Independent 11,579 by Mog

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Tuesday fun from a recent addition to our collection of setters: this appears to be Mog’s third puzzle for the Independent.

A few enjoyable if slightly far-fetched definitions: 21a, 3d and 16d are clever, but I thought 13a was a bit of a stretch. Special mention to the wry clue-as-definition in 6d.

A Tuesday theme started to present itself fairly early, with the use of all five senses near the NE and SE corners. That didn’t seem quite enough, until the combination of 11a and 1a triggered a vague memory from my teenage years. The band XTC released a song in 1982 entitled Senses Working Overtime, including the following lyrics:

“And I can SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TOUCH, TASTE
And I’ve got one, two, three, four, five
Senses WORKING OVERTIME”

A little research reveals that the band members’ surnames were PARTRIDGE, GREGORY, MOULDING and CHAMBERS – all appearing in the grid. And the reference to “Swindon’s foremost rock band” in 21a is no coincidence, because that’s where they came from. Neatly done; thanks Mog for the fun.

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

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 OVERTIME
Obvious one, Mog, more than your typical effort? (8)
OVERT (obvious = plain to see) + I (one in Roman numerals) + ME (Mog = the setter of this crossword).
5 TOUCH
Impact little (5)
Double definition. To have an effect on something; or as in “just a touch” = just a little.
9 EGG
Is it Scotch for one with last of Laphroaig? (3)
EG (Latin exempli gratia = for example = for one) + last letter of [laphroai]G (it’s a Scotch whisky).

Scotch egg = a boiled egg cooked in a coating of sausagemeat and breadcrumbs.
10 ANGLOPHILIA
Playing in La Liga, half-hoping for English appreciation? (11)
Anagram (playing) of IN LA LIGA + half of HOP[ing].
11 WORKING
Reviewed rank with chess piece on (7)
ROW (rank, as in front row = front rank) reversed (reviewed), then KING (a chess piece).
12 LARIAT
Something of a cowboy song lieutenant’s adopted (6)
ARIA (a solo song, usually as part of an opera or choral work), contained (adopted) in LT (abbreviation for lieutenant).

Lariat = lasso = a rope used by a cowboy.
13 REPOT
Books printed by agent provide new dirt? (5)
OT (abbreviation for Old Testament = books) next to REP (short for representative = agent). I don’t think “printed” really has any purpose here.

Dirt = earth or compost in a plant pot, so repot = put a plant into another (usually larger) pot = put into new dirt.
15 POIGNANT
Emotional moment interrupted by short buzzer (8)
POINT (moment, as in “just at that point . . .”) containing (interrupted by) GNA[t] (a buzzing insect) without its last letter (short).
17 BRAGGING
Crowing bantam to begin with provocation (8)
First letter (to begin with) of B[antam], then RAGGING (provocation = making fun of someone or playing practival jokes on them).

Crowing = bragging = boasting.
19 WIDTH
Harrow, I’d think, is more than enough for range (5)
Hidden answer (. . . is more than enough for) in [harro]W ID TH[ink].
20 BREEZE
Announced imported cheeses move briskly (6)
Homophone (announced) of BRIES (plural of Brie = a cheese imported from France).
21 STRATUM
Recalled cunning corporation chasing Swindon’s foremost rock band (7)
ART (cunning) reversed (recalled) + TUM (corporation = slang for a large belly), all after the first letter (foremost) of S[windon].

Stratum = a layer of rock = rock band.
24 VIDEO CAMERA
Come read about cuts by movie’s producer? (5,6)
Anagram (about = scattered) of COME READ, inserted into (. . . cuts) VIA (by).
25 SEE
Date and make out (3)
Double definition. To have a romantic meeting with someone; or as in “I can just about make it out” = to see something with difficulty.
26 NEEDY
Born daddy, never mind the tot clinging (5)
NEE (French nÊe = born = identifying a woman’s original name before she changed it by marriage or otherwise) + D[add]Y without ADD (tot, as a verb = calculate the sum of).

Needy = clinging = emotionally demanding.
27 FLATNESS
Lack of verve in Florida, given temperature along cape (8)
FLA (abbreviation for the US state of Florida) + T (abbreviation for temperature) + NESS (cape = headland).
DOWN
1 OVENWARE
Heat-resistant articles are woven differently (8)
Anagram (differently) of ARE WOVEN.

Cooking vessels designed to withstand oven temperatures.
2 EAGER
Anxious energy to get on rides, at first (5)
E (abbreviation for energy) + AGE (as a verb = get on = get older) + first letter of R[ides].
3 TSARIST
No red dresses within limits of Tashkent (7)
SARIS (Asian dresses) within the outer letters (limits) of T[ashken]T.

Tsarist = a monarchist in Russia = not a Red (slang for communist), who would be anti-monarchy.
4 MAGOG
Giant periodical with dogs between the covers (5)
MAG (short for magazine = periodical) + inner letters (between the covers) of [d]OG[s].

One of two characters (Gog and Magog) in British folklore, supposedly the last two survivors of a race of giants. Or in some versions there’s a single giant called Gogmagog.
5 TEHERAN
Trouble near the capital (7)
Anagram (trouble, as a verb = disturb) of NEAR THE.

More usually written as Tehran: the capital city of Iran.
6 UNLEARNED
How pupil ends, limited by the result of zero labour? (9)
Last letter (how . . . ends) of [pupi]L, contained in (limited by) UNEARNED (something that one hasn’t had to work for = the result of zero labour).

Clue-as-definition: a pupil who doesn’t do any work can expect to end up not having learned anything.
7 HEAR
Try organ meat, spitting out the tail (4)
HEAR[t] (an animal’s heart as food = organ meat) without the last letter (tail).

Hear = try = judge a case in a court of law.
8 MOULDING
Architectural feature starting to go green? (8)
Definition and cryptic definition. A decorative edging or shape in wood, plaster etc, for example around the edge of a ceiling; or starting to develop mould (which may be a greenish colour).
14 PARTRIDGE
Bird crest, bit on its head (9)
RIDGE (crest = top of a long narrow hill) with PART (a bit) before it (above it, in a down clue = on its head).
15 PRICE TAG
Sting reduced concert attendance, raising cost (5,3)
PRIC[k] (sting = stab) without the last letter (reduced), then GATE (the number of people attending a concert or sports event) reversed (raising = upwards in a down clue).
16 CHAMBERS
Pair of chic yellow shades help when solving? (8)
First two letters (pair) of CH[ic] + AMBERS (amber = a yellowish-brown shade).

Short for Chambers Dictionary, a standard reference for crosswords (help when solving).
18 GREGORY
Bit of glory and gold boring dull pope (7)
First letter (a bit) of G[lory] + OR (French-derived heraldic term for gold), all inserted into (boring) GREY (dull).

One of sixteen popes with that name.
19 WARRANT
Document naked twirling at rave (7)
RAW (naked) reversed (twirling), then RANT (rave = shout in anger or madness).
21 SMELL
Detect hint of marjoram in stock (5)
First letter (a hint = a small amount) of M[arjoram] in SELL (stock, as a verb = to have available for sale).
22 TASTE
Style, say, with top tucked in (5)
STATE (as a verb = say), with the first letter (top, in a down clue) moved into the middle of the word (tucked in).
23 EVEN
Still night before noon? (4)
EVE (the night before a significant date, as in Christmas Eve) + N (abbreviation for noon = midday).

Still = even = undisturbed.

12 comments on “Independent 11,579 by Mog”

  2. Dave Gregory used to be in a band called Profile – later known as Gog Magog – but there comes a point where answers may just be coincidence [although the setter’s name is awfully overlapping…]

  3. Super clue for UNLEARNED. The ‘something’ in the blog isn’t needed – ‘the result of zero labour’ as an adjectival phrase is equivalent to unearned.

  4. Knew there had to be something more than the 5 senses involved but hadn’t got a clue as to what it might be so thanks to our blogger for doing the homework!
    Enjoyable puzzle nevertheless and I particularly liked VIDEO CAMERA, MOULDING & REPOT.

    Thanks to Mog and also to Quirister for the review and the elucidation.

  5. 13a – REPOT – took “printed” as meaning “in block capitals” – as OT needs to be – as opposed to cursively written.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senses_Working_Overtime – ‘Length 4:34 (single edit), 4:53 (album version)’ – I’d always wondered why – Andy Partridge explains
    ‘The line “and buses might skid on black ice” was not removed…because of any BBC insistence about road safety. Virgin told us…[it] was too long to be a single.’
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E7KsGzpd1Q

  6. Dave Gregory also in recent times of proggers Big Big Train. XTC superb and major influence on just about everyone. Puzzle also not too shabby.

  8. Glad to come here and discover the extra layer. XTC was a bit post my band heyday so I had no idea of either the song or the band members and all of that happily went over my head. But then that is the point of a ghost theme so it worked well. I’ve enjoyed Mog’s previous puzzles and this was just as good; a welcome addition to the stable. It’s nice to encounter MAGOG though the reference sources are unhelpful creating some confusion around Gog, Magog, Gogmagog – and the fact that an entirely unconnected Gog and Magog appear in the Bible – and, even more confusingly, Magog is referred to as both a character and a land.

    Lots of faves – OVERTIME, WORKING, LARIAT, BRAGGING, VIDEO CAMERA, SEE, TEHERAN, UNLEARNED and CHAMBERS earn the shout outs.

    Thanks Mog and Quirister

  9. I solved the puzzle without noticing the theme. In fact the band is beyond my ken anyway. Very impressed with it now it’s been pointed out though. Enjoyable solve too! Thanks Mog and Quirister.

  10. Thanks Quirister and Mog.

    Masterful setting!

    I almost completed the puzzle, and being Tuesday’s, Googled ‘WORKING OVERTIME’ and got the theme. Was helpful to get the last member.

    I failed to see the senses in the grid 🙁

    POIGNANT
    VIDEO CAMERA
    TSARIST are favs.

  12. XTC are my favourite band. Have absolutely everything by them and despite finishing a fair bit of this, as usual I spotted no theme!

    Thanks Mog & Quirster. Especially Mog for mentioning the best band evs!

    Quirster your comment “but I thought 13a was a bit of a stretch” made me smile, I find myself thinking that with most crosswords!

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