Tyrus has given us his usual good tough crossword, and in places I’m not really sure that I’ve got it right, but no doubt someone will correct me. At least I have always suggested something, although with little confidence at times.
And if there’s a Nina, as usual I can’t see it.
Definitions in italics.
Across
1,5 Become dispirited and stop working (4,2,3,5)
GIVE UP THE GHOST
2 defs — dispirited = dis-spirited
9 Ellie speaking like Jerry, a native of Madagascar (8)
LEMURINE
“Ellie” murine — sounds like LE and murine means mouselike, so it’s like the Jerry of Tom and Jerry — I’d never heard this word, which is a noun from lemur and seems to mean pretty well the same thing
10 Dress smartly in suit … and pullover? (4,2)
DOLL UP
do (pull)rev. — the question of whether pullover = pull over worries some, but in the Independent it seems that this nicety is generally ignored
11 Prisoners’ camps (6)
OFLAGS
of lags — the apostrophe indicates that it’s of prisoners
13 Unusually tight, Beatrice not about to splash out on daughter (8)
EBRIATED
(Beatrice – c) d — ebriated means the same as inebriated in one sense, and ‘Unusually’ is I think simply a recognition of the fact that we generally use the latter
15 Refrain from turning back to collect book (7)
FORBEAR
(of)rev. r(b)ear — of = from
17 Act out? The opposite really (6)
INDEED
The opposite of an ‘out act ‘ is an ‘in act’, = an ‘in deed’ — I think the word ‘opposite’ does two jobs here: it makes ‘out’ into ‘in’ and it also reverses the order of the words ‘act out’ — which seems a little odd and I may well be wrong
18 Bullying boss: “I must sack useless worker” (6)
TYRANT
Tyr{us} ant — ‘I’ is the setter, Tyrus and us is u/s
19 Singer down under reflected on second movement (7)
SCHERZO
s Cher (Oz)rev.
20 That man still cycling in play areas (8)
THEATRES
‘he at rest’ cycling, i.e. with the last letter coming round to the beginning
23 A suggestion one department’s at fault (6)
ADVICE
a d vice — I’m not sure whether it’s a rather unusual way of using the word ‘advice’: ‘an advice’ — Chambers doesn’t help here
25 Sure soldiers understand about facing horrors (8)
EYESORES
(yes OR) in (see)rev. — ‘about’ can’t do double duty and I think Tyrus is using it as the surrounding indicator — to reverse ‘see’ he is using the word ‘facing’ — I think but am by no means sure — if he is then this word is a rather unusual reversal indicator
27 Smears on outside of blue mug (8)
ASPERSES
as(perse)s — perse = blue (not evidently in heraldry, which I’d thought, but at any rate rare), ass = mug
28 Follow ‘easy’ woman to hotel (taking tablet) (6)
SLEUTH
sl(E)ut h — E = tablet — sleuth is a verb here, although it’s nearly always used as a noun
Down
2 Cocaine that is about to kill (3)
ICE
i(c)e
3 Herb remedy upset head of Addenbrooke’s (5)
ERUCA
(cure)rev. A{ddenbrooke’s}
4 Not feasible Elton’s involved with rich pop music producer (4,7)
PHIL SPECTOR
(Elt{on}’s rich pop)* — on = feasible
5 This (slightly dull) writer sees potential in which figures of speech? (3,5,7)
THE WEIRD SISTERS
(this d{ull} writer sees)* — ‘potential’ the anagram indicator — ‘the weird sisters’ are amongst other things the three witches in Macbeth, so figures who make a speech in Shakespeare — but why the slightly clumsy ‘in which’ when ‘of’ would have done the job? — perhaps Tyrus wanted to avoid repetition of ‘of’
6 Religious festival (Passover) coming up (3)
EID
(die)rev. — as in 10ac we have to split the word: Passover is pass over
7 Dutchman and old Palestinian forgetting why? (9)
HOLLANDER
Hol{y} lander — y = ‘why?’ I think (textspeak)
8 Come first but only just – girlfriend’s husband has nothing on me (7,4)
SQUEEZE HOME
squeeze h 0 me
12,21 Working day shifts, Geoffrey finds romance with Christian (5,6,2,4)
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
(day shifts Geoffrey)* — in this book, Christian Grey is one of the main characters, and it would make the clue even better if Geoffrey was a main character as well, but I can’t find that he is — no doubt experts will advise
14 Team arrive short for replay (5,6)
RAITH ROVERS
(arrive short)*
16 Right denigrate a non-Democrat supporter of president (9)
REAGANITE
(denigrate a – D)* — I think the anagram indicator is ‘Right’ (to right something, put things right)
22 Personal generator, one of two I lost in port (5)
GOOLE
A goolie is a testicle (personal generator), one of the two that men have, and ‘I’ is lost — this at any rate is my reading of it but I may be aspersing Tyrus
24 Successful owner of several clubs in Chelsea (3)
ELS
Hidden in ChELSea — the golfer Ernie Els (who’s been around for a while now and must be near the end of his career, yet whose potential for wordplay remains) must own several golf clubs (clubs in the sense of implements)
26 Scoff at force from above (3)
EAT
at with e above it — e is energy which = force (?)
*anagram
I thought this was a beast of a puzzle, and although I got there in the end, with THE WEIRD SISTERS and GOOLE my last two entries, I can’t say it was too much fun. Well blogged John.
Thanks John, I couldn’t parse several of these (THEATRES, HOLLANDER, TYRANT); was left with no alternative in the end but to fill in the obvious word from the checking letters.
23A A barrister gives an advice to a solicitor.
Thanks to Tyrus, I enjoyed this more than Andy B, I think, finishing a Tyrus makes me feel I have achieved something.
Thanks to Tyrus and John.
I bogged down in the bottom half and, faced with R_I_H … in 14d, I gave up and cheated in order to learn that it was the name of an obscure Scottish football club. I completely lost interest in slogging through the rest and, for the first time in many years, abandoned the crossword. I hadn’t enjoyed it much up to then anyway.
Please, setters, if you’re going to use football clubs in puzzles, either stick to the two or three that even most crossword solvers will have heard of, or make the wordplay clear enough (not just a long anagram) that arcane knowledge is not necessary. I don’t mind unfamiliar words or subjects in crosswords, so long as I’m rewarded in my struggle to solve by learning something new that I’m pleased to know.
Thanks for the blog, though.
I should have known Raith Rovers! I always find Tyrus very hard but got further than usual today. Thanks for the blog.
P.S. The same applies to pop music. The difference between those topics and the ones involved in such other arcana as LEMURINE or ERUCA is that if a solver has reached adulthood without knowing the names of football clubs or pop musicians (or producers), there is unlikely to be much interest or enjoyment in learning them. Learning unfamiliar scientific, literary, artistic or historical facts (which are inexhaustible) seems an entirely different thing, which no doubt accounts for the persistent appeal of those subjects in crosswords. Please, no more football or pop music.
Tell you what, Ian. I’ll accept setters not using football teams you’ve not heard of if they also avoid obscure long-dead composers that I’ve not heard of. Or at least with the same restrictions on clueing that you want. Or you could post a list of subjects you’re pleased to learn about and the rest of us could delete those on your list that we don’t want to learn. How much do you think would be left for the setters to use? I get it: you don’t like football and wouldn’t enjoy a fully football themed puzzle, but to condemn a puzzle for one football-related clue seems rather extreme.
As for ‘in which figures of speech’, isn’t that a cd – sounds like ‘witch figures’?
PS as Ian followed up while I was typing, the above should be extended to include ‘pop music’.
There is a theme to this, guys, which might explain use of less familiar answers…
Perhaps there is a theme, but I gave up the ghost.
(Hounddog, I suspect there are more crossword solvers who are left cold by football than by long-dead composers, which is why long-dead composers, et al., have always been among the traditional fodder for setters. I don’t feel obliged to belabour my point, though, as I’m not arguing for a change to the traditional subject matter of crosswords, but rather against a change.)
Looking in out of curiosity, I feel I should respond to Ian.
I agree that Raith Rovers can be regarded as obscure, and that it should therefore be given helpful wordplay. I would argue that Tyrus has done exactly that. With a V in the anagram, ROVERS should be a reasonably obvious choice for the second word of the answer, especially with some checked letters in place. That just leaves R.I.H with an A and a T to go in, and they only fit one way round.
I don’t take a great deal of interest in football but I can’t say that I found RAITH ROVERS particularly obscure – I saw the answer at once. But then I grew up in an age when the main broadcasting medium was sound radio and every Saturday evening one would hear the announcer intoning the names not just of the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United etc but such delights as Raith Rovers, Queen of the South, Cowdenbeath and so on. And just for information (having googled for it) Raith currently play in the Scottish Championship and have just progressed to the quarter-finals of the Scottish cup.
Gordon Brown is a fan and shareholder of Raith Rovers, so they can’t be that obscure, and those that don’t like clues or solutions referencing football should certainly avoid the Indy crosswords. I could give you a list of stuff I’d prefer not to have to deal with in a daily cryptic (plants, golf, obscure bands, authors I’ve never heard of) but that way lies madness, imho. Not familiar with the theme? Learn something.
What the theme is here, I have no idea. And if nobody here has pinned it down by now, then I can guarantee you that the 95% of Indy solvers who have never heard of 225 and have no idea what a Nina is will certainly not have done so.
I found this really tough, despite getting a good start with the first few clues. But the last half-dozen were put in on a wing and a prayer, or with a lot of e-help. It’s a challenging and fair puzzle, but for me too tricky for a weekly cryptic; others who like them hard can disagree.
It’s mebbes just one of those puzzles that will find more favour among other Indy setters (‘well done for fitting all that in’) than with your average solver.
Anyway, thank you to John and Tyrus.
I found this really too hard so I 1acrossed it. Some of these words are seldom heard on the Clapham or any other omnibus, so to complain about Gordon Brown’s favourite football team seems to be a bit superfluous. Long dead composers no doubt have their place, perhaps on the Sunday paper which I don’t read. Maybe we should have a puzzle based on favourite teams of past PMs; although the Corinthians and Old Etonians would no doubt dominate that list.
My pet bugbear is 11 across. No indication that this is not going to be an English word. I despair.
Well done to the blogger anyway.
5 across, 4 down, 5 down, 12 down, 14 down and 22 down (the latter two only homophonically) all seem to me to have a theme. If you add “flying” to 7 down you have another example, and maybe even 25 across refers.
Ghost themes can be the hardest to spot
Good grief, I thought tyrus promised to make ’em easier. Not the first ghost theme of ghosts, did a tees blog a while with one. I spotted that one. Ho hum.
Not convinced 11 is fair but really why the slightest mention of sport is such a red rag bemuses, frankly Latin phrases and obscure Shakespeare characters annoy me much more.
Strangely given the comments above, I found this easier than usual for a Tyrus.
I didn’t spot the theme.
I agree with hounddog @6 about witch/which.
ICE was my favourite.
I enjoyed the crossword and blog a lot. Thanks John and Tyrus.
Indeed thanks john deciphering this must have taken a while. Tyrus thanks for saving me from the boredom of yet another night in anodyne hotel.
You are all being too polite. This was an example of the sort of self-indulgence that gives crosswords a bad name. I accept that Tyrus (and all the bloggers who are happy to tell us that they found it easy) is cleverer than me. What i can’t accept – and have railed against before – is that you need access to not only a dictionary but Google to be able to solve clues. Word play is clever when it cunningly disguises the target word; it is not clever when it shows off the vocabulary of the smug setter. Otherwise the puzzle just becomes an intellectual w**k fest rather than an enjoyable challenge.
End of rant!
Mozzie – I think the level of politeness in other posts is fine, your own comments is another matter.
I wasn’t a fan of the puzzle – felt very much a Times puzzle – a stern test for sure and (largely) fair, but more of a grind than a pleasure.
@mozzie1234, we’re not cleverer, more used to some of the tricks of the trade maybe.
But this was bloody hard despite the in hindsight giveaway 1ac.
Not sure what setters should do, no sport, pop, tv, Greek, latin, Hindustani, obscure Scottish. Nothing technical.
I say carry on dudes (setters), give us your best shot!
Somewhat dismayed by the negative comments. Do the disenchanted want all puzzles to be of an identical degree of difficulty? I hope to see more crosswords from Tyrus.
@11allan_c – I also spent late Saturday afternoons listening to the football results on the wireless, an ineradicable memory.
Ian SW3, among other things, learn the difference between “labour” and “belabour”; or perhaps the distinction is too elitist for you.
We thought this was really tough and needed some electronic help at the end. Despite not being footie fans however we had both heard of 14d. The ghost theme passed us by but having had it pointed out (thanks Eimi) we can forgive Tyrus for the unfamiliar words.
Thanks to S&B!
Thanks to John for the blog and to others (or some others) for their comments.
Don’t see what’s wrong with OFLAGS. It’s in the English dictionaries and the wordplay was intended to be fairly straightforward.
I think m’colleague is getting a somewhat unfair kicking here. It’s Thursday in The Indy, is it not, and that always, or usually, means hard. So it’s hard. Good. And the clues are great.
Wraith Rovers indeed.
It having turned midnight, I too gave up on this, having got precisely six answers, and two of those were guesses I couldn’t be sure of. OK, I was out this evening, but I would hope to get further than that before I went out.
What Tees said.
KD’s fourth paragraph is looking quite perceptive then.
Huge credit to John for today’s blog.
Thanks to setter (maybe! – only joking) and blogger,
A very late post. I was too tired out after the mental exertions of wrestling with the crossword for more hours than was justifiable to post earlier. Too hard for me. I missed about 6 clues (and looking at the answers I would never have thought of them) and couldn’t parse quite a few others.
Still, I’m in awe of someone who can come up with a crossword like this and I dips me lid to John for being up to the challenge and for his fine blog.
Rather a slog and too much obscurity for what it delivered – which wasn’t a lot.
A few excellent clues admittedly – eg 25a.
I really can’t see that this sort of self-indulgence belongs in a daily paper – least of all the Indy – they already have feedback that readers find their puzzles too hard. Academic now maybe with the paper about to go belly-up but they’ll still want puzzles in the i.
No problem for me with Raith Rovers – > 35 years away from home and I can still hear those evocative club names from the Saturday afternoon football results – even though never an “investor” myself.
Heraldic colour names – in the Indy – in 2014. Spare us please.
Thanks for the blog John – cleared up a few for me.
25a I read “about facing” as the reversal indicator – ie like the parade-ground command “about face”.
gwep @22, I do know the difference between “labour” and “belabour,” which is why I chose the one that fit my meaning.
@Ian SW3
FYI – you have the Oxford Dictionary on your side:
belabour
#2 argue or discuss (a subject) in excessive detail:
there is no need to belabour the point
Maybe gweb’s a Cambridge man 🙂
What Tees and Anax said. I test-solved this. Maybe it would have been better as a Prize puzzle but Thursday’s Indies tend to be hard. RAITH ROVERS is a superb clue — I would argue even if you haven’t heard of the team surely you’d come up with ‘rovers’ and figure the rest.
Further to 25a – in the cryptic reading facing can mean opposite – like “facing page”. In an easier puzzle you might not like the order but it works and is well worth the lumpiness to squeeze in “about face” in reference to “soldiers”. I’m buying it.
Just a general point – I am always interested to read the many varying views of solvers but I don’t have the slightest interest in what setters think of other setters’ puzzles – least of all when they gang up.
IanSW3 and Jolly Swagman – my (old) Chambers’s Dictionary has the following only – “to beat soundly”. That is its meaning. I imagine that more recent dictionaries have given in and added the meaning that those above claim for it, because its incorrect application has become widespread through uneducated misuse.
We would like to just say that we welcome everyone’s comments on puzzles – setters and solvers alike – all have something useful to add.
We agree with Tees (and Anax) that on Thursday we expect a tough crossword and Tyrus’ puzzle was certainly that. We didn’t think it was one of his best but it did stimulate the grey matter which is what crosswords are all about.
We really like the range of crosswords in the Indy – thanks to all the setters!
almost enough to make me give up crosswords. Some setters are “too clever” for their own good. Boring!!