Independent 9779 / Klingsor

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It’s a bit like buses.  No blogging of Klingsor for a while, then I get both the January and February ones.  That’s fine!

 

 

 

There was only one word I didn’t know in the grid for this puzzle.  That’s the game at 15 down.  It was obviously an anagram with CH in the middle and five crossing letters.  I could have put the A and one of the Es the other way round without knowing which way was right so I resorted to a dictionary to check it.

There were a few sporting or exercise references in the clue – football, cricket, gym and pole-dancing for example but I don’t think there is any theme to the puzzle.

I liked the clue involving Peter Sellers.  I also liked the final down clue for DUO with its use of AU in the word play and PAIR as the definition.

I didn’t know that PROTEST could mean ‘make a solemn affirmation’.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

Chubby person may have this clue to good health (6,4)

 

DOUBLE CHIN (this could be a clue for CHIN-CHIN [informal way of expressing ‘good health’ when drinking together])

DOUBLE CHIN

DOUBLE CHIN (a chubby person may display a DOUBLE CHIN)  double definition

 

7

 

Slough is in Berks, he declared (4)

 

SHED (hidden word in [is in] BERKS HE DECLARED)

SHED

SHED (cast off; slough)

 

9

 

Hall perhaps is able to provide container (8)

 

JERRY (reference JERRY Hall [American model and actress, also known for her former relationship with Mick Jagger with whom she has four children and her marriage to media mogul Rupert Murdoch]) + CAN (is able to)

JERRY CAN

JERRYCAN (flat-sided can used for storing and transporting liquids, especially petrol]

 

10

 

Stray bird seen around noon (6)

 

WADER (bird) containing (seen around) N (noon)

WA (N) DER

WANDER (stray)

 

11

 

Responsible and trustworthy?  That’s not on (6)

 

RELIABLE (trustworthy) excluding (not) RE (with reference to; on)

LIABLE

LIABLE (responsible [for])

 

13

 

Bad team squeezes 1-0 with United (8)

 

SPURS (Tottenham Hotspur [{football} team]) containing (squeezes) (I O [1-0] + U [united])

SPUR (I O U) S

SPURIOUS (false; bad)

 

14

 

Among pub cricket eleven’s openers, struggle for lack of fitness (12)

COMPETE (struggle) contained in (among) (INN [pub] + [{C + E} {first letters of each of (openers) CRICKET and ELEVEN}])

IN (COMPETE) N C E

INCOMPETENCE (lack of  ability or skill; lack of fitness [to do the job])

 

17

 

Peanuts for one to carry in prepared portions (5,7)

 

CART (carry) contained in (in) an anagram of (prepared) PORTIONS

STRIP (CART) OON*

STRIP CARTOON (Peanuts, created by Charles Schulz, is an example of a STRIP CARTOON)

 

20

 

Dance with lout without a fuss (8)

 

BALL (dance) + YAHOO (boorish lout) excluding (without) A

BALL YHOO

BALLYHOO (fuss)

 

21

 

Material prowess has importance ultimately for adult (6)

 

VALOUR (courage; prowess) replacing (for) A (adult) with E (last letter of [ultimately] IMPORTANCE])

VELOUR

VELOUR (fabric with velvet-like pile; material)

 

22

 

Withdraw and give up again? (6)

 

RE- (again) + CEDE (give up)

RE CEDE

RECEDE (draw back)

 

23

 

Hasten, being late, and change in gym (8)

 

EX (formerly; late) + (EDIT [change] contained in [in] PE [physical education; gym])

EX P (EDIT) E

EXPEDITE (hasten)

 

25

 

Excellent jam is sent back (4)

 

SPOT (difficulty; jam) reversed (sent back)

TOPS<

TOPS (excellent)

 

26

 

Meddler put in ground rule about pole dancing (10)

 

(INTER [bury; put in the ground] + R [rule]) containing (about) an anagram of (dancing) POLE

INTER (LOPE*) R

INTERLOPER (intruder; meddler)

 

Down

2

 

Anyhow I tend to follow an order, being this (8)

 

OBE (Order of the British Empire; order) + an anagram of (anyhow) I TEND

OBE DIENT*

OBEDIENT (descriptive of someone who follows an order)

 

3

 

Save British Gas! (3)

 

B (British) + AR (chemical symbol for Argon, an inert gas)

B AR

BAR (except; save)

 

4

 

One presents medal on the radio (5)

 

EMCEE (sounds like [on the radio] MC [Military Cross; medal)

EMCEE

EMCEE (MC [Master of Ceremonies]; one who presents)

 

5

 

Part of phone Ned’s lost in sou’wester? (7)

 

Anagram of (lost) NED’S contained in (in) HAT (a sou’wester is a waterproof hat with a large flap at the back of the neck, as worn by seamen)

HA (NDSE*) T

HANDSET (part of a telephone)

 

6

 

Resort a genuine winner at first for island (3,6)

 

Anagram of (resort) A GENUINE and W (first letter of [at first])

NEW GUINEA*

NEW GUINEA (large island in Oceania)

 

7

 

Drove one crazy, being sloppy (11)

 

SENT (drove) + I + (Roman numeral for one) + MENTAL(crazy)

SENT I MENTAL

SENTIMENTAL (sloppy)  I thought at first that ‘sloppy’ was a misprint but I note both sloppy and soppy are in Chambers Thesaurus as synonyms for SENTIMENTAL

 

8

 

Funny you feel no love for good-looker (6)

 

Anagram of (funny) YOU FEEL excluding (no) O (zero; love score in tennis)

EYEFUL*

EYEFUL (attractive person; good-looker)

 

12

 

What those casting Dr Strangelove did for retailers? (11)

 

BOOK SELLERS (Stanley Kubrik hired (BOOKed) Peter SELLERS [1925 – 1980] to play multiple characters in the film Dr Strangelove [1964]) (

BOOK SELLERS

BOOKSELLERS (an example of retailers)

 

15

 

Game pies are cooked with chestnut stuffing (9)

 

CH (chestnut) contained in (stuffing) an anagram of (cooked) PIES ARE flirt)

PAR (CH) EESI*

PARCHEESI (board game adapted from pachisi [an Indian game like backgammon or ludo])

 

16

 

Flirt wants something to eat right away (8)

 

CROQUETTE (ball or cylindrical cake, usually of minced and seasoned meat, fish or potato, coated in breadcrumbs and fried; something to eat) excluding (away) R (right)

COQUETTE

 COQUETTE (flirt)

18

 

Make solemn affirmation for trial (7)

 

PRO (for) + TEST (trial)

PRO TEST

PROTEST (make solemn affirmation)

 

19

 

Look round entertaining bachelor’s summerhouse (6)

 

(GAZE [look] + O [a round shape]) containing (entertaining) B (bachelor)

GAZE (B) O

GAZEBO (summerhouse)

 

21

 

Drip’s taken up with a treacherous sort (5)

 

IV (intravenous drip) reversed (taken up; down clue) + PER (a)

VI< PER

VIPER (treacherous person)

 

24

 

Cook keeps close to au pair (3)

 

DO (cook) containing (keeps) U (last letter of [close to] AU)

D (U) O

DUO (pair)

 

 

 

9 comments on “Independent 9779 / Klingsor”

  2. Thank you, Duncan, for blogging.

    Another DNF for me today: after failing yesterday on OASIS, I put in PORCHETTI at 15dn, for no better reason than it fitted and sounded as if it might be stuffed with chestnuts.  On which note, CH for ‘chestnut’?  I know, it’ll be in Collins/Chambers/OED, but it’s not an abbreviation that sprang immediately to this solver’s mind.

    Most of the hard clues seemed to have gathered themselves together in the SE quadrant, which took as long to finish as the rest of the crossword.  Elsewhere, I did like DOUBLE CHIN – very cleverly clued.

    Thanks, trenodia, for the Hamlet link.  I’d never realised that it was in that context that Shakespeare used ‘protest’.  I got that one from thinking about a sentence like ‘she protested her innocence.’

    Well done, Klingsor – good puzzle.

  3. Well, the top half went in rapidly but then I started to struggle. I did know PARCHEESI but it was still one of my last ones in, like KD@2 I didn’t know CH for ‘chestnut’ and wasn’t sure ‘are’ was part of the anagram fodder for some time. Getting COQUETTE led me to eventually finish. I did get held up by entering RELENT for 22a, which sort of made sense at the time but a bit of a stretch to have it mean ‘withdraw’. Thanks to Klingsor and Duncan.

  4. Good challenge. Didn’t parse VIPER and bunged in PROTEST because it fitted the word play, not thinking of the senses explained by trenodia@1 and Kathryn’s Dad@2. Somehow remembered PARCHEESI from somewhere else at another time in cryptic land. I wondered if ‘sloppy’ was a sloppy mistake but apparently not.

    Thought BOOKSELLERS was the highlight (remember the “mine-shaft gap”?) and always a bonus to have a pangram.

    Thanks to Klingsor and Duncan

  5. Thanks for the blog, Duncan.

    Another highly enjoyable puzzle from Klingsor. I enjoyed 17ac, having met ‘peanuts’  in a totally different context in yesterday’s Brummie.  Like Duncan, I thought DUO was a little gem and I’m with K’s D re DOUBLE CHIN.

    Once again, I’m indebted to my A Level Hamlet for help with a crossword clue.

    Many thanks, as ever, to Klingsor.

     

  7. We got there in the end; last ones in being EMCEE and TOPS, though we couldn’t parse VIPER.  We hadn’t come across that particular meaning of PROTEST before, but thought of it as related to ‘testify’.  CH didn’t immediately come to mind for ‘chestnut, but it is in Chambers and we think it might be used in horseracing circles (no jokes abour ‘a horse of a different colour’, please).  PARCHEESI we remembered from having heard of it as the American term for ludo, although that may not be entirely accurate.

    Favourites were BALLYHOO, VELOUR and BOOKSELLERS.

    Thanks, Klingsor and Duncan

  8. @7allan_c – yes, CH is the universal (well, English-speaking) abbreviation in racing circles/journalism for chestnut.

    CH – chestnut; BR – brown; BL – black: B – bay; GR – grey.

    Also – H – horse; G – gelding; C – colt; M – mare; F – filly; R – rig.

    Jolly good crossword by the way.  Liked BALLYHOO, VELOUR, SPURIOUS among others.

    Thanks to Klingsor and duncanshiell.

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