Independent 10,715/Knut

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I’ve not had a Knut puzzle to blog for ages, so was pleased to see his name on today’s. You’ll always get a breezy and contemporary offering from this setter, and I very much enjoyed this one.

There were a number of references to individuals, which I guess will always bring out the ‘how am I supposed to know him/her?’ comment. Fair enough, but it’s a cryptic, and you’ve got two goes at getting the solution. They were Michael Gove (definitely knew), Lady Caroline Lamb (definitely knew), Declan Donnelly (unfortunately knew), Danny La Rue (knew, but I’m old), Ben E King (never heard of), Paulette Goddard (ditto), Amber Heard (vaguely) and the Duchess of York (knew, but had removed from memory bank for the good of my mental health). Your recognition may have differed.

Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed

definitions are underlined

Across

1 It‘s boring irritable Gove rigid
LEG-OVER
Hidden in irritabLE GOVE Rigid. Michael ‘we’ve had enough of experts’ Gove, rigid? Nah.

5 Lady Caroline beginning to draft a letter
LAMBDA
A charade of LAMB, D for the initial letter of ‘draft’ and A. Lady Caroline LAMB is best-known for having generous helpings of 1ac with Lord Byron and famously describing him as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’.

10 Uniform soldier eating large fruit
UGLI
A charade of U for the phonetic alphabet ‘uniform’ and L inserted into GI.

11 Actual gene mutation visible at 30 degrees?
ACUTE ANGLE
(ACTUAL GENE)* Since 30 is less than 90, it could be described as ACUTE, rather than ‘right’, ‘obtuse’ or ‘reflex’.

12 Gloss over title claimed by the Spanish
ENAMEL
An insertion of NAME in EL for one of the words for ‘the’ in Spanish.

13 Tough policeman’s Yard file note
HARD COPY
A charade of HARD, COP and Y.

14 Obliquely find out what Dec’s like to work with?
ASKANT
One of the ways to find out about working with Declan Donnelly would be to ASK ANT (McPartlin).

16 Things former pupil lost in binges
SESSIONS
[OB]SESSIONS. I have a thing for Knut puzzles.

18 Very masculine British love god removing square hat
SOMBRERO
A four-part charade: SO, M, BR and ERO[S].

19 Indifference always blocks the way
APATHY
This is an insertion of PATH in AY for the poetic ‘always’. My first (and indeed second) reading of the cryptic grammar suggested that the solver should do the opposite.

20 Bomber, working alone, starts to generate atomic yellowcake
ENOLA GAY
A charade of (ALONE)* and the initial letters of the last three words of the clue. The ENOLA GAY was the bomber which dropped the first atomic bomb, over Hiroshima, and was named after the pilot’s mother, Enola Gay Tibbets.

22 Celebrity gambling resort, Western Nevada’s foremost
RENOWN
A charade of RENO and WN for the initial letters of ‘Western’ and ‘Nevada’.

24 Known for a variety of habits, nun already getting changed
DANNY LA RUE
(NUN ALREADY)* Perhaps likely to be well known only to those of a certain age, DANNY LA RUE was a drag act, hence the reference to the ‘variety of habits’.

25 Sort of peak Bono & The Edge: ignoring Yoko
BRIM
A charade of B[ONO] and RIM.

26 Some problem ERG expenses come to light
EMERGE
Hidden in problEM ERG Expenses. You’ll never be short of a political reference or two in a Knut puzzle: the ERG (European Research Group) is a Eurosceptic organisation which was in fact formed nearly 30 years ago, but was prominent in supporting the Vote Leave campaign in 2016. Can we have our £350m per week for the NHS now that we’ve left, please?

27 Soulful singer King, American tenor, first part of harmony set lower
BENEATH
A charade of BEN E, A, T and H for the first letter of ‘harmony’. Referencing Ben E King, of The Drifters and Stand by Me fame.

 

Down

2 GOP grandees can rage about old school competition
EGG-AND-SPOON RACE
An insertion of O in (GOP GRANDEES CAN)* The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the anagrind is ‘rage’.

3 Analgesic property of tempo più mosso
OPIUM
Hidden in tempO PIU Mosso.

4 Note Ms Goddard in a flap?
EPAULETTE
A charade of E for the musical ‘note’ and PAULETTE, referencing the American actress Paulette Goddard.

6 Arab, 23, giving Ms Heard a change of heart
AMEER
An alternative spelling of EMIR, so an ‘Arab noble’. Referencing Amber Heard, the American actress: Knut is asking you to replace the middle letter B with an M E.

7 Unique feature found in British Airways’ porcelain?
BONE CHINA
An insertion of ONE CHIN in BA.

8 New hospital – rats all over the place, no real punishment
A SLAP ON THE WRIST
(NEW HOSPITAL RATS)*

9 Fergie (United’s ultimate character): “Corrupt ref shocks you”
DUCHESS OF YORK
A charade of D for the last letter of ‘United’ and (REF SHOCKS YOU)* The surface suggests the footballing Fergie (Sir Alex, of ‘squeaky bum time’ fame); but the solution refers to Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew and together with him, a gift that keeps on giving. She’s just become a granny. Bless.

15 One’s sent to treat Cuban male in trouble
AMBULANCE
(CUBAN MALE)* for the vehicle that’s ultimately derived from the Latin verb ‘to walk’, ambulare.

17 Refreshing draught or a fruity cocktail?
SEA BREEZE
A dd. The cocktail is a mixture of vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice, I learned this morning.

21 Where guests were forced to drink up, necking last bit of vodka?
GULAG
More vodka. An insertion of A for the last letter of that word in GLUG, all reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘necking’ and the reversal indicator, since it’s a down clue, is ‘up’.

23 Spending a billion, bribe aristo
NOBLE
NOB[B]LE or NO[B]BLE, take your pick.

Many thanks to the Little Bear for this morning’s puzzle.

 

26 comments on “Independent 10,715/Knut”

  1. Very nice start to the day. Thanks to Knut, and to Pierre for the entertaining blog.

    ASKANT was a LOL moment for us, but there was much else to enjoy. We hadn’t heard of Paulette Goddard, and were held up by trying to fit B.B. King into 27ac, but everything dropped into place soon enough.

  2. Enjoyed this today, took me some time to find a way in but once going I was alright. Like Pierre I didn’t know all the names – my only “Ms Goddard” reference was “Give is a clue”s Liza!

    ASKANT was my favourite and my first answer

    If anyone could help me out with the following:
    16a ) Why does ex-pupil=OB?
    6d) I don’t get how we know to replace the B in AMBER with E – I thought it was from 23d (NOBLE) ie “No B (l) E” with just “Arab” as the definition but that doesn’t quite work

    Thanks in advance

    Thanks to Knut and Pierre!

  3. Enjoyable solve. I missed some of the political references and only knew about Ant & Dec from past appearances in crossword land. UGLI was another to go in for the same reason. See what you mean about APATHY which I just bunged in without thinking.

    I particularly liked the ‘Fergie’ misdirection and have now learnt that a SEA BREEZE is more than just a meteorological phenomenon.

    Thanks to Knut and Pierre

  4. Tombsy @ 2
    Ob = old boy
    6d “change of heart” is direction to replace B with E ( not B with M – typo, I think in blog). Noble Arab is the definition.

  5. A nice treat on a rainy Monday morning [which I have to say makes a nice change from snow and wind chill]

    I did know all the ‘people’ and had lots of clues I ‘really liked’ but I’ll go for 14a as top favourite

    Thanks to Knut and Pierre

  6. Wordplodder @3. Only know Any & Dec from crosswords? You lucky person. Either you don’t live in the UK or don’t own a telly.

  7. Re 19a. We’ve had this discussion in the past. I think if you take “blocks” as “surrounds” it works (as, possibly, in army or naval blockades say).

  9. More or less what crypticsue said – but I’d like to mention LEG OVER, SESSIONS, ENOLA GAY, DANNY LA RUE and DUCHESS OF YORK, too.

    Re 19ac: my first {and second) thought was the same as Pierre’s but I settled for Hovis’ interpretation. I think the device works either way.

    Many thanks to Knut for an enjoyable and entertaining puzzle and to Pierre for a matching blog.

  10. [Hello Jonnybgoode @6. Yes, maybe this is one of those few times when I’m fortunate not to be a UK-based solver. I don’t think Ant & Dec have made it across the equator (yet), though someone will say if I’m wrong].

  11. [Hi all. I haven’t even attempted the puzzle yet so haven’t read blog or comments. I don’t know whether anyone here ever visits the Cracking The Cryptic website? Normally a sudoku site but very occasionally addresses a crossword. Last night I watched the cracking of last week’s themed Bluth and the last few minutes where the theme is exposed are quite humorous to watch. I attach a link here and, for those who have no interest in watching the solve, the penny drop moment begins pretty much exactly at the 28 minute mark in the video.]

  12. Turned out a DNF for me as I bunged in an unparsed ‘aslant’ at 14A – never heard ‘askant’ before, and neither had my spellchecker! I was agreeing with others about ‘apathy’ being incorrectly clued but I suppose it just about works. Surprisingly for me, I knew of all the many ‘celebrities’ involved. Thanks Knut and Pierre.

  14. Haven’t heard of Paulette Goddard so a dnf, unfortunately. Flapper just wasn’t enough to point me to EPAULETTE. Very much share Eileen’s favourites. To a T.

    Thanks Knut and Pierre

  15. As to the use of ‘blocks’ (in 19ac) I had the same feeling as Pierre in his blog.
    However, on third thoughts I agree with Hovis and Eileen that it can work either way as a containment indicator.
    Although the direction chosen by Knut is not the most obvious one.
    A device that is in a similar category as ‘tackle’ and ‘obstruct’.
    As ever a lot of GK but nothing stood in the way.
    The first one (and probably the only one) I think of when seeing ‘Ms Goddard’ is Liza. And Amber is more ‘Rudd’ than ‘Heard’ for me.
    But fine – I don’t mind all this name-dropping, even though 25ac was a bit contrived.
    A fun puzzle to solve!
    Many thanks to Pierre & Knut.

  16. Hmm – never heard of Liza Goddard but Paulette was a major film star back in the day.
    It always surprises me what/who people have/haven’t heard of.
    Last week’s Ctesiphon arch was about as obscure as it gets for me but all of today’s were well-known by comparison.
    A quick enjoyable solve for me.
    Thanks to Knut and Pierre

  17. Paulette Goddard was one name I didn’t know, once married to Charlie Chaplin, amongst others.
    Amber Heard was another, once married to Johnny Depp. Johnny who?
    Didn’t bother checking the parsing of the long anagrams – the letter count gave them away.
    Nice one, thanks RJ.

  18. Like NNI a@17, I just wrote the long anagrams in from the letter count, but then tussled a bit with some of the rest, not knowing the personnel. Made it in the end, so thanks to Knut and Pierre.

    PS It is possible to live in the UK and have a television and avoid seeing Ant & Dec, but it requires constant vigilance. As for Greg Wallace…..

  19. Fun to be able to solve this despite knowing hardly any of the names. As Pierre says, this is a cryptic! I know about Ant and Dec only because they show up so often in crosswords. Had the same puzzlement as others over 19A.

  20. We either knew or had vaguely heard of all the GK needed. The only thing we didn’t know was ASKANT although we do know ‘askance’.
    Jayjay@18: Agree about Ant and Dec – though we saw GW for the very first time at the weekend, but only because he was in Barcelona, one of our favourite cities. At least he has a suitcase with him when he checks into his hotel, unlike a certain flamboyantly dressed rail traveller! (sorry, Gaufrid, for going off-topic).
    Thanks to Knut and Pierre.

  21. Thanks Jonnybgoode @4 , I keep thinking I must start a list of these regular replacements rather than racking my brain thinking “ooo we’ve had this before “!

  22. Re 19 and blocks. We’ve had similar in the past with “without” where it can mean remove or surround. Nice if largely easy Knut so thanks to him and the Birdman of Fifteen squared.

  23. If there is actually an idea of a “Monday” puzzle, accessible, fun and without too many abstruse elements, then, for me, this was it.

  24. Thanks Knut,
    despite Amber Heard’s extensive recent media coverage which I have sadly read, it took me a long time to think of her from just the surname.
    Favourite clue was 19 – i just like clues that sound like a fortune cookie
    And I laughed out loud at 1a
    Many thanks Pierre

  25. Bit late to the party but you may like to know that Lady Caroline Lamb is an anagram of ‘I’d call Byron a male’.

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