It’s Tuesday – theme day – and a Knut to blog – what more could we ask for?
Answer – nothing!
A really enjoyable solve with a theme that revealed itself gently as we got into the solve (just the way we like it). And, when we realised that the theme was 16, a much-admired character from our era who sadly died recently, it made our morning! We remembered seeing the 7/22/11 at Sheffield University in the late 60s, when they performed 1ac/9 – completely mad! We checked on google and found the date – 16th February 1968. They were a support band for the Who at the Union Ball which we were then able to check in Bert’s diary from that year! The diary entry also says that Joyce was a bit tiddly after drinking some sherry.
We were also big fans of 6/27. We can’t remember any of 24’s songs, but do remember the band as an offshoot from 6/27, and it’s brilliant parodying of the Beatles.
A great tribute to a very talented loony.
Thanks Knut for a great trip down Memory Lane.
An anagram of A MANCHESTER PUB (anagrind is ‘outing’) + AN
BOB (shilling in pre-decimal currency) after EMU (Rod Hull’s puppet character / ‘partner’) – a new phrase for us, but it conjures up the right image!
The parsing of this stumped us for a while, but the penny dropped when we realised that the clue number is 10 – if hyphenated it becomes 1-0 (ONE NIL) – although, if we were writing out the numbers in full as a football score (very unlikely!) we think we would still would hyphenate them
wEASEL (sly individual) without the ‘w’ (wife)
AT (in) A NY (New York – ‘Big Apple’) COSTa (coffee bar) without the the last letter or ‘tip’
An anagram of DOG PEN LONDON – anagrind is ‘barking’
PENN (Sean, the actor) SYLVIA (Kristel, the actress, of ‘Emmanuelle’ fame) round or ‘taking in’ A N (northern)
THE RUThLESs (‘those without pity’) without the last letter or ‘endless’ and without the second ‘h’ (hour) – the (originally fictitious) rock band founded by Eric Idle and 16D as a pastiche of the Beatles
Double definition – a reference to the film company Merchant IVORY and to the elephant at 1D
Another double definition – Carol Cleveland was the only woman in the Monty PYTHON team, and was never properly credited as a Python, and PYTHON Lee Jackson was a late 60s Australian rock band, who had a hit in 1970 with ‘In A Broken Dream’, which featured Rod Stewart
DRONE (‘robotic plane’ – sounds like ‘plain’) DON (Donald Trump)
An anagram of PRIEST – anagrind is ‘abused’ – a reference to the soft drink made by Coca Cola
BR (British) ASSHAT (American phrase for a contemptible person) – another new one for us!
TUSK (album by Fleetwood Mac – one of our all-time favourite bands) + E R (first letters or ‘starts’ to ‘Encounter Ridicule’)
Hidden ‘within’ ‘fivE LAPS Ericsson’
Alternate or ‘regular’ letters of dRaInEd + SLINGS (cocktails, as in Singapore Sling)
A reversal (‘turned’) of OH (I say!) A PARA (member of the Parachute Regiment)
N (last or ‘final’ letter of ‘Bradman’) in MOT (‘annual test’) + Y (last letter or ‘close’ of ‘play’)
BOND (James Bond – ‘007’) outside an anagram of BAGDAD ZOO DOH ON – anagrind is ‘manoeuvres’
BILL (invoice) TIDY (‘pretty steep’ as in a ‘tidy sum’)
L (‘antepenultimate’ letter of ‘fields’) AV (Authorised Version of the Bible)
An anagram of NINE LINES – anagrind is ‘composed’ – the subject of the puzzle, who was sometimes described as the 7th member of the Monty Python team
Ana pangram of HAPPIEST – anagrind is ‘could be’
Hidden in or ‘dipping into’ ‘finANCES TO Repay’
LILT is a soft drink (like Sprite – 29) which is ‘inspired by the flavours of the Caribbean’
A reversal (‘all upset’) of RE RUSSiA without the ‘i’
CY (first and last letters or ‘fringes’ of ‘city’) + a reversal (‘rise’) of TEN G (grand)
BOA (‘stole’ as in the neckwear) with U (‘uniform’ in the phonetic alphabet) before + T (time)
Not only enjoyable and witty, this was a very respectful tribute. Didnt McCartney produce Urban Spaceman under a pseudonym?
Coming up to 40 years in Oz and EMU BOB a new one on me-well clued.
Thanks Knut and B&J
(I may have seen one of their best gigs at Cooks Ferry Inn early 70s-anyone else there?)
Splendid stuff – thank you Knut for the lovely tribute to a blast from our pasts.
Thanks also to B&J for the blog
Not a fan of 6 27, so I had to use wiki a few times. Couldn’t remember LILT, is it still around?
NNI – yes Lilt is still made by Coca Cola. Not that either of us have ever tried it.
Thanks B&J for a splendid blog. Knut really is the guvnor when it comes to themes isn’t he? And this one felt warm and affectionate. Much appreciated.
Hadn’t heard of Fleetwood Mac (of course) or anything by them, but I live with someone who has.
OTOH I do have the DVD of the Rutles.
PS And the CD of Gorilla.
Copmus -Paul McCartney produced I’m The Urban Spaceman under the pseudonym Apollo C Vermouth.
Crikey that was hard work. Reasonably familiar with Monty Python but had never heard of several of the thematic items. Was rather pleased with myself to guess 7/11/22 correctly from the remaining letters!
Great stuff. For 10a, I took the clue number as the definition and the rest as wordplay. Don’t know if that was Knut’s intention.
It’s not even two years ago that I saw Neil Innes live in concert with what’s left of The Rutles.
Great tongue-in-cheek fun.
So sad he suddenly passed away just over a couple of weeks ago.
As often is the case with Knut’s crosswords, one needed a bit of general knowledge here and there.
Like in 19ac, 26ac, 27ac and, perhaps, also 1d.
I was well aware of Sprite (29ac) but had forgotten about Lilt (20d) which I left open.
So, a DNF for me.
After the theme became clear, 1/9 was a write-in – I couldn’t be bothered to decipher the anagram.
I actually have two or three of their albums but find it very hard to listen to them.
Give me any time All You Need Is Cash, that really funny spoof TV movie from the late seventies.
Back to the puzzle.
A wholly fitting tribute from Knut, nicely written in his familiar somewhat ‘unintellectual’ style.
On the minus side, I am never very keen on replacing one preposition with another.
That’s what has to be done in 13ac (‘at’ replaces ‘in’).
Also, slightly a pity that we have to take away S and H from ‘the ruthless’ (24ac) the other way round.
That said, no criticism, it’s fine – just wanted to mention it.
Many thanks to Bertandjoyce & Knut for today’s entertainment.
Sorry, I didn’t mean 1/9 but 7/22/11.
bit too young to have caught 7/22/11 live but knew their work and Mr Slaters Parrot was a favourite of my friends and I – a very silly song but hilarious if you’re in the right mood.
Did catch Neil Innes solo a couple of times at the Leicester Guidhall – fabulous fun and a talent greatly missed.
Enjoyed the crossword immensely despite not knowing (but getting even so) emu-bob and the asshat phrase.
Thanks to setter and blogger alike for a nice reminder of how much fun it can be to not take life too seriously.
PPS I also have the DVD of Do Not Adjust Your Set.
Sad? Don’t think so.
Innes was aalso the stand-in pianist on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue when Colin Sell was unavailable. His outstanding musicianship was well to the fore.
Perfect! I completed both puzzle and breakfast at the same time, and even spotted the theme. Thanks Knut and B&J.
Not very familiar with all these, but managed to get all except EMUBOB, which I have still to look up. I like these cultural reference ones, though they do cater to a relatively restricted audience. Thanks to Knut.
I remember Lilt, and also Cariba, which came from the rival stable and was (I think) identical. Also used to like Cresta, though by modern standards no doubt horribly artificial and sugary. I remember how disappointed I was, having loved Orangina in France for many years (first three purchases in France are always “flan”, tarte aux fraises and Orangina), when it came out in UK and the recipe was different, to allow for the fact that the British would (allegedly) rather have coloured sugary imitations than the real thing.
K@16
Flan Nature? I loved it too.
The theme is part of my misspent youth, I saw 7,22,11 live but I can’t remember the date. Lovely puzzle, thank you Knut and B&J.
That went in pretty quickly.
I have memories of seeing Innes as part of a Monty Python stage show in the early seventies. I saw them twice, at the Grand in Leeds when I was at university and at Drury Lane after I’d graduated. I recall Innes singing How Sweet to be an Idiot wearing a large duck on his head.
Massively entertaining. I’m always amazed how much knowledge Knut packs into a puzzle, but part of me worries when both halves of a clue like 27 are gk – though clearly themed entries enjoy additional licence. I particularly liked “epitaphs”. Well, and plenty more. Feels like every Knut puzzle is even better than the last
Many thanks, also b&j
Thank you Knut, for a wistfully happy nostalgic ramble. Such witty clever bonkers people.