Independent 12,025 by Knut

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Knut usually shows up about once a month in the Independent, but I haven’t found him in my blog slot for a few months.

In my last Knut blog I said “mostly straightforward with the occasional tricky corner”, and I think the same applies today. The tricky corners included 31a (never heard of it, but guessable from the straightforward wordplay), 9d (I needed some help with this one; the definition is a little obscure), and 27d (which eventually became clear when I dredged my memory of 1980s pop music). Lots to enjoy: some very plausible surfaces including 16a and 6d, and my favourite was the deceptively simple 26d. Thanks Knut for the fun.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 RUBBER
Johnny runs ride-sharing firm bringing in billions (6)
R (abbreviation for runs, in cricket scoring) + UBER (car ride-sharing firm), containing B (abbreviation for billions).

Rubber = johnny = slang for a condom.
4 ATHLETES
Olympians allowed to enter mixed heats (8)
LET (allowed), entering into an anagram (mixed) of HEATS.
10 ISRAELI
Reviewed Jacobi Lear, simply captivating National (7)
Hidden answer (. . . captivating = holding), reversed (reviewed), in [jacob]I LEAR SI[mply]. As fas as I can tell from Wikipedia, Derek Jacobi has indeed played King Lear, but perhaps not at the National Theatre.

National = a person from a specific nation.
11 THROUGH
Finished with depression after hospital visits (7)
TROUGH (depression, especially in weather forecasting), with H (abbreviation for hospital) inserted (visiting).
12 WHAT
Which women’s accessory? (4)
W (abbreviation for women’s, as in WAAF) + HAT (a clothing accessory).
13 CHELTENHAM
Ladies’ College home match Helen played (10)
Anagram (played) of MATCH HELEN.

Cheltenham Ladies’ College is a private girls’ school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
15 YONDER
More keen on swapping francs for yen over there (6)
[f]ONDER (more keen), with the F (abbreviation for francs) swapped for Y (abbreviation for yen).
16 BRIGADE
Troops ordered to conceal equipment (7)
BADE (past tense of bid, as a verb = order = command), containing (concealing) RIG (equipment).
21 DRAYMAN
Wagon driver and Mary got frisky (7)
Anagram (got frisky) of AND MARY.
22 WINDOW
Bereaved woman seizes new opportunity (6)
WIDOW (bereaved woman), containing N (abbreviation for new).

As in football’s “transfer window” = a limited period of time during which something can be done.
25 RHETORICAL
Whimsically perhaps writing to Charlie – rambling, flamboyant in style (10)
R (perhaps writing = whimsically, one of the “three Rs”) + anagram (rambling) of TO CHARLIE.

Rhetorical = in the style of a grand public speech (rather than as in “a rhetorical question” which doesn’t expect an answer).
28 MEZE
Food periodically consumed by embezzler? (4)
Alternate letters (periodically contained by . . .) in [e]M[b]E[z]Z[l]E[r].

Assorted small dishes of food served together, often as an appetiser or to accompany drinks, in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean region.
30 AIRMAIL
Only high fliers may take this post (7)
Cryptic definition: post (mail) transported by aeroplanes.
31 NERVINE
New electronic mobile home in Spain that helps me relax (7)
N (abbreviation for new) + E (prefix e- = abbreviation for electronic) + RV (abbreviation for recreational vehicle = motorhome = campervan) + IN + E (abbreviation for España = Spain).

A patent medicine from the 1880s, supposedly a cure for anxiety; or more recently an alternative-medicine term to describe other treatments for the same purpose.
32 SOY SAUCE
Very easy to return universal copyright bottled condiment (3,5)
SO (very, as in “I’m so happy”), then EASY reversed (to return), containing (. . . bottled) U (abbreviation for universal, especially in film classifications) + C (abbreviation for copyright).

A condiment brewed from fermented soya beans.
33 WEIGHT
Pressure beginning to weaken cube (6)
Beginning letter of W[eaken] + EIGHT (cube = 2 cubed).

Scientists will of course point out that pressure and weight aren’t the same thing at all; but in common usage one might talk about the pressure / weight of responsibility or of other people’s expectations.
DOWN
1 RAILWAYS
Right every time, Knut gets on board transport network (8)
R (abbreviation for right) + ALWAYS (every time), with I (Knut, today’s crossword setter, talking about himself) inserted (getting on board).
2 BARGAINER
One negotiates after pub profit starts to experience recession (9)
BAR (pub = drinking establishment) + GAIN (profit) + starting letters of E[xperience] R[ecession].
3 EPEE
Out of bounds, goalie knocked over Blade (4)
[k]EEPE[r] (goalie = short forms of “goalkeeper” in football), without the end letters (bounds), reversed (knocked over). For the surface, “The Blades” = nickname of Sheffield United Football Club.

A blade used in the sport of fencing.
5 TUTELARY
Young King, 26, worked as a guardian (8)
TUT (young King in ancient Egypt, also called Tutankhamun: he became king when he was about nine, and died at eighteen), then an anagram (worked) of EARLY (reference to 26d).
6 LARGE
Great beer Ruddles initially promoted (5)
LAGER (a type of beer), with the R (the initial letter of Ruddles) moved a couple of places towards the front (moved upwards, in a down clue = promoted). For the surface, Ruddles was formerly the name of a brewery, and is still used as a brand name by the bigger company that bought it.
7 TOUCH
Finger beginning to throb – that hurts! (5)
Beginning letter of T[hrob] + OUCH (that hurts!).

Finger, as a verb = to touch with the fingers.
8 SCHEMA
Plan Nietzsche managed to keep under wraps (6)
Hidden answer (. . . to keep under wraps) in [nietz]SCHE MA[naged].
9 LIGHT
Short trip by plane taking off first thing (5)
[f]LIGHT (a trip by plane), taking off the first letter.

As in “short measure” = light = failing to achieve the full quantity required.
14 VERY
Extremely upset clergyman on holiday finally (4)
REV (abbreviation for Reverend = title for a clergyman), reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue), then the final letter of [holida]Y.
17 GRIP
Rent golf’s leading bag (4)
RIP (rent = a torn hole), with G (Golf in the radio alphabet) at the front (leading).

Grip = a travelling bag or holdall, carried by gripping the handles rather than on a shoulder strap.
18 DODDERING
Infirm with age, Duke, more eccentric, discovered bingo (9)
D (abbreviation for Duke) + ODDER (more eccentric) + [b]ING[o] without the outer letters (dis-covered).
19 CADILLAC
After draining cuppa, Herb put on air-conditioning in US car (8)
C[uppA (after draining = inner letters emptied out) + DILL (a herb) + AC (abbreviation for air-conditioning).
20 SWEETEST
Second little exam, most gentle (8)
S (abbreviation for second) + WEE (Scottish and Northern Irish word for little) + TEST (exam).
23 BREAKS
Bill’s bored by river holidays (6)
BEAK’S (bill = a bird’s beak), containing R (abbreviation for river).
24 DAWNS
500 waxwings regularly fly away when days break (5)
D (500 in Roman numerals) + [w]A[x]W[i]N[g]S with alternate letters (regularly) “flying away”.
26 EARLY
Nobleman years ahead of his time? (5)
EARL (nobleman) + Y (abbreviation for years).
27 OMAHA
Old, married group of Norwegians in the city (5)
O (abbreviation for old) + M (abbreviation for married, especially in genealogical records) + A-HA (Norwegian synth-pop group from the 1980s, still active according to Wikipedia).

City in Nebraska, US.
29 TRUE
Genuine ceasefire excluding Crimea at first (4)
TRU[c]E (ceasefire), without the C which is the first letter of C[rimea].

14 comments on “Independent 12,025 by Knut”

  1. As Quirister describes… but most troublesome for me was trying desperately to fit THEATRICAL into 25ac, even though I’d already decided on the anagram fodder, finally gave in.. also tried to find a synonym for “embezzler” for a while..
    Thanks Knut n Quirister

  3. I totally agree with Rabbit Dave.

    As always with Knut, there are some really lovely surfaces here: I particularly liked ISRAELI, CHELTENHAM, RHETORICAL, RAILWAYS, TUTELARY, LARGE, DODDERING, CADILLAC and EARLY.

    Like Quirister, I hadn’t heard of NERVINE but, unlike her, I still failed to parse it, because I didn’t know RV for ‘mobile home’.

    Many thanks to Knut and to Quirister.

  6. A nicely-balanced puzzle, knut too easy, but knut too difficult. Some super surfaces, and flashes of originality.
    (I loved AHA in 27(d), a genuine aha! moment).
    A tiddly quibble, about “home” in 13(ac) – does it do anything? I sort of thought that simply “Match Helen played for Ladies’ College” works? I may be missing something.
    NERVINE’s on the whylist; best clue MEZE, 28(ac), for the cunning “dual- purpose” of “periodically consumed”.

    Lovely stuff, from setter and blogger, THX, Knut & Ms.Q

  7. Thanks for the blog, dear Quirister, and thanks to those who have left a comment.
    The inclusion of the unusual word NERVINE (@Eileen) was forced by the “light” theme constraint (WHAT LIGHT THROUGH YONDER WINDOW BREAKS, DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT, LIGHT RUBBER, BRIGADE etc).
    @E.N. Boll&… Cheltenham is the home of the Ladies’ College.

    best wishes to all, Rob/Knut

  9. Knut…you’re the boss! I wondered if it might be an allusion to it being a boarding college.
    And, as a National Hunt fanatic, I have to say that Cheltenham is, of course, globally famous as “the home of jumps racing”
    Thanks again, IB

  10. Yes, what with What, Light, Through and Yonder, one wonders how one could possibly not see it. It’s the power of focused attention, like that experiment where watchers, who must count the goals during a soccer video, fail to see the gorilla that comes onto the pitch! So, yes, sheepishness notwithstanding, a most enjoyable puzzle, thanks Knut and Quirister.

  11. 4a is particularly apt given recent unnecessary confirmation of biological status, if you read it as an &lit the definition is now totally inappropriate.

  12. Good fun though I struggled with the unknown NERVINE and also with seeing RUBBER. I did wonder whether Johnny would turn out to be the contraceptive but did not think of UBER as ride sharing. I’ve never used an Uber and thought of them as simply a form of taxi so did not recognise the def. ISRAELI, WEIGHT, BARGAINER, LARGE and DODDERING were my faves. TRUE felt a particularly poignant surface.

    I was slightly thrown by YONDER. It felt like it was that solution but really does seem as if it could read both ways meaning I needed RAILWAYS to give me confirmation of which option was correct.

    Thanks Knut and Quirister

  13. Hi @PostMark
    My original clue for RUBBER read “Johnny runs black taxi firm abroad” but Eimi pointed out that technically Uber cannot describe itself as a “taxi” but rather a “ride share” firm. And then there’s the missing umlaut…

  14. PostMark @12: Uber began its life with a different stated aim–the original idea was that people driving from A to B could make a little bit of money taking people from A- to B+. It was only about three years later that it was clear that this was spurious, and Uber would ultimately drive traditional taxis out of business. When I first started taking Ubers it was more like the former. Anyway, now that they’ve driven the overwhelming majority of taxis out of business, you can’t hail a cab in my neighborhood anymore for blood or money, and Ubers are effectively taxis. But they still don’t claim to be officially. Of course not! That would mean that they’d need taxi medallions. Oh no no no, it’s still people going from A to B offering to take someone on a similar trip to make a few extra bucks.

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