Lette set a few Independent crosswords in the first half of 2025, but this is the first for nearly a year.
I found this to be a difficult puzzle and I wondered about the choice of some words as entries, e.g. UNFUNNY, TRUNDLE BED, INDIGEST and PIN BONES, but right at the very end of solving, I realised there was a theme with words that probably forced Lette into having to use some unusual entries.
The theme took me back a few years to when my children were young and my wife and I were reading many of the Janet and Allan Ahlberg books at bedtime. Janet Ahlberg sadly died at the age of 50, but her husband continued writing books. Allan Ahlberg wrote the words while Janet did the illustrations. We still have most of the books in the grid in the house and have been reading them to our grandchildren.
The titles or part titles that I can see in the grid are
BURGLAR BILL, JOLLY POSTMAN, COPS and ROBBERS, EACH PEACH PEAR PLUM and FUNNYBONES. There isn’t a book called LOOK SEE, but two books with titles that conjure up the same image do exist – Peepo! and Peek-a-boo!
Whilst writing the blog, I learnt that the Times Educational Supplement is now simply called tes (all in lowercase).
Having grown up in Edinburgh, the docks at LEITH are well known to me, but I wonder how many solvers were aware.
It took me a while to figure out the parsing for ROBBERS and I am not entirely sure of the parsing for ESTEEM, where I have suggested that STEEM is a homophone of STEAM with a STEAM iron being something that can ‘press’ clothes.
The spelling BRONCHOS was new to me but both Chambers and Collins list it.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 9 | Putting old fiddler ahead of America is hard to bear (7)
ONEROUS (burdensome; oppressive; hard to bear) O (old) + NERO (reference the legend that Emperor Nero [37 – 68] fiddled while Rome burned) + US ([United States] of America]) O NERO US |
| 10 | Withdrawing food with reduced fat is criminal (7)
BURGLAR (thief; criminal) GRUB (food) reversed (withdrawing) + LARd (fat) excluding the final letter (reduced) D BURG< LAR |
| 11 | Supplement intermittently reducing stress (3)
TES [tes is the modern name for the Times Educational Supplement) TES (letters remaining in sTrEsS when srs, letters 1, 3 and 5, [intermittently] are removed) TES |
| 12 | Accepting fine, miss drug inspection (4-3)
LOOK SEE (a brief inspection) (LOSE [miss] + E [ecstasy; drug]) containing (accepting) OK (fine) LO (OK) SE E |
| 13 | Take in study defending male convict (7)
CONDEMN (convict) CON (trick; deceive; take in) + (DEN [study] containing [defending] M [male]) CON DE (M) N |
| 14 | He delivers upright staff (7)
POSTMAN (someone who delivers mail) POST (an upright) + MAN (to staff) POST MAN |
| 16 | The Independent left faltering in the dock (5)
LEITH (port [dock area] of Edinburgh. The Royal Yacht Britannia is a tourist attraction within Leith Docks) Anagram of (faltering) THE and I (independent) and L (left) LEITH* |
| 17 | Indict leaders removed from slack school (7)
IMPEACH (indict) lIMP (slack) excluding the first letter (leader) L + tEACH (to school) excluding the first letter (leader) T – therefore leaders removed IMP EACH |
| 20 | Sibyl, swapping outer layers for gown, starts to read some tea leaves (7)
ROBBERS (thieves [tea leaves], rhyming slang for thieves) siByl with the outer two letters at either end of the word SI and YL replaced by (swapping … for] ROBE (gown) and RS (initial letters of [starts to] each of Read and Some) – SI swopped for ROB abd YL swapped for ERS ROB B E RS |
| 21 | Conservative caught in European caper (5)
DANCE (caper) C (Conservative) contained in (caught in) DANE (a European) DAN (C) E |
| 22 | Pat rolled over lazily without enthusiasm (7)
TEPIDLY (without enthusiasm) PET (fondle, pat) reversed (rolled over) + IDLY (lazily) TEP< IDLY |
| 26 | Obsessive swimmer cut around island (7)
GROUPIE (a [usually female] fan who follows pop groups, or other celebrities, wherever they appear, often in the hope of having sexual relations with them; an obsessive) GROUPEr (large fish; swimmer) excluding the final letter (cut) R containing (around) I (island) GROUP (I) E |
| 27 | Serious enjoyment cycling by a French city (7)
UNFUNNY (serious) FUN (enjoyment) with the letters cycled one place left or round to the end to form UNF + UN (one of the French forms of ‘a’) + NY (New York; city) UNF UN NY |
| 29 | Provide with a piece from Carmen (3)
ARM (provide with a gun [arm]) ARM (hidden word in [piece from cARMen) ARM |
| 30 | Spiked a Republican, snared by drug (7)
SPEARED (spiked) (A + R (Republican]) contained in (snared by) SPEED (slang for amphetamine [drug]) SPE (A R) ED |
| 31 | Digs ads showcasing Spielberg movie (7)
BILLETS (accommodation; digs) BILLS (advertisements; ads) containing (showcasing) ET (1982 movie directed by Steven Spielberg [born 1946]) BILL (ET) S |
| Down | |
| 1 | Students absorbed by ecstasy trip (5)
JOLLY (a trip, especially one made at someone else’s expense) (L [student] + L [student] giving students) contained in (absorbed by) JOY (ecstasy) JO (L L) Y |
| 2 | Recover from concerning stroke (6)
RECOUP (regain or make good; recover from) RE (with reference to; concerning) + COUP (a brilliant stroke) RE COUP |
| 3 | Sci-fi character almost upset the Force? (4)
COPS (the police force) SPOCk (reference Spock, a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise) excluding the final letter (almost) K and then reversed (upset) COPS |
| 4 | English press picked up prize (6)
ESTEEM (to have admiration for; to prize) E (English) + STEEM (sounds like [picked up] STEAM [iron; press]) E STEEM |
| 5 | Panorama, say, probing fiscal watchdog is comparatively offensive (8)
OBSCENER (more offensive; comparatively offensive) SCENE (panorama) contained in (probing) OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility [a fiscal watchdog]) OB (SCENE) R |
| 6 | Telegraph’s lead editor, admitting awful blunder, is one wheeled out for retirement? (7,3)
TRUNDLE BED (a low bed on wheels; something that can be wheeled out for retirement [sleep]) (T [first letter of {lead} Telegraph] + ED [editor]) containing (admitting) an anagram of (awful) BLUNDER T (RUNDLE B*) ED |
| 7 | One of two wind instruments isn’t keeping time. It’s exhausting! (4,4)
FLUE PIPE (a PIPE used to disperse or exhaust hot air, smoke, fumes; it’s exhausting) FLUtE (a wind instrument) excluding (isn’t keeping) T (time) + PIPE (a second wind instrument) FLUE PIPE |
| 8 | Pickled hard corncobs originally set aside for wild horses (8)
BRONCHOS (alternative spelling of BRONCOS [wild horses]) Anagram of (pickled) H (hard, in pencil lead) and cORNCOBS excluding (set aside) the first letter [originally] C BRONCHOS* |
| 15 | Small step for man essentially inspiring a work of science fiction (5,5)
SPACE OPERA (a science-fiction film or novel) (S [small] + PACE [step] + O [middle letter of [essentially] fOr] + A [middle letter of [essentially] mAn) containing (inspiring) PER (a) S PACE O (PER) A |
| 17 | Briefly land joke in conversation that’s crude (8)
INDIGEST (shapeless; unsophisticated; crude) INDIa (country; land) excluding the final letter (briefly) A + GEST (sounds like [in conversation] JEST [joke]) INDI GEST |
| 18 | Opens bin out for unwanted parts of fish (3,5)
PIN BONES (long, fine bones found down the centre of fish fillets, such as salmon fillets; unwanted parts of fish) Anagram of (out) OPENS BIN PIN BONES* |
| 19 | They come across rash in hospital round linked with irregular deaths (8)
HOTHEADS (excitable or fiery people who come across as rash) H (hospital) + O (a round character) + an anagram of (irregular)DEATHS H O THEADS* |
| 23 | Fruit bats scratching at links to water (6)
PLUMBS (connects to a water pipe) PLUM (a fruit) BatS excluding (scratching) AT PLUM BS |
| 24 | Unionist recalled vote against Remain, having lost power (6)
YANKEE (YANKEE was a common term used during the American Civil War to describe a member of the Union side; unionist) NAY (a vote for no) reversed (recalled) + KEEp (remain) excluding (having lost) the P (power) YAN< KEE |
| 25 | Happy with agent set up to take the place of a traveller (5)
GYPSY (traveller) GaY (carefree and merry; happy) with SPY (agent) reversed (set ip; down entry) to replace (take the place of) A G YPS< Y |
| 28 | Amidst storm lifeboat returned 18, perhaps (4)
FILM (EIGHTEEN [18] was a war drama film released in 2005) FILM (reversed [returned] hidden word [amidst] storM LIFeboat) FILM< |
Unfortunately I only recognise EACH PEACH PEAR PLUM from the Ahlberg oeuvre so did not spot the theme. I thought COPS and ROBBERS was a possible theme, given the appearance of BURGLAR, and was struggling with how POSTMAN and GROUPIE were going to be classified. FLUE PIPE and SPACE OPERA share the COTD honours today.
I once did a project for a heavy industry client in Leith who, describing his workforce, ended with the memorable phrase ‘… and the average number of fingers and thumbs has never reached 10!’ He also noted that they only asked one question of prospective employees – ‘Do you have a criminal record?’ – and hired the ones who said ‘Yes’ on the grounds they’d rather have ex-cons than liars. I believe that is somewhat unrepresentative of Leith these days.
Thanks both
I struggle to say “The Leith police dismisseth us” even when sober.
A difficult crossword but one that takes me back nearly 40 years when I knew the Ahlberg’s 3d and 20a (and their other works off by heart having read them so many times (apparently I still do!) and being told off by a small boy who will be 42 next week, for ‘saying the story’ not reading it.
Thanks to Lette for reminding me of fun times while stretching my cryptic brainpower, and to Duncan for the blog
Not exactly a love lette from the setter, but some very crafty clues and devices.
28(d), I took “18 perhaps” as a reference to film classification.
The spelling of BRONCHOS held me up, and in 16(ac), ” (the) dock” seems a bit superfluous.
Personally, I felt some synonyms seemed pushy; STEAM from press, LOSE from miss, for example, but I’m sure they must be in that cryptic bible.
9(ac), “old fiddler ” is a great device, but the surface lets it down.
Note on the blog def of 20(ac), it’s “tea leaves” only, the “some” is for the S…..which the blogger of course identifies.
No knowledge of the theme, but no damage incurred – it’s a very good puzzle, some novel stuff alongside some old favourites.
Thumbs up, Lette & duncan
I remember reading some of the Ahlberg’s books when I was around 5/6 in primary school but the theme escaped me
I also didn’t know the spelling of BRONCHOS with an h – it makes me think of lungs and breathing (e.g. bronchitis) rather than horses
I thought LOOK-SEE was ‘looksy’ or ‘looksie’ rather than a hyphenated phrase but now I know
Some tricky wordplay in some of the clues but overall a very good puzzle
Thanks Lette and Duncan
Another big Ahlberg fan here. And of Leith too. Thanks Lette for the reminder. Overall, was too tough for me but enjoyed nonetheless.
FLUE PIPE and TRUNDLE BED were favourites
Thanks both
Hovis @2 it’s probably actually easier to say when you’re under the affluence of incohol.
Thank you, Duncan for the excellent blog. Just one thing to add: there is another of the books hidden in the grid. Thanks, too to those that have commented thus far. It is lovely to see that the theme has led to some happy reminiscing, which was my hope when creating the puzzle. As you may have guessed, I’m another who loved the Ahlberg books as a child – I think Funny Bones and Cops and Robbers were my personal favourites – and have had great pleasure reading them to my own children. Re: FILM, I confirm that my intention was per E.N.Boll&@4 Thanks to Eimi for publishing the puzzle, and my thanks again to Duncan and this community. Cheers
Thanks both. A little too contrived for my complete liking, although I would have felt differently had I possessed any knowledge of the theme. I agree with IanB@4 regarding FILM although I had earlier assumed PIN BONES had made it to the big screen! I guess TES as a ‘supplement’ makes it into a dictionary, which I find pretentious.
We thought the theme may be COPS AND ROBBERS but were concerned that there weren’t enough entries for it to be a theme.
Joyce is especially annoyed that she didn’t spot the theme having taught in Primary Schools in the 1970s. The children enjoyed reading these.
We both enjoyed reading these books (and others by the same authors) to our son and have had fun again reading them to our three grandchildren.
Thanks to Duncan and Lette.