Independent No: 12,117 by Bluebird

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Good morning Saturday solvers

A very pleasurable grid from Bluebird to solve, which fell for me first run through.

The only stumbles I had were with 12a (dare I say, slightly clumsy) and 17d, which appeared more convoluted than it actually was. Should this perhaps have a “?”…? I’m going to suggest 20a as the high point of the many excellent clues today.

Thanks to Bluebird for the challenge.

Definitions are underlined.

 

ACROSS

1 Fellow mistakenly handled it before the end of footy game (4,3,4)

FIND THE LADY

Fellow [F] mistakenly [anag] HANDLED IT before the end of footy [Y]

 

7 What’s close to eight, closer to nine, and closer to eleven too? (3)

TEN

Last letters [“close/closer”] of EighT, ninE & teN

 

9 Finally admit I’m right to be bored by Love Island (5)

TIMOR

Finally admit [T] I’m [IM] right [R] to be bored by [around] Love [O]

 

10 Become stuck in shallow water having no grip initially in small car (9)

RUNAROUND

Become stuck in shallow water [RUN AGROUND] having no grip initially [remove G]

 

11 Something unidentified I had on plate – tongue? (7)

YIDDISH

Something unidentified [Y = unknown] I had [I’D] on plate [DISH]

 

12 This is pretty saucy … slang terms for genitalia – ‘tackle’, ‘nuts’ (7)

LASAGNE

Anagram [“nuts”] of SLANG and last letters [“terms”] of genitalia [A] and tackle [E].

 

13 Bird I see over and over again quietly crowing (4-1-4)

COCK A HOOP

Bird [COCK] I see [AH] over and over again [O O] quietly [P]

 

16 Matter, but not the first matter (5)

ISSUE

Matter, but not the first [TISSUE]

 

18 Father following daughter with ring was affectionate (5)

DOTED

Father [TED]  following daughter [D] with ring [O]

 

20 Freelance crossword setter given arithmetic – maybe ‘100 – 10?’ (9)

MERCENARY

Crossword setter [ME] given arithmetic [R (one of the “three R’s)] – maybe ‘100 – 10? [CENTENARY]

 

22 Suppose one kept live bats imprisoned? (7)

BELIEVE

One kept [BEE] live bats [anag “bats” LIVE] imprisoned [put inside]

 

24 Lad lost at sea becomes an experienced sailor (3,4)

OLD SALT

Anag “at sea” LAD LOST

 

26 Leader penning credo, cryptically, in Monaco? (9)

PRINCEDOM

Leader [PM] penning [around] credo, cryptically in [anag “cryptically” CREDO IN]

 

27 Food crop found in Nicaragua – vanilla? (5)

GUAVA

Hidden word “found in”: NicaraGUA VAnilla

 

28 Adagio regularly played for Beethoven? (3)

DOG

Anag “played” of Adagio regularly [even letters = D G O]

Reference here to the 1992 comedy film 

 

29 Byzantine statues broken by a leader of several powerful realms (11)

SUPERSTATES

Byzantine [anag] STATUES broken by [around] a [A] leader of several powerful [SP]

 

DOWN

1 Dietary requirement of thick, vacant tearaway on drugs (5,4)

FATTY ACID

Thick [FAT], vacant tearaway [TEARAWAY] on drugs [ACID]

 

2 Travelling restaurant I see going around the capital of Denmark (7)

NOMADIC

Restaurant [NOMA] I see [IC] going around the capital of Denmark [D]

According to news reports NOMA is now an ex-restaurant!

 

3 Soldiers filling empty trunks – Bluebird’s trunks? (5)

TORSI

Soldiers [OR] filling [inside] empty trunks [TRUNKS] – Bluebird’s

 

4 Throw nuts with some corn on top for myna bird’s breakfast (9)

EARTHWORM

Throw nuts [anag THROW] with some corn [EAR] on top for myne [M] 

 

5 ‘Cancel‘ – remove article from publication (5)

ANNUL

ANNUAL

 

6 Cricketers beginning to yell or shriek animatedly (9)

YORKSHIRE

Beginning to yell [Y] or [OR] shriek animatedly [anag SHRIEK]

 

7 Tramps by vacant toilets urged to move inside (7)

TRUDGES

Vacant toilets [TOILETS] urged to move [anag URGED]  inside

 

8 Jog with no clothes on, having drunk gallons (5)

NUDGE

With no clothes on [NUDE], having drunk [around] gallons [G]

 

14 Crowds materialising when car’s on rails, failing to start (9)

AUDIENCES

Car’s [AUDI] on rails, failing to start [FENCES]

 

15 Theatre put up with old actor? (9)

PERFORMER

Theatre [REP] put up [backwards] with old [FORMER]

 

17 Some of them were bound to last (9)

EGYPTIANS

Cryptic clue (every pun intended)

 

19 Significant bandleader’s about to leave – time’s up (7)

TELLING

Bandleader’s [ELLINGTON] about to leave [remove ON] – time’s up [move T to front]

 

21 Determined little creature holding up a Hoover? (7)

ADAMANT

Little creature [ANT] holding up [in front of] a Hoover [A DAM]

 

22 Bluebird? Bluebird quietly gets into bed (5)

BIPED

Bluebird [I] quietly [P] gets into [inside] bed

 

23 Find yourself in a higher place after death (3,2)

END UP

In a higher place [UP] after death [END]

 

25 Little piggy, perhaps, in poke? One cat, ultimately (5)

DIGIT

Poke? [DIG] One [I] cat, ultimately [T]

 

14 comments on “Independent No: 12,117 by Bluebird”

  1. 29a (STATUES)* around PER (a) + S (leader of Several).
    I reckon all of 7a should be definition.
    Loved this. Lots of great surfaces with nice play on words. I also would put 20a at the top of the pile.
    Not sure how ‘cryptically’ in 26a is supposed to work on both ‘credo’ and ‘in’ though.

  2. Thanks Bluebird and Leedclimber.
    Nice puzzle. Very good blog.

    A couple of minor points:
    TEN
    Looks like an&lit clue.
    (closer eleveN)

    MERCENARY
    I think…
    arithmetic-maybe=R
    100-10?=CENARY

  3. I liked lots of this but do have a couple I don’t understand. I’m with Hovis in not seeing how ‘cryptically’ embraces ‘in’ in PRINCEDOM; why is ‘BEE’ ‘one kept’? Is it because we have beekeepers? Crikey. And I am probably being dim or lacking the requisite Biblical knowledge but why are EGYPTIANS ‘bound to last’? I have some very vague recollection of ‘bound to the last’ being something to do with shoemakers but I’m not associating it with Egyptians.

    I agree with KVa that TEN looks like an &lit.

    Thanks Bluebird and Leedsclimber

  4. PostMark@3
    EGYPTIANS
    I thought it was a reference to mummies being wrapped in bandages.
    Or am I on the wrong track?

  7. Well done, KVa. You are good at this! 😉 That is pretty tough. It is unfortunate that the ‘in’ is the link word, I guess: I wonder how many other solvers will put it down to an awkward anagram? Maybe I’d have got Monaco leader pens cryptic credo?

  9. Reflecting whilst dog-walking, my alternative, of course, needs a – slightly clunky – ‘perhaps’ or similar at the front to indicate the DBE. Maybe ‘for’ would have worked as a linker in the original. R IN CEDO is such a lovely construction, it just seems a shame that others as dim as me might miss it.

  10. Thanks KVa @6. Wish I’d seen that. Got so used to ‘cryptically’ denoting an anagram, together with ‘in’ being part of the clue, that I didn’t look further. Congrats also to Bluebird for fooling at least some of us seasoned solvers.

  11. Thanks both. Much to enjoy. I felt there were more than usual definitions by example, yet they consistently lacked a question mark, e.g. Ted in DOTED, Noma in NOMADIC, YORKSHIRE cricketers (though hardly difficult to Root out the answer!). Didn’t know centenary, like century I guess, can be a synonym for 100 rather than 100th in MERCENARY. LOI those pesky EGYPTIANS where I too was determined to enter a type of footwear – utter cobblers!

  13. A pal tipped me off to further possibility in this puzzle, indicated by 1a, FIND THE LADY. I see MO, UNA, DI, SUE, DOT, ENA, EVE, SAL, AVA amongst the crosses. There’s a cycled AGNES in LA(S)AGNE though that’s stretching it a bit.

    TFO@11: DOTED, NOMADIC and YORKSHIRE are fine – ‘Father’ can define TED because Ted is just one of many Fathers out there. If ‘Ted’ were to be used to define FATHER that would be a definition by example and would require a qualifier of sorts. Same with NOMA which is one of many restaurants and so can be defined by that term. YORKSHIRE does feel trickier but the 11 who represent that county are only one team of many cricketers out there. ‘Cricketers’ would also be a valid definition for Middlesex, Hampshire etc.

  14. Thanks to Leedsclimber for the blog, and to all those who’ve commented, especially PostMark, who’s already said much of what I would have…

    In addition to the nine ‘ladies’ listed by PostMark, there’s also ADA in 21down…I decided in the end not to refer directly to this grid-fill gimmick in the clues, though it’s good to have it here for the record.

    Regarding the indication of definitions by example. My understanding of the convention is that an indication is necessary if the specific is defining/indicating the generic (e.g. ‘Monaco?’ for PRINCEDOM, ‘Beethoven?’ for DOG, ‘Bluebird?’ for BIPED) but is not necessary if the generic is defining the specific (e.g. ‘Island’ for TIMOR, ‘Food crop’ for GUAVA).

    Lastly, sorry about 26across, which was the victim of too much tinkering on my part. I can see now how the ‘in’ link could easily cause confusion. (I don’t like [wordplay] in [definition] anyway.) I should have gone with the following:
    Say, Monaco’s leader penning credo, cryptically (9)

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