Independent 7170 by Nimrod

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This was very hard, with only one clue solved on first run through.   When I began to make progress, it became a little easier, and I got there in the end.   Solving time, 56 mins,  some very good clues and some where I do not understand everything, though I’ve verified the answers on the Indy website.

* = anagram  < = reversed

ACROSS

1 KANGAROO   (anorak go)*    Excellent misdirection,  one of my favourite clues today.

6 CUCKOO   Double definiton, another tip-top clue.

9 FREE HAND   As he’s a free (costing nothing)  hand (worker), in the workplace, he’s voluntary.   Definition:  having no guidance (adj)

10 RIALTO    Bridge in Venice   (OT lair)<

11 ST IN KING BISHOP    men = chessmen     Worked this out eventually from the wordplay.    New to me, and not in dicts to hand, but confirmed on the Internet as a type of cheese.

12 OLYMPIC GAMES   (Complies a gym)*    One of the easier ones.

14 GLADSTONE BAG  Saw this when I’d some crossing letters – think clue refers to it being a large bag (larger than attaché).   Gladstone is a former PM of course.

18 OPERATING TABLE     A cryptic definition that I saw fairly early on.

19 YANKEE   “As (twice) broadcast, why bet?”    nmsindy knows this is a type of bet, and also that y = yankee in phonetic alphabet, why (broadcast) = “y”, but cannot see how the rest works.

20 NEEDLING   “Young plant needs new pole for penetration”    The definition is probably ‘penetration’ but do not see the rest, thought for quite a while that an anagram of ‘needs’ would be involved.

21 COURSE    A starter might be on a course,  I think.

22 R (O L) E PLAY

DOWN

2 A E RATE    E-type Jaguar

3 GREEN  WOOD (forest)  PECKER (spirits)    not sure about the ‘tapping sound’ in the definition but that may have something to do with woodpeckers.

4 REAL (I) TY

5 OLD AGE PENSIONER    Seeing this was a big breakthrough.   Payable at age 65   (alongside opener)*    ‘batting’ indicates the anagram

6 CARD 1 AC   first light = first clue = one across

7 CRASH BANG (haircut)  WALLOP (beer)    “Unsubtle group of horny individuals wanting haircut, then beer”    ‘Unsubtle’ is probably the definition but the rest apart from ‘bang’ ‘wallop’  is not understood.

8 OCTUPLET   (cult poet)*   Group of 8 notes, appropriately at 8 down.

13 ELDORA DO   (ordeal)*    The only one I solved first time round.

15 TRAPEZE     A really good cryptic definition

16 BIG DEAL     Another one I liked a lot

17 G LINK A

12 comments on “Independent 7170 by Nimrod”

  3. Very tough and very entertaining – I too got a number of answers without understanding wordplay but in most cases I’ve think I’ve unravelled them.

    11a – I’d never heard of it, and its absence from the Monty Python sketch must surely mean it doesn’t exist? ;o)
    19a – Hmm – not sure.
    20a – NEEDLING is based on SEEDLING with N replacing S (new pole).
    7a – CRASH is the collective term for rhinoceroseseses.

  4. 20A SEEDLING becomes NEEDLING with a “new pole”

    3D The tapping sound of woodpeckers is unmistakeable, as is the swooping flight of these Green Ws

    Can’t help with 7D – I only understood WALLOP=Beer and got it from that.

    After 20 mins I only had about a half dozen in, and put it aside as I thought I wouldn’t get any more. Returning, I did much better and really enjoyed it – OAP being the breakthrough for me too – still had a few gaps at end of lunch though.

  5. Very difficult, but sound and enjoyable.
    11ac. Not in Python sketch because it was unheard of then, apart from locally.
    It grew in fame because of Wallace & Gromit, believe it or not…
    Is anybody going to explain Yankee?

  6. Anax got me thinking as I know (as does my poor fridge) that Stinking Bishop surely exists. This Wikiimplies it was invented 1972, so after the Cheese Shop sketch.

  7. After yesterday’s Telegraph debacle, I think I’d better step in to explain “(twice)” in 19 ac:

    As (twice) broadcast, why bet? (6)

    “As broadcast, why bet?” would be fine on its own, wouldn’t it? Because…

    why = y, when broadcast….

    but also, it’s the phonetic alphabet, so over the radio y = yankee.

    Hence “(twice)”

    John

  8. My reading of 19a was that ‘as (twice) broadcast’ served as a homophone indicator and to give part of a double definition.

    Turning the clue around slightly but not altering its intent, ‘why, as broadcast’ gives Y and ‘Y, as broadcast’ gives YANKEE.

  9. Thanks John – Yankee understood now. Nevertheless, I do believe you are now obliged to satisfy the doubters by bringing along a sample of Stinking Bishop to the Kemble on Saturday. Let’s see if it lives up to its name. A few rhinocereseseses might be helpful too (there’s no car park but there is a beer garden at the back).

  10. Yep, this was a toughie, but I’m getting to grips with the Nimrod style these days, so I managed to break the back of it in about 45 mins. Still fell 5 or 6 short though, so thanks all for the explanations. 1A was wonderfully misleading and the 1AC reference in 6D was equally great (though I didn’t manage to solve it!)

  11. Very enjoyable and challenging puzzle today. I got held up for a while, bogged down by 7D which I thought was SALTY DAWG SALOON until Role-Play killed that.

    Thank you, nmsindy for the blog and Nimrod for a wonderful puzzle. I’ll buy you a Guinness when we next meet.

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