Independent 11,505 by Bluth

by

The puzzle is available here.

 

Hi everybody.  I found today’s puzzle on the gentle side for this setter, but packed with entertainment.

I like the use of … what looked to be ellipses in the surface reading (it took me ages to understand the S in SELF!) and 1d surely wins the award for most amusing surface.  Plenty of other cunning cryptic trickery to enjoy too.  That’s what it’s all about!  Thanks Bluth!

 

Definitions are underlined in the clues below.  In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.  For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.

 

Across

8a    Up for that part in boy band – start to practise (4,2)
TAKE UP
UP replacing (used for) the “THAT” part in TAKE [that] (boy band)

9a    Somewhere to park cart without spoiling view (8)
DRIVEWAY
DRAY (cart) outside (without) an anagram of (spoiling) VIEW

10a   Maybe nest in old aviary, occasionally (4)
LAIR
Regular letters of (… occasionally) oLd AvIaRy

11a   Chooses again as harvest … (10)
REAPPOINTS
REAP (harvest) + POINTS (…)

12a   … festival’s beginning to define terms of the rural identity (4)
SELF
S (… – Morse code) and Festival’s first letter (beginning) going around (to define) the last letters (terms) of thE ruraL

13a   Unplanned – having made old American Western (10)
ACCIDENTAL
Having made O (old) A (American), [o]CCIDENTAL (western)

17a   Lead actor in Red Dwarf, say (4)
STAR
Two definitions, with the surface referencing this classic series

18a & 14.   Dance drug taken by oversentimental youth at the start (5,5)
HOKEY COKEY
COKE (drug) in (taken by) HOKEY (oversentimental) and Youth initially (at the start)

19a   Yvonne losing heart over something sinful (4)
ENVY
YV[on]NE without the middle letters (losing heart) reversed (over)

21a   Writer on working with lady during chapter one (5,5)
CONAN DOYLE
ON LADY anagrammed (working) in (during) C (chapter) and ONE

23a   Drop 10 tons (4)
DENT
DEN (10 – 10a is LAIR) + T (tons).  A dent or drop in earnings, for example

24a   Why are you caught accepting money after unflappable conservative moves to far right party? (5,5)
PLAID CYMRU
YRU, which sounds like (… caught) “why are you” around (accepting) M (money), all after PLACID (unflappable) in which C (Conservative) is shifted to the end (moves to far right)

28a   Don King’s pursuing 50% of fortune (4)
WEAR
R (king) is pursuing 50% of WEAlth (fortune)

29a   Might this fire engine go in it unexpectedly because of ringing (8)
IGNITION
An anagram of (… unexpectedly) GO IN IT, with IN (because of) circling (ringing)

30a   When the call is conclusively on hold (6)
NELSON
Final letters of (… conclusively) wheN thE calL iS + ON

 

Down

1d    Old man on Playboy film reveals small pecker? (8)
PARAKEET
PA (old man) on RAKE (playboy) + ET (film).
“Parrakeetos!”, as I call them after the exclamation of an excited visitor to Kensington Gardens, have sharp beaks and aren’t shy about using them

2d    Junction on M4’s closer after modified Ferrari makes up ground (5,5)
TERRA FIRMA
T (junction) on M and A (4’s closer – the last letter of 4d, ideA) after an anagram of (modified) FERRARI

3d    Was nearly as good as authorised verse being replaced by a church (10)
APPROACHED
APPRO[v]ED (authorised) with V (verse) being replaced by A CH (church)

4d    Feeling somewhat wide awake (4)
IDEA
Somewhat wIDE Awake

5d    Relaxed Bluth’s breaking record (4)
LIMP
I’M (Bluth’s, Bluth is) going inside (breaking) LP (record)

6d    Lied about shop (4)
DELI
LIED anagrammed (about)

7d    Phrase that’s oft repeated in retro art piece seen at opening (6)
MANTRA
Reversal of (retro) ART with MAN (piece) found at the beginning (seen at opening)

14d   See 18 Across

15d   Hint for, say, NUS to get tickets (3,7)
DAY RETURNS
A clue-to-a-clue: If SUN (DAY) RETURNS we get NUS.  Other days are available, hence “say”

16d   Layabout we enrolled requires discipline (4-2-4)
NEER-DO-WELL
WE ENROLLED needs to be anagrammed (requires discipline)

20d   Nice wine? Ultimately opened a can for curry (8)
VINDALOO
VIN (Nice wine – Nice in France) + the last letter of (ultimately) openeD + A + LOO (can)

22d   Please order sandwiches to take advantage of free hospitality (6)
OBLIGE
OBE (order) goes around (sandwiches) LIG (to take advantage of free hospitality) .
I would not have remembered “lig” without the rest of the clue handing it to me on a plate

25d   Flag assistant on phone’s looking up (4)
IRIS
SIRI (assistant on phone) is reversed (looking up, in a down entry)

26d   Friends as cut for feature (4)
CHIN
CHIN[as] (friends) with AS removed (cut)

27d   Disreputable female dictator’s fur coats? (4)
MINX
A homophone of (dictator’s) MINKS (fur coats)

 

31 comments on “Independent 11,505 by Bluth”

  2. SELF – I missed the Morse “S” too. Normally ellipses in a pair of clues are there for next to no reason at all.
    This time they each have a particular different reason for being there, and the clues are glued together
    with a lift-and-separate “harvest festival”. Brilliant stuff!
    Thanks B&K

  3. Well, I struggled with this and DNF. At 1A, I thought having UP in the answer as well as the clue was a little suspect, against all the rules of cruciverbalism. At 12A, like Hovis @1, I totally missed the Morse code, which I’m ashamed of as a former boy scout and wannabe naval radio officer. At 18A/14D, I spent far too long trying to fit in ‘funny candy’, which sounds like it ought to be a dance drug. Thanks Bluth and Kitty.

  4. Thanks, Bluth and Kitty!
    A lovely puzzle and a great blog (bonus: lovely pics!)!

    NEER-DO-WELL
    Nice extended def, I think.

    PARAKEET
    A minor omission:
    Def: Small pecker

    Saw some ‘car’ words in the grid/clues
    (I may be stretching it at places):

    KEY, IGNITION, APPROACH, DRIVE, WAY, DENT, ACCIDENT, LIMO (LIM(p) then diagonally…), NELSON (there was a car company in Detroit about a century ago, it seems), PARK, MINX (an old car model), IDEA (a Fiat model), FIAT (terraFI…then diagonal…then flat…too much?), KIA (start below LAIR…), FERRARI (in a clue)…

    FrankeG or someone else will come and say that the theme is CONAN DOYLE’s books or songs of the band referred to in a clue or…

  5. Thanks to Hovis for explaining 12a which I didn’t get from the blog. And Kitty for 15d which was too clever for me. Lig is a new word for me, maybe common in some circles?

  6. I am normally a fan of Bluth’s puzzles but this one didn’t quite chime with me probably in part because I couldn’t fully parse any of 11a, 12a & 2d. Thanks to Kitty and Hovis for the explanations of the setter’s deviousness.

    TAKE UP was my favourite.

    Thanks too to Bluth for the puzzle and to Kitty for the nicely illustrated review.

  7. Sorry, Ericw @5, didn’t realise I hadn’t actually spelled out the Morse Code. I have now.

    You’re quite right, KVa @4 – underline now corrected.

  8. I liked the use of the ellipses, though I missed the Morse Code, too. PARAKEETS made me laugh. Tatrasman@3 it was the thought that UP in both clue and answer couldn’t be right, that led me to the solution of TAKE UP. Spent too long trying to work INCA backwards into ACCIDENTA, before the penny dropped. Loved the penguins and boobies.

  13. Thanks both. I actually found this quite difficult, and only succeeded by spotting letter patterns, as quite a lot of the parsing eluded me – lots of clever devices defeating my weekend brain. Pleased to learn ‘lig’ in OBLIGE as it’s not in my dictionary, nor is ‘in’ meaning ‘because of’ within IGNITION and I can’t think of a context….or maybe I just can’t think right now

  14. NEER-DO-WELL
    An alternative thought:
    Lay about WE ENROLLED requires discipline–>
    ENROLLED* about WE
    CAD as well.
    &lit?

  17. KVa@13 Thanks, though not sure if the accident happened ‘while’ or ‘because of’ crossing the street! Less drastically, I had subsequently come up with ‘in celebrating wildly, he angered the home supporters’. It must be half-time

  18. I’ll take 99% on this one. Wasn’t seeing DENT though it’s obvious now!

    Use of ellipses was amazing, fiendish and totally missed by me. Personal favourites were TERRA FIRMA and TAKE UP.

  19. I’ve been trying to catch up on the Indy for nearly a year and finally got there, but completely bamboozled by some of this. Maybe if I’d ever heard of Hokey = oversentimental it would have helped. On to tomorrow.

  20. Great stuff from Bluth and thanks, Kitty, for the parsing of the S in SELF; that eluded me and, as ever, the pleasure of tussling with a puzzle has been enhanced by coming here and having a great blogger explain how the setter has been even cleverer than I realised.

  23. Thanks Bluth. I found this quite difficult on the Bluth/Fed continuum and I gave up with eight unsolved clues. I did enjoy your blog as always Kitty.

  24. Bluth usually drops in towards the end of the day giving us the setter’s perspective.
    I thought NEER-DO-WELL. was an &lit. I would like some confirmation either way.

  26. Hi KVa,

    Yours is certainly an ingenious way of drawing all the clue into the wordplay for NEER-DO-WELL, but I have to squint rather hard to see it in a way which I don’t associate with Bluth clues. I wouldn’t expect a word-split from this setter either.

    Also, to me the clue reads as a statement about a layabout (that they require discipline) rather than a description of one (one who requires discipline), and hence not quite right as a definition.

    But who knows. I am good at being wrong (I have had a lot of practice).

  27. FrankieG@25
    I will happily elucidate. 🙂
    Layabout –>lay about
    Lay about WE, ENROLLED needs discipline.
    Lay about WE, (ENROLLED)*
    This can be read as
    Lay (ENROLLED)* about WE.
    Place NEERDOLL around WE.

    Kitty@26
    I get you. The probability of my parsing being right is remote.
    You are not good at being wrong. You are just wrong in saying so. 🙂

  28. I forgot I was in yesterday. I only opened the Indy app on my iPad v late in the day because I was looking for a crossword to solve and was mildly disappointed to discover it was mine.

    Anyway, thanks Kitty for a thorough blog and all for the comments.

    NE’ER-DO-WELL wasn’t intended as an &lit – but more than happy for you to take it as one!

    Loved the posts suggesting themes also, but none was intended.

    I think on the original gridfill, I had BEEF instead of SELF but when the idea of using ‘…’ for POINTS was there, I then looked to see if there was a way of using another ellipsis to have meaning at the start of the next clue. With the F in the grid and the clue before ending with harvest …, festival was irresistible. I don’t know Morse Code, but was delighted to discover … = S and that I didn’t have to disrupt any of the rest of the gridfill to accommodate it using SELF. I love it when the planets align like that.

  31. Oh, Rob, I wouldn’t pay any attention to the wibblings of a lesser blogger! I was probably just having a rare good brain day.

    Although I’ve just advised you not to listen to me, I would recommend Bluth’s puzzles. They are always fun, technically sound and a bit different from the norm as he tends to paint more vivid pictures than most and is refreshingly contemporary.

    Plus, he is kind enough to drop in and address comments as @28 here. (Thank you Bluth, in case you return!)

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