Independent 9815 / Knut

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A great Thursday challenge from Knut today.

 

Plenty here to get the old grey matter working.

Not being football fans, we had to check 18ac but Bert had at least heard of the man concerned, although we do not really think that coming from Spain is really from ‘afar’!

We’d also not heard of Martin Crane at 23/16, but a quick google revealed that he is a fictional character from ‘Frasier’ played by John Mahoney – not a programme we are familiar with – but of course that doesn’t matter as the name was in the wordplay and works really well with the solution.

 

Across
1   Leaves a bit depressed alas; Des so tired in retirement (6,5)
TOSSED SALAD Hidden (‘a bit’) and reversed (‘in retirement’) in ‘depresseD ALAS DES SO Tired’
7   Went off at first light? (3)
LED Double definition – the ‘light’ being a Light-Emitting Diode
9   Greek Independent for Labour (5)
GRIND GR (Greek) IND (independent)
10   Amateur reservist lass to run backside off, going lickety-split (2,1,6)
AT A GALLOP A (amateur) TA (Territorial Army – ‘reservist’) GAL (lass) LOPe (run) without the last letter or ‘backside off’
11   She has small parts in “Elf”, “Matrix”, “Trading Places” (4,5)
FILM EXTRA An anagram of ELF MATRIX – anagrind is ‘Trading Places’
12   Regular helpings of roast loin sell out (3,2)
RAT ON Alternate or ‘regular’ letters in RoAsT lOiN
13   OK program to roam when mobile (7)
APPROVE APP (program) ROVE (roam when mobile)
15 See 26
18   Benitez sent back whence he came? (4)
AFAR RAFA (Rafa Benitez, Spanish football coach and manager of Newcastle United) reversed or ‘sent back’
20   Maybe Gooch, Boycott hosting a TMS broadcast (7)
BATSMAN BAN (boycott) round or ‘hosting’ an anagram of A TMS – anagrind is ‘broadcast’
23/16   Martin Crane? Oh…that’s upset, like, half a continent (5,8)
NORTH AMERICAN An anagram of MARTIN CRANE OH – anagrind is ‘upset’
24   Had dinner with artist, splitting bill two ways (9)
BILATERAL ATE (had dinner) with RA (artist) in or ‘splitting’ BILL
26/15   S. Coe’s rival, having given blood, urges a protein boost at breakfast (9,4)
SCRAMBLED EGGS S CRAM (Steve Cram – ‘S(eb) Coe’s rival’) BLED (given blood) EGGS (urges)
27   They did a stretch in prison (5)
RACKS Cryptic definition – RACKS were once used in prisons to torture prisoners
28   Chap‘s dead leg (3)
DON D (dead) ON (leg – in cricket)
29   Areas where Sterling’s tackling left Gray struggling? (11)
PLAYGROUNDS POUNDS (Sterling) round or ‘tackling’ L (left) + an anagram of GRAY – anagrind is ‘struggling’
Down
1   Following tummy upset, old fellow’s thrown up uncooked, tough game (3-2-3)
TUG-OF-WAR GUT (tummy) reversed or ‘upset’ O (old) F (fellow) RAW (uncooked) reversed or ‘thrown up’
2   Where to glide over the surface endlessly with plastic poles (3,5)
SKI SLOPE Cryptic definition – SKIn (surface) without the last letter or ‘endless’ + an anagram of POLES – anagrind is ‘plastic’
3   Moose finally died, poor boy (5)
EDDIE E (last or ‘final’ letter of ‘moose’) + an anagram of DIED – anagrind is ‘poor’
4   Observe Labour PM dropping a couple of tabs in the city in Washington (7)
SEATTLE SEe (observe) ATTLEe (Labour PM) without or ‘dropping’ the two ‘e’s (tabs)
5   Bachelor freed from desolate, uncovered cell having loss of fluid (7)
LEAKAGE bLEAK (desolate) without the ‘b’ (bachelor) cAGE (cell) without the first letter or ‘uncovered’ (in a down clue)
6   Absolutely hated grid construction (4,5)
DEAD RIGHT An anagram of HATED GRID – anagrind is ‘construction’
7   Israeli lithograph featuring Talmudic demon (6)
LILITH Hidden or ‘featured’ in ‘IsraeLI LITHograph
8   Gorgeous nymph rejecting a diamond ring, having lost heart (6)
DAPHNE A D (diamond) reversed or ‘rejected’ PHoNE (ring) without or ‘losing’ the middle letter or ‘heart’
14   He repels Pam after rotten time in the middle of nowhere (3,3,3)
OFF THE MAP HE + PAM reversed or ‘repelled’ after OFF (rotten) T (time)
16 See 23 Across
17   Therapy for uptight Yankee sibling (8)
ANALYSIS ANAL (uptight) Y (Yankee in the phonetic alphabet) SIS (sister – sibling)
19   Unhealthy allure about British disease (7)
RUBELLA An anagram of ALLURE (anagrind is ‘unhealthy’) round B (British)
20   Pretentious nonsense! BBC boss taking over symbol of Britishness (7)
BULLDOG BULL (pretentious nonsense) DG (BBC boss) round or ‘taking’ O (over)
21   Brand new bunk beds both stripped to accommodate American (6)
UNUSED bUNk bEDs, both without the first and last letters or ‘stripped’ round or ‘accommodating’ US (American)
22   Rehearsal for the Sahara marathon? (3,3)
DRY RUN A marathon in the Sahara could be described as a DRY RUN
25   Trunk‘s one end of elephant, roughly (5)
TORSO T (‘one end’ of ‘elephant’) OR SO (roughly)

 

35 comments on “Independent 9815 / Knut”

  1. Fraiser seems to be a mini theme,  LILITH, DAPHNE and EDDIE are all characters in the show which is set in SEATTLE. Fraiser and his brother are both therapists (17d) and are both pretty uptight.

    Very enjoyable, the theme helped me finish! Thanks Knut and Bertandjoyce

  3. Thanks Knut and BertandJoyce

    I’d recommend today’s Nutmeg puzzle in the Guardian to anyone who enjoyed this one – it has a similarly playful mood (though it’s a bit harder).

    Can anyone remember the origin of the clue, quoted by Colin Dexter in a Morse book (and I’ve come across it elswehere, I think):

    GEGS? (9,4)

  5. Wasnt Scrambled eggs a working title to “Yesterday”. It scans.

    Great fun this-especially the J doing double duty!

     

    Thanks Knut and B&J

  7. Thanks to B&J for the lovely blog and spotter’s badge to EmilyM.

    I don’t watch much telly, but I do like Frasier and I was saddened by the actor John Mahoney’s recent death. My wife suggested a themed puzzle. On the same day, I saw a tweet from Sean Leahy (@thepunningman), prefaced with “hey baby I hear the blues a-callin'”, of a photo taken from the Ikea catalogue of a dining chair called “Töskaläd with standard legs” which I thought was an extremely funny homophone gag on the theme tune.

    It is a visual gag so I recommend a google of “Ikea Frasier”

    In case you haven’t had a bellyful, there’s a jumbled jigsaw of mine in today’s FT and a feature in this week’s Meet the Setter Guardian blog by Alan Connor.

    Best wishes to all for a happy Easter, Rob/Knut

  11. copmus @5 – and here 😉

    Wherever it’s from, that GEGS thing has always slightly annoyed me as it frequently seems to be quoted in ‘what is a cryptic clue?’-type articles, yet it’s always struck me as a terrible example of one.

    Anyhow, rant aside, this was great fun from Knut. I got the Martin Crane reference, but completely missed the overarching theme. Lovely clueing throughout. TOSSED SALAD and FILM EXTRA were especially nice.

    To the FT!

    Cheers to Knut and B&J

  12. Thanks, B and  J – you lucky couple!

    Well, here’s conclusive evidence for me, if I needed it, that recognising a ghost theme is not necessary for the enjoyment of a puzzle. I had no fewer than eleven ticks on my copy [before I gave up] and I’ve never seen a single episode of Frasier. Brava, EmilyM for piling even more icing on the cake.

    Re scrambled eggs: I well remember the episode  of ‘Drop the dead donkey’ which featured it. When I googled it, this came up.

    Huge thanks to Knut  for a brilliant start to the day. I don’t think I’ve time for an alphabetical Julius before I have to go out – that will have to wait. 😉

     

  13. Delightful puzzle with plenty of zing.

    In the interview with Alan Connor, Rob mentions the great job Eimi has done in publishing the work of new setters. It may be a slight exaggeration to say that, in the past, lustra would slip by without any fresh voices making it into the dailies, but I think the world of cryptics is much enriched by Mike’s progressive approach and the wealth of talent he’s unearthed.

  15. Thanks Knut, B&J

    Surprised to learn how young John Mahoney was – barely old enough to be Frasier’s dad.  Also, says wiki, lived in Manchester until 18.

    TOSSED SALAD first in, very good.  Didn’t get Daphne, sadly.  Having automatically separated gorgeous and nymph, I couldn’t stick them back together, and also rather, er, uptightly, refused to accept that the D was from the singular diamond.  North American very neat and apt.

    I thought ‘to glide over the surface endlessly’ was ski[m].

  17. Thanks Picaroon @13. I’m very lucky to have such great setters to choose from. Now what happened to that Rodriguez chap …

  18. I remember a Grauniad clue from about 40 years ago – “HEGGS!” (11), which  on reflection doesn’t seem to work too well but raised a groan at the time. Spent a while trying to fit Ovett in as S. Coe’s rival but still finished this one fairly quickly. Missed the theme as always, despite only having heard the name Lilith in the Crane series. Thanks to Knut and B&J.

  19. Our setter will be delighted to know that I spotted his theme (which is an ‘honour’ I don’t give to many people 😉 ) Thank you to him for the fun solve.

    I’d also say hear hear to Picaroon @13

  20. crypticsue @19 @ will be delighted to know that she has me for company in the theme-spotters club.  Not only did I spot it fairly quickly but it helped me towards what must be my smoothest Knut solve ever.

    Many thanks Knut and B&J.

    P.S. Another second to Picaroon’s comment @13.  I don’t really have time to do the Indy puzzles but I usually just have to do them regardless.  Who needs a balanced life anyway?

  21. I spotted the theme after I’d finished the puzzle, but before being told about it, which must be a record for me. It is one of my favourite shows. Great puzzle. Thanks Knut and B&J.

  22. BULLDOG is also the name of a recurring FRASIER character. ANALYSIS also refers to Frasier’s profession as a radio psychologist, while the clue serves as an apt description of Frasier’s “uptight Yankee sibling” Niles.

  23. We concur with Eileen@12 – further evidence that recognising a ghost theme is not necessary for the enjoyment of a puzzle.

    A delightful puzzle with too many super clues to have a CoD.

    Thanks, Knut and B&J

  24. I did this on a train to Leeds and I was surprised how quickly it went in.  Did it between Stevenage and Grantham, I think.  Definitely not a Tough Thursday.  Mind you, I’ve never seen and episode of Frasier and didn’t spot the theme.

  25. 7 across, which I quite liked. was unfortunately spoiled somewhat by the same device appearing in the Guardian the other day. I suspect it’s becoming a crossword staple

  26. Eimi @ 17 I believe he was last seen buried under a mountain of things-to-do, but is hopeful of wriggling out from under it pretty soon!

  28. Thanks guys. Re: Rodriguez, I thought you might be Bayern time, but just thought I’d Muenchen it.

    I’ll get my coat.

  29. And there was this solver who thought that Knut, at last, had written a non-thematic crossword!  🙂

    I do know who or what Frasier is but I don’t think I ever saw a full episode of the series. I have a kind of aversion to these US things, mainly because I find the language so, let’s say, unpleasant.  A few months ago, I went to see The Life Of Stalin which was just not as funny as it could have been with all these often swearing Americans in it.

    And so I thought, no theme and a crossword not forcing Knut to cramp in all this references (which on some previous occasions went at the expense of the ultimate precision – well, that’s my opinion [I can give examples if one really wants (but I hope not)] . I found this one of the very best Knut puzzles thus far, immaculately written with these famous non-dull surfaces.

    Only point that caught my eye in a slightly negative way (hey but what’s negative!) was D for ‘diamond’ in 8d. Not a big thing but it really is D for ‘diamonds’ (plural). I was surprised that only Chambers gives it a mention.

    In his interview with Alan Connor said something about that he lost some 70 crosswords. Never knew that he’d written so many before he came to the real surface. With indeed a lot of thanks to eimi.

    Well-deserved praise today!

     

  30. Like others, never watched Frasier, so theme passed by me.  Entertaining and clever though.

    FWIW, at the time I parsed 4D as ATTL{ee} in SEE, using the “in” as justification.

    Thanks to Knut and Bertandjoyce.

  31. Followed the plug from Meet the Setter and thorougly enjoyed the solve, entirely oblivious to the theme, never even having heard of the programme.

    I took “glide over surface endlessly” in 2d to be SKI(d) for a semi &lit. Almost gave up with LED and DAPHNE missing in the top right, but then resorted to “Laa, Lab, Lac …” till I got to LED, which also allowed me to get the LOI. Hooray! (So glad it wasn’t LUZ).

    24a was my favourite, I think.

  32. Correction as to comment @29: it should of course be The Death Of Stalin.

    [I regularly say right when I mean left (vice versa) – very dangerous when you’re the map reader in a car, giving instructions to the driver]

  33. Copmus@5

    I’ve heard Paul McCartney talking about this in interview. As far as I remember, he said he woke up one day with the melody in his head and, since he didn’t have any lyrics for it at that point, used “scrambled eggs” (which of course scans the same as ‘yesterday’) as a handle on the tune. Not sure if it was actually used as a working title as such, though.

  34. Did most of this between pubs on Thursday but missed the theme until getting DAPHNE which was the last but one in when I remembered to look again this morning. Entertaining as ever.

    Thanks to Knut, B & J

  35. Only just got around to this. Frasier is one of my favourite series, very clever, but I only saw the theme when I came here.

    Meet the setter, then same-day puzzles in the Indy and the ft. Knut, my friend, you’ve made it.

    I liked clues like DEAD RIGHT and RACKS.

    I echo picaroon’s sentiments. Picaroon is another setter I admire anyway.

    May thanks Knut, B&J, and the independent

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