Independent 8587 / Dac

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This puzzle was a good example of Dac’s art.  Virtually all the words and phrases were well known or could be deduced from the wordplay without too much difficulty.

 

 

 

A good bit of general knowledge was required today in terms of politics, mythology, astronomy and geography.

I hadn’t come across HIMBO (25 down) before today.  My wife thought it very unfair that BIMBO is the better known word as she reckons there are plenty of HIMBOs around.  SATSUMA (7 down) is better known in the fruit sense but the wordplay led very clearly to the required answer. PIBROCH went in fairly easily as I do enjoy a bit of bagpipe music.

Dr FOSTER at 6 across brought back memories of my children’s younger days when  I spent many hours reading nursery rhymes to try and get them to go to sleep in the evening and FLARE brought back memories of some fairly evil trousers I wore in the 1970s.

I am not entirely sure of the wordplay at 2 down (REV UP) but I think what I have suggested makes some sort of sense.

My first entry was CROSSMAN (1 across) and I finished with CZECH (23 down).  

This being Dac there was no theme or Nina, although I do look in case he has one of his few forays into message land.  However, the puzzle is a pangram [all the letters A to Z appear at least once]

Blog number 301

Across
No. Clue Wordplay

Entry

1

 

Former Labour politician backed Vietnam after vote (8)

 

CROSS (the symbol used when casting a vote) + (‘NAM [Vietnam] reversed [backed])

CROSS MAN<

CROSSMAN (reference Richard CROSSMAN [1907 – 1974] former Labour politician and Cabinet Minister)

 

6

 

Children’s doctor, perhaps, or nurse (6)

 

FOSTER (reference the children’s nursery rhyme [Dr FOSTER went to Gloucester …])

 

FOSTER (nurse)

 

9

 

It’s your turn to speak about part of cricket match (4)

 

OVER (in radio communication, the word to indicate that the original speaker now expects a reply; it’s your turn to speak)

 

OVER (the delivery of six balls in a cricket match – the 8 ball over was formally declared invalid in 2000)

 

10 / 11

 

One out of twenty-nine couples resettled outside a northern city (9,4,4)

Anagram of (resettled) (TWENTY-NINE COUPLES excluding [out of] I [one]) containing (outside) A

NEWC (A) STLE UPON TYNE*

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE (northern [English] city)

 

12

 

Group of actors unusually quiet at end of play (6)

 

Anagram of (unusually) QUIET + Y (last letter of [at end of] PLAY)

 

EQUITY (The Trade Union representing artists from across the entire spectrum of arts and entertainment. A group of actors)

 

13

 

Kids given beer and tripe (10)

 

CODS (mocks; kids) + WALLOP (slang for beer)

 

CODSWALLOP (nonsense; tripe)

 

16

 

A sailor’s spoken of Greek hero (4)

 

A + JAX (sounds like [spoken] JACK’S [sailor’s])

 

AJAX (hero of Greek mythology)

 

17

 

Long britches without hems (4)

 

BRITCHES excluding the first two letters and the last two letters [without hems] BR and ES

 

ITCH (long)

 

19

 

Star part in e.g. US flicks (10)

 

Anagram of (flicks) PART IN EG US

 

SUPERGIANT (a very bright star of enormous size and low density, such as Betelgeuse and Antares)

 

22

 

Current work being penned by writer will become a film (6)

 

(I [electric current] + OP [work]) contained in [being penned by] BIC (ballpoint pen; writer)

B (I OP) IC

BIOPIC (film telling the life story of a celebrity)

 

24 / 26

 

Demolition Man might enjoy great success with audience (5,3,5,4)

 

BRING THE HOUSE DOWN (a demolition man may well BRING THE HOUSE DOWN)

 

BRING THE HOUSE DOWN (to provoke or receive a general, enthusiastic burst of applause; enjoy great success with audience)

 

27

 

Old crew members pushed around by this captain? (4)

 

(O [old] + MEN [crew]) reversed [pushed around]

(NEM O)<

NEMO (reference Captain NEMO, fictional character in novels by Jules Verne)

 

28

 

Number in school making foul smell (6)

 

TEN (number) contained in (in) SCH (school)

S (TEN) CH

STENCH (foul smell)

 

29

 

Husband’s fury about dependant (6-2)

 

H (husband) + ANGER (fury) + ON (about)

 

HANGER-ON (a dependant)

 
Down

2

 

Prepare to set off in car very shortly? (3,2)

 

The letters REV appear UP [down clue]in the word VERY excluding the final letter [shortly] Y and could be described as REV UP

I’m not entirely happy with this parsing so there may be a far better interpretation of the word play.

REV UP (a phrase that could be used to describe a car preparing to set off)

 

3

 

Reduces size of quiet venues for skaters (7)

 

SH (quiet!] + RINKS (venues for skaters)

 

SHRINKS (reduces size of)

 

4

 

Rich person, one rummaging in my things (9)

 

ONE contained in (rummaging in) MY + BAGS (possessions; things)

M (ONE) Y BAGS

MONEYBAGS (rich person)

 

5

 

Need law changed for reforming economic policy (3,4)

 

Anagram of (changed for) NEED LAW

 

NEW DEAL (Franklin D Roosevelt’s policies for prosperity and social improvement in the United States, 1933 – 40)

 

6

 

Range of food to cover large spread (5)

 

FARE (range of food) containing (to cover) L (large)

F (L) ARE

FLARE (spread)

 

7

 

Former province of Japan posed problem to Asian leader (7)

 

SAT (posed) + SUM (problem) + A (first letter of [leader] ASIAN)

 

SATSUMA (former province of Japan)

 

8

 

Trouble with pupils certainly admitted by English tutor (9)

 

YES (certainly) contained in (admitted by) (E [English] + TRAIN [tutor])

E (YES) TRAIN

EYESTRAIN (trouble with pupils as part of the EYE)

 

14

 

Spill hot drink, chasing after fox (3,4,2)

 

OUTWIT (fox) + H (hot) + IT (Italian vermouth; drink)

 

OUT WITH IT (spill [the beans])

 

15

 

Upset, old lady encounters trouble with traveller in French town (9)

 

(NAN [grandmother; old lady]) + GIP [pain; trouble] + REP [travelling salesman; traveller]) all reversed (upset)

(PER PIG NAN)<

PERPIGNAN (French town)

 

18

 

Initially cool, later feel passion for actress (7)

 

HEP (knowing; cool especially in relation to jazz music) + BURN (feel passion for)

 

HEPBURN (reference Katherine HEPBURN 1907- 2003, American actress)

 

20

 

Brother absorbed by devout church music (7)

 

BRO (brother) contained in (absorbed by) (PI [obtrusively religious; devout] + CH [church])

PI (BRO) CH

PIBROCH (the classical music of the bagpipe)

 

21

 

Unsophisticated girl popular with most of class, top in English…

 

IN (popular) + (GENUS [class of objects] excluding the final letter [most of] S) + E (first letter of [top of] ENGLISH)

 

INGÉNUE (an artless, naive or inexperienced young woman,)

 

23

 

… language examination, oral version (5)

 

CZECH (sounds like [oral version] CHECK [examination])

 

CZECH (language)

 

25

 

A male pin-up, I’m enrolled by American TV network (5)

 

I’M contained in (enrolled by) HBO (Home Box Office, American TV network)

H (IM) BO

HIMBO (a man who is attractive but dull and unintelligent; a male bimbo; male pin-up)

 

 

9 comments on “Independent 8587 / Dac”

  1. Thank you, Duncan, and well done on passing the 300 mark.

    A pangram indeed, which I had suspected but then completely forgot about when trying to fit AJAX into A?A? as my last one in. If I had a brain I would be dangerous. I liked HIMBO; new one on me. Plenty of other good clues too, although one mark off for the inclusion of NEWCASTLE, obviously.

    For HEPBURN I was thinking of our famous Belgian Audrey, but Katharine will do nicely too. The latter was no doubt blighted by the same thing that my Kathryn suffers from, in that nobody knows how to spell it.

    Fine puzzle; blog the same. Thanks both.

  2. Kathryn’s Dad @ 1

    Thank you for the subtle way you pointed out my spelling error in Katharine Hepburn’s christian name.

    Given the myriad ways in which my surname is often written, I usually take care in getting other people’s names right, but unfortunately not this time!

  3. Another lovely Dac, congrats on the 300 club Duncan.

    I saw the probability of a pangram when I got Ajax and then forgot about it whilst completing the grid.

  4. I wouldn’t normally cavil at anything Dac does, but as an inveterate jazzman, I have to point out that it is hip which means cool, not hep.

    We used to define a square as one who says hep when he means hip.

    Mind you a square has never been a round.

    I’m leaving the building now.

  5. Another enjoyable puzzle from Dac. I raced through most of it before I had to spend a while thinking about my last two, FLARE and FOSTER.

    As far as “hep” is concerned, there are myriad dictionaries that support Dac’s usage of it.

  6. I enjoyed both the blog and the puzzle (missed 3) but managed Perpignan. I’m curious about ‘gip’ as trouble – – I thought it was spelled ‘gyp’ as from Egypt (via gyppy tummy). Anyone know more here?

  7. I’d always spell it ‘gip’, Heather, which is given as an alternative to ‘gyp’ in my Collins for the meaning here. But the Cambridge College student kitchens on each corridor are always ‘gyps’, I fancy.

  8. Duncan I think your parsing of 2 down (REV UP) is fine, but I don’t think Dac meant us to see ‘rev’ appearing ‘up’ in ‘very’. I had a slightly different take on this: ‘very shortly’ is ‘ver’, and this can be interpreted as ‘rev’ up.

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