Independent 11743 / Methuselah

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Methuselah fills the Independent Thursday slot this week.  Methuselah is a setter I have blogged a few times and I have always enjoyed the challenge.

 

 

 

This is the second Independent puzzle I have blogged this week and each has been a celebration of the setter’s art.  Nimrod on Tuesday produced a tour-de-force based on Morecambe and Wise and now Methuselah has given us a feast of literary references to THE SEA.  There can’t have been many puzzles where four entries have been identical with a fifth occurrence as part of a longer entry.

I though the surfaces of the clues were excellent, with my favourite being the Iris Murdoch one at 23a/25a where Murdoch, publication, seethes and hate probably made many of us think of another Murdoch initially.

I also liked the ‘six of his characters’ device in the clue for THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA.

I got into a slight tangle with my Lawrences at 21 down as D H Lawrence wrote a poem entitled THE SEA, THE SEA. It took a while to realise whilst writing the blog that I was looking for a novel rather than a poem and I needed a reference to another Lawrence (T E Lawrence).

We had two references in wordplay to PI (hero of the Life of Pi) and PI (Private Investigator).  Coming from a mathematical background, I was hoping we might also get an allusion to the irrational mathematical constant, π =3.14, [I know that it is a non-repeating decimal now known to something like 105 trillion digits but 2 are good enough for me today).

EGO is common to wordplay or entry in both the Nimrod and the Methuselah puzzles.  Nimrod linked the EGO the ID in his clue for DIEGO.  Methuselah used EGO as an entry.

Using ‘SUBTITLE‘ to clue the TITLE of a novel about a SUBmarine at 6/13/19/12 was very clever.  The entry, at 32 letters, was longer than the clue.

Thanks to Methuselah for another enjoyable puzzle.

No Detail
Across  
1 Most sensational tablets stored in container for preacher (8) 

PULPIEST (most sensational story in a cheap newspaper or magazine)

ES ([ecstasy] tablets) contained in (in) PULPIT (the ‘container’ where the preacher stands when delivering a sermon)

PULPI (ES) T
6/27/9 Novel description of Methuselah, plus six of his characters (3,3,3,3,3,3) 

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (name of novel written by Ernest Hemingway [1899 – 1961])

THE OLD MAN (In the bible, Methuselah was described as being 969 years old) + AND (plus) + THE SEA (all of the six letters of THE SEA can be found in METHUSELAH – six of his characters)

THE OLD [MAN AND THE SEA]
9

See clue at 6/27/9 above for full parsing

THE SEA
10 Every so often, rare medusa’s shocking couple catching waves (8) 

EARDRUMS (two parts [couple] of the body catching sound waves)

Anagram of (shocking) RR (letters 1 and 3 [every so often] of RARE) and MEDUSA

EARDRUMS*
11 Character back to fight insect superhero? (6) 

MUTANT (reference the superhero characters in the Teenage MUTANT Ninja Turtles media franchise)

MU (character in the Greek alphabet) + T (last letter of [back to] FIGHT) + ANT (insect)

MU T ANT
13

See clue at 5 Down below for full parsing

THOUSAND
14 Sort of reaction produced by commercial poetry (7) 

ADVERSE (contrary; opposed; descriptive of a type of reaction)

AD (ADvertisement; commercial) + VERSE (poetry)

AD VERSE
16 Shipwrecked boy discovered orang and hyena evacuated with another predator (7) 

PIRANHA (a ferocious S American river fish; predator)

PI (reference the boy shipwrecked in the novel The Life of Pi) + RAN (letters remaining in ORANG when the outer letters O and G are removed [dis-covered]) + HA (letters remaining when the central letters YEN are removed from [evacuated] HYENA )

PI RAN HA
17 Spot clergyman getting unsolicited feedback from Cockney (7) 

FRECKLE (spot)

FR (Father; priest; clergyman) + HECKLE (unsolicited feedback [Oxford Dictionary of English lists  HECKLE as a noun as well as a verb], pronounced by a Cockney as ‘ECKLE without the leading H)

FR ECKLE
19

See clue at 5 Down below for full parsing

LEAGUES
22 Embarrassed sleuth breaks into exasperated expression (8) 

SHEEPISH (embarrassed)

PI (Private investigator; sleuth] contained in (breaks into) SHEESH (an exclamation of surprise or annoyance; exasperated expression)

SHEE (PI) SH
23/25 Murdoch publication seethes with a hate that’s out of order (3,3,3,3) 

THE SEA THE SEA (name of a novel by Iris Murdoch [1919 – 1999])

Anagram of (that’s out of order) SEETHES and (with) A HATE

THE SEA [THE SEA*]
24 Landowners like stealing Irish resources, ultimately (8) 

ESQUIRES (landed proprietors; landowners)

(-ESQUE [suffix forming adjectives from nouns, especially proper names, and denoting in the style or manner of or similar; like] containing [stealing] IR [Irish]) + S (final letter of [ultimately] RESOURCES)

ESQU (IR) E S
25

See clue at 23/25 above for full parsing

THE SEA
27

See clue at 6/27/9 above for full parsing

MAN AND
28 Graze from sabre unsheathed when principal spins around (8) 

ABRASION (graze on the skin)

ABR (letters remaining in SABRE when the outer letters S and E are removed [unsheathed]) + AS (when) + (NO [number] + I [Roman numeral for one] – number one [principal]) reversed (spins around)

ABR AS (I ON)<
Down  
2 Some fish guts on the counter … pass the bucket (3) 

UGH (expression of repugnance.  ‘Pass the bucket’ is a phrase usually used to convey the same meaning when you see something disgusting or overly sentimental, not when you actually want to be sick.)

UGH (reversed [on the counter] hidden word [some] in  FISH GUTS)

UGH<
3 Fool comes up with wise quotation (7) 

PASSAGE (extract or quotation sourced from a text)

SAP (fool) reversed (comes up; down entry) + SAGE (wise)

PAS< SAGE
4 Perfect bits of lovemaking requiring no tips (5) 

EXACT (precise; perfect)

SEX ACTS (bits of lovemaking) excluding (requiring no) outer letters (tips) S and S

EXACT
5/13/19/12 Subtitle translated from French? (6,8,7,5,3,3) 

TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (novel by Jules Verne [1828 – 1905] originally published in French as Vingt Mille Lieues sous les Mers in 1869–70.  The English title is therefore translated from French)

SUBTITLE is a cryptic definition of the title of a book about a SUBmarine [Nautilus] which travels 20,000 leagues under the sea [horizontal distance travelled, not depth under the sea])

TWENTY [THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA]

6 Mistake is seized on by extremely tiresome bully (9) 

TERRORISE (cause fear or dread; bully)

(ERROR (mistake) + IS) contained in (seized by) TE (outer letters of [extremely] TIRESOME)

T (ERROR IS) E
7 A lot of ground covered by chauffeur as I abscond (7) 

EURASIA (a large landmass; a lot of ground)

EURASIA (hidden word in [covered by] CHAUFFEUR AS I ABSCOND)

EURASIA
8 Refined men chose eel spread (5,6) 

LEMON CHEESE (another name for lemon curd [a soft cooked paste of lemons, eggs, butter and sugar, used as a spread])

Anagram of (refined) MEN CHOSE EEL

LEMON CHEESE*
12

See clue at 5 down above for full parsing

UNDER THE SEA
15 Was private flogged raw after exposing lies? (9) 

SOLDIERED (a private is a SOLDIER, so someone who was [a] private, SOLDIERED)

SOLD (flogged) + IE (letters remaining in LIES after the outer letters L and S are removed thereby exposing the central letters IE) + RED (raw)

SOLD IE RED
18 Unequal readings of caesium and uranium give you pause (7) 

CAESURA (a pause or natural breathing space occurring anywhere in a line of verse)

CAES (four letters of CAESIUM) + URA (three letters of URANIUM) – four and three being different readings

CAES URA
20 Blokes shortly get Scrooge half-cut with Bob (7) 

GEEZERS (blokes)

GET excluding the final letter (shortly) T + EZER (the last four letters of eight [half-cut] of EBENEZER [Scrooge]) + S (shilling; known informally as a bob)

GE EZER S
21 Fancy aesthete binning a certain Lawrence novel (3,3) 

THE SEA (title of a 2005 Booker prize-winning novel by John Banville [born 1945])

Anagram of (fancy) AESTHETE excluding (binning) TE (initials of T E Lawrence [1888 – 1935], Lawrence of Arabia, not to be confused with D H Lawrence [1885 – 1930] who wrote a poem entitled The Sea, The Sea)

THE SEA*
23 Spud sampler doesn’t want seconds (5) 

TATER (potato; spud)

TASTER (sampler) excluding (doesn’t want) S (seconds)

TATER
26 For example, Ovid’s number one (3) 

EGO (the I or self; [number] one)

EG (for example) + O (first letter of [number one] OVID

EG O 

 

16 comments on “Independent 11743 / Methuselah”

  1. Thalassa Thalassa.

    I loved the slightly strange repeated theme .

    Unconvinced by Esquire and Piranha; needed D’s excellent blog for parsing details. Like the rest of the clues but no real standouts. Overall use of repetition was very good

    Thanks Methuselah and Duncan

  2. Very intriguing. I did not parse the ESQUE bit of ESQUIRE. I agree the Murdoch clue is very good. personally, I’m somewhat less keen on the letterbank concept that’s used in THE OLD MAN etc but it is clever of Methuselah to spot it – and to indulge in the namecheck. PULPIEST held me up for a bit as I did not recognise the word nor associate it with the def; I had PURPLEST in briefly and was about to go back and check in dictionaries for what preachers might wear … and then the penny dropped.

    Certainly a remarkable gridfill; I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it. And the SUB idea is very neat.

    Thanks Methuselah and duncan.

  3. Parsed 11a MUTANT thinking X-Men(1963) rather than TMNT(1984), but that just shows what an OLD MAN I am.
    [Sandy Denny’s The Sea – I’ve known it since I bought Bumpers(1970).]
    A very fine puzzle. Thanks M&ds

  4. THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
    Agree with PostMark’s views @2 in toto. FrankieG@3 has some claim to the OLD MAN title. He has to live a few more years to turn 969, I am sure. Long live FrankieG!

    TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and ESQUIRES
    Joint COTD

    Great puzzle. Superb blog. Duncan’s blogs are always pleasant to read & informative.
    Thanks both!

  6. Thanks both. Very much enjoyed this, and whilst I see some similarities with the Nimrod puzzle, I have already gone on record to say that was not a pleasant experience. I fairly quickly got TWENTY THOUSAND…however feel it’s right on the boundary of workable, given the sub in question doesn’t appear in the title, though I immediately realised what was intended. MUTANT as superhero still has me uncertain, perhaps until someone sheds some further light.

  8. Yes, I adored the clue for TWENTY THOUSAND too. (For TFO@6, Duncan’s blog explains that “title” is clueing the name of a book about a submarine, rather than the name of the vessel itself. Looks fair to me.)
    “Murdoch publication” was a delightful bit of misdirection.

    I’m also grateful to Duncan for explaining the “six characters” thing, which parsing eluded me.

  9. This was really good.. liked the theme which helped… particularly fond of the Hemingway, which went in first. I’m not usually a fan of clues extending over the whole grid, but it worked fine here. Needed the blog to explain GEEZERS n ESQUIRES… I’ve always assumed ALL superheroes are mutants, either by birth or experience, so that was ok…
    Thanks Methuselah n the essential blog from duncansheill

  10. Undrell @9. Don’t let Marvel hear you say that. The X-Men are mutant superheroes (i.e. they derive their powers from a mutated gene, usually evidencing at puberty) unlike say the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Hulk who gained their powers (from radiation in these (and many other) cases). Of course, the clue does need the ‘?’ at the end since mutants can just as well end up as villains (or neither or both).

  11. I think 26a is a clue-as-definition (or &lit, if you prefer). EGO is Latin for “I”, so what (for example) the Roman poet Ovid would think of as “number one” .

  12. Rather like 18d. I took it to be the two elements excluding equal/common to both names IUM.
    I wouldn’t have seen PULPIEST if I’d stared at it all day and I got PIRHANA without having the foggiest udea who Pi is.
    Thanks Methuselah and duncanshiel.

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