Knut’s latest puzzle has been published today on what we know to be theme day.
No prizes for guessing that today’s puzzle is all about politicians, and that feels fitting with a general election waiting round the corner. This must have been terribly difficult for a non-UK solver to negotiate a way through, as so much of it is culture-bound and requires a pretty in-depth knowledge of UK politics. Nevertheless, it is something of a compiling tour de force, given the amount of thematic material that Knut has accommodated in a single puzzle.
However, I have to say that Knut has beaten me hands down today: I cannot parse 1A and assume it refers to some incident that I am unaware of, but perhaps not; and I cannot work out what is happening at 15 either. I would also appreciate confirmation of my parsings at 6 and 29. Once others have put me out of my misery, I will endeavour to update the blog – many thanks, blog now updated!
My favourite clues today were 24, for smoothness of surface; 1D/21, for the use of the placename; 8/21 and 20D, both for making me laugh out loud; and, most of all, 19, for referring so ingeniously to two political parties in the clue.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | LEE ANDERSON | Who’s that MP who reportedly went for a nightly swim dad?
In Greek mythology, Leander swam across the Hellespont to meet his lover Hero, hence the answer to the question: “Who went for a nightly swim, dad?” could be “Leander, son”!; “reported” indicates a homophone; Lee Anderson is a former Conservative MP who defected to Reform UK in March 2024 |
| 07 | ROB | Inquiry exposed Jenrick
<p>ROB>E (=inquiry; “exposed” mean first and last letters are dropped); the reference is to Conservative MP and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick |
| 09/27 | WINDOW | Opening with light blow that hurts!
WIND (=blow) + OW (=that hurts, i.e. exclamation) |
| 10 | DISGRACEFUL | Kinkily clad figures – scandalous!
*(CLAD FIGURES); “kinkily” is anagram indicator |
| 11 | ST BERNARD | Mountain rescuer stumped by Tory Jenkin
ST. (=stumped, on cricket scorecard) + BERNARD (=Tory Jenkin, i.e. Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin); the reference is to the St Bernard dog breed, often used in mountain rescues |
| 12 | NURSE | Tender // shark
Double definition: a nurse is one who tends the sick, i.e. a tender of patients AND a nurse shark is a shark species |
| 13 | OVERPAY | Discovered secret: party not right to spend money needlessly
<c>OVER<t> (=secret; “dis-cover-ed” means first and last letters (“covers”) are dropped + PA<rt>Y (“not right (=RT)” means letters “rt” are dropped) |
| 15 | MEME | For now, against dropping internet fad
ME<anti>ME (=for now, meanwhile; “against (=anti) dropping” means letters “anti” are dropped) |
| 18 | HANG | “Suspend Jonathan Gullis” – constituents
Hidden (“constituents”) in “JonatHAN Gullis” |
| 20 | HOSANNA | Chose Hannan? Without any restrictions?? (Makes exclamation to God)
<c>HOS<e> <h>ANNA<n>; “without any restrictions” means first and last letters of both words are dropped |
| 23 | HERON | S African actor taking time off – she’s going fishing
(Charlize) <t>HERON (=S African actor; “taking time (=T) off” means letter “t” is dropped); a heron is a fish-eating bird, hence “going fishing” |
| 24 | ILLIBERAL | Bigoted Blair lie damaged Labour’s leader
*(BLAIR LIE) + L<abour> (“leader” means first letter only); “damaged” is anagram indicator |
| 26 | LACK OF TASTE | 100,000 Indian spicy meatballs Lawrence? Such vulgarity!
LAC (=100,000, i.e. rupees in India and Pakistan) + KOFTAS (=Indian spicy meatballs) + T.E. (=Lawrence, i.e. Lawrence of Arabia) |
| 28 | WAD | Starts to woo anonymous donor for a bundle of cash
W<oo> A<nonymous> D<onor>; “starts to” means first letters only |
| 29 | GARDEN PARTY | Alfresco gathering which didn’t turn out fine for Johnson?
The reference is to a garden party held at Downing Street while the Covid lockdown restrictions were in force, which then PM Boris Johnson was not fined for attending, hence “didn’t turn out fine” |
| Down | ||
| 01/21 | LOWEST OF THE LOW | Suffolk resort hol we arranged “the absolute pits”
LOWESTOFT (=Suffolk resort) + *(HOL WE); “arranged” is anagram indicator |
| 02 | ENNOBLED | Nurse, dizzy blonde, put in the House of Lords
EN (=nurse, i.e. Enrolled Nurse) + *(BLONDE); “dizzy” is anagram indicator |
| 03 | NADIR | 1D Former Culture Minister I remember finally
NAD (=former culture minister, i.e. Conservative Nadine Dorries, sometimes referred to as Mad Nad) + I + <remembe>R (“finally” means last letter only); a nadir is the lowest (=entry at 1D) point |
| 04 | ECSTASY | City sojourn, son packed gear
EC (=City (of London)) + [S (=son) in STAY (=sojourn)]; Ecstasy is a type of drug, hence “gear” |
| 05 | SERFDOM | Told to go online to cover Cummings, in a state of thrall
Homophone (“told to”) of “surf (=go online to cover) Dom (=Cummings, i.e. Boris Johnson advisor Dominic Cummings)” |
| 06 | NICKNAMES | Scrubs 30p lettuce?
The word “scrubs” appears in the names of some prisons (=nicks), e.g. Wormwood Scrubs; Conservative MP Lee Anderson was nicknamed “30p Lee”, while former PM Liz Truss acquired the nickname “the Lettuce”! |
| 07 | REFORM | Change // political party
Double definition: to reform is to change, rework AND Reform UK is a UK political party |
| 08 | BELTED GALLOWAY | Beefy individual thumped controversial MP
BELTED (=thumped, hit hard) + GALLOWAY (=controversial MP, i.e. George); the Belted Galloway is a traditional Scottish breed of cattle, hence “beefy individual”! |
| 14 | PLAINSONG | Complains on GMB about old ecclesiastical music
Hidden (“about”) in “comPLAINS ON Gmb” |
| 16 | INTRUDER | Uninvited visitor at home tense, more vulgar
IN (=at home) + T (=tense, in grammar) + RUDER (=more vulgar) |
| 19 | GRIFTER | Split in ERG irritated CON man
RIFT (=split, cleft) in *(ERG); “irritated” is anagram indicator; in US English, a grifter is a con man, swindler |
| 20 | HOLY SEE | Rome house where Macron might be found topless?
HO (=house) + <e>LYSEE (=where Macron may me be seen, i.e. at the Elysée Palace; “topless” means first letter is dropped); the Vatican in Rome is the Holy See |
| 22 | BRACED | Pitt taking on Conservative base, prepared
[C (=Conservative) + E (=base, in maths)] in BRAD (=Pitt, i.e. the US actor, not the British PM!); to be braced for e.g. a shock or an electoral defeat is to be prepared for it |
| 25 | BLEEP | *@!#* British former Prime Minister turned up!
B (=British) + LEEP ((Robert) PEEL=former Prime Minister; “turned up” indicates vertical reversal); *@!#* is what might appear on screen if an expletive is used and bleeped out |
Typically cheeky fun from Knut which made for a fun solve.
1A is a reference to the legend of Leander who swam the Hellespont at night to visit his lover Hero. If a son asked his Father the clue as a question, the answer would be ~LEANDER, SON.
And 15A is ME(anti)ME.
Thanks both.
Got 1a ok and MEME is ME(anti)ME.
I loved this. LOWESTOFT THE LOW, HOLY SEE, LEANDER SON all brilliant. Thanks.
Thanks Knut and RR!
Liked LEE ANDERSON, MEME, LACK OF TASTE and NICKNAMES.
Truss is a former PM, not MP! And thanks Hovis@2 for the parsing of MEME.
@ChannelSwimmer: strictly speaking Liz Truss is a former MP, as Parliament has been dissolved. Whether she will become one again is up to the electorate of South West Norfolk…
Thanks for the blog, dear RatkojaRiku, and thanks to those who have commented. @ChannelSwimmer
As Andrew (6) has pointed out, there are indeed no MPs at present – just Ministers – since the Dissolution of Parliament at the end of May. This puzzle was submitted some months ago, before the election was called, but was put on ice because my colleague Bluth had also clued LEE ANDERSON and Eimi understandably wanted to leave a decent gap.
best wishes to all, Rob/Knut
Even if parliament hadn’t been dissolved, you could be excused for thinking Truss stopped being an MP a good while ago given how rarely she bothers to show her face in parliament. Although some might say that is a blessing. Wish Lee Anderson would follow suit – not someone whose existence I like to be reminded of, although it was worth it in this instance for the absolutely brilliant clue. “Leander, son” indeed.
Great puzzle all round – as usual. Thanks, Knut and RR.
It’s theme day – when we saw that the setter was Knut we both smiled knowing we were in for a treat.
Too many good clues to choose a favourite.
Thanks Knut and RR.
Thanks both. Despite my loathing of politics, some of this was clever and entertaining, however some also remains firmly under the heading ‘don’t care’ e.g. the NICKNAMES. I would have failed on both LEE ANDERSON and Leander had they not appeared in previous Indy puzzles, which perhaps stands as testimony to accepting a little poison occasionally, though I did not remember the swimming exploits of the latter.
Now I know how our Australian solvers feel. I’ve been in exile for seven years and have paid zero attention the the characters populating or hoping to populate the Houses of Parliament. So much so that I see Cummings and think I need to fit ee into the solution. [Weird coincidence you mention EIMI, Knut.]
The rest of it was brilliant though and I’m pleased with myself for making a viable name from the nightly swimmer.
Thanks Knut and RR.
Fun and brilliant. Couldn’t parse quite a few until I read the blog and the comments but I managed to solve the puzzle with a little help from Google. My one mistake was BRACED where I was fixated on Pitt the Younger until I revealed the B and twigged it was the actor. Top clue among many is MEME. Being a non-UK solver I almost flagged it when I saw the political context but it was quite a friendly grid once I had some crossers to work with. And a lot of fun. Thanks for the blog RR and thanks Knut for the splendid entertainment.
Clever and timely, but while I keep a vague eye on UK politics, I have to say that a lot of the material here seemed to concern the underfamous. Dominic Cummings, yes. Lee Anderson, familiar enough to solve clue, but who he? Jonathan Gullis seems not to have raised a stir outside the UK (which might be a blessing for all I know), but can at least go down in history as a hidden clue component.
Loved 2d and the 1d/3d combo. Liked the use of Lowestoft in 1/20d too. I did just guess that there was an actor named [_]HERON. Thanks Knut and RR, and also thanks to Hovis for the explanation of MEME, that’s really smart. Oh, and 28 was small but brilliant.
That was no so much difficult as convoluted. Many I couldn’t parse and I needed a word search to get 8/17.
It showed a DISGRACEFUL LACK OF TASTE to use a tragic Greek myth – Hero is the heroine; Leander the hero – to clue Lee “*@!#* off back to France” Anderson.
Knut has reached a new NADIR – the LOWEST OF THE LOW – I Loved it. 😀
The cheapest lettuce I could find was Asda‘s “Sale” price: 59p (reduced from 89p) for two Little Gems.
That’s 29.5p each, so just under the limit. He’ll need to club together with that other Hero Liz Truss, (or any one of the other…
…berks in the puzzle).
Not very nutritious. Let’s hope they eat one for every meal, waste away to nothing, and BLEEP off back to wherever they came from. Roll on the fourth of July.
Thanks K&RR
Great puzzle, and what a gallery of rogues is on display. Needed help here to parse MEME and LAC in LACK OF TASTE, so am grateful for the help on the blog and comments.
The incisive analyses woven throughout your piece are truly commendable.