Nestor has given us a good puzzle today
I got off to a good start in this but gradually slowed down with NAVARINO (22 across), INKS (17 down) and TRANSMUTER (19 across) being the last ones in. The words being spelled out in the left and right columns, TIGRENE and ZEBROID, helped a bit. For one or two entries I had to think long and hard about the wordplay before it all became clear.
I’m not too sure of the significance of the outer columns. Perhaps something to do with football – Hull [Tigers] looking for promotion from the Championship to the Premiership and Newcastle [somewhat ZEBROID in their strip] clinging on desperately to Premiership status [although that status might have finally gone by the time this blog appears if Sunderland beat Everton on Wednesday night]. Also we do have a reference to Geordies in the clues strengthening the link to Newcastle. On the other hand the words may have nothing at all to do with football.
I always like Nestor’s puzzles as the clues make you think quite hard to see how the wordplay works. But it’s always very precise once you suss it out. A number of entries were built up of 4 or 5 constituent parts in the wordplay which I enjoy deconstructing for the blog.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Try much like it’d come out differently (5,4,5)
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Anagram of (come out differently) TRY MUCH LIKE IT’D THIRD TIME LUCKY* |
THIRD TIME LUCKY (keep trying and it will come out the way I want, different from the way it’s come out up till now)
|
| 9 |
Somewhat malign or antagonistic but uninformed (8)
|
IGNORANT (hidden word in [somewhat] MALIGN OR ANTAGONISTIC)
|
IGNORANT (uninformed)
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10
|
Red extremists literally appear after endless neglect (6)
|
SHIRK (neglect) excluding the final letter [endless] K + (A and Z [first and last letters of the alphabet; extremists literally])
|
SHIRAZ (a variety of red grape and the red wine made from that grape)
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|
11
|
Good Detective Inspector abandoning fight over unusual habits (3-3)
|
G (good) + (DISPUTE [fight] excluding [abandoning] DI [Detective Inspector] reversed [over]) G ET UPS< |
GET-UPS (styles of outfits; unusual habits)
|
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13
|
Playpen’s devised as means of overhead surveillance (8)
|
Anagram of (devised as) PLAYPEN’S SPYPLANE* |
SPYPLANE (means of overhead surveillance)
|
|
14
|
Subtlety about match involving Geordies? (10) |
RE (concerning; about) (FIT [match] containing [involving] [NE {North East} + MEN; North Eastern men are often Geordies]) RE FI (NE MEN) T |
REFINEMENT (subtlety)
|
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16
|
European from Bruges after the centres gone west (4)
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(BRUGES excluding [after … gone] UG [middle letters; the centre]) reversed (west) SERB< |
SERB (native or inhabitant of SERBia; European)
|
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17
|
Permanently writes where Dorothy wasn’t anymore (4)
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IN [where] + KS (American State of Kansas) Dorothy was from Kansas but she went to Oz in the Wizard of Oz
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INKS (permanently writes)
|
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19
|
Conversion device managed to get stained in short term (10)
|
(RAN [managed] + SMUT [become dirty; stained]) contained in (in) (TERM excluding the final letter [short] M) T (RAN SMUT) ER |
TRANSMUTER (a means of changing something to another form or substance; conversion device)
|
|
22
|
Northern area right in the middle of futile old sea battle (8)
|
N (northern) + A (area) + (R [right] contained in [in the middle of] VAIN [futile]) + O [old] N A VA (R) IN O |
NAVARINO (reference the naval Battle of NAVARINO on 20 October 1827, during the Greek War of Independence [1821–32])
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24
|
Jolly Republican wearing First Lady’s ring (4,2)
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(R [Republican] contained in [wearing] EVE‘S (first lady’s; reference Adam and EVE) + O (ring shape) EVE (R) S O |
EVER SO (to a great extent; jolly, as in it’s EVER SO good or it’s jolly good)
|
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25
|
Young bird hunting dog’s heading off before end of hunt (6)
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BEAGLE (hunting dog) excluding (off) the first letter (heading) B + T (last letter of [end of] HUNT)
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EAGLET (young bird)
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26
|
Abduct and execute husband during brief boat trip (8)
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(HANG [execute] + H [husband]) contained in (during) SAIL [boat trip] excluding the final letter [brief] L S (HANG H) AI |
SHANGHAI (drug or make drunk and send to sea as a sailor; abduct) |
|
28
|
Kept cool if stopping broadcast (3-11)
|
CONDITION (if can be expressed as ‘on CONDITION that’) contained in (stopping) AIRED (broadcast) AIR (CONDITION) ED |
AIR-CONDITIONED (descriptive of air brought to the desired state of purity, temperature and humidity; generally, ‘kept cool’, but can mean to ‘kept warm’ in very cold temperatures)
|
| Down | |||
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
2
|
Vocal way to address Miss Brodie’s healthy habits? (7)
|
HY (sounds like [vocal way] HI! [form of address]) + GIENE (sounds like [vocal way] JEAN [reference the Muriel Spark novel, The Prime of Miss JEAN Brodie])
|
HYGIENE (science or art of preserving health, especially through cleanliness; healthy habits)
|
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3
|
Perhaps Joey Tribbiani’s beginning to go off radical (3)
|
ROOT (one definition of radical is ‘a ROOT in any sense’) excluding (go off) T (first letter of [beginning to] TRIBBIANI)
|
ROO (a joey is a young animal, especially a ‘ROO [kangaroo])
|
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4
|
Drifter fled to Spain, yes, occupying temporary shelter (9)
|
(RAN [fled] + SI [Spanish for ‘yes’]) contained in (occupying) TENT (temporary shelter) T (RAN SI) ENT |
TRANSIENT (temporary resident; drifter)
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5
|
Painter one attached to steamer held by ship’s officer (7)
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(I [one] + SS [steamship]) contained in (held by) MATE (ship’s officer) MAT (I SS) E |
MATISSE (reference Henri MATISSE [1869 – 1954], French artist)
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6
|
Vigorous but out of practice, needing a change of hands (5)
|
RUSTY (out of practice) with R (right) changed to L (left) thereby involving a change of hands LUSTY |
LUSTY (vigorous) |
|
7
|
Evil lives penned by English poet, mostly it spices things up (6,5)
|
(ILL [evil] + IS [lives]) contained in (penned by) CHAUCER (reference Geoffrey CHAUCER [1343 – 1400], English poet]) excluding the last letter (mostly) R CH (ILL I S) AUCE |
CHILLI SAUCE ( a condiment that spices up food)
|
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8
|
I want a variable source of income (7)
|
Y (a letter frequently to represent a variable in mathematics) + EARNER (source of income)
|
YEARNER (one who wants)
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12
|
Arrests quashing resistance at a higher level, which should cancel an application (11)
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RUN INS (arrests) excluding (quashing) R (resistance) + TALLER (at a higher level)
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UNINSTALLER (a piece of software for removing a program or app[lication] from a computer or tablet)
|
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15
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Concerns about interrupting experiment to reveal object in higher space (9)
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(CARES [concerns] reversed [about]) contained in (interrupting) TEST (experiment) TES (SERAC)< T |
TESSERACT (a figure of a cube within a cube; also described in Wikipedia as ‘in geometry, the TESSERACT is the four-dimensional analog of the cube; the TESSERACT is to the cube as the cube is to the square’; object in higher space)
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18
|
Falls here, enlisted by war against uprising (7)
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NIAGARA (reversed [uprising; down clue] hidden word in [enlisted by] WAR AGAINST) NIAGARA< |
NIAGARA (site of waterfalls in Ontario, Canada)
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20
|
Experiencing enjoyment in a stiff member? (7)
|
USE (enjoyment) contained in (experiencing … in) (A + ROD [stiff bar]) A RO (USE) D |
AROUSED (experiencing enjoyment). The whole thing can of course be read in one context as an &Lit clue.
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21
|
Force to work for someone dodgy seen outside facilities (7)
|
Anagram of (dodgy) SEEN containing (outside) (LAV [lavatory; facilities]) ENS (LAV) E* |
ENSLAVE (subject to a dominating influence; force to work for someone)
|
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23
|
Britons wanting borders sabotaged opening (5)
|
Anagram of (sabotaged) BRITONS excluding (wanting) the first and last letters (borders) B and S INTRO* |
INTRO (opening)
|
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27
|
Travel over slush (3)
|
GO (travel) + O (over, in cricket scoring notation)
|
GOO (slush)
|
I blinked a bit when opening this puzzle to find Nestor’s name on it, since I generally associate his puzzles with the Saturday “prize” slot, so made an extra-large pot of tea.
As usual, I greatly enjoyed the challenge of solving + unpicking although I can’t really understand the significance of the words in the outside columns either.
Many thanks to Nestor and Duncan
We aren’t in Kansas any more. Very tough, I thought, but some great clues. INKS was one, SHIRAZ another and NAVARINO and TESSERACT both hard even if one knew the words, which I didn’t.
Slowed up by 1ac as well: I’d got ‘three-time loser’ into my head and it stayed there far too long.
Hard going, and not achieved without assistance.
I too thought the ‘tigrine’ might be rising above the ‘zebroid’ in soccer terms, but it’s a bit tenuous and has’t happened yet. (I’m for The Tigers. Friend of mine has season tickets. She lives in Chichester. There are worse obsessions than crosswords.)
Thanks to Duncan & Nestor.
Duncan, this is definitely a timely tribute puzzle to Sunderland, whose magnificent victory over Everton last night secured their Premier League status and relegated the Mags.
Bit of a shame that I couldn’t finish it, then. Way above my solving ability. But I liked LUSTY and HYGIENE, which I did get.
Thanks to S&B.
Missed GET-UPS and hadn’t met TESSERACT before but the rest went in without too many problems. Particularly liked AROUSED, SHIRAZ and my COD, INKS.
Thanks for explaining the Nina.
Thank you to Nestor and Duncan
Can anyone cite any dictionary support for “run in” (or “run-in”) as a noun meaning “arrest”? As a verb, arrests = runs in, not run-ins. No joy in COED, Chambers, Collins.
I normally print out the puzzle from the website below but its started printing without the black squares. Is this the website or my printer?
http://puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/cryptic-crossword-independent
JP @6
I have just checked and my printer gives the black squares as a light shade of grey (presumably to save ink/toner).
JP@6
Printing from my laptop, which has an adblocker, generates the print with white squares everywhere.
Printing from my Ipad, which doesn’t have an adblocker, generates a proper print with darkish grey squares.
I used the same printer to do the test and printed from the Ipad immediately after printing from the laptop.
I don’t know whether the presence or not of adblocker is relevant or whether that fact is a complete red herring.
To Jon88 on “run ins”.
No, but I don’t think it’s fatal to the clue. Certainly the other idiomatic expression, “He’s had a few run-ins with the police over the years” would take that form of plural (“runs in” would sound clumsy & pedantic). One could imagine a construct for ‘arrests’, eg.
“We ran in five of the Jones gang last night, Sarge”
“Well done, son. And, may I ask, how many of those run-ins involved force on our part?”
I don’t think that sound too forced.
Nice crossword. Not helped by my printout having (7) not (5) for 23dn.
@Grant: Is that like saying the phrase “We can agree to disagree” is idiomatically equivalent to “I think you’re wrong”? 😉 Less frivolously, I see your point, but I don’t equate “run-ins with the police” with “arrests.” On the other hand, it’s only a crossword puzzle. Moving on ….
JP, Gaufrid & Duncan
I use a laptop with an adblocker and have the same problem. But with a little ingenuity you can get round it by taking screenshots of the grid (as displayed when you click the puzzle’s print button) and the clues and combining them into a new image which you can then print. It’s helpful to have software that creates PDFs by mimicking a printer.
Thanks for all the comments. Sorry about “arrests” for RUN-INS, which I put in without thinking.
The Nina is nothing to do with football: it’s just that tigers and zebras are striped, like the alternating black and white squares on the edges of the grid.
Good golly glad i wasn’t blogging this. Tough as old boots. Well done blogger