Independent 8965 / Hieroglyph

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This was a good puzzle from Hieroglyph with some interesting cluing.

 

 

 

I’m not sure what the purists will make of  WARHEAD in 11 across to define W and WHIPPET in 14 down as a double definition clue taking WHIP and PET as the two definitions.  The first was not too difficult to solve once the anagram of DE FACTO was unraveled.  With the crossing letters in place for 14 down it was very obvious what was required.

The crossing of POISON IVY and URBAN V, with GOLGOTHA also involved, must have been quite a challenge when the grid was being filled. UPCOME, 19 down was also a fairly unusual word.   Often when you get unusual words in the grid that means there is a message or a theme but I can’t see one.

STOA at 3 down is a common word in barred crosswords but less so in daily blocked crosswords.

My last one in was ROBINS at 10 across.  I was thinking of TORIES as right wingers but I couldn’t fit it to the wordplay so I persevered to get something else.

I liked the clues for PENGUINS and AGING.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry
5

 

 Capital artist returned check (5)

 

 RA (Royal Academician; artist) + (TAB [check, bill], mainly American usage] reversed [returned])

RA BAT<

 RABAT (Capital city of Morocco)

 
7

 

 Chap that mixed a new cocktail (9)

 

 MAN (chap) + an anagram of (mixed) THAT + A + N (new)

MAN HATT* A N

 MANHATTAN (a cocktail consisting of vermouth, whisky, Angostura bitters, and sometimes curacao or maraschino)

 
10

 

 Ohio writer rejected sections by right wingers (6)

 

 R (right) + O (Ohio) + (NIB [writer] reversed [rejected]) + S (sections)

R O BIN< S

 ROBINS (birds; wingers)

 
11

 

 Duplicitous de facto arrangement concealing warhead (3-5)

 

 Anagram of (arrangement) DE FACTO containing (concealing) W (first letter of [head] WAR)

T (W)  O FACED*

 TWO-FACED (duplicitous)

 
12

 

 Writer cryptically using black and white characters? (8)

 

 PEN (writer) + an anagram of (cryptically) USING

PEN GUINS*

 PENGUINS (black and white creatures / characters)

 
13

 

 Rifle fire (4)

 

 SACK (plunder; rifle)

 

 SACK (dismiss; fire)  double definition

 
16

 

 Naughty girl embracing designated driver at the rear of cafe’s cooker (7) (Anagram of [naughty] GIRL containing [embracing] DD [designated driver]) + E (last letter of [rear of] CAFE)

GRI (DD) L* E

 GRIDDLE (flat heated cooking surface)

 
18

 

 Ebbing current turned into storm (7)

 

 CUR (current) reversed (ebbing) + an anagram of (turned) INTO

RUC< TION*

 RUCTION (noisy disturbance; row; storm)

 
21

 

 Judge fine European cod (4)

 

 J (judge) + OK (okay; fine) + E (European)

 

 JOKE (jest; cod)

 
23

 

 Comic Ernie Wise, half cut, having drunk cold eastern beverage (4,4)

 

 (Anagram of [comic] (ERNIE and WI [half the letters of {half cut} WISE]) containing (having drunk) C (cold)

RI (C) E WINE*

 RICE WINE (example of a beverage drunk in the orient)

 
26

 

 Grand old liberal bought hospital a crucifixion scene (8)

 

 G (grand) + O (old) + L (Liberal) + GOT (bought) + H (Hospital) + A

 

 GOLGOTHA (Calvary; the name of the place near Jerusalem where Jesus is said to have been crucified)

 
28

 

 Mother’s holding a doctor’s snakes (6)

 

 MA’S (mother’s) containing (holding) (A + MB [Bachelor of Medicine; doctor])

M (A MB) AS

 MAMBAS (snakes)

 
29

 

 Nasty weed marred vision by river Tay, ultimately (6,3)

 

 PO (river in Italy) + an anagram of (marred) VISION + Y (last letter of [ultimately] TAY)

PO ISON IV* Y

 POISON IVY name used to describe various N American sumacs with ulcerating juice; nasty weed)

 
30

 

 Characterless bread that is outside (5)

 

 I.E. (id est; that is) containing (outside) NAN (type of slightly leavened bread, as baked in Indian and Pakistani cookery)

I (NAN) E

 INANE (characterless)

 
Down
No. Clue Wordplay Entry
1

 

 Southern sailor sure to beat up fifth columnists (9)

 

 S (southern) + AB (able seaman; sailor) + an anagram of (beat up) SURE TO

S AB OTEURS*

 SABOTEURS (people who take action taken to prevent the fulfilment of any plan, aim, etc.; fifth columnists are defined as people within a country, etc who sympathize, and will act, with its enemy, possibly by committing acts of sabotage)

 
2

 

 Casts lines after Thursday (6)

 

 TH (Thursday) + ROWS (lines)

 

 THROWS (casts)

 
3

 

 Portico partly opens to another (4)

 

 STOA (hidden word in [partly] OPENS TO ANOTHER)

 

 STOA (in ancient Greece, a portico or covered colonnade)

 
4

 

 Ruins baked beans (5)

 

 Anagram of (baked) BEANS

BANES*

 BANES (ruins)

 
6

 

 Getting on a horse around half nine? Roughly (5)

 

 (A + GG [gee-gee; horse) containing (around) IN (half of the letters of NINE)

A G (IN) G

 AGING (getting on)

 
8

 

 Declare tenor’s in poor taste (6)

 

 T (tenor) contained in (in) an anagram of (poor) TASTE

A (T) TEST*

 ATTEST (declare)

 
9

 

 Fall when climbing?  One’s in observation (6)

 

 I (one) contained in (in) (LAPSE [fall] reversed [climbing; down clue])

ESP (I) AL<

 ESPIAL (observation)

 
14

 

 Whippet? (3)

 

 CAT (cat-of-nine-tails; whip)

 

 CAT (pet) double definition

 
15

 

 Western star‘s convenience won over Irish singer (4,5)

 

 JOHN (toilet; convenience) + W (won) + (ENYA [Irish singer originally as a member of Clannad but latterly a singer in her own right] reversed [over])

JOHN W AYNE<

 JOHN WAYNE (film star in many Westerns in a film career stretching from 1926 to 1976)

 
17

 

 Couple united during party (3)

 

 U (united) contained in (during) DO (party)

D (U) O

 DUO (couple)

 
19

 

 Produce detailed sign in support of posh Privy Councillor (6)

 

 (U [posh] + PC [Privy Councillor]) + (OMEN [sign] excluding the final letter [de-tailed]) N)  as this is a down clue the letters OME are supporting the letters UPC

 

 UPCOME (produce)

 
20

 

 Pope‘s veto in ancient city victory (5,1)

 

 BAN (veto) contained in (in) (UR [ancient city] + V [victory])

UR (BAN) V

 URBAN V (Pope URBAN V was Pontiff from 1362 to 1370)

 
22

 

 Former Tory leader admitting upset nationalist’s still standing (6)

 

 (EX [former] + T [first letter of [leader] TORY) containing (admitting) (NAT [nationalist] reversed [upset])

EX (TAN)< T

 EXTANT (still standing)

 
24

 

 Female beginning to walk round island (5)

 

 W (first letter of [beginning to] WALK) + O (round shape) + MAN (reference Isle of MAN)

 

 WOMAN (female)

 
25

 

 One who gives the same number alternatively (5)

 

 DO (ditto; the same) + N (number) + OR (alternatively)

 

 DONOR (one who gives)

 
27

 

 Good first idea? (4)

 

 G (good) + IST (first)

 

 GIST (idea)

 

12 comments on “Independent 8965 / Hieroglyph”

  1. I completed all but 10A/9D Robins/Espial at a gallop, then spent longer than all the rest of the clues put together looking at the last two. I was unfamiliar with the idea of using “Ohio” to mean “O”. Stoa/banes/upcome raised an eyebrow in all these routine words, but posed no problem.

  2. Hi Duncan, thanks for the blog. Minor correction – it’s Hieroglyph, not Heiroglyph. Cheers!

  3. Lots to puzzle over in this one so the blog was very educational today. However, I don’t like American English words (ageing), however, in crosswords over here. Sympathy re spelling of hieroglyph for I had hierarchy wrong for years. Thanks to both, nonetheless.

  5. Curious mixture of the easy and the impenetrable. Failed to get ROBINS and ESPIAL; UPCOME was also beyond me.

    I’m an AGEING person; but if we go there, we’ll be talking about CLUEING or CLUING.

    W for ‘warhead’ is fine by me; but then again I’m not a purist, except when I can’t work something out and then I’ll grump about it.

    Thanks, both.

  8. Don’t often comment here – but I did need the theme to finish this one. All rows and a couple of columns have references to a comic book character split between 5ac and 7ac.

  9. Well spotted George, hadn’t seen that. An odd experience, the grid shouted Nina but she wasn’t there in the perimeter, so many write ins and then the dead stop of 10 & 6d.
    Thanks HG and Duncan.

  10. Very well done, George. You can be our resident Nina spotter from now on. I didn’t know that TURBAN had anything to do with the theme, though. It’s the tight lycra stuff that I normally associate with the two protagonists.

  11. Well done indeed George, although now it has been pointed out I’m amazed I didn’t see the theme in the first place, even though some of the references straddle two clues. A definite tip of the hat to Hieroglyph.

  12. Glad that we weren’t the only ones to struggle with ROBINS and ESPIAL. We also missed the theme despite being convinced there was one.

    Thanks to S & B – saves any spelling errors this evening!

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