The editor reverting to form today, giving us a gentle introduction to the week with a well-constructed and clearly-clued puzzle from Raich. Ideal for improving solvers and no doubt a pleasant stroll for more experienced practitioners of the dark arts.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Policy a lot deployed to seem unconcerned
PLAY IT COOL
(POLICY A LOT)* with ‘deployed’ as the anagrind.
6 Anger as cook admits about-turn
FURY
An insertion of U for ‘about-turn’ in FRY.
9 Taciturnity – reserve in centre for sculpture
RETICENCE
An insertion of ICE for ‘reserve’ in (CENTRE)*
10 Get rid of Director – appeal by church
DITCH
A charade of D for ‘director’, IT for sex ‘appeal’ and CH.
11 Name the old-fashioned Welshman
NYE
A charade of N and YE for the old word for ‘the’. Except it wasn’t, but it’s been explained on Fifteensquared enough times that I’m not going to bore you with it again. A Welsh name, and an abbreviation of ANEURIN. Best known NYE was probably NYE BEVAN, widely credited as being the founding father of the NHS in the post-war Labour government. What he’d think about the current piecemeal privatisation of the NHS is anyone’s guess.
12 Woods’ opening round so remarkably marvellous
WONDROUS
(W ROUND SO)* I think it’s referring to golf.
13 Find role for swimmer, say
PLACE
A homophone of PLAICE.
15 Animals the German brought over – expensive, we hear
RED DEER
Raich is asking you to reverse DER, one of the many German words for ‘the’, then follow it with a homophone of ‘dear’.
18 Detached home with exotic murals, miles off
INSULAR
A charade of IN for ‘home’ and ([M]URALS)*
21 Queen with good quantity of work
ERG
Brenda, or Elizabeth Regina followed by G for ‘good’ gives you ERG, the unit of work in physics.
22 Behaves harshly to relation after favourite’s rebuffed
STEPS ON
A reversal of PETS for ‘favourites’ and SON.
23 With 50% to travel, notice unfortunate flaw in fodder?
HALFWAY
An insertion of (FLAW)* in HAY
24 Can charge by yard
BILLY
A charade of BILL and Y. BILLY as a definition of ‘can’ comes up in Waltzing Matilda:
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?
It seems that BILLY is derived from the large cans used for transporting bouilli or bully beef on Australia-bound ships; these cans were then used to boil water in the outback. But you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet. One of our Australian commenters can perhaps tell us if it’s right.
26 March is accommodated in ideal location
PARADISE
An insertion of IS in PARADE.
29 Period in Kerala
ERA
Hidden in kERAla.
31 Heading for nightclub day before run? Surely not!
NEVER!
A charade of N for the first letter of ‘nightclub’, EVE and R.
32 Rewrite almost all Borneo menu? Most important
NUMBER ONE
I think this is (BORNE[O] MENU)* with the setter using ‘almost all’ to indicate that the last letter of ‘Borneo’ needs to be removed.
33 He’s cruel – therefore contrary
OGRE
A reversal of ERGO, the Latin word for ‘therefore’. Cogito, ergo sum, as Descartes put it. I think, therefore I am.
34 Makes attractive images – sent abroad?
MAGNETISES
(IMAGES SENT)*
Down
1 Publications couple start to read in green areas
PART WORKS
I had to work this out from the wordplay (which is no bad thing) because I’d never come across this term before. It’s TWO and R for the first letter of ‘read’ in PARKS.
2 Wife leaves unrestrained guy
ANTON
Good surface reading. [W]ANTON.
3 Bring upon oneself ruin sadly stashing cocaine
INCUR
An insertion of C in (RUIN)*
4 Cheat and rascal split at same time
CONCURRENT
A charade of CON, CUR, and RENT.
5 Frank old writer
OPEN
A charade of O and PEN.
7 Extremist from Mosul traced
ULTRA
Hidden in MosUL TRAced.
8 Jehovah you adore humbly with enthusiasm first of all
YAHWE
I knew this from the definition, so for me it was a write-in; but if you didn’t know it, then the initial letters of You Adore Humbly With Enthusiasm should have been enough to get you over the line. More commonly spelled YAHWEY, in the Jewish tradition it is a transliteration of JEHOVAH. If I remember well, which I may not have.
10 Agreement about Petty Officer’s removal from post
DEPOSAL
An insertion of POS for ‘Petty Officer’s’ in DEAL.
14 Turpin? Criminal outlaw ultimately – hang him? Ay!
HIGHWAYMAN
(W HANG HIM AY)* with ‘criminal’ as the anagrind.
16 Detective, English, to stop working
DIE
A charade of DI for ‘Detective Inspector’ and E.
17 He makes effort regularly senses philosopher
ESSAYER
A charade of ESS for the odd letters of ‘senses’ and AYER. A J AYER, the British philosopher and author of Language, Truth and Logic, among others. A word English gobbled up from French, where essayer is ‘to try’ (although here it is a noun, of course).
19 US city with rules
LAW
A charade of LA and W for ‘with’.
20 Somehow mesh lyres lacking corresponding sounds?
RHYMELESS
(MESH LYRES)*
24 Instrument prohibition girl supports
BANJO
Since it’s a down clue, it’s JO under BAN.
25 Organ in Yorkshire village packed up
LIVER
Again relying on the fact that it’s a down clue, it’s hidden reversed in YorkshiRE VILlage
27 Rep taking long time on books
AGENT
A charade of AGE and NT for New Testament.
28 Presses “no frills” firm over Poles
IRONS
A charade of [F]IR[M], O for a cricket ‘over’ and NS for the two ‘poles’.
30 Old Indian coin unchanged when turned over
ANNA
The setter is referring to the fact that the Indian coin is a palindrome (‘unchanged when turned over’).
Many thanks to Raich for a pleasing puzzle to start the Indy week.
Oh boy, there is one heck of a nina!
I see a Billy Fury theme. Halfway To Paradise. Number One.
Not sure whether today is a relevant date in that respect.
Ho hum … another nina that has passed me by.
Geebs
Or indeed the complete third line up form the bottom.
And there is yet more to discover.
An enjoyable Monday puzzle IMHO. I missed the Billy Fury theme but no real surprise there because he was a little before my time and I never bothered to find out too much about him despite the fact that he was born in the same part of the world that I grew up in. PART WORKS was my LOI after WONDROUS.
So nice to have Nye Bevan commemorated. I remember the amazing joy in our house when the NHS came in. Previous members of the family had died through lack of funds (common enough in those days!). Thanks, Raich.
Conrad
I now also see Wondrous Place (song) and Mr Google tells me he starred in a film called Play It Cool. And I guess the “Never Number One” reflects just that – many hit records but never the top spot.
If there’s more to be seen, it’s beyond me :-).
Here is an easy puzzle that is a pleasure to solve, and which has much work in it to be admired.
Yes, all went in quite smoothly, apart from putting DEPOSED in 19dn at first (thinking of the deeds of a house). 2dn and 9ac were my LOI. (I did know PART WORKS.)
As to the theme, didn’t spot it. I’ve heard of him, but knew nothing about him except that he was sort of pop performer. Even had to look him up to see he was British.
Geebs @ 8
I think you’ve got it, but knowing Raich’s ingenuity I expect there may be something else. I hope he will tell us.
I was surprised to be able to piece so much of this together, but after my live-in nina-spotter identified the theme, the scales fell, as it were. Not my musical thing at all.
I played in The Cavern just before the Mersey thing hit, and Fury never crossed my path in person, but I always thought he was the only authentic sounding one of all of them – until his record company turned him into ‘Mr Big Ballad’
Thanks to all. Everything has been spotted i.e. BILLY FURY himself, his best-known hit HALFWAY to PARADISE, another hit WONDROUS PLACE, film he starred in (as lead character) PLAY IT COOL (which was also the name of a song from the film) and NEVER NUMBER ONE as, famously, despite all his success he never had a Number One hit in the UK charts – this was the heyday of the Singles charts. His peak years were late 1950s, early to mid-1960s.
The aim was that it was not necessary to know any of this to solve the puzzle and it is gratifying, both from Pierre’s excellent blog and from the comments, that this seems to have been achieved.
Well, the nina passed me by (so what’s new?) but as Raich says, it was not necessary to know any of this to solve the puzzle and … this seems to have been achieved. A fairly quick solve but not without some thought needed.
Thanks, Raich and Pierre.
Nice stuff Raich and the double duty Pierre, missed the ghost theme, like to think I’d have spotted if blogging but no. Had difficulty finishing NE for some reason with Part Works being put in tentatively.
We’d just completed the puzzle and as Joyce got on fifteensquared, Bert was convinced there was a nina. When Joyce saw Conrad’s comment @1, the penny quickly dropped.
Thanks Raich, a good start to the week – nothing too strenuous but very enjoyable.
Thanks Pierre
There are three terms which get used interchangeably, it seems: Nina (not this puzzle), theme (not exactly) and ‘Ghost theme’ – of which this was a fine example.
At last a well balanced ENJOYABLE puzzle for us improving solvers, more of the same ilk, I will look out for more Raich with great gusto.
What a great puzzle! I never spotted the Nina prior to visiting these comments – in spite of, as a 16-year old, buying HALFWAY to PARADISE in c.1961. During my more reflective moments, I can still hear my Dad yelling “turn it down!” up the stairs. A rebellious teenager, sometimes I’d replace the Billy Fury record with Presley’s Jailhouse Rock – a recording that my father loathed. Happy days!
A perfect puzzle for me as someone returning to cryptic crosswords after many decades in the wilderness! Finished in double quick time, but didn’t spot the theme.
Thanks to my late father for making 30d a write-in; one of his favourite comments about someone slightly odd was ‘not quite 16 annas to the rupee’.