Independent No.11,487 by Tees

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Saturday’s Indy puzzle is set by Tees

 

I thought this was a nicely paced grid with nothing too obscure to try to unpick.

Not quite sure of a theme in here: perhaps a hint of famous strong women? References to Garbo, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, plus “Hinge and Bracket”. Had to Google those two to refresh my somewhat hazy 1980’s childhood memories. If there’s another connection between that lot it beats me!

I’m still none too sure about the parsing of DAGESTANI so I’m interested in your learned thoughts on that one.

Have a great weekend wherever you are.


ACROSS

1. Showy flower’s one left over for ram’s consumption (5)

TULIP

One (I) left (L) over (=LI) for ram’s (TUP) consumption (placed inside)

4/10. Broker deal with him? Fraud involving smear and musical spinster (4,5,7)

DAME HILDA BRACKET

Broker deal with him? (anag. DEAL and HIM). Fraud (RACKET) involving smear (DAB)

9. Glittering rock genre with Hammond say in county once (9)

GLAMORGAN

Glittering rock genre (GLAM) with Hammond (ORGAN)

Glamorgan was a former county in South Wales, broken up into South, Mid and West Glamorgans in 1974

11. Scot’s own isle to the west keeps 500 in land (5)

INDIA

Scot’s own (“AIN”) isle (I) to the west (from right to left) keeps 500 (D – latin)

12. Close to Chelsea crowd in ecstasy about ritual (9)

SACRAMENT

Close to Chelsea (A) crowd (CRAM) in ecstasy (SENT)

13. 4 Across 18’s accompanist, female, and man back to fill arena in Delaware (2,6,5)

DR EVADNE HINGE

Female (HEN), and man (DAVE) back (reversed) to fill arena (RING) in Delaware (DE)

17. Swiss blend, on mixing with nitrogen, causes visual problems (4,9)

SNOW BLINDNESS

(anag. of SWISS BLEND ON N)

21. Incense of a type at first sealed within silver tomb (9)

AGGRAVATE

A type at first (AT) sealed within silver (AG) tomb (GRAVE)

24. Indigo coating very small bone (5)

ANVIL

Indigo (ANIL) coating (around) very (V)

25. King in outfit that’s rubbish (5)

DRECK

King (R) in outfit (DECK)

26. Screw fitting round effectively, not wide (9)

PROPELLER

Fitting (PROPER) round effectively, not wide (WELL)

27. Making meaty meal, criticise and complain (5,4)

ROAST BEEF

Criticise (ROAST) and complain (BEEF)

28. Leave partner dumped and down (5)

EXEAT

Partner dumped (EX) and down (EAT)

DOWN

1. Asian runner, fierce sort is losing energy (6)

TIGRIS

TIGER + IS without the E (= energy)  

2. Two learners with upper-class don out in Welsh town (9)

LLANDUDNO

Two learners (LL) with (AND) upper-class (U) don out (anag. DON)

3. Irreverent academic an egghead? (7)

PROFANE

Academic (PROF) an (AN) egghead (E)

4. One from Caspian nation, DI coming round gets on beat (9)

DAGESTANI

DI coming around gets on (AGES) beat (TAN)

5. Staff endlessly hostile bouncing off walls? (5)

MANIC

Staff (MAN) endlessly hostile (ICY)

6. US motorbike was taken by husband? Nonsense! (7)

HOGWASH

US motorbike (HOG = Harley Davidson) was (WAS) taken by husband (H)

7. Mammoth injured leg crossing river (5)

LARGE

Injured leg (anag. LEG) crossing a river (A R)

8. From the outset Arsenal pale next to the French champions (8)

APOSTLES

From the outset Arsenal (first letter = A) pale (POST) next to the French (LES)

14. Bowed out and went to sleep (6,3)

NODDED OFF

Cryptic reference to bowing/nodding

15. Kingmaker must have wood for English country home? (9)

NASHVILLE

Kingmaker (NEVILLE) must have wood for English (replace E with ASH).

Nashville, Tennessee is famous for being the focal city for US Country music.

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick – Wikipedia

16. Man’s man in 11 given small territories in Germany? (8)

ISLANDER

11 (Across: INDIA = I) given small (S) territories in Germany (LANDER)

Cryptic reference to the Isle of Man

19. Nameless teenager out to make a stand (7)

ETAGERE

Nameless teenager (TEENAGER) out (anag)

An Etagere is a piece of furniture with open shelves for displaying ornaments.

20. Angel in Hardy beginning to turn red (6)

CLARET

Angel (CLARE) in Hardy beginning to turn (T)

Angel Clare was the husband of the titular Tess in Thomas Hardy’s classic Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

22 & 10A. Good old supporter opening right up for star (5,5)

GRETA GARBO

Good (G) old (O) supporter (BRA) opening (GATE) right (R) up (back to front)

23. Cider producer doubled pressure in beer (5)

APPLE

Doubled pressure (PP) in beer (ALE)

36 comments on “Independent No.11,487 by Tees”

  3. Thanks KVa. Can’t believe my brain couldn’t unwrap that one…. so obvious now you see it written down.

    Yes, Dreck was a typo. Both amended

  8. I went off like a train in the NW corner, then Hinge and Bracket dropped in soon afterwards (I’m a fan of that wonderful act), as did Greta Garbo (‘I want to be aloon’). And I wondered whether it might be a puzzle of mostly proper nouns. Then the rush came to an abrupt halt and I struggled for the remainder, but eventually resolved. Thanks Tees and Leedsclimber.

  9. Thanks, Tees and Leedsclimber. I found this quite a challenge but looking back over it, I’m not sure why! Some really super clueing – GRETA GARBO my fave.

    I agree with Sofamore on the parsing of NODDED OFF.

  10. Parsed DAGESTANI as KVa@1 and got a jorum.
    SACRAMENT – Took SENT as ‘in ecstasy’ as KVa@4
    I like Sofamore@6’s parse for NODDED OFF – “Pretty good”
    ISLANDER – Took “man’s man” as the def. as KVa@4
    A cryptic way to define an inhabitant of the IOM – rather than ‘a man who is more popular and at ease with other men than with women’

  14. FrankieG @10 – man’s man is an awful euphemism but however you define it, it’s neat misdirection in the clue. Have to admit I spent far too long trying to think of an Indian word for a valet – something ending in -wallah, perhaps.

  15. Thanks. I’m fascinated that you don’t think Hinge and Bracket ( and their other names in particular) is “obscure”. Maybe just me….

  17. I think the theme may be gender bending:
    ‘Among their appearances was a charity gala at the Oxford Playhouse organised by Gyles Brandreth, who later recalled that co-stars of the evening, Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Flora Robson, believed Hinge and Bracket to be two elderly lesbians.’
    DR EVADNE HINGE – “13. 4 Across 18’s accompanist, female, and man back to fill arena in Delaware”

  19. man‘s man (plural men‘s men) – See also lady‘s man
    Reminded of ANNA MADRIGAL which – spoiler alert – is an anagram of A ??? AND A ????

  21. Super puzzle as is generally the case from Tees whom we seem to be seeing somewhat less often. Shame. Widdersbel @14: I, too, went down the punkawallah route for a while. It was one of my fave clues as a result.

    Top ticks for me include TULIP, SNOW BLINDNESS, PROPELLER, PROPANE, APOSTLES, NASHVILLE, ISLANDER and APPLE. I liked the long musical pairing though it fell a tad quickly, especially once I had the first!

    Thanks Tees and leedsclimber

  22. CLARET can be a woman’s forename as well as the male character’s surname.
    Angel can be bisexual, as it were.

  25. Thanks both. Personally I found a good amount of this obscure, including the first names of HINGE and BRACKET from the knowledge perspective (Dave clued as man instead of perhaps channel did not help), perhaps in that case as I vehemently disliked the act, but each to their own… Really admire NASHVILLE (among others) now I understand it, but again my GK was missing Neville unless he is a football pundit

  26. In 7 Down LARGE you’re missing an A in the clue list, Leedsclimber, though your blog is very nice indeed.

    A very pleasant morning spent solving this Saturday puzzle, appropriate I thought for a weekend slot, with the toast, jam, and bucket of coffee. I took my time and enjoyed the chewiness of parts of it (the puzzle I mean) inc. the two components of that marvellous drag act. I found nothing else obscure, though H&B aren’t exactly undistinguished, especially to those who like a bit of classy comedy.

    Not a duffer among the clues, but I’ll plump for GRETA GARBO for it’s nice use of reversal.

  28. Thanks S&B
    I liked the clue for GRETA GARBO too, despite the reversal being given by ‘up’, when half of it isn’t. Referring to clues for down solutions as ‘down clues’ isn’t helpful, of course. Eg the last plantagenet, when commenting “the G for ‘back to Wapping’ doesn’t work for me in a down clue” was obviously confusing clue and solution.

  29. Very doable Saturday puzzle, pitched just right for difficulty for me. I particularly enjoyed the clues for the comedy act, both participants, as of recently, now unfortunately under the earth, and the great clue for Garbo. There were one or two tricky entries handled well here.

    James at 28, re GRETA GARBO, that’s ‘half of it’ as in everything except its first letter? Fractions not your strong suit?

  30. Actually I’m offering a retraction for that last comment. Having looked at the grid again, I see what he means.

  31. Found this a struggle not least because I didn’t know the comedy duo. But I also made heavy weather of GLAMORGAN as Doug and Phil both came to mind more readily than “Organ” for Hammond.

    Would it be churlish to say that I felt this puzzle didn’t have the same polish to its surfaces as some. Felt somehow a bit technical to me.

  32. I’m with @nick – just not on my wavelength at all. Thanks to Tees & Leedsclimber; hoping tomorrow is more in tune with my peculiar knowledge.

  33. Thanks Tees. This was tough for me because I never heard of HINGE and BRACKET or LLANDUDNO and I could only guess (instead of solve) a number of other clues. I did enjoy a good bit of this with clues like SACRAMENT, AGGRAVATE, and HOGWASH. Thanks Leedsclimber for parsing.

  34. In contrast to some others here, I loved this. Having read all the Wikipedia links I posted, I discovered that:
    DR EVADNE HINGE and DAME HILDA BRACKET were mistaken for Lesbians
    George Logan and Patrick Fyffe were both Gay.
    Angel Clare represents the Bisexuals
    The duo were also Transvestite – representing Transgender and Transsexual
    LGBT – appropriate for Brighton Pride weekend

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