Grecian’s debut in the Independent was a few months ago; this is his or her second puzzle, as far as I can tell.
An obvious theme today, with many references to “investigator”: these are mostly fictional police detectives / private investigators from books or TV, along with one real one and a few slang terms for detective. I can’t say I’ve read / watched all of them, but I’d come across almost all the names somewhere or other, apart from Thorne which was a guess-and-check.
Some enjoyable surfaces here; I liked the “diluted cocktail” and the images of 6d and 17d, but my favourite was the non-thematic 14a for a rather different “vehicle manufacturer” from the usual crossword fodder of FORD, AUDI etc. Thanks Grecian for the fun – let’s hope you have many more puzzles to come.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | TREACHERY |
Child investigator held by Tory fringe for betrayal (9)
|
| REACHER (Child investigator = the private investigator Jack Reacher, created by the author Lee Child), held in the outer letters (fringe) of T[or]Y. | ||
| 10 | PATCH |
Cover investigator’s area (5)
|
| Double definition. As in eyepatch = a cover for the eye; or the geographical area covered by a private investigator, police force etc. | ||
| 11 | MAIGRET |
Investigator Spooner’s dull start to summer (7)
|
| Spoonerism of GREY MAY (dull start to summer).
Fictional police detective created by Georges Simenon. |
||
| 12 | LUDDITE |
Diluted cocktail for technophobe (7)
|
| Anagram (cocktail = mixture) of DILUTED. | ||
| 13 | UBER |
Scottish investigator’s brief comeback in Taxi (4)
|
| REBU[s] (fictional Scottish investigator created by Ian Rankin), without the last letter (brief), reversed (comeback).
A ride-sharing company, or the service it facilitates (as in “I’ll get an Uber home”). Whether this is equivalent to a “taxi” has been the subject of legal dispute in various jurisdictions. |
||
| 14 | CARTWRIGHT |
Vehicle manufacturer beginning to combine skill with direction (10)
|
| Beginning letter of C[ombine] + ART (skill) + W (abbreviation for with) + RIGHT (a direction).
A vehicle manufacturer from the days before we had motor cars. |
||
| 16 | GUMSHOE |
Investigator of Bond’s weed (7)
|
| GUMS (as a verb = bonds = glues) + HOE (as a verb = weed = to remove weeds from a garden plot).
Slang for a private detective, from the rubber-soled shoes they traditionally wore in order to move quietly. |
||
| 18 | COLUMBO |
Investigator has Capital on the radio (7)
|
| Homophone (on the radio) of COLOMBO, the capital of Sri Lanka.
Title character of a US crime drama TV series. |
||
| 20 | REMEMBERED |
Celebrated fellow cutting the grass (10)
|
| MEMBER (fellow = someone belonging to an organisation, though often “fellow” denotes a more privileged status than “member”) inserted into (cutting) REED (grass).
As in celebrating / remembering an anniversary, I suppose. |
||
| 23/27 | IRONSIDE |
Investigator‘s press team (8)
|
| IRON (press, as a verb = remove creases from fabric using heat) + SIDE (a sports team).
Title character of a US crime drama TV series. |
||
| 24 | DIGGERS |
DS Greig’s bent investigators (7)
|
| Anagram (bent) of DS GREIG (a character in the ITV police drama TV series The Bill). | ||
| 25 | SADDLES |
Society goes off taxes (7)
|
| S (abbreviation for Society) + ADDLES (goes off, as in an addled egg = one unfit for consumption).
Saddle, as a verb = tax = to make someone bear the burden of something, as in “saddled with a huge debt”. |
||
| 28 | CHUTE |
Film broadcast for channel (5)
|
| Homophone (broadcast) of SHOOT (film, as a verb = create a movie). | ||
| 29 | REDRESSED |
Compensated for flipping animal eating clothes (9)
|
| DEER (an animal) reversed (flipping), containing (eating) DRESS (clothes). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | STEM |
South London investigators going north for arrest (4)
|
| S (south), then MET (short for Metropolitan Police = London investigators) reversed (going north = upwards in a down clue).
As in to arrest / stem the flow of something. |
||
| 2 | PERINEUM |
Umpire mischievously pinching new England opener in a sensitive area (8)
|
| Anagram (mischievously) of UMPIRE, containing (pinching) N (new) + opening letter of E[ngland].
A sensitive area of the human anatomy. |
||
| 3 | ICER |
Grecian’s holding up decorator (4)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . is holding), reversed (up = upwards in a down clue), in [g]RECI[an].
As in someone who ices (decorates) a cake. |
||
| 4 | TEST CASE |
Cassette mix is one that sets a precedent (4,4)
|
| Anagram (mix) of CASSETTE. | ||
| 5 | EYELET |
Investigator with permit to make small hole (6)
|
| EYE (short for private eye = private investigator) + LET (as a verb = permit). | ||
| 6 | EPIDURAL |
Investigator lured a criminal outside for injection (8)
|
| PI (short for private investigator), with an anagram (criminal) of LURED A outside it.
An injection into the space around the spinal cord. |
||
| 7 |
See 8
|
|
| 8/7 | SHOESTRING |
Low-budget investigator (10)
|
| Double definition. Slang for something done with as little expense as possible; or the title character of a UK TV series about a private investigator. | ||
| 13 | URGER |
Endless operation for Persuader (5)
|
| [s]URGER[y] (operation) without the end letters. | ||
| 15 | THORN |
TV investigator scratching bottom and spine (5)
|
| THORN[e] (TV investigator = title character of a UK crime drama TV series), deleting (scratching) the last letter (bottom, in a down clue).
Thorn = spine = sharp point on a plant. |
||
| 17 | HAMMERED |
Investigator and journalist are under the table (8)
|
| HAMMER (fictional private investigator created by Mickey Spillane) + ED (short for editor = journalist).
Under the table = hammered = slang for extremely drunk. |
||
| 18/24 | CRESSIDA DICK |
Policewoman‘s drunk sidecars with investigator (8,4)
|
| Anagram (drunk) of SIDECARS, then DICK (US slang for a detective or private investigator).
Former head of the Metropolitan Police (until a few months ago). I have no information on whether or not she likes to drink cognac-based cocktails. |
||
| 19 | MORALISE |
Investigator transfixed by the greatest lecture (8)
|
| MORSE (fictional detective created by Colin Dexter) containing (transfixed by) ALI (the boxer Muhammad Ali, nicknamed “The Greatest”). | ||
| 21 | MAGNUM |
Investigator‘s showing bottle (6)
|
| Double definition. Title character of a US crime drama TV series; or a wine bottle twice the standard size. | ||
| 22 | ENSURE |
Guarantee runs out in case of earthquake (6)
|
| Anagram (out) of RUNS, inside the outer letters (case) of E[arthquak]E. | ||
| 24 |
See 18
|
|
| 26 | DREW |
Female investigator‘s comeback in power dress (4)
|
| Hidden answer (in . . . ), reversed (comeback), in [po]WER D[ress].
Nancy Drew, fictional amateur detective in a series of books ghostwritten by various authors (and adapted for film and TV). |
||
| 27 |
See 23 Across
|
|
There’s a DC Andy Cartwright in Hot Fuzz; surely not a coincidence…
Most of these ‘investigators’ were of my era, except for THORN(E) who had to go in from wordplay. It also helped that CRESSIDA DICK has made at least one previous appearance in crossword land. I particularly liked the MORSE reference and the apt surface for SHOESTRING.
A very enjoyable puzzle and a nice trip down memory lane.
Thanks to Grecian for number two and to Quirister
Not easy but it did all fall into place in the end and, as WP points out @2, Grecian has been kind in his selection of sleuths and many of those names rang a bell. Apart from Thorne. I wasn’t confident as to which way round the homophone in 28a was working until I had crossers amd it took longer than it should have to think of ‘surgery’ for shaving and the ridiculously simple DD that is PATCH.
I thought the cocktail for CRESSIDA particularly clever, very closely followed by that for TEST CASE. I agree with our blogger about the lovely clue for CARTWRIGHT and would also nominate the lovely Spoonerism for MAIGRET. Others with ticks include IRONSIDE, GUMSHOE, HAMMERED and the delightful DREW.
Genuine spirit of inquiry rather than disguised complaint: decapitalisation is rightly frowned upon. What is the view on titles such as The Greatest? I assumed it was referring to Ali but might have felt I needed to maintain the capitals had I been writing it, as Quirister did in the blog. (Man in Black – Johnny Cash and The Great White Shark – Greg Norman – are two others that come to mind).
Thanks Grecian and Quirister.
Thanks both. I can only add that this was the perfect accompaniment to the cricket….so far. SHOESTRING and IRONSIDE stand out on the basis they dredged some distant but happy memories
Great stuff, but surely COLUMBO and COLOMBO aren’t really homophones? Thanks Grecian and Quirister.
Really enjoyed the trips down memory lane with the various sleuths but can’t nominate a favourite as it would be based on my feelings about the series concerned rather than the construction of the clues!
Certainly a great idea for a themed puzzle so thank you to Grecian for that and thanks also to Quirister for the review.
Thanks, Quirister and Grecian. A very enjoyable solve, right in the sweet spot for me difficulty wise – tricky enough to make me work for a few, but all yielding nicely in the end. Nancy DREW cropped up elsewhere very recently, but that was still my LOI.
PM@3 – yes, I would want to capitalise The Greatest if I were using it in a clue, but I worked out what Grecian intended so didn’t let the lack of capitals trouble me.
What a lot of pis, thanks Grecian and Quirister. Very enjoyable and impressively neat clues with the constraint.
Is ‘the greatest’ decapitalisation? I’ve never seen it in a clue with capitals, not that that is evidence, but it comes from a quote, and I’ve always thought it was just Ali’s description of himself.
I once triumphantly put perineum on a triple word score in a family game of Scrabble, for some reason thinking it was an architectural term, and wondering why there was sniggering from the other adults. It was a bit of an eyesore for the rest of the game.
James @8: if you were thinking along architectural lines with your perineum, you would probably sympathise with Prince Charles when he bemoaned the imminent appearance of a carbuncle 😉
There’s a perineum just across Trafalgar Square, it’s the area by the entrance to the tube
We were struggling with this and still had most of the SW quadrant blank when reason prevailed and we decided to put it aside and do something useful. Came back to it some three hours later and it all fell into place.
An excellent themed puzzle. Favourite was MAIGRET (one of our favourite detectives, too, and btw the original BBC TV episodes are currently being aired on Talking PicturesTV on Tuesdays). Too many runners-up, though to name them all.
Thanks, Grecian and Quirister
Many thanks to Quirister for the excellent blog and to everyone else for the kind comments. I’m very happy that the puzzle brought some smiles and happy memories. G
Thanks Quirister for confirming THORN which was a lucky guess. I think 11a could even work without the Spoonerism (“May grey” is the sort of thing I could imagine reading in a diary) and appreciated the different clueing of RE…ED in 20a and 29a. Fun and my favourite 6d plus a few already mentioned, thanks Grecian.
PS PostMark@3 i can never remember which way round capitals are allowed to be dropped/invented but am trying to train myself to think of Ali automatically whenever I see those words so luckily not flummoxed.
Also meant to say that it was good to see a relatively new term in UBER and the spot to tie in with the theme was inspired!
Gazzh@14: UBER turned up just a few days ago here in a Dutch puzzle. Very similar clue, too.
Thankyou Dormouse just read the blog for that one, and sorry if I woke you. The same word popping up in different puzzles in close succession happens more often that I used to think it would. And it doesn’t surprise me that different setters would spot the same property of a word and use it in a clue, to some extent they must all share the same devious way of looking at words from different angles to see how they can be broken down or manipulated. In fact I sometimes wonder if prolific setters are able to read anything “normally” without pulling the words apart as they go!