Elusive Figures by Poat

Puzzle explanation

The grid with all of its letters is shown here. The extra trios of words and numbers (with punctuation) in the clues with triangular numbers were “3 like plane figures: group of 64 east of two little points, tango in corner, group of 16 in centre; tool, grape and vetch”. The first parts described three triangular regions to be erased: 64 cells to the right of the cell containing the umlaut (“two dots”) that was required in HÄLLEFLINTA and LÄNDLER; the T in the bottom-left corner; and 16 cells in the centre of the remaining block of letters, leaving a three-sided annulus with three blank cells on its perimeter. The last extra items were definitions of HOE, UVA and ERS, whose letters respectively marked the corners of the three areas to shade, depicting the optical illusion of an “impossible” three-dimensional triangle. The blank cells were filled to show the names PENROSE, ESCHER and REUTERSVÄRD around the perimeter. The graphic artists Oscar Reutersvärd (Swedish) and M. C. Escher (Dutch) both drew many impossible figures. Reutersvärd devised this triangle in 1934. Inspired by the works of Escher, the British mathematician Sir Roger Penrose rediscovered and popularised it in the 1950s and it is often called the Penrose triangle.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Extra Items Answer Explanation
1 3 like plane HÄLLEFLINTA homophone of HELL + (IN E FLAT) *
2   LÄNDLER LÄNDER around (flora)L
3 figures: group of INTANGIBLE (TEN + B + NILGAI) *
4   ELTON (NOT + LET − T) <
5   REDS 2 meanings; ref. snooker
6 64 east of VILLAGE IDIOT (LIVE DIGITAL + (radi)O) *
7   ORA FEDORA − FED
8   TIDE (brigh)T IDE(a)
9   RADII RAD + II
10 two little points, SARDANA DANA after SAR
11   GETA GET-AT-ABLE − TABLE
12   FADE-IN FAN around DEI
13   BAR-B-QS BARB + QS
13   BARF BAR + F
14   REAROSE REAR + ROSE with shared R
15 tango in corner, MOR M + OR
16   KAFILA ((Unusu)AL IF A K(idnapper)) <
16   KAPIL DEV PAK < + DEVIL *
17   BEARDIES BEAR DIES; ref. Paddington Bear
17   BEFFANA BE + NAFF < + A
18   PECKSNIFFIAN (PECK + IAN) around SNIFF
19   DALETH DALE(k) + TH
20   TACE (withou)T A CE(nt)
21 group of 16 URBAN UR- + BAN
22   QUIDDITATIVE QUID + TIDIVATE *
23   AS LARGE AS LIFE (AS LARGE AS LIFE) * around US = A + S + SAUSAGE FILLER
24   LATECOMER (ME TO CLEAR) *
25   LOOK SHARP (SHARK POOL) *
26   GLIAL GLOBAL with I for OB
27   ANTLIAE LI in ANTAE
28 in centre; tool, ANTEFIXA ANT + (AXE IF) *
29   LABOR (A + BO) in (L + R)
29   LAUND LA + UND
30   ROSS ROSSINI − IN − I
31   TURNED UP T’ + UNDER * + UP
31   TURPETH PE in TRUTH *
32   PONE PHONE − H
33   RAITA RAIT + A
34   SOLITO SOLO around (I + (ba)T)
35   EVENS E + VEN’S
36 grape and vetch EVER SO O after SERVE *
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