Independent 10,958 / Tees

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Tees’ latest puzzle has been set for our entertainment today.

I found this puzzle to be towards the difficult end of the Indy spectrum and made rather slow progress through it. In the end, I needed to search Chambers to find the entries at 5A and 5D. Both were new words for me, as was “sheesh” in the wordplay at 5D.

My favourite clues today were 2 and 15, both for surface reading; 10, for being such a neat and clever spot for a Spoonerism; and above all 7, for its surface reading and extremely well-hidden definition. I am not convinced by “heedless” as a synonym for “ungrateful” at 13, but perhaps other solvers are?

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across  
   
05 BREWPUB King on guitar with pure playing inside bar

[W (=with) + *(PURE)] in B B (=King on guitar, i.e. the American singer-songwriter and guitarist B.B. King); “playing” is anagram indicator
   
09 CRAWL Stomach large? Move slowly

CRAW (=stomach, especially of a bird) + L (=large, of sizes)
   
10 MIKE LEIGH Director resembling Tees, as Spooner would have it

Spoonerism of “like me (=resembling Tees, i.e. today’s setter)”; the reference is to the English film and theatre director Mike Leigh (1943-)
   
11 PHILOSOPHY Quietly correcting His holy work involved discipline

P (=quietly, i.e. piano) + [OP (=work, i.e. opus) in *(HIS HOLY)]; “correcting” is anagram indicator
   
12 SEAL Amphibious commando in ocean and lake

SEA (=ocean) + L (=lake, on maps); the reference is to the US special forces, the Navy SEALs
   
14 EASTERN CAPE Behind in the City, primate comes to Province

[ASTERN (=behind) in EC (=City, of London)] + APE (=primate); the Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa
   
18 HEAD TEACHER Principal worry involves alien backing resistance

[TE (ET=alien; “backing” indicates reversal) in HEADACHE (=worry, problem)] + R (=resistance, in physics)
   
21/25 RENÉ DESCARTES One who thought about deer as scent spread about

RE: (=about, regarding) + *(DEER AS SCENT); “spread about” is anagram indicator; René Descartes was a French philosopher (1596-1650), known for the statement at 19/1A
   
22 INFECTIOUS Corruptly use fiction? That’s easily picked up

*(USE FICTION); “corruptly” is anagram indicator
   
26 FRIAR Heard employee cooking for brother?

Homophone (“heard”) of “frier/fryer (=employee cooking)”
   
27 NUANCES Subtle variations one’s not found in pests

NU<is>ANCES (=pests); “I (one)’s” not found in” means that letters “is” are dropped
   
28 EELPOUT Swimmer in Spain known to accept Cockney aid?

<h>ELP (=aid; “Cockney” means letter “h” is dropped) in [E (=Spain, i.e. España) + OUT (=known, public)]
   
Down  
   
01 ESCAPE Get out with // this key

Double definition: to get out is to escape AND there is an escape key (Esc) on a computer keyboard
   
02 GOALIE Banks perhaps withdraw an inaccurate statement

GO (=withdraw, leave) + A LIE (=an inaccurate statement); the reference is to the England goalkeeper Gordon Banks (1937-2019)
   
03 SILHOUETTE United put into shabby hotel – that’s in plot outline

[U (=United, as in Man U) in *(HOTEL)] in SITE (=plot, location); “shabby” is anagram indicator
   
04 MAMBO Chinese chairman brings doctor in for dance

MB (=doctor, i.e. Bachelor of Medicine) in MAO (=Chinese chairman); the mambo is a Latin American dance or tune of Haitian origin
   
05 BAKSHEESH Money as tip returned we hear? I’m surprised

Homophone (“we hear”) of “back (=returned)” + SHEESH (=I’m surprised!, in US slang)
   
06 EELS Remove head from rotter’s fish

<h>EEL’S (=rotter’s, cad’s); “remove head from” means first letter is dropped
   
07 PRICE TAG Damage shower and carpeting – not new – ruined

*(CARPETI<n>G); “not new (=N)” means letter “n” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “ruined”
   
08 BEHOLDEN Indebted veteran stuffs live chicken

OLD (=veteran, as adjective) in [BE (=live, exist) + HEN (=chicken)]
   
13 UNGRATEFUL Heedless wildebeest, raised on grass, scattered fuel

UNG (GNU=wildebeest; “raised” indicates reversal) + RAT (=grass, traitor) + *(FUEL); “scattered” is anagram indicator
   
15 STAGNATES Male bottom becomes motionless

STAG (=male) + NATES (=bottom, buttocks)
   
16 SHERIDAN Le Fanu? // Who scandalised the educational establishment?

The reference is to the Irish Gothic writer Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-73) AND to the Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), known for his work The School for Scandal (1877), hence “who scandalised the education establishment”
   
17 MAGNESIA Woman in train perked up? Tummy calmer

AGNES (=woman, i.e. female forename) in MIA (AIM=train, e.g. a gun; “perked up” indicates vertical reversal); milk of magnesia is used to calm upset stomachs
   
19/1A COGITO, ERGO SUM Drudge one to bring back giant problem in 25 11’s famous line?

COG (=drudge, i.e. insignificant worker in large organisation) + I (=one) + TO + ERGO (OGRE=giant; “back” indicates reversal) + SUM (=problem); this famous phrase by René Descartes first appeared in his Discourse on the Method (1637)
   
20 ESPRIT Liveliness and sixth sense slowing

ESP (=sixth sense, i.e. Extra Sensory Perception) + RIT. (=slowing, i.e. ritardando in music)
   
23 ENSUE Follow guarantee to remove Republican

ENSU<r>E (=to guarantee); “to remove Republican (=R)” means letter “r” is dropped
   
24 TALC Perfumed powder found in metal crate

Hidden (“found”) in “meTAL Crate”
   

 

16 comments on “Independent 10,958 / Tees”

  1. Thanks RR, a couple I couldn’t parse today, and I needed Chambers to confirm a few as well. Definitely on the harder side.

    I didnt think SHERIDAN was particularly cryptic, but damage show-er had me fooled for ages.

    Most enjoyable, thanks both.

  2. Parts of this were tough but I enjoyed most of it. A couple of niggles however were the unindicated American expression in 5d and the vague woman in 17d.

    It was good to be reminded by “King on guitar” of three great bluesmen: Albert, Freddie & BB.

    Two new things for me today were Mike Leigh and the the fish in 28a.

    Blah @1, surely SHERIDAN is cryptic by virtue of being a double definition?

    I particularly liked GOALIE, but my favourite was PRICE TAG for the brilliant definition.

    Many thanks to Tees and to RR.

  3. Tees in tricky mode today but as enjoyable as ever – my favourite was the damage shower in 7d

    Thanks to him and RR

  4. I’m afraid I don’t agree RD. I think it was just a matter or GK, either you know it or you don’t. Le Fanu gave me the answer straight away, and while I couldn’t at first recall the title The School for Scandal, my thought process was its bound to be something by Sheridan of The Rivals fame. Hmm didn’t he write something with scandal in the title? Yes something to do with schools and scandals. A quick Google to confirm my failing memory et voila.

    I’m not complaining BTW even if it sounds like it, and I’ll agree the second component is cryptic-ish. I certainly didn’t let such a minor quibble spoil my enjoyment of a fine crossword.

    Also I most definitely agree with you about PRICE TAG.

  5. I too found this at the harder end of the Tees spectrum, and was uncomfortable with heedless = ungrateful, though I expect someone will find it in a dictionary somewhere. Otherwise all very enjoyable, and good to see the great Gordon Banks still remembered. Thanks Tees and RatkojaRiku.

  6. A bit rushed this morning so just a quick note to acknowledge a very nice puzzle which solved smoothly apart from LOI GOALIE where I was convinced it should be GORDON but was completely confident in the crossers A and I. Doh! Enjoyed the mini PHILOSOPHY theme and also discovering that an EELPOUT actually exists when wordplay suggested it must. And, despite the quibble about 13d, always nice to encounter a cruciverbal GNU, whether upside down or not.

    Thanks Tees and RR

  8. In Chambers thesaurus, the last synonym for ungrateful is heedless, so have to accept it. Like others, needed help to get the crossing 5a & 5d, both new words for me. Lots of difficulty with the rest but got them unaided which proved very satisfying. “Eelpout” is a fish that appears every now and then on Countdown, so that was relatively straightforward for me.

  9. Yes, Tees serving up a challenge. Some difficult ones and I hadn’t come across my last couple in BREWPUB or EELPOUT before. I was expecting “axes” to appear somewhere, but, unless I’ve missed something, the grid proved to only have one occurrence of a Y and no X.

    I’ll join almost everyone else in liking the PRICE TAG def and found the ‘Who scandalised the educational establishment?’ at 16d to be sufficiently cryptic to earn a tick as well.

    Thanks to Tees and RR

  10. Didn’t know BREWPUB and only vaguely remembered the EELPOUT. Then it was the Descartes line that caused some grief – not really my best performance one way and another!
    Nice to get a Spoonerism that I actually enjoyed and my favourite was the one chosen by others – PRICE TAG.

    Thanks to Tees and to RR for the review.

  11. Wordplodder @ 9 I think Tees wanted to include the axes but couldn’t co-ordinate it. I vaguely remember “sheesh” from a cartoon, but I can’t place which one. I assume it must be a euphemism from the same school as sugar??

  12. Once we got 1dn, 3 and 4 we realised what 19/1ac had to be and, of course the other answers linked to it. After that it was all fairly easy going. We did need to confirm EELPOUT in Chambers, and whilst 5ac was obviously BREWPUB we took ages to parse it.
    We liked SHERIDAN (although it was a bit of a write-in), PRICE TAG (for its penny-drop moment) and the aforesaid BREWPUB.
    Thanks, Tees and RatkojaRiku.

  13. Petert @ 11 – I thought sheesh was a polite version of ‘Jeez’. Similar pronunciation, as in the first phonemes of sugar & sh**.

  14. Tough but fair, as they say. Familiar with baksheesh but not brewpub. Or eelpout. Penny didn’t drop on price tag until I came here, at which it went straight in as favourite clue. Thanks to Tees and RatkojaRiku

  16. Found this much easier than 13th Nov puzzle which others found easy and I couldn’t get SE corner. Mike Leigh was a write-in but Brewpub took a long while and I had to convince myself price tag was right!

    Agree about heedless.

    Thanks, Tees and RR 🙂

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