Just like a London bus…you wait ages for a Saturday Nimrod to blog, then two come along in a row (well, five weeks apart, but in a row on my rota slot). Indy 9272 left me a gibbering wreck, so I started this one with some trepidation…
…but this turned out to be unfounded – despite the expected number of quirky/tricksy Nimrodian clues, I got on the wavelength of this one quite early on and, unless I have missed something obvious, couldn’t see any particular theme/Nina.
Having got RAGAMUFFIN, QADI and JACK to start with – a rare top-left start for me, as I usually drift through a set of clues and then start solving from the bottom-right up – I suspected we might be in for a pangram. Several other rare-ish pangram letters duly revealed themselves – Z, W, X – but in the end we were short of V and Y:
(I did spend a little time wondering where a V and Y could be slotted in – WEND could have been VEND? AGA could have been AYA? – but Nimrod has probably set more pangrams than I have had hot dinners, so I don’t think I am in a position to lecture/advise him on puzzle setting!)
So, ‘quirky/tricksy Nimrodian’ clues. An obvious favourite was ‘IQ = 4 x 2’. The Italian Job fleet of MINIS. The INHERITRIX dreading the arrival of a rival heir. The chocaholic demanding his/her fix – GIVE ME A BAR! Maybe GO COMMANDO was more Paul-esque or Cyclops-ian in its smuttiness… I’m sure others will have had their own favourites.
All in all an enjoyable solve – thanks to Nimrod – and I hope I haven’t missed anything subtle…I couldn’t quite explain INCH at 28D – ‘king under attack’? – any enlightenment welcomed…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 8A | RAGAMUFFIN | Poor mite knocked back jelly and cake (10) | Poor mite (child) / RAGA (agar, jelly, knocked back) + MUFFIN (cake) |
|
| 9A | HOOK | I’m surprised to get approval for trap (4) | trap / HO (interjection indicating surprise) + OK (approval) |
|
| 10A | SINK OR SWIM | Do/die strategy oddly works to thwart flipping Italian Job fleet (4,2,4) | do/die strategy / SIN_IM (Minis, fleet of cars used in the film The Italian Job, flipped), around (thwarting) K OR SW (anag, i.e. oddly, of WORKS) |
|
| 12A | COOP | Manx dog looking around box of chickens (4) | box of chickens / A Manx cat has no tail, so a Manx DOG, with no tail, might be a POOC(H) – looking around (reversed) |
|
| 13A | AGA | In consequence, not in range (3) | range (cooker) / AGA(IN) – in consequence, without IN |
|
| 14A | PRESS BARON | Enforce restriction against Beaverbrook? (5,5) | (Lord) Beaverbrook / PRESS (enforce) + BAR (restriction) + ON |
|
| 18A | HOME | In goal (4) | double defn. / ‘in’ can mean ‘at home’; the goal in some games is sometimes referred to as ‘home’ – e.g. home base |
|
| 19A | AS THICK AS A PLANK | IQ = 4 x 2? (2,5,2,1,5) | 4 x 2 (four by two) / If your IQ was 8 (4 x 2) then you might (politically incorrectly!) be referred to as ‘thick as a plank’ |
|
| 20A | EBOR | What the Romans found when they came north across the Border? Yes and no (4) | What (a city, York) the Romans found when they came north (but not across the border) / hidden word (i.e. across) in ‘thE BORder’ |
|
| 21A | SPIN DOCTOR | PR “icon” somehow joining dots up (4,6) | cryptic definition/PR icon / anag, i.e. ‘somehow’ and ‘up’, of PR ICON + DOTS |
|
| 23A | ZIT | It makes for zero sex appeal (3) | cryptic definition / Z (zero) + IT (sex appeal) |
|
| 24A | ACTA | Acting chairman tables agenda to begin proceedings (4) | proceedings (of a meeting) / first letters, i.e. to begin, of ‘Acting Chairman Tables Agenda’ |
|
| 25A | INHERITRIX | Will I get nothing, assuming Lord has young child? (10) | &lit-ish/cryptic definition/charade? / The wife (or daughter?) of a lord might be in line for an inheritance, making her an INHERITRIX, unless the Lord has a (male?) child |
|
| 29A | WEND | Make one’s way to the old Theatreland (4) | make one’s way to / W(est) END (traditional, or old, theatreland of London) |
|
| 30A | CHANGE TACK | Embark on new diet, so select a different course? (6,4) | select a different course / If one embarks on a new diet, one might change the things one is eating (tack) |
|
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1D | QADI | Bit of promotion admitted by TV show judge (4) | judge / Q_I (QI, tv programme) around AD (bit of advertisement, promotion) |
|
| 2D | JACK | US version of Money for Nothing? (4) | double defn. / JACK can be slang for money, in the US; and can also (US slang again?) mean ‘nothing’ – as in ‘you don’t know Jack’ |
|
| 3D | PURR | Rolls up duplicated content? I might (4) | (if) content, I might (purr) / RR (Rolls Royce) + UP – with ‘up’ duplicated to indicate turning these on their head to give PURR |
|
| 4D | IF I WERE A RICH MAN | Having set up wireless connection, reach airmen in difficulties, some singing from The Roof (2,1,4,1,4,3) | some singing from (Fiddler on) the Roof / IFI W (WIFI, wireless connection, set upwards) + ERE A RICH MAN (anag, i.e. in some difficulties, of REACH AIRMEN) |
|
| 5D | ONE-MAN BAND | Performer didn’t at first catch ID of soldier from the back (3-3,4) | performer / D (first letter of Didn’t) + NAB (catch) + NAME & NO (ID of soldier) – all turned round, or from the back |
|
| 6D | CHOCAHOLIC | Reduced selection with California holiday package? FIND ME A BAR!! (10) | (a chocaholic might say:) FIND ME A BAR (of chocolate)! / CHO_IC(E) (reduced selection) around (packaging) CA (California) + HOL (holiday) |
|
| 7D | GO COMMANDO | Something sloppy about order to hang loose (2,8) | hang loose (of a male, wear no underpants!) / GO_O (something sloppy) around COMMAND (order) |
|
| 11D | OPS | It was a mistake losing top jobs in the theatre (3) | jobs in the (operating) theatre / (O)OPS (it was a mistake, losing top letter) |
|
| 15D | RUST BUCKET | Bus in collision with truck towing alien one, hardly roadworthy (4,6) | one (vehicle/truck) hardly roadworthy / RUST BUCK (anag, i.e. in collision, of BUS with TRUCK) plus (towing) ET (Extra Terrestrial, alien) |
|
| 16D | SCHERZANDO | Playfully ragged Sanchez about forward’s third celebration (10) | playfully (musical direction) / SCHE_ZAN (anag, i.e. ragged, of SANCHEZ) around R (third letter of foRward), plus DO (celebration) |
|
| 17D | BACKSTITCH | Yen for the poorer areas and the activity of the sewer? (10) | activity of the sewer (one sewing) / BACK ST (back street, poorer area) + ITCH (yen, yearning) |
|
| 22D | OBI | Old, swinging, Sash (3) | sash / O (old) + BI (bi-sexual, swinging) |
|
| 26D | RAGE | When Open University let slip how old we are inspired frenzy (4) | frenzy / (OU)R AGE (how old we are) without OU (Open University) |
|
| 27D | TA-TA | You shouldn’t have repeated for so long … (2-2) | so long (goodbye) / TA (thanks, you shouldn’t have), repeated |
|
| 28D | INCH | … or not so long, Celtic island king under attack? (4) | triple definition? / an INCH is a ‘not so long’ distance; and also an island (Scottish/Irish), not sure where the ‘king under attack’ comes in? |
|
Thanks mc_rapper67
I too wondered about the third def. in 28dn, then the light dawned. A ‘king under attack’ would be IN CH[eck] (chess notation).
Well done Nimrod and mc_rapper67. 28D ? IN CHeck “King under attack?
Oops, crossed with you Gaufrid – you won by 60 seconds.
I cannot help wondering if there’s something more to 25. Otherwise it would be very tenuous. There’s I getting nix (nothing). I haven’t worked out whether and if so how the rest of the answer fits in.
D #4 – same here – googling around – can’t find anything – there has to be more to it. So far I’m assuming I NIX around ???.
JS – the I plus NIX was the way I was thinking, too, but, like you, I can’t see how the rest fits in, or what the rest of the clue signifies. If we’re both barking up the wrong tree then, unless we’re missing something else, it really is an unsatisfactory clue.
I think it works like this…
Chambers gives HERR as ‘Lord’ and ‘young child’ for IT.
Put those in I NIX, and there you are.
I’ve been looking for an antonym for sine prole – can’t find anything. I’m giving up now – no doubt someone will enlighten us.
“Lord has young child” is too much information otherwise. In intestacy the deceased wouldn’t need to be a lord – the child wouldn’t need to be young etc.
Thanks GB – that’s a big stretch – but I’ll buy it as the expl.
Collins has lord as the German etymology for herr – and “it” as in you’re it – playground games etc.
In full, the def is “Will I get…?” And the construction is I NIX, containing HERR for Lord which in turn contains IT for young child, with the question mark indicating that the ‘I’ is doing double duty.
I think…
You could take the whole surface as the def – or stop where you want and call the rest an extension.
Chambers gives IT as, inter alia, “The neuter of he or she and him or her applied to …. A young child”
Thus one might (rather heartlessly) refer to a baby as ‘it’.
I think we’re there.
BTW – thanks all – esp McR and JH – lots of fun had.
Loved this puzzle. I didnt think of 8 being a low IQ-just thought 4×2 sounded like a bit of wood.Great clue.But I failed on 2d putting YANK.
Thanks for blog and thanks JH for a great puzzle as usual.
25a was far too good for me – congrats to Grant Baynham for working it out. The rest was well worth the effort and I loved the ‘… flipping Italian job fleet’ and ‘IQ = 4 x 2?’ in particular.
Thanks to Nimrod and mc_rapper67.
A very worthy challenge which I failed at the last hurdle, having reluctantly entered AGO at 13 because I spelt CHOCAHOLIC wrong. Definite facepalm.
Thanks for the parsing of INHERITRIX and the third part of INCH. I’d never have got either.
Great stuff that affirms how lucky we are that the Indy crossword series lives on in online form.
Thanks for all the feedback, and the help with parsing INCH and INHERITRIX…much appreciated. I have been on the M1 all day so unable to chip in until now. If time later I will make appropriate amendments…
Being close to 19a..This one was rather too clever for me .. but i enjoyed it all the same.. doing it in several gos instead of the usual one and used the error check far more often than usual.. Chocaholic and 19a were my favs..
In the end, there were several short answers I just couldn’t see. 1dn was a new word for me and I couldn’t see the word play. 3dn I even considered PURR and rejected it as I couldn’t make it work.
25ac, I was wondering if it had something to do with Lord Rix.
See you all at the Tuesday morning FT blog?
Thought not.
Grant 20 I wonder why it is that the FT blog attracts so little attention. I can only surmise that the crosswords are generally so well constructed that there’s not a lot to be said, or that people who do the FT crossword don’t say a lot. When we used to do the blog there would frequently be no more than one comment. Except the first one we ever did, where lots of people took the trouble to point out that we had transgressed by saying too much in the rubric.
Call me childish, but at times I’d try to stir up a reaction in order to see if there was anyone there.
INHERITRIX is not a good clue. There was a lot of assumption by Nimrod that people would get his indications here.
I see copmus got that a 4×2 is a common size for a bit of wood used as a plank.