Independent 8305 / Scorpion

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I suspect that this puzzle will be loved by some, but will receive mixed reviews from others.  It will all depend on your view of the theme.

 

 

 

I blogged the RICHARD WAGNER puzzle last week where the theme was embedded very cleverly in the clues and the solver needed no knowledge of the life and times of WAGNER to solve the puzzle.  This time the theme extended beyond the clues into the entries and a knowledge of the life and times of DAVID BOWIE would be very helpful for solving the clues, or at least for having confidence that the entry related to the definition.  I fall into the camp with little knowledge of  or interest in the music of BOWIE so I struggled quite a lot.

David BOWIE seems to be flavour of the month at the moment in relation to his new album and exhibition about his life and work at the Victoria & Albert Museum.  The puzzle assumes added topicality with the death a week ago of Trevor Bolder the bassist in the band SPIDERS FROM MARS.  I feel sure that the puzzle was compiled before Bolder’s death.

I got the theme fairly quickly from 1 across where Major TOM combined easily with B (British) to form TOMB.  The one bit of BOWIE I do know is the character of Major TOM in Space Oddity.   Beyond that my knowledge of BOWIE is fairly limited.  I have heard of SPIDERS FROM MARS but if I had seen the name in isolation, I’m not sure that I would have associated it with BOWIE.

There are probably some subtle references to BOWIE in the clues that have passed me by, but there is clearly plenty of reference to the rock music scene and BOWIE‘s sense of fashion, and his status as an icon in the eyes of his many fans.

There were some excellent clues.  Favourites for me today were the ones to FRAULEIN, NEARBY, VOODOO, U-TURNS

Faced with  _R_E_I  at 5 down, Scorpion did well to come up with a word.  Google shows me that it can find 14,500,000 results for PREETI but certainly not all as a lady’s name.

After WAGNER and BOWIE I await with interest to see what what musical genre may face me next time I blog.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

7

 

14’s Major visits British burial place (4)

 

TOM (reference Major TOM [David BOWIE‘s [14 down] fictional character in Space Oddity, Ashes to Ashes and Hallo Spaceboy) + B (British)]

 

TOMB (burial place)

 

9

 

Killer found?  No trace when regularly looking (3)

 

ORC (letters 2, 4 and 6 [when regularly looking] of NO TRACE)

 

ORC (killer whale [orca]; also an ogre in Tolkien novels)

 

10

 

Record sung by 14 with hot passion, full of energy (6)

 

(H [hot]  + EROS [passion]) containing (full of) E (energy)  I struggle a bit with EROS as a direct definition of ‘passion’ although there is a clear link between EROS and passion.   Collins suggests EROS is also a term meaning ‘life instinct’ a term in psychology that could be defined as ‘passion’

H ERO (E) S

HEROES (song by David BOWIE [14 down])

 

11

 

Eccentric to perform, backing simple song heartlessly (6)

 

DO (perform) reversed (backing) + DITTY (simple song) excluding the middle letter [(heartlessly) T

OD<  DITY

ODDITY (eccentric) – also a BOWIE connection here Space ODDITY)

 

12

 

Press dubiously keeping personal data regarding 14’s band from 26 (7)

 

Anagram of (dubiously) PRESS containing (keeping)  ID (identification; personal data)

SP (ID) ERS*

SPIDERS (reference David BOWIE‘s [14 down] band SPIDERS from MARS [26 down])

 

13

 

Tense doctor pierces youngster, setting about Jewish ceremony (3,3)

 

(T [tense] + MO [medical officer; doctor]) contained in [pierces] BOY [youngster]) all reversed (setting about)

(Y (OM  T) OB)<

YOM TOB (any Jewish religious festival)

 

15

 

Bought paper on account – foremost of dailies (8)

 

AC (account) + QUIRE (twentieth part of a ream; 24 or 25 sheets of paper as the definition is changing in favour of metric values) + D (first letter of [foremost of] DAILIES)

 

ACQUIRED (bought)

 

17/19/20

 

The kid with limitless tunes – potential persona of 14? (4,5,4)

 

Anagram of (potential) THE KID WITH and UNE (the letters remaining after excluding the first and last letters of [limitless] TUNES)

 

THIN WHITE DUKE (another persona of David BOWIE [14 down], primarily in 1976 for his album Station to Station)

 

21

 

Berlin woman divorced Neil after endless deceit (8)

 

FRAUD (deceit) excluding the last letter (endless) D + an anagram of (divorced) NEIL

FRAU LEIN*

FRAULEIN ( German [Berlin] word for a young lady)

 

23

 

Close unknown Scottish bank before noon in recession (6)

 

(Y [common symbol for an unknown value in mathematics] + BRAE [Scottish term for a sloping bank] + N [noon]) all reversed (in recession)

(N  EARB Y)<

NEARBY (close)

 

25

 

Ozzy Osbourne perhapsbusier working without Sabbath around 2000 (7

)

(Anagram of [working] BUSIER excluding [without)] S [Sabbath]) containing (around) MM (2000 in Roman numerals)

BRU (MM) IE*

BRUMMIE (Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer of Black Sabbath, was born in Birmingham)

 

27

 

Red-faced pair starting didgeridoo with famous player to the back (6)

 

(DI [first two letters of {pair starting} DIDGERIDOO] + ROLF ([reference ROLF Harris, well-known didgeridoo player]) all reversed (to the back)

(FLOR ID)<

FLORID (ruddy; red-faced)

 

28

 

Fashion icon finally cutting hair right (6)

 

(N [last letter of {finally} ICON] contained in [cutting] MANE [hair]) + R (right)

MA (N) NE R

MANNER (fashion)

 
29 Axe, held by Mick Ronson at front, diverted crowd (3)

I think ‘at front’ refers to the first letters of each of AXE, MICK and RONSON giving us (A [first letter of AXE] contained in MR [the first letters of MICK and RONSON) with the whole reversed (diverted).  MICK RONSON (1946 – 1993) was the guitarist in SPIDERS (12 across) from MARS (26 down).  AXE is a term for a guitar in rock music circles, so MICK RONSON would often be seen holding an AXE

(R (A) M)<

 RAM (crowd)
Down

1

 

Black magic, very close to hand, eaten by old couples (6)

 

V (very) + (D [final letter of {close to} HAND] contained in [eaten by] [O [old] and O [old] + O [old] and O[old] giving a couple of OLDS) 

V (OO (D) OO)

VOODOO (black magic)

 

2

 

Fish platter created by 14, roughly half-missing (4)

 

HUNKY DORY (title of David BOWIE‘s [14 down] fourth album [platter – albums were made on vinyl in 1971]excluding [missing] the first word [5 letters of  9 – roughly half]  HUNKY )

 

DORY (fish)

 

3

 

Film position between rocks and animal (3,7,5)

 

STATION (position) contained in (between) (ICE (diamonds; rocks) + ZEBRA (an example of an animal)

ICE (STATION) ZEBRA

ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968 film)

 

4

 

Asian match broadcast (4)

 

THAI (sounds like [broadcast] TIE [match])

 

THAI (an inhabitant of the Asian country of THAILAND)

 

5

 

Dearest rings on one Indian lady? (6)

 

(PET [dearest] containing [rings] RE [on]) + I (one)

P (RE) ET I

PREETI (Indian lady’s Christian name)

 

6

 

One fired up by loftiest language in online discussion (8)

 

STEN (lightweight machine gun; one fired) reversed (up; down clue) + PEAK (loftiest)

NETS< PEAK

NETSPEAK (the style of language characteristically used on the Internet, disregarding many of the conventions of traditional grammar and making frequent use of abbreviations and acronyms; language of online discussion)

 

8

 

14’s London birthplace – building material reportedly not standing (7)

 

BRIX (sounds like [reportedly] BRICKS [building material]) + NOT reversed (standing; down clue)

BRIX TON<

BRIXTON (the London birthplace of David BOWIE [14 down])

 

14

 

Rock-based chameleon to remain concealed over western island (6)

 

BE (remain) containing (concealed) (O [over {cricket term}] + W [western] + I [island])

B (O W I ) E

BOWIE (David BOWIE is known as the chameleon of rock)

 

16

 

Powerful woman who collaborated musically with 14 (5)

 

QUEEN (David BOWIE [14 down] and QUEEN [rock group] collaborated on some songs and performances)

 

QUEEN (powerful woman)

 

18

 

Resident in wood perhaps converted barn annexing home (8)

 

Anagram of (converted) BARN and HOME  I’m not quite sure what the word ‘annexing’ is doing as the anagram is a complete mix of BARN and HOME.  It’s not that the anagram of BARN is containing (annexing) an anagram of HOME

 

HORNBEAM (tree; resident of a wood)

 

20/30

 

14 album track recorded in a suit (7,4))

 

DOG (track) contained in (recorded in) DIAMONDS (suit, in cards)

DIAMOND (DOG) S

DIAMOND DOGS (1974 album from David BOWIE [14 down])

 

22

 

Changes of mind marginally upset unfamiliar neighbours (1-5)

 

UT (first and last letters of [marginally] UPSET) + UR (first and last letters of [marginally] UNFAMILIAR) + NS (first and last letters of [marginally] NEIGHBOURS)

 

U-TURNS (changes of mind)

 

24

 

Cross Belgium’s front and its centre during journey (6)

 

B (first letter of [front] BELGIUM) + (G [middle letter of {centre} BELGIUM] contained in [during] RIDE [journey])

B RID (G) E

BRIDGE (cross)

 

26

 

Start to sacrifice sheep, looking up for classical god (4)

 

(S [first letter of {start to} SACRIFICE] + RAM [sheep]) all reversed (looking up; down clue)

(MAR S)<

MARS (Roman God of War; classical god)

 

27

 

14 recorded this celebrity (4)

 

FAME (song recorded by David BOWIE [14 down] in 1975)

 

FAME (celebrity)

 

15 comments on “Independent 8305 / Scorpion”

  1. Thanks, Duncan. I’m in the middle ground here: I was never a big fan of Bowie, but you can’t deny that many of his songs have passed into the national consciousness, so I think the theme is fair enough. I got the gateway clue pretty quickly without understanding how to parse it (‘be’ = ‘remain’?) and then it was a question of trying to remember, or work out, the references.

    In the end, not too much resorting to the internet, except for PREETI, which has the air of a ‘nothing else fits’ clue.

    BRUMMIE and MANNER both hit the spot today. Thank you to Scorpion.

  2. Came unstuck in the SE corner putting in STAR for 27d which is also a Bowie track fitting the celebrity bit, that caused me to fail to finish this one.

    Thanks Duncan and Scorpion

  3. I managed to finish this without resort to aids with YOM TOB and PREETI my last two in after I’d finally untangled the wordplay for the pair of them.

    I have always liked Bowie so the themed clues were pretty easy for me, although I also thought of STAR for 27dn before realising it was FAME.

  4. Like K’s D, I wasn’t a particular fan but was very aware of his songs – one of those puzzles where you sing as you solve, which depending on the subject matter, I quite enjoy. I was stuck on YOM TOB and PREETI too, but luckily I met a man who knew!!

    Thanks to Scorpion for the entertainment and Duncan for the explanations.

  5. crypticsue, that is just a tease … did you meet this man by arrangement or at random? I think we should be told.

  7. Ugh. While no doubt some solvers find something of interest in pop music, the fact that whenever the theme comes up there are always many (myself included) who are left cold and frustrated suggests that maybe it isn’t the best theme for a crossword. The difference between this and, say, Wagner as a theme is that even if one doesn’t know much about the latter, one ought to. I feel utterly unedified at having to scour DB’s Wikipedia entry to finish this. Thanks, though, Duncan.

  8. What a ridiculous, elitist, comment at #7. Why ‘ought’ one know Wagner but not Bowie? That attitude is one of the reasons I have no interest in opera.

  9. Lovers of classical music won’t have to wait long to indulge themselves – it’s a big year for classical anniversaries – but I don’t see why Wagner is more valid than Bowie, the subject of a major V&A exhibition, so hardly low art, any more than cricket more valid that the world game, football. So long as no one group monopolises the puzzles, and I’m definitely keener on ghost themes than those overt themes where solving depends on decoding a ‘gateway’ clue.

    It’s a shame about the Fame/Star ambiguity, although the former is a hit single (US #1) and the latter merely an album track.

  10. V and A exhibition or no, I doubt anyone will be observing Bowie’s bicentenary or that he will exert a similar influence on all orchestral music after him. I don’t particularly like Wagner, but I recognize that he is very, very important. Elitist indeed.

  11. The London Symphony, The Halle, The Electric Light, The Yellow Magic …

    I don’t think I will be around to see Mr Bowie’s bicentenary, though should I make it I’ll surely be very, very frail.

  14. More of a chore than a pleasure, as I knew little about DB; but thanks to Wikipedia I now know a lot more. And I needed Duncan’s comprehensive blog to unravel a lot of the parsing.
    But there were quite a few non-themed clues to savour, and it was almost (no J) a pangram as well. Interesting that Scorpion referenced 3dn as the film rather than the book. I remember seeing the film all those years ago and being definitely unimpressed; some scenes were obviously shot in the studio with snowdrifts made from cardboard (or something similar) – they vibrated when anyone walked past! (OK, someone tell me I imagined it.)

  15. Paraphrasing Rorschach “I enjoyed this one knowing quite a lot about Bowie”, I can only say: Well Done Scorpion.

    Our Hero’s more than 40 years an IMO important part of British culture, so I cannot see any objection to Bowie being at the centre of a crossword.

    Well Done Duncan, too – you seem to know quite a lot about Bowie :).

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