Radian’s latest puzzle adorns our screens this morning. And since today is Tuesday, we should expect a theme.
As themes go, this was one of the less well disguised one, in that clues and solutions alike are peppered with references to the world of sport. What is striking here is just how much thematic content Radian actually manages to squeeze into the grid and the clues.
I actually found this to be towards the harder end of the Indy spectrum in terms of difficulty. I started well but then ground to a halt, needing lots of patience before I finally sorted out the NE quadrant.
I would like fellow solvers to confirm my parsing at 8 and to explain the definition at 28 (“before change in terminology”) – thanks for explanation (see comments below). My favourite clues today are 2, 10 and 24, all for smoothness of surface and overall ingenuity; and 13, 26 and 27, for their (semi-) & lit. quality.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | BALANCE | Gymnast needs this // money in the bank
Double definition; one’s bank balance is the money in one’s bank account |
| 05 | ATROPHY | Declining what every player strives for
A TROPHY (=what every player strives for) |
| 10 | ISLE | Part of the Scillies, eastern half redeveloped
*(<scil>LIES); “eastern half” means letters 5-8 are used in anagram, indicated by redeveloped |
| 11 | IN QUESTION | Court investigation leader rejected for debate
INQUEST (=court investigation) + ION (NO1=leader; “rejected” indicates reversal) |
| 12 | IN VAIN | Useless way to carry goods I imported
I in [IN VAN (=way to carry goods)] |
| 13 | ATHLETIC | Ultimately fit and lithe, trained in air corps
*(<fi>T + LITHE) in AC (=air corps); “ultimately” means last letter only is used in anagram, indicated by trained; semi- & lit. |
| 14 | FLYWEIGHT | Boxer’s cunning with rowers
FLY (=cunning, sly) + W (=with) + EIGHT (=rowers, i.e. team thereof) |
| 16 | BINGO | Some rubbing out needed in this game
Hidden (“some … needed”) in “rubBING Out” |
| 17 | ABLER | Comparatively adept sailor with large margins of error
AB (=sailor, i.e. able-bodied seaman) + L (=large, of sizes) + E<rro>R (“margins of” means first and last letters only) |
| 19 | RACING CAR | Button container that needs refilling regularly
Cryptic definition: the reference is to UK F1 driver Jenson Button and his car, which needs regular pit stops for e.g. refuelling |
| 23 | FOOTWORK | Old couple in Split, dancing perhaps
[O (=old, as in OT) + TWO (=couple)] in FORK (=split, e.g. of road) |
| 24 | ELEVEN | Team in taxi missing reserves
“missing reserves (=TA, i.e. Territorial Army)” means letters “ta” are dropped from the word “<ta>XI” to leave the Roman numerals for “eleven (=team in various sports)” |
| 26 | SALES PITCH | A blend of chats and spiel?
*(CHATS + SPIEL); “a blend of” is anagram indicator; & lit. |
| 27 | GRAF | A good service was one of her strengths
G (=good) + RAF (=service, i.e. Royal Air Force); the reference is to German tennis legend Steffi Graf (1969-); & lit. |
| 28 | BATSMAN | Robin’s mate defending small member of 24 before change in terminology
S (=small, in sizes) in BATMAN (=Robin’s mate, in cartoons or film); the reference is to cricket, which has just decided to use the gender-neutral term “batter” instead! |
| 29 | SWEEPER | Son joins keener member of 24 at the back
S (=son) + WEEPER (=keener, mourner); in association football, a sweeper is a defensive player with no marking responsibility who assists the other defenders |
| Down | ||
| 02 | ARSENAL | London 24 seen primarily in 3 on left
[S<een> (“primarily” means first letter only) in ARENA (=entry at 3)] + L (=left); Arsenal is a London football team, hence “London eleven (=entry at 24)” |
| 03 | ARENA | Area near ground or the ground itself
A (=area) + *(NEAR); “ground (up)” is anagram indicator |
| 04 | CHIANTI | Letter opposing drink
CHI (=letter, of Greek alphabet) + ANTI (=opposing) |
| 06 | TEETHE | Golf supporter hires old character to produce choppers
ETH (=old character, in Old English alphabet) in TEE (=golf supporter) |
| 07 | ON THE WING | Location of member of 24’s old theatre cutting
O (=old, as in OT) + NT (=theatre, i.e. National Theatre) + HEWING (=cutting); there are wingers in e.g. a football team/XI (=entry at 24) |
| 08 | HOOKING | Stealing possible contents of mound in Suffolk?
Cryptically, one of the mounds at the archaeological site at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk could have contained the remains of a “Hoo King”, i.e. a King of East Anglia |
| 09 | SQUASH RACKETS | Police aim to do this sport
Police aim to shot down or squash e.g. drugs rackets; squash rackets is a game played with a small rubber ball in an enclosed court |
| 15 | WRESTLERS | Ring users with radical compounds, about 50
W (=with) + R (=radical) + [L (=50, in Roman numerals) in ESTERS (=compounds)] |
| 18 | BIODATA | A bit worried about old US lawman’s CV?
[O (old, as in OT) + DA (=US lawman, i.e. District Attorney)] in *(A BIT); “worried” is anagram indicator; biodata is biographical information, i.e. one’s CV |
| 20 | ICE SHOW | Display of slippers rocks head office in Cornwall?
ICE (=rocks, as in on the rocks) + [HO (=head office) in SW (=Cornwall?)] |
| 21 | AVERAGE | It’s mean to state how old one is
AVER (=state, declare) + AGE (=how old one is)] |
| 22 | HOOPLA | Crossing line, a bear raised game
L (=line) in [A + POOH (=bear, i.e. Winnie the Pooh)]; “raised” indicates vertical reversal |
| 23 | EAGLE | Albatross beats this // bird of prey
Double definition; an albatross (3 strokes under par) beats an eagle (2 strokes under par) in golf |
I found this hard. Missed the parsing of HOOKING. I think BATSMAN is maybe archaic now, given the many female cricketers, hence the Chang in terminology.
You’re correct in your parsing.
No such thing as a batsman any more, as of three weeks ago (change in terminology).
Sept 22 (Reuters) – The term ‘batsman’ has been amended to the gender-neutral term ‘batter’ in the Laws of Cricket to stress the importance of the women’s game, the Marylebone Cricket Club said on Wednesday
Crikey that was tough & especially so in the SW. Annoyingly needed 2 letter reveals to get FOOTWORK & WRESTLERS & couldn’t parse the latter. ELEVEN also had me bemused until the penny finally dropped.
Thanks all.
Good fun, esp “Button container”. 🙂
Thanks Radian and RR
I found that very tricky too. It took ages for the Button container to drop, not helped by refuelling having been banned in F1 since 2010.
Very enjoyable, I agree with commenters above about 8 being a hoo king which raised a smile, and I assumed the change in terminology was to do with gender, and thought batsperson? what a dreadful word, I’m relieved to discover that it’s batter instead. Thanks mw7000
Thanks Radian and RR.
Yes; Button container was genius, and I did not get. Loved the Hoo King. Saw The Dig recently, which might have helped. Overall, really good stuff. Thanks to Radian and RatkojaRiku
Many thanks to Petert @1 and mw7000 @2 for explaining the change in cricketing terminology at 28, now reflected in the blog 🙂
One of those days, I’m afraid, where after several hours I’d got only a handful of answers.
I think that in Button’s day fuel was topped up in a pit stop but its not the case now. Good clue though-no one mentioned pits.
A real toughie. Disappointing to fail at the end on the excellent ‘Button container’ but lots of enjoyment along the way, of which the HOO KING was my favourite.
Thanks to RR and Radian.