Independent 8998 by Hieroglyph

by

Abbreviations

  • () = abbreviated word e.g. A(mpere)
  • [] = letters removed
  • hom = homophone

There were some nice clues here, 5D and 28 being particularly worthy of mention. Having failed to notice last week’s theme, I can easily see that this one is 17A 9A by 8/20. Many of the character names are there together with the animal species:

  • Napoleon
  • Snowball
  • Squealer
  • Boxer
  • Muriel
  • Clover
  • Moses
  • Sheep
  • Pigs
  • Hens
  • Cows

Ass and ox also appear in the clues. It’s quite an achievement to get as much thematic material in there, so great credit to Hieroglyph for that. If I were to make a criticism, it would be that there was maybe an overuse of single and two character abbreviations. Obviously, they are always the building blocks of any puzzle but they seemed to be used a little excessively here, with a couple of clues consisting entirely of them. There were also a few strange word usages that I’d not come across before and have struggled to verify.

Across
6. Girl married a heavenly being (6)
Muriel M(arried) + Uriel, an archangel
8. Permission to cross the Incredible Hulk, say? (5,3)
Green Man DD, referring to scientist Dr Bruce Banner who turns into a large green man when things annoy him.
9. Cultivate female member (4)
Farm F(emale) + arm
10. Vehicle Inspectorate returned left over square instruments (5)
Viols V(ehicle) I(nspectorate) + (l(eft) o(ver))< + s(quare)
11. Public Library books scheme (4)
Plot P(ublic) L(ibrary) + O(ld) T(estament)
12. Buffoon‘s derisive remark describing saint (6)
Jester Jeer around St
14. Increasingly despondent note left Romeo agitated, I admitted (8)
Gloomier G + (Romeo +l)* around I
17. Brute‘s thin plate backfired (6)
Animal Lamina<
19. Self-conscious being by himself working for euros, primarily (6)
Person I think this “per se” (by himself) with on(=working) replacing E for Euros
21. One who sings about equalisers is ejected (8)
Squealer (Equal[is]ers)* – that’s sing/squeal in the police informer sense.
22. Ignore idiot in empty pub yard (4,2)
Pass by Ass in p[u]b y(ard)
24. (DEA agent) recalled trafficked cocaine (4)
Narc (Ran c[ocaine])<
26. Easily-led sorts look around hospital parking (5)
Sheep See around h(ospital) + p(arking)
27. Spotty beast found in Paraguay (4)
Poxy Ox in Py, which is the 2 character ISO country code for Paraguay.
28. Cold War missile build up? (8)
Snowball DD – missile in a snowball fight and snowball in the sense of “the situation could snowball out of control”.
29. Flashy vulgarians‘ row enthrals German society (6)
Tigers Tier around G(erman) + s(ociety) – not a sense of the word I’d come across before

Down
1. Business‘s motivational research provided upset (4)
Firm (M(otivational) R(esearch) + if)<
2. College partner’s plant (6)
Clover C(ollege) + lover
3. Faint-hearted individuals taking a time away from capital (4)
Hens Athens minus a + t(ime)
4. Picture tin before a meal (4)
Snap SN (which of course is the periodic table symbol for tin) + AP. The A confused me for a while, as I was looking for a meal which could be abbreviated to P, but I think it’s actually an abbreviation for “ante prandium”, which used to be written on prescriptions sometimes.
5. Boney M disembarked from converted monoplane (8)
Napoleon [M]onoplane*
7. Treatment of the American Century? (5)
Usage US age (of which American Century would be an example)
8/20. Writer‘s stomach, after accepting European source of gold? (6,6)
George Orwell Gorge around E(uropean) + Or well (a hypothetical source of gold)
13. Rubbish tenor arrived at perfection (5)
Tripe T(enor) + ripe
15. Have to thank old people in general (3)
Owe O(ld) + we
16. Medical officer initially sedated El Salvador man with tablets (5)
Moses M(edical) O(fficer) + initial letters of Sedated El Salvador
17. Inform aircraftsman in the capacity of popular troop leader (8)
Acquaint A(ir)C(raftsman) + qua + in + t[roop]
18. Bore everybody in audition (3)
Awl Hom of all
22. Private detectives beginning to tease small birds (6)
Pipits Two lots of PI (private investigator) + t[ease] + s(mall)
23. Fighter‘s hesitant expression following predicament (5)
Boxer Er after box – another unusual usage of the word that I haven’t seen before
25. Intimidates company with spades (4)
Cows Co(mpany) + w(ith) + s(pades)
26. Fake medicine man leaving Angola (4)
Sham Sham[an] – I’m struggling a little to justify An for Angola. The normal country code seems to be AO, although it could be the international vehicle code – I’ve found ANG but not AN.
27. Oddly priggish gluttons (4)
Pigs Odd letters of PrIgGiSh

9 comments on “Independent 8998 by Hieroglyph”

  1. Good to have the online puzzle back on the correct day.

    Despite getting 8/20 I failed to spot the theme, but that didn’t detract from completing or enjoying the crossword – the mark of a good puzzle.

    I’m with you, Neal, about 26dn. The IVR for Angola is also AO; AN is used for Netherlands Antilles. PAN was used at one time when Angola was still a Portuguese colony but that hardly justifies AN.

    SNOWBALL was my CoD for its great surface.

    Thanks, Hieroglyph and NealH

  2. Thanks, Hieroglyph, and NealH. As you say, great to see puzzle appearing on the day – thanks to them for sorting that so quickly in response to comments. Re 26D, the latest Chambers (13th edition: 2004) gives AN as the IVR for Angola.

  4. Just admit hieroglyph makes some odd clues, some are straight write ins out of the my My first crossword book and some nimrod might bulk at. It certainly makes a difficult solve, you either get stuck thinking it can’t be that simple or surely not, that’s ridiculously difficult with little in between. Thanks Neal and the H

  5. I did Animal Farm for O-level Eng. Lit., and I even spotted at the start all the animals and birds, but then forgot about it. Couldn’t see the wood for the trees.

    I didn’t understand 26dn either, but I’m sitting in an hotel lobby before going to catch a train so I have no reference books to hand.

    Incidentally, 4dn, Sn is the chemical symbol for tin whether it’s in the periodic table or not. The periodic table is an arrangement of the elements based on their atomic numbers and their chemical properties that we now know is due to the arrangement of the electron orbitals. It’s all simple quantum mechanics. 🙂

  6. Hieroglyph’s crosswords are not really the most difficult in the world, so 83% of this crossword went in quickly.
    This setter nearly always uses a theme and, for once, I thought there wasn’t one today.
    How wrong!
    Which was (in my view) the reason why I failed on 8ac’s MURIEL and as a consequence on 2d (CLOVER).

    Thanks Neal for your blog.
    The big header (Abbreviations) is actually quite appropriate for Hieroglyph’s recent puzzles.
    The crossword is full of these with 10ac (VIOLS) in a leading position (and with 11ac, 16d, 22d and 25d following closely).
    In the previous blog of a Hieroglyph puzzle someone said already something about it.
    I know, single letter devices are a gift for setters to fill up the small gaps in the wall between them and us.
    But, in my opinion, Hieroglyph overdid it today which, again, for me, affected the overall quality of this crossword.

    Enjoyable enough, though – for which thanks to the setter!

  7. Thanks for your comments and to NealH for the review. I, too, was glad that the new Indy crossword site was up and running for this puzzle, not just because it looks like a cracking site, but because today is the 70th anniversary of the publication of 17A/9A, hence the theme.

    Cheers,

    Hieroglyph

  8. A pleasant Tuesday solve and a hugely admirable sleight of insertion – and pervasive insertion to boot! Almost Orwellian…..
    Thanks both.

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