Serpent is the setter in the Independent today and he provided a serious challenge for me.
There is a theme here in that all the entries in the outer rows and columns are the surnames of actors or actresses. I’m not sure if there is anything more given that some of them are from different generations, however someone with better film knowledge than me may be able to come up with a link.
Going clockwise round the grid we have
Thora BIRCH
Gregory PECK
Elizabeth MOSS
Hilary SWANK
Doris DAY
James MASON
Martin, Michael or Charlie SHEEN
Sean BEAN
James DEAN
Amber HEARD
Jude LAW and
George BURNS
There may be more starts with similar surnames, but I reckon the ones I have listed are the obvious ones.
I liked the clue for LIMA where we put the two halves of MALI to get a different geographical location.
I thought LAYPEOPLE would be two words, but the singular LAYPERSON is just one.
The clue for HUMANITARIANISM was very good with its reference to SAMARITAN.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Chastise wife that’s turned against child (5) BIRCH (beat; chastise) RIB (wife [from the Bible, Genesis 2, 21-23](reversed [that’s turned]) + CH (child) BIR< CH |
| 4 |
Small object does not have small volume (4) PECK (formerly, a measure of capacity for dry goods, 2 gallons, or one quarter of a bushel; a measure of volume) SPECK (small spot; small article) excluding (does not have) S (small) PECK |
| 6 |
Way of working leads to some surprisingly low-level growth? (4) MOSS (small ground hugging plants; low-level growth) MO (modus operandi; way of working) + SS (first letter of [leads to] each of SOME and SURPRISINGLY) MO SS |
| 9 |
Engineers sign code that’s compiled and accepted as valid (10) RECOGNISED (accepted as valid) RE (Royal Engineers) + an anagram of (that’s compiled) SIGN CODE RE COGNISED* |
| 10 |
Reunifying divided African country’s capital (4) LIMA capital city of Peru MALI (African country) with the word split (divided) into MA and LI before being put together again in a different order (reunifying) for LIMA LI MA |
| 11 |
Skinhead perhaps receives accidental punishment (5,5,5) SHORT SHARP SHOCK (brief severe regime imposed by a prison or detention centre, especially on young offenders; punishment) SHORT SHOCK (hair of little length, perhaps descriptive of a skinhead’s haircut) containing (receives) SHARP (in music terminology a note raised a semitone; an accidental is a SHARP or a flat) SHORT (SHARP) SHOCK |
| 13 |
Individuals who aren’t qualified to bet on race (9) LAYPEOPLE (non-professional [unqualified] individuals) LAY (to wager of bet) + PEOPLE (human race) LAY PEOPLE |
| 15 |
Patient daughter looked around before taking on job? (5) CASED (reconnoitred or examined, usually with a view to burglary; looked around before taking on job) CASE (person under medical treatment; patient) + D (daughter) CASE D |
| 17 |
Sports merchandise for sale as advertised on the radio (5) WEARS (sports) WEARS (sounds like [as advertised on radio] WARES [merchandise for sale]) WEARS |
| 19 |
Boy left upset about unpleasant incident using offensive language? (9) OBSCENELY (using offensive language) (Anagram of [upset)] BOY and L [left]) containing (about) SCENE (dramatic or stagy incident, especially an unseemly display of feelings) OB (SCENE) LY* |
| 21 |
Be active in Samaritan organisation preserving international philanthropy (15) HUMANITARIANISM (love of mankind especially as shown by contributing [money, time, etc] to general welfare; philanthropy) HUM (be active) + an anagram of (organisation) IN SAMARITAN containing (about) I (international) HUM ANITAR (I) ANISM* |
| 24 |
Excellent service disrupted by new complaint (4) ACNE (skin disease; complaint) ACE (a tennis serve that cannot be returned; excellent service) containing (disrupted by) N (new) AC (N) E |
| 25 |
John confronts drunk punching two bores (10) FACILITIES (toilet; John is a slang term for toilet) (LIT [drunk] contained in [punches] II [Roman numeral for two]) all contained in (bores) FACES (confronts) FAC (I (LIT) I) ES |
| 26 |
Church official cited over missing Mass (4) DEAN (Church official) NAMED (cited) reversed (over) and excluding (missing) M (mass) DEAN< |
| 27 |
Where patient might go when heart’s lost pulse (4) BEAN (example of a pulse) BEDPAN (utensil into which a person confined to bed can urinate and defecate; where a patient can go) excluding the central letters (heart’s lost) DP BEAN |
| 28 |
Polish hospital observed nurses (6) SHEEN (shine; polish) SEEN (observed) containing (nurses) H (hospital) S (H) EEN |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Queen’s cut up about poet (5) BURNS (reference Robert BURNS [1759 – 1796], Scottish poet) SNUB (rebuff; cut short) reversed (up; down entry) containing (about) R (Regina; queen) BU (R) NS< |
| 2 |
Building on hill in deserted city (7) RECTORY (church vicar’s residence; building) RE (with reference to; on) + (TOR [hill] contained in [in] CY [letters remaining in CITY when the central letters IT are removed [deserted]) RE C (TOR) Y |
| 3 |
Lofty idealist’s ultimate motive for betrayal (4,7) HIGH TREASON (betrayal of the government or country) HIGH (lofty) + T (last letter of [ultimate] IDEALIST + REASON [motive]) HIGH T REASON |
| 4 |
Try to obtain confidential information from man in pub (5) PHISH (send counterfeit email messages in an attempt to get the recipients to divulge confidential information, e.g. details of bank accounts) HIS (from man) contained in (in) PH (public house; pub) P (HIS) H |
| 5 |
Depressing directive to cut back on applause (9) CHEERLESS (depressing) CHEER (applaud) LESS (not so much) – taken together the words form a directive to cut back on applause CHEER LESS |
| 7 |
I believe texting about intelligence is sinister (7) OMINOUS (portending evil; ominous) IMO (a texting abbreviation for ‘in my opinion’; I believe) reversed (about) + NOUS (intelligence) OMI< NOUS |
| 8 |
Bored about wife’s ostentatious display (5) SWANK (ostentatious display; ostentation) SANK (excavated; bored) containing (about) W (wife) S (W) ANK |
| 12 |
Office staff concealed sign (11) SECRETARIES (office staff) SECRET (concealed) + ARIES (sign of the zodiac) SECRET ARIES |
| 13 |
Exposed weaknesses in principle (3) LAW (principle) FLAWS (weaknesses) excluding the outer letters (exposed) F and S LAW |
| 14 |
Speed of racing driver going flat out (9) PROSTRATE (lying or bent with one’s face on the ground; flat out) PROST (reference Alain PROST [born 1955], French Formula 1 racing drive) + RATE (speed) PROST RATE |
| 16 |
What appears regularly in diary (3) DAY (diaries offer space for entry on each day of the year) DAY (letters 1, 3 and 5 [regularly] of DIARY) DAY |
| 18 |
Gas starts to oxidise metal, affecting main supply (7) AMMONIA (pungent gas compound of nitrogen and hydrogen) Anagram of (supply [from the root supple]) OMA (first letters of [starts to] each of OXIDATE, METAL and AFFECTING) and MAIN AMMONIA*
|
| 20 |
Complex organisation implicated if I censure banks (7) EDIFICE (large and complex organisation) EDIFICE (hidden word in [banks] IMPLICATED IF I CENSURE) EDIFICE |
| 21 |
Attended to large group during speeches (5) HEARD (listened to; attended to) HEARD (sounds like [during speeches] HERD [large group of animals]) HEARD |
| 22 |
Term for being "in control" (5) REIGN (period of a ruler’s term of office) REIGN (be in control) double definition REIGN |
| 23 |
He possesses special ring (5) MASON (Freemasons wear special rings) MAN (male; he) contains (possesses (S [special] + O [ring shaped letter]) MA (S O) N |
Phew! I agree with Duncan’s overall appraisal and was beaten by the interlinked FACILITIES (I knew John would mean toilet but got fixated on it starting with CAN-) and MASON (I didn’t know they wore rings and – another fixation – couldn’t get beyond SP- for special. Which clearly can’t fit inside MAN! Super clue. &lit?).
And I didn’t spot the theme. Even though I’m not a particular follower of the movies, I have to confess I’ve HEARD of every one of those listed in the preamble. Thanks for the list, Duncan.
Some delightful clueing across the whole puzzle today from clever short ones – DEAN, PHISH, MOSS and the brilliant LIMA (even DAY and LAW are cute) – through to the longest – a beautiful surface/anagram for HUMANITARIANISM as Duncan points out, SECRETARIES was nicely constructed and SHORT SHARP SHOCK made me smile. (An interesting question raised in the recent G debates is whether a ‘shock’ can mean any haircut or whether it specifically suggests a ‘bushy mass’ (Chambers)).
Thanks Serpent and Duncan
Agree that this was a good workout – we were held up most by BURNS and the crossing FACILITIES and PROSTRATE. We really liked the SHORT SHARP SHOCK.
We were pleased to spot the theme, and particularly liked the rhyming trio in the bottom row.
Regarding the blog, we parsed 22dn as G = “Term (last letter) for being” in REIN = “control”, with the whole clue acting as the definition.
Thanks to Serpent and duncanshiell.
Phew indeed! Really pleased to nearly finish without aids. Used a word fit to get SWANK, with 11a my loi. Had pencilled in RULER for 22d for a bit but, fortunately, managed to get FACILITIES which put me right. The nina wasn’t any help in the solving.
DavidO @2. Yes, your parsing for REIGN must be correct.
Hovis @3: forgive the enquiry but is that a slip of the keyboard or is there a nina in there as well as the theme? I can’t see anything. BTW, I’m another who toyed with RULER for quite some time and, of course, I never got FACILITIES.
I normally rely on a nina from JC to help nudge me over the finish.
But it wasnt to be and a Ray Davis song triggered off something.
I wasnt familiar with them all but there were enough obvious ones
Then I had to roll my sleeves up LOI was BEAN but wasnt sure,
I loved the cunning LIMA
You rock, Serpent and I’m not taking the hiss
(Exeunt pursued by bear)
I guess I have a broader view on what a nina is. Not sure I would class just the outside words as a theme but I tend to view ninas like Easter eggs. Never seen an actual definition.
A DNF for me as I couldn’t see the linked 17A/13D. Should have spotted the theme but didn’t, well done Duncan for spotting it. My understanding is that a hidden word or phrase somewhere in the grid is a nina (named after the daughter of the setter who invented the idea), whereas a number of linked words is a theme. Thanks Serpent and Duncan.
That’s fine. I’m happy to go with a ghost theme and shall amend my internal definition for a nina.
As others have said, Serpent in very tricky mode, and naturally I didn’t spot the Nina.
Thanks to him for the brain mangling and Duncan for the explanations
Many thanks to Duncan for the excellent blog of what seems to have been a tough puzzle. Many thanks also to DavidO @2 for the intended parsing of REIGN, and to everyone who has taken the time to solve the puzzle and leave a comment.
To me (like Tatrasman @8), there is a distinction between a nina and a ghost theme: the former is a hidden message; the latter is a collection of grid entries having something in common (not indicated directly in the clues). I tend to make use of ninas, but occasionally use a ghost theme for a change (recent ones in the Indy have included fish and actors).
Tough… altho started well in top R… slowed to a lamentable hobble n crawled home… theme was not obvious to me altho I did think Swank was an odd choice… which was a relatively early entry ..
Thanks Serpent n duncansheill
Not easy and only finished after a real struggle. Even so, some of the parsing subtleties defeated me. Particularly enjoyed the clue for PROSTRATE, the wordplay for BEAN and LIMA, though almost went with “Riga” for the latter. REIGN would count as an &lit by my reckoning – an excellent clue. Seeing the names of the film stars around the periphery was a nice reward at the end of the solve.
Thanks to Serpent and Duncan
Maybe we need a subcategory for when a ghost theme is arranged in a configuration reminiscent of a peripheral Nina!
Cornick @14: a Gina?
🙂
Great puzzle, thanks. I was going to note the remarkable absence of commas in the clues, but there is one.
Parsed everything except REIGN, but no excuse as I have seen term used before to indicate the last letter.
I did this on my phone and letter sprayed on a couple of occasions to in effect reveal a single cell to help me along. I did spot the common theme around the perimeter, although I couldn’t have listed them all. Very late to this today, as I was out of the house for 3 hours walking to and back from a vaccination centre for my 1st jab.
Well, having completed yesterday’s puzzle – the first one since my stroke – this totally defeated me. Got about half a dozen answers all told.
Yes, this was tough, but very satisfying. Missed 4A (couldn’t solve it and forgot to go back at the end) and also missed the theme, even though now that I look at the page it’s staring me in the face (I’m old-fashioned enough to prefer paper to the Indy’s interface).
Cheers serpent – I figured that we had a set of names round the perimeter but was wondering if there was a motorsport link when I saw SHEEN with 14d.
I enjoyed the ‘OMI’ in 7d, loved the use of ‘engineers’ n 9a, and here’s another big tick for the Samaritan organisation!
14 down was clued almost identically by Imogen in Guardian last week — Racing driver considered to have gone flat out (10)!
This broke me, I’ve purposely tried not to read all answers in the comments but just got a general feel that it’s tough for experienced solvers ! Will use this as one of my go-back-to-over-few-days ones I think
Thanks Serpent , Duncanshiell and all the commenters – and NNI @18 great that you’ve had the vaccine
Incidentally, the term “Nina” didn’t originally come from crosswords at all but from the US cartoonist Al Hirschfeld who had a daughter called Nina whose name he hid in many of his cartoons.