[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
Eccles is now the most regular Wednesday setter for the Indie and he always provides a good example of the setter’s art. He rarely goes in for themes or messages.
What we get are good clues with entries drawn from a vocabulary that most people know. There’s a bit of general knowledge required and today we had reference to quite a few people from popular culture.
I thought the clue for ROADIE was very good. I think ROADIEs are unsung heroes of many gigs, having to spend plenty of time setting up sets, sound and lighting and then a lot of time after the show taking it all down and possibly driving part way to the following day’s venue before getting some sleep.
I worked my way through all the Redknapps – Harry to Louise (in alphabetical order) before getting the right one at 2 down.
I commented in an Inquisitor blog yesterday that the clues were quite wordy. Today, I think we had some clues at the more minimalist end. One of the joys of solving puzzles by different setters is getting to see a wide range of styles.
There were some clues where the definition was well hidden; Box at 11 across and Muck at 21 across were good examples
Thanks to Eccles for a very pleasant challenge.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 | Tree in middle is removed (6) |
POP POPLAR |
POPLAR (tree) |
| 5 | Reproduction requires freedom of movement and finance (8) |
PLAY (some freedom of movement) + BACK (provide funds for; finance) PLAY BACK |
PLAYBACK (reproduction) |
| 9 | Act to provoke first time out (8) |
S SIMULATE |
SIMULATE (act) |
| 10 | Member of staff that is touring: essential part of operation? (6) |
(ROD [staff] + IE [id est {that is}]) containing (touring) A (middle letter of [essential part of OPERATION) RO (A) D IE |
ROADIE (member of the crew who transport, set up and dismantle equipment for musicians, especially a rock group, on tour) |
| 11 | Box of novelties I supply (10) |
Anagram of (supply [from supple]) NOVELTIES I TELEVISION* |
TELEVISION (colloquially referred to as the box) |
| 12 | Charged entities in bulbs not functioning (4) |
There are two occurrences of ON in ONIONS, but it obviously the first one that should be removed IONS |
IONS (electrically-charged particles) |
| 13 | Happen to restrain attendant, resulting in injury (5,3) |
BE (happen) containing (to restrain) LACKEY (footman; attendant) B (LACK EY) E |
BLACK EYE (example of an injury) |
| 16 | One bowled over? (6) |
MAIDEN (a young woman who could be bowled over by an impressive suitor) MAIDEN |
MAIDEN (an over in cricket where the bowler does not concede a run) double definition |
| 17 | Expert paid arsonist from time to time (6) |
ADROIT (letters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 [from time to time] of PAID ARSONIST) ADROIT |
ADROIT (expert) |
| 19 | Author starts to smile at last (8) |
SA (first letters of [starts to] each of SMILE and AT) + LINGER (endure; last) SA LINGER |
SALINGER (reference J D SALINGER [1919 – 2010], American author, best known for Catcher in the Rye) |
| 21 | Muck possibly misleads nurses (4) |
ISLE (hidden word in [nurses] MISLEADS) ISLE |
ISLE (reference the ISLE of Muck, an island in the Inner Hebrides) |
| 22 | What Trump seeks is statue of Confederalist General, according to Spooner (2-8) |
RE-ELECTION, a word that the Reverend Spooner may pronounce as LEE ERECTION (a statue [ERECTION] for General Robert E LEE [1807 – 1870], commander of the Confederate States army until its surrender) RE-ELECTION |
RE-ELECTION (what Donald Trump seeks in the 2020 US Presidential election) |
| 25 | Film dog eating master’s fruit (6) |
TOTO (the name of the dog in the film, The Wizard of Oz and other associated films) containing (eating) MA (Master [of Arts] TO (MA) TO) |
TOMATO (a fruit) |
| 26 | A nameless sentimental person is fragrant (8) |
A + ROMA A ROMATIC |
AROMATIC (fragrant) |
| 27 | Exploit tax cuts, becoming loathed (8) |
TEST (tax) contained in [cuts] DEED (exploit) DE (TEST) ED |
DETESTED (loathed) |
| 28 | New anaesthetic for bottom (6) |
N (new) + ETHER (an anaesthetic) N ETHER |
NETHER (lower; bottom) |
| Down | |||
| 2 | Waiting in readiness, love? Lovely! (2,3) |
O (zero; love score in tennis) + NICE (lovely) O N ICE |
ON ICE (waiting in readiness) |
| 3 | Maybe Redknapp will reject international six-footer (5) |
LOUISE (reference LOU LOUSE |
LOUSE (six-legged parasitic insect) |
| 4 | Appreciate ale drunk in spring (7) |
Anagram of (drunk) ALE contained in (in) RISE (spring) R (EAL*) ISE |
REALISE (understand; appreciate) |
| 5 | Childish and innocent, I’ll say (7) |
PUER (sounds like [say) PURE [innocent]) + ILE (sounds like [say] I’LL) PUER ILE |
PUERILE (childish) |
| 6 | A male protecting friend in Gestapo? (7) |
(A + M [male]) containing (protecting) CRONY (intimate companion; friend) A (CRONY) M |
ACRONYM (word formed from or based on the initial letters or syllables of other words, such as GESTAPO [GEheime STAatPOlizei) |
| 7 | Cabaret singer to return in May, perhaps, getting minimal coverage (9) |
LIZA (reference LIZA Minelli [born 1946, who portrayed the singer Sally Bowles in the film Cabaret) reversed (to return) in BRIAN (reference BRIAN May [born 1947, lead guitarist of the band Queen]) BR (AZIL<) IAN |
BRAZILIAN (reference a BRAZILIAN bikini wax [the act or instance of removing all or almost all of a woman’s pubic hair for cosmetic reasons]; getting minimal coverage) |
| 8 | Customers tell niece to dance (9) |
Anagram of (to dance off) TELL NIECE CLIENTELE* |
CLIENTELE (customers) |
| 14 | Needs tool to break rock (9) |
Anagram of (to break) NEEDS TOOL LODESTONE* |
LODESTONE (form of magnetite [iron ore; rock] which exhibits polarity, behaving, when freely suspended, as a magnet; |
| 15 | Help Alice, say, at opening of event (9) |
COOPER (reference Alice COOPER [born 1948], American singer, songwriter and actor) + AT + E (first letter of [opening of] EVENT) COOPER AT E |
COOPERATE (help) |
| 18 | Audience switches off when soprano absent (7) |
TURN TURN OUT |
TURNOUT (attendance; audience) |
| 19 | Set out to fight with Dutch flight attendant (7) |
Anagram of (out) SET + WAR (to fight) + D (Dutch) STE* WAR D |
STEWARD (flight attendant) |
| 20 | Rest of story miserable (3,4) |
LIE (story) + DOWN (miserable) LIE DOWN |
LIE DOWN (rest) |
| 23 | When to feed young child brown bread (5) |
AS (when) contained in (to feed) TOT (young child) TO (AS) T |
TOAST (bread turns brown when it is TOASTed) |
| 24 | Source of oil I have seen around southernmost part of Portugal (5) |
(O [first letter of [source of] OIL] + I’VE [I have]) containing (around) L (last letter of [southernmost part of] PORTUGAL) I suppose ‘southernmost’ is used as this is a down clue. However PORTUGAL is not being entered and it is written east west in the clue, so perhaps ‘easternmost’ could also be used. I know PORTUGAL as a country runs North / South. O (L) IVE |
OLIVE (tree that is a source of oil, and is grown extensively in Portugal |
Brief and accurate cluing with great surfaces and spiced with humour – everything one could want from a cryptic crossword.
The specific Alice and the specific May were very nice touches, and I could easily nominate most of these clues as my favourite.
Many thanks to Eccles and to Duncan.
Lovely stuff.
The anagram at 11a was nicely done and the &lits at 10a and 24a were both excellent. Had a snigger at 28a. With a name like mine, I should also give a thumbs up to 23d (not my real name mind you). Wasn’t keen on the clue for MAIDEN but you can’t win them all.
Wonder if the link between 25a and 7d (magic clue) was deliberate.
Thanks to Eccles and Duncan.
Lovely puzzle. And I agree entirely about the road crew in a band.
Lots to enjoy, thanks to Eccles and Duncan
Had a few problems with finding the required characters in the top half – particularly where the ex Mrs Redknapp was concerned.
Plenty to enjoy elsewhere.
Thanks to Eccles and to Duncan for his usual clear style of blog.
Harry is the only ‘Redknapp’ I’ve heard of, so I spent some time trying to fit him in for 3d before entering an unparsed answer, my last in, from the def. I was also fooled by the almost unnoticed ‘in’ at 1a.
The ‘minimal coverage’ (LIZA with a zee this time) at 7d was my favourite, closely followed by ‘Muck possibly’.
Thanks to Eccles and to Duncan.
Did wonder if Louise Redknapp still was a Redknapp after they divorced. Still a cracking crossword and thought maiden a fine clue. Cheers Eccles and Duncan
Is maiden a dd a cd cum dd an &lit or something else?
Thanks to Duncan for the usual fine blog, and to commenters. I thought of Maiden as a sort of DD &lit, but I wasn’t sure about it, or whether it was a good clue – if the cricketing term, say, was derived as a joke from the previous ‘bowling a maiden over’ phrase (perhaps in the same way that a 5-wicket haul, or 5-for, has become known as a Michelle) then it was a bit weak, but I didn’t manage to find out, so I went with it. (You may have had different reasons for disliking it, Hovis!)