Independent 11772 / Eccles

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Eccles is a regular contributor of Independent cryptic puzzles every second Wednesday.  His puzzles are rarely themed or include messages in the perimeter.  He simply provides well clued puzzles.

There were a few geographical references in the grid – RECIFE, HASTINGS and FALKLAND ISLANDS.  There was a battle near the present day site of RECIFE in 1630, there was the Battle of HASTINGS in 1066 and we had the  First World War battle of the FALKLAND ISLANDS in 1914 plus the FALKLANDs war in 1982, but I don’t think that only three similar entries constitute a theme.  The ELGIN MARBLES haven’t yet provoked a shooting war although there is significant controversy around them.  I suppose the DALEKS are at war with Dr Who, but I reckon there is more coincidence than theme in the puzzle..  Feel free to disagree and point out any battles or disagreements that I have missed.

Eccles writes excellent clue surfaces.  My favourites today were the ones involving Sir Bernard LOVELL, VERA Lynn and EVE the foolish fruit picker.

I wasn’t too sure about GLEN as a definition for DALE in the clue at 25 across as my experience is that glens have much steeper sides than gently rolling dales.

No Detail
Across  
1 Fierce fighting in Brazilian city (6) 

RECIFE (fourth largest urban area [city] in Brazil)

Anagram of (fighting) FIERCE

RECIFE*
4 Possesses objects Henry discarded in Sussex town (8) 

HASTINGS (English town in East Sussex)

HAS (possesses) + THINGS (objects) excluding (discarded) H (henry, SI unit of inductance)

HAS TINGS
9 British astronomer, mostly delightful and congenial in the end (6) 

LOVELL (reference Sir Bernard LOVELL [1913 – 2012], English physicist and radio astronomer.  He was founder and director of the Jodrell Bank observatory which houses a telescope named in his honour)

LOVELY excluding the final letter (mostly) Y + L (last letter of [in the end] CONGENIAL)

LOVEL L
10 Forces sweetheart to get married after love subdued (8) 

OVERAWED (subdued by a feeling of reverence)

O (character representing zero or love score in tennis) + VERA (reference Dame VERA Lynn [1917 – 2020], English singer and entertainer, known as the Forces Sweetheart for her performances to British servicemen during the Second World War) + WED (get married)

O VERA WED
12 Eccentric loner was in the best position to be registered (8) 

ENROLLED (registered)

Anagram of (eccentric) LONER + LED (was leading; was in the best position)

ENROL* LED
13 Whimsically put animal’s appendage back on sale (6) 

RETAIL (sale [of goods directly to the consumer])

RE – TAIL (put animal’s appendage back – ‘whimsically’ indicates that the word RETAIL is to be interpreted in a different way to that expected with the RE indicating ‘again’ or ‘replace’)

RE TAIL
15 Possibly ill-gotten haul of criminal rings a bell with me (5,7) 

ELGIN MARBLES (a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon and other structures from the Acropolis of Athens, removed from Ottoman Greece and shipped to Britain by agents of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of ELGIN, and now held in the British Museum in London.  Now a subject of controversy as Greece wants the MARBLES returned claiming that they were taken illegally; possibly ill-gotten haul)

Anagram of (criminal) RINGS A BELL and ME

ELGIN MARBLES*
18 A number to help get connected with God? I called in, desperate (8,4) 

DIALLING CODE (sequence of numbers which are dialled for connection with another exchange before an individual subscriber’s telephone number is dialled; number to help get connected)

Anagram of (desperate) GOD I CALLED IN

DIALLING CODE*
21 Infected and miserable (6) 

MEASLY (infected with MEASLes)

MEASLY (meagre in quality of quantity [miserable amount]; also informal term for ‘miserable’)  double definition

MEASLY
22 Essentially arguing disco maybe should provide instruction (8) 

GUIDANCE (instruction)

GUI (central letters of [essentially] ARGUING) + DANCE (a disco is an example of a dance environment)

GUI DANCE
24 To excite womenkind, learn to cuddle (8) 

ENKINDLE (excite or rouse)

ENKINDLE (hidden word in [to cuddle]  WOMENKIND LEARN)

ENKINDLE
25 The main enemies of Doctor Glen King succeeded (6) 

DALEKS (one of the major enemies of Doctor Who in the television series of the same name)

DALE (valley; glen) – I would argue that a glen has much steeper sides than a dale + K (king) + S (succeeded)

DALE K S
26 Foolish fruit-picker working between Poles and German provides service (8) 

EVENSONG (church service)

EVE (reference EVE‘s actions in the Garden of Eden described in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament; foolish fruit picker) + (ON [working] contained in [between] [NS {North and South Poles} + G {German}])

EVE NS (ON) G
27 Blue unit will regularly pulse (6) 

LENTIL (a pulse)

LENTIL (letters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 of BLUE UNIT WILL)

LENTIL
Down  
1 Went over again to collect earth, and cheered (8) 

RELIEVED (freed from anxiety or concern; cheered)

RELIVED (went over again) containing (to collect) E (earth)

RELI (E) VED
2

Charlie too old for treatment (8) 

COVERAGE (the extent of reporting of a topic, event, etc on television, in the press, etc; treatment)

C (cocaine; charlie)  + OVER AGE (too old for)

C OVER AGE
3 Columbo actor wins round director in overseas territory (8,7) 

FALKLAND ISLANDS (a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic)

(FALK [reference Peter FALK {1927 – 2011}, American film and television actor best known for his role as Inspector Columbo] + LANDS [wins])  containing (round) LANDIS (reference John LANDIS [born 1950], American film director specialising in comedy films)

FALK (LAND IS) LANDS
5 Day room oddly ignored around 5 pm in Perth (4) 

ARVO (Australian [Perth] informal term for the afternoon [post meridiem; pm])

ARO (letters 2, 4 and 6 [odd letters ignored; oddly ignored] of DAY ROOM) containing (around) V (Roman numeral for 5)

AR (V) O
6 Triathlon is a fun competition for kids? (5-6,4) 

THREE-LEGGED RACE (run by pairs of runners, each with a leg tied to his or her partner’s adjacent one; fun competition for children)

THREE LEGGED RACE (a cryptic definition of a race with three stages or disciplines such as a triathlon where competitors swim, cycle and run)

THREE-LEGGED RACE
7 Randy, perhaps, for chap who’s caring and supportive (3,3) 

NEW MAN (a MAN [chap] who is prepared to show his feelings [caring] and who has adopted modern ideas esp with regard to health, the environment and sharing family responsibilities [supportive])

NEWMAN (reference Randy NEWMAN [born 1943], American singer and songwriter)

NEW MAN
8 Unhappy, then led astray, resulting in charge (6) 

SADDLE (to burden, to tax, to charge)

SAD (unhappy) + an anagram of (astray) LED

SAD DLE*
11 Catastrophe in the sack, upset with lace pants (7) 

DEBACLE (catastrophe)

BED (sack is a slang term for ‘BED‘) reversed (upset; down entry) + an anagram of (pants) LACE

DEB< ACLE*
14 Unaware wiping out large island is easy to detect (7) 

OBVIOUS (easy to detect)

OBLIVIOUS (unaware) excluding (wiping out) (L [large] + I [island])

OBVIOUS
16 Create opening design together perhaps? (8) 

CO-INVENT (design together)

COIN (manufacture; create) + VENT (opening)

CO-IN VENT
17 Delight about South Africa’s turnaround (8) 

REVERSAL (turnaround)

REVEL (delight) containing (about) RSA (Republic of South Africa)

REVE (RSA) L
19 Some claim pedestrians cause an obstruction (6) 

IMPEDE (cause an obstruction)

IMPEDE (hidden word in [some] CLAIM PEDESTRIANS)

IMPEDE
20 Order the French to get your goat (6) 

RANKLE (annoy; get your goat)

RANK (order) + LE (one of the French forms of ‘the’)

RANK LE
23 Lover eats bit of lemon tart (4) 

FLAN (flat open tart filled with a sweet or savoury mixture)

FAN (enthusiast; lover) containing (eats) L (first letter of [bit of] LEMON)

F (L) AN

9 comments on “Independent 11772 / Eccles”

  1. Eccles is more than capable of delivering a stinker of a puzzle, difficulty-wise, so I was pleased to discover this to be quite approachable. RECIFE is nho but the anagram seemed likely; I was not helped by quickly Googling Brazilian cities – where RECIFE was not listed! So only checked that one a bit later in the puzzle. LOVER, ENROLLED, ELGIN MARBLES, DIALLING CODE, ENKINDLE, DEBACLE and IMPEDE were my favourites today. Some delightful surfaces in today’s clues.

    Duncan – I’d agree that your typical Yorkshire dale might not exhibit the glacial valley characteristics of a Scottish glen but several of the Lake District dales – Ennerdale, Wasdale, Borrowdale for example – are similar to Highland topography. Chambers is unhelpful, describing ‘dale’ as ‘low ground between hills’ and ‘glen’ as ‘a depression between hills’. Take your pick.

    Thanks Eccles and duncan

  3. Agree Elgin Marbles was excellent – as was a great deal in this puzzle. There were a few words I didn’t particularly like but many more ticks

    Thanks Eccles and Duncan

  4. As (nearly) always, a wonderful, clearly and expertly clued puzzle from this top setter! Happy with dale = glen or vv. Thanks Eccles and Duncan.

  5. I’d like to see a real three legged race as the centrepiece of the upcoming Olympics
    Luckily I have a friend on the other side of the globe otherwise ARVO would have been unknown.
    Plenty to enjoy in this puzzle, but I’ll spend the rest of the day wondering whether Glendale, Arizona is a glen, a dale or more likely neither.
    Thanks Eccles and Duncan.

  6. Well I was perplexed when after entering what I thought was my loi – COINVENT I didn’t get the confetti on the online app. Close inspection found a not parsed DIALLING TONE at 18a. Careful checking confirmed why I didn’t quite understand what the “number” was doing in the clue and I eventually enjoyed the ticker tape parade.

    A number of clues I struggled with today but all very fair however.

    Thanks Eccles & Duncan.

  8. Struggled to parse FALKLAND ISLANDS because I didn’t know the director so was trying to use two ‘lands’ which created all manner of problems. Nice to see the good old DALEKS getting an outing and my favourite was THREE-LEGGED RACE.

    Thanks to Eccles for another great puzzle and to Duncan for the review and the help with the director.

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