Good morning everyone. I hope it’s still morning. Yet again I find myself apologising for a late blog.
Woke up this morning to a beautiful day. Sun was shining. Birds were singing. I had finally got that bit of work that’s been occupying me for the last couple of weeks finished yesterday. Connect to 15-squared to peruse the blogs – Indy blog missing – ponder. Oh My God it’s my turn…
… at that point I turn to the creaky old desktop PC where I keep all the proforma blog scripts etc. – “please do not turn off your machine while Windows 10 is configuring” Aaaaagh!
In the end have to use the “Information Technologist’s Hammer” and turned it off and on again. It’s back – I am typing …
I am pretty sure I haven’t blogged a puzzle by Knut before, but I tackled a few, and I know that they generally have some kind of topical theme but a first read through the clues did not suggest anything, and as I solved and blogged in a bit of a rush I didn’t spot anything on the way.
But I hadn’t resolved who that Owen was at 9A so looked up Owen Coffin to find an interesting Wikipedia page which I will probably be still reading while you are reading this. So there must be a Moby Dick theme going on in here with Nantucket and Sperm Whale. I am not familiar with all the references so I hope you will fill in the gaps in the comments.
When solving , for some reason the split clue 12/24 caught my eye and I wrote in Mountain Ash to get going, so unusually the puzzle was solved from the middle working outwards.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ABRIDGED VERSION | Given 11 bids, unusually, for special edition (8,7) (GIVEN ADORER BIDS)* AInd: Unusually. ADORER from answer 11. At first I tried an anagram of “Given eleven bids” |
| 9 | OWEN | He, 21, gave leaders of ocean-going whaler Essex nourishment (4) First letters of Ocean-going Whaler Essex Nourishment – see preamble |
| 10 | SLEIGH RIDE | Fearful European girls hide when Rudolph’s on the pull! (6,4) (E[uropean] GIRLS HIDE)* AInd: fearful |
| 11 | ADORER | Passionate lover in sombrero, dad’s back! (6) Hidden reverse in sombRERO DAd |
| 12/24 | MOUNTAIN ASH | Rowan, Pompeii’s unexpected visitor (8,3) First one in. Clear from the Def. and a cryptic reference to the terrible visitation of Volcanic ash on the town in 79AD |
| 13 | ENHANCING | Getting sharper, new China works invested in engineering (9) (N[ew] CHINA)* AInd: works, inside ENG[ineering] |
| 15 | OGDEN | Nash smuggled American out of Ethiopian region (5) OG[a]DEN Ref Ogden Nash, American poet, and the Region in Ethiopia |
| 16 | ASIDE | Single actor’s confidence (5) A-Side single, as in the main song of a 7″ record, and the trope on stage where an actor vocalises thoughts audible to the audience but not the other players |
| 17 | NANTUCKET | Island where English Knut can’t work (9) (E[nglish] KNUT CAN’T)* AInd: work |
| 20 | CRITERIA | Held by spies, Tex half-heartedly agreed conditions (8) RIT[t]ER (Ref Tex Ritter, country music man) inside CIA (spies) I had to google Tex and Riter to find this guy <Wiki link> |
| 21 | COFFIN | Box leaves in a bit (6) FF (leaves, folios) in COIN (a bit) |
| 23 | SPERM WHALE | One in school wheels pram around (5,5) (WHEELS PRAM)* AInd: around |
| 25 | AVID | Greedy Bill gobbles half a dozen (4) VI (= 6, half a dozen) inside AD (Bill) |
| 26 | EDWARD THE SECOND | Mixed ward? These conditions are fit for the King! (6,3,6) Well hidden in mixED WARD THESE CONDitions. I did not see this till many crossers were in place – suitable exclamation mark! |
| Down | ||
| 2 | BOWED AND SCRAPED | Fawned, as did the young Kennedy! (5,3,7) Ref the young Nigel Kennedy, violinist – I guess we all make a terrible racket when first learning |
| 3 | INNER | Victor downed whiskey outside The Bull (5) [w]INNER Lose the W (whiskey in Nato Phonetics) from Winner (victor). An Inner is just outside the bull’s eye on a dartboard , scores 25 |
| 4 | GASTRIC | Contents of the stomach reportedly poisoned Wakeman (7) Homophbone “Gassed Rick” Ref. Rick Wakeman of Yes |
| 5 | DYE | Do you change colour? (3) |
| 6 | EGG CUP | One may be seen at breakfast, turning puce having eaten a horse! (3,3) GG (horse) inse PUCE< |
| 7 | STRATEGIC | Like the general’s plan to move 4 around the flanks (9) GASTRIC* AInd: move, around T[h]E (flanks of ‘the’) |
| 8 | OLD-TIME RELIGION | Veteran priest spins no.1 German gospel song (3-4,8) OLD-TIMER (veteran), ELI (priest), then reverse of NO I G[erman]. I got the answer long before parsing the wordplay |
| 12 | MONTANA | Located in Vermont (an American State) (7) Hidden in verMONT AN American |
| 14 | AUDITORIA | Theatres perform check over song playback (9) AUDIT (perform check) O[ver] AIR< (song playback) |
| 18 | TICKERS | Hearts beat Queen of the South (7) TICK (beat) ER (queen) S[outh] the “of the” in the clue is very misleading – anyway I found this the toughest clue. It had me stuck for a while. Edit: baerchem at Comment #14 points out S = Southern = of the South is a possible explanation |
| 19 | CREWED | Here Alexandra plays dead, having served on board (6) CREWE (where Crewe Alexandra FC play) D[ead] |
| 22 | FRANC | Managed soccer team without money (5) RAN (managed) inside FC (soccer team) |
Thanks beermagnet and Knut.
Well I tried to find a topical (by which I mean only a few days old when we speak of this setter) theme but gave up. Now I see why. And couldn’t see the connection between Owen and Coffin, but entered the answers as the cluing for them was exceptionally clear. (As it was in the rest of this splendid effort.) Thanks for the link. Don’t think Knut was around in 1821.
FWIW I too had the big Windows 10 upgrade this week. A long time ‘configuring’ during the previous night’s shutdown, and around 45 minutes of getting it all set up the following morning, than which watching pint dry was far more fascinating.
Very enjoyable with an interesting theme which passed me by till I looked on here.
Liked 10,23,26,2 and 19 especially.
Thanks to knut and beermagnet.
Rather easier than I expected. Owing to the editor’s indiscretion, I was already aware of the theme before I started, so I cued up an 18-minute version of the song from 1985 to give myself plenty of time, and finished while they were still wibbling around in the middle section.
I loved the magnificent hidden and generally enjoyed the solve, so thanks Knut and beermagnet.
Thanks to @beermagnet for the blog.
I had this album by MOUNTAIN in the early 70s when I was at school and hadn’t a clue what the title song was about. I heard it on the radio recently and looked it up – it’s quite a gruesome story.
A NANTUCKET SLEIGHRIDE is an expression for the tow a whaler gets when a large SPERMWHALE is harpooned. On the disastrous trip aboard the Essex, poor young OWEN COFFIN appears to have drawn the short straw in the decision about who was going to get eaten when the food ran out.
ps part of the track’s (longish!) instrumental passage was used as the theme music for LWT’s “Weekend World” current affairs programme for years (remember Brian Walden anyone?)
Having read Moby Dick many years ago and visited Mystic Seaport museum, I knew about the Nantucket sleigh ride as a term in whaling, but didn’t know there was a song about it.
Coffin apparently is a common last name in Nantucket. When I was growing up we had a couple of books in our house by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. The most famous was Cheaper by the Dozen about his father and their large family, but he also wrote a book called Inside Nantucket about his experiences of running a boarding house on the island. His wife worked as a teacher there, and in a class read a poem that included the word “coffin”. There were several children called Coffin in the class, and they asked what the word meant. She realised that using the word to mean a casket for the dead appeared to be taboo on the island.
MOUNTAIN Felix Papparladi(bass. vocals writing, producer) Leslie West (guitar) Corky someone(drums) and a keyboard player.
Felix produced Cream and played bass on “Badge” and was shot by his wife. Interesting geezer.
Lovely puzzy.(Didnt like Moby Dick.)And I cant see any Wishbone to go with Ash!!!
5D Homophone??
A good challenge, but possible to solve without knowing anything about the theme, so top marks to Knut. And thanks to beermagnet for explaining things in the blog.
gwep @8: No, I wouldn’t say it was a homophone either. In the traditional song D’ye ken John Peel the pronunciation is more like ‘duh yuh’. If Kathryn’s Dad drops in he may put us right on that.
Late to the party as I spent most of the day enjoying my other passion, i.e. walking in the countryside (Suffolk, this time).
Since his debut, in early 2015, Knut has quickly become a household name and rightly so, in my opinion.
His style may perhaps not be superpolished but the overall feel is that he always delivers something more than the sum of its parts.
In a way, I find Knut one moving around in the same part of the field as Tramp/Jambazi.
Tackling themes with adventure, meanwhile giving a real chance to those not familiar with those themes.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy today’s puzzle as much as his previous efforts.
That is probably because the theme passed me by.
Only after I’d finished the lot, I saw Mountain and Nantucket Sleighride – which raised the proverbial smile.
I did not have this record in the early seventies but I had one forty-five: the noisy ‘Mississippi Queen’.
On the B-side it had ‘For Yasgur’s Farm’.
These were the days that you were more interesting if you fancied a B-side more than you did an A-side.
But ‘For Yasgur’s Farm’ was really a great song and a favourite for many years.
A-side, B-side?
For that reason I don’t think ‘Single’ is a good definition for ‘A-side’ in 16ac.
At the other side there was some discussion on unusual anagram indicators in a Vlad blog.
‘Fearful’ (10ac) is not one that I would use – there are plenty alternatives.
And to give an example of what I meant using the word ‘superpolished’: ‘Queen of the South’ = ER/S?.
I can see why Knut does it but the surface shouldn’t take over from the cryptic correctness, in my opinion.
That said, plenty to enjoy.
A good puzzle but not fully up to Knut’s standard, I thought.
ps1, copmus @7, Knut did already something with Wishbone Ash: http://www.fifteensquared.net/2015/06/30/independent-8957-knut/
ps2, Alchemi @3, which 18-minute version of the song in 1985?
ps3, thanks beermagnet.
Knut has quickly become a household name
You must have a spectacularly small number of households in that survey.
Seriously, this site has a ridiculous number of up its own bottom comments, but that must win as the most pretentious bit of ordure ever.
Sil @10 – Stade de l’Ouest, Nice, 11 July 1985
sil @10
These were the days that you were more interesting if you fancied a B-side more than you did an A-side
Lovely!
(Mary Hopkins’ Those Were the days, alas, was an A-Side; the B-Side aptly was Turn! Turn! Turn!)
@Sil and @beermagnet
In Chambers, “S” has “Southern” as well as “South”; since “Southern” means “of the South”, I thought it was justifiable.
What to do with your old gramophone records, or vinyls, as those made from that substance are now called? It used to be said that with the application of a bit of heat they could be made into functional plantpots – it seems now that with the application of (quite a lot of) imagination and effort they can be made into crossword puzzles – although ones by Mountain I’d hang onto – there can’t be many around.
Needless to say I completely missed the theme – even though I was fairly convinced that there ought to be one (minor references to football and darts not really counting) so I am particularly indebted to BM for the explanation and the link.
IBM offices, we are told, used to have big signs up saying THINK – crossword setters’ studies need one saying ENTERTAIN. I am sure Knut’s either has one – or doesn’t need one. Not sure why Sil’s “household” comment (with which I agree – within the cruciverbal context of course) should draw such fire from Sidey. Knut seems to have hit the ground running in the UK dailies without having to pass through any ximeneanism-dominated apprenticeship in the barred-grid world or elsewhere. Good that that’s still possible.
BTW – why does Edward the Second get a number (two) when Edward the Confessor (predecessor of Harold) doesn’t? Harold himself will no doubt shortly be themed to death – something in my eye (ROTF….) etc.
Great fun and a good level of difficulty – slight tussle with eventual success – plenty of smiles and a few aha’s. – Thanks to K and BM – the latter esp for the theme explanations and the link.
PS – aha’s is intended as the plural of aha – ahas looks stupid.
To JollySwagman:
Convention says that the first monarch with a particular name doesn’t get a number. Hence we never say ‘Queen Victoria the First’, and never said ‘QE 1′ until we got a QE 2’. No number therefore equals ‘one’.
Grant:
That doesn’t actually answer the question. Edward I came between Edward the Confessor and Edward II. It seems they re-set the regnal numbers with the Norman invasion.
Re GB at #16, this is a fairly general issue. There was no World War One until there was a World War Two.
Baerchen @14, that seems indeed justifiable to me.
Yet it feels a bit like A=B and B=C and therefore A=C (which is not always true in crosswordland).
For me, the other thing is that ‘Southern’ comes in front of a noun and ‘of the South’ goes after.
‘Queen of the South’ = ‘Queen Southern’, in crossword terms? Or is it ‘Southern Queen’?
ER/S or S/ER?
I am just not sure but, of course, I am happy to give you the benefit of my doubt!
Sidey @11, I am afraid I don’t get you.
If you read the blogs of Knut’s puzzles, you will find an often more than average number of comments (for an Indy puzzle) and also that many solvers have added Knut to their list of favourite setters.
He really made a meteoric start to his setting career, and is now also available in the FT, as Julius.
It wouldn’t surprise me if at one point The Guardian will be added to his CV.
It is this remarkable – and well-deserved – flying start (almost out of nowhere) that I wanted to highlight.
Alchemi @12, got it now.
I needed some googling to find a concert by Deep Purple that day, that place.
‘Supported’ by Mountain?
Were you there? Or is it on one of the many official bootlegs the band have issued?
(All Music is not helpful this time)
Regnal numbering, it turns out, was a live issue as recently as 1952-3 – in Scotland at least (cooler weather – hotter blood) – ie the accession of our present monarch. At that time a pillar box in Leith was blown up by a Scottish nationalist who objected to the style EiiR on it (also on coinage) on the basis that Elizabeth I was only an English queen – not a Scottish one.
It was decided that in principle henceforth (and subject to that monarch’s agreement) monarchs should take the higher of the two possible English or Scottish ordinals – henceforth being key – the James’s of the past don’t get renumbered.
Churchill, in his final prime-ministership, adopted the role of appeaser. From Hansard:
… also tucking away a prepoposition which, by what is attributed to him, might just as easily have gone at the end of the sentence. How old age mellows even the boldest.
Numbering does start from 1066, and it *has* copied French practice, but it was not part of the norman wisdom inflicted on us all post-1066 – it crept in later and was retrofitted to the intervening post-1066 ones for convenient historical reference. The 1707 union (sic) with Scotland has obviously complicated matters.
If you want to learn more (and I know you do) it’s all here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnal_number
@16, yes, Queen Elizabeth I is a retronym, something that has been renamed because of a subsequent development – in that case, the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. Other examples are acoustic guitar and analogue clock.