It has been a while since I have solved/blogged a puzzle by Tees.
I found this one quite a challenge, despite a fair few write-ins at the start. It took me a while to get the two 15-letter entries, which meant that crossing letters were not very plentiful. The 10-letter entries at 6, 12 and 24 were amongst the last ones in, although the very last one was 22. 22 ended up being my favourite clue: I arrived at the solution from the rather clever wordplay, although I needed Google to check the reference to Buddhism. I am not convinced of my parsing of 6 – any better ideas amongst fellow solvers?
Incidentally, I wonder if Tees the compiler has any connection with Tees the river, since various references to the NE and its rivers are to be found in the grid.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 03 | ERRATIC | Unsettled strike-breaker in Morecambe?
RAT (=strike-breaker) in ERIC (=Morecambe, i.e. English comedian) |
| 05 | AVERRED | Bible editor includes sin, alleged as fact
ERR (=sin, as verb) in [AV (=Bible, i.e. Authorised Version) + ED (=editor)] |
| 09 | NEWCASTLE | Recently discovered citadel in place on 11
NEW (=recently discovered) + CASTLE (=citadel); the reference is to Newcastle upon Tyne (=entry at 11) |
| 10 | BASIC | Primary ABC is revised
*(ABC IS); “revised” is anagram indicator |
| 11 | TYNE | Some activity near river
Hidden (“some”) in “activiTY NEar” |
| 12 | WHODUNITRY | Christie’s style juggling round with Doyle’s central character
<do>Y<le> (“central character” means middle letter only) in *(ROUND WITH); “juggling”; whodun(n)its are e.g. English writer Agatha Christie’s novels |
| 14 | ISSUER | One to license is one to institute legal proceedings
IS + SUER (=one to institute legal proceedings); an issuer is e.g. one who issues e.g. a licence, hence “one to license” |
| 15 | ROOT OUT | Rook loves hawk to destroy totally
R (=rook, in chess) + O O (=loves, i.e. 2 x zero score) + TOUT (=hawk, as verb) |
| 17 | PALADIN | Champion’s boy in distress
LAD (=boy) in PAIN (=distress); a paladin was one of 12 knightly champions in attendance on Charlemagne |
| 19 | EUNICE | Girl, English, posh, lovely
E (=English) + U (=posh, i.e. upper-class) + NICE (=lovely) |
| 21 | AFTERSHAVE | Man’s application to eat pudding first
AFTERS (=pudding) + HAVE (=to eat) |
| 22 | TARA | Mother goddess in northern vale?
Tara is the mother goddess in Buddhism; ta-ra is an informal way of saying goodbye (“vale”, i.e. farewell in Latin) in northern English |
| 25 | TETRA | Mashed tater and fish
*(TATER); “mashed” is anagram indicator |
| 26 | RELIEF MAP | Rise and Fall here charted?
Cryptic definition: a relief map (“charted”) shows all land contours (“rise and fall”) |
| 27 | SPONDEE | Foot of water in bishop’s office
POND (=water) in SEE (=bishop’s office); a spondee is a foot of two long syllables in prosody |
| 28 | ETRURIA | Film and sport broadcast about pots made here
E.T. (=film) + RU (=sport, i.e. rugby union) + RIA (AIR=broadcast; “about” indicates reversal); pottery from the Etruscan period was made in Etruria, part of modern-day Italy |
| Down | ||
| 01 | ERNST | Surrealist birds heading to the south
T-ERNS (=birds); “heading to the south” means first letter is dropped to the end of the word; the reference is to German surrealist artist Max Ernst (1891-1976) |
| 02 | REWINDS | Rolls back snooker balls to snatch victory
WIN (=victory) in REDS (=snooker balls) |
| 03 | THAW | Hathaway’s return to friendliness
Hidden (“’s”, i.e. “has”) in “HaTHAWay”; a thaw or détente is a return to friendliness after a period of strained relations |
| 04 | CATCHER IN THE RYE | Sort of architect: Henry E Holden’s occupation?
*(ARCHITECT HENRY E); “sort of” is anagram indicator; the reference is to Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J D Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951) |
| 05 | ALEC D’URBERVILLE | Burl Ives almost recalled twisted seducer
*(BURL IVE<s> + RECALLED); “almost” means last letter dropped; “twisted” is anagram indicator; the reference is to Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1892) |
| 06 | EMBONPOINT | Stout eastern doctor leading unit
E (=eastern) + MB (=doctor) + ON (=(here) leading) + POINT (=unit) |
| 07 | RISOTTO | Dish is extravagant served in rhino’s hide
[IS + OTT (=extravagant, i.e. over-the-top)] in R<hin>O (“hide”, i.e. covering, means first and last letters only) |
| 08 | DECRYPT | Howl in Little Wing to render intelligible?
CRY (=howl) in DEPT (=wing, department; “little” indicates an abbreviation) |
| 13 | SUNDERLAND | Last of Mohicans below ground in place on 24
<mohican>S (“last of” means last letter only) + UNDER (=below) + LAND (=ground); Sunderland is located on the River Wear (=entry at 24) |
| 14 | IDA | Operatic role thought to release energy
ID<e>A (=thought); “to release energy (=E)” means letter “e” dropped; the reference is to the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera Princess Ida (1884) |
| 16 | UKE | European support for British instrument
UK (=British) + E (=European) |
| 17 | PLAUTUS | He wrote something good about gold pot, finally
[AU (=gold, i.e. chemical symbol) + <po>T (“finally” means last letter only)] in PLUS (=something good, asset); the reference is to Roman playwright Plautus (254-184 B.C.) |
| 18 | LET IT GO | Bird coming in for duck showed forbearance
TIT (=bird) in [LEG (=on, i.e. side in cricket) + O (=duck)] |
| 20 | CHARMER | Parisian dear carries weapon for sweet talker
ARM (=weapon) in CHER (=Parisian dear, i.e. the French for dear) |
| 23 | ALPHA | Dominant mountain a height to climb
ALP (=mountain) + HA (A + H (=height); “to climb” indicates vertical reversal); adjectivally, alpha describes an influential, powerful member of a group, e.g. alpha male |
| 24 | WEAR | Use // River // Don
Triple definition: use is “wear (and tear)” / the River “Wear” is in northern England / and to “don” e.g. armour, clothes is to wear clothes |
Thanks, RR, for blogging.
Good puzzle. Can’t say there wasn’t a variety of references, could you? Roman playwrights, NE rivers, surrealist painters, poetry, Hardy novels, fish …
I failed by putting in GAIA at 22ac. Well, she’s an earth/mother goddess, innit?
Tees is clearly a bit of an intellect, so I can’t really understand why he supports the second-best team in the Premier League that play in red-and-white stripes. On which point, the hidden message in this crossword is that NEWCASTLE are staying up and SUNDERLAND are going down. The setter has just been summarily removed from my Christmas card list.
Oh, and ETRURIA was in Stoke-on-Trent last time I looked. Ancient Italy is a bit beyond the ken of us sons of the north.
Thanks RR.
Bert thought that ‘on point’ was a military term but we cannot find anything in Chambers so we think you must be correct although perhaps ON just means above in a down clue.
Seems really quiet today – perhaps everyone is worried about the future of the Indy puzzles.
Thanks Tees for the brain-stirring.
I take it that this is Tees’ ‘tara’ to the print puzzle. (TARA btw was my last in: MAMA & GAIA hanging around as other possibles: a suitably lingering goodbye…)
WHODUNITRY was sneaky but wicked ALEC D’ was a write-in ‘cos I’ve just re-read the book, ha. (If you were going to yourself, don’t. It’s even more heartbreaking second time around).
Thanks to Tees & Ratko. May we all meet soon in whatever format.
Thanks for crossword and blog – I failed on 22a too. I see Bertandjoyce beat me to the “on point” explanation! Wikipedia confirms this although I couldn’t find it in the dictionary either: On Point
A nice straightforward puzzle, though some clues took a bit of teasing (Tees-ing?) out. Fortunately my memory came to the rescue for one or two words that I’ve only ever encountered in crosswords. SPONDEE was my CoD.
A couple of asides: ETRURIA as part of Stoke on Trent was named after its Roman forbear; similarly there is a (less well-known) district of Stoke called Dresden. And in 3dn is there a subtle reference to certain TV detectives? – Sergeant Hathaway is sidekick to the eponymous hero of Lewis, itself a spin-off from Inspector Morse, starring the late John THAW.
Thanks, Tees and RatkojaRiku
Thanks, Tees and RR. Highlights for me were WHODUNITRY, which is quite a word, and AFTERSHAVE, which is quite a clue.
I’m surprised “on point” and “take point” didn’t make it into the dictionaries, but they all seem to include “point man”.
Grant, absolutely people should read Tess, if only for this about Sorrow’s interment:
‘And so the baby … was buried by lantern-light … in that shabby corner of God’s allotment where He lets the nettles grow, and where all unbaptized infants, drunkards, suicides, and others of the conjecturally damned are laid.’
If you want heartbreak, Hardy’s your man.
I was doing this on the train and was pleased to end up with only two short answers to get, 3dn, which I found with a word search when I got to my hotel, and 22ac which defeated me.
Incidentally, TARA is a Druidic mother goddess, not a Buddhist one.
Thanks, RR, for a great blog of a great puzzle.
My favourites were TARA and ALEC D’URBERVILLE, where I have to agree with Kathryn’s Dad and PLAUTUS [my least favourite Latin author, the title of whose play ‘Aulularia’ translates as ‘The pot of gold’ – lovely!
Many thanks, Tees – so much to enjoy!
I had the ‘O’, ‘D’ and final ‘E’ of 27 across and couldn’t get Bishop Proudie out of my mind for a long while.
Thanks RR for your nice blog. Thanks Eileen for noticing the Pot of Gold reference too!
The Y is on the end of the anag in 12ac, ETRURIA is the Wedgewood factory (or the pottery itself?) at S-on-T, the book title is incomplete at 4dn, hence the ‘occupation’ definition, yes, ‘leading unit’ is meant to equal ON POINT at 6dn, and there isn’t really a theme, just the juxtaposition of TYNE and WEAR, and their two well-known towns. Re Southampton I can’t help it: I’m from there, and over the years I have taken the rough with the smooth!
Cheers
Ts
Btw, re Indy, I hope we can continue as before, in the new online only format. Us compiler types, as I understand it, are massive fans of The Independent under Mike’s stewardship, and we want to keep it all going.
Tees.
Great stuff if only completed by some lucky guesses. Cheers teeser and RR for the confirmation.
Very good indeed, I really can’t fault it. A lovely, well-balanced puzzle.
There were many very good ones, I liked Plautus best, maybe because I was hoping no-one would get the reference! Foiled again.
Thank you to the blogger.