Independent 11,531 by Mev

by

Mev provides our Tuesday challenge this morning.

We have a wide range of clue types (anagram, hidden answer, insertion, deletion, homophone, Spoonerism, just slot together a series of bits . . .), and some are more straightforward than others. A few obscure words, but the wordplay for these is helpful – and they’re mostly included for a reason, as we’ll see. I liked the misdirection of “paperwork” in 25a and the ingenious cryptic definition in 19d. And the pangram-spotters will be happy, though I can’t help wondering whether the rather awkward 9a was the last piece of that particular challenge for the setter – it was the last one in for this solver.

Mev’s previous puzzles have generally featured a theme, and it’s Tuesday so we should be on the lookout for one. 2d was an obvious hint, especially alongside 19d and other possible references in the clues, but I wasn’t sure that was enough. Then I looked again at 26a and wondered if there was a well-known translation of the work, for which Google quickly gave me the answer. Today marks the publication of a new TRANSLATION of Homer’s THE ILIAD by EMILY WILSON. The original ancient Greek poem about the Greeks’ war against the TROJANS would have been recited by a RHAPSODE, perhaps preceded by an invocation to CALLIOPE who was the Muse of epic poetry. (Oh, and some of the Greek ships originally left the port of CHALCIS to go to war, but I forgot to highlight that one in the grid.)

Perhaps we can take it that Mev has been waiting ON TENTERHOOKS with BATED breath to get hold of a copy of the BOOK (partial solution to 23a)? If so, enjoy it! Thanks Mev for a puzzle that kept on giving.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 ON TENTERHOOKS
Broadcast the snooker, not getting excited (2,11)
Anagram (broadcast = scattered) of THE SNOOKER NOT.
9 HQS
Bases Ashes quest on regulars being picked (3)
Every third letter (regulars being picked) from [as]H[es] Q[ue]S[t].

Plural of HQ = abbreviation for headquarters = an organisation’s base.
10 EXTRICATING
Skilfully removing old strip, naked cold sailor abandons resistance (11)
EX (prefix indicating “no longer” = old) + [s]TRI[p] (naked = outer letters removed) + C (abbreviation for cold) + [r]ATING (a lower-ranked sailor) without the R (abbreviation for resistance).
11 PROWLER
Stealthy mover in front of boat finally will elude mariner (7)
PROW (front of boat) + last letters (finally) from [wil]L [elud]E [marine]R.
12 YESHIVA
The old Hindu deity in Jewish school (7)
YE (used as an old English form of “the”, although the first letter is not really Y but a similarly-shaped obsolete letter corresponding to TH) + SHIVA (Hindu deity).
13 OPERA CLOAK
Cover for evening fixture possibly arranged, Palace OK for avoiding fine (5,5)
Anagram (arranged) of PALACE OK [f]OR without the F (abbreviation for fine).

A cloak traditionally worn over evening dress when going to the opera.
15 URIC
The solver is briefly in charge of piss-… (4)
U R (text-message abbreviation for “you are” = the solver, briefly) + IC (abbreviation for “in charge”).

As in uric acid: “relating to urine” = of piss. The ellipsis at the end is just there to join the surface of this clue with the next one, and doesn’t contribute to the definition or wordplay.
18 EATS
…-takes – ultimately the idea isn’t viciousness (4)
Last letters (ultimately) from [th]E [ide]A [isn]T [viciousnes]S.

As in the rather old-fashioned usage “taking tea” = eating tea and sandwiches.
20 TYRANNICAL
Intoxicated Latin carny is overbearing (10)
Anagram (intoxicated = drunk and probably disorderly) of LATIN CARNY. (An unfamiliar word; Chambers tells me that a carny is a flatterer, or perhaps a slang abbreviation for someone who works in a carnival, but I think the first works better for the surface.)
23 BOOKING
Object to coronation attendee’s reservation (7)
Someone who objected to the coronation might BOO (make disrespectful sounds towards) the KING.
25 ORIGAMI
Setter’s dole cheque sent back around 1st of April, causing creative paperwork (7)
I’M (Mev, the setter of this crossword, saying “the setter is” = setter’s) + GIRO (a dole cheque, named after the money transfer system used), all reversed (sent back), around the first letter of A[pril].
26 TRANSLATION
Small lake seen in new Tarantino foreign language remake (11)
S (abbreviation for small) + L (abbreviation for lake), in an anagram (new) of TARANTINO.
27 CUP
Short mischievous sprite returned trophy (3)
PUC[k] (mischievous sprite in folklore, a character in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) without the last letter (short), reversed (returned).

As in the FA Cup = a goblet-shaped trophy.
28 DISINFECTANTS
Sanitisers find a scent’s dispersed with it (13)
Anagram (dispersed) of FIND A SCENT’S + IT.
DOWN
1 ONSHORE
About hero’s wandering at sea? Quite the reverse! (7)
ON (on the subject of = about) + anagram (wandering) of HERO’S.

Onshore (as an adjective) = on land or towards the land, as opposed to out at sea. Perhaps an extended definition, relating to today’s theme: in Homer’s two great epic poems, the Iliad is set on land during the final stages of the Trojan War, whereas the Odyssey describes the hero Odysseus’s long and complicated sea journey to get home afterwards.
2 THE ILIAD
It hailed dissolute war stories from the distant past (3,5)
Anagram (dissolute = disordered) of IT HAILED.

Homer’s ancient Greek tale of the Trojan War.
3 NATURALLY
Of course aunt disrupted political meeting (9)
Anagram (disrupted) of AUNT, then RALLY (political meeting).
4 EMILY
Woman involved in nervy Limehouse uprising (5)
Hidden answer (involved in . . .), reversed (uprising = reading upwards in a down clue), in [nerv]Y LIME[house].

A woman’s name; as usual this isn’t a very helpful definition, there being far too many to choose from, but the wordplay is straightforward.
5 HOARSE
Sounding rough when delivering gift to the 19 (6)
Homophone (when delivering = when speaking) of HORSE (as in the Wooden Horse of Troy, a supposed “gift” to the TROJANS, 19 down).
6 OLIVIER
Current features in musical theatre in London (7)
I (scientific symbol for electrical current) in OLIVER (Oliver! = stage musical based on Dickens’ Oliver Twist).

The largest of three individual theatres within London’s National Theatre (named after the actor Laurence Olivier who was its first artistic director).
7 SIGMA
Character from Athens needs agreement of Italian grandmother, perhaps (5)
SI (“yes” in Italian = agreement of Italian), then we have to split “grandmother” into two words: G (grand = slang for £1000 or $1000) + MA (familiar abbreviation for mother). Or, if you insist, GMA can be a text-message abbreviation for grandma.

The Greek letter corresponding to S.
8 RHAPSODE
Gullible person took the oars according to Spooner’s old reciter (8)
Spoonerism for SAP (gullible person) ROWED (took the oars to propel a boat).

In ancient Greece, a professional reciter of “rhapsodies” (epic poems such as Homer’s Iliad).
14 ANATOMIST
One cutting a film about international organisation (9)
A + MIST (film = thin layer of condensed water vapour on a surface), around NATO (international organisation).

From the early days of science, someone who would cut up dead bodies to see how they worked.
16 CALLIOPE
Two rings holding one hollow pipe in keyboard instrument (8)
CALL (ring = make a telephone call) + O (ring = round letter), containing I (one in Roman numerals), then P[ip]E (hollow = inner letters removed).

Otherwise known as a steam organ: the sound is made by forcing steam through a series of whistles at different pitches, controlled by a keyboard. Not very subtle but probably rather fun.
17 INDIANAN
Pub hosting princess and stateswoman? (8)
INN (pub = drinking establishment) containing (hosting) DIANA (former Princess of Wales).

Someone from the US state of Indiana = stateswoman or statesman.
19 TROJANS
Steed was taken in by them, and vice-versa (7)
Cryptic definition, referring to today’s theme: the Trojans were taken in (deceived) by the wooden horse, so they took it into their city.
21 CHALCIS
Greek port is supporting tea ladies’ campaign at first (7)
CHA (Asian-derived word for tea) + initial letters (at first) of L[adies’] C[ampaign], with IS at the end (at the bottom, in a down clue = supporting).

Port town on the island of Evia (Euboea) in Greece.
22 WILSON
Almost uncontrollable child president who’s departed (6)
WIL[d] (uncontrollable) without its last letter (almost), then SON (child).

The late (departed) 28th President of the US, Woodrow Wilson.
23 BATED
In great suspense, bachelor welcomes a tenor (5)
BED (B.Ed = abbreviation for a Bachelor of Education degree) containing (welcoming) A + T (abbreviation for tenor in vocal music).

I’m not quite convinced by the definition. “With bated breath” means “in great suspense”, with an image of someone holding their breath or not wanting to breathe too loudly while they wait for something to happen. But “bated” by itself just means lowered or held back.
24 GLAZE
Install Windows? Good luck achieving zero errors, just for starters! (5)
Initial letters (just for starters) of G[ood] L[uck] A[chieving] Z[ero] E[rrors].

Glaze, as a verb = fit a sheet of glass into a frame, for example when installing a window.

23 comments on “Independent 11,531 by Mev”

  2. I don’t really know why but I haven’t solved a Mev puzzle before – and what a lucky chance that I lighted on this as my first one.

    My arrival at the theme was very similar to Quirister’s: when I got to TRANSLATION, I remembered reading Charlotte Higgins’ article in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/09/the-iliad-may-be-ancient-but-its-not-far-away-emily-wilson-on-homers-blood-soaked-epic a couple of weeks ago but had omitted to make a note of the date. It’s certainly a treat in store.

    I have to go out very shortly and so I haven’t time now to list or discuss my many favourites. In the meantime, huge thanks to lucky (as crypticsue would say) Quirister for a superb blog, to match a superb puzzle – huge thanks also to Mev, of course – I shall look out for the next one!

  5. A vey nice puzzle by Mev particularly since I studied The Iliad in school. Thought CHALCIS could have been included in the highlighted answers.

    Thank you Mev and Quirister.

  7. I didn’t recognise the references to the translation but had a fairly clear idea the theme was Homeric. With the initial O, and the surface, I suspected 1d was going to be ODYSSEY for some time. Cleverly done.

    Thanks Mev and Quirister

  8. Fighting

    Thank you Quirister for the lovely blog. You have perfectly elucidated every element of the theme, including my eager anticipation of the book. (Am I dim enough not to realise that I could claim BOOK[ing] and perhaps BATED as part of it too? You betcha.) You’re also right that I did indeed reach for the smallest of shoehorns for 9A for pangrammatic purposes, though I was pleased to be able to make it the obligatory cricket clue.

    I wrote this in March, having indeed been on tenterhooks ever since reading the professor’s excellent Odyssey of 2017. But I only fairly recently found out that release day was to be on a Tuesday. Thanks to eimi for letting me have this slot. ??Re 23D, I think I convinced myself that in the phrase “with bated breath”, the breath is “in great suspense”, i.e. held back. You may be right though.

    Thanks to everyone for the nice comments so far. KVa@1: CAD“-ish”, perhaps. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to nip out to my local bookshop. ?

  15. Thanks both. Found this quite tough. Suspected THE ILIAD may point to the theme, but as my knowledge of it is limited to the title, the other 6/7 words were never going to help, and a couple were unknowns. I defeated myself taking on HQS – once I got as far as HQ determining it could not be a word, which was dim on reflection, but such abbreviations can look odd when entirely in capitals

  16. Thanks, Mev and Quirister.
    Loved it.

    Googled Emily Wilson, and got the theme more fully, though ILIAD and TROJANS indicated it.

    RHAPSODE
    HQS
    URIC are favs.

    Wondered about the ellipsis there….

  17. Petert @13/14

    Many thanks for the link, which I nearly didn’t follow, since I know the puzzle, by one of my favourite poets, very well, having studied it for A Level – but I’m so glad I did, because I really enjoyed the excellent commentary. (This has really been a Serendipity day for me.)

    Back to the puzzle, now that I’m home (and dry). I had ticks for 1ac ON TENTERHOOKS, which was a brilliant start, 9ac, which I had to come back to and spend some time on working it out, 25ac ORIGAMI, which I’ve seen clued many a time but was really impressed by the surface, suggesting Benefit Office red tape and, in that context, the use of ‘creative’, 26ac TRANSLATION, for the deft use of TARANTINO, 1dn ONSHORE, for the clever allusion to Odyssey / Odysseus, 2dn for setting the theme and the excellent surface, 3dn NATURALLY, because it made me smile at the picture of an habitually trouble-making aunt and 19dn TROJANS, for the evocation of Aeneid Book II. There could have been more – but, as often, the whole was more than the sum of its parts.

    Renewed thanks to Mev (have I said I loved it?) and to Quirister – I’m so glad it was your blog.

    I’ve just ordered the book. 😉

  18. Very enjoyable! Resorted to a bit of e-help.to.get over the line but loved it.
    I especially appreciated the “linked but not linked” URIC and TAKES, ORIGAMI, BOOKING, TROJANS and WILSON but it was all superb.
    Many thanks to Mev and Quirister.

  19. Just popped in to get the lowdown on today’s theme – not a tome I ever had to study so I haven’t been waiting ON TENTERHOOKS for the new translation to be published!
    Well done to Mev for constructing this one and bravo Quirister for winkling out all the references.

  20. Excellent puzzle.
    I am not convinced by 15a. Uric acid is a product of purine breakdown and is excreted in the urine. But so are many other things ( urea, sodium etc etc). So ‘of piss’ as a definition for uric acid seems loose, shall we say.
    As an aside, excess uric acid may result in gout. Birds eat a diet that can be quite rich in purines but you don’t see birds with gout.

  21. Hooper@20:
    ODE: uric, adjective, relating to urine.

    Thanks again to everyone who solved and commented. Glad to have nudged you into a purchase, Eileen. 🙂
    TTFN!

  22. Thanks Mev for a fine crossword and to Quirister for an informative blog. I saw the general theme and I appreciated learning about its specifics. Aside from the theme I thought the surface for GLAZE was worth the price of admission.

  23. Defeated by 9a, 8dn and 13a – latter two of which I’d never heard of (and I’m rubbish at spoonerisms). Was blind to the anagram for 13 even though was sure there was one. So obvious now it’s pointed out.

    Started off with numerous write-ins then slowed right down. Thought Trojans was an absolutely brilliant clue.

    Thanks Quirster and Mev

Comments are closed.