Independent 9,436 / Knut

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Knut has provided today’s puzzle, which has turned out to be a tribute puzzle.

It doesn’t take long to release that Knut is paying his own personal tribute to UK singer-songwriter George Michael (1963-2016), who passed away on Christmas Day. One suspects that this puzzle was compiled after the singer’s death and has been slotted into the schedule in place of another puzzle, while it was still so topical.

Nevertheless, I like the fact that the puzzle can be solved almost as a straight puzzle, with just the discreet dots at the end of 13 and at the beginning of 15 inviting us to read the solutions together to reveal the star’s name; the one exception to this is perhaps 18, which presupposes that you know who the clue is referring back to.

The expression that runs across the top of the grid at 01/05 doubtless sums up the compiler’s view of the late singer – as well as being a motif from the Wham! song “Last Christmas”, which we have all no doubt heard a lot over the last few weeks.

My favourite clues today are 29, for the misleading use of capital letters; the clever use of the song title in 18; and above all 21, just one of a number of clues (also 9, 12 …) which seamlessly sustain a (misleading) theme (here it is shipping) across both definition and wordplay.

For its tribute value, however, a think that this puzzle is one of those where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts – many thanks for it, Knut.

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

Across  
   
01 SOMEONE Typical of Knut (unique individual)

SO ME (=typical of Knut, i.e. the compiler) + ONE (=unique)
   
05 SPECIAL Unforgettable foreign places I visited

I in *(PLACES); “foreign” is anagram indicator
   
09 ITCHY Catty behaviour’s first to go when desperate for the flea powder

<b>ITCHY (=catty); “behaviour’s first to go” means first letter – i.e. “b” – is dropped
   
10 COMEDIANS Funny men, funny men. So acid!

*(MEN SO ACID); “funny” is anagram indicator
   
11 DUNK Soak’s had a few too many – no resistance!

D<r>UNK (=had a few too many); “no resistance (=R)” means letter “r” is dropped; “soak” is to immerse in water, hence “dunk”
   
12 PENNYROYAL Mint coin; like a sovereign?

PENNY (=coin) + ROYAL (=like a sovereign, i.e. monarch); pennyroyal is a species of mint once valued in medicine
   
13 GEORGE Prince: // “Symbol” for the nation …

Double definition: Prince George is Prince William’s son AND Saint George who slew the dragon is the patron saint of England
   
15 MICHAEL … patron of the sick (claim he disputed)

*(CLAIM HE); “disputed” is anagram indicator; Saint Michael is the patron saint of the sick
   
18 CHARITY His unsung work, ranked third after Faith?

Charity comes third in the list of virtues “faith, hope and charity”; George Michael (= 13/15)’s charity work was un-sung in that it was not singing and also unsung (=unpraised) in that we knew little about it
   
19 ANARCH A gateway for anti-establishment activist

AN ARCH (=a gateway)
   
23 VEGEBURGER Angus is going nowhere near this, ever. Bugger off!

*(EVER BUGGER); “off” is anagram indicator; there is no beef in a vegeburger, hence, cryptically, no Aberdeen Angus is going anywhere near it!
   
25 WHAM London side no longer established in leading group

W<est>HAM (=London side, i.e. football team West Ham United); “no longer established (=EST)” means letters “est” are dropped; George Michael was one of the UK pop duo Wham! in the 1980s
   
27 RETALIATE To get back, I’m aboard, travelling west, arrival time to follow

I in RETALATE (ETA=arrival time, i.e. Expected Time of Arrival) + LATER (=to follow); “travelling west” indicates reversal)
   
28 ON AIR Performing song live

ON (=performing) + AIR (=song)
   
29 OUTSIDE Dismissed team in The Open

OUT (=dismissed, e.g. in cricket) + SIDE (=team); if you drop the capitals, “in the open” means outside, outdoors
   
30 FREEDOM Liberty’s campaign to release Dick’s partner

Cryptically, the slogan of a campaign to release Dom of the children’s TV duo Dick and Dom would be “Free Dom!”
   
Down  
   
01 SHINDIG Party sampled class Hindi groove

Hidden (“sampled”) in “clasS HINDI Groove”
   
02 MACINTOSH Non-PC product Mike sneakily used to cash in

M (=Mike, in radio telecommunications) + *(TO CASH IN); “sneakily” is anagram indicator
   
03 ONYX Cameo part: “Nothing; nothing I say!”

O (=nothing, i.e. zero) + homophone (“I say”) of “nix” (=nothing); in jewellery, cameos are often made of onyx
   
04 ESCHEW Spurn Point school we set up

E (=point, i.e. East) + SCH (=school) + EW (WE; “set up” indicates vertical reversal)
   
05 SEMANTIC Wordy summons served up; bloke arrested

MAN (=bloke) in SETIC (CITES=summons; “served up” indicates vertical reversal)
   
06 ENDORPHIN Natural opiate, highly acidic, injected into nerd on tour

PH1 (=highly acidic, of a chemical substance) in *(NERD ON); “tour” is anagram indicator
   
07 ITALY Pointless dead language upset Yankee republic

ITAL (LATI<n>=dead language; “point –less” means letter “n” (=North)” is dropped; “upset” indicates vertical reversal) + Y (=Yankee, in radio telecommunications)
   
08 LASTLY Endure Londonderry vacation finally

LAST (=endure, tolerate) + L<ondonderr>Y (“vacation” means contents of word are “emptied out”)
   
14 GARIBALDI Important character from 7 likely to get dunked?

Cryptically, as a biscuit a garibaldi is likely to get dunked (=entry at 11) in a hot drink; the reference is to Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), an important general in Italy (=entry at 7)
   
16 EARTHWARD Hard water treated as it falls?

*(HARD WATER); “treated” is anagram indicator; water falls from the sky “earthward”; i.e. down to the ground
   
17 STARGAZE Hang around at the stage-door (or watch Sky!)

Cryptically, to star -gaze could be to hang around at the stage-door waiting for the stars to emerge, instead of gazing at the stars in the night sky!
   
20 HUMDRUM Boring noise upset Rupert, expressionless in Glasgow

HUM (=noise) + DRUM (MURD<och> (=Rupert, the Australian media mogul; “expression –less” in Glasgow” means that the Scottish exclamation “och” is dropped; “upset” indicates vertical reversal)
   
21 OVERDO Unload too late from steamer moored in Dover docks

Hidden (“moored”) in “dOVER DOcks”; cryptically, overdone vegetables are unloaded too late from a steamer!
   
22 HEREOF Get rumour about something of this document?

Homophone (“rumour”) of “hear” (=get, catch) + OF (=about something)
   
24 GOT AT Attacked what to do on “green crap”

GO (=what to do on green, i.e. at green traffic light) + TAT (=crap, junk)
   
26 DOVE Bird dropped like a stone over the pond

“Dove” is the US form of “dived” (=dropped like a stone), hence “over then pond”
   
   

 

14 comments on “Independent 9,436 / Knut”

  1. That’s the second tribute crossword today.

    Not convinced by ‘wordy’ as the definition for SEMANTIC in 5 down. I wonder if the clue is also a veiled reference to GM.

    My favourite clues were not to do with the theme – ITCHY, MACINTOSH and VEGEBURGER.

  2. Thanks RatkojaRiku for explaining 18 across. The theme went way over my head but the puzzle gave me lots of enjoyment. Thanks Knut.

  4. Isn’t there a bit of double-duty about 22 down? “Get rumour of” would be “hear of” but you’d need another indicator to say it’s a homophone of that, which doesn’t seem to be there.

  5. A nice tribute which was very easy to get into, but had 5 or 6 requiring some noggin scratchage at the end.

    Thought ‘typical of knut’ nice, 23 amusing, and liked the sort of inbuilt homophone indicator in 22d as well as all the thematic content.

    Thanks to RR for the blog (needed to see what ‘from steamer’ was doing in 21d as the surface misdirected me so much); and thanks also to Knut for the puzzle.

  6. NealH @4
    No double duty if you parse it as: HERE a homophone (rumour) of ‘hear’ (get) plus OF (about something)

  8. Many thanks to RR for the blog and to those who have commented. FWIW, I couldn’t describe myself as ever having been a fan of George Michael, nor Prince/”Symbol”.
    The only subject of any of my themed puzzles for whom I had a deep and true love was Brian Close ! (Indy 9073).
    It’s perhaps worth mentioning that OUTSIDE and FREEDOM were also big hit singles for GM.
    The clue for HEREOF mentioned by NealH and Gaufrid was submitted as “in this document”, not “of this document”.
    It’s a tribute-tastic day in crosswordland; @beeryhiker must be in statistical Nirvana about four separate clues for REBEL in two puzzles on the same day; it will break the archive algorithm!
    warmest regards,
    Rob/Knut

  9. baerchen
    Thanks for the clarification regarding 22dn. I had considered having ‘something’ as part of the definition, with simply ‘about’=OF, and would certainly have done so had the clue read ‘in this document’.

  10. Some great clues – too many to nominate a CoD but mention must be made of VEGEBURGER, GARIBALDI and ESCHEW (misleading capitals there, too, as well as in 29). Needed the blog to parse 1ac.

    Thanks, Knut and RatkojaRiku.

  11. Well, I’d heard of him, but was totally unaware of the theme in this. So thanks for explaining 18ac to me.

    Incidentally, in the version of the puzzle I printed off at nine o’clock this morning, 22dn did read “in this document”. Didn’t help me get the answer, though. That was the one clue I had to do a search to get the answer.

  12. Excellent stuff from Knut, half expected the theme as soon as I saw his moniker. Thanks RR for explaining 18.

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