Independent 11388 / Bluth

19 comments on “Independent 11388 / Bluth”

1. Another splendid typically Bluth puzzle to enjoy despite the use of the incorrect answer for 19a which should be REGISTER OFFICE. I confidently wrote this in as it fits the wordplay and definition perfectly but it does not work with the crossing 17d. I must say I was surprised to see the wrong answer in Collins with the qualification “often called …” I suppose this means that enough people have been getting it wrong for long enough for it to achieve some sort of legitimacy.

   AMALGAM was my favourite.

   Many thanks to Bluth and to Duncan.

2. Liked HELIPAD, RAREBIT, SPRIG, THROB, ESTEEM and GOO.

   Thanks, Bluth and duncanshiell!

3. I don’t mind – indeed, sometimes I actually enjoy – what I’ve referred to as ‘fiddly’ clues. When they are done well, and Bluth can do them very well, they do lead to intriguing surfaces: amusing images and fun stories. It does take a degree of mental gymnastics to work everything into place but he is pretty scrupulous at ensuring everything is accounted for.

   I share duncan’s favourites – to which I would add IMPATIENT, NORTH YORKSHIRE and EIDER. And, for a short ‘un, EAR was nicely done too.

   Thanks Bluth and duncan

4. Looked impenetrable at first but the anagrams helped. Tops are the definitions – REGISTRY OFFICE, INHERENT, STRAIGHTFORWARD and AIRLINE which took a log time for the penny to drop. Ripper. Parsed RAREBIT almost as well as the blog has but hadn’t realised the RE replaced (for) one fo the b’s. Lovely clue. Very wordy, effusive but compact. Ripper puzzle. Thanks.

5. Another good Bluth puzzle, not too hard, not too easy and very enjoyable. Plenty of good wordplay on show today, but for me the picks were the defs for HELIPAD, EIDER and my last in FERRYMAN.

   Thanks to Bluth and to Duncan for the as ever comprehensive blog

6. RD @1 Good point. I used to get that wrong until somebody corrected me. A bit like saying “St. John’s Ambulance” instead of “St. John Ambulance”. Very enjoyable crossword though.

7. Rabbit Dave @ 1

   All of Chambers, Collins and the OED recognise that the official term is REGISTER OFFICE, but all three of them also list REGISTRY OFFICE as a headword. For me, if a word or phrase is in common use then it is reasonable for a setter to use it in the grid. I also sytarted with REGISTER as I though that fitted ‘list’ better than REGISTRY, but Chambers and the OED both list REGISTER as a definition under the headword REGISTRY.

   There are many words that have changed their meaning over the years- just a few are illustrated by the folk singer Eric Bogle in his’ silly slang song’ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5h17eZ1pBg I wonder how setters would clue these words today. You may need a You Tube login to view the clip.

   Additional words are being introduced to the language on an increasingly frequent basis. Setters will always want to incorporate these new words as well as teasing us with obscure and little known words from yesteryear. For me, one of the joys of crosswords is learning new words and meanings.

8. As ever with this setter great fun with smiles throughout the grid.
   I really liked the super RAREBIT along with the lol INSPECT plus NORTH YORKSHIRE, TIP OF THE ICEBERG, FERRYMAN and AIRLINE although the necessary “say” rather spoiled the surface read in that one. Great stuff
   Thanks Bluth and DS for a top puzzle and blog.

9. Thanks Duncan.

   FWIW – my intended use of ZIP = GO was the nounal sense – as in energy. “They’ve got a lot of go/zip about them”. Not that it matters as your parsing works just as well.

   FARCEUR is wrongly labelled as 13 rather than 12D.

   Cheers!

10. Duncan @7. Thanks very much for your reply and for the YouTube link.

    I fully accept what you say about the development of language. However, in this specific case, it leads to there being two equally plausible answers which fit the wordplay and definition. I have been told by those who understand these things better than me, that this is something that setters should try to avoid. I can certainly see that may often not be an easy thing for a setter or even an editor to spot.

11. I don’t know how anyone manages to get to a wedding on time in the uk. As far as I can tell only Bromsgrove and Chesterfield have adopted the new, correct, modern REGISTRY OFFICE on their road signage. Everywhere else seems to have stuck with the old, incorrect, outmoded REGISTER OFFICE, apart from the places where they’ve chosen to fudge the issue with REGISTRATION OFFICE.
    Being old, incorrect and outmoded myself, I entered REGISTER OFFICE at 19a giving me:
    17d Legend in dock according to hearsay (3) – K?R.
    The answer had to be KIR, a homophone of KIER Starmer (not Hardie – I’m not that old), who as DPP would have been the scourge of all the prisoners in the dock, and obviously a legend in his own lifetime. Such charisma. Such presence.
    But where was the definition for the wine & blackcurrant drink?

12. Another enjoyable crossword from Bluth. My favourite clue was 9a

    Many thanks to setter and blogger

13. Thanks both. Was unconvinced by ‘go’ for ‘zip’ in GOO but will accept the clarification from our setter Bluth@9. The government website appears to opt for register office, which excuses my and others’ initial entry, although personally I was never quite sure which is right….having referred to government and marriage in the same short paragraph, I will leave it at that

14. I agree with Duncan and Postmark about Blyth’s wordplay and with crypticsue about the favourite.

15. I agree with Petert. Great fun puzzle, thanks, Bluth and Duncan.

16. A bit of a cricket theme going on?

17. Great crossword, great blog. But Duncan, are you sure Trumpton is really that old?

18. DuncT @ 17

    Ah! – just a mere century out! – a typo and poor proof reading I’m afraid

19. Thanks Bluth for an excellent crossword. I like clues that tell a mini tale so I was happy today. My favourites were PERPETRATOR, INSPECT, ESTEEM, and HELIPAD but all were very good in my opinion. Thanks Duncan for the blog. By the way, it’s very difficult to proofread your own writing — there’s a tendency to see what you meant as opposed to seeing what you wrote.

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