Italicus, a compiler whose work it has rarely fallen to me to blog, has provided this week’s Tuesday – aka theme day – puzzle.
I found this to be a medium-difficulty puzzle overall, but one that in places required me to dig deep to solve – for example, 3, 12 and 20 gave me quite a lot of head-scratching, but I think that I got there in the end. My favourite clues today were 3, for its well-hidden definition and smooth surface; 13, for its smooth surface; and 19, for its humorous surface and for keeping me guessing so long, despite the answer staring me in the face all along!
Today’s theme is provided by the entry at 27/04, with other references to his work appearing in the completed grid: his group at 2 and where it was formed at 9; their debut album at 18; and some of their singles at 21D, 23 …
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | MYTHIC | Legendary setter’s not completely stupid
MY (=setter’s, i.e. Italicus’) + THIC<k> (=stupid; “not completely” means last letter is dropped) |
| 10 | THEME SONG | Words fit to air on TV programme
Cryptic definition: the “air” of the definition refers to a tune or melody, not to broadcasting |
| 11 | IDLED | Upon reflection, employing daughter in shop didn’t work
D (=daughter) in DELI (=shop); “upon reflection” indicates reversal |
| 12 | GROG | Key organisation backed watered-down measures
G (=key, in music) + ORG. (=organisation); “backed” indicates reversal; grog was originally a mixture of spirits and waters |
| 13 | ADDICTIONS | Riders patrolling western border of Crown Dependencies
C<rown> (“western border of” means first letter only) in ADDITIONS (=riders, to contracts) |
| 15 | TAUREAN | Unconventional nature constrains a child born on May Day
A in *(NATURE); “unconventional” is anagram indicator; a child born on May Day has Taurus as their star sign |
| 16 | HEROIN | Horse is major character in audiobook
Homophone (“in audiobook”) of “heroine (=major character)”; horse is a slang word for heroin |
| 19 | ESSAYS | Things written in Times, say, suck
Hidden (“in”) in “timES SAY Suck” |
| 21 | FANFARE | It heralds charge imposed on travelling supporters?
Cryptically, a fan fare could describe a charge imposed on travelling supporters, e.g. to travel by train |
| 23 | IRISH ROVER | One absolved by Inland Revenue essentially boarded fabulous ship
IR (=Inland Revenue) + I (=one) + SHROVE (=absolved, imposed a penance on, in RC church) + <boa>R<ded> (“essentially” means middle letter only); the Irish Rover is a magnificent ship in Irish folklore |
| 25 | BEER | Industrious worker initially refused drink
BEE (=industrious worker, as in as busy as a bee) + R<efused> (“initially” means first letter only) |
| 27/04 | SHANE MACGOWAN | Each woman sang about late lamented artist
*(EACH WOMAN SANG); “about” is anagram indicator; Shane MacGowan (1957-2023) was a British-born Irish singer-songwriter |
| 28 | PETTIFOGS | Deals with trivial matter of ordering poet’s gift
*(POET’S GIFT); “ordering” is anagram indicator; of a laywer, to pettifog is to deal with trivial cases, often deceptively and quibblingly |
| 29 | SNIFTERS | Nitrogen found in filtering devices for alcoholic beverages
N (=nitrogen, i.e. chemical symbol) in SIFTERS (=filtering devices) |
| 30 | BLADES | Components of lawn cutters
Cryptically, blades of grass could be described as being “components of lawn” |
| Down | ||
| 01 | MITIGATE | Moderate exposed lie underpinning American university entrance
MIT (=American university, i.e. Massachusetts Institute of Technology) + <l>I<e> (“exposed” means first and last letters are stripped away) + GATE (=entrance); to moderate is to mitigate, attenuate, temper |
| 02 | THE POGUES | Hopes get dashed, entertaining upper-class group
U (=upper-class) in *(HOPES GET); “dashed” is anagram indicator; The Pogues was an Anglo-Irish Celtic punk bank, formed in 1982, of which Shane MacGowan was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist |
| 03 | IBEX | Butter up bisexual partner you’ve stopped dating
IB (BI=bisexual; “up” indicates reporting) + EX (=partner you’ve stopped dating); as a type of mountain goat, an ibex can be described as an animal that butts with its head, i.e. a “butter”! |
| 05 | ANGUISH | Torment Scotsman about international match’s conclusion
[I (=international) in ANGUS (=Scotsman, i.e. a male forename in Scotland)] + <matc>H (“conclusion” means last letter only) |
| 06 | GLISTERING | Girls get schooled outside home? That’s brilliant!
IN (=(at) home) in *(GIRLS GET); “schooled”, trained is anagram indicator; cf. all that glisters is not gold |
| 07 | WILCO | Radio communication with discontented lunatic aboard satellite
W (=with) + [L<unati>C (“dis-contented” means contents of word are dropped) in IO (=satellite, i.e. a moon of Jupiter)]; in radio communicaton, wilco means I will comply |
| 08 | NUDISM | Practice of exhibiting all diamonds is adopted by miners
[D (=diamonds, in cards) + IS] in NUM (=miners, i.e. National Union of Mineworkers) |
| 09 | LONDON | City Line depresses working academic
L (=line) + ON (=working, of e.g. machine) + DON (=academic) |
| 14 | DETACHMENT | Reserve // military unit
Double definition: detachment is reserve, remoteness, indifference AND a unit of troops separated from the main body |
| 17 | IN A SECOND | Sinead sorted out grasping Tory very quickly
CON (=Tory, i.e. Conservative) in *(SINEAD); “sorted out” is anagram indicator |
| 18 | RED ROSES | Not quite right to accept sailor’s romantic gift
OS (=sailor, i.e. ordinary seaman) in REDRES<s> (=(put) right, rectify; “not quite” means last letter is dropped) |
| 20 | STOPPER | Second cap for Italian central defender
S (=second) + TOP (=cap, lid) + PER (=for Italian, i.e. the Italian word for for); a stopper is a central defender in football |
| 21 | FIESTA | Hand round Ecstasy before a party in Ibiza
[E (=Ecstasy, i.e. drug) in FIST (=(clenched) hand)] + A; “fiesta” is the Spanish word for party |
| 22 | KISSES | Parts of horses Sikh revolutionary brushes
Hidden (“parts of”) and reversed (“revolutionary”) in “horSES SIKh”; to brush against is to kiss, touch gently |
| 24 | IRAQI | Arab rebel soldiers appearing on panel show
IRA (=rebel soldiers, i.e. Irish Republican Army) + QI (=panel show, on BBC2) |
| 26 | GIRL | Youngster lurking around on a regular basis
L<u>R<k>I<n>G; “on a regular basis” means alternate letters only are used; “around” indicates reversal |
I found this very challenging but I enjoyed it a lot. I even spotted the theme, which wasn’t difficult although I haven’t had time to add up how many theme entries there are in the grid.
Many thanks to Italicus and to RR.
COTD: FANFARE
THEME SONG
words=THEME (in the sense of message/argument/thesis)+fit=SONG
(the first part is somewhat loose, I guess)
Def: Air on TV programme
Thanks Italicus and RR!
A rare case of when the theme helped. IBEX and IRISH ROVER were my favourites. I am sure I have missed some thematic entries, though.
POGUES is !rish for KISSES (POGUE MAHONE = “kiss my arse”)
Shane’s ADDICTIONS to HEROIN and alcohol – GROG, BEER, and SNIFTERS – are also referenced.
And in 17d IN A SECOND. it must be Sinéad O’Connor, another late lamented !rish artist, who also died last year. Requiescant in pace.
Thanks I&RR
You’ve also got the RED ROSES and Live in LONDON albums, the IRISH ROVER which THE POGUES sang with the Dubliners.
That was fun, thank you to Italicus and RatkojaRiku.
I found this tougher than I should have, looking at the blog. The theme is not one with which I am familiar but that doesn’t really explain it. Usual wavelength thing. And I couldn’t have been further away from it with IRISH ROVER – not recognising any ship and not being familiar with SHROVE. Hats off to those who sped through this.
Thanks Italicus and RR
Hi all, many thanks to RatkojaRiku for his spot on blog. I hope this was a fitting tribute to an artist I greatly admire. Between you, you have identified all of my intentional thematic clues except one (well done to FrankieG for spotting the KISSES reference). You can also link 9a and 26d to get LONDON GIRL, a track from The Pogues marvellously named album RUM, SODOMY AND THE LASH
Hi Italicus! Thanks for dropping by. It’s always great to get the setter’s perspective.
I have a question on THEME SONG: Is it just a CD or is there something more to it?
Words fit to air on TV programme=Lyrics suitable for (a) song on (a) TV programme?
Lyrics fit (in the sense of fitted) to (a) song ….?
Or should we just read it as a CD without breaking the clue into multiple bits and pieces?
My intention was a purely cryptic definition with the word play revolving around ‘fit to air’ having a double meaning – ‘suitable for broadcast’ and ‘put/set to music’.
Thanks Italicus!
The theme totally passed me by but would certainly have helped with a couple of clues. Punk rock has no appeal for me although I had vaguely heard of The Pogues.
Top three for me were ADDICTIONS, FANFARE & IBEX.
Thanks to Italicus and to RR for the review.
Thanks Italicus for an excellent crossword. I spotted the general theme but I was unaware of its many pieces. I failed to solve GROG, IRISH ROVER, and FANFARE. I particularly enjoyed MYTHIC, IDLED, BEER, IBEX (COTD), and FIESTA (great surface). Thanks RR for the blog.
I enjoyed this very much – and would have finished much quicker had I not put a daft GLISTENING in at first.
I know the band, but not well, and so only spotted a small number of the themers.
Thanks both.
Never a huge Pogues fan, but that did not stop me appreciating the work here. Liked NUDISM, PTTIFOGS, FANFARE, GLISTERING (super word). Had to cheat on IRISH ROVER. Thanks to S&B.
Seven days ago there was a tribute concert in Carnegie Hall: ‘Sinéad & Shane – a St Patrick’s celebration’ – You can watch it here. Highly recommended.
Great theme.. once spotted was hoping for a Fairy Tale but I’m guessing it would have been too spottable… don’t think the Pogues were punk even if they arrived around that time.. just authentic Irish music, with an iconic London Irish feel to it.
Bravo Italicus n RatkojaRiku