Independent 8293 / Hob

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First of all, we want to offer our apologies to Hob. As far as we can see, the Indy has published three puzzles from this new setter and we have now blogged all of them! Not that we are complaining we hasten to add.

The first debut Saturday puzzle had a lovely sheep theme and the second weekday puzzle had clues which included African references although we missed the continuation of the theme in the completed grid.

When Joyce came to type up the blog this week she decided to do a little more investigative work and thankfully her first guess on words to include in a search on google came up trumps although not in the way that she expected!

If you cannot find the link yourselves then have a look on this website!

Thanks Hob, we enjoyed this one and we do like hidden themes and we loved the references to the TV programmes from our youth! Listening to the opening credits from the cartoon series brought a smile to our faces and we had to include a link to it in the blog.

Across
1   Reminder where I came in rank
SOUVENIR VENI (Latin for I came) inside or ‘in’ SOUR (rank). This one took a while to sort out as we were completely misdirected by the wordplay!
5   Jerk’s after a tart
ACETIC TIC (jerk) after ACE (A)
9   Sporting Lisbon’s header – last of three in fantastic first-half hat-trick, I see
ATHLETIC L (first letter or ‘header’ in Lisbon) + E (last letter in threE) in an anagram of HAT-Trick (first half of the word)  anagrind is ‘fantastic’ + I + C (see)
10   He could be a right nerd
DARREN Anagram of A + R (right) + NERD anagrind is ‘could be’
12   Couple caught breaking into bank
BRACE C (caught) inside or ‘breaking into’ BRAE (bank)
13   Bloomers involving Hearts, the best ones
CHAMPIONS CAMPIONS (type of flower or bloomer) around or ‘involving’ H (hearts)
15   Boy for whom girl has no time initially
RUDY tRUDY (girl) with T (time) removed at the start
16   Loud sort of music, not soft sort of music
FUNK F (loud) + pUNK (sort of music) with P (soft) removed
18   Game boy controls
RULES RU (game) + LES (boy)
20   Law enforcement body has filthy article removed
UNCLE UNCLEan (filthy) with AN (article) removed.  The law enforcement agency featured in this TV series from the 1960s.
22   Former City CEO?
EXEC EX (former) + EC (City as in the post code for London)
23   SEE 1D
26   Bacon and mash? Cooked right, it could transport you
HANSOM CAB Anagram of BACON and MASH anagrind is ‘cooked right’
28   Letter of thanks written about one hour before film
THETA TA (thanks) about H (hour) + ET (film)
29   Country priest gets a new church
FRANCE FR (priest) + A + N (new) + CE (church)
30   Irish occupying new shop at last stock Ireland’s top pastries
PIROSHKI IR (Irish) inside or ‘occupying’ an anagram of SHOP (anagrind is ‘new’) + K (last letter in stocK) + I (first letter or ‘top’ of Ireland. Joyce remembered this word (different spelling though) from the 1993 Masterchef TV series. These sweet pastries that she used to make were filled with ricotta, citrus and served with citrus caramel. It’s such a shame that she now cannot eat citrus and Bert is now allergic to cow’s milk!! If you’re wondering how Joyce remembered the year – her memory is not THAT good – she has the cookery book from the series.
31   Fine wordplay is hard to beat
PUNISH PUN (fine wordplay) + IS + H (hard). We’re not sure that ‘fine’ is absolutely necessary but puns are certainly ‘fine’ in our opinion! Thanks to allan_c for his parsing of this clue which now makes much better sense! Fine can also mean punish so there’s a double definition here with the cryptic element in the middle. Apologies to Hob for not looking into this one any further during the blogging!
32   Not punished for having at worst drawn badly?
UNBEATEN A play on the fact that if you are not punished you would not be beaten and that if you drew a match, at least you weren’t beaten.
Down
1/23   Song from Cliff Richard at No 1? Disapproval and disgust about that fine tune
SCARBOROUGH FAIR A lovely bit of misdirection here. SCAR (cliff) + R (first letter or no 1in Richard) inside BOO (disapproval) + UGH (disgust) + F (fine) + AIR (tune)
2   Lacking an audience – roughly a hundred short
UNHEARD Anagram of A HUNDREd without the last letter or ‘short’ (anagrind is ‘roughly’)
3   Number going through exit, one by one?
ELEVEN This one took is a while to parse. It’s a triple defintion. It’s a number, and in the middle of or ‘going through’ eXIt there is XI which is Roman for 11 and one by one gives 11 too! We liked this one!
4   Not even in luck carrying 1A from Troy
ILIAC Odd letters of In LuCk around or ‘carrying’ IA. Nothing whatsoever to do with 1 across as we first thought.
6   Drink from woven containers after celebration starts
CHAMPERS HAMPERS (woven containers) after C (initial letter or ‘start’ of Celebration)
7   Multi-orgasmic? Somehow magic’s lost spreading Sturm and Drang
TURMOIL Anagram of MULTI-ORgasmic (anagrind is ‘spreading’) without or with MAGIC’S ‘lost’
8   Prison toilet
CAN Double definition
11   Take hold of man’s genitals
TACKLE Double definition. Solving this one made us smile!
14   Murmuring as Iran routs US unexpectedly
SUSURRATION Anagram of IRAN ROUTS US (anagrind is ‘unexpectedly’). Bert vaguely remembered this word but we did need to check it and it was one of our last ones in.
17   Bit of fun? Escort agency’s the answer
UNESCO Hidden within the clue or a ‘bit of’ fUN ESCOrt
19   Joe and Eric’s drunken revels
REJOICES Anagram of JOE and ERICS (anagrind is ‘drunken’)
21   Carry 8 into ground
CONTAIN Anagram of CAN (8 down) and INTO (anagrind is ‘ground’)
24   His pet Alsatian starts barking if extremely excited
APESHIT Anagram of HIS PET + A (initial letter or ‘start’ of Alsatian (angrind is ‘barking’)
25   In house with mate, playing around
AT HOME Anagram of HO (house) + MATE (anagrind is ‘playing around’)
27   Refuse to accept one’s got snail animated
BRIAN BRAN (refuse) around or ‘accepting’ I (one). The ‘animated’ snail referred to in the clue featured in this fantastic BBC cartoon series from the 60s and 70s. Brian has his own webpage here! It was written with children in mind but gained cult status amongst the older generations. Many people turned on the TV for the news a little earlier than needed to watch the programme.
29   First of Premier sides? Dandy!
FOP Initial letters or ‘sides’ of First Of Premier

 

15 comments on “Independent 8293 / Hob”

  1. Thanks B&J and Hob. Enjoyed this one. Didn’t get the connection/theme, so entered Rudi for 15a. Ah well!

  2. This puzzle by Hob was an enjoyable work-out even though I failed to parse 1a, 16a, 3d & 4d. However, I did learn about BRIAN the snail in order to parse 27d.

    My favourite clues were 5a, 21a, 1d/23a, 20a, 28a & 30a (my mother bakes excellent PIROSHKI Latvian-style with bacon and onion filling).

    Thanks for the blog, bertandjoyce. Needless to add I did not spot the theme but then again I have a blind spot when it comes to soccer and football, although I did manage to parse 18a. I loved your parsing of 3d. I still don’t understand 4d. Is an ‘Iliac’ a person from Troy?

  3. Thanks, both.

    An enjoyable and sound puzzle from Hob, with some inventive clueing – I particularly liked EXEC, SCARBOROUGH FAIR and APESHIT. While it didn’t in the slightest detract from the enjoyment, I think the theme may make this crossword a strong contender for the Kathryn’s Dad MONA for 2013* It’s only May, however.

    Indeed some childhood memories. The Man from Uncle and The Magic Roundabout were both favourites.

    I need to be introduced to your mother and her Piroshkis, Michelle … they sound delicious.

    *Most Obscure Nina Award

  4. Re michelle’s query at #2, I also wondered if ‘ILIAC’ was ‘from Troy’ – a search confirmed a reference in Webster dict.

  5. I suspected the theme but must confess I didn’t follow the team’s results this season. I have fond memories of the old Scarborough FC, though, from their games against Enfield FC (also now defunct) in the 1980s.

    I laughed out loud when I spotted the APESHIT anagram.

  6. All fairly straightforward, though I missed the theme and needed the blog to parse some of the entries.

    Re ‘fine’ in 31ac, this is actually quite an unusual clue, a DD with wordplay in the middle – ‘fine’ as a verb can mean ‘punish’.

    Thanks, Hob and B&J

  8. I found it difficult to get on Hob’s wavelength but I persevered and managed to finish it without recourse to aids. I didn’t mean to do it this way, but I solved it in four chunks, sequentially the SW, NE, SE and finally the NW.

    1ac was one of my last in from the definition alone so thanks to the bloggers for the parsing. I’d forgotten ‘veni, vidi, vici’ but it is well enough known that I can forgive Hob for the lack of reference to part of a foreign phrase.

    I also failed to spot the double definition in 31ac.

    I don’t think I have ever come across PIROSHKI before but the answer seemed clear enough from the wordplay.

    Finally, the nina was completely lost on me. I’m sure that Rudy Funk does indeed rule!

  9. Found this quiteE loose for an Indy puzzle,, quite a lot of grmmar probbies (like Alsatian starts = A) and odds and sosads non satis, but goood ideas too!! Strange mix though..

    Thx
    Rowly,

  10. Andy B at #8 – I guess VENI has an existence outside that famous phrase… Though, of course, yes, it would be from that phrase that solvers will most likely have heard it.

    BTW, I was not aware of the theme till coming here.

  11. KsDad@3
    If I ever manage to get over to the UK for a S&B event I will cook PIROSHKI according to my mother’s recipe and bring them to the event.

    nmsindy@4
    thanks , obviously I was looking in the wrong dictionaries.

  12. Thanks to Bertandjoyce for the excellent blog (no apologies needed, but we mustn’t keep meeting like this), and well done for spotting the ghost theme. This was admittedly a bit of a personal indulgence, although hopefully excusable as it doesn’t have to be spotted to solve the puzzle.

    For the record, the themed solutions are: SCARBOROUGH ATHLETIC, CHAMPIONS (NCEL Premier, 2012-13), RUDY FUNK RULES, DARREN & BRIAN FRANCE, and UNBEATEN AT HOME (all season). Rudy Funk (great name, great bloke) is Athletic’s manager and his assistant manager is Darren France. Darren’s father, Brian, was the first-ever Athletic manager – he sadly died last year following a long illness after he was hit in the head with a football at close range whilst managing the team. Scarborough Athletic is run by a supporters trust, and was formed in 2007 after the former club Scarborough FC unfortunately went bust and was liquidated. Scarborough FC’s ground was also lost, and Athletic have so far had to play their home matches in Bridlington. There are plans fairly well advanced for a new ground in Scarborough to be built ready for the 2014-15 season.

    Hounddog@5 I remember the old Enfield FC ground well from at least one visit there back then.

    Glad to hear too that the old TV programmes and the PIROSHKI have brought back happy memories.

  13. Thanks Hob for dropping by. We had worked out UNBEATEN as a possible theme word but hadn’t worked out the AT HOME bit. Joyce found Darren France first and it was only after a bit of detective work that she uncovered Brian.

    Thanks to everyone else for the comments and Michelle ……. If you come over to one of the S & B events, can you bring enough piroshkis for us too?

  14. Phew. We managed to get another footie theme in before the end of the season.

    If Michelle brings her piroshki, I’ll be there, I promise I’ll be there (with apologies to K’s D and Raich – Toon Army!!!!)

    30 degrees in Calabria today. Possibile future S&B venue i think.

  15. Bertandjoyce@13 and Eimi@14
    Yes, of course there will be enough piroshki for all of you! But I don’t know when I will get over to the UK.

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