Independent 12026 / Phi

13 comments on “Independent 12026 / Phi”

1. 17d “MATESHIP …2. 1849– The condition of being a mate; companionship, fellowship, comradeship. Now chiefly Australian and New Zealand.” So a definite themer.
   [1d AGE GROIP. — 2d nauil.]

2. FrankieG @ 1

   I’ve replaced the errant I with a U in the grid and taken the U out of nauil in the wordplay for 2 down – thanks

3. MATESHIP definitely on the list. I can still recall ambling across a bridge in Brisbane about twenty years ago and reading the writing on a series of flags extolling Aussie values. And there was MATESHIP, which I had never encountered before.

4. Well done duncanshiell. I didn’t see the nina in Row 1 until completion, but as an Australian here on ANZAC DAY, and knowing Phi is a Kiwi, the solutions you commented on jumped off the page for me, and of course part of Türkiye in the clue. I would add there are lots of BOGUS elements to the ANZAC story.

   It was a terrible defeat with great loss of life and hardship for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, largely due to miscalculations by the British military leaders. We remember their sacrifice to go all the way over there into the unknown to join the fight for world peace.

   Moving commemoration, and a great version of Eric Bogle and John Munro playing Eric’s anthem in your link, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda. Eric, a Scot, is our adopted son, and I’ve been fortunate to see him at our local folk festival. Sadly he died November last year, but his voice lives on.

   I remember Onychophagia/NAIL-BITING from a cryptic not so long ago. It may have been Phi’s alter ego, Pangakupu, in the Guardian?

   Favourite was ZENITH, for the surface.

5. paddymelon@4

   I knew that John Munro died a few years ago, but I thought Eric Bogle was still alive. He posted on his Facebook page yesterday and I can’t find an obituary anywhere.

   Eric grew up in Peebles, a town about 25 miles South of Edinburgh, where I lived for three years in the late 1980s.

   I have the DVD of the concert from which the YouTube clip was taken. The concert was played at Stoneyfell Winery near Adelaide in 2009. I also have a collection of many of his CDs.

   Bogle has written a wide repertoire of songs ranging from comedy songs to the poignant anti-war songs like The Band Played Waltzing Matilda and No Man’s Land that was written in 1980 following a visit to the war graves of Northern France.

6. Oh, I’m so sorry duncanshiell, and apologies to Eric Bogle. AI told me. (I hang my head in shame.)
   He hopes to keep going until 2045. No longer touring overseas but still performing in Oz.

   Sometimes it takes an ”óutsider” to see the insides, as in his political songs, but I also love his sense of humour. 16 of his ”comedy” (gentle satire) songs, called Just the Funny Stuff, if you have a spotify account or don’t mind signing up.

7. And some of his classics , including comedy, in Tasmania 2023. Youtube. Sorry, it’s been a very emotional day down here.

8. I did spot the nina and GALLIPOLI PENINSULA but was unaware of the donkey story. I found this quite tough to finish with the NE corner particularly tricky, along with DONKEY. I have clued ‘stupid’, myself, as a noun so should have spotted that latter one. Funnily enough, two of those that defeated me in the NE were the nho HYDRA-HEADED and SIMPSON so half of the themed entries escaped me. I put in YENNED very tentatively, having dismissed it earlier in the solve as a ‘probable non-word’. NAIL BITING is an odd one: if you don’t know the Greek, the clue is nigh impossible. If you do – or if you look it up – then it’s a write-in.

   Thanks Phi and duncan

9. Bogle’s version is, of course, definitive, but I first heard the song performed by June Tabor in 1975 or thereabouts. Hampstead Town Hall was packed, and when June had finished nobody applauded, and hundreds of people were in tears. Similar to the effect of Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit, I suspect. I still cannot hear it and stay dry-euyed.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyzPP_DaTJY

10. Goujeers @ 9

    My first introduction to Eric Bogle was listening to June Tabor LPs in the 1970s. I was impressed enough to do some research and find some of Bogle’s own LPs. My wife and I saw Eric Bogle and John Munro play a gig in Farnham about 25 years ago. As paddymelon says above, Bogle doesn’t tour the UK any more. He will be 81 later this year.

11. Duncan@10: I really enjoyed his own recordings, but, sadly, we never saw him live.
    Another great Scottish/Australian singer-songwriter was Alistair Hulett, whom we did hear a couple of times, both with and after Swarbrick.

12. If you’re still there Phi, it was your moving commemoration of this day that I really appreciated, and a great crossie. At this time in the day probably both in Oz and NZ, I think DISTRAUGHT says it all. Showing agitation? Is time to tuck into some beer, perhaps.

13. Thanks both. I’d say Phi rarely includes a Nina, but I usually check, however not on this occasion…..nonetheless, would add I have recently visited the Anzac memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park, and I know the song ‘The Band played…’ through versions by both The Pogues, and Northern comedian Mike Harding.

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