Independent 7053 by Tees
Posted by NealH on May 25th, 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 6 | Abed: Abe + d. Abraham Lincoln was indeed the 16th President of the US. |
| 10 | Elgar: “Genius on pitch who might have scored in game ?”. I don’t get this one. “Genius on pitch” is obviously a musical reference to Elgar, but I don’t know what the “scored in game” is referring to. Perhaps he wrote music that’s used in some international sports event. |
| 11 | Sclerotic: (Cecil sort)*. |
| 12 | Colossi: C (Charlie in phonetic alphabet) + (is solo)<. |
| 13 | Map read: (Damp are)*. |
| 18 | For that matter: Fort + ATM in hatter. |
| 22 | Heretic: Here + t + IC. |
| 23 | Esteems: E SS around teem. |
| 25 | Nanda Devi: Hidden in “demon and a devilish”. |
| 26 | Anger: DD. One you just have to look up – Kenneth Anger. |
| 27 | Yves: V in Yes. |
| 28 | Therefrom: Ref in (more HT)<. |
| Down | |
| 1 | Greycoat: Category*. |
| 2 | Nigel: “Turned up at home with stage name violinist dropped”. I assume this is a referene to the violinist Nigel Kennedy, but I’m not quite sure how the mechanics of the clue work. “Turned up at home” is presumably IN<, but sure how you get gel. |
| 3 | Lords spiritual: (old ruralists)* around pi. |
| 4 | Mission: Last letter of Jerusalem + is + Sion. |
| 5 | Nelumbo: One* around (Lum + b) |
| 7 | Butterfat: (Utter f) in bat. |
| 8 | Decade: Cad in Dee. |
| 9 | Krapps Last Tape: (pla[y] as parts kept)*. |
| 15 | Deference: ER in defence (Sicilian Defence used in chess). |
| 16 | IRA: Hidden in Tiraun. |
| 19 | Hackett: Hom of “hack it”. I’m not sure exactly what American town this is referring to. There seems to be one in Arkansas and one in Wisconsin, but both are tiny. |
| 20/14/17/21/1A | The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman: &lit and anagram of the entire clue. |
| 24 | Eager: Eag[l]e over r. Dying in the sense of “dying to do something”. |
May 25th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Thanks for the blog, Neal.
I was hoping you were going to explain ELGAR – my reasoning went as far as yours!
Re 2dn: I took it as ‘stage’ = ‘leg’, [as in sports], reversed.
May 25th, 2009 at 10:29 am
I’m still a bit confused over the “name violinist dropped”. Is that some reference to the fact that Nigel Kennedy doesn’t use his first name any more or something like that ?
May 25th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Hi again: yes, that’s the way I took it.
May 25th, 2009 at 11:20 am
10Ac refers to Elgar’s Enigma Variations, and the fact that one variation (i.e. anagram) of ENIGMA could be IN GAME! Shades there of Brian Greer’s classic: “Wonderful score bringing me gain in game? (6,10)”.
May 25th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Probably not relevant in view of Richard Heald’s comment, but it’s revealed at Elgar’s Football Chant that he supported Wolverhampton Wanderers! (A long page – scroll down a bit.)
May 25th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Nice one, Chunter.
I think Richard’s is more likely, but the “we hate Nottingham Forest….” chant is possible? (Maybe not).
I doubt the setter is a Wolves fan, though; Middlesboro would be my guess (in which case, commiserations…).
May 25th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
IanN14,
Yes, as a native of Leicester (though a fan of rugby rather than roundyball), I was amused to see the reminder of “we hate Nottm Forest”!
May 25th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
While we’re off-topic, Chunter, talking of ‘commiserations’ …
May 25th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Thanks Eileen! Not a bad season, though, all things considered.
May 25th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Very tough puzzle, with some very imaginative clues. Two minor points – in 23 ac i thought it was meet (reversed) = come together over and that the town in 19 down was HACKETT. Definitely a puzzle for a bank holiday with unusual words and literary references.
May 25th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Yes, quite a toughie, but I didn’t mind as I agree with you NMS about the suitability for today. (A bit different to the Rufus, which I also solved!) There were some really good clues, with ELGAR among the best, but the two biggish anagrams I thought were amazing. The Beckett one was close to &lit, or semi (?), and the Sterne one I can’t believe. I haven’t seen one that good for ages, nor with the indicator actually a part of the letters to be angrammed. The meaning of the surface was a pretty accurate description of the book, and even told me who the author was. I wonder how one goes about doing something like that.
I thought the NIGEL one was a dig at the voilinist formerly known as Nigel Kennedy?
Thank you to Neal for the blog, especially on his days off.
May 25th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
The long answer is: “The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman”
13 is: map-read
May 25th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Bit of a rush this morning. I didn’t check what I’d written as thoroughly as I normally do.
May 26th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Tough puzzle, yes, but very satisfying to complete.
May 26th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Thanks indeed for the comments, and to NealH for the blog. I hope the Bank Holiday status excuses the extra toughness!
For Richard Heald, I wasn’t aware of Brian Greer’s excellent clue – honest guv – but thanks for sharing it. He’s very good, that bloke.
And for IanN14, I regret to say that there are worse things even than being a Middlesborough or a Newcastle fan.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
“Genius on pitch who might have scored in game?” seems to me to be a classic example of a clue that, although it has a nice idea behind it, tries slightly too hard to be clever.
For instance, “in game” has no explicit anagram indicator to it.
Would you describe Elgar as a “genius on pitch”?…