Hoskins provides the Tuesday Independent crossword challenge this week.
Tuesday is theme day in the Independent. Today we have a number of UK Prime Ministers in the grid, almost all in the Across entries. I recognised most of the names but had to do a bit of research to pick up Lord PORTLAND and Viscount Melbourne (William LAMB). There is also a reference in the clues to Tony BLAIR [born 1953], Prime Minister from 2/5/1997 to 27/6/2007.
In clue order, we have:
| Prime Minister (PM) | Dates when PM | Party |
|
Sir Alec Douglas-HOME [1903 – 1995] He renounced his peerage as Earl HOME to sit in the House of Commons |
19/10/1963 – 16/10/1964 | Conservative |
| Margaret THATCHER [1925 – 2013] | 4/5/1979 – 28/11/1990 | Conservative |
| Earl GREY (Charles GREY) [1764 – 1865] |
22/11/1830 – 9/7/1834 17/11/1834 – 9/12/1834 |
Whig |
| Sir Robert PEEL [1788 – 1850] |
10/12/1834 – 6/4/1835 30/8/1841 – 29/6/1846 |
Conservative |
| Lord PORTLAND (William Cavendish-Bentinck [1738 – 1809] |
2/4/1783 – 18/12/1783 31/3/1807 – 4/10/1809 |
Whig
|
| Earl of ABERDEEN (George Hamilton-Gordon [1784 – 1860] | 19/12/1852 – 30/12/1855 | Conservative |
| Duke of WELLINGTON (Arthur Wellesley [1769 – 1852] |
22/1/1828 – 16/11/1830 17/11/1834 – 9/12/1834 |
Tory |
| Sir Anthony EDEN [1897 – 1977] | 6/4/1955 – 9/1/1957 | Conservative |
| Viscount Melbourne (William LAMB [1779 – 1848] |
16/7/1834 – 14/11/1834 18/4/1835 – 30/8/1841 |
Whig |
| Theresa MAY [born 1956] | 13/7/2016 – 24/7/2019 | Conservative |
For my second Independent blog in a row, I am defeated by the wordplay for an entry. Today it is the wordplay for RUSSIA at 14 across, if indeed it is RUSSIA (Country type coming up on drugs on the radio?). I’m guessing that the definition is country. There aren’t many words that fit the crossers _U_S_A and RUSSIA is a country. Beyond that, I am at a loss. I do not doubt that someone will explain the obvious wordplay that I have missed.
It took me a while to sort out the crossing between GREY (10 across) and CAGEFUL (6 down). It was the theme that helped me settle on the G, which then enabled me to parse CAGEFUL properly.
I liked the clue for ADMINISTER having played about with corpse and cadaver, before I realised that ‘person found in cabinet’ was cluing MINISTER.
The clue for ROLANDO was very clear, but I wonder how many of us knew of the Italian anatomist without having to check his history?
The construction of NAANS at 23 down took a bit of working out.
Thanks to Hoskins for a trip through UK political history. I hadn’t realised how often Prime Ministers changed in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | US sex worker gets with Hoskins in a cottage? (4)
HOME (a cottage [small dwelling-house], is an example of a HOME) HO (American derogatory term for a prostitute [sex worker]) + ME (Hoskins, the setter) HO ME |
| 4 |
Roofer or hairdresser, might some people say (8) THATCHER (someone who covers roofs with straw or similar material; roofer) THATCHER (someone who works with THATCH [thick hair], a hairdresser, for example) THATCHER |
| 9 | Religious type spread right pish about ecstasy (4,6)
HIGH PRIEST (a senior conductor of religious rites; religious type) Anagram of (spread) RIGHT PISH containing (about) E (ecstasy) HIGH PRI (E) ST* |
| 10 | Ancient German quarry excavating phosphorus (4)
GREY (old; ancient) G (German) + pREY (target of a predatory beast; quarry) excluding (excavating) P (chemical symbol for phosphorus) G REY |
| 11 | Go to get Liverpool’s latest strip (4)
PEEL (strip off the skin) PEE (urinate; go) + L (final letter of [latest] liverpooL) PEE L |
| 12 | Ink manufacturer is mixed up in fetish cult (10)
CUTTLEFISH (a mollusc able to eject a blank inky liquid; ink manufacturer) Anagram of (mixed up in) FETISH CULT CUTTLEFISH* |
| 14 | Country type coming up on drugs on the radio? (6)
RUSSIA [?] (a country) I don’t know where to begin with the wordplay for this clue. RUSSIA |
| 16 | Light on other side of harbour in Oregon city (8)
PORTLAND (city in the US State of Oregon) PORT (harbour) + LAND (set on the ground; light) – LAND is positioned on the right [starboard] side of PORT [left] PORT LAND |
| 18 | Earned bucks screening Black Earth and Metropolis (8)
ABERDEEN (city [main city of a region; metropolis] in Scotland) Anagram of (buicks) EARNED containing (screening) (B [black when describing pencil lead] + E [earth]) A (B E) RDEEN* |
| 20 | I will get new patient, if there happens to be a need (2,4)
IN CASE (if there happens to be a need) I + N (new) + CASE (a person or animal having a disease; patient in medical or veterinary terms) I N CASE |
| 22 | No gent will put out for an item of footwear (10)
WELLINGTON (reference WELLINGTON boot, item of footwear) Anagram of (put out) NO GENT WILL WELLINGTON* |
| 24 | Language of Monsieur Duchamp (4)
URDU (an official language of Pakistan, also spoken in India) URDU (hidden word in [of] MonsieUR DUchamp) URDU |
| 26 | Nurse getting on my boss will find paradise (4)
EDEN (reference the Garden of EDEN [a paradise]) ED ([crossword] editor, the boss of a crossword setter such as Hoskins) + EN (Enrolled Nurse) ED EN |
| 27 | Dispense with a dead person found in cabinet? (10)
ADMINISTER (dispense) A + D (dead) + MINISTER (a person in a Government cabinet. I think the UK Cabinet is formed mainly from Secretaries of State, but there are also some Ministers entitled to attend) A D MINISTER |
| 29 | Lousy do I got going in an offensive way (8)
ODIOUSLY (in an offensive way) Anagram of (got wrong) LOUSY DO I ODIOUSLY* |
| 30 | Jesus appears in clam bake! (4)
LAMB (LAMB of God [Jesus]) LAMB (hidden word in [appears in] cLAM Bake) LAMB |
| Down | |
| 2 | Oscar rejected wicked name for a baby girl? (5)
OLIVE (name for a girl – I’m not sure what the significance of the word ‘baby’ is) O (Oscar is the international radio communication codeword for the letter O) + EVIL (wicked) reversed (rejected) O LIVE< |
| 3 | After getting on beers, old husband expires (7)
EXHALES (breathes out; expires) EX (former; old) + H (husband) + ALES (beers) EX H ALES |
| 4 | Earl has intercourse upside-down in restraint (3)
TIE (a restraint) (E [earl] + IT [sexual intercourse]) all reversed (upside-down; down entry) (TI E)< |
| 5 | Paintings by The Spanish Cooperative in the USSR (5)
ARTEL (a Russian workers’ guild; Cooperative in the USSR) ART (paintings) + EL (Spanish for ‘the’) ART EL |
| 6 | Cautious on turning right into group of a load of chickens? (7)
CAGEFUL (descriptive of a load of chickens) CAREFUL (cautious) with R (right) being replaced by (turning into) G (group) to form CAGEFUL CAGEFUL |
| 7 | Church services still no good? Head to Satan! (9)
EVENSONGS (church services) EVEN SO (nevertheless; still) + NG (no good) + S (first letter of [head to] Satan) EVEN SO NG S |
| 8 | Remains drunk mostly, drinking a drop of grappa (8)
WRECKAGE (remains) WRECKEd (drunk) excluding the final letter D (mostly) containing (drinking) (A + G [first letter of [drop of] Grappa) WRECK (A G) E |
| 13 | Grass up granny, perhaps, in Barnet do? (7)
TOPKNOT (a crest, tuft of hair, often a piece of added hair; barnet [hair; hairstyle]) POT (cannabis; marijuana; grass) reversed (up; down entry) + KNOT (a granny is an example of a KNOT) TOP< KNOT |
| 15 | Lend nude drunk clothes bishop kept in original state? (9)
UNBLENDED (not mixed; in its original state) Anagram of (drunk) LEND NUDE containing (clothes) B (bishop) UN (B) LENDED* |
| 17 | Criminal ringing about evil leader in power (8)
REIGNING (ruling; in power) Anagram of (criminal) RINGING containing (about) E (first letter of [leader] Evil) R (E) IGNING* |
| 19 | Italian anatomist using some Demerol and opiates (7)
ROLANDO (reference Luigi ROLANDO [1773 – 1831], Italian anatomist who did pioneering work on the study of the brain) ROLANDO (hidden word in [using some] demeROL AND Opiates) ROLANDO |
| 21 | Lawyer local authority brought into hearing (7)
COUNSEL (barrister or advocate; lawyer) COUNSEL (sounds like [brought into hearing] COUNCIL [Local Authority]) COUNSEL |
| 23 | Note-grabbing relatives will make some bread (5)
NAANS (slightly leavened bread, as baked in Indian and Pakistani cookery) NANS (relatives) containing (grabbing) A (a musical note) – NANS are clued as ‘grabbing relatives’. They are grabbing A (note) N (A) ANS – either A could be the one grabbed |
| 25 | Trance band who provided Blair’s campaign tune (5)
DREAM (trance) D:REAM (D:REAM are a Northern Irish pop and dance group whose UK No. 1 hit “Things Can Only Get Better” was adopted by the Labour Party as a campaign tune in the UK 1997 General Election which led to Tony Blair [born 1953] becoming Prime Minister) double definition DREAM |
| 28 | Old lady sat by gym nude in page on a calendar? (3)
MAY (reference the month of MAY, which forms a page in a calendar) MA (mother; old lady) + Y (letter remaining in gYm when the clothing or outer letters are removed [nude]) MA Y |
Re 14ac, we wondered whether a RUSH might be a drug-induced high, leaving the person “coming up on drugs” being a RUSHER?
Thanks to Hoskins and duncanshiell
Good fun from Hoskins as usual. I even managed to spot the theme although I only found 9 examples, missing ABERDEEN.
I took “group of” rather than just “group” to clue the G in 6d.
I too was puzzled by 14a. I considered DavidO’s explanation @#1 but didn’t find it very satisfactory.
Many thanks to Harry and to Duncan.