Independent 8748 / Anax

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An ‘ancient Greek leader’ informed us that todays’s puzzle was very significant.

 

It is Anax’s 100th Indy puzzle, the first appearing on July 9th 2009. It was blogged by beermagnet  who was experimenting with using smileys. He mentioned in that first blog that he may not use quite so many in future blogs. Joyce only mentions this because she is desperately trying not to include any exclamation marks in today’s blog. Oh dear….. she just noticed that she has used one already and has had to quickly remove it. Pierre, you can now use some in your blog next week – please don’t count the one in Eeyore’s quote for 22d……

We enjoyed today’s solve. There was much to enjoy, a number of misdirections (e.g. 13ac, 9ac ), some long anagrams and a good many head scratching moments. There was also the odd clue which had us very puzzled. Could it really be DIVAN BED when both DID and VAN featured in the clue? Thankfully, we had some some expert assistance for 22ac which we had solved but could not parse.

Bert remembered Europe’s ‘Final Countdown’ released in 1986 from our son’s ‘Now that’s What We Call Music’ tapes that we were forced to listen to in the car on long journeys.

Thanks Anax, we’re looking forward to the next 100.

Across
1   So keeping lamb in cooking vessel is rough?
THUMBNAIL SKETCH THUS (so) around or ‘keeping’ an anagram of LAMB IN (anagrind is ‘cooking’) + KETCH (vessel)
9   Nice bar is exceptional in season
AUBERGE UBER (exceptional) in AGE (season). Nice is not an adjective here – it refers to the French resort
10   Letters from Spurs fans about Newcastle’s reluctance to go forward?
COYNESS COYS (Come On You Spurs – a football chant) around NE’S (Newcastle’s). We had the answer but not being football fans it needed a google search to unearth the parsing.
11   Marine guide; almost everything’s dying
FINAL FIN (Marine guide) + ALl (everything) with last letter removed or ‘almost’
12   With Italian pens Utd now beaten 10-0?
COUNTDOWN CON (with in Italian) around or ‘penning’ an anagram of UTD NOW (anagrind is ‘beaten’)
13   Newspaper holding the front page?
COURTIER COURIER (newspaper) around or ‘holding’ T (first letter or ‘front’ of The)
15   Match time drink? You’ve been had
GOTCHA GO (match) + T (time) + CHA (drink)
17   The 11 12 group chauffeur opens bags
EUROPE Hidden or ‘bagged’ in the clue chauffEUR OPEns
18   Perfect is a good song
FINE TUNE A double definition
21   Amoebas resist smell, you might say
RHIZOPODA Sounds like (‘you might say’) RISE UP (resist) ODOUR (smell)
22   Where letters may appear, letters dropped for numbers?
MATHS MAT (where letters may appear) + H’S (letters that are dropped)
23   Part of 17A network in control
HOLLAND LAN (network) in HOLD (control)
24   Part of 17A in Spain, the private parts behind
BELGIUM EL (Spanish for ‘the’) + GI (private) inside or ‘parting’ BUM (behind)
25   Forged ID processed, plan for refugee
DISPLACED PERSON An anagram of ID PROCESSED PLAN – anagrind is ‘forged’
Down
1   Dealing clubs if boring old person turns up
TRAFFIC C (clubs) + IF + FART (boring old person) reversed or ‘turning up’
2   They may hold the bottles and the stones, but not the sticks
URBAN GUERRILLAS A play on the fact that guerrillas often throw bottles and stones but they are in an urban environment so they wouldn’t be in ‘the sticks’
3   Member of The Stones? Rubbery lips should give it away
BERYL Hidden or ‘given away’ in the clue – rubBERY Lips
4   CIA seen running around government offices
AGENCIES An anagram of CIA SEEN (anagrind is ‘running’) around G (government)
5   Garage’s mistake with 50% introductory discount
LOCK UP cOCK UP with the initial or ‘introductory’ C (100) being changed to L (50) – in other words it has been halved (50% discount)
6   Nico Rosberg’s dad’s entertaining story about F1 operation perhaps
KEYSTROKE KEKE (Nico Rosberg’s dad) around or ‘entertaining’ an anagram of STORY (anagrind is ‘about’). In other words, nothing to do with motor racing or Formula 1. Apologies to Anax for omitting the ‘perhaps’ in the clue – a typo on our part.
7   23 & 24 anagrammed in two other clues
THE LOW COUNTRIES An anagram of IN TWO OTHER CLUES
8   Save us from content of those two names in two answers
HOSANNA Content or middle of tHOSe + NN (two names) inside AA (two answers)
14   Choose to feed baby and be sick all over
TOP TO TAIL OPT (choose) inside or ‘feeding’ TOT (baby) + AIL (be sick)
16   Did guards van exist as somewhere to sleep
DIVAN BED DID around or ‘guarding’ VAN + BE (exist)
17   With 14, dear, the appliance may be so
EARTHED Referring to 14d, Anax is asking us to take the ‘top’ of DEAR and move it to the ‘tail’ of THE
19   Film pioneer finds a way to split title up
EASTMAN A + ST (way) inside or ‘splitting NAME (title) reversed or ‘up’
20   Sort of skiing, for the most part never crossing river
NORDIC NO DICe (never) with the last letter removed or ‘for the most part’ around or ‘crossing’ R (river)
22   For me, learner should get into AA?
MILNE MINE (for me) around L (learner). As the AA refers to AA Milne, Joyce has the opportunity to include a wonderful quote from her favourite literary character. “I might have known,” said Eeyore. “After all, one can’t complain. I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday. And was it last week or the week before that Rabbit bumped into me and said ‘Bother!’. The Social Round. Always something going on.”

 

26 comments on “Independent 8748 / Anax”

  1. Great fun. Fave clue was 7D; delightfully misleading.
    Here’s to the next 100. 🙂
    PS 22A is also [coincidentally?] more or less a definition of algebra.

  2. Fabulous puzzle, I thought. A thoroughly enjoyable solve; I half-wondered if the blogger would remember Keke Rosberg or get COYS from the clue provided, but I should have known better than to doubt this place, of course.

    I hadn’t parsed MATHS correctly, having limped to the answer as a sort of &lit. It’s no surprise to discover that it was more elegant than I realised so well done to the blogging team!

    Plenty of clues to applaud here. I really liked 1D, 6D, and 7D.

  3. Many thanks for the blog B&J, and a delight as ever to see you last weekend.
    Now is a good time to also thank Eimi. Reaching the ton is a nice little landmark, but it’s Eimi’s policy of allowing us setters to make like footballers and ‘express ourselves’ that makes our work so much fun. Many thanks, boss. It has been and will continue to be an honour to set crosswords for you.
    I was going to bob in later, but just noticed something in the clue for 6D. My Java update was one of the bad ones so I can’t load the online puzzle to check, but there should be ‘perhaps’ after the ‘F1 operation’ bit (as it is definition by example). Could someone put my mind at rest and confirm ‘perhaps’ is there online and in print?
    Much ta.

  5. Well, I found this tough. The MILNE/MATHS crossers took me ages at what I thought was the end. I didn’t get the congratulatory message so I figured my guess from the wordplay of “rhizoroma” (rise + aroma) must have been wrong. I then used aids and got the correct RHIZOPODA. I could quibble about such an obscure answer having ambiguous wordplay but it is Anax, and it is his 100th Indie puzzle, so I won’t ………

  7. Thanks very much for your kind words, Anax. It’s been a privilege to ‘host’ such fine puzzles. I’d better go now before someone comes along and accuses us of a setter love-in.

  9. Apologies to Anax @3 – we managed to miss the ‘perhaps’ in 6D when transcribing the clues – now added! Well spotted!

  10. One of the most enjoyable puzzles for a long time.Tough, fair and rewarding. I couldn’t parse ‘maths’ and I had to look up ‘rhisopoda’ but there were so many clues that gave me a laugh of triumph when I saw the answer.Thanks.

  11. Solved in bed with a mug of coffee. It doesn’t get much better than this.

    Congratulations to a master of his craft, great musician, and genuinely nice guy.

    Signed

    A Fan

    PS well done B&J (as ever)

  13. Yes, congratulations to Anax/Dean on your first century. I found this very enjoyable, but largely beyond my solving ability – I don’t think I could have got anywhere near finishing it without quite a bit of guess-and-check. In retrospect it is all completely fair. Last in and least familiar was RHIZOPODA.

    Thanks to Anax, B&J

  14. Yes, I must apologise for RHIZOPODA. If anything else could have been used in building that corner it would have been. I was only persuaded to go with it because RHIZO- and -PODA are common prefix/suffix components in the world of little critters.

  15. Some lovely touches to mark the centenary. Well done that man!

    Does the landmark mean the puzzles get a bit easier from now on? 🙂

    PS Joyce. I’ve borrowed one of your exclamation marks. It was looking a bit lonely and left out of things. Hope you don’t mind.

  18. Not on the right wavelength for this today. First two sessions, I came up blank, and the third got about half a dozen answers. Had to give up.

  19. what a joy to solve. Letters from Spurs fans, Keke Rosberg…just brilliant. They play that bloody song on the radio here In Baden-Württemberg to this very day.
    Anax, many thanks – here’s to the next few hundred

  22. I know this is late but couldn’t let Anax’s 100th pass without adding my congratulations and thanks. You add much pleasure to my life….
    Unusually, there was one I couldn’t parse – COYNESS. Without being a Spurs fan, or using Google, I’m not sure how one could!
    (And that last ! was a, albeit belated, present for Joyce – it’s the thought that counts)

  24. Feh. I imagine poor old Tortoise will have given up by now. 10ac was ridiculous. 21ac was utterly ridiculous. 2dn … well, the top half was plain enough but the definition was a bit vague and there was NO wordplay to get you to the bottom half – and if you didn’t have the I from 21ac in (because it was utterly ridiculous), then ?U?R???L?S wasn’t going to suggest much.

  25. I’m with dtw42@24. Not sure in which part (s?) of this benighted realm rhizopoda is a homonym of rise up odour … but certainly not in r-rolling Scotland. So I needed a word-book. That said, there was a real sense of achievement every time a clue fell into place. Confess to spotting the anagram fodder in 7d and using a solver (life’s too short). Then 23 and 24 were write-ins. Thought Rossberg sr was Kik, which didn’t help. iClever use of 10-0 and AA!

    Thanks to Anax and BertandJoyce (five years on).

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