I haven’t blogged a Knut puzzle for a while, so it was good to see his name on today’s Independent crossword.
AS is often the case, I solved a Tuesday puzzle and then thought – it’s theme day, what have I missed?.
I never really listened to PETER GABRIEL or GENESIS but I had a little knowledge of both. I’m sure many solvers will know much more about the theme than I do. With a bit of help from Wikipedia, I noted SLEDGEHAMMER and JEUX SANS FRONTIERES (Games without Frontiers),and COURAGE as song titles in the grid and Solsbury Hill in the clues. I wondered if there was any connection between SETTLE and MALTBY and the theme but I couldn’t find one
The anagram for JEUX SANS FRONTIERES was excellent and I liked the surf of the clues for SEMBLANCE and ROUND THE BEND. I was vaguely aware of the meaning of the word EPONYM, but I had to check it in a dictionary.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Heavy tool Nick Hornby initially smuggled into prison (12) SLEDGEHAMMER (large heavy HAMMER [tool] wielded in both hands) (EDGE [nick, as in the batter EDGEd {nicked} the ball to the slips] + H [first letter of {initially} HORNBY]) contained in (smuggled into) SLAMMER (slang word for ‘prison’) SL (EDGE H) AMMER |
| 9 |
Safe time to probe member of The House of Lords (5) PETER (a safe) T (time) contained in (to probe) PEER (member of the House of Lords) PE (T) ER |
| 10 |
An apparition, Mabel regularly appears in spiritual gathering (9) SEMBLANCE (apparition) MBL (letters 1, 3 and 5 [regularly] of MABEL) contained in (appears in) SEANCE (session or meeting of psychical researchers or spiritualists for the purpose of trying to contact the spirits of the dead) SE (MBL) ANCE |
| 11 |
Going back in, quickly fill unlimited void (7) NULLIFY (to void) NULLIFY (reversed [going back) hidden word in [in] )QUICKLY FILL UNLIMITED NULLIFY< |
| 12 |
Girl making cheese sandwich is an angel (7) GABRIEL (reference the archangel GABRIEL) GAL (girl) containing (making … sandwich) BRIE (a type of cheese) GA (BRIE) L |
| 13 |
Process of conciliation involves Charlie (drug) (10) MEDICATION (medicine, drug, etc) MEDIATION (conciliation) containing (involves) C (cocaine; Charlie is also a term for cocaine) MEDI (C) ATION |
| 15/18/19 |
Essex juniors aren’t prepared to tackle France in Euro knockout games (4,4,10) JEUX SANS FRONTIERES (games without frontiers; a Europe-wide television game show, based on the French programme Intervilles which was first broadcast in 1962. A British version was titled It’s A Knockout) Anagram of (prepared) ESSEX JUNIORS AREN’T containing (to tackle) F (international vehicle registration for France) JEUX SANS (F) RONTIERES* |
| 22 |
Seeing revolutionary, singular band (7) GENESIS (English progressive rock band formed at Charterhouse School in 1967) Anagram of (revolutionary) SEEING + S (singular) GENESI* S |
| 24 |
Beer bottle? (7) COURAGE (COURAGE beer was first brewed in 1787 by John COURAGE, Over recent years the ownership of the brand name and the site of brewing the beer has changed many times, but the beer is still available in some form COURAGE (nerve; bottle) double definition COURAGE |
| 25 |
Rubbish clues about leading man Randy (9) LECHEROUS (lustful; randy) Anagram of (rubbish) CLUES containing (about) HERO (leading man) LEC (HERO) US* |
| 26 |
Annoy Republican when leaving joint (5) ANKLE (joint) RANKLE (annoy) excluding (leaving) R (Republican) ANKLE |
| 27 |
Husband gets in Dubonnet Red, crackers and nuts (5,3,4) ROUND THE BEND (crazy; nuts) H (husband) contained in (gets in) an anagram of (crackers) DUBONNET RED ROUND T (H) E BEND* |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Became comfortable with N Yorks town racket (7,2) SETTLED IN (adapted to a new environment; became comfortable) SETTLE (town in North Yorkshire) + DIN (racket) SETTLE D IN |
| 2 |
Wyatt unwrapping niece’s hearing aid (8) EARPIECE (the part of a telephone, etc that is placed next to the ear; hearing aid) EARP (reference Wyatt EARP [1848-1929], American lawman) + NIECE‘S excluding the outer letters (unwrapping) N and S EARP IECE |
| 3 |
Starts to go up Solsbury Hill, yomping over the top (5) GUSHY (effusively sentimental; over the top) GUSHY (initial letters of [starts to] each of GO, UP SOLSBURY, HILL and YOMPING) G U S H Y] + B [second class] |
| 4 |
Locally-produced hormone-treated seeds of wild garlic randomly planted (4- 5) HOME GROWN (produced in one’s own country or garden; locally produced) (W and G [first letters of {seeds of} WILD and GARLIC) contained in (randomly planted) an anagram of (treated) HORMONE HOME (G) RO (W) N* |
| 5 |
Lieutenant, secondclass, visiting former PM in S Yorks town (6) MALTBY (town in South Yorkshire) (LT [lieutenant) + B [second-class]) contained in (visiting) MAY (reference Theresa MAY [born 1956], former [one of many recently] Prime Minister [PM] of the United Kingdom) MA (LT B) Y |
| 6 |
Boredom occasionally featured in Lennon music? (5) ENNUI (boredom) ENNUI (letters 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 [occasionally featured] of LENNON MUSIC) ENNUI |
| 7 |
Knut’s firm refusal upset America, for one (6) EPONYM (a place name, derived from a person, real or mythical; Wikipedia tells us that the naming of the Americas or America , occurred shortly after Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas in 1492. It is generally accepted that the name derives from Amerigo Vespucci [1451-1512], the Italian explorer, who explored the new continents in the following years on behalf of Spain and Portugal) (MY [Knut’s] + NOPE [firm refusal]) all reversed (upset) (EPON YM)< |
| 8 |
Law supporting whistleblower’s kneejerk reaction (6) REFLEX (involuntary reaction such as a kneejerk) REF (REFeree; whistle blower) + LEX (law) – this being a down entry the letters LEX support the letters REF REF LEX |
| 14 |
Resolve issue of open air rave? (6,3) THRASH OUT (discuss exhaustively, or arrive at by debate; resolve issue) THRASH (a party or rave) + OUT (in the open air) THRASH OUT |
| 16 |
Demerara rum King sampled set aside specially (9) EARMARKED (set aside for) K (king) contained in (sampled) an anagram of (rum) DEMERARA EARMAR (K) ED* |
| 17 |
Fake phone card I hear you and others knocked up (8) SIMULATE ([to make a false appearance; to fake) SIM (phone card) + U (sounds like [I hear] YOU) + ET AL (and others) reversed (knocked up; down entry) SIM U LATE< |
| 18 |
Showing wise judgement, heartless police officer left Yard (6) SAGELY (showing wise judgement) SARGE (informal term for Sergeant police officer rank]) excluding the middle letter (heartless) R + L (left) + Y (yard) SAGE L Y |
| 20 |
Bonxie picked up sharp stick (6) SKEWER (long pin of wood or metal, with sharp ends) SKEWER (sounds like [picked up] SKUA [a bonxie is a great SKUA]) SKEWER |
| 21 |
Part of horse’s foot kicking soft behind (6) ASTERN (behind) PASTERN (the part of a horse’s foot from the fetlock to the hoof, where the shackle is fastened) excluding (kicking) P (piano; soft) ASTERN |
| 23 |
Upending old tin containing hot Mexican food (5) NACHO (a tortilla chip, usually topped with cheese or beans and flavoured with chilli and /or jalapeno; Mexican food) ([O {old} + CAN {tin}] containing [containing] H [hot]) all reversed (upending; down entry) (NAC (H) O)< |
| 24 |
Class acts worked on ultimate piece of theatre (5) CASTE (social class) Anagram of (worked) ACTS + E (last letter of [ultimate piece of] THEATRE) CAST* E |

Thanks, Knut and duncanshiell!
Liked HOMEGROWN, REFLEX and SKEWER.
Guessed the theme might be Peter Gabriel having started with 1a and it soon became clear that it was. This made 15/18/19 a write-in (would be quite tough otherwise). Anybody else remember the comedy series “Sledgehammer”? Wrote in SKEWER, then looked up ‘bonxie’ to see why.
REFLEX is a Duran Duran hit. How did that get in?
Good fun. The theme was recognisable and helpful although I didn’t associate JEUX SANS FRONTIERES with the Gabriel song until I read the blog. I guessed JEUX from the crossers and the fodder and found the TV show online. I checked Solsbury Hill on YouTube and saw old, portly, bald men being musical and very energetic with himself riding around the stage on a bicycle and singing. Rock stars. Like SKEWER, MEDICATION and ROUND THE BEND. Thanks Duncan, Knut and Peter.
I could identify the theme, but I didn’t get all the references, meaning that I had to solve 15/18/19a “cold”, though enumeration and being an anagram helped.
I liked the ‘Demerara rum’ bit of 16d and learnt what a ‘bonxie’ is, as well as reading a bit more about the theme.
Thanks to Knut and Duncan
Another fun crossword from Knut – I spotted the theme eventually
Many thanks to him and Duncan
For MALTBY why not one of these?
Malabo – capital city of Equatorial Guinea.
Malibu – city in Los Angeles County, California, United States known for its beaches.
malibu – (surfing) – A type of lightweight longboard known for its stability.
Thanks KINK EARN NEWT & duncanshiell
I soon spotted the link between PETER, GABRIEL and GENESIS (I worked with their manager for a year or so), but it’s not my kind of music so the other themed answers were lost on me. Re JEUX SANS FRONTIERES, I was going to comment that it was not a knockout contest but points based – then the penny dropped! This all slipped in very nicely so thanks Knut and Duncan.
That was a jolly start to the day, and a reminder of when 22a were interesting, before becoming a bland pop group.
NHO bonxie, but I like the word.
Hovis, yes I well remember the hilariously hardline US cop Sledgehammer (“The death penalty’s too lenient; there’s always the possibility of reincarnation”)
Played by David Rasche who went on to play a whole Succession of different roles later on.
Thanks both. Spotted the theme from my first two answers, and to prove we are never entirely happy, I might have preferred to take on JEUX SANS FRONTIERES cold. Vaguely knew skua (but not bonxie) but would have spat out my teeth in trying to pronounce, so grateful for the learning. All told, very enjoyable, and would have liked more references to the theme….for those still working on it, ‘don’t give up’
Quizzy_Bob @9 Don’t remember that quote but think it’s brilliant 🙂
Coincidentally, Bert was listening to 1ac yesterday while enjoying the sun in the South of France. Joyce solved PETER and GABRIEL so it took a little longer than it needed to to uncover the theme. We were fans of the band in their heyday and also followed their individual careers after the breakup.
Thanks Knut and Duncan.
Glad you’re enjoying the sun B&J and trust you had a nice anniversary yesterday.
Fairly quick solve, although I didn’t know what a bonxie was and guessed SKEWER.
I had no idea of the theme. I had heard of PETER GABRIEL but didn’t spot the name in the answers. However, I was a great fan of JEUX SANS FRONTIERES back in the day.
Solved without getting the theme but PETER and GABRIEL gave us a hint and googling suppled the rest. We liked ROUND THE BEND.
Thanks, Knut and Duncan.
Great fun, thanks, Knut and Duncan. I forgot to look for a theme so completely missed it, though it seems obvious in retrospect, but I did enjoy rekindling childhood memories of people dressed as giant milkmaids trying to carry buckets of lurid coloured liquids over obstacle courses…
Thanks Knut. When I solved SLEDGEHAMMER the song began playing in my head, priming me for the theme. Still, I needed all the crossers and anagram fodder to get 15/18/19 since I didn’t know that reference. My top picks were SEMBLANCE, GABRIEL, HOME-GROWN, ENNUI (great surface), and EPONYM. Thanks duncanshiell for the blog.
A theme close to my heart
GWF still sounds great and although it doesnt scan so well i French, it its into the grid neatly
Thanks Knut and duncan.
Thank you (belatedly) Knut. I now have the earworm of the backing vocalist singing ‘Jeux – sans – /Front/ieres’ at the start of GWF. Cheers!
Very sorrynotsorry jv 🙂
I’m so far behind on the Indy. I’d add eponym to the theme as his first four LPs were self titled.