In terms of time taken to solve, I found this the hardest of the year so far, 75 mins. There’s also a Nina which I refer to after the clue explanations
* = anagram < = reversed
1 PHOEBE Double definition, with amusing surface
4 LEDGE R Another excellent surface
9 I (A) MB And another
10 ETHOLOGIST (Hogs toilet)*
11 M (dEAD) OW I think
12 TEA (meal) CLOTH (felt) &lit
19 NUMBER TEN The number JW wears no = number then t (last letter of replacement) and first letters of ‘even near’
15 Richard GERE, star of that film. “Gear”
16 (t)WEAK
17 RETENTIVE (Vet entire)*
21 OIL CLOT H(all)
22 ECLAIR Claire’s last letter moved forward
24 TH (REEP) ENCE Peer< (Gynt). Ref The Threepenny Opera (Brecht)
25 BALE l for r in bare
26 WA (TERrace)Y 18 is element
27 AT LAST Double definition
DOWN
1 PLATE AU
2 OR BED
3 BOER WAR (bore)* raw<
5 EOLIAN (I alone)*
6 GI (GG) (LIES) T gg = odd letters of ‘gaga’ lies = is to be found
7 RO (SET)TE
9 W (HITE ELEPH)ANT (the pile he)*
14 Cate BLANCHE TT Blanche is female lead in ASND
16 Benjamin WHISHAW Hidden
18 ELEMENT men for c in elect
19 VEINLET Verified as the answer, but not understood so far “Very small part of each arm”
20 COPPER I think the PC is Police Constable and not fully means it’s a familiar shorter term for that.
23 LIfe BRA
Nina: which I saw emerging but confirmed only at the very end – leftmost and rightmost columns spell IM NOT THERE
I agree, this was pretty hard, though not helped by things like putting THEOLOGIST and THREEPENNY. The nina refers to the film, in which 15 and 25ac and 14 and 16dn all played Bob Dylan.
I think 19dn was + lit, V+E(ach)+INLET, the whole being a small part of an arm (or any other bit of the body, for that matter).
Don’t forget Heath Ledger. Derrick
nmsindy has acknowledged his weakness re films in the past, all that is completely new to me, though a fan of Bob Dylan in the days way back.
I found this very tough. It’s rather odd that this theme should come up as a theme in the Independent so shortly after it was used as the basis for a puzzle in the Guardian Genius.
Just to clarify – Mordred submitted this puzzle in early November, before the Guardian Genius puzzle appeared. I was aware of the Guardian version, as I had rejected it when submitted for the Indy as too esoteric for a daily puzzle, relying as it did on knowledge of the film. In this case it was a Nina, not crucial to the solving of the puzzle, although I’m sure it would have made it easier for anyone who twigged it early on. I saw no reason to deprive Indy readers of a perfectly good puzzle simply because it had a Nina on the same subject as an online Guradian puzzle’s explicit theme published over two months earlier.
Eimi: I was just remarking that it was an odd coincidence, and wasn’t intending to suggest there was anything untoward. (I suppose I should know from reading Hugh Stephenson’s newsletter that I should explicitly make it clear that I’m not a conspiracy theorist!)
Obviously Bob Dylan appeals to setters, which isn’t too surprising, I suppose, as he does amazing things with words too.
Very difficult.
Didn’t understand clue for PHOEBE
Thought the clue for COPPER was weak and didn’t have much confidence in putting it in, although it couldn’t really have been anything else.
Haven’t seen the film, so didn’t understand the nina.
Some good clues…
Slightly unfortunate that ETHOLOGIST could also have been THEOLOGIST and THREEPENCE would have made more sense as THREEPENNY
NUMBER TEN required specialist knowledge of rugby
There’s two CLOTHs in it (TEA CLOTH and OILCLOTH)
Thought the &lit. element in TEA CLOTH was weak and the &lit. element in VEINLET was slightly weak because, as has been pointed out, VEINLETs are found in other parts of the body as well…
I should have explained PHOEBE more fully in the blog – it’s a type of bird as well as a girl’s name. I thought THREEPENCE was OK as the clue said ‘price of an opera’ i.e. leading to the noun rather than the adjective. After the theme was explained, I Googled “I’m Not There” and all the info re the film came up. Kicking myself that I did not do so before posting!