Independent 10,988 by Reveller

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An unfamiliar setter’s name today, for the last Independent puzzle of the year.

So is Reveller a new setter, or just a seasonally-appropriate alternative name for one we know? I don’t know, but the puzzle contains a fair amount of eating, drinking and being merry. Along with several references in the clues, it’s NEW YEAR’S EVE (12a) and we have people CONGREGATING (4d) on this DATE (8d) to sing AULD LANG SYNE (7d 25a) and generally indulge in HIGH JINKS (16d), which might possibly involve a flaming TORCH (15a) to light a bonfire or similar health and safety concerns – not to mention the danger of a HANGOVER (22d 23d) later.

Lots of fun clues here; I enjoyed the anagrams in 12a, 1d and 4d, and the neat construction (with seasonal reference) of 20a. 7d/25a was also very good but I’m afraid the surface might be an invitation to our Australian readers for some Pommie-bashing, given the rather dismal performance of our cricketers recently. Still, tomorrow is another year. And on that note, thanks to Reveller for the entertainment, and best wishes to everyone for 2022.

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

ACROSS
1 SIDEKICK
Associate party with stimulation (8)
SIDE (party = one of two opposing groups) + KICK (stimulation, as in “get a kick out of . . .”).

Associate, as a noun = sidekick = friend or colleague.
5 OSWALD
Drunk was collared by elderly assassin (6)
Anagram (drunk) of WAS, contained in (collared by) OLD (elderly).

Lee Harvey Oswald, killer of President John F Kennedy.
9 ALL-ROUND
A shout keeps two learners in comprehensive (3-5)
A ROUND (a shout, as in ordering drinks in a pub: “It’s my shout” = my round = my turn to buy), containing (keeping in) L L (two learners, as in L-plate for a learner driver).
10 MALLET
Striker satisfied quaffing a litre left (6)
MET (satisfied, as in “the candidate met the requirements”), containing (quaffing) A + L (abbreviation for litre) + L (left).

Mallet = a tool that strikes.
12 NEW YEAR’S EVE
Hogmanay rave, Sweeney involved … (3,5,3)
Anagram (involved = complicated) of RAVE SWEENEY. (In the surface, for those not up on Cockney rhyming slang: Sweeney Todd = Flying Squad = specialist police unit in London.)

Scots word for New Year’s Eve and its associated celebrations.
15 TORCH
… church on rocky outcrop set ablaze (5)
CH (abbreviation for church) added to TOR (a rocky outcrop on a hill).

Torch, as a verb = deliberately set fire to.
17 GATEHOUSE
Supped in good hotel by river lodge (9)
ATE (supped) inserted into G (good) + H (abbreviation for hotel), then OUSE (one of several British rivers with this name).
18 ORANGUTAN
Primate called to stop openly gay article (9)
RANG (called = telephoned), inserted into (to stop) OUT (openly gay) + AN (a form of the indefinite article).
19 PRESS
Demand to squeeze juice from grapes? (5)
Double definition. As in “press one’s claim” = ask forcefully; or to crush fruit (typically grapes) and extract the juice.
20 JANIS JOPLIN
Tomorrow’s link holds place for blues legend (5,6)
JAN I’S (tomorrow’s = Jan 1’s) + JOIN (link), holding PL (abbreviation for place, especially on street maps).

Singer, gone too soon.
24 ADVENT
Victor trapped in a depression finds Dawn (6)
V (Victor in the radio alphabet) trapped in A DENT (a depression).

Dawn = advent = earliest appearance.
25
See 7 Down
26 GARISH
Fish, fish not loud? On the contrary! (6)
GAR (a fish) + [f]ISH without the initial F (f = abbreviation for forte = loud in musical notation).

Extended definition: garish = loud (in the metaphorical sense of bright clashing colours), so contrary to “not loud”.
27 LEON URIS
Writer over Christmas is touring ancient city (4,4)
NOEL (Christmas) reversed (over) + IS, around (touring) UR (the standard “ancient city” for crosswords, in what is now Iraq).

US writer of historical fiction. Not the first name I’d have thought of, but the wordplay was straightforward enough.
DOWN
1 STAGNATION
No movement, but not against dancing (10)
Anagram (dancing) of NOT AGAINST.
2 DELAWAREAN
American lady at first conscious, snatched by cleric (10)
First letter of L[ady] + AWARE (conscious), contained in (snatched by) DEAN (cleric).

A person from the US state of Delaware.
3 KRONE
Danish rhino put up in Camden, or Kensington (5)
Hidden answer (in . . .), reversed (put up = upwards in a down clue) in [camd]EN OR K[ensington].

Rhino = British slang for money; krone = Danish currency.
4 CONGREGATING
Coming together, but Ginger can’t go mad (12)
Anagram (mad) of GINGER CANT GO.
6 SPACESHIP
Transport bound for moon? Small steps with it (9)
S (small) + PACES (steps) + HIP (with it = fashionable).
7/25 AULD LANG SYNE
12 song from us: England Lay in Ruins (4,4,4)
Anagram (in ruins) of US ENGLAND LAY.

Reference to 12a NEW YEAR’S EVE: a traditional Scots song usually sung as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.
8 DATE
Today’s is 12: go out with people! (4)
Double definition. Reference to 12a NEW YEAR’S EVE, today’s date; or to socialise with someone in a romantic relationship.
11 REST ONE’S CASE
Conclude legal presentation on Jagger’s condition? (4,4,4)
RE (on = on the subject of) + STONE’S (relating to a member of the band The Rolling Stones, for example Mick Jagger) + CASE (condition, as in “in case of fire”).
13 LUTE PLAYER
Musician Nick during riot mentioned participant (4,6)
Homophone (mentioned) of LOOT (steal during a disturbance = “nick” during a riot) + PLAYER (participant).
14 MESSENGERS
Couriers provided with pickle and mixed greens (10)
MESS (pickle = a difficult situation) + anagram (mixed) of GREENS.
16 HIGH JINKS
School heads curse aloud Reveller’s activities? (4,5)
HIGH (short for “high school”) before (heads) a homophone (aloud) of JINX (curse).

High jinks = boisterous celebration = revelling.
21 ORGAN
Constituent Oscar managed to guzzle gallon (5)
O (Oscar in the radio alphabet) + RAN (managed), containing (to guzzle) G (abbreviation for gallon).

Organ = component part of the human body = constituent, though it seems a slightly weak definition.
22/23 HANGOVER
House arrests good for regret after 12? (8)
HANOVER (house = royal dynasty), containing (arrests) G (good).

Hangover = feeling ill after drinking too much alcohol; a common regret after celebrating 12a NEW YEAR’S EVE too enthusiastically.

37 comments on “Independent 10,988 by Reveller”

  1. The LOOT/LUTE homophone at 13d featured only recently in one of the Guardian cryptics, and on that thread, where customarily all proposed homophones are subject to combative scrutiny (including one this very morning), it caused some controversy, although it is supported by Chambers. Some drew an analogy with COOT/CUTE and MOOT/MUTE, in which the second word has a diphthongized vowel (except, apparently, in Norfolk). I felt that I do slightly diphthongize the vowel in LUTE, but was told rather patronisingly by another contributor that I probably did not hear accurately my own pronunciation. If you want to hear a properly and unmistakably diphthongized LUTE, listen to Olivier’s celebrated performance of the opening soliloquy from Richard the Third:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5JF9Gq5tL4&t=93s

  3. ‘If I am so inclined’, Reveller? Thanks: I have heard both of these in pursuing the earlier instance, and frankly, it is a bit much to be patronised twice on two different commenting threads over the same homophone. I conceded in my comment that the dictionary supported the homophone, so I did not need to be further educated on this. I simply raised what I hoped might be an interesting point about it.

  4. I’m not trying to annoy you Flat Cap, I’m just saying that Collins doesn’t find LUTE/ LUTE controversial.

    Other dictionaries might, and solvers and commenters might, but compilers can’t really do much more than find a reliable source and run with it.

  5. A “Reveller” in time for new year’s eve shenanigans? Shades of Bartholomew the other day here. Much to enjoy today though. Thanks and HNY to Q and setter.

  7. The theme words identified by Quirister should, of course, be taken in conjunction with the Government’s advice on socially responsible behaviour at this time! And, if North (or West) of the border, CONGREGATING is supposedly a definite No No.

    SC@1 mentions a recent debate on the G thread in relation to LUTE; there was another about whether HIGH is a substitute for school in the way that Grammar can be. Just saying.

    TBH, I didn’t find this as absorbing as I might have hoped. It felt like Everyman on a Sunday or the Guardian’s Vulcan on a Monday. Clues like ADVENT, PRESS, OSWALD, TORCH and the anagrams (plus enumeration) for NEW YEARS EVE and AULD LANG SYNE didn’t give anything like the challenge I’d normally expect from the Indy on a Friday. Sorry to be a bit curmudgeonly; I acknowledge the work that goes into these. As our blogger says, tomorrow is another year.

    Thanks Reveller and Quirister

  9. My last one to solve was 13d, so I filled in PLAYER while trying to decide on the first word. Thought about LUTE but couldn’t parse it, so clicked on reveal and of course I got thrown out. So I had to come here to see what the solution was.

    I still hate the new version. As well as scrolling back and forward on the clue, I was also scrolling up and down on the grid to see the rest of the down entries. My screen only displays 8 rows when I have more than 1 tab open, and 12 otherwise.

  10. A pleasant end to the year – thanks Quirister and Reveller. We enjoyed the theme and only tripped up on 27 not having a wide literary knowledge. Favourites included the fish at 26 and the singer at 20.

    Happy new year all!

  11. Where I’m from girls would attend the County High. Does that count? Junior High? I’m sure all of these possibilities were covered in the debate as mentioned, and I’m just as sure that words like ‘secondary’ and ‘comprehensive’ were addressed at the same time.

  12. I wasn’t overly keen on the ‘American lady’ idea and have to confess to not knowing the 27a writer. All fair and square elsewhere and quite an enjoyable solve.

    Thanks to Reveller and to Quirister – hope neither of you suffer from a bad HANG-OVER in the morning!

  13. Thanks to setter & Quirister, and HNY when it comes to everyone
    I don’t know if Reveller is a name adopted for the occasion, but that would be unsurprising. I hope it doesn’t become common practice. I like trying to work out who a setter is if a puzzle is anonymous but I don’t like being misled about it.
    We still don’t know about the Bartholomew puzzle; the style of that one seemed quite unfamiliar to me, and if it was someone’s debut it’s a shame that the blog was swamped with speculation.
    Reveller @4 I disagree: compilers can do more. Having a reliable source is the minimum requirement. Better if it’s all quite clear to solvers without having to check or research arguable points. That’s only meant in general, I don’t have a problem with lute/loot.

  14. A pleasant and fairly quick solve for us. We did wonder if DELAWAREAN and LUTE PLAYER were about the only entries to fit with the theme. As for the homophone loot/lute homophone, our dead tree Chambers indicates that ‘lute’ can be pronounced to rhyme with either ‘cute’ or ‘coot’.
    Plenty to like; favourite was GATEHOUSE.
    Thanks, Reveller and Quirister – and a Happy New Year to all!

  15. James @13 I hardly think a changed pseudonym amounts to deception, especially not when that change is made for the nonce, and in any case I should think a name like Reveller for a NYE puzzle is as expected as such things get. As you’ll be aware names have been changed in the past here and there for Indy puzzles, in accordance with their themes, and no Indy puzzle is ever truly anonymous in that sense. I can’t really see what anyone’s problem might be with any of that, as it adds to the fun, in my view. Speaking of which, weren’t we informed by Hoskins that Bartholomew is Eccles? I thought that had been made clear, despite Hoskins’ own attempts to involve Phi and Tees as candidates.

    As for your dissatisfaction with some homophones, fair enough, sometimes they’re dreadful, but the indication can help (‘some say’, or ‘do we hear?’, for example). Where I come from, they absolutely (see what I did there) never call a lute a leyute.

  16. If you pronounce lute with a diphthong, how do you pronounce ‘luthier’?

    I have a friend who is one, and it’s ‘loot’ for him.

  17. Re Bartholomew I had a vague feeling the name had turned up on my twitter feed that day. A quick search confirmed that EiMi had retweeted this –
    ttps://twitter.com/charliemethven/status/1472187793229201418

  19. Simon S @16. With a slight diphthong, as one would pronounce ‘mutineer’ – unless you are suggesting that it must be ‘mootineer’ because a diphthongized initial ‘u’ in a polysyllabic word cannot be accommodated. Can’t see the problem for diphthongists, and if Shakespeare had provided ‘luthier’ or, for that matter, ‘lutanist’ I feel certain that Sir Laurence would have managed it.

  21. There I was getting in the mood for peace and goodwill in the New Year and we get the lute/loot argument. I like a mix of difficulty so I was quite pleased to find a convivial holiday crossword. Reveller’s alacrity in defending his work gives me an idea about who they might be.
    Happy New Year to all and thanks to Reveller and Quirister

  22. Sorry, Petert, mea culpa @1, but I had a sense of deja vu and so recklessly imported into Indyland a very Guardianesque squabble. I wish peace and goodwill to all non-diphthongists who pronounce both as ‘loot’, but I feel, as I did back on the G thread, that the feeling is not entirely reciprocated.

  23. Sheepish@17, thanks for clearing that up.
    a.n.other@15 What is the point in puzzles having names attached to them if those names do not identify the setters? Having a one-off name doesn’t add to the fun for me. It is a deception, and I don’t like it. But I think we’ve been here before, me giving an opinion and you trying to disprove it. My other comment was not in relation to homophones, it was, as I said, a general point. While you should have a source to back you up, it’s better if you don’t need to get it out and brandish it because the solver hasn’t understood what you mean.
    But off to another party now, which I shall endeavour not to poop.

  24. Sheepish @ 13: I’m a lutenist, and, like most of my fellow players, I pronounce the instrument Lee-oot and the maker Loo-thier, with a soft “th” (never just a “t”).
    I’ve become used to this slack homophone over the years, and I don’t think it’s worth making a fuss about, though I would probably not use it in one of my own puzzles.

  25. There’s no fuss to be made, as one pronunciation of the two which are valid is the one given. And as to defending my work! Against what exactly? Someone’s ignorance? Must be, as there was no point to be made in the first place. And I’ll stand by my pseudonyms idea too: if the change of name adds to the theme or subject of the puzzle (Reveller today, Bartholomew the other day just as two examples), then how can it be anything other than a welcome addition?

    And if some solvers are able to identify the hand of a particular compiler through nothing more than an understanding of that writer’s style, then they won’t necessarily be requiring a pseudonym of any sort so to do, will they.

  28. And to you Harry. Maybe I’ll get my book back next year or the year after…. May your evening be supplied with beaucoup de babycham…

  30. I’m sorry, Reveller @25, but there was no need to defend your work because no one was attacking it, but from your first response, as Petert remarks @21, you have been very defensive as if they were. I cannot see that anyone, myself included. is challenging the validity of the LUTE/LOOT homophone, but merely raising interesting issues about how alternative pronunciations might be current/valid and how they might be accommodated to related words from the same root (see Simon S @16).

  31. As I said above, no defence was necessary, nor given, as LUTE/ LOOT is a valid homophone. And I’m sure the discussion about the relevant Guardian puzzle wasn’t as asinine, or pointless let’s say, as I’m suspecting it might have been, if the one here is anything to go by. Obviously I wasn’t entirely overjoyed with the introduction of such irrelevance at the top of the thread, which might have gone another and happier way, nor with the announcement that changing one’s pseudonym so as to accommodate the content or theme of a given puzzle amounts to ‘a deception’. Well you know what? That’s bunk as far as I’m concerned, but get a life anyway.

    Thank goodness that I can now go out and perhaps live up to my one-off pseudonym with a bit of the old revelry. And then it will not have been a deception in that sense, even for bores.

  32. Reveller
    Back off. You are not presenting yourself in a good light (not for the first time!). I’m sure you can remember what I am referring to.

  33. Anyone else gonna stay up and see the Reveller get in? Joking aside, it really has been a great year for Indy crosswords and all those solvers, setters, editors, bloggers, and fifteensquared owners who make it what it is. So once again here’s to the new year and all the fun and diversions that will provide us with. Cheers and chin chin to all and here’s to Flash getting his book back sooner rather than later. I love you guys and gals and everything in between and, more importantly, the babycham is on me! (Due to drinks spillage, natch). 🙂

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