A themed puzzle “to mark a 200th birthday”.
No research needed to guess the birthday celebrant, as an artlcle elsewhere in the same section of the paper made it clear that Karl Marx was born on 5 May 1818. Those solving online will not perhaps have seen the reference, but that should not have detracted from their ability to solve the puzzle, but they may not have been on the alert for the nina to be found going round the completed grid.
Timon immediately identified the grid as one that lent itself to a nina and it was not long before we could identify the famous quotation. There was lots to admire in the wording of the clues, with two well-concealed hidden clues and several amusing surfaces.
It’s always a pleasure to encounter a puzzle by Arachne and a privilege to blog it.
| Across | ||
| 7 | EARLDOM | Title and fanciful content of melodrama (7) |
| *(M)ELODRAM(A). | ||
| 8 | NANNIES | Is overprotective of female goats (7) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 9 | THUG | Tough hour in tower (4) |
| H(our) in TUG (a tow-er). “Tough” in the clue is a noun, not an adjective. | ||
| 10 | BUDDLEIAS | Bushes begin to grow, surprising ladies (9) |
| BUD (begin to grow), *LADIES. | ||
| 12 | HORDE | Drove Sir Michael to leave the navy (5) |
| HORDE(RN). Sir Michael Hordern was a distinguished Shakespearean actor. “Drove” here is a noun, not a verb. | ||
| 13 | AMARETTO | Booze consumed by trainspotter amazes revolutionary (8) |
| Hidden and reversed in “trainspotter amazes”. | ||
| 15 | INCH | Bit of foot, including front of heel (4) |
| INC(luding) H(eel). | ||
| 16 | A DEUX | One excluded from farewell kiss shared by couple (1,4) |
| AD(I)EU X. | ||
| 17 | CLEF | Character on staff almost split (4) |
| CLEF(T). One of the many meanings of “staff” is the lines on which music is written. | ||
| 18 | NUT ROAST | Butcher turns to a vegetarian option (3,5) |
| *(TURNS TO A). “Butcher” here is a verb and the anagram indicator. | ||
| 20 | GREED | What Thatcher might use to pursue grand, selfish desire (5) |
| G(rand) REED. The capitalisation of Thatcher is of course deliberately misleading, although perhaps not entirely inappropriate, given the theme of the puzzle. | ||
| 21 | LAND YACHT | Wind-powered vehicle of large boy with 8 for 4 (4,5) |
| L(arge) ANDY (a boy) ACHT. Acht of course is German for eight, and Karl Marx (4 down) was German. | ||
| 22 | IKAT | Newspaper guy dictated material (4) |
| I (or rather i) KAT (sounds like CAT). | ||
| 24 | UNRAVEL | Solve third of clues with northern barman (7) |
| U(third letter in “clUes) N(orthern) RAVEL (a composer or “barman”). | ||
| 25 | IN DEPTH | Thoroughgoing Democrat interrupts useless husband (2-5) |
| D in INEPT H(usband). | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | WASH | Women’s silvery grey tint (4) |
| W ASH (silvery grey). | ||
| 2 | OLIGARCH | Log chair carved for Russian billionaire? (8) |
| *(LOG CHAIR). | ||
| 3 | ROUBLE | Lenin spent this time eluding trial (6) |
| (T)ROUBLE. | ||
| 4 | KARL MARX | Socialist and singer swapping tips on records, we hear (4,4) |
| LARK with the ends swapped, homophone of marks (records). | ||
| 5 | ENDIVE | Leaves sleazy bar, chasing topless males (6) |
| (M)EN DIVE (a sleazy bar). | ||
| 6 | REDS | Half of acer turning copper, scarlet and vermilion? (4) |
| (ac)ER (rev), DS (Detective Sergeant, or a copper). | ||
| 11 | DIALECTIC | Face and body of Juncker twitch in debate (9) |
| DIAL (face), EC (European Commission) (body of which Jean-Claude Juncker is President), TIC. Another nod to the theme. | ||
| 12 | HINDU | She’s forbidden to eat cow, deer and sheep, reportedly (5) |
| HIND (deer) U (sounds like EWE). | ||
| 14 | TREND | Tendency of Todd to shed occasional tear (5) |
| T(odd), REND (tear). | ||
| 16 | ANALYSER | One breaking down badly yearns to hug boy (8) |
| AL (boy) in *YEARNS. | ||
| 17 | CLERIHEW | Lines of retired setters sign up 50 to support Cuba (8) |
| WE (setters) HIRE (sign up) L (50) C(uba), all reversed (retired). | ||
| 19 | RENTAL | Books into substantial holiday home, perhaps (6) |
| NT (New Testament, or books) in REAL. | ||
| 20 | GITANO | Gypsy giving it another squeeze (6) |
| Hidden in “giving it another”. Even after solving this, we didn’t immediately spot the hidden word: “squeeze” is a novel way of indicating it. | ||
| 21 | LEND | Escorted round Nemo’s first sub (4) |
| N(emo) in LED (escorted). | ||
| 23 | ANTE | Ignoring the odds, hasn’t then bet (4) |
| Even letters in “hAsNt ThEn”. | ||
*anagram
Surely 16ac is AD(I)EU (one excluded from couple) and X (kiss)?
Quirister @1: yes, I’ve amended the punctuation to make that clear. I was misled by the fact that ADIEUX is of course the plural of ADIEU.
Thanks to Arachne and bridgesong. Another great puzzle from this setter (and that includes a recent prize in the FT). I had trouble with the “land” part of LAND YACHT (a term new to me) but did get the theme and the nina-quotation. However, even with three of the four letters it took me all week to decide on IKAT (without parsing it) by looking for all the possible letters to make a “material.”
Correction to @1 – I meant “one excluded from farewell”.
I don’t usually do the prize, but seeing as it was Arachne, I wanted to give it a go. Great stuff, as always from this setter. Enjoyed the theme, but I had to resort to Google to see which “Sir Michael” would work in the wordplay for 12ac to give HORDE, and like ACD I was really stumped on IKAT. (But unlike ACD I didn’t figure it out on my own, but had to do trial-and-error Google searches of various “I _ A T” possibilities before I found the word for an Indonesian material, and only then saw how the wordplay worked).
My favorite clues included EARLDOM, A DEUX, LAND YACHT, KARL MARX, HINDU, and my vote for Top Clue of the Puzzle, NUT ROAST.
Many thanks to Arachne and bridgesong and the other commenters (including those whose comments I will look forward to reading below).
This was terrific stuff, fun and fair all the way.
Ta to Bridgesong and Arachne.
Thanks Arachne and bridgesong
Very clever, but not one of Arachne’s most enjoyable for me. I particularly didn’t like the clue for IKAT – an arcane word clued in an obscure fashion (guy = cat = kat?).
Enjoyed. Sat is always cheered when it’s Rosa K in the FT, the other paper we take of a Saturday. So delighted to find an Arachne.
On Horde I may be being a little thick but isn’t it the navy leaving Sir Michael?
Thenks both.
Clever and enjoyable, as usual with Arachne.
Most of the answers went in after a little thought, but I stared for ages at 17a, 22a and 17d without getting anywhere…
…The 200th anniversary was clearly of KM’s birth, but only 4d, and tenuously 6d and 11d, seemed relevant, so I thought there must be more to it – and then saw the NINA (the only time I’ve ever spotted, or indeed cared about, one). This gave enough help to solve the final clues (though IKAT is a new word for me).
Andrew B @8 – I share your doubts about HORDE
Well I still can’t parse Ikat, even with all your collective help. Newspaper guy??? And I’m unconvinced by the oo of Hindu sounding like Ewe, but it was a simple clue so no complaints really. Never heard of Clerihew nor, for that matter Ikat abd would never have got them without Chambers. But I loved the neat simplicity of many of the clues particularly 12 and 17ac
Like Muffin @7, I found IKAT problematic.
Sir Michael Hordern played a passable Lear, I recall. and he had a wonderful mellifluous voice. Wonderful actor. As others have mentioned, I think the navy left him, though.
I did enjoy 20a.
Thanks to all.
Jaydee @10:the newspaper is the i (the tabloid version of the Independent).
As beaulieu@9 says, a clever and enjoyable puzzle from one of my favourite setters. Thanks also to bridgesong for the blog. Re the many comments on 22ac, this is one of those occasions where obscurity is in the eye of the beholder. I have a couple of antique Cambodian ikat sarongs hanging in the hallway as well as cushions and placemats made of the stuff. So the answer was a write-in for me. I found I for newspaper a bit obscure when parsing and I still wonder if it is pronounced “eye” or “ee” to know where the homophone starts. The material of course is “ee”.
Thanks Bridgesong – totally escaped me. Sigh
The annotated solutions published this morning have (p)I(n)K + (t)A(t)T(y) as the correct parsing for IKAT. How come we didn’t get the corresponding clue? I have a feeling that a subsidiary indication pointing at alternate letters in pink tatty would have been much less obscure than the newspaper guy clue.
Jaydee@10: the name of the letter ‘u’ (not its pronunciation in Hindu) sounds like ‘ewe’, which is what the clue is meant to indicate.
Unlike several folk, I quite liked the IKAT clue, even though the word is new to me.
A nice puzzle from the spider lady.
Thank god I never look for ninas as I fear the obvious quote would have been completed early and ruined the puzzle. (It was easy enough as it was!)
Just couldn’t see CLERIHEW, though I’m familiar with the word. This stopped me getting CLEF and IKAT – in the latter case probably a blessing as I would have been puzzling over I-A- for hours (not having seen the nina, as ever).
Thanks, Arachne and bridgesong.
Thanks, bridgesong [and Timon] and, of course, Arachne – great stuff all round!
IKAT was causing some furrowed brows in Derby last Saturday until Arachne, wearing her Karl Marx T-shirt, arrived. 😉 I was still hung up on AMARETTO, which I guessed was the answer but just failed to see the brilliantly hidden reversal.
I was one of those who could remember the great Sir Michael Hordern – and I can’t see a problem with the clue, if you take it as meaning that he left the navy behind.
Many thanks, again, Arachne, for another brilliant puzzle.
Well, the first thing I must do is deliver a well-aimed kick at my posterior (well: I would if my anatomy permitted) at having missed the Nina – and after all the other allusions to Karl & friends were in place too! Why oh why did I not cast an eye over the completed grid, note the fact that it’s an “unches on edges” type grid, and spot the message at once?!
Oh well, too bad. At least the puzzle itself is just what one expects from the Spiderwoman – well-woven and delightful … not so much a web as a tapestry! I have quibbles about NANNIES and HINDU which I thought were on the too-easy side: I know it’s good practice – especially in a Prize – to provide one or two simple lead-ins to get solvers started. I think I’d have left the “female” out 8a and used a different word than “forbidden” in 12d.
Only completely unknown word – and LOI – was, unsurprisingly, IKAT. I’d have got it if it was BATIK (I have a splendid batik shirt bought in Indonesia – alas I’ve put on weight since I bought it…!). Had to have a dictionary-browse for that one. Trouble is, the wordplay is not that easy either – though once I had the “I” I guessed we were talking about that single-letter title.
Both CLERIHEW and CLEF held me up for ages. CLERIHEW is brilliant, I thought – one of the best clues I’ve seen. Sympathies for those who didn’t know the word.
I was also fortunate in having heard of Sir Michael Hordern, though I think this clue was a bit GK-heavy for some!
But on the whole a great offering from Arachne – best Prize for some time, I think. Thanks to her and Bridgesong.
I did this over the weekend between gigs at Cheltenham and found it very enjoyable as I have come to expect with the spiderwoman. I didn’t see the Nina,annoyingly enough, and I had some trouble with CLERIHEW. IKAT,I’ve never heard of, and I didn’t parse but the rest was lovely.
Thanks Comrade Arachne.
Sir Michael Hordern will chiefly be remembered by me and perhaps others as the voice-over of Paddington in the television series.
I thought the references to Karl Marx were a bit thin on the ground but then I didn’t spot the NINA. I never do.
Laccaria@20. When I mentioned earlier in the week that I was having difficulties with 20a you suggested that I would kick myself when I saw it. For the reasons given by Muffin@7 I don’t think that I’m the one who merits a kicking but I would never kick a lady (or a man for that matter – I’m not sexist). My best guess was iMac and that my inability to fit it to the definition was due to my ignorance of computerese.
That apart thanks to Arachne and to bridgesong without reservation.3
Thanks to Arachne and bridgesong. This puzzle for me was a double doh. I have been puzzling all week about about 22a as to whether it was ikat or ital. Originally had ikat and then solved and unsolved this puxzzle about four times eventually plumping for ital (printers instruction). Apart from that really enjoyed the puzzle and liked unravel and dialectic. Thanks again to Arachne and bridgesong.
Great puzzle.A little bird said nina otherwise I would have had something else than IKAT.
Thanks Arachne (nice to see doing Prize duty) and bridgesong.
Responding belatedly to Manu @9, I can only suppose that the clue for IKAT was amended at a late stage, since the published versions all seem to be the one given in the blog (and published in the paper). It is an obscure word, so should really have an easier clue, although the Nina certainly helped to cut down the possible combinations.
Pino @22 – in your earlier comment (Monday?) I thought you were referring to 17a = CLEF. I wouldn’t have said that about IKAT.
Lurkio @17.
You seem to have a sort of up-and-down experience of solving, I’m glad you found much to like in Arachne’s (I didn’t find it “easy enough” btw).
During our little mini-debate about grid-filling the other day, you mentioned that you have set some puzzles. Are any of them in the public domain? If so, would you be willing to point us towards them?
Disappointed not to finish, having been delighted to see Arachne’s name on the puzzle. Never heard of Sir Michael or ikat, and having put the puzzle aside when stuck, never returned to try and tough them out. I agree it’s the navy that left the man though, so maybe I wouldn’t have got that one anyway.
I did make a mental note to look for a nina, but completely forgot about that too, more’s the pity. I might even have got IKAT if I hadn’t.
Some great clues though: 17a, CLEF; 24a, UNRAVEL; 3d ROUBLE; 17d, CLERIHEW probably favourites.
Laccaria @ 27
My apologies. I put the wrong ref in in the Vulcan blog. CLEF @17a didn’t cause a problem.
Am I the only one who remembers Michael Hordern’s wonderful portrayal of Gandalf in the BBC radio adaptation of Lord Of The Rings back in 81? I’m surprised.
Jaydee@30: Me too, and I’m not even from the UK. How quickly our cultural history disappears. Not only his Lear, but his Prospero was brilliant, not to mention countless film and television masterpieces, e.g., Paradise Postponed. Do you think 20 years from now, if a setter writes a clue using DENCH, people will complain that they’ve never heard of her?
Another gem from Arachne. Favourites were ROUBLE, BUDDLEIAS and UNRAVEL, along with HORDE, of course. Thanks Arachne and bridgesong.
Many thanks to Arachne for such a clever, challenging and fun puzzle, to bridgesong for an excellent blog, and to all those who have posted the preceding comments which, for me, added lots of interest. I echo others’ difficulties with 16a A DEUX and 22a IKAT, and these ones went unsolved. 12a HORDE was also a “guess and google” for me. Despite the disappointment of a DNF, I loved it, relishing the references to Karl Marx and most particularly I enjoyed finding the Nina (like copmus@24, after a tip-off). The Marxian catch-cry brought back strong memories of joining in some very raucous singing of the Internatioanle at many a late-night party back in my younger days.
Whoops, “The Internationale” (sp!)
@30 Jaydee
And ‘O, Whistle and I’ll Come To You, My Lad’…
The original BBC version – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bimXZp52PI4
Back from a crossword free week away and this was the last puzzle we did – in the car on the way to the S&B event in Derby where many “virtual” people became “real” – including Arachne. We were part of the furrowed brow discussion on IKAT and I don’t think we got CLERIHEW and failed to spot the nina (my excuse is I was driving!) which lifts it from a great to an outstanding puzzle.
Thanks to Arachne and bridgesong, and to everyone at the S&B event for their welcome and company.
A pleasant puzzle. NUT ROAST my favourite.
Good blog, though I disagree slightly with parsing of CLERIHEW; we are only instructed to reverse “setters sign up 50” – otherwise what would be the point of “to support”? (This fixes the ‘C’. Cuba is not part of the reversal as you suggest I think.)
Thanks both and all.
Thanks to Bridgesong and Arachne. A bit of a first for me, in that I solved the entire puzzle after going to bed on Saturday night. I was lucky in that I spotted the nina about halfway through, and that helped considerably in completing the remaining clues – as did Chambers !
William FP @36: you’re right, and if it wasn’t now over 24 hours since the blog was published, I might amend it.
Laccaria @27
[I tried an earlier puzzle of yours (no. 2 of 2, I think) on BD’s site today. I stopped when I could see I would not have time to finish it, but I’d like to applaud your effort. I hope the review by Prolixic, and comments from Maize and Dutch especially, went down well with you. The quote from Anax, cited by Silvanus, about Xim vs. Lib, was spot on. I too had a good (= salutary!) experience on BD.]
I had no time to try this puzzle, (unfortunately, having read the comments to date), but I did see the completed grid in front of me on the day it was published – in full view of Arachne, as Eileen has already commented. The nina is a remarkable achievement.
According to Wikipedia, Marx’s tombstone bears the inscription “Workers of all lands, unite” – a more literal translation from the German but not seen otherwise (but it does also fill the spaces of this nina!).
Alan B @39 – thanks for your kind message. What name did you use on BD – “Alan”? I’d like to return the favour, if I haven’t already done so! 🙂
Laccaria @40
[Yes, that name is correct.
Prolixic’s review of my effort was spot on. I made one error and was guilty of writing a terrible surface for one clue (because in my wisdom I overruled my test solver!). I meant what I said, though, about the experience being a good one. Most of the regular solvers/commenters there make good and well-intentioned observations.]
It’s just occurred to me that there was scope for a similar, but harder puzzle (more suitable for the Genius series, probably) with some or all answers having lost “chains” (of letters).
Didn’t really know about the Karl Marx anniversary, didn’t know about IKAT. My LOI was IPAD. I also thought the “body of Juncker” meant the interior letters in Juncker at first, but obviously that didn’t work. Had to look up BUDDLEIAS and couldn’t quite parse out LONGYACHT. Still, regardless of not getting IKAT, I was still able to solve the entire puzzle, even though I didn’t think to check all the letters that spelled out “WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE”! The anniversary theme, for the most part, sort of escaped me. Good one, Arachne!
Pat,
LONGYACHT — typo? (*LAND YACHT*)
I guess the Marx anniversary wasn’t big news in the US?
A very enjoyable prize, definitely at the easier end of Arachne’s scale. Saw the perimeter nina early and it helped particularly with the unfamiliar IKAT.
Thanks to Arachne and bridgesong
So many good clues and much novel word play, tied to the theme.
It’s a shame such a clever setter as Arachne could not find a way to include such relevant words as “gulag”, “terror”, “mass starvation”, or to have a Nina with another relevant quote such as “They must perish in the revolutionary holocaust.”