Independent 9583 / Maize

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Maize takes over the normal Friday Phi slot today.

 

 

 

The top line of the grid,  LADY BOUNTIFUL,  hints at a theme and study of all the across entries shows that they are all surnames of celebrated ladies.  I tried to find something in common with the ones I could easily identify but realised that I would really struggle to find something in common between Theresa MAY and Nicola STURGEON so I have concluded that BOUNTIFUL is simply and indication that there are lots of ladies in the grid.  There are two definitions for LADY BOUNTIFUL –  a charitable great lady of a district; or an ironic name for a patronizingly generous female do-gooder.  I don’t think the ladies in the grid all fall into either of those two categories.

I suspect different solvers will associate different ladies with some of the surnames.

My list would be

Florence NIGHTINGALE (nurse)

Theresa MAY (Prime Minister)

Lois LANE (Superman’s girl friend)

Anna FORD (newsreader)

Mary BERRY (cookery)

Nicola STURGEON (First Minister of Scotland)

Shirley TEMPLE (actress and diplomat)

Isadora DUNCAN (dancer)

Elizabeth Barrett BROWNING (poet)

Cheryl BAKER (Buck’s Fizz)

Jerry HALL (model and actress)

Wendy COPE (poet)

Dusty SPRINGFIELD (singer)

Valerie SINGLETON (television presenter) and

Mae WEST (actress)

I think Maize did very well finding fairly well known down entries to fit with the thematic names.  Often a theme leaves the compiler with no option but to include obscure words in the crossing entries.  To me, the most obscure items was what I think is the second definition of MAY at 11 across.  I may have missed something in this clue though.  The ALGONQUIN 2 down] people I have come across before outside crosswords.

I liked the way the definition, ‘type’ was fairly well hidden in 25 across.

A couple of parsings took longer than they should.  I have seen the U G AND A type of construct before but it continues to test me.  The film A FEW GOOD MEN is not well known by me.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1 / 4

 

Benefactress of university finally stricken with doubt (4,9)

 

Anagram of (stricken) U [university] FINALLY and [with] DOUBT

LADY BOUNTIFUL*

LADY BOUNTIFUL (charitable great lady of a district;

benefactress)

10

 

Battling booze, with onset of nausea for the lead singer (11)

 

FIGHTING (battling) + ALE (beer; booze) with the first letter (lead) of the phrase F being replaced by (for) N (first letter of [onset of] NAUSEA)

NIGHTING ALE

NIGHTINGALE (bird, celebrated for the rich love-song of the male; singer)

 

11

 

Could I sound like its plural? (3)

 

I’m not sure about the wordplay here.

The best I can offer is MAY [sounds like MAE (archaic variant spelling of MO [more, implying more than one, hence plural]) but that seems a quite obscure explanation better suited to a barred crossword than a daily crossword.

 

Any other suggestions gratefully received.

MAY

MAY (could)

 

12

 

Country road made of bare earth, for example (4)

 

PLANET (Earth is an example of a PLANET) excluding the outer letters (bare) P and T

LANE

LANE (country road)

 

13

 

Cross in favour of Democrat (4)

 

FOR (in favour of) + D (Democrat)

FOR D

FORD (cross)

 

14

 

Commit a sin by going over to pick fruit (5)

 

BY containing (going over) ERR (commit a sin)

B (ERR) Y

BERRY (fruit)

 

15

 

Vet possibly bandaging head of tuna fish (8)

 

SURGEON (reference veterinary SURGEON) containing T (first letter of [head of] TUNA)

S (T) URGEON

STURGEON (fish)

 

17

 

The ‘Om’ applied regularly here (6)

 

Letters 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 (regularly) of THE OM APPLIED

TEMPLE

TEMPLE (OM is sacred syllable intoned as part of Hindu devotion and contemplation, symbolizing the Vedic scriptures, the three worlds [earth, atmosphere and air], and the Absolute. Hindus frequently worship in a Temple)

 

20

 

He was killed in bed, uncannily (6)

 

DUNCAN (hidden word in [in] BED UNCANNILY)

DUNCAN

DUNCAN (In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, King DUNCAN is murdered in his sleep by Macbeth.  In reality DUNCAN 1 was killed in battle)

 

22

 

Having behind bare, but not even getting a tan (8)

 

BR (letters 1 and 3 [not even] of BARE) + [behind] OWNING (having)

BR OWNING

BROWNING (getting a tan)

 

24

 

She’s kneading bread (if it finally doubles in size!) (5)

 

Anagram of (kneading) BREAD with the final letter (finally) D (roman numeral for 500) replaced by K (symbol for 1000, double 500)

BAKER*

BAKER (one who kneads)

 

26

 

Fitting venue for staging Annie? (4)

 

HALL (reference the 1977 Woody Allen romantic comedy film Annie HALL)

HALL

HALL (place where plays may be staged)  double definition

 

28

 

Manage to put business before empty pleasure (4)

 

CO (company; business) + PE (letters remaining in PLEASURE when all the central letters are removed [empty] LEASUR

CO PE

COPE (manage)

 

30

 

Maybe 15’s young to cook (3)

 

FRY (young fish, e.g. the young of a STURGEON [15 across])

FRY

FRY (cooking method) double definition

 

31

 

Beginning to deal with a fictional town in Middle America (11)

 

SPRING (beginning) + FIELD (handle skillfully;deal with)

SPRING FIELD

SPRINGFIELD (fictional location of the The Simpsons television series, designed to represent anywhere in Middle America)

 

32

 

Split twice, into bachelor / spinster (9)

 

SING (turn informer) + LET ON (inform)  SPLIT also means ‘to divulge or inform’ so we have split twice

SING LET ON

SINGLETON (descriptive of a bachelor or a spinster)

 

33

 

One Direction‘s soppy singer’s first to be engaged (4)

 

S (first letter of [first] SINGER) contained in (to be engaged) WET (soppy)

WE (S) T

WEST (one of the main points of direction)

 
Down

2

 

Muddle along with one of five Canadian people (9)

 

Anagram of (muddle) ALONG + QUIN (one of five)

ALGON* QUIN

ALGONQUIN (member of leading group of Native American tribes in the valley of the Ottawa and around the northern tributaries of the St Lawrence; Canadian people)

 

3

 

Mystery creature that Nepali finally reveals (4)

 

YETI (last letters of [finally] each of MYSTERY CREATURE THAT NEPALI)

YETI

YETI (abominable snowman, mystery creature sometimes said to be sighted in Nepal)

 

4

 

Drum and bass performing with oomph (5)

 

B (bass) + ON (performing) + GO (oomph)

BONGO

BONGO (small Cuban drum)

 

5

 

State sugar contents in list form (6)

 

U, G AND A (central letters of [contents] SUGAR)

U G AND A

UGANDA (State in Africa)

 

6

 

Vibrato of male putting on high voice (7)

 

M (male) contained in (putting on) TREBLE (the highest part, soprano, now especially applied to boys’ voices)

TRE (M) BLE

TREMBLE (vibrate, vibrato is a throbbing or shaking effect)

 

7

 

Bone setter got up in mink? (5)

 

ME (descriptive of the crossword setter) reversed (got up; down clue) contained in (in) FUR (mink is a type of FUR)

F (EM)< UR

FEMUR (thigh bone)

 

8

 

Have sex with unloved boy, somewhere off the beaten track (3-2)

LAY (have sex with) + BOY excluding O (love score in tennis)

LAY BY

LAY-BY (widened area of a roadway to allow vehicles to draw up out of the stream of traffic; somewhere of the beaten track)

 

9

 

Finish inside, finish inside (8)

 

CLOSE (finish) contained in (inside) END (finished)

EN (CLOSE) D

ENCLOSED (inside)

 

13

 

21’s gas is on fire first, without needing electric current (5)

 

FIRE excluding (without needing) I (electric current) + ON  Note that the clue tells us to put FIRE first.

FRE ON

FREON (any of the family of chemicals containing fluorine, used as refrigerants, etc and presumably AEROSOLs [21 down])

 

16

 

Arrest outlaw in hold-up (3)

 

BAN (outlaw) reversed (hold-up; down clue)

NAB<

NAB (arrest)

 

17

 

Tax to cross river goes to one living under bridge (5)

 

TOLL (tax) containing (to cross) R (river)

T (R) OLL

TROLL (an evil-tempered ugly dwarf [or, earlier, giant]; reference the Norwegian folk tale the Three Billy Goats Gruff where a TROLL lived under a bridge)

 

18

 

Plastic reins – pros and cons (9)

 

Anagram of (plastic) REINS and PROSE

PRISONERS*

PRISONERS (con is slang for PRISONER)

 

19

 

Brains, say, beginning to guess the outcome of a toss? (8)

 

E.G. (for example; say) + G (first letter of [beginning to] GUESS) + HEADS (one of the possible outcome of the toss of a coin)

EG G HEADS

EGGHEADS (intellectuals; brains)

 

21

 

Spray given by a love god with heart of gold (7)

 

A + EROS (God of Love) + OL (central letters of  [heart of] GOLD)

A EROS OL

AEROSOL (a colloidal system, such as a mist or a fog, in which the dispersion medium is a gas; spray)

 

23

 

T-shirt ripped up in lust (6)

 

Anagram of (ripped up) T-SHIRT

THIRST*

THIRST (eager desire; lust)

 

24

 

19 and very loud on board public transport (5)

 

FF (fortissimo; very loud) contained in (on board) BUS (example of public transport)

BU (FF) S

BUFFS (experts; EGGHEADS [19 down])

 

25

 

Type of vacuous knowledge on the feminine principle (3.2)

 

KE (letters remaining in KNOWLEDGE when the central letters NOWLEDGE are removed [vacuous]) + YIN (one of the two opposing and complementary principles of Chinese philosophy, religion, medicine, etc influencing destiny and governing nature, seen as the negative, feminine, dark, cold, passive element)

KE Y IN

KEY IN (type at a KEYboard)

 

27

 

Material from row 14? (5)

 

LINE (row) + N (14th letter of the alphabet)

LINE N

LINEN (material)

 

29

 

Café which holds how many good men? (1,3)

 

A FEW (hidden word in [holds] CAFÉ WHICH

A FEW

A FEW (reference the 1992 American legal drama film A FEW GOOD MEN)

 

 

24 comments on “Independent 9583 / Maize”

  3. Very enjoyable puzzle and a comprehensive blog from Duncan as always.

    Took me about half way through to twig what was going on, but then that was a help with the remaining acrosses. You could propose some alternative famous females, but I’m happy enough with Duncan’s list. Don’t think there’s any special event or celebration today, is there?

    I did see the MAY/MAIZE connection and thought it was clever.

    Well done to Maize and good weekend to all.

  4. thanks Maize, Duncan
    Very nice puzzle.
    I love Cheryl Baker as a themer, though thought Josephine a more likely candidate.

  8. Lovely puzzle. I was enjoying it even before I spotted the theme, which helped clues like eg BROWNING/BRONZING.
    Only regret was not finding SIMONE, which would made this the perfect Nina.

  9. As a matter of interest, Lady Bountiful is a character in George Farquhar’s Restoration comedy, The Beaux’ Stratagem.

  10. Brilliant stuff. Mostly a quick solve but some sneaky ones which I admit to failing on. Annoyed that I missed the explanation for 11a – so obvious in hindsight. LADY BOUNTIFUL and the meaning of ‘split’ in 32a were new to me. I often mark up clues I particularly like as I go along but there were just too many to mention – and that’s even without the across theme. btw, I think BERRY in 14a is the verb meaning ‘pick fruit’ otherwise ‘pick’ isn’t playing any role. Thanks to all.

  11. Excellent puzzle, even though I didn’t twig the theme until after completion!
    1a was a gimme as we’ve had it elsewhere within the last few days but the 2d Canadians were new to me.
    31a proved a little troublesome – I don’t watch The Simpsons and the answer is the capital of Illinois so I couldn’t make sense of the clue.
    Anyone else prepared to admit to counting through the alphabet for 27d?!!

    Top two for me were 8&17d.

    Many thanks, Maize – and thanks to Duncan for the clear and concise review.

  13. Interesting and erudite review as ever from Duncan, many thanks.
    Quite right that there’s nothing in particular linking these famous ladies – other than their surnames being not necessarily surnames, of course.

    For what it’s worth, my original list was the same as Duncan’s except for Cleo Lane, Halle Berry, Dame Janet Baker, Elizabeth Fry (of course) and Rebecca West. Mind you, as soon as Rebecca popped into my head Mae followed it, so anything goes!

  14. I feel a little nervous about picking up a setter who has set such a wonderful puzzle, but I feel duty-bound to point out that the wonderfully-voiced lady is Cleo Laine.

  15. Thanks Simon – I must have been thinking of an old story of a road in Australia named after her… Let’s go with Lois then!

  16. Brilliant Maize, a joy to solve – though doh I missed the theme until I got here. Very clever grid fill as always. Loads of good clues, I quite liked NIGHTINGALE, BROWNING, LAY BY, TROLL, LINEN – but lots more clever stuff.

    Many thanks, and thanks also to Duncan

  17. Another one solved jointly with my “apprentice” and we got there in the end. Held up a bit in the bottom few rows mainly through not being able to parse BAKER or SINGLETON and therefore reluctant to ink them in. Made a silly mistake at first putting FLUON at 13dn (it’s not a gas, its a polymer) which delayed 15ac, though we knew from 30ac that we were looking for the name of a fish. Last one in was the brilliant ENCLOSED, which must be our CoD. And btw we reckon 17ac is an &lit.

    Thanks, Maize and Duncan.

    PS: Phi tomorrow with a Canada-themed puzzle?

  18. I loved this and would be hard pressed to pick a favourite (so I won’t). I managed to miss the theme completely. Such was the quality of the puzzle that that didn’t matter a jot.

    Many thanks to Maize and Duncan.

  19. Thoroughly enjoyable again from Maize. 1/4 was one of my last in, which was a nice surprise at the close, suspicions having been steadily raised while moving north through the grid. Favourites today 9d and 8d.

  20. More No Canada than O Canada, I may say.

    You need to be mindful of the day that John Adams, in his writings, noted would be remembered in the annals of American history and would be marked with fireworks and celebrations (according to the US National Archives, at least).

  21. Late to the party after a nice day at the races with FifteenSquared’s very own NMS (sausage, not sindy), and so I’ll be brief and say plus one to all that’s been said and thanks to The Labyrinth-Sounding Setter for a lovely puzzle and DS for the blog.

  22. @13Maize. Your memory serves you well. Lois Lane is a small cul-de-sac in North Adelaide, named by somebody in the Adelaide City Council, presumably as a jest.

    Great crossword BTW.

  24. Super puzzle Maize which I thoroughly enjoyed. I can’t single out a fave clue because I liked them all! Thank you for the entertainment, Maize.

    I didn’t twig onto the theme either! Many thanks to Ducanshiell for a lovely clear review and for highlighting the clever and subtle theme.

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