Independent 7,290 by Tees
Posted by Simon Harris on February 26th, 2010
A very enjoyable one here. I had expected to say that I found this a bit easier than usual for a Tees, but then I started to struggle towards the end. Still, here we are, though a couple of my explanations might need a second opinion.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | MATISSE – (IS S[ee]) in MATE. |
| 5 | BOROUGH – BO + ROUGH. |
| 9 | THORA – [wor]TH OR A[phrodite]. |
| 10 | GUANGZHOU – (U in GANG) + Z + HOU[r]. HOU[r] here is “three quarters of an hour”, hence “45 minutes”. |
| 11 | LUGGAGE VAN – cd? I can’t see any further wordplay here. |
| 12 | NAME – AM in [o]NE. |
| 14 | SWEET POTATO – SWEET + P + (A in OTTO). |
| 18 | HMS PINAFORE – (NAME FOR SHIP)*. It’s also a name, for a ship! Great clue. |
| 21 | SHIP – H in SIP. |
| 25 | NEAR THING – [electricia]N EARTHING. |
| 26 | OPERA – [pr]OPER A[gency]. |
| 27 | TREASON – T + REASON. |
| 28 | CUSTARD – dd. A reference to the animated cat in Roobarb & Custard. |
| Down | |
| 1 | METTLE – hom. of “metal”. |
| 2 | THOUGH – H in TOUGH. |
| 3 | SEAMANSHIP – (AN EMPHASIS)*. If anyone can explain who “Rackstraw” is, that would be helpful. Neither the voice actor nor the painter seem relevant. |
| 4 | EAGLE – EA + LEG*. |
| 5 | BRABANTIO – (RABBI ON AT)*. |
| 6 | RAGE – R + AGE. |
| 7 | UPHEAVAL – (HAVE PAUL)*. |
| 8/22 | HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT – (FOR US A PILE ON THAMES)*. |
| 13 | MODERATORS – TRADE* in MOORS. |
| 15 | EMANATION – [th]E + MA + NATION. |
| 16 | CHESTNUT – dd. |
| 17 | ESTIMATE – I’M in ESTATE. |
| 19 | OEDEMA – OE + DE MA[n]. |
| 20 | STRAND – dd. |
| 23 | LOGIC – GI in LOC[k]. |
| 24 | OTIS – TO< + IS. A reference to the song "Miss Otis Regrets", written by Cole Porter. |
February 26th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Hi Simon
I didn’t do this puzzle but Ralph Rackstraw is a sailor in …HMS Pinafore!
February 26th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Curses, beaten to it. Harrumph! At least I did the puzzle.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:19 am
10ac. The alternative spelling of the Chinese port is GUANGSHOU – ‘u’ in gangs. Can’t see where the letter ‘z’ comes in…
February 26th, 2010 at 11:20 am
10ac. Oh, z=last. Mmmm.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Interesting – I read that Z as representing “…last…”, but didn’t feel entirely confident. Still, the applet seems to confirm it as the required spelling here.
[Edit] Sorry, I’m clearly too slow
February 26th, 2010 at 11:26 am
And many thanks Eileen, G&S is a huge gap in my general knowledge…though not entirely unintentionally so
February 26th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
sidey, I’m sorry!
I often do do the Indy crossword but didn’t have time today, so just dropped by to see if I’d missed anything – and was annoyed to find I’d missed a Tees! [At least you had the enjoyment of the puzzle!]
[And, Simon, some of us would think that you're mssing something, too - but so long as it's from choice ...!]
February 26th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Thank you for blogging, Simon. Had the same experience as you: got going, then got stuck, mainly in the NW corner. But finally managed it when I realised that 3dn was an anagram. Loved NEAR THING, and thank you for explaining CUSTARD – should have known, I’m pretty certain Kathryn watched it when she was younger. Trust that clue won’t provoke the debate that ensued on the Grauniad blog a few days ago when Sponge Bob Square Pants was the theme.
I’m not sure exactly how 11ac works either. But a very enjoyable crossword from a setter I don’t think we’ve seen for a while in the Indy.
And Eileen, I’m afraid G&S is not on my cultural radar either. (However, panto is – first performance tonight – panic time in about four hours!)
February 26th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Good fun puzzle. I had LUGGAGE CAR rather than VAN, and I think the clue works for either. There are moving cases in it of course, and I took ‘gone loco’ to indicate that trains don’t have them any more. Is that true?
February 26th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Many thanks for blog and comments, splendid in equal measure.
11ac is a CD intended to evoke pathetic scenes of madness, and namore: I realised before submission that BAGGAGE CAR would also fit, but to be precise it is the American rather than the Brit usage and so I left off any SI. FYI I don’t think you can (officially) have a baggage van or a luggage car – neither is listed in Ye Booke, for which reason and I would seek to evade accusations e.g. ‘your clue leads to at least two answers’. Mind you, Schrodinger’s Cat eh? Put that one aside for later.
In the prev clue I used ‘last’ for Z only because it is one of those crosswording conventions that everyone seems to know. I’m not so sure everyone approves of it – I hate it, but it liked my surface.
Cheers all.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Excellent crossword. I’m glad to see that Tees hates Z=last because I’m not that keen on it myself. Pity the answer to 26ac wasn’t OPERETTA, since so far as I’m aware the G&S products are seldom called operas, but I suppose that an operetta is an opera so it isn’t actually unsound, and it’s a brilliant clue. As is 24dn (OTIS).
February 26th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
I should have said, instead of ‘it’s a brilliant clue’, ’18ac is a brilliant clue’.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:59 am
Opera or Operetta? The G&S oeuvre is frequently referred to as ‘The Savoy Operas’ after the Savoy theatre. To digress, opera is sometimes defined as having no spoken dialogue, and operetta as that which does; in which case Beethoven’s Fidelio is an operetta!
March 1st, 2010 at 2:05 pm
I liked 18A as well – I wondered whether G&S were aware of the apt anagram. I think Opera is permitted (rather than operetta) as they are frequently referred to as ‘light opera’.
Thanks for the explanation of 28A – I got the answer, but was racking my brains about cats covered in custard!