Radian provides us with one of those themed puzzles where you don’t need to spot the theme.
.
The theme was digging for archaeological evidence or buried treasure with many entries related to the theme. The ones I spotted, in clue order, were SHARDS, GRAVE, ARCHAEOLOGISTS, BURIED TREASURE, DIG UP, DOLMEN, GEMSTONE, and UNEARTH. With a bit of lateral thinking you might include GRANGE, PALATIAL, TIMEPIECE, GROTTO and UNDATED.
There were some interesting clues today with one being a variation on a cluing device that I haven’t seen very often. I liked the way ACCIDENT was changed to ACCENT in the clue at 13 across.
Having said that, there was one clue I didn’t like. In 5 down, yes, I know full well who ANAX is as I have been solving crosswords for years, but anyone new to the Independent Crossword wouldn’t have the faintest idea who he is, especially as he hasn’t set an Independent crossword for nearly eight months according to the fifteensquared search facility.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Quiet part of Down yields ceramic fragments (6)
|
SH (quiet!) + ARDS (reference the ARDS peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland) SH ARDS |
SHARDS (broken pieces of pottery; ceramic fragments)
|
|
4
|
Hand over wife or daughter as proof of identity (8)
|
PASS (hand over) + W (wife) + OR + D (daughter) PASS W OR D |
PASSWORD (secret word or set of characters that verifies your right to enter somewhere or something; proof of identity)
|
|
9
|
Farm river runs into another one nearly (6)
|
R (river) contained in (runs into) GANGES (major river in India) excluding the final letter (nearly) S G (R) ANGE |
GRANGE (farmhouse or country house with its stables and other buildings)
|
|
10
|
Lavish place occupied by a short Latin American (8)
|
PL (place) containing (occupied by) (A + LATIN excluding the final letter [short] N + A [American]) P (A LATI A) L |
PALATIAL (of or like a palace, esp sumptuous and spacious; lavish)
|
|
12
|
Maybe watch and measure work (9)
|
TIME (measure) + PIECE (a musical work) TIME PIECE |
TIMEPIECE ( a watch is an example of a TIMEPIECE)
|
|
13
|
Serious accident papers ignored (5)
|
If you exclude (ignored) ID (identity papers) from ACCIDENT you get ACCENT Reference a GRAVE ACCENT [ diacritical mark originally indicating a pitch falling somewhat, or failing to rise, now used for various special purposes (as in French). GRAVE |
GRAVE (serious)
|
|
14
|
Old students teasing a group of green ones skipping college (14) |
ARCH (mischievous, teasing) + A + ECOLOGISTS (students of all things ECO [green]) excluding (skipping) C (college) ARCH A EOLOGISTS |
ARCHAEOLOGISTS (people who study ancient people through their material remains; old students)
|
|
17
|
Detectorist’s goal is bearing fruit say backed by angel (6,8)
|
BURIED (sounds like [say] BERRIED [bearing fruit]) + TREASURE (angel, term of endearment) BURIED TREASURE |
BURIED TREASURE (something metal detectorists are looking for)
|
|
21
|
Note the extraordinary power (5)
|
TE (note of the tonic sol-fa) + an anagram of (extraordinary) THE TE ETH* |
TEETH (sufficient power to be effective)
|
|
22
|
I aim to cut foreign nouns and suggestive remarks (9)
|
I + (END [aim] contained in [to cut] an anagram of [foreign] NOUNS) I NNU (END) OS* |
INNUENDOS (suggestive remarks)
|
|
24
|
Choice of letters with unknown old duchy (8)
|
N OR M AND Y – spelling out a choice of letters N OR M AND Y |
NORMANDY (The Duchy of NORMANDY grew out of the 911 Treaty of
|
|
25
|
King loves tackling Times in rocky garden retreat (6)
|
GR (Georgius Rex; King George) + ([O {zero; love score in tennis} + O {zero; love score in tennis} giving loves] containing [tackling] [T {time} + T {time] giving times]) GR O (T T) O |
GROTTO (construction in the form of a cave, esp as in landscaped gardens during the 18th century)
|
|
26
|
Crowd in school shared in presentation (2-6)
|
HOST (crowd) contained in (in) CO-ED (co-educational school) CO (HOST) ED |
CO-HOSTED (shared in presentation)
|
|
27
|
Mainly redundant sewer (6)
|
NEEDLESS (redundant) excluding two of the eight letters (mainly) SS NEEDLE |
NEEDLE (an instrument used for sewing) |
| Down | |||
|
1
|
Joe comes in at last, flying like an arrow (8)
|
GI (reference GI Joe, toy action figure) contained in (in) an anagram of (flying) AT LAST SA (GI) TTAL* |
SAGITTAL (shaped like an arrow)
|
|
2
|
Feeling weak, I intend lifting account limits (7)
|
AC (accounts) containing (limits) (I + MEAN [intend]) reversed (lifting) A (NAEM I)< C |
ANAEMIC (spiritless; washed out; feeling weak)
|
|
3
|
Find soldier somersaulting in party (3,2)
|
(GI [American soldier] reversed [somersaulting) contained in (in) DUP (Democratic Unionist Party, political party in Northern Ireland) D (IG)< UP |
DIG UP (unearth; find)
|
|
5
|
Setter here got red, flustered about popular grievance (2,3,2,5)
|
ANAX (pseudonym of an Independent crossword setter, who last set an Independent puzzle in July last year) + (an anagram of [flustered] GOT RED containing [about] IN [popular) AN AX E TO GR (IN) D* |
AN AXE TO GRIND (personal reason for getting involved usually as a result of a grievance)
|
|
6
|
A girl has managed to obtain new ideal location (7-2)
|
Anagram of (managed|) A GIRL HAS containing (to obtain) N (new) SHA (N) GRI-LA* |
SHANGRI-LA (earthly paradise, described in James Hilton’s Lost Horizon (1933); hence, any remote or imaginary paradise)
|
|
7
|
West picked up agent at Cape Canaveral (7)
|
OXIDANT (sounds like [picked up] OCCIDENT [the West]) OXIDANT |
OXIDANT (a substance combining with oxygen, possibly to form a fuel for rockets at Cape Canaveral)
|
|
8
|
Father’s Day promoted to top 13 (6)
|
OLD MEN (fathers) with D (day) moved to the front (promoted ; down clue to the top) DOLMEN |
DOLMEN (prehistoric structure, possibly a tomb, of erect unhewn stones, supporting a flattish stone; GRAVE [13 across])
|
|
11
|
Back doctor who plays follow-my-leader? (6,6)
|
SECOND (back) + FIDDLE (alter; tamper; doctor) SECOND FIDDLE |
SECOND FIDDLE (someone who takes a subordinate part behind a leader)
|
|
15
|
A Spanish hero runs druggies (9)
|
A + CID (reference El CID (Castilian nobleman and military leader in medieval Spain; Spanish hero) + HEADS (leads; manages; runs) A CID HEADS |
ACID-HEADS (people who habitually take the drug LSD)
|
|
16
|
Item of 17 Tom ‘s cracked in biology unit (8)
|
Anagram of (cracked) TOM’S contained in (in) GENE (biology unit) GE (MSTO*) NE |
GEMSTONE (example of the type of thing you find in BURIED TREASURE [17 across])
|
|
18
|
Discover Unionist and Republican in Welsh town (7)
|
U (Unionist) + (R [Republican] contained in [in] NEATH [Welsh town]) U NEA (R) TH |
UNEARTH (dig up; discover)
|
|
19
|
Like wallflowers to be flooded but not cool (7)
|
INUNDATED (flooded) excluding (not) IN (cool) UNDATED |
UNDATED (without a date; a wallflower is a person, typically a woman, who cannot find a partner)
|
|
20
|
Moral principle governing Norway linked to race (6)
|
ETHIC (moral principle) containing (governing) N (International Vehicle Registration for Norway) ETH (N) IC |
ETHNIC (concerning nations or races)
|
|
23
|
Spooky European lake (5)
|
E (European) + ERIE (one of the Great Lakes of Canada)
|
EERIE (spooky)
|
In 24A, I think that technically N OR M is the “choice of letters”, followed by AND = “with” and Y = “unknown”.
A few unparsed including the v. nice GRAVE and SHARDS, and not too many obscurities apart from DOLMEN. Good to have a theme that wasn’t obviously signposted in the clues. Maybe AN AXE TO GRIND is another one that is loosely related. UNDATED was my favourite.
I was surprised to see that Anax hasn’t appeared in the Indy since July last year though of course he’s been active in other guises elsewhere. I take your point about the use of setter’s names – fine if you’re in the know, but mystifying if you’re not.
Thanks to Radian and Duncan.
I thought this was great fun to do and awe-inspiring to parse/analyse. There was humour in virtually all the clues but those for PASSWORD, INNUENDOS, GROTTO, and ACID-HEADS really amused me.
Re-5d, I found it a reasonable clue, without knowing who Anax was, gettable from the enumeration and remaining wordplay.
I feel I must, however, compliment DUNCANSHIELL on the layout and use of colours in his blog………it is so clear and readable.
Many thanks to him and, of course, RADIAN.
Lat in was 8d and the only way i got it was by the construction-very nifty.
Didn’t spot the theme (what’s new?) until Duncan pointed out there was one, and I looked for it before reading the rest of the blog.
Held up for ages by 7dn – as I always thought the double-c in ‘occident’ was pronounced as in ‘occasion’ so OXIDANT didn’t occur to me till I got it from a wordfinder.
Couldn’t parse 5dn as although I know who Anax is (and have met him at various S&Bs) the name just didn’t come to mind. But I’d agree that using other setters’ names is a bit unfair on newbie solvers, although it wouldn’t matter in specials for S&Bs.
Some excellent clues, though. Favourite was GRAVE.
Thanks, Radian and Duncan.
This was a great puzzle but I’m cross with myself for failing to get DOLMEN, which is a word I know and the clue is very clear.
Thanks to Radian and Duncan
Got hooked on this, though not easy. Got into a mess trying to spell 10a with a C, and I missed DOLMEN.
GRAVE seems like a clue within a clue, though I got it easily enough – and beautifully succinct at 4 words.
Lots to enjoy, clever stuff, so thank you radian and duncan
Also, it took me a while to find the setter but I was happy it was Anax
Really enjoyed solving this but can’t make my mind up about a couple of things. There’s something about 13a which I like … on the other hand, I’m not sure it’s entirely fair because essentially the word play with “accident” doesn’t lead to the answer: it’s just another clue to a clue.
I also wonder about the choice of letters technique in 24a. How far down this road can we go? Would “Kind of a choice of letters” be okay for SORT? And should the letters be adjacent in the alphabet? If not, then how about “Tedious type offering choice of letters” for BORE? And there must be numerous other possibilities along these lines, such as a possible alternative for 4a in this puzzle: “Endorse choice of letters as proof of identity”.
Anyway, thanks to Radian for some original clue-writing and duncanshiell for a thought-provoking blog.
Further to the choice of letters, “N or M” originally comes from the Book of Common Prayer, but was also used by Agatha Christie as the title of a novel. An explanation of the origin of the phrase can be found here.