Independent 12,097 by Methuselah

15 comments on “Independent 12,097 by Methuselah”

1. TWENTY-ONE
   There was no legal age for drinking before the prohibition era. Immediately following the prohibition era in 1933, the minimum legal age was established as 21 (in most states)—Thanks to Google.
   ‘Age immediately following….’ could be just after 1933?
   Another bit of info not seemingly related to the clue: The 21st Amendment is about the repeal of prohibition.

   COTD: DRONE
   Other faves: HEBREW and NOTEPAD (the second part NOT E PAD?)

   Thanks Methuselah and Quirister.

2. I should have added the beautiful WORKSHY to my list.

3. In addition to all the great clues highlighted by Quirister, I loved the Avon Reps. Great blog, too.

4. A very smart and classy puzzle, lots of invention.
   The Spoonerism, 15(ac), WORKSHY, is very cleverly clued.
   The use of “Medici” in 7(d) is a corker ( what do we call it now? A reverse-compound? )
   Too much to praise, so I’ll just say……I wasn’t keen on the definition, “Place”, for NOTEPAD, in 4(d); SUPERNOVA at 24(ac), is a wonderfully constructed reversal of ” Avon Reps”, but the clue surface simply doesn’t do it justice.
   The use of “scald” in 9(d) seems a bit odd/ mishit?

   Minor quibbles, all, and completely overwhelmed by the superb majority of this grid.
   Top stuff from the old man, and ditto, as eternally, Ms. Q

5. Bit more for 3d.
   Read do as a contraction for ditto hence reduplicate

6. ENB@4 I quite liked the idea of beauticians dressed as soldiers gatecrashing an arms fair.

7. 11a This answer to this clue is ambiguous. Different US states have different minimum ages for consumption of alcohol.

8. @7: Yes, but it’s 21 in almost all of them – and in all the mainland US states I think? So I think the clue is fair enough.

9. Thanks for the blog, Quirister and thanks to those who solved and left comments. All I had in mind for TWENTY ONE was that it’s the personal age which follows an individual “prohibition era” ie the years someone is prohibited from drinking alcohol – didn’t intend a reference to 1921. As I understand it, the US now has a standard minimum drinking age of 21 across all states, though some states have exceptions like allowing drinks with parental permission etc. But I don’t think exceptions under specific circumstances really make the clue ambiguous. For 3d I just meant “do” in the ordinary sense, not “ditto”.

   I think ENBoll @ 4 is probably right about the SUPERNOVA surface. If I wasn’t already using “star” in the next clue then that would’ve provided a better surface.

   Until next time!

10. Great stuff, really liked the reversal in SUPERNOVA. Didn’t understand CABAL although I got it from the crossing letters. First place I went to in the blog.

    Thanks blogger and setter.

11. Loved CANDLE HOLDER for the misleading juxtaposition of the anagram fodder and the wacky definition – no rest for the wicked!

12. Thanks both. It’s not too clear why after the event, but I really struggled with a lot of this, whether solving or parsing, other than there were a few unknowns. I was on the point of commenting that I didn’t fully follow TWENTY ONE however the setter had cleared that up. AUSTIN went in much later than it ought, although I’ll use as an excuse the superfluous ‘a’ in the clue which sent me looking for a Georgian from only the remaining letters – I’m left to wonder if it’s a homophone only when mispronounced.

13. Above my paygrade in places… had to come here for Quirister’s insight for many, mostly the ones everyone enjoyed the most.. ah well, not my day
    Thanks Methusela n Quirister

14. TWENTY-ONE: the drinking age is set by the states, but all states have set the age at 21. Why? During the Reagan era, a law was passed cutting off federal highway funding to any state that had a lower drinking age than that. The few holdout states that still had it at 18 challenged the constitutionality of that, but lost. In theory, a state can still have any drinking age it chooses (higher than 21 if it likes, or lower if they’re willing to forgo federal highway support) but in practice it’s 21 nationwide. Though in practice in practice, enforcement varies, so there are still places where you see people with a suspicious amount of acne ordering beer…

15. I really enjoyed this, as I always do with a Methuselah… but I had to put my thinking cap on! I agree with all the faves people have listed.

    I’ve seen LIBRA+ARIES before but enjoyed it anew here. Alas I didn’t see/parse the divide-and-conquer of Medici.

    I had two quibbles that haven’t been mentioned: for 15(a) WORKSHY I feel the surface suggests the opposite characteristic, so I spent a while pondering over things like “swot’. And for 27(a) DRIED I felt “such fruit” with no further allusiveness in the surface was a bit unfair, leaving one looking for any adjective which might be associated to fruit. I’m not sure I’ve seen such an indefinite definition before. I enjoyed teasing it out from the checkers though.

    CABAL and CANDLE HOLDER are still making me chuckle this morning!

    Thanks both.

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