Independent 11,869 / Methuselah

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Methuselah has served up a cruciverbal feast for our delectation today, with plenty to get one’s teeth into and to savour.

I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle from start to finish, finding it to be medium-to-difficult on the Indy spectrum. It required me to plug away at it in a couple of sessions, but I didn’t resent a second of the time that I spent on it, even though this has entailed a rather later posting of the blog.

I think that I have managed to parse all the entries to my satisfaction, although I did think for a while that 13 and 21 would defeat me, and I needed Google to confirm my reading of 2.

My favourite clues today were almost too numerous to mention, but if pressed, I would single out the following: 1A, for all the Shakespearean content; 14 and 15/10, for sheer originality; 23, for all the Star Trek content; and 26, for overall construction.

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across    
     
01/04 TO BE OR NOT TO BE Oberon met Bottom, denied maidens, and popped the question

*(OBERON <m>ET BOTTO<m>); “denied maidens (=M, from cricket scorecard)” means letters “m” are dropped; “popped” is anagram indicator
     
09 REAPPORTION Divvy once again on X, perhaps working on riot

RE (=on, regarding) + APP (=X, perhaps, e.g. phone application) + *(ON RIOT); “working” is anagram indicator
     
11 LAWMAKERS Hollywood producers boxing with politicians

LA (=Hollywood, i.e. Los Angeles) + [W (=with) in MAKERS (=producers)]
     
12 AT SEA Confused cat searches hedges

Hidden (“hedges”) in “cAT SEArches”
     
13 SURE Satisfied customer wearing heart on sleeve?

USER (=customer); “wearing heart on sleeve” means letter two moves to front and letter three to back of word; here, satisfied is convinced, sure of
     
14 GRAND FORM Major Major Major Major

Cryptic definition: in tennis, winning the four majors is a grand slam!
     
18 OUT-OF-TOWN Remote’s not working regularly, so unscrew television at last

OUT (=not working, out of service) + OFT (=regularly) + <s>O <unscre>W <televisio>N (“at least” means last letters only are used)
     
19/27 MARY SHELLEY Doctor “my sly healer” for novelist

*(MY SLY HEALER); “doctor” is anagram indicator; the reference is to English novelist Mary Shelley (1797-1851)
     
22 OCULI University dons occasionally too cold in architectural openings

U (=university) in <t>O<o> C<o>L<d> I<n>; “ocassionally” means alternate letters only are used; oculi are small windows, hence “architectural openings”
     
24 LOOKERS-ON Attractive individuals performing for audience

LOOKERS (=attractive, stunners) + ON (=performing, i.e. on stage)
     
25 OWN Have some construction workers entered the wrong way?

Reversed (“entered the wrong way”) and hidden (“some”) in “constructioN WOrkers”; to have is to possess, hence to “own”
     
26 INCRIMINATE Point figure at random, putting investigators out

IN<dis>CRIMINATE (=(to) point figure at, accuse); “putting investigators (=DIs, i.e. Detective Inspectors) out” means letters “dis” are dropped
     
28 STAKES Swap chips for these cuts of meat in delivery

Homophone (“in delivery”, i.e. as spoken) of “steaks (=cuts of meat)”
     
Down    
     
01 THRILLS Charges personnel put through cash registers

HR (=personnel, i.e. human resources) in TILLS (=cash registers); “charges” is drugs slang for agreeable sensations, thrills
     
02 BRATWURST Banger from Charli XCX album practised in auditorium

BRAT (=Charli CXC album, from 2024) + homophone (“in auditorium”) of “(well-) versed (in) (=practised)”
     
03 ORPHAN Child short of relatives – alternatively, papa leading dynasty

OR (=alternatively) + P (=papa, in NATO alphabet) + HAN (=dynasty, in China)
     
04 NAILS Sluggish individual letting down society – they’re hammered

SNAIL (=sluggish individual); “letting down society (=S)” means letter “s” drops to a lower position in word
     
05 TANKARDS Drunk sat and drank lots of beer

*(SAT + DRANK); “drunk” is anagram indicator
     
06 OASIS Band with a little sibling

O (=band, i.e. ring, pictorially) + A + SIS (=sibling, i.e. sister; “little” indicates abbreviation); “band” here does double duty
     
07 EXCLAIM Shout from old Methuselah interrupting quiet person

EX- (=old, former) + [I (=Methuselah, i.e. today’s setter) in CLAM (=quiet person)]
     
08 ARPEGGIO Garfunkel cut off Simon with ten notes in a row

AR<t> (=Garfunkel, i.e. US singer-songwriter; “cut off” means last letter is dropped) + PEGG (=Simon, i.e. UK actor and comedian) + 10 (=ten)
     
15/10 AMNIOTIC SAC A mini Tesco mistakenly knocking point off bill for bag for life

*(A MINI T<e>SCO) + AC (=bill, i.e. account); “knocking point (=E, i.e. east, on compass) off” means letter “e” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “mistakenly”; the amniotic sac encases a developing foetus in the womb, hence “bag for life”!
     
16 LOAN SHARK Unscrupulous type out on lash with something meant for rainy day?

*(ON LASH) + ARK (=something meant for rainy day, in Bible!); “out” is anagram indicator
     
17 OFFICIAL Bureaucrat leaving institute spies opening for lover

OFF (=leaving, as in I’m off/leaving) + I (=institute) + CIA (=spies, in US) + L<over> (“opening for” means first letter only)
     
18 ODOROUS Half-decent golden egg laid by crossword setters is not to be stiffed at

<go>OD (=decent; “half-” means two of four letters only are needed) + OR (=golden, in heraldry) + O (=egg, pictorially) + US (=crossword setters, i.e. Methuselah & Co); odorous is smelly, so is “not to be sniffed out”
     
20 YANKEES Americans who you might say have been jerked around

If to “yank” is to “jerk around”, then a “yankee” could be someone who has been jerked around!!
     
21 SEXIST Half of us are this, perhaps?

<u>S (“half of” means one of two letters only is used) + EXIST (=are); semi- & lit.
     
23 ULNAE Star Trek’s Captain Picard essentially beamed up Bones

<j>EAN LU<c> (=Star Trek’s Captain Picard, i.e. character’s forename); “essentially” means first and last letters are dropped; “beamed up” indicates vertical reversal; the definition “bones” refers to bones in the human body, not the Star Trek character
     
24 LUCKY Having success, daring to give up power

<p>LUCKY (=daring); “to give up power (=P, in physics)” means letter “p” is dropped
     
     

 

14 comments on “Independent 11,869 / Methuselah”

  1. L2i: 2d BRAT+’VERSED”, followed by 13a where USER is getting cut open and stitched back together inside out.
    8d SImon [ar]PEGG[io] played Scotty in the Star Trek reboot (2009), …Into Darkness (2013), and …Beyond (2016).
    Thanks M&RR

  2. [Note that in 2d “Banger” can mean ‘5, (music, slang) A powerfully energetic and/or very good song, especially in hip-hop and dance music.’] {not on oed.com (yet).}

  4. Thanks Methuselah & RR

    I took OASIS also to be a semi-&lit, in that Oasis is a band with a big brother and a little brother.

  5. Typo in blog for 14a. SLAM not FORM. For 11a, you mean W in LA + MAKERS.

    Methuselah remains one of my favourites. Wish we saw more of him.
    Also, chapeau to RR for teasing out SURE & SEXIST. Guessed these but didn’t parse them, though I really should have seen the latter.

  7. I agree with all the positive comments. Another nice workout from Methuselah with some very inventive cluing. Top marks for GRAND SLAM. [Major Major is, of course, one of those delightful repeat names that crop up in literary quizzes. Along with Humbert Humbert, Duran Duran and others. I used to have a list of them but it has disappeared]. TOBE OR NOT TO BE, SEXIST, ULNAE, OASIS and BRATWURST my other big ticks.

    Thanks Methuselah and RR

  8. Thanks both. I’d say you would only identify Pegg from ‘Simon’ if you’d already decided on ARPEGGIO which I hadn’t as I have no reason other than crosswords to know musical terms – similarly BRATWURST was a write-in though I have never heard of the album. I see what is going on with SEXIST with the exception of the implication – I get that approximately half of the race is one or the other gender, but the definition suggests irrational bias or stereotyping, rather than just a factual comment about sex, doesn’t it?

  9. One of those days, I’m aftraid. Finally got a few answers, but nowhere near finished it. And looking at the blog, several references I’d have found too obscure for me.

  10. Wow, this was a toughie, although I enjoyed it a lot. I had to reveal a few and and failed to fully parse a few more, but you could just tell that pretty much all the clues would be worth the effort.

    Favourites were TO BE OR NOT TO BE, AMNIOTIC SAC, GRAND SLAM, OUT-OF-TOWN and OASIS (defo an &lit), all of which I got and parsed; and SURE, LOAN SHARK (loved the rainy day), ODOROUS and ULNAE, which I either didn’t or couldn’t.

    As others have said, the only two which didn’t quite do it for me were SEXIST and ARPEGGIO.

    Thanks to Methuselah for the fun, and to RR for the great work blogging this meaty offering!

  11. OASIS was an attempted &lit as Simon S says. Speaking of Simons, I don’t think Pegg is a particularly obscure one. His noughties films Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead are very famous for lots of people, and he’s been in the Mission Impossible and Star Trek franchises more recently. And Brat was a critical and commercial success even before Kamala Harris weaved it into her campaign launch (which led to a lot of extra coverage – see here and here). Crosswords include so many references which are baffling to under-40s (let alone under-30s) that I do feel a bit of a responsibility to level the playing field when I can.

    The idea with SEXIST was that most men have arguably (hence “perhaps”) picked up sexist views or attitudes even if we don’t know it or wouldn’t think of ourselves as sexist.

    Until next time, thanks to RR for the blog and to solvers for leaving comments.

  12. Not many comments here so I will say that I enjoyed this much more than Yank who has attracted a plethora.
    Thanks M

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