Independent 11119 / Bluebird

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A puzzle today from Bluebird who is a fairly new setter on the Independent roster.  I think this is the third crossword set by Bluebird.

 

 

 

A study of the grid shows that this puzzle is a tribute to Neil Shepherd, known to Independent crossword solvers as Klingsor and to Financial Times solvers as Alberich.  Neil died only a few weeks ago in late April

The unchecked letters in rows 2 and 14 spell our THANK YOU KLINGSOR.

Solvers who are unaware of Klingsor may be interested in the tributes on this fifteensquared website which can be found by clicking here.

Reading the tributes, it is clear that Neil was very supportive of people venturing down the setting road and was always willing to help or advise.  Indeed Bluebird himself commented on the support and guidance he received himself from Neil.

There is a wealth of material on Klingsor’s own site which is still extant and can be found by clicking here.  A rather poignant note from Neil remains on the home page of the site.

Turning to today’s clues, it took me a while to parse ITERATIVE at 24 across, but I think I have got it now.

SCRAM was another one that took me a while to parse.  I started off thinking it might have been a double or triple definition, but that didn’t work, so there had to be another route.

At 20 down my first though was FIBRE for yarn as I had F blank B blank E by this point, but again it wouldn’t parse.  Eventually FABLE came to mind as the definition of a different type of yarn.

GNAWN is a splendid word.  I wonder long solvers would take to deduce it if it was used a Wordle solution.

EXORDIA was a new word to me, but it was clearly clued.

8 down, leading to RUMP STEAK, is an interesting clue, one where the definition is neither at the beginning of the clue, nor at the end.

It’s not often you see EVE from the Garden of Eden defined as a scrumper, (clue at 22 down), but it’s a good piece of wordplay.

Thankyou to Bluebird for an enjoyable crossword.

No Detail
Across  
1

Rope fibre from lasso cut and spun, catching setter (5) 

SISAL (agave fibre, used for making rope, etc)

Anagram of (from … and spun) LASSO excluding the final letter (cut) O containing (catching) I (me, the setter)

S (I) SAL*
4

Talk to me about the Queen’s storage unit (9) 

GASOMETER (a  storage unit for GAS)

GAS (chatter; talk) + an anagram of (about) TO ME + ER (Elizabeth Regina; queen)

GAS OMET* ER
9

Aggrandise Sri Lanka, say, after a brief spell of cricket (9)

OVERSTATE (make or seem greater; aggrandise)

OVER (6 balls [brief spell] of cricket) + STATE (Sir Lanka is an example of a sovereign STATE)

OVER STATE
10

Go out, laugh, take drugs (5) 

SCRAM (go [away])

SCREAM (laugh) excluding (take) E (ecstasy tablet; drugs)

SCRAM
11

He delivers knitwear and mohair caps within fashionable Italian city (7) 

MILKMAN (someone who delivers MILK)

KM (first letters of [caps] each of KNITWEAR and MILK) contained in (within) MILAN (a fashionable Italian city)

MIL (KM) AN
12

Sea captain’s birds leaving rents or small holes (7) 

EYELETS (small holes to receive a lace or cord)

BIRDSEYE (reference Captain BIRDSEYE who appears in adverts for Birdseye frozen foods) excluding (leaving) BIRDS + LETS (rents [out] a property or room, for example)

EYE LETS
13

Exhausted corgi carried by son/heir (5) 

SCION (descendant; heir)

CI (letters remaining in CORGI when the central letters ORG are removed [exhausted]) contained in (carried by) SON

S (CI) ON
14

Conservative policy is heralded by the commencement of secret plot (9) 

STORYLINE (plot of a book or film etc)

S (first letter of [commencement of] SECRET) + TORY (Conservative) + LINE (policy)  ‘heralded by’ indicates that the S should go at the beginning or front of the entry

S TORY LINE
16

Lithe cats dancing, running and jumping, etc. (9) 

ATHLETICS (sports involving vigorous exercise including running and jumping among others)

Anagram of (dancing) LITHE CATS

ATHLETICS*
18

Beginning to loosen, being surrounded by pink noise (5) 

PLINK (short, relatively high-pitched, sound; noise)

L (first letter of [beginning to] LOOSEN) contained in (surrounded by) PINK

P (L) INK
19

Nick spoiled the Countdown finale? (4-3) 

LIFT-OFF (at the end of a countdown fro a launch of a rocket, the final words after ‘… 3,2,1,zero are LIFT-OFF we have LIFT-OFF‘)

LIFT (steal; nick) + OFF (rancid; spoiled)

LIFT OFF
21

Mating the desired outcome of this assignment given to whistleblower? (7) 

ENDGAME (finish of a chess game for example is [check]MATING one’s opponent)

END GAME (one of the outcomes of an official blowing a whistle is to  END the GAME)  double definition

END GAME
23

Teddy’s here, alongside the tops of ironed new blankets (2,3) 

IN BED (Teddy bears are often found in bed)

INB (first letter of [tops of] each of IRONED, NEW and BLANKETS) + ED (Edward, Teddy)

IN B ED
24

It’s repetitious nowadays – perhaps one has to be given time (9) 

ITERATIVE (repeating; repetitious)

I have struggled with the parsing of this but I think it is:

(IT [Information Technology] ERA [time period], a phrase descriptive of the current time; nowadays] + I’VE [one has ; I have]) containing (given) T (time)

IT ERA (T) IVE
25

Six-footer, 50, wearing 21D with style (9) 

ELEGANTLY (with style)

(ANT [six footed insect] + L (Roman numeral for 50) contained in (wearing) ELEGY (entry at 21 down)

ELEG (ANT L) Y
26

At last, dessert, in a city in Australia – it’s a beer (5) 

TINNY (Australian term for a can of beer)

T (final letter of [at last] DESSERT) + IN + NY (New York [a city])

T IN NY
Down  
1

Pastor meekly suppresses outburst (5) 

STORM (rage; outbreak; outburst)

STORM (hidden word in [suppresses] PASTOR MEEKLY)

STORM
2

That woman will try to find out what’s in Molly Malone’s wheelbarrow (9) 

SHELLFISH (what you might find in Molly Malone’s wheelbarrow as she sells seashells by the sea shore)

SHE (that woman) + ‘LL (will) + FISH (seek information; try to find out)

SHE LL FISH
3

One standing at the end of a mast, swinging lantern-case around (4,3) 

LAST MAN (reference the phrase LAST MAN standing, so one still standing at the end)

LN (outer letters of [case] LANTERN) containing (around) an  anagram of (swinging) A MAST 

L (AST MA*) N
4

Chewed, green rind – a watermelon rind? (5) 

GNAWN (chewed)

GN (outer letters of [rind] GREEN) + A + WN (outer letters of [rind] WATERMELON)

GN A WN
5

Chopping leeks? Loads – you’ll find them in the cupboard (9) 

SKELETONS (reference the phrase ‘SKELETONs in the cupboard’ [hidden sorrows or shame])

Anagram of (chopping) LEEKS + TONS (lots; loads)

SKELE* TONS
6

Like a man’s overheard secret (7)

MYSTERY (secret)

MYSTERY (sounds like [overheard] MISTERY [like a MISTER, like a man])

MYSTERY
7

A piece of Baronet Rothschild’s upsidedown cake (5) 

TORTE (rich sweet cake)

TORTE (reversed [upsidedown; down entry] hidden word in [a piece of] BARONET ROTHSCHILD)

TORTE<
8

Strange footnote: ‘Tree from which this produce is derived’ (4,5) 

RUMP STEAK (piece of meat; produce)

RUM (strange) + PS (postscript; footnote) + TEAK (tree found in India, Malaysia etc)

RUM P S TEAK
13

The antithesis of fast food in France, maybe accompanied by relish (5-4) 

SNAIL-LIKE (very slow; the antithesis of fast)

SNAIL (example of a food in France) + LIKE (relish)

SNAIL LIKE
14

Scrape piece of rock to make screw (9) 

SKINFLINT (stingy or niggardly person; screw is similarly defined)

SKIN (scrape the outer layer from) + FLINT (piece of a hard mineral)

SKIN FLINT
15

I finally strongarm Italian suspect into sucking a dummy (9) 

IMITATION (fake; dummy)

(I + M [last letter of {finally} STRONGARM] + IT [Italian] + an anagram of [suspect] INTO) all containing (sucking) A

I M IT (A) TION*
17

They introduce old radio plays (7) 

EXORDIA (introductory parts)

EX (old) + an anagram of (plays) RADIO

EX ORDIA*
18

Programme that’s about peas, and about what’s in the middle of whistles (7)

PODCAST (programme distributed for playing on electronic media)

POD ([container] of peas) + CA (circa; about) + ST (central letters of [middle of] WHISTLES)

POD CA ST
20

Yarn created by following expert (5) 

FABLE (mythical story; yarn)

F (following) + ABLE (talented; expert)

F ABLE
21

Lament life’s end, and the end of masterly, welcoming supporter (5)

ELEGY (song of mourning; lament)

(E [last letter of {end} LIFE] + Y [last letter of [end of] MASTERLY]) containing (welcoming) LEG (supporter [of a table for example])

E (LEG) Y
22

Each scrumper thrown out of garden given lines? (5) 

EVERY (each)

EVE (scrumper [one who steal apples {leading to expulsion from the Garden of Eden in EVE‘s case]) + RY ([railway] lines)

EVE RY

14 comments on “Independent 11119 / Bluebird”

  1. Lovely blog, duncan, to go with a very nice puzzle and well done Bluebird for incorporating the Nina which, as always with Ninas, I failed to spot. The admiration goes up a notch.

    I didn’t find this a difficult puzzle but it all came together in a very satisfying way and I did like the original touches – EVE as a scrumper is brilliant – as well as the clearly clued unusual words like GNAWN and EXORDIA as noted by duncan.

    I took SISAL as a reversal of truncated LASSO rather than an anagram. Favourites today: MILKMAN, EYELETS, LIFT OFF, END GAME, IN BED, LAST MAN, GNAWN, MYSTERY, RUMP STEAK, SNAIL LIKE, PODCAST and EVERY. How’s that for a long list!

    I wasn’t taken by IT ERA if, indeed, that was the intent – but then I didn’t parse that one! I see what you mean, duncan, about the def of 8d not coming at the end but, if the bits that separate def from end of clue are something like ‘is shown’ or, as today, ‘is derived’, I feel that’s not really shifting the def significantly. It’s like sometimes getting ‘It’s’ at the beginning before the definition and entirely fair in my book.

    Thanks Bluebird and duncan

  2. 1. Mating (Chess as pointed out in the blog)
    2. the desired outcome (the desire to see together a pair till the end of a play/movie)
    3. END (the) GAME —this assignment given to whistleblower? (7)

    Can this be like two def and one cryptic def?

    Liked IN BED, ITERATIVE and RUMP STEAK.

    SKELETONS: the definition looks a bit weak to me (a question mark will make it better?).

    Thanks, B and d!

  4. Thanks duncan for pointing out the homage to Klingsor.
    Tiny point for discussion
    At last dessert in A city in Australia-its a beer

    The A makes it seem like “a city in Australia” whereas “in city in Australia” would suggest the city could be elsewhere -is this devious misdirection or imperfect cluing. Answers on a postcard please

    I havent heard TINNY for ages and I live here-more Bazza Mackenzie. But I dont get out a lot?

  8. Thanks both. Almost everything is now clear thanks to all here….ENDGAME also being a slight doubt for me, where I eventually read it as ‘end’ – ‘desired outcome’ and ‘game’ the whistleblower’s assignment, as ending the game is mandatory rather than desired

  9. Nice tribute to Klingsor / Alberich which helped with the top half of the puzzle. I had similar difficulties with ITERATIVE but eventually parsed it as Duncan. I liked END GAME for which I had the two defs as ‘Mating the desired outcome of this’ and ‘assignment given to whistleblower?’.

    One small point. Did Molly Malone “sell sea shells by the sea shore”? I thought “In Dublin’s fair city…” “…she wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow”. Well, maybe she sold her cockles and mussels down by the sea shore too.

    Thanks to Bluebird for number three and to Duncan

  10. Thanks Bluebird, and duncanshiell. I enjoyed this but found it rather tricky in places so needed help with parsing a few. I did work out “IT ERA” though – a nice bit of whimsy but quite hard to spot!

    Loved the very neat clue for SCRAM in particular.

    Failed to spot the Nina but what a lovely tribute.

  11. An excellent puzzle and a fitting tribute to Bluebird’s mentor.
    Thanks, Bluebird and Duncan.

  12. Thank you very much to Duncan for this excellent blog – I really appreciate the thought that has gone into it. Thanks also to all those who took the time to comment on here about this puzzle.

  13. Thanks Bluebird. I was late getting to this but wanted to thank you for a fine crossword and a tribute to Klingsor. I didn’t look for a nina; I only do that when Serpent sets. I liked many clues including SCRAM, LIFT-OFF, TORTE (good surface), SNAIL-LIKE, and IMITATION. I couldn’t parse ITERATIVE and EXORDIA was a new word for me. Thanks Duncan for the blog.

  14. I greatly enjoyed this puzzle. Unfortunately I missed the tribute to Klingsor when solving, but I find the tribute most touching.

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