Independent 8,311 / Tees – Fifteensquared

My apologies for the late posting of this blog on today’s crossword by Tees.

It is Tuesday today, and so a theme is to be expected. Unless I have missed something, today’s theme is somewhat understated, since the grid is peppered with the names of various dictators (4, 24, 25, etc), with an allusion to at least one other in a clue (1).

My favourite clue today was 17 for its cheekily hidden definition, and indeed there is another example of a misleading capital letter in a definition at 27. It also took a while for the penny to drop regarding the definitions at 5 and 18 – we are so used to inter-related clues that we look for connections where they simply are not to be found!

*(…) indicates an anagram; the definitions are highlighted in blue

Across

01 – TRIUMVIRI	Roman team set to cross over Scots moor and Irish one.[(MUIR=Scottish moor; “over” indicates reversal) in TV (=set)] + IR (=Irish) + I (=one)

10 – STEAK	Cut from Smallwood?S (=small) + TEAK (=wood)

11 – BONZE	Buddhist monk in brown runs out.B<r>ONZE (=brown); “runs (=R, i.e. from cricket scorecard) out” means letter “r” is dropped; a bonze is a Buddhist priest

12 – LIE AROUND	Nuts in roulade are not placed with an order.*(IN ROULADE); “nuts” is anagram indicator

13 – FLAVOUR	Benefit includes fifty for property.L (=fifty) in FAVOUR (=benefit)

14 – EQUATOR	Important line as being a Spielberg movie with soldiers.[QUA (=as) in E.T. (=Spielberg movie)] + OR (=soldiers, i.e. other ranks)

17 – EAT	Engaged in pursuing introduction to Edvard Munch.E<dvard> (“introduction to” means first letter only) + AT (=engaged in, i.e. to be at something); the definition is “Munch” as a verb!

19 – IGUANAS	US again bothered tropical natives.*(US AGAIN); “bothered” is anagram indicator

21 – YEW	Sheep – according to report – in tree.Homophone (“according to report”) of “ewe” (=sheep)

22 – DRIBLET	Daughter to Costa allowed small amount.D (=daughter) + RIB (=costa, i.e. in anatomy) + LET (=allowed)

23 – TROTSKY	Marxist leader eviscerated this king in old city.[T<hi>S (“eviscerated” means all contents, i.e. all but first and last letter are removed) + K (=king)] in TROY (=old city)

25 – TITILLATE	Monkey left behind to create superficial interest.TITI (=monkey, i.e. species thereof) + L (=left) + LATE (=behind, e.g. schedule)

27 – TRAMP	Find penny on public transport vehicle in March.TRAM (=public transport vehicle) + P (=penny)

29 – THERM	Hours in period for gas measure.H (=hours) in TERM (=period)

30 – OCTENNIAL	Bizarrely ancient old Liberal stays around for eight years.*(ANCIENT) in [O (=old) + L (=liberal)]; “bizarre” is anagram indicator

Down

01 – STAB	Go // to wound as Casca.Double definition: STAB is a go or turn AND to wound as Casca did Julius Caesar

02 – VIENNA	Sex with horsey princess recalled huge 20 hit.VI (=sex, i.e. 6 in Roman numerals) + ENNA (ANNE=horsey princess; “recalled” indicates reversal); Vienna was a huge 1981 hit for the group Ultravox (=entry at 20)

03 – IMMEMORIAL	Archaic writer is perched on graveyard stone.I’M (=writer is) + MEMORIAL (=graveyard stone)

04 – HITLER	Strike with both hands protecting English Chancellor.HIT (=strike) + [E (=English) in L R (=both hands, i.e. left and right)]

05 – NINETEEN	Key supporter in new hotel makes 19.[E (=key) + TEE (=supporter, i.e. in golf)] in [N (=new) + INN (=hotel)]; the definition is simply the number 19

06 – USER	Addict taken in because relapsing.Hidden (“in”) becaUSE Relapsing

07 – JESUITRY	In Paris I go well with line in subtle argument.JE (=in Paris I, i.e. the French for I) + SUIT (=go well with) + RY (=line, i.e. railway); Jesuitry can describe a particular casuistic approach to moral questions, hence “subtle argument”

08 – SKID	Man covers kilometres in unpredictable motoring event.K (=kilometres) in SID (=man, i.e. a man’s name)

13 – FREUD	Neurologist right to intervene in dispute.R (=right) in FEUD (=dispute)

15 – UNSPORTING	Dirty as player – northern one on grass guards left side.UN (=Northern one, i.e. dialect) + [PORT (=left side, i.e. on vessel) in SING (=grass, i.e. to report)]

16 – ROWDY	Wary at first, stick around, having yen for yob.[W<ary> (“at first”) means first letter only] in ROD (=stick)] + Y (=yen, i.e. currency)]; rowdy can be a noun, as here, as well as an adjective

18 – THIRTEEN	13 again hosts perverted rite.*(RITE) in THEN (=again); “perverted” is anagram indicator; the definition is simply the number 13

20 – ULTRAVOX	Group Raoul breaks with TV Times.(RAOUL + TV) + X (=times, as in 2 x 2 = 4); “breaks” is anagram indicator; Ultravox* is a British new wave band from the late 1970s/early 1980s

23 – TREATY	Worry stops attempt to reach agreement.EAT (=worry) in TRY (=attempt)

24 – STALIN	Union leader uninspired at work – energy lacking.STAL<e> + IN (=at work); “energy (=E) lacking” means the letter “e” is dropped

25 – TITO	Revolutionary sea god won’t need Royal Navy.T<r>ITO<n> (=sea god); “won’t need Royal Navy (=RN)” means the letters “rn” are dropped

26 – LIME	Maidens 12 for twice-interred character.M (=maidens, i.e. in cricket) in LIE (“lie around” is entry at 12); the reference is to the character Harry Lime in the film The Third Man

28 – PALE	Upright member // is livid.Double definition: a pale is an upright member, fence post, stake AND livid, ashen

17 comments on “Independent 8,311 / Tees”

There was a recent BBC news article about the fact that Hitler, Stalin, Freud, Tito (can’t remember if Trotsky was included) were all in Vienna in 1913, which I think might be the theme here.

I think that is more to this than meets the eye. In 1913 (5d/18d) Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin all lived in Vienna. Harry Lime, the Third Man, is also associated with the city and there may be other references that I have missed.

I only managed to almost finish this puzzle with frequent use of the “check” button, and several uses of “reveal letter” as well as every other aid known to God and Man except for the “reveal/cheat” button. Still, I failed to solve 11a and 4d, and I could not fully parse 2d & 28d so my enjoyment of this puzzle was diminished. It also took me way too long to even get as far as not finishing it!

New word for me was ‘titi’ monkey.

I liked TROTSKY, TITILLATE, NINETEEN, EQUATOR & TRIUMVIRI.

Thanks for the blog, RatkojaRiku.

A pangram too, I think.

Had to cheat to get DRIBLET but was pleased to have managed otherwise in what was a very enjoyable puzzle.

Thanks to setter and blogger. The theme had passed me by as far as the link with 1913 was concerned.

Pangramm. Vienena steak too? And the ULTRVOX vIEENA SONG.MNeat unstated theme, neat clues, just greta, makes Guardian look ’28’!!

Rowly.

I saw the various names and 1913 so guessed there was some sort of a theme, but didn’t quite work it out. Quite pleased to get ULTRAVOX and even parse it – by coincidence it came up in last night’s Only Connect (TV quiz show) in a set of group names of Latin derivation.

A minor typo in the blog, re 2dn – ‘Anna’ should be ‘Anne’.

Great puzzle and a comprehensive blog – thsnks, Tees and RR.

A minor typo in my comment, too. ‘Thsnks’ should be ‘thanks’.

We managed to get internet access to download the puzzle but we then had no way of checking anything which we couldn’t parse. We thought there may have been a link with 1913 and all the names in the grid. Thanks to everyone for the explanations. We missed the pangram!

Thanks to RR and Tees.

Thanks for the blog.

I knew that Tito had joined an Austrian regiment in 1913 and I vaguely remembered that Hitler had actually fought for an Austrian regiment too. Trotsky was something to do with an Austrian newspaper but I wondered if he’d been involved in the pre-war build up? I doubted that Freud had enlisted so the trail went a little cold and Ultravox and Lime then broadened the field. I even wondered about the TRAMP and Chaplin but I couldn’t find anything that took him near Vienna – although that was the year before he began in Hollywood.

An intriguing puzzle – I wondered if there was more than coincidence going on but if there was I couldn’t find it.

The grid contains both Ultravox and Skid Row (8d and first part of 16d) who would both appear in a rock family tree for the band Thin Lizzy. Was Phil Lynott also hanging round in Vienna circa 1913?

Thanks, RR, for the blog.

A good day for us fans of Mr B! I really enjoyed this puzzle but I thought the FT Neo had the edge on it – but only because the theme here had completely passed me by – I didn’t even make the Harry Lime connection!

I think the fact that I nevertheless thought it a great puzzle speaks for itself. Many thanks again, Tees.

Thanks all, RatkojaRiku especially for the detailed blogness.

And yes, it is the Vienna Connection puzzle as you have noted. All five named participants are alleged to have been in town around 100 years ago, and there was indeed a Beeb piece about it, which is where I stole the idea. Did they meet to decide the C20’s fate? I dunno, but that would have been some coffee morning. There were a couple of odds and sods chucked in just for fun, which were STEAK, LIME, TREATY and ULTRAVOX (skid row link not intended, sorry spb), and it seemed rude not to have a pangram as well.

For the record, this started out as a Guardian-style jobbie with lots of other clue numbers in the themed clues, but I felt everyone would get bored really quickly, or start moaning about the gateway clue being awkward or too easy. So I chilled. Hopefully this was a good decision.

Cheers
Tees.