Independent 11,949 by Bluebird

15 comments on “Independent 11,949 by Bluebird”

1. BREAKING BAD: Despite the setter asking me to look for something in the across solutions, I took ages to understand what it was!!!
   TURRET GUN
   Is it simply ‘part of the King’s arms (weaponry)’?
   NEARLY MAN
   Looks like the def is ‘bridesmaid’ in the sense of ‘a runner-up’
   (got with: link words)

   NOTODONTA
   (a minor difference in my parse)
   ATNOON* keeping TOD

   Thanks Bluebird and beermagnet!

2. Tough but fair, and an entertaining grid to boot – the definition for POO was my favourite, and could’ve stood (sat?) on its own as a cryptic definition.

   Thanks both.

3. NEARLY MAN was my LOI and I struggled to reconcile a male phrase with a traditionally female role. As KVa suggests, I think it is runner up in the sense of ‘Always the bridesmaid, never the bride’ which I have certainly seen applied to males. I liked the BREAKING BAD device and, unlike our blogger, was happy enough to wait for elucidation – but pleased to know from the get-go that there was something to look out for. And the split words were neatly done. As for POO, it’s not the rudest word in the book if not necessarily what some solvers will appreciate with their breakfast.

   I found this reasonably tricky – Bluebird always demands some lateral thinking and I enjoy the cryptic ideas. Interesting to see a couple of clues with the ‘Make definition from WP’ construction that doesn’t put the def at the very end. Faves inc THEME for the self-referential cruciverbal nature; ANGOSTURA for a splendid anagram spot; TITANIC which – were it to be an actual niche movie, as opposed to one of the biggest box office hits ever – reads like a CAD; BATHTUB for the smooth surface; INURE for the clever def of a tricky word; LONDONESE for a neat anagram; ATTENDS for an almost hidden def and, finally, CAGES which is so simple but made me smile.

   Thanks Bluebird and beer magnet

4. The NEARLY MAN (1975 … ) was another TV series, based on a TV play the previous year, written by Arthur Hopcraft.
   Oed.com’s entry and first citation is the original play’s producer: “colloquial. 1974– A man who narrowly fails to achieve success, or who repeatedly fails to win contests by a narrow margin (esp. in Sport or Politics).” : “1974 The nearly man. P. Eckersley (title of television script)”.
   And bridesmaid: “...2. 1950– A person or thing in a secondary or inferior position; a person who looks on while someone else attains a goal or aim.
   With allusion to always the bridesmaid, never the (blushing) bride … 1950 Joe was a bridesmaid again in the fifth. Washington Post 29 November” (baseball?)

5. The breaking bad device was beyond me. Found that very hard, with vills nearly defeating us. I also refused to believe you could spell bonhomie that way until there was no other answer, and similarly with residenters.

6. Thanks, FrankieG for a cogent if convoluted parsing of NEARLY MAN, which had me stumped for a long time. Briefly puzzled as well by the unusual spelling of bonhomie.

7. I note that RESIDENTERS is in Chambers as a Scottish version of the more familiar alternative. Which is presumably why Raith Rovers was chosen as the SIDE?

8. I got the idea of the read-across answers ok, but apart from that, I’m with Ericw @5 re all the obscurities, odd spellings, etc. Parsed TURRET GUN as did KVa @1. Thanks to Bluebird and well done to Beermagnet (liked your library story)

9. Quite simply, the worst Cryptic crossword that it has ever been my misfortune to bother with.
   RESIDENTERS
   LONDONESE
   VILLS
   TURRET GUN
   NOTODONTA
   NEARLY MAN

   and so many more….

   It is a complete load of 28 (across)., and, from the outset , So Hard It’s Terribly Esoteric. (5).

10. From the outset: first letters.

11. E.N.Boll&@9 Everyone is entitled to an opinion but the site expects a degree of politeness. Cryptic abuse is still abuse. I enjoyed the puzzle with the BREAKING BAD device proving helpful with VILLS among others.

12. Thanks Bluebird, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I missed CAGES and had a few parsing gaps but I guessed BREAKING BAD (loved that series) from only the B & D. The trick helped me a bit and I liked LIONESS, BATHTUB, ORIENTEER, PIT STOP, and ATTENDS in particular. Thanks beermagnet for the blog.

13. Petert@11
    Duly noted, and I accept your view , in good faith.
    I am sorry if I caused any offence, to anyone.

14. Bravo for the setting with the links between two entries even though it was difficult for me. Must have been a challenge for the setter. I saw the ‘show’ but not the trick unfortunately. Couple like BAGEL where the parsing was fairly ornate but the solution was very obvious when a crosser or two became available. Beaten by TOPSAIL where I had TOPICAL because for mincemeat I had ‘keemi’. Never mind. Liked PIT STOP, DISSOLVED, BATHTUB inter alia. Thanks.

15. Even though stumped by TOPSAIL and NEARLY MAN, I very much enjoyed this. Thanks Bluebird and beermagnet. FrankieG @4: Your last oed reference does suggest baseball. The great Joe DiMaggio was with the Yankees in 1950 when they beat the Phillies in the World Series, so one could speculate that Joltin’ Joe just missed hitting a home run in the 5th inning. But the citation is too late — the Series ended on Oct 7 — so I’d say the “Joe” is more likely some racehorse habitually finishing in the money but not winning, perhaps this time in the “5th” at, say, Pimlico, a track not far from D.C.

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