Independent 9,172 / Raich

It has been a while since I solved and blogged a puzzle by Raich, so I got stuck into this one with relish.

Although I didn’t get too bogged down in this one at any particular point, for me it was pitched at exactly the right level of difficulty and entertainment value for a daily cryptic. Having a theme for which the penny didn’t drop for quite some time, and which was subtly developed rather than done to death, made the solving experience that bit more enjoyable. And let me wholeheartedly endorse Raich’s words of gratitude to Cilla running along the top row of the grid – thank you for the music, the telly – e.g. 19A – and that unique voice and laugh.

Bizarrely, I was physically in 28 when I solved this puzzle, which makes it hard to explain why this one was my last one in, with the intersecting 25 being next to last! As for my favourites today, these were 28 (again!) for misdirection and 16 for surface.

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

Across    
     
01/04 THANK YOU Acceptable to get hanky out? I’m obliged

Hidden (“acceptable”) in “geT HANKY OUt”

     
06 CILLA French character ignores journalist, female

C<ed>ILLA (=French character, i.e. type of accent); “ignores journalist (=Ed. , for editor)” means letters “ed” are dropped

     
09 REGIMEN Systematic life, say, trained miner embraces

E.G. (=say, for example) in *(MINER); “trained” is anagram indicator

     
10 BARRIER Scottish dramatist meeting resistance, obstruction

BARRIE (=Scottish dramatist, i.e. J M Barrie) + R (=resistance)

     
11/26 ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART Hero away at 26D 29D hit – hit for 6A?

*(HERO AWAY AT + HENNA (=entry at 26D) + HOD (=entry at 29D)); “hit” is anagram indicator; the song in question was a hit for Cilla Black (=entry at 6A) in 1964

     
13 OPERA Works circuit training soldiers

O (=circuit, i.e. pictorially) + P.E. (=training, i.e. physical education) + RA (=soldiers, i.e. Royal Artillery)

     
14 YAPS Note added after unknown arrival initially jabbers

Y (=unknown, in algebra) + A<rrival> (“initially” means first letter only) + PS (=note added, to letter)

     
16 CITY-STATE Attic style left abandoned sadly in old Athens?

*(ATTIC STY<l>E); “left (=L) abandoned” means letter “l” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “sadly”

     
19 BLIND DATE Reformed bandit led meeting – never seen before?

*(BANDIT LED); “reformed” is anagram indicator; someone you have “never seen before” is someone that you haven’t dated, been out with; Blind Date was a popular ITV dating show hosted by Cilla Black

     
21 AMMO Doctor after morning rounds perhaps

AM (=morning) + MO (=doctor, i.e. Medical Officer); ammo are “rounds” of ammunition

     
24 TUTOR Regularly trusty – our teacher

T<r>U<s>T<y> O<u>R; “regularly” means alternate letters only are used

     
28 TALLINN Unlikely local capital

TALL (=unlikely, of story) + INN (=local, i.e. pub)

     
29 HYDRANT Redeveloped their extremely handy water source

*(T<hei>R + HANDY); “extremely” means first and last letters only; “redeveloped” is anagram indicator

     
30/31/32 BLACK AND WHITE What was assumed by 6A, along with earlier version, in such an old film

Cilla Black was the stage name adopted by Liverpudlian singer Priscilla Maria Veronica White (1943-2015), so “white” is the “earlier version” of the “assumed” name “black”

     
Down    
     
01 THROATY Husky that Roy recollected

*(THAT ROY); “recollected” is anagram indicator

     
02 ANGRY Bristling, losing head, called railway

<r>ANG (=called; “losing head” means first letter dropped) + RY (=railway)

     
03 KIMONO Itinerant monk I associated with old garment

*(MONK I) + O (=old); “itinerant” is anagram indicator

     
04 YEN The old name for money

YE (=the old, i.e. an old word for the) + N (=name)

     
05 UMBRO Stadium brochure features sportswear firm

Hidden (“features”) in “stadiUM BROchure”

     
06 CURIOUS Prying scoundrel promises to pay

CUR (=scoundrel) + IOUs (=promises to pay)

     
07 LOIRE River current – there’s knowledge about it

I (=current, in physics) in LORE (=knowledge)

     
08 AIR RAGE High-level aggression?

Cryptic definition: air rage is aggressive behaviour on the part of a passenger on an aircraft; cf. road rage

     
12 WICCA Cult women in coven could alarm at first

W<omen> I<n> C<oven> C<ould> A<larm>; “at first” means first letters only; wicca is witchcraft, especially as a revived practice

     
15 PHI Quietly greeting Greek character

P (=quietly, i.e. piano in music) + HI (=greeting); psi is a letter of the Greek alphabet

     
17 TREND Care for Royal inside – become widely discussed

R (=royal, as in RSPB) in TEND (=care for); news items “trend” on social media when they become widely discussed

     
18 AIM Target help, doubling in end

AID (=help); “doubling at end” means the last letter D=500 in Roman numerals is doubled to M=1000!!

     
19 BATHTUB Cricketer, hot, with objection over washing facility

BAT (=cricketer) + H (=hot, e.g. on tap) + TUB (BUT=objection: “over” indicates vertical reversal)

     
20 DERRICK Strain supporting the German crane

DER (=the German, i.e. the German for the) + RICK (=strain, sprain)

     
22 OCTETTE Group manipulating Tote etc

*(TOTE ETC); “manipulating” is anagram indicator

     
23 SHADOW Display including publicity trailer?

AD (=publicity, i.e. advert) in SHOW (=display); a shadow is a person who follows, hence a “trailer”, tracker

     
25 TULSA Salute endless changes in US city

*(SALUT<e>); “endless” means last letter dropped from anagram, indicated by “changes”

     
26 HENNA Female with new top grade dye

HEN (=female) + N (=new) + A (top grade)

     
27 ABACI These help with numbers from half-hearted band on islands

AB<b>A (=band, group; “half-hearted” means one of two middle “b”s is dropped) + CI (=islands, i.e. Channel Islands)

     
29 HOD Box in Rhodes

Hidden (“in”) “RHODes”

     

 

8 comments on “Independent 9,172 / Raich”

  1. Thought this the neatest Raich I’ve solved, with the theme well done and as, RatkojaRiku says, not overdone. Liked CITY-STATE and BLACK AND WHITE and the song title must have required quite a bit of work to find and then clue.

    Query whether a cedilla is a character.

    Thanks to Raich and RatkojaRiku.

  2. Having entered THANK YOU and PHI on first pass, I thought the theme was going to be a nostalgic sign-off from Raich. Ah, well, thanks anyway for a puzzle which I too found to be fun and straightforward…
    Apart from ABACI, which I couldn’t parse for toffee. CI was OK, but I wound up with AB for ‘from’ (as in ab initio) and A as half the heart of ‘band’. That’s Radio 3 listeners for you and worryingly indicative of what a chap can convince himself of at need…
    Thanks too to RatkoJariku wherever he may be today. Any news of the new on-line regime?

  3. Thanks, RR. I’m usually on Raich’s wavelength, because his clueing is clear and there are few obscurities. I liked this puzzle. Even I saw the Nina, and I did know that her given name was WHITE and not BLACK. Never a huge fan, but she was certainly a big part of the swinging sixties. And she could sing.

    Thanks to our Irish Setter for this one.

  4. Many thanks for blog and comments which are much appreciated. Re #1, the song took no finding at all – her top hit perhaps which Raich remembers well. Also, dicts say ‘cedilla’ is a character so I think that’s OK.

  5. Re #7, Collins online dictionary has this

    cedilla

    n British English
    (s??d?l?  )
    NOUN a character ( ¸ ) placed underneath a c before a, o, or u, esp in French, Portuguese, or Catalan, denoting that it is to be pronounced (s), not ( k). The same character is used in the scripts of other languages, as in Turkish under s

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