Independent 11,470/Tees

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A sound and entertaining puzzle from Tees to start the week. As always with this setter, a wide range of reference material.

Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed

definitions are underlined

Across

1 Spooner’s gardening blade nicked body
COHORT
A Spoonerism of HOE CAUGHT.

5 100 — too old for insurance policy?
COVERAGE
A charade of C and OVERAGE.

9 Some gent when sloshed gets shiner
GEMSTONE
(SOME GENT)* with ‘when sloshed’ as the anagrind.

10 Instrument of Green Power absolute
PUTTER
A charade of P and UTTER. ‘G*lf is an utter/absolute waste of time.’

11 Wholesale slaughter Republicans recalled with memory
POGROM
A charade of GOP reversed and ROM for the computer ‘memory’. The US Republican Party is referred to as the Grand Old Party, or GOP.

13 Sword-bearer‘s second relative crossing road
MORDAUNT
This clue won’t age well and will no doubt be replaced when the puzzle is recycled in the i in four years’ time. It’s an insertion of RD in MO and AUNT. The insertion indicator is ‘crossing’. It’s referring to Penny MORDAUNT, the MP who was chosen to carry the ceremonial sword as part of the shenanigans for Brian’s coronation this year. She got the gig because she was Lord President of the Council, whatever that is. She didn’t drop it, so fair play.

15 Lorry carries Conservative enchantress, keeping Liberal in line
ARCTIC CIRCLE
An insertion of C in ARTIC followed by another of L in CIRCE, a sorceress in Greek mythology. The two insertion indicators are ‘carries’ and ‘keeping’.

18 Rough hooch in yard draws Penny in, causing neurosis
HYPOCHONDRIA
An insertion of P in (HOOCH IN YARD)* The insertion indicator is ‘draws … in’ and the anagrind is ‘rough’.

21 Easily handled in vast, endlessly vague domain
GREY AREA
An insertion of YARE in GREA[T]. The insertion indicator is ‘in’. My Chambers has:

yare adj (archaic and dialect) easily handled, manageable

Online dictionaries give it also as US usage to describe a ship that is easily managed.

23 Tees full of booze after sending back a puzzle
ENIGMA
An insertion of GIN in ME all reversed, followed by A. The insertion indicator is ‘full of’ and the reversal indicator is ‘after sending back’.

24 Nasty gash in skin of aunt, stupefied with horror
AGHAST
An insertion of (GASH)* in A[UN]T. The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the anagrind is ‘nasty’.

26 Cold, is Tees only in loose underbodice?
CAMISOLE
A charade of C and AM I SOLE.

28 Betrothed person‘s lovemaking halted around noon
INTENDED
An insertion of N in IT ENDED. The insertion indicator is ‘around’.

29 Scottish island, reportedly unknown, displays allure
BEAUTY
A charade of BEAUT, aural wordplay (‘reportedly’) for the Island of BUTE, and Y for the mathematical ‘unknown’.

Down

2 Actor Merle serious about refusing lead
OBERON
A charade of [S]OBER and ON. Merle OBERON (1911-1979) was a silent film actress.

3 Short note on a right-winger’s scientific base
OBSERVATORY
A charade of OBSERV[E] and A TORY.

4 Rolling grass shows way to be followed
TAO
A reversal of OAT.

5 Zulu occupies home rebuilt in Cape — one where Tees lives
CHEZ MOI
An insertion of Z for the phonetic alphabet ‘Zulu’ in (HOME)*, all inserted into C and I. The anagrind is ‘rebuilt’ and the two insertion indicators are ‘occupies’ and ‘in’.

6 Big shot touching up back-stabber
VIPER
A charade of VIP and RE reversed. The reversal indicator, since it’s a down clue, is ‘up’.

7 Boring routine — pity that’s not finished!
RUT
RUT[H]. ‘Ruth’ is a word for ‘pity’, but it’s fallen out of use in modern English, and is an example of what some linguists call an ‘orphaned negative’. We still use ‘ruthless’ to mean ‘without pity’. Similarly, you can be ‘unkempt’, but no-one in modern language would describe someone as ‘kempt’.

8 Pest visibly envious and cunning
GREENFLY
A charade of GREEN and FLY.

12 Charlie in Hearts goal upended prophet
MICAH
An insertion of C for the phonetic alphabet ‘Charlie’ in H and AIM reversed (‘upended’, since it’s a down clue). The insertion indicator is ‘in’.

14 Drink in Med? It’s a cider brewed in sober group!
ADRIATIC SEA
An insertion of (ITS A CIDER)* in AA. The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the anagrind is ‘brewed’.

16 Swear duck’s missing from dish
CURSE
C[O]URSE

17 Bananas go dry inside chicken, creating gas
HYDROGEN
An insertion of (GO DRY)* in HEN. The insertion indicator is ‘inside’ and the anagrind is ‘bananas’.

19 Subtle twist in Duncan Edwards’s initiation?
NUANCED
(DUNCAN E)* with ‘twist’ as the anagrind.

20 Engaged in protecting cross, talisman against evil
AMULET
An insertion of MULE in AT. The insertion indicator is ‘protecting’.

22 Breastfeeds regularly — that’s admired
RATED
The even letters of bReAsTfEeD.

25 Cut in contributions to the Treasury uncovered
AXE
[T]AXE[S]

27 Fairy queen married sailor
MAB
A charade of M and AB for ‘sailor’. Queen Mab is first referred to in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but later became a figure in English folklore as a mischievous but essentially benevolent figure.

Many thanks to Tees for the start to the puzzling week in the Independent.

21 comments on “Independent 11,470/Tees”

  1. Thanks, Tees and Pierre! Both the puzzle and the blog were enjoyable.
    Orphaned negative: Learnt it today. Thanks.

    A minor typo
    It should be POGROM (instead of POGRAM).

  3. That vast majority of Merle Oberon’s long film career was after the end of the silent era.

    Thanks for the blog and a gentle start to the week.

  4. DNF for me, I couldn’t see the linked 1A or 4D. Otherwise much enjoyed so thanks Tees and Pierre.

  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Oberon
    ‘Oberon hid her mixed heritage out of fear of discrimination and the impact it would have had on her career.’
    Knew YARE from High Society (1956) – they even gave a definition in the film:
    ‘Tracy Lord : Oh my, she was yare. | George Kittredge : Yare? What’s yare?’ | Tracy Lord : Sleek, quick to the helm, everything a boat should be.’
    Thanks T&P

  8. FrankieG@7
    The yare dialogue: Very nice. Thanks.
    With this, I hope to remember ‘yare’ for a month or so!

  9. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yar
    ‘ (nautical, of a vessel, especially sailboat) – Quick and agile; easy to hand, reef and steer. ‘
    quotes The Philadelphia Story (1939) – (the film High Society was based on):
    ‘My, she was yar…It means, uh…easy to handle, quick to the helm, fast, right. Everything a boat should be, until she develops dry rot.’

  10. KVa – One more thing to help you remember:
    Bing Crosby was in High Society. His granddaughter Denise Crosby played Tasha YAR in Star Trek: The Next Generation. 🙂

  11. @KVa #6 Thank you very much for the explanation. I would never have thought that. I was also trying to look at (13 Across) for a noun similar to “Sword” for “MORDAUNT” so thanks to Pierre for explaining that and all the rest. Nice puzzle, Tees: Thanks

  12. Curiously 13, 15 and 18 ac are pointing me toward a sword-wielding, neurotic Tory enchantress. Was that intentional by any chance, Mister Setter, as I do not think you are UK Gov’s biggest fan. Also I did see some memes around that time linking PM’s costume with the Poundland logo, which may have upset her somewhat.

    A nice Monday stroll with the possible exception of YARE, which was more Friday. Thx also Pierre.

  13. Thanks, FrankieG@10.
    The yare-memorising scheme is expanding. The chances of remembering the word are getting better. 🙂

  14. More than a gentle Monday stroll. No idea about YARE; thanks for the interesting info from FrankieG above – Well, Did You Evah! As the Wikipedia article mentions, Merle OBERON claimed she was born in Tasmania to conceal her true parentage. It wasn’t true of course, but there was an interesting program about the myth on the (Australian) ABC a few years ago and some people still believe that she did come from Tassie despite the incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.

    Good way to get going for the week ahead. I liked the Penny MORDAUNT related clues, evanescent though they may be.

    Thanks to Tees and Pierre

  15. Thanks both. Needed help right at the end, as never heard of POGROM (horrible word and meaning) or the silent-era actress OBERON for which the lead refusal element was slightly misleading for me as ‘sober on’ is not an expression in itself, though of course I may be wrong

  16. KVa: Another source: I first learnt the word from the opening scene of The Tempest, from O level GCE in 1968. Apart from crosswords, never seen it since.

  17. Thanks Pierre, thanks to all commenters.

    There was a ‘feeling’ across those Mordaunt clues, though not really a link. I wrote the puzzle a little after the event IIRC, during which I was mildly impressed by her ability to handle all those big weapons. A fine woman IMO, who had been going to the gym, she told us, so as to be fit for the task. I’m sure she would have been a better choice for leader than Rishi Washi.

    As for ‘sober on’ not being an expression per se, that wouldn’t count for much in Teesworld. All that matters to me is that two synonyms (serious and about) can be found for the two required parts that, put together, make a kind of sense. As far as I know that’s always been the way it’s done, so I don’t think I’m out of step there.

    Cheers
    Tees

  18. Goujeers@16
    Noted. Our discussions in this forum certainly help make more permanent neuro connections.
    In any case, I am not averse to Google every time I am in doubt.
    I am generally not comfortable with revealing a solution. I avoid it.

    Tees@17
    SOBER ON
    Quite fairly clued. No issues.

  19. Thanks Tees for jolting my grey matter once again. I got off on the wrong foot by confidently entering Streep for Actor Merle; I forgot the spelling of her first name and “serious” (steep) around “r” made sense to me. Oh well, I had to use Google for OBERON, an unknown actor to me. I enjoyed many clues including PUTTER, CAMISOLE, INTENDED, VIPER, ADRIATIC SEA, and CURSE. I appreciated learning about Penny MORDAUNT. Thanks Pierre for parsing, esp. ARCTIC CIRCLE and GREY AREA.

  20. Merle OBERON was in the news earlier this year when it was pointed out the Michelle Yeoh was not the first Asian actress to be nominated for an Oscar.

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