Independent 10,844 by Methuselah

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Methuselah makes his third appearance in the Indy today.

We had the pleasure of blogging Methuselah’s previous offering and we have to say that initially we didn’t really enjoy this one as much – some of the clues seemed rather convoluted, with some strange definitions.

We were initially completely stumped by 26ac, which contains an obscure (to us) homophone. We were then somewhat baffled by the ‘wordplay’ in 22d…..

However, having sought help for 26ac, we were able to confirm 22d, and after much puzzling, the penny dropped and we have to take our hats off to Methuselah for the amazing clue construction – all our initial concerns about the clues were unjustified given the masterful endgame. The endgame is revealed at the bottom of the blog, so as not to spoil the fun for those who have not rumbled the extraordinary ‘theme’ suggested in 22d.

Thanks and admiration to Methuselah for a real tour de force.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
7. Initially mysterious pseudonyms shifting one’s anxious feelings (8)
MALAISES

M (first or ‘initial’ letter of mysterious) ALIASES (pseudonyms) with the ‘i’ moving to the right

9. Influential American wants one of Groucho’s kin sent into retirement (5)
OPRAH

HARPO (‘one of Groucho’s kin’ – from the Marx Brothers) reversed or ‘sent into retirement’ – a reference to Oprah Winfrey, the ‘influential’ American Talk-Show host

10. Church stands next to empty Russian laboratory (4)
CERN

CE (church) + RussiaN without the middle letters or ’empty’ – a reference to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, builder of the Large Hadron Collider

11. Unusual chemise and odd robe regularly stained (10)
BESMIRCHED

An anagram (‘unusual’) of CHEMISE and the alternate or ‘regular’ letters of oDd RoBe

12. Someone in The Imitation Game, perhaps? (5)
ACTOR

A cryptic definition – an ACTOR imitates the character he or she is portraying, and ACTORs appear in the film ‘The Imitation Game’

14. Made from denim, Rodin’s first couple of pieces took subject less seriously (7)
MINORED

An anagram (‘made from’) of DENIM and ROdin (first two letters only)

15. Lines going around the world will snub Luther’s latest theses (6)
TOPICS

TrOPICS (lines going round the world) without or ‘snubbing’ the ‘r’ (last or ‘latest’ letter in Luther)

16. Parasite essentially libels medic with virus (3,3)
BED BUG

The middle or ‘essential’ letters of liBEls meDic + BUG (virus)

19. Effortlessly quirky Dali bored by a certain piece in Spain? On the contrary (7)
READILY

An anagram (‘quirky’) of DALI in REY (Spanish for ‘king’ – a ‘piece’ on a chess board) – the clue suggests that the DALI anagram is outside (‘bored by’) REY, but it’s the other way round (‘on the contrary’)

21. Urge some lesser Pentagon characters to turn to the other side (5)
PRESS

Hidden (‘some characters’) and reversed (‘turned to the other side’) in leSSER Pentagon

23. Desperately stir acidic bits of crème fraîche? (10)
DIACRITICS

An anagram (‘desperately’) of STIR ACIDIC – the ‘bits’ being the grave and circumflex accents

24. Greek character placing ring on yours truly – much obliged! (4)
IOTA

O (ring) after or ‘on’ I (yours truly) + TA (much obliged)

25. During chorus, trumpeters play strings (5)
STRUM

Hidden (‘during’) in choruS TRUMpeters

26. Soprano picked up yeti, perhaps, as a bit of theatrical action (8)
SCRIPTED

We were stumped by this one, but with a bit of help we found that it is: S (soprano) + a homophone (‘picked up’) of CRYPTID – a word we have never come across before (it’s not in Chambers!). Apparently, according to an online search, it means ‘an animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated’ – a perfect description of a yeti

DOWN
1. Gadget for film or photography that’s part of the machine age (6)
CAMERA

CAM (part of a machine) ERA (age)

2. Forest dweller still in its youth‘s a horny spirit, we hear (4)
FAWN

A homophone (‘we hear’) of FAUN (‘horny spirit’ – in Roman myth, a rural deity having a man’s body and a goat’s horns, ears, tail and hind legs)

3. CIA meeting with Boris for a change, levelly maintaining pressure (8)
ISOBARIC

An anagram (‘for a change’) of CIA and BORIS – referring to isobars on a weather map

4. Fancy peccadillo finally committed away from home (6)
NOTION

O (last or ‘final’ letter of peccadillo) in (‘committed’) NOT IN (away from home)

5. A pair of experts tackling sort of dog that can be secured (10)
PROCURABLE

PRO and ABLE (two synonyms of ‘expert’) round or ‘tackling’ CUR (dog)

6. One’s learned to be vigilant about roaming charges (8)
SHEEPDOG

Cryptic definition – the ‘roaming charges’ being the sheep

8. US representative drills through ecclesiastical site (it’s a source of oil) (6)
SESAME

SAM (‘US representative’ as in Uncle Sam) in or ‘drilling through’ SEE (ecclesiastical site)

13. Performers of one kind or another taking lead from tempo instead of libido (3,7)
TAP DANCERS

lAP DANCERS (a kind of performers) with the ‘l’ (first letter or ‘lead’ of ‘libido’) replaced by T (‘lead’ from tempo)

15. Cockney’s extremely vigorous when holding up flight, ultimately making you the last to arrive (8)
TARDIEST

hARDIEST (‘extremely vigorous’ dropping the ‘h’, as Cockneys are renowned for doing) after or ‘holding up’ (in a down clue) T (last or ‘ultimate’ letter of flight)

17. Big reveal sees English banker trap unknown figure by safe (8)
EXPOSURE

E (English) PO (‘banker’ – river) round or ‘trapping’ X (unknown figure) + SURE (safe)

18. Certain philosophers revolutionised science with big apple (6)
CYNICS

SCI (science) NYC (New York City – ‘the big apple’) reversed or ‘revolutionised’

20. Writer had visor and mask lifted now and again to deliver some vernacularisms (6)
IDIOMS

I’D (writer had) + alternate letters (‘now and again’) of vIsOr and MaSk

22. Post for Methuselah? (Letters for 26 others are enclosed here too) (6)
SETTER

We guessed at this solution – Methuselah’s ‘post’ or job being a SETTER, but at first we couldn’t figure out the relevance of the remainder of the clue. We couldn’t believe that Methuselah had somehow managed to get 26 other setters names into the grid, and after nearly giving up we spotted Dalibor in the clue for 18 across… and the rest is history!

24. Little monkeys and little apes scratching skin on crotch (4)
IMPS

chIMPS (little apes) without or ‘scratching’ ‘c’ and ‘h’ (first and last letters or ‘skin’ of crotch)

 

THE ENDGAME:

There are 26 Indy setters’ names hidden in the clues – one in each clue except 7ac (which refers to ‘initially mysterious pseudonyms’) and 22d – the ‘gateway’. They are as follows:

9ac: HOSKINS

10ac: TYRUS

11ac: ALCHEMI

12ac: EIMI

14ac: NIMROD

15ac: BLUTH

16ac: TEES

19ac: DALIBOR

21ac: SERPENT

23ac: RAICH

24ac: HOB

25ac: PETER

26ac: ATRICA

1d: MORPH

2d: NITSY

3d: ANGEL

4d: DILL

5d: KLINGSOR

6d: GILA

8d: ECCLES

13d: POINS

15d: IVOR (Thanks cruciverbophile)

17d: PUNK

18d: PHI

20d: MEV

24d: MONK

 

 

30 comments on “Independent 10,844 by Methuselah”

  1. Well I was defeated by 26a and 22d. I’m embarrassed to say I never even cottoned on to Methuselah being the setter’s pseudonym . D’oh!

    Well done spotting what 22d was referring to – what an achievement! Bravo! I’ve now used up my annual quota for exclamation marks.

  2. I think we need to invent another punctuation mark, Hovis. No amount of exclamation marks would do the job! What an incredible achievement which certainly excuses the occasional bit of what initially seemed clunky wordplay. Not often I’m lost for words!

    Funnily enough, I spotted Nimrod! But the concept of there being others hidden away never entered my mind.

    Chapeau Methuselah and B&J for the first class blog and well managed reveal.

  3. Very clever. I echo B & J’s sentiment that some rather convoluted clues can be excused in the light of the endgame. Like Hovis, I was defeated by 26 across, even when I looked at all the possibilities with a wordfinder.

    I think the setter at 15 down is Vigo, no?

  4. Absolutely stunning feat of clueing! Along with Rodriguez’s recent alphabetical marvel, a contender for blocked puzzle of the year, surely.

  6. I feel a little left out! (Unless you count 25a…)

    Amazing clueing, hearty congratulations to METHUSELAH, and to B&J

  7. I also failed to get SETTER and SCRIPTED plus a couple of others so no joy. Hats off to B&J for figuring it out (I’d be interested to know who else did) and to Methuselah.

  8. Won’t be a massive surprise to learn we were nowhere near the theme , albeit we did think 22d was the clue we had no idea what to , and we did think the clues were a bit convoluted

    Needed a bit of help today but broadly do-able in the main

    Amazing work Methuselah and well done to B&J for spotting it and then tirelessly working through all 26!

  9. Taken as a straightforward puzzle I found this to be middling although I did like SHEEPDOG & TAP DANCERS. 26a was the last to fall the right way as I’d entered Strophes – Soprano with trophies – and couldn’t understand why 22d was SETTER.
    Ah well – one for the in crowd, I guess!

  11. Well.. spotted a few names in passing but didn’t really think much of it… maybe I’m not familiar enough with all the setters pseudonyms… nice gesture by Methusela… tbh.. took me all my time just solving the clues..
    Thanks Methusela n Bertandjoyce

  12. Thank you Bertandjoyce for explaining SCRIPTED and the “big reveal” which, as an infrequent dipper into Indy waters, I would never in a million years have spotted. Thanks also PostMark@2 for the tip to look at this one though on the whole my feelings follow jane@9 – having learned STROPHE yesterday I was keen to use it again today but not to be. I thought that “most” would work better than “extremely” in TARDIEST without harming the surface nor affecting the setter inclusion, and didn’t know what “certain” was doing in READILY. But DIACRITICS was very nice and CYNICS gave me a lovely image of Newton and an apple the size of Baldrick’s dream turnip, thanks Methuselah and well done on your feat.

  13. I had a sneak peek at this, and also initially thought a few of the clues were unusually phrased. Which, having once set a puzzle myself with certain constraints imposed on the clues, should really have alerted me to what was going on. Especially since I spotted Nimrod too. But anyway, amazing work, Methuselah, and thanks for the mention! Faves: SHEEPDOG, CYNICS, IMPS

  14. 22d was my LOI, and I couldn’t see what it was all about. I could only spot 2 setters, CUR and DOG, in the completed grid!
    Couldn’t parse 26a, 23a was a new word for me, and couldn’t see where the first C in 18d came from (only ever seen the big apple as NY before).
    I don’t do the Indy every day, so I didn’t know about half of the real setters, but I still failed to spot any of the ones I did know. A tour de force, and I’ll look out for Methuselah in future.

  15. I really struggled with over half the clues so didn’t find this the most enjoyable challenge of the week, but now I know what Methuselah was up to I am in awe of the achievment.

  16. NNI @14. I’ve heard it said (but not necessarily correctly) that NY is only short for New York as a state and the city should be NYC. Having said that, setters often use NY for the city. Maybe one of our American solvers can shed light on this.

  17. Such clues, it seemeth, use lah-di-dah words… OK, I give up – see why the setter’s own name wasn’t hidden. Great job though!

  18. We just couldn’t get 26ac and 22dn, even after using ‘reveal’ for the crossing E, although we did then think of SETTER but had no idea about the ’26 others’. I suppose the wordiness of the clues ought to have told us someting was going on, but it all passed us by. Certainly a stiff challenge but we almost got there.
    Thanks, Methuselah and B&J.

  19. My pet hate is when you have to know the setter’s name, because it isn’t shown on the paid for crossword (only when you press the question mark for help). And references to other setters make the crossword seem like a puzzle designed for a clique of insiders, rather than one that welcomes newbies. So while I admire the skill, today’s hidden theme is my worst nightmare! So I’d say well done but don’t do it again!

  20. Ericw @19: I feel your pain. As a newbie – if that’s what you are – I can well imagine that this theme would be hugely challenging. The good news was you didn’t need to know the roster of setters to solve the clues. And this is one of those very rare themes – in my humble opinion – where the theme is almost designed to be a great reveal by someone else! Rather than just to be enjoyed by a clique. No-one here claims to have spotted the theme as they went and I suspect there is a world of non-blog reading solvers out there who have happily put this one away all filled in and with not a clue what they have missed. I was simply dumbstruck by the brilliant B&J reveal at the end and then went back and searched out the inclusions to marvel.

  21. Hovis@16, NNI@14, I’m not American and don’t know if you consider Motörhead to be a credible source, but the lyrics to their song “RAMONES” from the “1916” album begin: “New York City, NYC, pretty mean when it wants to be”. I’m certainly not going to argue with Lemmy.

  24. I was well defeated by this.

    Curiously, I guessed SCRIPTED for 26ac but rejected it because I thought cryptid was a word invented by Seanan McGuire for her fantasy series.

  26. I’m sure it’s very clever in the same way that people think Morrissey is a national treasure.
    Not at all my cup of tea and the obscure – to the majority – theme didn’t in any way excuse the clunky clues for me.
    Not often that I write UGH against more than one clue but I did here.
    Chaque un I guess.

  27. Thanks Bert and Joyce for an excellent write-up. I’m glad most people seem to think the convolutions were worth it. Particularly nice to see comments from other Indy setters. I’ve kindly left such pseudonyms as “Rodriguez”, “Crosophile”, “Silvanus” and “Flitwick” for them to smuggle into their next puzzle.

    I think Morrissey’s more of a nationalist treasure these days.

    Thanks everyone!

  28. Thanks for this and the pseudonym check. No problem with ghost themes once the puzzle can be solved without knowing anything about it, as was the case here. Thanks also to B&J for the blog. If it was going to be self-referential, maybe METH USE LAHore would have been called into play…

  29. I was very late to this (I don’t often pick up the Indy puzzles), but I’m glad I followed a tip-off to try this one, and I was amazed.
    I enjoyed solving this, except that I was completely stumped by SCRIPTED, but the bigger treat was simply to admire the theme that permeated the whole puzzle. 22d obviously hinted at something, and I was chuffed to spot Hoskins (a great clue), Nimrod and Serpent (three excellent cluesmiths who are familiar to me) as I went along. I didn’t find all the names, but I now see how well they have been hidden.

  30. Even later to this and much as AlanB@29 said – although I didn’t spot any setters. Chapeau Methuselah and B&J.

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