I have solved all Bluth’s puzzles in the Independent since his appearance in April, but this is the first one I have blogged.
There was an interesting use of words like discovered (dis-covered, 25 across) and detailed (de-tailed, 6 down) to instruct solvers to remove letters from an element within the wordplay. I think this is a device that has been appearing more often in many crosswords recently.
The two long hidden entries were very good , spread as they were across 4 and 5 words respectively. The 5-word one, STONY BROKE (2 down) was even reversed
My two favourite clues were the ones involving politics and political broadcasters leading to PRESCIENCE at 27 across and STEREOPHONIC at 11 down, for the construction of the entry in the first and the surface in the second.
This blog is the second one this week where I have had to parse LISP. Azed gave us a clue for LISP in last Sunday’s blog. It’s always fascinating to see how different setters clue the same word. Both involved the link between MISS and MYTH, but Azed didn’t have the advantage of MISS being in the grid, so he clued LISP as: – "Lass yields to pass is this – it makes miss sound like a legend! where the wordplay was L IS P to get PASS from LASS.
I liked the homophone of NE as any to get the chemical symbol for NEON at 28 across
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 1 | Finally help India reassess colonialist history (4|) |
PAST (last letter [finally] of each of HELP, INDIA, REASSESS and COLONIALIST) P A S T |
PAST (history) |
| 3 | Control station in two stops (10) |
CHECK ([bring to a] stop) + POINT ([full]stop; punctuation mark) CHECK POINT |
CHECKPOINT (control station) |
| 9 | Zombie, regularly drinking a bit of Oliver Reed is probably in it (4) |
OBE (letters 2, 4 and 6 [regularly] of ZOMBIE) containing (drinking) O (first letter of [a bit of] OLIVER) OB (O) E |
OBOE (an OBOE is a double-reed treble woodwind instrument, so there will be a reed in it) |
| 10 | Cliff Richard initially invested in Manx getaway, intended to spend advance (10) |
R (first letter of [initially] RICHARD contained in [invested] ESCAP ESCA (R) P MENT |
ESCARPMENT (The long continuous steep face of a ridge or plateau formed by erosion; cliff) |
| 12 | Devious spy to go legit – perhaps Carter (12) |
Anagram of (devious) SPY TO GO LEGIT EGYPTOLOGIST* |
EGYPTOLOGIST (reference Howard CARTER [1874 – 1939], English archaeologist and EGYPTOLOGIST. Carter was assistant to Lord Carnarvon, when he was sponsoring excavations in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings which saw the excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun) |
| 15 | Personnel concealing anger for employer (5) |
HR (Human Resources [personnel]) containing (concealing) IRE (anger) H (IRE) R |
HIRER (person who obtains use or service for payment; employer) |
| 16 | Antagonise cult, capturing a very strong princess first (9) |
DI (reference Diana, Princess of Wales [1961 – 1997]) + (SECT [cult] containing [capturing] [A + FF {in music, an instruction to play the notes very loud or strong}]) DI S (A FF) ECT |
DISAFFECT (antagonise) |
| 18 | Ignorant hunk, now in gardening trousers (9) |
UNKNOWING (hidden word in [trousers [appropriates; takes]) HUNK NOW IN GARDENING) UNKNOWING |
UNKNOWING (ignorant) |
| 21 | Space professor’s way of putting things (3-2) |
EN (printer’s measurement of the space taken by a letter N) + DON (academic lecturer; professor) EN D ON |
END ON (With the end adjacent to the end of another object; way of putting things) |
| 22 | Harry, Meghan and Vicar have a little stress at the start – some people take it on the chin (7,5) |
S (first letter of [a little] STRESS) + an anagram of (harry) MEGHAN and VICAR S HAVING CREAM* |
SHAVING CREAM (material used by some men when cutting the bristles on their chin and face) |
| 25 | Explosive journal on Van Goch discovered (10) |
INCEN (letters remaining in INCEN DIARY |
INCENDIARY (an INCENDIARY bomb is one containing a highly inflammable substance and designed to burst into flames on striking its objective) |
| 26 | Pine for a girl (4) |
MISS (feel loss or absence; pine) MISS |
MISS (girl) double definition |
| 27 | Foresight of Trump’s running mate defining Republican key initiative at the start (10) |
(PENCE [reference Mike PENCE [US Vice President and running mate of Donald Trump in the forthcoming Presidential election]) containing (defining; fixing the boundary of) (R [Republican] + ESC [Escape key] + I [first letter of {at the start} INITIATIVE) P (R ESC I) ENCE |
PRESCIENCE (foresight) |
| 28 | Heard any gas (4) |
NE (pronounce EN EE sounds like [heard] ANY, is the chemical symbol for NEON) NEON |
NEON (inert gas) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Following concert, Sue comes back over the moon (10) |
PROM (reference PROMenade concert) + SUE reversed [comes back] containing [over] THE) PROM E (THE) US< |
PROMETHEUS (one of the moons of Saturn) |
| 2 | Penniless from being part Greek – or by not saving, on reflection (5,5) |
STONY BROKE (hidden word [being part] reversed [on reflection] in GREEK OR BY NOT SAVING) STONY BROKE< |
STONY BROKE (penniless) |
| 4 | Worked fast, was winning after cycling thus (7) |
HUST (THUS with the letters cycling one position to the left and the initial T moved to the end [after cycling]) + LED (was winning) HUST LED |
HUSTLED (worked fast) |
| 5 | Firms gathering seaweed for fuel (4,3) |
COS (companies; firms) containing (gathering) ALGA (a seaweed) CO (AL GA) S |
COAL GAS (type of fuel) |
| 6 | Energy found in seeds from fruit detailed on European symbols of harmony and friendship (5,2,5) |
(E [energy] contained in [found in] PIPS [seeds]) + OF (from) + PEAC PIP (E) S OF PEAC E |
PIPES OF PEACE (long decorated PIPES smoked by Native Americans on ceremonial occasions, especially as tokens of PEACE, harmony and friendship) |
| 7 | Independent satisfied over article (4) |
I (independent) + MET (agreed; settled) reversed [over] I TEM< |
ITEM (article) |
| 8 | Metatarsal’s so long (4) |
TATA (hidden word in [indicated by the possessive ‘s] METATARSAL) TATA |
TA-TA (goodbye; so long) |
| 11 | Heroic Peston broadcast on two channels (12) |
Anagram of (broadcast) HEROIC PESTON STEREOPHONIC* |
STEREOPHONIC (description of sound [broadcast] on two channels) |
| 13 | There’s important information here concerning a corrupt male on the inside (6,4) |
RE (with reference to; concerning) + A + (M [male] contained in [on the inside] DEFILE [corrupt]) RE A D (M) E FILE |
README FILE (A text file supplied with computer software that contains information about the software, such as advice on installation and bugs, usually completely ignored by most users when they encounter a problem that is covered by the information in the file) |
| 14 | Craftman‘s expression of astonishment, wiping bottom and, simultaneously, leg (10) |
STONE M STONE M AS ON |
STONEMASON (craftsman) |
| 17 | Trendy name for a pub (3) |
IN (trendy) + N (name) IN N |
INN (pub) |
| 19 | Bill‘s arrived with agency (7) |
IN (arrived) + VOICE (agency) IN VOICE |
INVOICE (bill) |
| 20 | For example, Hoover’s sweeping (7) |
GENERIC ( although Hoover is a specific brand name, it is also nowadays a general or GENERIC name for vacuum cleaners) GENERIC |
GENERIC (general, applicable to any member of a group or class; of or belonging to a genus; universal; sweeping) |
| 23 | This will make 26 sound like fiction (4) |
A person with a LISP will pronounce MISS (26 across) like MYTH (fiction) LISP |
LISP (see [cryptic] definition in wordplay column) |
| 24 | Spots a knight in church (4) |
A + (N [letter used to refer to Knight in chess notation] contained in [in] CE [Church {of England}]) A C (N) E |
ACNE (spots) |
Found this a much quicker solve than previous Bluths. Having said that, I did resort to a word fit on 13d and kicked myself for not seeing it. 2d was a beautiful reverse hidden. Although very simple, 1a was a nicely constructed clue. Also liked the splits in Oliver Reed and Cliff Richard in successive clues, even though the latter was used in a similar fashion in a clue elsewhere recently. Thanks to Bluth and Duncan.
Another enjoyable Bluth solve, although like Hovis, I did have to resort to aids to solve 13d. My favourite clue – 1d of course!
Thanks to Bluth and Duncan
Coincidence corner: an Azed puzzle earlier this month featured the clue “Lass yields to pass if this – it makes miss sound like legend! (4)”.
Richard Heald @ 3
I think you’ll find I made that connection in the preamble to the blog!
Although correctly solved I had to come here for the parsing of 28A (should have seen it) and 13D. Loved the hidden words at 18A and 2D. Thanks Bluth and Duncan.
Duncanshiell@4 Oops, sorry! I usually read your entertaining preambles but for some reason I missed that bit.
Like Hovis, I admired the Cliff Richard and Oliver Reed clues – one of my favourite devices – and I’m almost as chuffed as crypticsue with the delightful 1dn. Like Tatrasman, I loved the cleverly hidden 18ac and, especially, 2dn.
I also had ticks for EGYPTOLOGIST, SHAVING CREAM, INCENDIARY and STEREOPHONIC (more clever use of real people’s names in all of them).
I’m afraid I couldn’t find the necessary aids to solve 13dn, so a DNF for me today.
Bluth is now established as one of my favourite Indy setters. Many thanks to him for another fine puzzle and to Duncan for the blog.
All highly enjoyable, including some inventive ways of clueing. I wonder if I am alone in initially entering for 20dn general, where a search revealed historic figure(s) of said army rank?!
I’m a regular Guardianista, but enjoy Bluth’s contributions enough to put up with the intrusive ads on the Independent website. Today’s was well worth the plugs for MG’s electric cars (see what I did there). Too many favourites to mention, but especially liked the misdirections using famous peoples names. A chuckle for NEON, and I needed help from 23d to get 26a. LOI was README FILE, and like others I had to come here for the parsing. Thanks to Bluth and Duncan.
all was going swimmingly until 13d…. ah well.. other new thing was harry as an anagram indicator.. yet another to add to list… hidden entries still remain so, despite duncanshiell’s attempt to enlighten… tumbleweed yet again.. with Eileen for all the rest..
thanks Bluth n duncanshiell
Undrell moore@10 Per the blog, 2dn is an example simply of the answer being hidden within the words in the clue – in the specific case, stony broke happens to be written backwards as highlighted using the separate colours
The most enjoyable puzzle from this setter so far, in my eyes, although the surface read of 9a was somewhat dire and I hadn’t heard of the file in 13d.
Thanks to Bluth for leaving the gutter behind and thanks to Duncan for the review.
Very impressed with Bluth. Always brilliant but accessible enough not to dent the enjoyment/time ratio.
That said, after staring at 13d for a few minutes I decided if it was going to take longer than the entire rest of the puzzle had taken then I’d give in to a pattern search. Happily I didn’t need to as I then thought of a likely second word, from which it all tumbled out nicely. Great clue, and a lovely penny drop to END[-]ON (not an easy one to define for crossword purposes, btw).
Understandably lots of love for the long ones, but I’d add a mention for the simple but cute HIRER (HR always makes me think of this), and I enjoyed the MISS/LISP pair too.
Thanks Bluth and Duncan.
I found this nicely challenging and very enjoyable. Fortunately I am familiar with the answer to 13d otherwise I might have struggled with that one.
There were so many good clues with ticks all over my page that I wouldn’t know where to begin in selecting a favourite. I will just say that I think you would struggle to find a better reverse lurker than STONY-BROKE.
Many thanks to Bluth and to Duncan.
Another tour de force from Bluth. I too struggled with 13d, but I was helped at 12 by the fact that another clue this week used Carter, and Howard leapt to mind though he turned out to be irrelevant. I’m glad he finally proved useful.
The reoccurrence of Carter is not the best example, but I’ve often wondered about the appearance of the same unusual or obscure solutions in different papers on the same or consecutive days. It always seems too unlikely to be coincidence, but as I understand it there is typically such a long lead time between submission and publication that it must be.
Enjoyable and one of those crosswords that was harder to parse than to solve. Still, gentler than the last Bluth, though I missed the reverse hidden of STONY BROKE, which I just bunged in from the def, and missed the parsing of NEON and README FILE.
Thanks to Bluth and to Duncan.
I guess README FILEs must have been more common in the early days of software development for PCs. Nowadays it is online manuals which are provided, but few people read those either.
TFO @8: no, you’re not alone – I, too, put in general and there is a current US lieutenant general of that name though that seemed rather extreme GK. Only when PRESCIENCE went in was I disabused.
I agree with the praise awarded to Bluth’s latest in the comments above and most of my favourites have been mentioned. I was lucky in remembering README FILE though I would probably have gone for three words if not prompted by the enumeration. STONY BROKE is, of course, sublime and I’m with Eileen @7 on her four ticks and with her and Hovis @1 on enjoying the Cliff/Oliver device and clues. Finally – to show I can have opinions of my own – I think NEON is brilliant – though only once Duncan had explained it, at which point it was elevated from uncomprehending bung to highly admired solution.
[Ian SW3 @15: one of my favourite subjects is the coincidence of words/clues across setters, days and publications. I regularly do three – DT, Guardian and Indy – and occasionally a Telegraph Toughie or FT. One day, recently, ‘cleans(e) came up – I think – four times! (Not a particularly obscure word, granted, but a heck of a hit rate). ‘Cheetah’ was another and, on Monday, ‘tattooist’ appeared in two puzzles (albeit as solution in one and part of clue in a second). It has to be coincidence and I’m aware there’s some interesting maths around the subject. Recently someone contributed to a blog the theory that you only need a couple of dozen people in a room to end up with two of them sharing a birthday and there is probably something similar that explains cruciverbal coincidences.]
Thanks Bluth and Duncan
Very enjoyable (my first Bluth solve, but it won’t be the last). I found some of it quite tough – I had GENERAL rather than GENERIC at first, which made 27A rather tough. I was stuck for some time having only got a couple, but 12A unlocked things very nicely indeed.
Kitty @13: love the Dilbert! You will surely be aware that in many companies HR is translated as Human Remains by everyone but the department themselves.
Jimmy @19: TFO must be delighted. S/He’s waited 5 hours for an answer and then, like London buses, two of us turned up at exactly the same time to admit to GENERAL errors.
I guess I’m the only one who din’t like MANX for dropping the last letter then?
It’s only the cats that have no tail after all.
Would you be happy with French to clue short-nosed as French bulldogs have no snout?
I also wrote UGH next to README FILE but that’s just a personal thing.
Enjoyed the rest so thanks to S&B
Thanks everyone and thanks Duncan for the very thorough blog.
I really appreciate so many kind comments.
Jane @12 – I’m sorry you find the surface of 9A ‘dire’ – I was rather pleased with it. I like the idea that a flesh eating creature that is regularly drinking might have eaten some of a notorious alcoholic. All makes sense to me!
reddevil @22 – I wouldn’t expect everyone to like ‘manx’ as an indicator to drop the last letter – but it is a fairly standard construction. You can see it used here by, Hob, Puck, Hoskins, Tees, Kairos and Everyman for example.
I wasn’t expecting this to be quite so well received in part because it employed two devices that I’ve used previously that people took issue with at the time. Even though both are absolutely standard. I suspect Duncan’s very clear explanations in the blog helped to head them off at the pass.
One is the use of the possessive apostrophe in 8D to signify the hidden. This seems entirely uncontroversial to me. If we all understand that John’s ball is the ball that belongs to John then there seems nothing remotely controversial about ‘Metatarsal’s so long’ meaning the ‘so long’ belonging to metatarsal. Indeed, it seems to be quite standard – hard to search for, naturally – but here are examples of it from Matilda, Falcon, Puck and Vulcan. For some reason in May when I used that device (Snug lycra’s unattractive) it seemed to raise eyebrows and be deemed not-rigorous-enough by some.
In 27A I’m using ‘defining’ as a containment indicator. Again, this doesn’t seem controversial to me – as Duncan explains it in the blog it means ‘fixing the boundary of’ so there’s no reason why should it be. But in May, when I used it – well, it was ‘defines’ (Bog paper defines shareholder’s meeting) – it was deemed ‘inadequate’ for that purpose by some (it was also vigorously defended by others.)
Anyway… I was fully expecting the same person to take issue with the same devices today and for it to therefore feel far more divisive than it has been. As it goes they’ve only offered compliments for this one so either they’ve overcome their objections or they feel there is enough merit in the rest of the crossword to override such quibbles!
In any case I’m thrilled by all the feedback and delighted that it seems to have gone over as well as it has. Thank you.
Ian @15 (and several people after) I’m equally fascinated by the coincidence of some words appearing in quick succession. But you’re right, it can only be coincidence. Most of the time, when you see one of mine published it is more than a month after it was submitted. Many’s the time I’ve seen words in other crosswords arrive in between me submitting them and publication. And, of course, I know they must have submitted theirs before mine etc etc.
Aaaand finally – do stay awake at the back – I left a comment on a Punk crossword in September saying “Cricket is very much not my thing so I had no idea that ‘leg’ was ‘on’ and no matter how many times I encounter it, I don’t think I ever will. (Maybe I’ll make an effort to use it and that might cement it for me)” and this was the crossword where I used it (14D) so hopefully this will have cemented it in my brain and I’ll be a slightly better solver now!
Fabulous. Ta. Ta-ta
Nice even if we did miss a couple of parsings. Slight quibble with readme file: they never contain important information. Jane’s “gutter” comment is ridiculous and she should be ashamed.
Eric @25 – thank you. And don’t worry about Jane’s gutter comment. She just enjoys being contrary. See the comments at http://www.fifteensquared.net/2020/08/31/independent-10572-bluth/
and you’ll see she claims to find ‘zit’ and ‘bog paper’ distasteful but likes clues about bishops having sex and taking crack or perverts sexually assaulting geese. I take her accusations of being in the gutter with a pinch of salt!
(Also she seems to have missed the craftsman wiping his bottom and leg at the same time!)