Independent 9,043 / Alchemi

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It has been a while since it last fell to me to blog an Alchemi crossword, and solving/blogging today’s puzzle has reminded me of just what I’ve been missing.

I found this puzzle to be a challenging solve, with a solution that revealed itself to me only very gradually. I suspected halfway through that the completed grid might form a pangram, which helped me to locate where the letter “q” appeared and then complete the SW corner of the grid. In the end, I was left with 10, which was obviously an anagram but where the word was simply unfamiliar to me. Getting so close to finishing the puzzle unaided afforded me an immense sense of satisfaction, and I feel sure that I was not the only one.

As for my favourite clues today, I particularly liked 18 for its smooth surface – incidentally Chancellor Merkel found her way into the last Alchemi puzzle that I blogged; 14, for its original construction; and 23, for its well-hidden definition, a seemingly unimportant word in the clue.

(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across    
     
01 BENTHAM Twisted actor and philosopher

BENT (=twisted) + HAM (=actor); the reference is to English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism
     
05 VITTLES Finally complains after no alcohol is put in horrible food

[TT (=no alcohol, i.e. teetotal) in VILE (=horrible)] + <complain>S (“finally” means last letter only); “vittles’” is a less common variant of “victuals”
     
09 TIGER Predator bank swallows $1000

G (=$1000, i.e. grand) in TIER (=bank, row)
     
10 KINKAJOUS Honey bears organising junk is A-OK

*(JUNK IS A-OK); “organising” is anagram indicator; kinkajous are rainforest mammals related to coatis, raccoons, etc
     
11 INTERVALS Travels in busy periods

*(TRAVELS IN); “busy” is anagram indicator
     
12 ELEGY The Spanish like unknown’s poem

EL (=the Spanish, i.e. a Spanish word for the) + E.G. (=like, say) + Y (=unknown, in algebra)
     
13 HOLD YOUR HORSES As stable lad might calm down

Cryptically, a stable lad might “hold (=keep) your horses”
     
18 GINGERBREAD MAN Sweet character shot Merkel, perhaps over money

BREAD (=money, colloquially) in [GIN (=shot, of alcohol) + GERMAN (=Merkel, perhaps)]
     
20 PATCH Area Charlie has a way round

C (=Charlie, i.e. code word for letter “c” in radio telecommunications) in PATH (=a way)
     
22 QUOTATION Famous line // in cost estimate

Double definition
     
24 ARMOURING Giving protection ruins our margin

*(OUR MARGIN); “ruins” is anagram indicator
     
25 IDIOM One clergyman’s describing Italy’s dialect

I (=Italy, in IVR) in [I (=one) + DOM (=clergyman, i.e. Dominican)]
     
26 TIRADES Ugly addresses Spooner’s entitlement helps

Spoonerism of “RIGHT(=entitlement) + AIDS (=helps)”
     
27 NOMADIC Presumably all sane pelicans at heart are migratory

NO MAD (=presumably all sane) + <pel>IC<ans> (“at heart” means central letters only)
     
Down    
     
01 BUTT IN Objection can intervene

BUT (=objection) + TIN (=can, i.e. metal container)
     
02 NIGHTGOWN Nearby settlement hides last of revealing lingerie

<revealin>G (“last of” means last letter only) in [NIGH (=nearby) + TOWN (=settlement)]
     
03 HIRER Letter Irish woman’s received

IR (=Irish) in HER (=woman’s); a hirer is a person who lets out e.g. property, hence “letter”
     
04 MAKE A BOMB What the Manhattan Project did to turn a large profit

The Manhattan Project was an R&D project that devised the first nuclear weapon in WWII, hence “make a bomb”
     
05 VINES Climbers take ring away from sheep

<o>VINES (=sheep); “take ring (=O) away” means letter “o” is dropped
     
06 TRAPEZOID Circus bar closes early over unconscious figure

TRAPEZ<e> (=circus bar; “closes early” means last letter dropped) + O (=over, in cricket) + ID (=(the) unconscious, in psychoanalysis)
     
07 LOOSE Roomy facilities extra

LOOS (=facilities, toilets) + E (=extra)
     
08 SISSYISH Weedy pair of relatives hug head of yearling horse

[Y<earling> (“head of” means first letter only) in SIS SIS (=pair of relatives, i.e. 2 x SIS=sister)] + H (=horse)
     
14 DEERHOUND Animal often hunting letters in English and Greek and German

DEE (=letter in English (alphabet)) + RHO (=letter in Greek (alphabet)) + UND (=and German, i.e. the German word for and)
     
15 REED ORGAN Horse was in weird relationship with monarch overturning instrument

NAG (=horse) RODE (=was in weird relationship with) ER (=monarch) – a horse would not be expected to ride the Queen!; “overturning” indicates (here full) vertical reversal
     
16 SCARIFIED Fully explained lecturer leaving after first of students scratched the surface

S<tudents> (“first of” means first letter only) + C<l>ARIFIED (=fully explained; “lecturer (=L)” leaving means letter “l” is dropped)
     
17 EGGPLANT Fruit of sweetbrier mostly impressing doctor

GP (=doctor, i.e. general practitioner) in ENGLANT<ine> (=sweetbrier; “mostly” here means 3 of its 9 letters are dropped)
     
19 GNOMIC Pithy and sententious about face once physio leaves

<physio>GNOMIC (=about face, i.e. when used to judge a person’s character); “once physio leaves” means letters “physio” are dropped
     
21 TAMAR Flower market ending one month later

<marke>T (“ending” means last letter only) + A (=one) + MAR (=month, i.e. March); the Tamar is a “flower, i.e. river
     
22 QUITS Gives up game after losing round

QU<o>ITS (=game); “after losing round (=O)” means letter “o” is dropped
     
23 AXIOM One cross over current order given

A (=one) + X (=cross, e.g. on ballot paper) + I (=current, in physics) + OM (=order, i.e. Order of Merit); an axiom is a self-evident truth, hence a “given”
     

20 comments on “Independent 9,043 / Alchemi”

  2. I found this hard going and was stuck a few times before the clues started to yield. Guessed 10 incorrectly and made a stab at 19 without being able to parse the ‘physio’ bit. I had understood ‘physiognomy’ to refer to the general look and habitus of a person rather than the face specifically but the latter meaning is (of course) in Chambers. 18 was my COD. Yes, Angela Merkel is making a few appearances in cryptic land.

    Thanks RatkojaRiku, and Alchemi for a challenging cognitive work-out.

  4. Further to sidey@1, “they” have messed it up again. The site says that the online puzzle is the previous day’s print edition, which it clearly isn’t; but on the other hand the heading for today says it’s Friday. Why can’t these people ever learn that if it isn’t broken there’s no need to fix it?

    Well, that’s the moan out of the way; now to the puzzle. A nice offering from Alchemi, not too challenging but some thought required.

    Held up for a bit thinking 20ac was REACH (hidden in aREA CHarlie) as a way round might enable one to reach something; don’t know why I didn’t see the obvious PATCH till I got the P from 17dn – which I wasn’t sure of till I worked out the parsing.

    Thanks, Alchemi and RatkojaRiku

  5. allan_c, if you use the link I gave it should take you straight to the app with today’s puzzle highlighted to play. If anything else is showing press Ctrl + F5

  7. I think I knew kinkajou from an old ad (for Guinness perhaps: ‘just think what one or two can do – -‘). Alas, I took 16d the ‘wrong’ way and, so, failed to get 13a. Thanks to both.

  8. Thanks Alchemi and RR. It was slightly too tough for me, since I didn’t know EGLANTINE, OVINES, KINKAJOU or TAMAR. Still enjoyable though.

    Can anyone cite a source for E = “extra”? I’m guessing it’s a cricket scorecard thing, but I couldn’t find an example.

  10. Some great clues, particularly DEERHOUND, GINGERBREAD MAN, AXIOM and IDIOM crossers.

    Is TIRADES really a Spoonerism? Wouldn’t he say RI-TADES? Or DI-RATES? One is asked to swap TIR with RIGHT and I don’t think it works.

    Thanks to Alchemi and RatkojaRiku

  12. I think the Spoonerism is RI TADES, which when put together becomes a charade of (homophones for) RIGHT and AIDS.

  13. Am I alone in struggling with 10ac because I assumed the perfect tense ‘made’ for the historical achievement of the Manhattan Project?

  14. Thanks Alchemi,

    I enjoyed that vey much, though the bottom half was much slower for me than the top. Some new stuff for me including 1a, 5a, 10a (which of course is where I started the puzzle). Does OVINE really have a plural? bovine seems to have a noun in chambers but strangely ovine does not. Extra not being in Chambers has come up before.

    I also questioned the spoonerism, took me a while to convince myself I had the right answer.

    I particularly liked 11a, 18a, 20a, 24a, 1d, 3d, 17d but all of it is good with nice surfaces, brilliant many thanks, congratulations.

    And many thanks for the great review RatkojaRiku

  18. Like dutch, I struggled a bit with the bottom half, but it fell eventually.

    I never like spoonerisms (just me) but today’s reminded me why. Also not enamoured with EGGPLANT: ‘mostly’ telling me to take three letters away from nine? What is this, pin the tail on the donkey time?

    Otherwise a very good, if tricky in places, crossword from Alchemi. Thank you to him and to our blogger.

  19. My wife, the expert in these matters, agrees with you, dutch and allan. I should have asked her before writing. Thanks for the correction.

  20. Oh, and I meant to say thanks to sidey for flagging up the changed link. I had been wondering why I was being taken round the houses these last few days when trying to access the puzzle online.

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