of the word used to represent the letter. Alternatively, in the cases marked with a ?, they clue either something related, or a literal translation of the name. For instance, clue 27 is for オ (O), whose word is Osaka (大阪); the characters making up its name literally translate as "large" and "slope".)
The extra words in the clues are fragments of the Iroha poem, as translated into English.

The filled grid (text form):

〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷フ〷〷ワ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ラヂオノラ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷サ〷〷ビ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ン〷〷ノ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ホケンノホ〷ワ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷シ〷フ〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷リ〷キ〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷レンゲノレ〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ゴ〷ケ〷〷〷〷ニ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ノ〷〷〷ハ〷〷ッ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ヲワリノヲ〷ン〷〷ポ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ヰ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ハ〷〷ダクテン〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷ヨ〷〷ド〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷オ〷クラブノク〷〷ノ〷
〷〷〷〷〷オシマイノン〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ー〷〷ノ〷〷テ〷〷ニ〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷ノ〷〷ヰ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷サクラノサ〷ン〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷ヌマズノヌ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷カ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷ッ〷ヨ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷モミヂノモ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
チドリノチ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷カ〷オ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷ノ〷ソ〷〷ヘ〷〷ウ〷〷〷サ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷ローマノロ〷エイゴノエ〷〷〷ノ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷バ〷〷ワ〷〷ノ〷〷ユミヤノユ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷シンブンノシ〷ノ〷〷〷〷マ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷ノ〷〷ヘ〷トウキョウノト〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷ソ〷〷〷ハ〷〷ッ〷〷〷ノ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷テガミノテ〷ナゴヤノナ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷キ〷〷ノ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷ネ〷〷ル〷メ〷ノ〷〷キ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷スズメノス〷イロハノイ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷ミ〷〷イ〷ヂ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
ムセンノム〷ノ〷ノ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷ネ〷ツルカメノツ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ワ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷セカイノセ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷ノ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷カギノアルヱ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷サ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷ヒコーキノヒ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷ド〷〷〷ノ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷モ〷〷〷ア〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷ノ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷タバコノタ〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷
〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷〷

Clue explanations:

2. Rebuild more European [CAPITAL] (4)
ROME*
3. Our [WORLD] put online paper with holes which looks like a [LETTER] (8)
→ (should be POSTCARD) 4: Judge a container for dark varnish (5)
J+A+PAN
5: An amount of money for part of insulin ran before engineer (9)
INSU_+RAN+CE (nonspecific "partial")
6: Silence to come out on top after exercise (5)
PE+ACE
7: Money [-smell-] what some [LETTER] can be (7)
CAPITAL ddef
8: Color bird of quiet lover (6)
P+LOVER
9: Computer company's program of large edges [-will pass today-] (5)
APP+L_E
10: Station of swamp of planet hard to the left ? (5,4)
MARS+H+PORT
11: One who tries to keep things inside safe in warehouses - it terminated (11)
_HOUSESITTER_
12: RI's [CAPITAL] without editor's [EXCHANGE] to a very old place, perhaps (8?)
→ (should be something related to Owari)
13: Non-ending punctuation with point from fern (7)
BRACKE(-t)+N
14: Trade former small amount of money (8)
EX+CHANGE
15: I led dog of new place to play baseball? (4,5)
GOOD FIELD*
16: Thin stick makes it get care (9)
CIGARETTE* (grammar of indicator doesn't work)
17: Shallow flower bend in spaces (5)
→ (should be LOTUS)
18: A beautiful ancient calculating utensil - Strange at first (6)
ABACUS (inits, &lit)
19: Spooner's train court is for long lived creatures (5,8)
GREAT TORTOISE (spoonerism doesn't work)
20: Second use of computer hardware (5)
MO+USE
21: Not so cruel supporter accepts most of Last Workday End (6,8?)
→ (should be something related to Nagoya)
22: Artist Semi-Diodes of 23 device (5)
ra? + DIO_
23: Some computer parts with removable leather top double - not drunk at ship (8)
→ (should be some synonym of "radio") 24: Plateau up each fine non-initial product (5,5)
→ (should be something related to Ueno - something like "above field"?)
25: You and I will be healthy (4)
WE(')LL ddef
26: Ordinary field / [-deep mountain-] (5)
PLAIN ddef
27: It's hard to climb, Let O Grapes run wild (5,5)
LARGE SLOPE* 28: [-Eternal-] sports group Three Leaf Clover (4)
CLUB ddef
29: Ancient country never beginning hold of [JAPAN] (3,5)
(-h)OLD JAPAN
30: Changing red-headed wood for cushion medal (5)
→ (should be MATCH)
31: [-Dreaming not-] shorter than act of railway landscape (7)
SCENE+RY ("shorter than act" doesn't properly define SCENE; "of" extraneous)
32: Tops of Future Jive , place with great 31 (4)
FU_ JI_ (nonspecific "partial")
33: King papers' joke (3)
K+ID
34: A language with [LETTER]s and space; good and partly foolish (7)
EN+G+_LISH (nonspecific "partial")
35: One of the [IROHA] is a person who rents things to people? (6)
LETTER ddef
36: RI's home golf with a member of Phoenix's Red Circle (6,3)
→ (should be something related to Asahi)
37: Car's Back In Car Blossom (6)
→ (should be CHERRY)
38: What to put on a [LETTER]? Put a foot on it [-who-] (5)
STAMP ddef
39: Arms salute and take hats off [SPARROW] (3,3,5)
BOW+AND+(-sp)ARROW
40: If all corpse with two branches breaks up - speak out clearly (7,6?)
→ (should be something related to Meiji)
41: More than two job? [EXCHANGE] that here (5,3)
THREE HAT*
42: New health [CLUB] for place for scatter information (9)
→ (should be NEWSPAPER)
43: Will I tell him about holiday outing first? Sure, it's the way we catch fish (4,1,4)
WITHAHO inits + OK
44: Flight from RI (a return) sounded [PLAIN] (8)
(AIR<) + "PLANE"
45: Main starter with cored [APPLE] from tree (5)
M+AP(-p)LE
46: Women and men first lived and died, in this place (5)
→ (should be WORLD/EARTH)
**47:**Hopping creature in feldspar rows (7)
_SPARROW_

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3
  • $\begingroup$ How is quiet related to P or PE? $\endgroup$
    – justhalf
    Oct 18, 2022 at 4:22
  • $\begingroup$ "Piano" (from dynamics in music) means "soft(ly)" or "quiet(ly)" $\endgroup$
    – Avi
    Oct 18, 2022 at 4:48
  • $\begingroup$ Some of the missing ones rot13(12 CEBIV(-qr<)APR 17 YBG(H=oraq)F 36 EVF VA + T + FHA 37 PUR(_E)EL 42 ARJ + FCN + CRE 46 J + BE + Y_ Q_) $\endgroup$
    – user39583
    Oct 18, 2022 at 8:20

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