Independent 7250 by Eimi

by

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism

Enjoyable and very straightforward puzzle from Eimi. There was less obscure stuff than is sometimes the case, although 7 down was a new word for me.
 

Across
8 Alexandra: Alexandr[i]a.
9 Dons: DD. Don is a mafia term for godfather and don is a university academic, although I have a slight quibble over how you justify the “nutty”.
11 Hotspur: P[o]st< in hour.
12 Thistle: This t[a]le.
13 Rovers: R over S.
15 Forest: &lit. (of tre[e]s)*.
18 City: Cy around it. Refers to the tagged player in the game of tag.
19 Villa: Ill in Va.
20 Town: To w[i]n.
24 United: Uni + Ted.
26 Argyle: [O]rgy in ale. Argyle technically refers to the pattern which is often used in socks.
28 Stanley: [Fagi]n + le[t] in stay. A reference to Laurel and Hardy rather than Dickens.
29 Rangers: Rang + even letters of heiress.
31 Vale: DD.
32 Wednesday: W + (seedy and)*. As regular solvers will know, Dac’s usual slot is Wednesday.
Down
1 Bash: DD.
2 Sea trout: Seat + rout.
3 Dappled: DD around apple.
4 Oder: Od[d]er.
5 Balti: Baltic – c[rab].
6 Advisor: AD + visor.
7 Snathe: Athens*. It’s the curved handle on a scythe.
10 Setting: Very clever DD.
14 Spiv: VIPs<.
16 Accurst: Curs in act.
17 Flea: I think this is hidden in “of leather”, although it’s possible it could be a DD if there is some obscure meaning of flea.
21 Oilseeds: (So diesel)*.
22 Wellies: Wells around i.e.
23 Agonies: (Genoa is)*.
25 In a way: In=home + away=(not home). Def=”sort of”.
27 My own: Mown around [fift]y.
29 Reds: DD. 15 on a table refers to the reds in snooker and the other 15 refers to Nottingham Forest (AKA “The Reds”).
30 Styx: Hom of sticks.

20 comments on “Independent 7250 by Eimi”

  1. Thanks Neal.
    One for the football fans here.
    All across answers are last words of British teams (all English except for 12ac.)
    Nice one eimi…

  2. Tks for the blog, Neal.

    Yes, Ian, definitely one for the footie enthusiasts. Once I’d got the first three acrosses I twigged what was going on and that helped with the rest. But while that was my ‘aha!’ moment, I imagine that those less enamoured of the beautiful game would have been forced to plough through the cryptic definitions to find all the answers. To which, frankly, my reaction is: we sons of the earth have to put up with Jane Austen themes sometimes, so get over yourselves …

    Good puzzle!

  3. Absolutely, K’sD.
    The thing is the puzzle is perfectly completable (?) without any football knowledge…
    (But it does make it a lot easier).
    I expect there’ll be criticism for the in-joke at 32ac. but I loved it…

  5. 2. Sea trout
    Please explain how this answer relates to the clue. I’m stumped.
    Spanish car with dreadful reverse-
    that’s more than a little fishy! (3,5)

  6. ‘Seat’ is a Spanish car, and a ‘rout’ might be described as a reverse (retreat) that is full of dread. A sea trout is fairly big, so ‘more than a little fishy’!

  7. I think reverse here just means defeat…
    eg, you could say that Sunderland suffered a “reverse” at White Hart Lane in November…
    Therefore a rout is a dreadful reverse. (eg. Wigan, a couple of weeks later).

  8. Your analysis is impeccable as always, Ian. But give me a break … just ‘cos Hotspurs got a mention today. If you’re not careful we’ll get out the joke from the old days, when your team wasn’t doing so well, about the difference between Spurs and a triangle.

    Back on topic, I got ODER from taking the heart out of ‘outsider’ as a ‘stranger’. Just shows that it doesn’t matter how you score, as long as it goes in the net. As Darren Bent would no doubt have opined after his classy goal against Liverpool with an assist from a beach ball.

  10. I shouldn’t be sucking up to the boss really, but I genuinely enjoyed this a lot. Like others I cottoned onto the theme quite quickly (after the first three acrosses) and the pleasure beyond that was seeing how deviously Eimi could hide the others.

    “More than a little fishy” – what a cracking def. Back of the net!

  11. I suspected a footie theme after solving only 2 clues (DONS and FOREST), but I still took quite a while to polish them off. ALEXANDRA stumped me for ages! Cracking puzzle though, very enjoyable.

  13. I’ve been playing about with the idea for a year or so, but had trouble filling the Acrosses, as there are surprisingly few options considering the number of teams. I came back to it recently and managed to make the jigsaw work.

    Thanks to all for the comments.

    For our regular commenters of the Mackem persuasion:

    I always said that if I won the lottery I’d but Newcastle United. It’s just getting those three numbers to come up!

    Off to the box to watch 18 v 13 now. Come on Robbo! Do it for Sunderland’s feeder club!

  15. Eimi, I preferred the original version, where you obviously forgot to double the ‘t’ at the end of ‘but’.

    Butt thanks again for a very enjoyable crossword – got my brain engaged on a cold winter’s morning.

    After his excellent debut, hope you’ll sanction a second contribution from Raich soon. I have the impression that he’ll set the record straight about North-East rivalries …

  19. I found this crossword complete at bottom of pile of papers. 12ac is Partick Thistle, a side near Glasgow and the por relation of the big two. I thick they are nicknamed “ackies” but might be mistaken

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