Poor old Hob — this is his third in a row that has fallen to me. Not that I personally really mind, for this was a very pleasant crossword. There are one or two clues about which I’m not sure but no doubt someone will come to the rescue.
Read round the unches from the bottom left in the two ways to the top right to get the Nina. It was published on September 17th 1954, so this is a few days late for the 60th anniversary. There don’t seem to be any references in the answers, but one of the clues mentions Jack, so perhaps there is something I can’t see.
Definitions underlined.
Across
8 Century good for Chinese society (4)
TONG
ton g
9 Epic poem most newspapers rejected (5)
ILIAD
(daili{es})rev. — ‘most’ means ‘most of’, which may seem a bit odd but I suppose it can be justified: think of the language used in westerns etc
10 Dance with second ugly old woman (4)
SHAG
s hag — I was unaware of the dance and thought this meant something else
11 Pro cross about amateur recipes (8)
FORMULAE
for mul(a)e
12 A female name for RAF non-officer with top-level attribute (6)
AIRMAN
I’m not really sure about this: it’s a Irma n, also an airman is an RAF non-officer, but the last bit defeats me — it looks as if the clue has two definitions, but what the second one is I can’t see, unless the words following ‘for’ are just a rather convoluted way of describing an airman [Thanks to those who pointed out that this refers to the top line of unches — very clever, Hob]
13 Furious pensioner gets fine for nothing, initially, so starts shooting (5,4)
OPENS FIRE
(pensioner f – n{othing})*
15 Old needles found in rusty lift (5)
STYLI
Hidden in ruSTY LIft
18 Knight not first to pester mistress of Louis XV (2,5)
DU BARRY
dub {h}arry — Madame du Barry was the mistress of Louis XV
19 Covered women having performed like musician in The Bottom Line (7)
WRAPPED
w rapped — not sure about the reference — there was or is a music venue in new York called The Bottom Line so perhaps this is it [another clever bit that passed me by: look at the bottom line of unches in the completed grid — thanks to those who told us]
22 Shortly to steal from writer turned singer, one with top property (5)
ROBIN
ro{b} (nib)rev. — I think two defs, one the bird, the other referring to the robin’s nest, which is so far as I know that lookout high up the mast on old ships, although I can’t confirm this [no wonder I can’t as it was the crow’s nest, so what’s going on?] [Like 12ac this also refers to the top row of unches]
24 Big fish caught – gone off to dance (6,3)
CONGER EEL
c (gone)* reel
26 Unused remainder when taking away 29 (6)
OFFCUT
taking away = off (as in subtraction) — although I’m not sure exactly here; it seems a bit loose — and cut = trim (as in a haircut), which is 29
28 Dwelling in Paris – or rent old place in Italy (8)
SORRENTO
Hidden in PariS – OR RENT Old
30 Party gatecrashed by male writer (4)
LAMB
La(m)b
31 Antelope one pen from the back (5)
ORIBI
(1 biro)rev.
32 See slightly threadbare rug (4)
TWIG
t{hreadbare} wig — ‘slightly’ indicates that it’s the first letter only of ‘threadbare’, not something I’ve met before but no worse I think than ‘bit of’, which seems to be approved
Down
1 Bum gas – gas with unpleasant smell (4)
HOBO
H O BO — hydrogen oxygen body odour
2 Self-obsession of, say, an Asian adult (8)
EGOMANIA
eg Omani a
3 Flier fed with a cooked bird (9)
FIELDFARE
(flier fed a)*
4 Old script close by in library (6,1)
LINEAR B
li(near)b — this script
5 Best possible statement from trader (5)
IDEAL
“I deal”, as a trader might say
6 Lively wit of tipsy priest (6)
ESPRIT
(priest)*
7 Older people’s company is a hoot, on reflection (4)
SAGA
(a gas)rev.
14 Dog worrying some poultry (5)
PLUTO
(poult{ry})*
16 Story about East German city (5)
LIEGE
li(EG)e — not an East German city at all
17 Pope given bloody eyes, reportedly, after work unit set up (7,2)
GREGORY II
(erg)rev. gory II — I occuring twice can be read as ‘I’s’ and sounds like ‘eyes’
20 Bet that’s 5 – American, originally (8)
PERFECTA
perfect A{merican} — 5 is ideal = perfect — in case you’re not a gambler, this explains a perfecta
21 Hard work involving old spades, bagging soft layer of earth (7)
TOPSOIL
t(o(p)s)oil
23 New copper to book setter, after same reveals demons (6)
INCUBI
n Cu b I, after I [same]
25 Motion upset many, including leader in Oireachtas (5)
STOOL
O{ireachtas} in {lots)rev. — the surface refers to the Irish parliamentary system
27 Weakness shown by Jack, perhaps, when not good to wife (4)
FLAW
Fla{g} w
29 Taking off a type of sweater, make boat shipshape (4)
TRIM
Trim{aran} — I’m not sure what ‘make’ is doing apart from helping the surface — it doesn’t seem to fit in with any sort of wordplay but maybe someone will explain
*anagram
I just realised what 12a is on about – “with top level attribute” means “HE FLIES” (the top line of the puzzle)! Ditto the robin in 22a “with top property”. For 19a the rapper is WILL.I.AM (the “bottom line” of the puzzle). Clever stuff from Hob.
it looks as if the clue has two definitions, but what the second one is I can’t see, unless the words following ‘for’ are just a rather convoluted way of describing an airman
I took this to mean that the section of the nina in row one’s unches describes an airman and a robin… and that will.i.am includes rapping in his portfolio career (it was only through this hunch that I noticed the nina!)
Not the most difficult of Thursday puzzles, but certainly one of the most enjoyable, IMHO. I saw the possibility of a nina as soon as I looked at the grid, I got the nina once I had enough unches, and being able to fill in the remaining unches certainly helped my solving time. Having said that AIRMAN, WRAPPED and ROBIN (my LOI) had all gone in only partly understood, so thanks to Herb@1 for pointing out the extra layer of cleverness in the puzzle.
I found this a bit tough especially the bottom left corner. I couldn’t get 22ac but when I came here and saw from the introduction that there was a nina, I was able to guess the answer once I had the first letter, so thanks for the hint.
Enjoyed this very much. Certainly didn’t know that 10a was a dance – down here they’re cormorants – mostly.
Missed the Nina of course.
Thanks all round – esp Hob.
Perfect puzzle, Hob. Wonderful, clever and fun. Crosswords like this keep me addicted! For me, no problem with 20dn if read as instruction to solver.
Many thanks to Hob – and to John also.
Sorry to be so dim, what exactly is a Nina and an inch. Is there a guide somewhere? Thanks for any help.
A Nina is a sort of theme. It’s explained somewhere. No such thing as an inch (except 1/12 of a foot etc.). An unch is an unchecked letter; one that doesn’t have the letters of a word going perpendicular to it.
Up at the top is a tab called FAQ. I bet all this is there.