A puzzle from Bluth. I am a Bluth fan because his clues generate interesting wordplay and he usually has something quirky in the grid.
The puzzle today celebrates the American caricaturist AL HIRSCHFELD [1903 – 2003]. HIRSCHFELD was a talented artist but also became known for including NINA, the name of his daughter in many of his pictures created after her birth in 1943. It is from HIRSCHFELD that we get the crossword NINA, a message hidden somewhere in the grid. For a time HIRSCHFELD stopped putting NINA in his work but he got so many messages urging him to restart that he relented and put NINA‘s name in again.
HIRSCHFELD said that the insertion of NINA was a "HARMLESS prank" that turned into a "NATIONAL insanity". Some references juxtapose the words HARMLESS and INSANITY in a quote. You can read more about HIRSCHFELD by clicking here here and there are plenty of examples of his work on the internet.
In the grid today [pictured below], the perimeter spells out AL HIRSCHFELD HARMLESS INSANITY starting with the first letter of 31 across and reading clockwise round the unchecked letters in the perimeter.
There are also two occurrences of NINA in the unchecked letters of rows 7 and 9.
Given the constraints of the placement of the thematic letters, Bluth has done well to create a grid with fairly common words and phrases. For me, the most obscure entry was EAU DE VIE at 3 down.
The clues were excellent, with too many good ones to list individually. I liked the linking of LIMA and MALAWI and once I understood the clue for EAU DE VIE I thought that too was excellent.
This paragraph is a bit of a ramble through my thought processes on a clue I can’t parse. Feel free to ignore it. There is one clue though where the word play eludes me completely and that is the one for AERATE at 7 down. I think the definition is simply ‘to inflate’ but I struggle with other parts. ‘Balloon’ also means inflate. An AEROSTAT is a balloon and OS [outsize] means big but I don’t see how to remove OS and the first T and there is still an E missing at the end. What about ‘for example’ and ‘say’. Example is EG and say could be STATE but I need to get rid of the G in EG and the ST in STATE as well as finding an A at the beginning and an R in the middle. Then there is the word ‘flipping’ that usually indicates a reversal, but nothing leaps out at me. At this point I haven’t mentioned the words ‘blue’ or ‘work out’ either so there is a lot I don’t understand. I’m old enough to remember IBM being referred to as ‘big blue’ but that doesn’t help me either. Other potential elements of wordplay that have flitted into my mind are AGGREGATE (big) which has ERG (unit of work reversed [flipping] within it). Enough rambling, almost certainly there is something very simple that I have missed so I look forward to being told how the wordplay works.
The completed grid with highlighting looks like this.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 8 |
On top of St Paul’s cathedral there’s one copper not quite freezing (6) CUPOLA (dome; there is one on the top of St Paul’s Cathedral) CU (chemical symbol for copper) + POLAR (of the geographical poles where the temperature is usually freezing) excluding the final letter R (not quite) CU POLA |
| 9 |
Military help broadcast position (3,5) AIR COVER (protection given by fighter aircraft to other forces during a military operation; military help) AIR (broadcast) + COVER (fielding position in cricket) AIR COVER |
| 10 |
Line to appear conversational (4) SEAM (line of stitching) SEAM (sounds like [conversational] SEEM [appear]) SEAM |
| 11 |
Daughter joins a corporation – that’s a fact (5) DATUM (a fact) D (daughter) + A + TUM (stomach; corporation) D A TUM |
| 12 |
Buggy memory on laptop, ultimately (4) PRAM (a buggy is a form of pushchair or small pram) P (last letter of [ultimately] LAPTOP) + RAM (Random Access Memory) P RAM |
| 13 |
Romeo – oddly only Romeo – reveals no-win situation (8) ROLLOVER (deferred lottery prize where the current week’s prize is added to next week’s for instance when there is no winner in the current week) R (Romeo is the international radio codeword for the letter R) + OL (letters 1 and 3 [oddly] of ONLY) + LOVER (Romeo) R OL LOVER |
| 15 |
Bird or Turkey stuffing – go large (6) PETREL (bird of the genus Procellaria related to the albatrosses and fulmars) (TR [international vehicle registration for Turkey] contained in [stuffing] PEE [urinate; go]) + L [large]) PE (TR) E L |
| 16 |
Repaired noisier air-freshener (7) IONISER (electrical apparatus that contributes to clearing the air by restoring to it the negative charges destroyed by pollution) Anagram of (repaired) NOISIER IONISER* |
| 18 |
Initially men are recording sound of cow with Electronic Kit? (7) MARLOWE (reference Christopher [Kit] MARLOWE [1564 – 1593], English playwright) MAR (first letters of [initially] each of MEN, ARE and RECORDING) + LOW (sound made by a cow) + E (electronic) MAR LOW E |
| 22 |
Very old have nurse to push forward (6) HASTEN (drive forward) HAST (archaic [very old] form of ‘have’) + EN (enrolled nurse) HAST EN |
| 25 |
Narrow escape as armies moving east to west within nanoseconds (4,4) NEAR MISS (narrowly avoid collision escape; narrow escape) (ARMIES with E [east] moving left [moving to west] to the front of the word to form EARMIS) contained in (within) NS (nanoseconds) N (EAR MIS) S |
| 27 |
32 spending a week cycling to see capital city (4) LIMA (capital city of Peru) MALAWI (entry at 32 across) excluding (spending) (A + W [week]) and the remaining letters MALI cycled two places left and around to form LIMA LIMA |
| 28 |
Sofa frame (5) COUCH (type of sofa) COUCH (express ideas in a particular type of language; frame an expression) double definition COUCH |
| 29 |
Scotsman’s focus on game’s periods of excitement (4) RUTS (annual periods of sexual excitement in male deer) RU (Rugby Union; game) + TS (central letters of [focus] SCOTSMAN) RU TS |
| 31 |
A bread almost always contained moisturising agent (4,4) ALOE VERA (variety of ALOE plant or especially the juice of its leaves [thought to have healing and other qualities] used in cosmetics such as moisturising agents) A + (EVER [always] contained in [contained] LOAF [bread] excluding the final letter F [almost]) A LO (E VER) A |
| 32 |
Country music’s lead artist’s opening act one (6) MALAWI (country in Africa) M (first letter of [lead] MUSIC) + A (initial letter of [one] ARTIST) + LAW (act [of parliament]) + I (Roman numeral for 1) M A LAW I |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Embrace European giant (4) HUGE (giant) HUG (embrace) + E (European) HUG E |
| 2 |
Make metal stiff (6) FORMAL (punctilious or methodical; stiff) FORM (make) + AL (chemical symbol for aluminium; metal) FORM AL |
| 3 |
Spirit of burlesque – essentially, topless form of entertainment, with no lines (3,2,3) EAU DE VIE (brandy; spirit) E (central letter of [essentially] BURLESQUE) + VAUDEVILLE (form of variety entertainment) excluding the first letter V [topless] and also excluding each occurrence of L [line] [with no lines]) E AU DE VIE |
| 4 |
Film theatre replaces variable, new projector (7) LANTERN (magic LANTERN [projector]) LAYER (thickness of some substance; coating; film) with NT (National Theatre) replacing [replaces] Y (symbol representing a variable value in mathematics) to form LANTER + N (new) LANTER N |
| 5 |
Canvass doctor and upper class politician about university (4,2) DRUM UP (evoke or obtain support by canvassing) DR (doctor) + U (upper class) + (MP [Member of Parliament; politician] containing [about] U [university]) DR U M (U) P |
| 6 |
Perhaps Guy’s in control at IPSO – hacking’s over (8) HOSPITAL (reference Guy’s HOSPITAL in London) HOSPITAL (reversed [over] hidden word in [in] CONTROL AT IPSO HACKING) HOSPITAL< IPSO is the Independent Press Standards Organisation which makes the clue very clever in respect of historical phone hacking by some elements of the press |
| 7 |
To inflate, for example, say, big, blue balloon – flipping work out (6) AERATE (put air into; inflate) I am completely defeated by the wordplay for this – see preamble above for my rambling thoughts on the wordplay. AERATE |
| 14 |
Artist born in Japan – or thereabouts (3) ONO (reference Yoko ONO [born 1933], Japanese multimedia artist) ONO (or nearest offer; thereabouts) double definition ONO |
| 17 |
Finishing off court activity without skill upset business connection? (8) INTRANET (restricted network of computers, e.g. within a business) (TENNIS [tennis is played on a court, so court activity] excluding the final letter [finishing {last letter} off] containing [without; outside] ART) all reversed (upset; down entry) (IN (TRA) NET)< |
| 19 |
Curse of the Mummy follows Rain Man occasionally (8) ANATHEMA (curse) ANA (letters 1, 3 and 5 [occasionally] of RAIN MAN) + THE + MA (Mummy) ANA THE MA |
| 20 |
Recalled gnome used to be… (3) WAS (used to be) SAW (saying or proverb; a gnome is also a pithy and sententious saying, generally in verse, embodying some moral sentiment or precept) reversed (recalled) WAS< |
| 21 |
… cool, showing wit – but not our one, it’s beastly? (7) INHUMAN (brutal; beastly) IN (up-to-date; cool) + HUMOUR (wit) excluding (but not) OUR + AN (one) IN HUM AN |
| 23 |
David Lynch hides with enthusiasm (6) AVIDLY (with enthusiasm) AVIDLY (hidden word in (hides) DAVID LYNCH) AVIDLY |
| 24 |
Name-dropping family member in Northern Ireland’s central parts (6) NUCLEI (central parts) UNCLE (family member) excluding (dropping) N (name) contained in (in) NI (Northern Ireland) N (UCLE) I |
| 25 |
Lessons from Master before exams (6) MORALS (practical lessons that can be drawn) M (master) + ORALS (types of examinations) M ORALS |
| 30 |
Finally get to airshow in Bournemouth, say (4) TOWN (Bournemouth is an example of a TOWN) TOWN (last letters [finally] of each of GET, TO, AIRSHOW and IN) T O W N |
AERATE is ALLITERATE with TILL< removed.
Hovis @ 1
Thanks for that explanation which makes it very clear how the wordplay for AERATE works. I now see what purpose big, blue balloon is serving.
I’ll leave my rambling in the preamble anyway just to show that bloggers don’t always get it right.
Bluth never ceases to amaze me with his ingenuity. An absolutely superb themed puzzle. Managed to parse everything except ONO. I bunged that in, assuming the clue referred to Yoko but never thought of Or Nearest Offer, so thanks Duncan.
Although I spotted NINA twice in the grid, the rest of the theme went right over my head. There were a lot of nice clues to be found with clever wordplay and I enjoyed the solve.
I too failed to parse 7d and came here hoping for enlightenment, but it seems that Duncan is in the same boat. The surface of this clue was rather strange too, as was that for 15a, but most of the other surfaces were very smooth.
Many thanks to Bluth and to Duncan.
Ah! I see Hovis @1 has explained the wordplay for 7d. Thanks.
A tricky crossword – if only I’d spotted the Nina – but the usual high Bluth entertainment factor
Thanks to Bluth and Duncan
Great puzzle. A real struggle though, with a nice reward at the end (peripherally and centrally) for completing the grid correctly. I found EAU DE VIE, LANTERN and AERATE (which I did finally manage to parse), very hard and there were few write-ins among the others. “Only” a 3- letter clue, but like Hovis @3, I never was able to work out the parsing of ONO, so thanks for the explanation.
Spoilt for choice and almost a random favourite for today was the ‘periods of excitement’ def for RUTS.
Thanks to Bluth and Duncan
I too like Bluth but tripped up; more than once and completely missed the theme
Thanks though
I’m always on the lookout for a theme (a) on Tuesdays, and (b) with a perimeter of evenly spaced unches, so when ‘…less insanity’ seemed to be on the way at bottom left, this helped solve the clues in that corner. But ‘Al Hirschfeld’ (of whom I knew nothing) only sprang forth on completion. Thanks Bluth and Duncan.
Super grid. Thanks Bluth, Duncan
I very much enjoyed the start, particularly CUPOLA and the first few across clues, but then it all went pear-shaped when I hit LANTERN and AERATE.
For AERATE I put in a lot less thought than Duncan clearly did as I am automatically put off by that type of chopped up clue, but apart from the extremely convoluted construction I would note that the comma in ‘…say, big…’ is unnecessarily misleading, when leaving it out would have been both more accurate and possibly helpful.
My trouble with LANTERN is with ‘Film theatre replaces variable …’, when what is meant is ‘film with theatre replacing variable’. I cannot read ‘film theatre replaces variable’ in a way that means ‘theatre replaces variable’ relates to a variable in ‘film’. That said, it’s common practice – standard construction for eg. Tyrus – and nobody else seems be bothered by it. I just find it very awkward and unnatural, and often just can’t spot it, as here.
@10
You make very good points. I think this kind of problem gets less exposure here because this medium tends to make people think of clues as cut up into discrete bits. Really good clues have cryptic readings that work as a whole (sometimes they only work as a whole). And punctuation sometimes does matter.
For AERATE I think “To inflate, say, for example, big, blue balloon – flipping work out” might be better, despite the clumsier surface.
For LANTERN, what it means, I guess, is “Film (theatre replaces variable) new projector”, which obviously wrecks the surface. Just changing it to “Film theatre replacing variable, new projector” would probably be a bit better though.
I should add that as a whole the construction and clueing here are awesomely good. It’s possibly the best Nina-based puzzle I’ve ever seen.
Well that well and truly marked my cards. Bluth 1 – 0 Blah. I look forward to a rematch.
Thanks both
I should probably correct my comment @3. It’s not so much a themed puzzle but one with very clever ninas. I guess this is ok for a Tuesday Independent.
It’s always a relief to come here with no idea of what a clue meant and then discover the blogger was in the same boat! Overall I found the rest of the puzzle tough in places but some lovely clues. I share duncanshiell’s respect for the combination of LIMA and MALAWI. Only got part of the perimeter nina, not remembering Al Hirschfeld’s name, but yet again a great achievement in setting.
Thanks to Bluth for the challenge and duncanshiell for the blog.
I’m in awe of Bluth, duncanshiell, and Hovis for devising and spotting with such ingenuity. ROLLOVER was one great clue among many.
Thanks for the blog, Duncan and thanks for the thoroughly interesting comments so far. For what it’s worth, when Eimi told me this was scheduled for today I had a look back at it to see which clues I’d use when tweeting a link etc – and I completely overlooked the Nina and had no memory of building the puzzle around it – so it was an oddly pleasant surprise to see the blog today!
Never mind parsing 7dn, I couldn’t even see what the answer was supposed to be. (A couple of other clues also defeated me.) Finally came here to see what the answer should be.
I’m new to Independent crosswords and to the Independent App with its delightful red/black letter cheat option! I’ve always been very sniffy about the check button on the Guardian app, and have resolutely stuck to the paper version, while at the same time bitterly complaining that some crosswords were stupidly hard because they relied on people cheating with these apps. Well, if you can’t beat them, join them! I’m now addicted and I really enjoyed this clever crossword. Thank you Bluth and Duncan.
Thanks Bluth and Duncan- what a great puzzle and as so often I completely missed the theme/Nina until I came to read this blog which is always a nice if face-palming surprise! Hirschfield and the origin of Nina is all news to me – every day is a school day!