We really are quite spoilt by the quality of the setters on the Independent’s payroll these days.
The Crossword Editor is never adverse to trying new talent when he finds it, and sometimes the new guys become the usual guys and we look forward to their next puzzle. I still remember when Bluth’s first few published puzzles brought something slightly different to the game.
I do not have the time to do every Independent puzzle, though I always tackle Saturday’s. But if I spot Bluth’s name during the week I will make an effort to make the time to attempt that one. So I was very happy to see his name on this one. There is a certain gentle humour within a Bluth puzzle – not every clue of course, but every light is solidly clued.
The first here is an example of that – it immediately brought to mind the appalling American “Duck and Cover” turtle cartoon on TV. (If you don’t know what I’m on about search YouTube for “Duck and Cover”). But it also suckered me into writing in the wrong answer – so the joke was on me.
Another facility Bluth seems to have, is to bring out offbeat definitions for the answers. Something more than just a straight synonym. Here we have “character-forming” for 5d’s “writing”, and my favourite “evidence of a broken maternal bond” at 18a.
So solving was a joy. I only got held up at the end with just 23a and 24d to go. With the references to time and clock 23a had me fixated on time-keeping. It was when I took a step back to consider what could possibly fit the crossing letters T—S-R that I spotted the answer.
I believe most clues are explained and solidly understood except one: I need help with wordplay for 16d. TIFY has me baffled.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 9 | LAYER | Maybe duck and cover (5) Double Definition. Upon reading this first clue I was nicely suckered into writing in EIDER, which fitted with 3d CRIB, but then gave me a headache at 2d till I realised what was going on. “Maybe” is there because duck is only an example of a(n egg) layer, it would unnecessary if the answer really was Eider. |
| 10 | COOPERATE | Help when a white rabbit ultimately turned on Alice? (9) A ([whit]E [rabbi]T)<, after (on) COOPER (ref. Alice Cooper). I found this tricky because of the modern trend to lose hyphens. I continue to write Co-operate to avoid being taken as referring to a way of gauging chicken coops |
| 11 | OCTOBER | Some postdoc to be researcher for 31 days (7) Hidden in “postdOC TO BE Researcher” First One In. |
| 12 | NASCENT | Beginning to develop field of medicine after hospital retreated cold (7) SAN< (hospital, retreated) C[old] ENT (field of medicine) |
| 13 | EXPOUNDED | Set forth from Dundee having been treated by P&O on board (9) X (by) PO (P & O) inside (on board) (DUNDEE)* AInd: having been treated. |
| 15 | AVAST | Stop a giant (5) A VAST (a giant). |
| 16 | SPARRING PARTNER | Focus of Jerry Springer rant broadcast describing dad’s friend – one you regularly banter with (8,7) ([je]R[ry] SPRINGER RANT)* AInd: broadcast, around (describing) PA (dad). Took a while to get this – and then when I did, longer to rationalise the wordplay. I wondered about an R missing from the anagram fodder before spotting it comes from “focus of Jerry” |
| 18 | NAVEL | Part of church school’s term provides evidence that a maternal bond has been broken (5) NAVE (part of church) [schoo]L (school’s term). Bluth showing his artistry with words with definitions like this |
| 20 | EGREGIOUS | See our gig with New Order – it’s outrageous (9) (SEE OUR GIG)* AInd: with new order. |
| 22 | TIDINGS | Can papers infiltrate banks to guess news (7) ID (papers) inside (infiltrate) TIN (can), then G[ues]S (banks to guess) |
| 23 | TROUSER | Appropriate time with alarm clock? (7) T[ime] ROUSER (alarm clock). Appropriate in the sense of steal / nick / half-inch and trouser very much in the Private Eye sense of pocketing payments/ emoluments / bribes. Penultimate clue solved. I had trouble solving this thinking clock might be a ticker etc. etc. Definitely not easy despite the synonyms and slang being right up my street, guv’na |
| 25 | FROGSPAWN | Organic material that should make lots of jumpers (9) Cryptic Def. There should be little hoppers all over our lawn by now but I fear the newts, magpies and crows scoffed all the spawn and tadpoles this year |
| 26 | ARGUE | Row boat initially going around university (5) [b]ARGE (boat, initially going) around U[niversity]. One of those clues I was stuck on till near the end and even though I could see only ARGUE would sensibly fit. I got stuck thinking the boat was the ARGO and wondered where the final E came from, till I re-visited and read the clue properly |
| Down | ||
| 1 | ALCOVE | A treasure chest originally hidden inside recess (6) A, then C[hest] inside LOVE (treasure) |
| 2 | DYSTOPIA | Terrible state of faulty toy iPads (8) (TOY IPADS)* AInd: faulty. |
| 3 | CRIB | Home copy (4) Double Definition. Do I detect Bluth is fluent in both London vernacular and public schoolboy slang? |
| 4 | SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT | Sir can get confused after school staff thought experiment … (12,3) (SIR CAN GET)* AInd: confused, giving INGERS CAT, after SCH[ool] ROD (staff). One of the most famous “Thought Experiments” of quantum physics: Wiki Back in the day I read that John Gribbin book and I think I understood it, but I suggest you don’t put a cat in a box in the first place. (I know they do get in boxes themselves but that’s their look-out.) |
| 5 | JOINED-UP WRITING | … in PE – mostly with Judo ring could be kind of character forming? (6-2,7) (IN PE WIT[h] JUDO RING)* AInd: could be. This “could be” one of my favorite clues in the puzzle – another brilliant definition |
| 6 | PERSIAN RUG | Is agent returning with a new wig for runner? (7,3) (IS REP)< (is agent, returning), A N[ew] RUG (wig). A runner is another word for a rug, as is wig (colloquially) |
| 7 | CAMERA | Beer enthusiasts surrounding European legislative assembly (6) CAMRA (Beer enthusiasts) around E[uropean]. Reference to the organisation that saved us from the depredations of “bleedin’ Watneys Red Barrel” ((c) Monty Python) in the 70s, and has managed to hold firm against the rising tide of insipid ice-cold lager – indeed even championing real lager. And don’t get me started on real ciders and perrys. |
| 8 | TESTATOR | One who leaves pilot on a hill (8) TEST (pilot, in the sense of first, as in pilot scheme or pilot project) A TOR (a hill). An other excellent definition, albeit a bit less jokey |
| 14 | UNRULINESS | Lack of discipline unless I run off (10) (UNLESS I RUN)* AInd: off. |
| 16 | SANCTIFY | Defend making gravy sausage and not chicken for starters – bless (8) 1st letters from S[ausage] A[nd] N[ot] C[hicken] but I cannot see how “Defend making gravy” gives TIFY. I need wordplay help here Edit: You take JUSTIFY (Defend), and swap JUS (gravy) with SANC (from the first letters as shown above). The swap is indicated by “making” as in “making this bit that bit”. Thanks to comments from Hovis and Kva |
| 17 | NEON SIGN | It’s bright to advertise part of northbound turning is no-entry (4,4) Hidden (part of) reversed (northbound) in “turniNG IS NO-ENtry”. Embarrassing number of crossing letters needed before I saw this |
| 19 | VIDEOS | Victor discovered Odeon is screening films (6) V[ictor], IS around (screening) [o]DEO[n] (dis-covered, lose the outside letters) |
| 21 | SCREED | Long document‘s ruined week off (6) SCRE[w]ED Cracking clue. Need I say more. |
| 24 | OKAY | Allowed to drink manuka honey finally (4) Final letters of “[t]O [drin]K [manuk]A [hone]Y” Last one in. It became obvious after I got the initial “O” from TROUSER. Until then I was totally flummoxed. |
16d is JUS-TIFY with the JUS (gravy) changed.
Thanks, Bluth and Beermagnet!
Liked TROUSER, ALCOVE and SANCTIFY.
SANCTIFY
Defend=justify, gravy=jus. Sausage And Not Chicken for starters=SANC. Making ‘jus’ SANC in jusTIFY.
Hovis has beaten me to it!
ALCOVE
Will LOVE (to treasure) as a verb fit better?
TESTATOR
I feel ‘TEST’ for ‘pilot’ is more in the sense of ‘trial’ (as in ‘pilot scheme or pilot project’)
Very neatly done and our blogger is bang on in identifying the innovation, the humour and the off-beat definitions that make Bluth’s puzzles so enjoyable. EXPOUNDED, NAVEL, TIDINGS, TROUSER, ARGUE, JOINED-UP WRITING, CAMERA, TESTATOR and SCREED were my favourites.
Thanks Bluth and beermagnet
There are times when you think, “This cannot be serious!”, followed by “But it must be right or the editor wouldn’t have passed it”, and some of Bluth’s clues fall into this category, to become clear at the very end, or if not in the blog. Hard work but great mental exercise, so thanks Bluth and Beermagnet.
Thanks to Hovis & KVa at Comments #1 & #2 for explaining JUS/SANC-TIFY. The word “jus” for gravy jus’ aint in my vocabulary.
Kva, I intended TEST and LOVE to be read in the senses you suggest – I have adjusted the wordplay explanations slightly to enhance that.
This was typically Bluth and very enjoyable although I too failed to parse the TIFY bit of 16d.
Many thanks to Bluth and to beermagnet.
EGREGIOUS used to be one of my favourite words, until such towering intellects as Donald Trump and Dominic Raab spoiled it for me.
turniNG IS NO-ENtry is very well hidden. loi SANCTIFY – had to sleep on it.
Thanks B&b
@beermagnet. “The Crossword Editor is never adverse to trying new talent when he finds it, and sometimes the new guys become the usual guys and we look forward to their next puzzle.” Sorry, that leaves me out in the cold.
FrankieG@10
Your opening line 😀
paddymelon@11
Nice to see you here. A warm welcome to you (hoping to bring you out of the cold)!
[KVa@13. 🙂 Been an exceptionally warm day here, mid-winter, and they’re warning us of a very severe bushfire season. ]
FrankieG@10: I take huge delight in co-incidence. Believe it or not, I found myself thinking yesterday evening, ‘egregious: that would be a fun word to clue’. I had to pinch myself when I encountered it here.
paddymelon: you make an exceedingly fair generic point and, as your contributions are always welcome, none of us should be doing anything to leave you out in the cold. In beermagnet’s defence, the Indy crossword editor actually is a he. And guys is surely the once-male word that has become most associated with addressing both genders? Certainly my wife and I are regularly addressed as ‘you guys’ by shop assistants, serving staff in restaurants etc 😀
Another enjoyable crossword from Bluth – thanks to him and beermagnet
PostMark @15. I was going to say the same but you beat me to it.
NAVEL and JOINED-UP WRITING were my favourites in an overall great puzzle. I spent far too long trying to make the FOR from Fortify be some kind of gravy, instead of thinking of another -ify word and fixated on the G in ARGUE being the initial for going. Thanks all for the enlightenment and fun.
Petert @18. For what it’s worth, I did the same. I then thought “what was that word for ‘gravy’ I once saw?”. Ah yes, ‘jus’, and then added the -tify and it all became clear. The G in ARGUE didn’t hold me up for too long.
Postmark@15’s right. Even women call women ‘you guys’ which jars with me even more than when men do in mixed company. And beermagnet was talking in more general terms. Apologies beermagnet for the hairtrigger response. And thank you for your helpfully detailed blog of Bluth.
English default pronoun is HE. I think we should start using IT, which of course we already do when we’re talking about a cat that just wandered into our garden. Where it’s pissed on my flowers, it’s different.
I object to the use of ‘guys’ on the basis that hardly anyone is called Guy.
Belated thanks for the blog Beermagnet.
I’m away from home for short trip with my son and it completely slipped my mind that I had a crossword in yesterday until I was tipped off by a comment on Twitter.
Thanks all.