[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
Maize provides the Thursday challenge.
There is a very clear theme in the entries today – indeed it would almost be easier to list the entries that don’t form part of the theme
Apart from the top row, all the across entries and two of the down entries are models or types of car.
We have the general marque ROVER at 9 across and TRIUMPH at 15 across. Both marques are now owned by BMW according to Wikipedia.
Vauxhall – NOVA, ADAM and CAVALIER
British Leyland – TRIUMPH (see also above and below) and TOLEDO
Ford – GRANADA, TRANSIT, TRIUMPH [but see also above], and EDGE
Mitsubishi – WARRIOR
VW – SCIROCCO, GOLF and BEETLE
Nissan – PULSAR
Seat – IBIZA
types of car – ESTATES and TWO-DOOR and
Honda CIVIC
Also, there is an additional Ford model combining the unchecked letters and the entry in the central row – ORION
There are some general motoring and traffic terms as well, mainly in the downs – TRAFFIC LIGHTS [1/6 across], L-DRIVER, TRADE-UP, TOW, ASPHALT , INCLINE [possibly] and REFIT,
There may well be some models I have missed or models made by more than one manufacturer.
It was possible to solve the puzzle without seeing the theme. I didn’t really pick up on the theme until I got into writing the blog.
I enjoyed this puzzle. I thought the surfaces were excellent with a good mix of clue-types.
I liked the salad, peeled and pitted elements of the clue at 23 across.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 / 5 | Control signals malfunctioning if craft comes to earth (7,6) |
Anagram of (malfunctioning) IF CRAFT + LIGHTS (lands; comes to earth) TRAFFIC* LIGHTS |
TRAFFIC LIGHTS (control signals) |
| 8 | Djokovic fails to finish stellar event (4) |
NOVA NOVA |
NOVA (a star that suddenly increases in brightness for a number of days or years; stellar event) |
| 9 | Migrant rook eggs picked up (5) |
R (rook [chess piece]) + OVER (sounds like [picked up] OVA [eggs]) R OVER |
ROVER (wanderer; migrant) |
| 10 | Man born of a mother? No! (4) |
A + DAM (mother) A DAM |
ADAM (first man referenced in the Bible, created by God without a mother) |
| 11 | Fuss about tips of lance and sword (6) |
TO–DO (fuss) containing (about) LE (first and last letters of [tips of] LANCE) TO (LE) DO |
TOLEDO (a tapering sword or sword-blade made in TOLEDO, Spain) |
| 12 | Clay is dumped in hollow by river regardless of the consequences (8) |
(ALI [reference Muhammad ALI {1942 – 2016}, American heavyweight boxer, formerly known as Cassius Clay] contained in (in) CAVE [hollow]) + R (river) CAV (ALI) E R |
CAVALIER (without thought of the consequences) |
| 13 | Greece advanced Spanish nothing for their city (7) |
GR (International Vehical Registration for Greece) + A (advanced) + NADA (Spanish for nothing, also used in English) GR A NADA |
GRANADA (city in Spain) |
| 15 | Threesome’s endless speed should secure United victory (7) |
(TRI TRI (U) MPH |
TRIUMPH (victory) |
| 17 | Where the Olympics were held in twenty-one (3) |
RIO (hidden word in [in] WARRIOR [entry at 21 [twenty-one] across) RIO |
RIO (RIO de Janiero, Brazilian city where the most recent Olympic Games were held) |
| 18 | Poles involved in characteristic movement of goods (7) |
NS (North and South; poles) contained in (involved in) TRAIT (characteristic) TRA (N S) IT |
TRANSIT (movement of goods) |
| 21 | One fighting with a bigot, oddly lacking in educational basics (7) |
W (with) + A + (IO [letters 2 and 4 {even numbered letters only; oddly lacking} of BIGOT] contained in [in] RRR [the three Rs – reading [w]riting and [a]rithmetic; educations basics]) W A RR (IO) R |
WARRIOR (one fighting) |
| 24 | Wind science? No way of doing it in African country (8) |
SCI (science) + SCI ROCCO |
SCIROCCO ( hot, dry, dusty and gusty wind blowing from N Africa to the north Mediterranean coast) |
| 27 | Star is left in America to bathe in publicity (6) |
(L [left] contained in [in] USA [United States of America]) all contained in (to bathe in) PR (public relations; publicity) P (U (L) SA) R |
PULSAR (pulsating star; any of a number of interstellar sources of regularly pulsed radiation, first discovered in 1967, and thought to be rotating neutron stars) |
| 28 | What’s in front of hotel spoiled good walk? (4) |
GOLF (for the letter G) precedes HOTEL (for the letter H) in the International Radio Communication code for letters of the alphabet GOLF |
GOLF (Mark Twain [1835 – 1910], pen name of American writer, is reported have said that GOLF is a good walk spoiled. I beg to differ) |
| 29 | Independent business next to a holiday location (5) |
I (independent) + BIZ (slang for business) + A I BIZ A |
IBIZA (island in Spain, popular with holidaymakers) |
| 30 | Heidegger regularly displays sharpness of mind (4) |
EDGE (letters 2, 4, 6 and 8 [regularly displays] of HEIDEGGER) EDGE |
EDGE (sharpness of mind) |
| 31 | Insect let out to chase another (6) |
BEE (insect) + an anagram of (out) LET BEE TLE* |
BEETLE ([another] insect) |
| 32 | Art collector in midst of assessing properties (7) |
TATE (reference Henry TATE [1819 – 1899], founder of the TATE art gallery in London) contained in (in) ESS (central letters of [in the midst of] ASSESSING) ES (TATE) S |
ESTATES (properties) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Small saloon requiring treatment for wood rot (3-4) |
Anagram of (requiring treatment) WOOD ROT TWO-DOOR* |
TWO-DOOR (type of small saloon car) |
| 2 | King Arthur’s leader among men in combat (9) |
A (first letter of [leader] ARTHUR) + an anagram of (in combat) AMONG MEN A GAMEMNON* |
AGAMEMNON (In Greek mythology, AGAMEMNON)
|
| 3 | Permanently give up excess consumption … (3,4) |
FORGO (do without; give up) + OD (overdose; excess consumption) FORGO OD |
FOR GOOD (permanently) |
| 4 | … of city life, whether it’s up or down (5) |
CIVIC (a word that is a palindrome. As a down entry it reads as the same word up or down) CIVIC |
CIVIC (relating to a city or citizens) |
| 5 | Organ cut by doctor who’s not yet qualified (1-6_ |
LIVER (organ of the body) containing (cut by) DR (doctor) L (DR) IVER |
L-DRIVER (one who’s not yet qualified [to drive]) |
| 6 | What’s sought by government dissembler turning up? (5) |
G (government) + LIAR (dissembler) reversed (turning up; down clue) G RAIL< |
GRAIL (cherished ambition or goal; what’s sought) |
| 7 | In a crossword this could be rated an improvement (5-2) |
TRADE-UP could be an anagram crossword clue for RATED where UP is the anagram indicator and TRADE is the anagram fodder. TRADE–UP |
TRADE-UP (buy a better version of what you have now, partly funding the purchase by selling the original item) |
| 14 | Shakespeare’s second person to be in drama, say (3) |
ART (Shakespearean term for ‘are’, form of ‘to be’ used with the second person ‘you’ or more likely ‘thou’ in Shakespeare’s time) ART |
ART (drama is a form of ART) |
| 15 | Drag queen quits Blackpool attraction (3) |
TOW TOW |
TOW (drag) |
| 16 | Most rowdy sporting tunes include game by line one (9) |
Anagram of (sporting) TUNES containing (include) (RU [Rugby Union; game] + L [line] + I [Roman numeral for one]) UN (RU L I) EST* |
UNRULIEST (most turbulent; most rowdy) |
| 19 | Park water supplier gets picked again (7) |
REC (recreation ground; park) + HOSE (water supplier) REC HOSE |
RECHOSE (picked again) |
| 20 | Queueing outside Celtic’s pitch (7) |
IN LINE (queuing) containing (outside) C (celtic, abbreviation in Collins) IN (C) LINE |
INCLINE (gradient; pitch) |
| 22 | Stop being led by snake oil industry product (7) |
ASP (snake) + HALT (stop) ASP HALT |
ASPHALT (a black or dark-brown, hard, bituminous substance, occurring naturally, and obtained as a residue in petroleum distillation, etc; oil industry product) |
| 23 | Fruit salad of mangoes and rambutans, peeled and pitted (7) |
Anagram of (salad) ORANGES* |
ORANGES (fruit) |
| 25 | Overhaul man in black Bugatti and contest ends (5) |
REF (referee; man in black) + IT (final letters [ends] of each of BUGATTI and CONTEST) REF I T |
REFIT (overhaul) |
| 26 | Nothing enjoyable should be postponed (2,3) |
O (nothing) + NICE (enjoyable) O N ICE |
ON ICE (postponed) |
I did a dreadful jingle once (following orders as usual)
“Gotta get a Holden Nova” etc etc
The theme was as subtle as Clarkson but very well executed.
I like Maize
Not into cars and totally missed the theme. Now that it’s pointed out, the crossword becomes that much better – and it was very good to begin with. Cheated with a word fit on SCIROCCO, didn’t know it could be spelt with the first C. RECHOSE was then my loi. Seems a clumsy word. I would never use it (“rechosen” perhaps but unlikely).
Thanks all.
I thought this was excellent – good fun, great clues, smooth surfaces and a clever theme (which I didn’t spot until I had finished solving). In fact, all one could wish for in a crossword.
I am not sure if purists would find splitting the indicators and fodder in 23d acceptable, but IMHO It makes for a much better clue than “… peeled mangoes and pitted rambutans”. I liked this clue a lot and I do like rambutans!
Many thanks to Maize and to Duncan.
Super puzzle as per usual from Maize. Spotted the theme immediately, but it didn’t help much as I’m not into cars. After solving a clue on its own, I would acknowledge that it was yet another model of car. I always look out for a Nina with Maize, but with all the themesters I forgot this time, and sure enough, it was there in the middle row.
Favourite of today’s vehicular conveyances? Without doubt the humble Ford TRANSIT. Memories of Jack Regan (John Thaw’s signature role IMO) and George Carter bundling assorted arch villains into or out of said van, screaming to a halt on some abandoned urban wasteland in 1970’s London. Never bettered in the cop show genre, even if it was over 40 years ago.
Thanks to Maize – pity this isn’t an alphanumeric crossword, otherwise you would have been able to fit in my favourite beast of all time, the legendary Datsun (none of this la-di-da Nissan PULSAR) 180B – and to Duncan.
“We’re the Sweeney son and we aint had any dinner’
I have to say the cars mentioned here are mostly a rogues gallery
All seems to have gone wrong today. When I try to print, all I get is the grid with no clues. Am I the only one? Suggestions, please?
No problems printing earlier today (Windows 10 and Firefox). I don’t see how it would make any difference but try printing using Microsoft print to pdf and then printing the pdf.
tipnrun @7
Someone else has reported a similar problem on the General Discussion post. I have just tried and had no problems printing today’s Independent cryptic using Chrome on Win10. If you let me know what device/OS/browser you are using when unable to print the clues I will feed it back to the person responsible for the Indy online puzzles.
I’m using Windows 10 and Btinternet. Thanks.
An enjoyable solve without spotting the theme till we’d finished – actually we saw TOLEDO and GRANADA first as Spanish cities, plus IBIZA before realising the real theme.
Favourites, though were RIO and GOLF (the latter for the ‘spoiled good walk’)
Thanks, Maize and Duncan.
I’ve just tried using Chrome, and this has worked perfectly. Maybe it’s a BTinternet problem. Thanks to everybody.
tiprun @7: Another thought: if you print the grid without the clues you can then copy and paste the clues from further down the webpage and then combine the two. And that way you don’t get the very narrow columns.
I’ve just printed it using Chrome. All fine. Maybe it’s a BTinternet problem. Thanks to everybody.
Can’t believe I solved this without even spotting the theme – dim or what!
I’m convinced that some friends of mine had a something-or-other TRAFFIC but can’t find it anywhere.
Apologies to our blogger but 28a raised a definite smile here!
Many thanks to Maize and to Duncan for the review.
A pity 17a wasn’t “Where the Olympics were held in sixteen”, since twenty-one doesn’t divide by four.
Absolutely brilliant, well done and thanks Maize and Duncan.
Jane @15: You’re probably thinking of the Renault Trafic (with one F).
Thank you Allan @18 – you could well be correct. One less thing for me to worry about!
Thanks very much Duncan.
The idea today was that the top line constituted a whimsical title: ‘Traffic lights’ hinting that the remaining across lights ( plus a few others) were different types of traffic. Oh well, please yourselves!
The Orion Nina was entirely coincidental and I hadn’t even noticed till you pointed it out.
There is a Kia Rio though 🙂
This crossword was definitely my Pick of the Day.
And I managed to miss the theme ….
That’s probably why I didn’t get 28ac’s GOLF.
Perhaps, I am eating not healthily enough but what are ‘rambutans’?
Maize could have gone for ‘raspberries’ but he didn’t.
He didn’t write a pangram either …. 🙂
But hey, wonderful stuff – top setting!
Many thanks to duncanshiell &, of course, Maize.
I thought this was quite brilliant. How on earth did Maize manage not only to write such good clues but to fit all those cars in? And there weren’t really any very unusual words in the down answers. The only odd word (odd to me, at any rate) was in the clues: rambutans. Never heard of them.
Both mangoes and rambutans are found in India and South East Asia so they go together quite well.
A great puzzle as expected from Maize. I failed miserably to spot the theme – the top row looked like it was probably significant, but having little knowledge on the subject that was as far as I got. A pity, because it was another good grid fill, with equally good clues to match. More Maize please!
Great puzzle and enjoyable to solve. A very solver-friendly grid too.
Early on we thought we may have a Spanish cities theme with GRANADA, IBIZA and TOLEDO so we didn’t look any further until we came here. Well done Maize!
Thanks also to Duncan for the usual comprehensive blog.
Got most of this done before going out for the evening and got the final few when I got home just now. I’m a non-driver but I did manage to spot the theme. Helped somewhat, but I had no idea there was a car called an IBIZA. There really ought to be a car called an AGAMEMNON.
Dormouse@27: “There really ought to be a car called an AGAMEMNON” – to be parked outside your gate?
I’ll get my coat.