Independent 11345 / Tees

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Tuesday in the Independent is usually an interesting day and today is no exception.

 

 

 

I blogged the previous two Tuesday puzzles as a stand-in and found music themes – Jeff Beck and The Who.  When I solved PRINCE at 6 across today, I thought we were going to have another similar theme.

However, although PRINCE was part of the theme, it was in a regal role, rather than a musical role, with references to the British Royal Family as well as the PRINCE of Denmark.

The link between the PRINCEs in the quotation I AM TOO MUCH I’ THE SUN was clever.

Tees’ crosswords often require a bit of general knowledge as well as cultural and sporting references and we had quite a range of topics in this puzzle. 

It was good to see MECCANO in the grid.  I remember the metal version when I was a young lad.  The brand is still going today after quite a few ups and downs,  It seems to be keeping pace with change and has moved to a plastic form. See https://www.meccano.com/en_us

I recognise the use of SPARE in the phrase ‘going SPARE [going crazy] but I could only find the relevant definition in Collins, which I think is the ‘bible’ for Independent crosswords.  I can’t see that definition in Chambers.

There were quite a partly or wholly cryptic definitions, EVICTION, I AM TOO MUCH I’ THE SUN and DEPTH.  I’m not a great fan of cryptic definitions but these all seemed fair.

No Detail
Across  
1

In dining room English crazy about French ladies (8) 

MESDAMES (word used instead of the plural of Mrs as titles for French women or French-speaking women; extended to women in an artistic profession)

(Anagram of [about] [E {English} and MAD {crazy}]) contained in (in) MESS (dining room for a group of people, especially in the armed forces)

MES (DAME*) S
6

Musician in north cutting cost (6) 

PRINCE (reference the American musician PRINCE Rogers Nelson [1958 – 2016], for some time referred to as ‘The artist formerly known as PRINCE‘)

N (north) contained in (cutting) PRICE (cost)

PRI (N) CE
9

Purchase a raven 20 18 kept (4) 

GRIP (clutch; control; purchase)

GRIP (name of the raven kept by CHARLES [20d] DICKENS [18d])  double definition

GRIP
10

Fickle folk, English, tucking into fruit after tea (10) 

CHAMELEONS (changeable, or readily adaptable people; fickle folk)

CHA (tea) + (E [English] contained in [tucking into] MELONS [fruit])

CHA MEL (E) ONS
11

Condition in maths reworked attracting top grade (6) 

ASTHMA (chronic disorder of the organs of respiration; [medical] condition)

Anagram of (reworked) MATHS + A (top grade)

ASTHM* A
12

Compulsory turnout? (8) 

EVICTION (expel [turn out] from a dwelling)

EVICTIONS often happen with the force of law or other conditions, making the turnout compulsory  cryptic definition

EVICTION
13/19d

6A’s observation on excessive tabloid exposure? (1,2,3,4,1,3,3) 

I AM TOO MUCH[I’ THE SUN (words spoken by Hamlet [PRINCE of Denmark) in Shakespeare’s play of the same name.  Apparently  ‘sun’ is a pun on the word ‘son’. ‘ Hamlet uses this pun to express his dissatisfaction of being a ‘son’ to too many people; his dead father, his mother Gertrude, and now his uncle/stepfather, Claudius)

For the cryptic definition, the clue is referring to PRINCE Harry and his opinion he appears too much in the tabloid newspaper The Sun.  Possibly also a reference to his ‘son’ relationship to Charles, Diana and Camilla)

I AM TOO MUCH [I’ THE SUN]
16

Native American doctrine unfinished (4) 

CREE (member of a Native American tribe living in Montana and parts of Canada)

CREED (doctrine) excluding the final letter (unfinished) D

CREE
17

Hero unemployed reportedly (4) 

IDOL (hero)

IDOL (sounds like [reportedly] IDLE [unemployed])

IDOL
19

Faultless conception of a particular religion? (10) 

IMMACULATE (faultless)

IMMACULATE (reference the concept of the IMMACULATE Conception [the Roman Catholic {a particular religion} dogma that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin, first proclaimed as an article of faith in 1854 {not the same as the Virgin Birth}])  double definition

IMMACULATE
22

In the 20s perhaps champion advances rapidly (8) 

SCORCHES (drives [advances] very quickly)

CH (champion) contained in (in) SCORES (twenties)

SCOR (CH) ES
24

Gulag has thirty guards filled with terror (6) 

AGHAST (stupefied with horror)

AGHAST (hidden word in [guards] GULAG HAS THIRTY)

AGHAST
26

Finch, outside science rooms, backing participant in rally? (6,4) 

TENNIS BALL (an object that is used in a rally on a TENNIS court)

(LINNET [common finch]) containing [outside] LABS [laboratories;  science rooms])  all reversed (backing)

TENNI (S BAL<) L<
27

Use phone when abroad ring to break strike? (4) 

ROAM (use a mobile phone in a place outside the standard area of coverage, such as abroad)

O (character shaped like a ring) contained in (to break) RAM (beat hard; strike)

R (O) AM
28

Seat moved, by sailors, towards the rear (6) 

ASTERN (nautical term meaning towards the rear of a boat)

Anagram of (moved) SEAT + RN (Royal Navy; sailors)

ASTE* RN
29

Grass surrounding lake after dump transformed (8)

RESTYLED (redesigned; transformed)

REED (tall stiff marsh or water grass) containing (surrounding) (STY [dump] + L [lake])

RE (STY L) ED
Down  
2

Continents considered as a whole one in ruined US area (7) 

EURASIA (Europe and Asia considered as one continent)

I (Roman numeral for one) contained in (in) an anagram of (ruined)  US AREA

EURAS (I) A*
3

Where conflict arises at sea, these charges may be dropped (5) 

DEPTH (reference DEPTH charges [powerful bomb that explodes under water (dropped over or near submarines])

This is just a cryptic definition as DEPTH charges are frequently dropped in wars or conflicts at sea

DEPTH
4

Locus for enthusiasts regularly using revolutionary toy (7) 

MECCANO (old toy consisting of a set of small metal plates, rods, nuts and bolts, etc with which models can be constructed)

MECCA (place heavily visited by, or with a special attraction for, a particular person or group. Locus for enthusiasts) + ON (using, as in ‘he/she is on drugs’) reversed (revolutionary)

MECCA NO<
5

Furious book by 6A 25 (5) 

SPARE (slang term for upset, angry or distracted; furious)

SPARE (title of the recently published memoir [book] by PRINCE [6a] HARRY‘s [25d]) double definition

SPARE
6

Irritable character in 18 sent up having accepted six shillings (7)

PEEVISH (irritable)

HEEP (reference Uriah HEEP, a character in DICKENS‘ [18d] novel David Copperfield) reversed (sent up) and then containing (having accepted) (VI [Roman numeral for six] + S [shillings])

PEE (VI S) H<
7

Similar in every detail, papers a client misplaced (9) 

IDENTICAL (similar in every detail)

ID ([identity] papers) + an anagram of (misplaced) A CLIENT

ID ENTICAL*
8

Rook with flatfish brings comfort when distressed (7) 

CONSOLE (cheer [comfort] in distress)

CON (swindle; rook) + SOLE (a  flatfish)

CON SOLE
14

Give encouraging cry during ecstasy (9) 

TOLERANCE (leeway; give)

OLÉ (encouraging cry) contained in (during) TRANCE (ecstatic state)

T (OLE) RANCE
15

Muslims occasionally seen in German city (3) 

ULM (German city)

ULM (letters 2, 4 and 6 [occasionally] of MUSLIMS)

ULM
18

Elevated hero in Scotland knows devil (7) 

DICKENS (one of the many names for the devil)

CID (reference EL CID [approx 1043 – 1099], a national hero of Spain) reversed (elevated; down entry) + KENS (Scottish word for ‘knows’)

DIC< KENS
19

See 13 Across  

[I AM TOO MUCH] I’ THE SUN
20

25’s old man in check on French city (7) 

CHARLES (reference the current UK Monarch, King CHARLES, father of Price HARRY [25d])

CH (check) + ARLES (French city)

CH ARLES
21

With a will, the nation bans heroin (7) 

TESTATE (having made and left a valid will)

THE STATE excluding (bans) H (heroin)

TESTATE
23

Part of flight with one 19D? (5) 

STAIR (part of a flight of STAIRs)

I (Roman numeral for one) contained in (I‘) STAR (THE SUN) where I’ THE SUN is the entry at 19d

STA (I) R
25

Badger would be dangerous with one coming in for a run (5) 

HARRY (harass; badger)

HARRY would become HAIRY (dangerous) if one of the Rs (a run) was replaced by (for) I (Roman numeral for one)

HARRY

39 comments on “Independent 11345 / Tees”

  1. Not my cup of tea, I’m afraid. Not a criticism of the setter – just GK that I don’t know and am not interested in (Prince Harry or Shakespeare in general). The phrase ‘go spare’ is in Chambers. Not sure whether ‘spare’ can mean ‘furious’ in any other context.

  2. Well, that was certainly different, and I enjoyed it on the whole. You can’t say that Tees isn’t creative. Fortunately I remembered the Hamlet quote from the dim and distant past of my school days.

    I was disappointed when I found the abbreviation for champion needed in 22a is designated as American. A US indicator wouldn’t have gone amiss. My repetition radar bleeped with the use of one = I twice (in consecutive clues!)

    PEEVISH was my favourite. with EVICTION and IMMACULATE running it close.

    Thanks to Tees and to Duncan.

  3. Not red hot for cryptic definitions either but your blog has helped. DEPTH hardly seems cryptic. Otherwise absolutely brilliant crossword. SCORCHES, TENNIS BALL, TOLERANCE, STAIR [LOI] the list goes on, and then there’s the I AM TOO MUCH treat (thinking it was Harry), the rhizomic theme that spread as far as Dickens. Thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks Tees and Duncan. I don’t understand the point of ‘regularly’ in the clue for MECCANO.

  4. Hi Duncan, you have invented a mythical 5 across! Great blog though, I’ve always loved your helpful format.

    Not unusual for the Indy to have a topical crossword on a Tuesday, and for me, as Harry has been all over the news regarding his book, this was fair enough. It was also a lot of fun, and I thought the Hamlet/ Harry nexus to be particularly neat. Thanks both!

  5. RD @2: not sure which dictionary you are using but CH is not noted as being US in my online subscription Chambers and, tbh, given the amount of duplication that has been appearing in quite a few published crosswords, one = I used twice is hardly a capital offence. And – splitting hairs – is the second ‘I’ actually used? It’s an integral part of 23d but, rather like Yorick, doesn’t actually appear in the flesh in 25d 😉

    I really enjoyed this – more on the second pass when some of the cross references were known. Very clever to have the two themes entwined like this. Before I twigged the theme, I was thinking the quotation was going to be a Prince song so, duncan, you are not alone. Favourites today include CHAMELEONS, EVICTION, ASTERN, MECCANO, TOLERANCE, DICKENS and HARRY.

    Thanks Tees and Duncan

  8. This was fun.CD and GRIP leapt out (was Dickens’ raven also called Grip like Barnaby’s)
    Then the Prince theme and the connection with Hamlet and Harry-nice to get the WS wording right.
    Possibly my favourite Tees yet
    Havent always been a fan but credit where due!
    Thanks

  9. PostMark@6 Thanks. That makes sense. Otherwise re KVa ‘regularly’ is perhaps superfluous and ‘using’ is ‘on’.

  10. Copmus, yes Grip was a talking raven kept as a pet by Charles Dickens, and as you say she was the basis for a character of the same name in Barnaby Rudge.

    KVa, agree. ‘On’ heroin etc.

    Good stuff, liked the Hamlet quote.

  13. Fun crossword though some of the cleverness was lost on me as I didn’t recognise 13a/19d as a quote from Hamlet, thinking it was the title of a PRINCE song instead, probably as intended for ignoramuses like me. I also learnt GRIP was a real and not just a fictional ‘raven’. My favourites were the ‘participant in rally?’ def and MECCANO with its reminders of childhood.

    I don’t know if it further extends Sofamore @3’s rhizomic theme, but CHARLES ULM was a pioneer Australian aviator who flew with Charles Kingsford Smith.

    Thanks to Tees and Duncan

  14. I liked this a lot. Some GK but at least it all linked up.
    DICKENS = devil is a word used by Shakespeare. Hamlet is mentioned in the opening paragraphs of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol
    I hadn’t heard of GRIP the raven but found this:

    which also links on to Poe’s Raven and Gauguin’s Nevermore.
    It seems the raven was “regularly using” paint, and died of an OD.
    LOI and favourite: MECCANO. I had it as a kid and bought it for my kids (when they were kids).
    RIP TAFKAP – has it really been 7 years since he died?

  17. Ravens in Tees puzzles are copmus’s fault, generally speaking. It goes back a few months, but it’s in the archives somewhere.

    There were a couple of things here that weren’t changed, in the end, after discussions, but before publication, so, well, rats. E.g. no-one yet has spotted my two E for Englishes, so perhaps I should keep schtum about them, except to say that I’d been expecting one to become European.

    Such is life. Glad it’s gone down okay anyway, just as Mr Putin’s fine speech shurely has. Poor innocent Russia.

    Thanks all, and thanks Dunks.

  18. I am more than willing to let a couple of not-quite-crypic-enough definitions pass for the overall inventiveness of this very enjoyable puzzle.

  19. Count me as another who found this highly entertaining. Thanks, Tees. I thought the cryptic defs were good, though I did sometimes get hung up on looking for wordplay when there was none (although a good punning cryptic definition is a form of wordplay in itself, to be fair).

    I also spent far too long wondering why on earth I couldn’t think of any Prince songs (and me a so-called fan) that would fit 13/19 – before the penny eventually dropped with a resounding thud.

    Thanks for the blog, Duncan. I vaguely recall that Meccano made the transition from metal to plastic during my childhood, so probably around 1980? It was never the same.

  20. I’m used to Tuesday being theme day in the Indy but today’s puzzle seems to have several mini-themes bumping into one another!
    Certainly inventive, Tees, and refreshed my memory on more than one occasion.
    Many thanks and thanks also to Duncan for the review.

  21. Thanks both. A battle for me, but an enjoyable one – did not know the Hamlet quote, which seems very niche, yet probably clued as fairly as it could be, although the abbreviation of ‘in’ to ‘i’ significantly delayed me making sense of it. Per some others here, the GK e.g. GRIP and SPARE were unknowns to me, but I will file for future use

  22. I had a quick dig in the archive to remind myself of the previous discussion of Dickensian ravens. It was longer ago than I realised – IoS 1651 by Tees

    We don’t need to have the general knowledge discussion again, but it’s worth a look for comment #42 from James, which is a zinger.

  24. Widdersbel@23: I solved it only by Googling. Before today I’d have only got the last 2 letters.
    With his first initial he’s a Roman general, who fought opposite Antony M.

  25. Tees@17 the copmus comment is in 10,892 from September 2021. Read the interesting GK discussion linked by Widdersbel. Funnily enough I was looking at an Araucaria prize from 2000 (22,050 if anyone’s interested) and it also has references to Dickens and Shakespeare – a point that Tees was making. Nice that not everything changes. Mind you Araucaria also had quite a few further literary and other references as well in that puzzle. For the anti GK camp perhaps they can take comfort from the demise of quotations in the modern crossword. Even though they must have brought much enjoyment over the years.

  27. Widdersbel@26: Glad you got it.
    I usually end up posting last on these comments, when everyone else has moved on.
    I bet nobody’s going to read this.

  31. Widdersbel @ 22/23 I don’t know whether or not James’s unconscious was working overtime on that day, given that the raven led him to the Argentinian footballer, but Angel Grippa is GK in two ways, is he not.

  32. Hi Tees. Have you solved my clue @24?
    It involves GK about an Argentinian GK and the battle of Actium. That should annoy people.

  33. Hi Nick@25
    I’ve just done Guardian 22,050 which is a prize on a Wednesday(?) Is that the one you meant?
    My LOI : 16d “Factor caused by mirth arising during meals? (4-4)” The page insists the answer is FEEL-COLD.

  34. Thanks Tees. I had to reveal a few letters to get MESDAMES and MECCANO but this mostly slipped in without problems. I found much of this quite clever but I’ve never found Tees not clever. Thanks Duncan.

  35. Tees @31 – a clue that requires knowledge of both old footballers and Dickens characters is the kind of thing I’d expect to see in a Tees puzzle. And is a good thing in my book.

  38. I’ve just read the rather puerile ‘argument’ against GK in the thread tagged above. I didn’t see it at the time, thankfully.

    I think that solving clues using the cryptic alone, with a definition that does not immediately come to mind, or will never come via one’s knowledge, is if anything an enhancement of crosswording pleasure. With Araucaria for example, that hero of our times against whom none might safely rail, one could guarantee at least one clue, and usually more that would require hard solving work rather than a guess, and puzzles like his were in my view the better for it.

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