Independent 9,220 / Eimi

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It is the crossword editor himself who has supplied today’s lexical challenge.

And not long after I blogged a highly topical puzzle about the Panama papers scandal, today sees me writing up another such puzzle, this time a tribute to the American singer Prince, who died on 21 April 2016.

I actually found this a challenging puzzle, not least in terms of teasing out the wordplay of clues to which the solutions seemed clear from the definition and intersecting letters, e.g. 17D. Any “corrections” from fellow solvers would be welcome. 25 and 30 were both tough words for a daily cryptic, I thought. My favourite clues today were 12, for its anagram and & lit. –ish content; 20, for surface; and 22, for the misdirection in the phrase “hue and cry”.

As someone who has never been a particular fan of Prince and his work, I suspected that I wouldn’t pick up on all the references in the clues and/or completed grid. That said, Eimi has boosted the thematic content with a “ghost” reference to Prince at 8 and with a mention of Prince at 26 in a clue to a general expression for which any performer’s name could have been used.

Prince fans have doubtless spotted far more allusions to his work than I ever could. I have spotted Purple Rain (=entries at 22 and 17), Prince’s 1984 rock musical film. Similarly, the top and bottom lines of the grid spell out I Wish U Heaven, the 3rd single from Prince’s 1988 album Lovesexy – perhaps this is Eimi’s way of saying RIP Prince Rogers Nelson (1958-2016)?

The blog has been updated – many thanks to fellow solvers for their input!

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

Across  
   
07 TORSIONAL Sailor not dancing but twisting

*(SAILOR NOT); “dancing” is anagram indicator
   
09 ORGAN Publication // such as Skin

Double definition: an organ is a means of communicating information or opinions, hence “publication” AND a part of the human body, hence “skin”
   
11 ASSEGAI Spear for example found in Brazilian tree

E.G. (=for example) in ASSAI (=Brazilian tree, a palm)
   
12 STAPLER Plaster produced after accident with this in office

*(PLASTER); “after accident” is anagram indicator; & lit. -ish
   
13 ALPHABET Norwegian band covering record by live act finally leading to letters

[LP (=record, i.e. long-playing record) in A-HA (=Norwegian band, from the 1980s)] + BE (=live, as verb) + <ac>T (“finally” means last letter only)
   
15 STREET Way Oscar-winning actress steered clear of Last Tango

STREE<p> (=Oscar winning actress, i.e. Meryl Streep; “steered clear of last” means last letter dropped) + T (=tango, in radio telecommunications)
   
17 RAIN Drops Middle Eastern country heading to the right

I-R-AN (=Middle Eastern country); “heading to the right” means that the first letter moves several places to the right in the word
   
18 LOVER Romeo’s remaining, figuratively

“figuratively” means that LEFT OVER (=remaining) could be expressed as L (=left) OVER
   
19 KISS X // rated Prince single

Double definition: a kiss in letters, text messages, etc is represented with an X AND “Kiss” was a 1986 single from Prince’s album Parade
   
22 PURPLE Hue and cry about “posh” way of speaking

RP (= “posh” way of speaking, i.e. received pronunciation) in PULE (=cry, whimper)
   
23 STAGE SET Men only heading exciting group of games for props, etc

STAG (=(for) men only, e.g. of party) + E<xciting> (“heading” means first letter only) + SET (=group of games, in e.g. tennis)
   
26 ON STAGE Ready to be transported where Prince was in his element

Cryptically, if you were on (a) stage (coach), you would be “ready to be transported” somewhere
   
27 OMNIBUS Literary collection to put on page in a short time when sent back

SUB (=to put on page, i.e. to subedit) + IN + MO (=short time, i.e. moment); “when sent back” indicates (here full) reversal
   
29 CASED Boxed with scoundrel going around the London area

SE (=the London area) in CAD (=scoundrel)
   
30 CHIASMATA Energy when Manchester United player produces crosses

CHI (=energy, i.e. an individual person’s life-force, in Chinese medicine) + AS (=when) + MATA (=Manchester United player, i.e. Juan Mata); in biology, chiasmata are cross-shaped connections formed by the crossing over of chromatids during meiosis
   
Down  
   
01 ITHACA Thai cycling around a Greek island

*(THAI) + C (=around, i.e. circa) + A; “cycling” is anagram indicator
   
02 WINGMAN Supportive colleague with Dutch banker

W (=with) + ING MAN (=Dutch banker, i.e. someone working for ING bank)
   
03 INSIDE JOB Batters patient person in crime involving employee

IN SIDE (=”batters”, i.e. the batting side in cricket) + JOB (=patient person)
   
04 SLASH Guitarist / piss …

Triple definition: Slash (aka Saul Hudson) is the guitarist from Guns N’ Roses) and a slang word for “piss”, urinate; and the oblique between them is also a (forward) slash!
   
05 HOGARTH … artist: “Don’t share energy-starved planet”

HOG (=don’t share, e.g. the floor, road) + <e>ARTH (=planet; “energy (=E)-starved” means letter “e” is dropped); the reference is to English painter William Hogarth (1697-1764)
   
06 UNTRUTHS Books a girl to open in American Tales

[NT (=books, i.e. New Testament) + RUTH (=a girl, i.e. a girl’s name)] in US (=American)
   
08 RAS Prince among artists

RAs (=artists, i.e. Royal Academicians); a ras is an Ethiopian prince
   
10 GALLERIES Tate and Saatchi for example have many followers of course

The Tate Gallery and the Saatchi Gallery are both located in London; galleries are groups of spectators (“followers” of action) on a golf “course”
   
14 PRIMROSES Flowers originally planted on border grew slowly at first

P<lanted> (“originally” means first letter only) + RIM (=border) + ROSE (=grew) + S<lowly> (“at first” means first letter only)
   
16 LEITMOTIV Recurring theme of freshening up toilet with vim

*(TOILET + VIM); “freshening up” is anagram indicator
   
17 REPROACH A rolled-up piece of paper in spliff leading to censure

REP (PER=a, as in £20 a/per person; “rolled-up” indicates a vertical reversal) + ROACH (=piece of paper in spliff);
   
20 ALCALDE Spanish bigwig called a bastard

*(CALLED A); “bastard” is anagram indicator; the alcalde is the mayor of a Spanish town
   
21 AGONISE Struggle when genoa is fluttering

*(GENOA IS); “fluttering” is anagram indicator
   
24 TUSCAN French you study from somewhere in Italy

TU (=French you, i.e. the French word for you) + SCAN (=study)
   
25 LEICA Alice somehow captured through the looking glass in this?

*(ALICE); “somehow” is anagram indicator; a Leica is a type of German camera, hence “captured through the looking glass in this”
   
28 BRA Rival airline carrying Ryanair’s first supporter

R<yanair> (“first” means first letter only) in BA (=rival airline, i.e. British Airways)
   
   

18 comments on “Independent 9,220 / Eimi”

  1. Thanks RatkojaRiku
    I too wondered about 17dn as, for me, the clue doesn’t work. It is either [pa]PER reversed + ROACH so the ‘in’ is redundant or it’s RPE reversed in ROACH but RPE is not ‘piece of paper’.

  2. Much to admire, and much to infuriate. ‘Hue and cry’ was indeed dead clever as was REPROACH, where I’d have to quarrel with RR’s parsing: a roach is not a spliff, but a rolled up piece of paper or cardboard acting as a filter IN a spliff (or so I have heard, officer), which makes the clue even cleverer. LOVER I parsed as ’50 over’, but I don’t think ‘figuratively’ worked well for either.
    And just to be picky about parsing again, either the ‘in’ or the ‘open’ in 6d (UNTRUTHS) seems to me to be redundant.
    RIP Prince, but I was never a fan and couldn’t have named you a track before this puzzle. The vocabulary was a challenge, too: 4 words completely new to me.
    So, a challenge for a Tuesday, and a bit of a grind to be honest but got there in the end, so thanks to setter & solver.

  3. I liked this, even though I’m not a great Prince fan either. I couldn’t work out the parsing of quite a few including REPROACH (completely ignorant of any of the relevant terms – a v. protected upbringing) and PURPLE. Missed out on CHIASMATA and carelessly had ‘rover’ for LOVER.

    I think you’ll find 4 is a triple def.

    Thanks to Eimi and RatkojaRiku

  4. I think 17d is a = per reversed + piece of paper in spliff = roach.

    I really, really don’t like the use of soccer player’s names as parts of clues. There is a very good reason the sports pages of a newspaper are at the back. It’s so most civilised people can ignore them.

  5. sidey@4 “Ere oo u callin uncivilised!?”

    But when you think Best,Cantona, Charlton,Beckham, Ronaldo etc etc
    Mata doesnt really leap out esp when Man U are not in a purple patch.

    Bit like Lely- although not up to Rembrandts standard-they both fit neatly into puzzles

    Wordplodder@3 how can 4d be a triple def when the clue is only two words (The weakest clue in the set).

  6. copmus @5
    “… how can 4d be a triple def when the clue is only two words”

    What is in-between those two words? 😉

  7. It must be obituary week in the Indy – Ms Wood yesterday, Prince today. I’d never listened to his music, but judging by the coverage in the i, he was pretty famous. Couldn’t finish in the NW corner: I’d never have got WINGMAN in a million years.

    And sidey, I’m surprised that you haven’t already bought your Leicester City 2016 champions scarf. I think we should have more footie in the Indy crossword. ‘Soccer’ is the civilised person’s name for ‘football’, btw, so I think you should come out of the closet about your secret passion.

    Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned footie: the setter is a Spurs fan. Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham wouldn’t have pleased him last night.

  8. sidey @4, that is what I wondered too, there had to be a reason for the “a”, and then the spliff when smoked leads to the ROACH, stubb of paper (no, I have never even smoked a cigarette after trying one when I was 11).

  10. I can’t understand all this debate about REPROACH (17d). It is a beautiful clue.
    A ‘roach’ is a rolled-up piece of paper or cardboard inserted into the end of a marijuana cigarette. It acts as both a filter and a handle for said joint, spliff or whatever you want to call it. Chamber’s is perfectly clear on the point.
    ‘A’ equals ‘PER’ (as in ‘a shilling per [or a] pound’) which is a common device in crosswords. Thus the ‘rolled-up’ part of the clue is a smooth & sneaky bit of misdirection: it is the PER which is ‘rolled up’ in this Down clue to give us REP.
    It has nothing to do, in this instance, with the ‘piece of paper in spliff’ which stands alone as the wordplay for ROACH.
    I repeat: this is a clue of great beauty and subtlety. I have other issues with today’s offering but REPROACH (17d) royally represents why we do this stuff.

  11. I really enjoyed this; the Nina seems to have forced Eimi to reach for a couple of top shelf words, as tends to happen in such cases, but all very fairly clued so no complaints.
    I also bunged in a careless ROVER, thinking perhaps Prince might have had a soft spot for a pooch.
    Given that Slash is from Stoke, I have often wondered why he chose that particular sobriquet, but it takes all sorts I suppose.
    Thanks to S&B

  12. Grant Baynham @10, there has been no complaint about the clue for REPROACH – the problem was that neither RatkojaRiku nor Gaufrid had accounted for the “A” when parsing. What you are saying is exactly the same as sidey @4.

  14. Am I the only one bothered by the repetition of stage in 22 and 26? Seems below standard to me.

  15. Cookie @12 and Sidey@13 re missed post Sidey @4.

    Yup, sorry. I thought I’d buried it @2 (clearly I wasn’t specific enough about the ‘A’) and then I’ve leapt ahead. Seems it’s catching today.
    Still think 17’s a gorgeous clue, but does anyone agree about the redundancy in 6d (UNTRUTHS)?
    Gx

  16. Another tribute that we could expect.
    Well executed by The Man Formerly Known As Mike.
    And not one you were convicted to, Flashling …..

    I didn’t get LOVER (1ac), also did not understand REPROACH (17d).
    But now everything’s explained after sidey @4 started the correct parsing, I think this is actually a great clue.

    Agree, Grant B, I had the same feelng as you about 6d.

    I like Eimi’s style but not 4d (well, / = slash is a nice find, the ‘piss’ bit I don’t care much about).
    Just to make things sure, apart from KISS (19ac) ALPHABET STREET (13,15) was another one of Prince’s singles.

    So, what’s next?
    A tribute to the Foxes?
    One cannot expect Eimi to write one, I fear (for the reason KD gives us @7).

  17. Thanks to RR for the blog. We entered REPROACH without realising that we hadn’t really parsed it so thanks to everyone else for sorting that out.

    We twigged the theme early on but not being Prince fans that didn’t really help us. We saw the NINA which helped us with our last one in -20d. Had no idea about the footballer so needed a search for 30ac.

    Thanks Eimi.

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