Independent 10,350 by Dalibor (Saturday Puzzle 14 Dec 2019)

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I think this is my first Dalibor blog – an enjoyable puzzle, with a few topical references and interesting surface reads…

…and a pangram, to boot! Those ‘cogs’ round the outer wheel of the perimeter hinted at a Nina, and when I got V, K, G and F along the top and X at the bottom I did wonder if it might be another ‘perimetral pangram’ (see  Serpent’s Indy 10,290), but a quick check showed that there were only 20 cells, and I couldn’t make out any message running round there either. (Update – See comment #1 below.)

9 and 15 across were pretty topical, with the SNP’s current clamouring for independence at 9A SNIP, and Jacob (Really-Smug)’s relative (Annunziata Rees-Mogg?) trying to split the EU at 15A for ESAU. 2D VANITY was a little risqué – has there ever been a nativity play about sex and ‘self love’? I hope not!

1D GRAPEFRUIT and 17D SCAFFOLD were quite complicated parsings – and 1D was educational, as I never knew that the grapefruit was accidentally ‘invented’ in Barbados.

I didn’t help myself by lazily putting INTEREGNAL at 10A – even though my subconscious was telling me that INTERREGNUM has two Rs, and I should really have checked the anagram fodder – so this left me trying to find ?A?G at 5D to mean food and/or price…

My favourite was probably PLAN T as the ’20th strategy’ at 7A – things must have gone really badly if plans A to S haven’t worked! Closely followed by the juxtaposition of Ezra and Pound in 21D – nice mislead as they were being used for different parts of the wordplay – and a great definition there as well…

 

 

To sum up – a nice Saturday morning solve, interesting surfaces to blog, and a pangram…thanks to Dalibor, and hopefully all is clear below.

Across
Clue No Solution Clue Definition (with occasional embellishments) /
Logic/parsing
6 NIRVANA Vehicle gets through blustery rain – sheer delight! (7) sheer delight /
NIR_A (anag, i.e. blustery, of RAIN) around VAN (vehicle)
7 PLANT Perhaps the 20th strategy works (5) works (i.e. factory) /
If your first two strategies, PLAN A and PLAN B, don’t work, or any of the next 17, you might end up at PLAN T!
9 SNIP Party claiming independence is a steal (4) a steal /
SN_P (Scottish National Party) around (claiming) I (independence)
10 INTERREGAL Complicated triangle with Queen coming in between Kings (10) between kings /
INT_REGAL (anag, i.e. complicated, of TRIANGLE) with ER (Elizabeth Regina, queen) coming in
11 STUFF YOU Get lost in poorly-ventilated institute of education (5,3) get lost! /
STUFF Y (poorly ventilated) + OU (Open University, institute of education)
13 RECIFE City closed in by raging fire – this one in Brazil? (6) this one (city, is) in Brazil /
R_IFE (anag, i.e. raging, of FIRE) around (enclosing) EC (Eastern Central, stem of post-codes in the City of London)
15 ESAU Jacob’s relative’s appeal to split European Union (4) Jacob’s relative (Bible) /
E_U (European Union) around (split by) SA (sex appeal)
17 SQUIB Firework: possibly 25 are missing, one British (5) firework /
SQU(ARE) (possibly 25, an example of a square number, with ARE missing) + I (one) + B (British)
18 NICE Pretty new diamonds (4) pretty /
N (new) + ICE (diamonds)
19 MANTRA Words frequently repeated by attractive woman lacking power (6) words frequently repeated /
MANTRA(P) – attractive woman, lacking P – power
20 PLAY-OFFS Pressure to pass the ball to a team mate? Succeeded in decisive matches (4-4) decisive matches /
P (pressure) + LAY OFF (to pass the ball to a team mate) + S (succeeded)
23 LOVE AFFAIR Great enthusiasm for redeveloping very old flea market (4,6) great enthusiasm for /
LOVE AF (anag, i.e. redeveloping, of V, very, plus O, old, plus FLEA) + FAIR (market)
26 TECH College in Whitechapel (4) college /
hidden word in ‘whiTECHapel’
27 SMALL Young pack animals going west bar one (5) young /
LLAM(A)S – pack animals – losing A – one – and heading west, i.e. reversed = SMALL
28 AVENUES Attenborough’s original Planet Earth must be screened, one way and another (7) one way (road) and another /
A (original letter of Attenborough’s) + VENU_S (planet) around (screening) E (earth)
Down
Clue No Solution Clue Definition (with occasional embellishments) /
Logic/parsing
1 GRAPEFRUIT Foxtrot in a cracking guitar arrangement, one having its roots in Barbados (10) one having its roots in Barbados /
GRA_UIT (anag, i.e. arrangement, of GUITAR) around (cracked by) PE-F-R (PER, or a, as in each, around F – foxtrot, phonetic alphabet)
2 VANITY Nativity plays avoiding sex and self-love (6) self-love /
subtractive anagram, i.e. plays, of NATIV(IT)Y (avoiding ‘it’, a euphemism for, you know, a bit of the other/how’s yer father!)
3 KANT Philosopher’s insincere talk being broadcast (4) philosopher (Immanuel) /
homophone, i.e. being broadcast – CANT (insincere talk) sounds like KANT (Immanuel Kant)
4 SPARE RIB Family member invites one cutting meat (5,3) meat /
S_IB (sibling, family member) around (inviting in) PARE R (one cutting)
5 FARE Food price (4) double defn. /
FARE can mean the food on a table, or the price of e.g. a ticket.
6 NONET Piece of music to some extent in one tempo (5) piece of music /
hidden word, i.e. to some extent, in ‘iN ONE Tempo’
8 TRAFFIC Cost, insurance and freight wind up business (7) business /
CIF (abbreviation – ‘cost, insurance & freight) + FART (wind) all up = TRAFFIC
12 USURP Almost certain to break up – that’s appropriate (5) appropriate /
U_P around (broken by) SUR(E) (almost all of sure, or certain)
14 CONSORTIUM Association’s argument against foreign tourism (10) association /
CON (argument against) + SORTIUM (anag, i.e. foreign, of TOURISM)
16 SHADOWS Dogs got surrounded by pigs (7) dogs (as in follows) /
S_OWS (pigs) around (surrounding) HAD (got)
17 SCAFFOLD State in which Pierre is welcoming coffee bar on deserted oil platform (8) platform /
S_D (South Dakota, US state, capital Pierre) around (welcoming) CAFF (café, coffee bar) + OL (OiL, deserted by its middle letter)
21 AZRAEL A troubled Ezra Pound’s not one keeping body and soul together (6) not one keeping body and soul together (i.e. the Angel of Death!) /
A + ZRAE (anag, i.e. troubled, of EZRA) + L (pound, from £SD)
22 FACES Female winners at Wimbledon becoming well-known people (5) well-known people /
F (female) + ACES (winning shots in tennis, so at Wimbledon)
24 ET AL Dead, gone to heaven (and elsewhere) (2,2) and elsewhere /
LATE (dead) ascending (gone to heaven) gives ET AL – elsewhere also hinting at the opposite of heaven?!
25 AJAX Yes, German impressed by American guitar hero (4) (Greek) hero /
A_X (American version of AXE, slang for a guitar) around (impressing) JA (German for Yes)

 

11 comments on “Independent 10,350 by Dalibor (Saturday Puzzle 14 Dec 2019)”

  1. Lots of bands here: NIRVANA, NICE, SMALL FACES, SHADOWS, SCAFFOLD, TRAFFIC, LOVE AFFAIR. I felt that VANITY FARE would be a good name for a band and a quick check on google showed I was correct. Apparently, AJAX was (is?) a band also. Roger PLANT managed to squeeze in but I probably shouldn’t count that. There must be some more bands though, not that the above isn’t enough.

    Thanks to Dalibor and mc.

  4. Thanks Dalibor and MCR

    Well spotted Hovis (though Mr Plant is Robert).

    There was also a band called GRAPEFRUIT.

    That gives a NONET of band names in the puzzle.

    And AZRAEL was an early single by the NICE, later re-recorded as Azrael Revisited.

  6. Many thanks to those who took the time to solve and/or comment on the puzzle.
    And to Mc_rapper67 in particular for his kind words.
    The theme was indeed ‘beat combos’ or more precisely British bands that had at least one chart hit in the late 60s.
    Hovis mentioned all but two of them with Simon S adding No 9. However, there is still one more!

  8. Thanks to mc_rapper67 and Dalibor

    Not as hard as Dalibor can be but not a write-in either especially as I also entered “interegnal”.

    The theme and the pangram passed me by, but I have little interest either so no loss.

    For me it’s all about the clue, the whole clue, and nothing but the clue.

    1d and 17d were the stand outs for me today.

    A couple of curiosities – in 24d “gone to heaven”, or “going to heaven”? And in 21d “not one”, or “one not”.

    Not quibbles, just curious.

  9. I googled various combinations of Nirvana and other solutions but drew a blank. More than one ‘pointless answer’ among that lot, I suspect. I liked GRAPEFRUIT and LOVE AFFAIR. A few more simple clues than usual, it felt like, but still tricky enough overall.
    Thanks Dalibor, mc_rapper67

  10. Thanks for the various comments and feedback – especially Dalibor for the confirmation of and background to the Nina…and I have resolved Dansar’s forensic ‘curiosities’!

  11. Just got around to this. Impressed to find here that i had missed the theme and pangram, very clever to have both! My last one in was TRAFFIC (didn’t check for the abbreviation). Even though I found SQUARE, I was still wondering why AJAX clued square for a while. My favourites were the nativity plays and the words frequently repeated by attractive woman lacking power. I quite liked stuff you as well. Great stuff

    Many thanks Dalibor and mc_rapper

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