Independent 10,826 by Tyrus

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Tyrus is known for rather tricky puzzles, and for themes / ninas with a political or topical content. So today . . .

Well, I found it tricky, anyway; there were a couple of rather obscure words, and a few awkward clues or loose definitions that gave me a sense of “well, I suppose that’s right” rather than “yes, of course”. But I liked the quirky definitions in 23a, 24a, 2d and 5d, and I also enjoyed 6d when I finally realised how it worked.

And the hidden message? It starts near the top right corner and goes round the edge clockwise. It seems that 25a 9a, in let’s-all-do-our-bit-for-the-environment mood a few months ago, said something like “what if each of us was a raindrop?”; there was a bit more to it than that, but I think Tyrus’s take on it is probably summed up by 21a (and the surface of 15a). Sadly 28a also seems relevant, but you can decide for yourself how to interpret some of the other solutions and surfaces. Thanks Tyrus for the challenge.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
8 IOTA
Letter idiot attempted to hide (4)
Hidden answer (. . . to hide) in [id]IOT A[ttempted].

The Greek letter I.
9 HARRY
Hound dangerous when one’s going for run (5)
HA[i]RY (slang for dangerous, as in “a hairy moment” – a brief scare), with the I (Roman numeral for one) going away, replaced by R (run, in cricket scoring).

Hound = harry = pursue aggressively.
10 ELIA
Lamb in trouble – ewe finally brought back (4)
AIL (trouble, as a verb) + last letter (finally) of [ew]E, all reversed (brought back).

Elia = pen name used by the writer Charles Lamb; I’d call this a bit obscure, except that it appears in crosswords often enough to be considered a standard trick.
11 ANGOLA
Land a record catch nearly on return (6)
A LOG (a record) + NA[b] (catch; nearly = last letter dropped), all reversed (on return).

Land = country, in south-west Africa.
12 APOSTLE
Supporter of pelota’s turning nasty (7)
Anagram (turning nasty) of PELOTA’S.

The word “apostle” originally meant an emissary or messenger, but it can be used loosely to mean one of a group of people associated with the founder of a religion, so “supporter”.
13 RHYL
Picked up burn in seaside resort (4)
Homophone (picked up) of RILL = burn = small stream. As usual, homophones are a matter of opinion and one’s own accent. The seaside resort of Rhyl is in north-east Wales, where the locals would generally pronounce the H along with the R, so they wouldn’t consider it a homophone of “rill”.
15 PRIVATE JET
Fool! One very involved with environment’s beginning to gush (when going by this?) (7,3)
I (one in Roman numerals) + V (very), contained (involved) in PRAT (fool), then the beginning of E[nvironment] + JET (as a verb = gush).

Extended definition: Tyrus is apparently not impressed by people who rack up air miles while claiming to be concerned about environmental issues.
17 AUSSIE
Commonwealth citizen is French too (and English) (6)
AUSSI (French for “too” = also) + E (English).
18 ILLUPI
I drag back one tree (6)
I + PULL (drag) reversed (back) + I (one in Roman numerals).

No, I didn’t know it either. Merriam-Webster tells me it’s a very useful East Indian tree, producing oil, edible flowers, and medicines; also called illipe.
21 SIMPLISTIC
‘Facile!’ as was written about current member with agenda (10)
SIC (as was written = an editor’s indication that text is being quoted verbatim without correction), around I (scientific symbol for electric current) + MP (member of parliament) + LIST (agenda).
23 HALF
Lethal force keeps order locally (4)
Hidden answer (. . . keeps) in [let]HAL F[orce].

Cryptic definition: “half” could be an order in a local (a pub), meaning half a pint of beer.
24 PITPROP
Time for Philip to protect supporter of mine (7)
T (time) + PRO (for), with PIP (short for Philip) around it (to protect).

A piece of timber used to support the roof of a mine (pit). Dictionaries disagree on whether it’s one word or two.
25 PRINCE
Worth engaging new singer? (6)
PRICE (worth), containing (engaging) N (new). This reminds me of the Oscar Wilde quote “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing”; in this sense I think “worth” is more “value” than “price”, but it’s close enough for crosswords.

The artist known variously as Prince Rogers Nelson, or just Prince, or an unpronounceable symbol.
27 AEON
Foot not party leader for a very long time (4)
[p]AEON (a foot = a unit of rhythm in classical poetry; iamb = foot is common enough in crosswords, but I don’t think I’ve seen this one before), without the P which is the leading letter of P[arty]. The surface presumably refers to Michael Foot, who stopped being the Labour Party leader nearly 40 years ago.
28 RIFTS
Female in prison returned to cause divisions (5)
F (female) in STIR (slang for prison) reversed (returned).
29 ARIA
One song rejected for another (4)
A (the indefinite article = one), then AIR (song) reversed (rejected).

Another word for song; but in fact it’s the same word, in Italian instead of English.
DOWN
1 NOUN
No-one at Cannes that could be common (4)
We need to split “No-one”: NO + UN (“one” in French, for example in the French Riviera resort of Cannes).

As in “common noun” (an ordinary word for something generic) as opposed to “proper noun” (a name).
2 DAMOCLES
Swordsman regularly on call visiting ladies? (8)
Alternate letters (regularly) of O[n] C[a]L[l], in (visiting) DAMES (ladies).

As in “the sword of Damocles”, an ancient story representing the ever-present danger faced by a ruler (despite all his wealth and luxury) as a sword hanging over his head by a single hair.
3 RHEA
Fast runner‘s beaten hare (4)
Anagram (beaten) of HARE.

A bird related to the ostrich and emu; it can’t fly but is pretty good at running.
4 ORGANIC
Cast racing round at first – that’s natural (7)
Anagram (cast = thrown) of RACING, with O (round) at first.
5 PYROMANIAC
Copper arresting unknown country fireman? (10)
PC (police constable = copper, in slang), containing (arresting) Y (mathematical symbol for an unknown number) + ROMANIA (a country).

Cryptic definition: one who starts fires (arsonist), not one who puts them out.
6 WESTIE
Dog active, see, with tail docked (6)
Anagram (active) of SEE WIT[h], with the last letter (tail) docked. It took me a very long time to see how that worked.

Short name for a West Highland White Terrier.
7 HIKE
Put up with Hungary’s president (4)
H (abbreviation for Hungary) + IKE (nickname of US President Eisenhower).

Hike = put up = increase (prices).
14 HOURI
Beautiful woman‘s demand for attention – say you are engaged! (5)
HOI (a shout demanding attention), containing (engaging) U R which is a homophone (say) of “you are”.
15 PREMIER CRU
Before mixing rum and rice wine – top quality (7,3)
PRE (before), then an anagram (mixing) of RUM + RICE.
16 EXPEL
Kick out old footballer who can’t finish (5)
EX (prefix meaning “old” in the sense of “former”) + PEL[e] (Pelé = Brazilian footballer; can’t finish = last letter dropped).
19 LAH-DI-DAH
Posh boy Henry grabbed – I owned up (3-2-3)
LAD (boy), containing (. . . grabbed) H (abbreviation for King Henry), then I, then HAD (owned) reversed (up, in a down clue).
20 STOP-OFF
Post result of this interruption to journey (4-3)
Reverse anagram: POST is the result of an anagram (off) of STOP.
22 PUT-ONS
Jokes about a couple of heartless hoaxes (3-3)
PUNS (jokes) around (about) T[w]O (a couple; heartless = middle letter dropped).
24 PHEW
Power cut – glad to have survived that! (4)
P (scientific symbol for power) + HEW (cut, typically to cut wood with an axe).

Phew! = an exclamation of relief after escaping a tricky situation.
25 PESO
Pose dressed for not much money (4)
Anagram (dressed) of POSE.

The monetary unit of either Brazil or the Philippines, equivalent to a few US cents.
26 CHIC
Smart hotel guarded by top soldier initially (4)
H (abbreviation for hotel) contained in (guarded by) CIC (abbreviation for Commander-In-Chief = top soldier). “Initially” indicates the abbreviation (initial letters only), but I think the clue would work just as well without it.

15 comments on “Independent 10,826 by Tyrus”

  1. I love Tyrus/Vlad crosswords. Needed the nina to get NOUN & WESTIE. For some reason, ORGANIC took me ages.

  2. The difference between a Tyrus and a Vlad seems to be that Tyrus puzzles very often have a topical nina whilst being possibly a tad trickier.
    So about halfway through this I started to see something emerging which was a big boost to the finish line and googling what I had led to the full context-making this the pick of the day.
    Good on you JT and thanks Quirister

  5. A very clever puzzle (slightly too clever for me at times, though I got there in the end, with a bit of help). I missed the nina, but the quote escaped my attention too. PRIVATE JET was a peach of a clue.

  6. I suspected the Nina early on, but I can’t say it helped much with the grid until the very end. I was unfamiliar with the phrase quoted, which I see has been paraphrased (Tyrus has changed “every one” into “each”); would that he had also taken the opportunity to correct “was” to the subjunctive, since as far as I am aware we are not in fact raindrops.

    An enjoyable if slightly chunky solve. Thanks, Tyrus and Quirister.

  7. Good point Ian. Ashamed to say I didn’t notice the was/were issue. The extra letter would require an entirely different grid mind you.

  8. True. For the record, the full original quotation appears to be “What if every single one of us was a raindrop?”

  9. Well well.. spotted the Nina AND it helped hugely in the later stages particularly round the top where I had been stuck for quite a while.. certainly I found it hard as solves go.. but saw most of the clues through without as much help as I expected.. I did need help with ELIA as I’d not encountered it/him either in or out of crossword land… n I was a trifle annoyed with ILLUPI which I parsed as such but couldn’t find it either on Google or Chambers.. well only when spelt ILLUPAI.. so had to wait till all the crossers were in to confirm.. hmm..
    Thanks Tyrus n Quirister

  10. Thanks Tyrus and Quirister

    What a superb puzzle. Winkled out the nina but didn’t know the full context.

    Tyrus is one of an elite who can set topical puzzles with clues that are wrinkly enough to look impenetrable, but afterwards you think ‘Why did I find that tricky?’.

  11. Nasty seems at best superfluous in 12a
    Would have preferred ‘old/ex president’ in 7d too.
    13a would have been easier if my printout hadn’t made it look like BUM instead of BURN!
    Enjoyed 6d and the lovely smooth surface for 23a
    Thanks to Tyrus and Quirister

  12. So, redddevil @11, what does that mean then: “Supporter of pelota’s turning”?
    Superb!
    Many thanks to Tyrus for a crossword that I found not really his hardest, and to Quirister too.

  13. A good challenge from Tyrus today. Spotting the nina was a considerable help in finishing although we have to confess that it didn’t mean anything to us till we googled it. We needed Chambers to confirm ILLUPI, and HALF was only pencilled in until the nina settled it. On the other hand we’re both old enough to remember Ike as President so 7dn wasn’t a problem.
    Favourites were SIMPLISTIC, DAMOCLES and PREMIER CRU.
    Thanks, Tyrus and Quirister.

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