Tees starts the Independent puzzling week for us. A sound and pleasing cryptic where the only thing I could find to bitch about was a rather obscure piece of General Knowledge (for which read General Knowledge in the Pierre household …) Made up for, however, by the suggestion of a sausage and two boiled eggs for lunch.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Drink to mark change Liberal left brought in
TOM COLLINS
A charade of TO, M and an insertion of LL in COINS. The insertion indicator is ‘brought in’. A particularly obscure bit of GK to kick off the crossword, in my opinion.
6 Stick close to flatmate in block
BEAR
An insertion of E for the final letter of ‘flatmate’ in BAR. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
10 Are they safe places in rows?
BANKS
A cd cum dd.
11 Conscious about maiden showing refined feelings
SENTIMENT
An insertion of M in SENTIENT. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
12 Abuse whisky — consume without restraint initially
MALTREAT
An insertion of R for the initial letter of ‘restraint’ in MALT and EAT. The insertion indicator is ‘without’, in its sense as the opposite of ‘within’.
13 Something from garden the 7 heard
THYME
The solution to 7dn is ENEMY; Time is the Enemy, according to the adage; and the solution is aural wordplay (‘heard’) for it.
15 Nuts and bolts from docks?
DETAILS
Whimsically, if you dock a dog’s tail (which you shouldn’t, because it’s illegal as well as cruel) you could be said to DE-TAIL it.
17 High priest having power over words
PONTIFF
A charade of P, ON and TIFF.
19 Lunch box in house on isle — serve retrospectively?
MANHOOD
A charade of [The Isle of] MAN, HO and DO reversed. Here’s what you need to know if you don’t get it. DO and ‘serve’ are interchangeable pretty much only in the sense of ‘I’m going to do/serve fish for lunch’. ‘Lunch box’ is British English slang for the male genitalia, particularly when enclosed in tight clothing. The most famous use of it is in reference to athlete Linford Christie’s manhood, which confused Mr Justice Popplewell back in the day.
21 More important kitchen utensil would you say?
GREATER
Aural wordplay (‘would you say?’) for GRATER.
22 Covert mercenary in position in Jamaica
NINJA
Hidden in positioN IN JAmaica.
24 Friend to Cassady drinks with Austrian composer
GINSBERG
More fairly remote GK, but at least the unusual spelling gives those unfamiliar with the author (your blogger, for example) to look him up and discover the fact that he was a member of the Beat generation and thence connect him with the best known example, Allen GINSBERG. A charade of GINS and BERG.
27 There’s a cuckoo circling high to find flower
EUPHRATES
An insertion of UP in (THERES A)* The insertion indicator is ‘circling’ and the anagrind is ‘cuckoo’.
28 Enjoy view in common — area with endless grassy plot
AGREE
A charade of A and GREE[N]
29 Old man abandoning Spanish dish for this woman
ELLA
[PA]ELLA
30 Outline view by American
PROSPECTUS
A charade of PROSPECT and US.
Down
1 Bottle-opener dropped into miniature beer mug?
TOBY
An insertion of B for the initial letter of ‘bottle’ in TOY. The insertion indicator is ‘dropped into’.
2 Servant that developed a new cocktail
MANHATTAN
A charade of MAN, (THAT)* A and N. The anagrind is ‘developed’.
3 21D working hard
ONSET
The solution to 21dn is GENESIS, so it is a charade of ON and SET.
4 Takes advice when sacrificing first two in combat
LISTENS
An insertion of [WH]EN in LISTS. The insertion indicator is ‘in’. My Collins has:
lists (pl n) the enclosed field of combat at a tournament; any arena or scene of conflict
5 Dustmen at last on street work uninterrupted
NON-STOP
A charade of N for the final letter of ‘dustmen’, ON, ST and OP.
7 Nut the writer upended — unknown foe
ENEMY
A charade of EN, ME reversed and Y for the mathematical ‘unknown’. EN is a typographical unit, most commonly encountered in the en dash, not to be confused with the em dash. Which is where the ‘nut’ comes in: the en is sometimes referred to as the ‘nut’, to avoid confusion with the similar-sounding ’em’.
8 Scientist‘s that woman cross with dull routine
RUTHERFORD
A charade of RUT, HER and FORD. Ernest Rutherford, the New Zealander often described as the father of nuclear physics.
9 Reserve German is stopping ball
DISTANCE
An insertion of IST, the German word for ‘is’ in DANCE. The insertion indicator is ‘stopping’.
14 A bloke inside evaded criminal people in 21D
ADAM AND EVE
An insertion of A and MAN in (EVADED)* The insertion indicator is ‘inside’ and the anagrind is ‘criminal’.
16 Adoration where one’s almost fresh found among fish
IDOLATRY
A charade of I and an insertion of LAT[E] in DORY. The insertion indicator is ‘found among’.
18 Make clear in Bury animal loved crossing river
INTERPRET
A charade of INTER and R inserted into PET. The insertion indicator is ‘crossing’.
20 Sirius Black material seen after Harry finally appears?
DOG STAR
A charade of DOG, S for the final letter of ‘appears’ and TAR. The surface is of course referring to the boy wizard and one of his teachers. A Harry Potter reference in a Tees crossword? As John McEnroe said, you cannot be Sirius.
21 Rock band succeeded after seeing changes
GENESIS
A charade of (SEEING)* and S. The anagrind is ‘changes’.
23 Cassady for one embracing power in mountainous land
NEPAL
The aforementioned Cassady was called Neal, so it’s an insertion of P in NEAL. The insertion indicator is ’embracing’.
25 Happen to seize young man in vampire movie
BLADE
An insertion of LAD in BE. The insertion indicator is ‘to seize’.
26 Catty remarks in converted stables?
MEWS
A dd.
Many thanks to Tees for the Monday entertainment.
The GK was unknown to me as well but I managed to complete just using the wordplay (and I seem to vaguely remember Tom Collins).
Pierre, in the blog for 14d, you’ve put ‘evaded’ instead of ‘criminal’.
In solving 30a, I did waste too much time trying to remember a word for ‘outline’ that has appeared in previous cryptics. I did eventually remember it was ‘adumbrate’ so not at all relevant. Maybe I’ll remember this when it does crop up again.
Fortunately, the PM household is aware of the TOM COLLINS – though not the ‘nut’ = EN which went in with a shrug. Chambers goes one further than Collins and ends its definition of ‘lists’ with ‘combat’ extending the tournament area to the fighting itself. NHO Cassady but, as Pierre observes, that one does invite the quick check on Google. I wondered whether we were possibly going to get either a Beat or a cocktail theme but ’twas not to be.
Faves today inc BEAR, MALTREAT, PONTIFF, NINJA, EUPHRATES, NON-STOP, DOG-STAR and GENESIS.
Thanks Tees and Pierre
Thanks, Hovis. Typo amended.
There’s a Genesis theme going on, with Phil COLLINS, Mike RUTHERFORD and Tony BANKS all appearing as answers, as well as the name of the band itself. There’s probably more, but it’s not a theme I’m too familiar with
Beyond my ken, too, Arossignol. But that shows that it’s a themed puzzle where a lack of knowledge of it was no hindrance to solving or enjoying the crossword.
Having read ‘On the Road’ by Jack Kerouac, I knew who Neal Cassady was- he appears as Dean Moriarty in the book. I thought we might be in for a Beat Generation theme, but no, just a vague Genesis one.
Enjoyable puzzle for a Monday.
Thanks for parsing the answers to about half a dozen of these which passed me by eg Dog Star- had to be but why? Now I know.
Thanks also to Tees.
Thanks both. Quite enjoyed the challenge, although I was always going to be defeated in the parsing for a few, for instance as I did not know Cassady or GINSBERG and I won’t let myself use Google until the solve is complete. IDOLATRY went in with a high degree of cluelessness, as I’d forgotten Dory and didn’t readily connect ‘late’ to ‘fresh’ as my takeaway would be far from the latter if the former , which maybe simply becomes an incentive for healthy eating.
Some harder clues today, not heard of Cassady, was looking for theme to do with Genesis but it evaded me.
Thanks Tees and Pierre for a great blog.
Thx Pierre, and all for comments.
It’s just a little throwaway theme with people in GENESIS, as in Adam, Eve, Banks, Collins and Rutherford. I was thinking about doing a Jumbo of some sort with the full cast right the way down to Melchizedek, not to mention Chris Stewart, John Silver and John Mayhew, but lost the will (as once you’ve got the joke, it’s dead).
RIP Dutch, a good old fellow.
Thanks Tees. Got to this late, revealed five inc. the NHO GINSBERG, BLADE, and TOBY. Lots to like inc. ELLA, PROSPECTUS, MANHATTAN, ONSET, ADAM AND EVE, and GENESIS. Thanks Pierre for the blog.
Tees @9, I knew you wouldn’t be able to hack it.
Ooooooooch