Independent 11,003 by Wiglaf

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Slightly tricky from Wiglaf today, I thought – a few rather obscure definitions. But maybe that’s just me.

Some of the surfaces feel a bit contrived, but I did like the trigger-happy baking nuns, the long-sighted Zulu minister, the surprised Dutch settler, and the thoughtful hod-carrier.

It’s Tuesday so we whould be expecting a theme, but I’ve failed to see one. Perhaps it’s something in the writings of Ernest Hemingway (10a), but if so it’s not obvious. Any ideas? Thanks Wiglaf for the challenge, and apologies for not quite being on your wavelength today.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 BUZZARD
Flapper has to call a doctor back (7)
BUZZ (call by telephone, pager, etc) + A, then DR (short for doctor) reversed (back).

Flapper = creature with wings = bird.
5 STEPHEN
Man exposing pecker on stage (7)
HEN (pecker = bird that pecks) added to STEP (stage).

It could be argued that “man” isn’t a fair definition for a specific man’s name (because there are far too many to choose from), or that “exposing” makes for an amusingly risqué surface but doesn’t do anything for definition or wordplay.
9 MHORR
Beast from horror shows (5)
Hidden answer (. . . shows) in [fro]M HORR[or].

Another name for the dama gazelle. I hadn’t heard of it by either name.
10 HEMINGWAY
Women extremely happy to get involved with Enigma author (9)
Anagram (to get involved) of W (abbreviation for women) + end letters (extremes) of H[app]Y + ENIGMA.

The author Ernest Hemingway.
11 STINK BOMBS
After unpleasant brouhaha, fails to find causes of stench (5,5)
STINK (as in “cause a stink” = disruption and annoyance = unpleasant brouhaha) + BOMBS (as a verb = slang for “fails completely”).
12 STOA
Ancient books devoured by a son in retreat where philosophers gathered (4)
OT (Old Testament = ancient books), contained in (devoured by) A + S (son), all reversed (in retreat).

An old favourite in crosswords: in ancient Greek architecture, a covered public walkway. The group of philosophers known as the Stoics took their name from their habit of gathering in a stoa for discussions.
14 NEW YEAR’S EVE
Eye raves possibly in this time for partying (3,5,3)
A reverse anagram: EYE RAVES is an anagram (NEW) of YEAR’S EVE, with “possibly” as an extra clue that we’re looking for an anagram.
18 HORNETS’ NEST
Husband’s rottenness stirred up hostile reaction (7,4)
Anagram (stirred up) of H (husband) + ROTTENNESS.

The definition doesn’t quite work for me. To “stir up a hornets’ nest” is to do something that provokes a hostile reaction, but the nest isn’t the reaction – the behaviour of a lot of annoyed stinging insects is the reaction.
21 ROSE
She was revolting (4)
Double definition. A woman’s name (as in 5a, this seems a rather vague definition); or the past tense of “rise” = revolt = rebel against authority.
22 GINGER NUTS
Biscuits made by nuns, largely trigger happy (6,4)
Anagram (happy?) of NUNS + TRIGGE[r] (largely = all but the last letter).

Otherwise known as ginger snaps: biscuits flavoured with ginger and other spices.
25 REED ORGAN
Daughter in play annoyed about parts for harmonium? (4,5)
REGAN (one of the daughters of Shakespeare’s King Lear), with RODE (annoyed, as a verb) reversed (about) inserted (parting it). I wasn’t familiar with “ride” in this sense, but the dictionaries say it can mean to persecute or harass.
26 TATAR
I appreciate that time’s needed with Arabic language (5)
TA (colloquial for “thank you” = “I appreciate that”) + T (time) + AR (abbreviation for Arabic).
27 SPEAK UP
Take a nip across summit? Come again? (5,2)
SUP (take a nip = drink) containing (across) PEAK (summit).

Come again? = speak up = “Say that again please, I didn’t hear you properly”.
28 SUSPECT
Dubious American priest admitted to cult (7)
US (American) + P (abbreviation for priest), in SECT (cult).
DOWN
1 BEMUSE
Lie next to Clio for one puzzle (6)
BE (lie, as in “let it be” = “let it lie” = don’t get upset about it) next to MUSE (Clio = one of the Muses in ancient Greek mythology).
2 ZOOM IN
Zulu minister needs to acquire spectacles to get a closer look (4,2)
Z (Zulu in the radio alphabet) + MIN (abbreviation for minister), containing (to acquire) OO (two zeros, sometimes known as “spectacles”; the cricketing expression “a pair” is short for “a pair of spectacles”, referring to being out for a score of zero in both innings of a match).
3 AFRIKANDER
Dutch settler sees naked friar running (10)
Anagram (running) of NAKED FRIAR.

Old form of what is now usually AFRIKANER. I suppose the original settlers would have been called Afrikanders when they came to Africa, but their descendants are now Afrikaners.
4 DOHYO
Brick carrier reflected: “Hey, the Japanese can compete here” (5)
HOD (a container for carrying bricks on a building site) reversed (reflected) + YO (yo! = hey! = a shoult to attract someone’s attention).

The ring in which Japanese sumo wrestling takes place.
5 SEMIBREVE
Woman tempted by house with small bedroom makes note (9)
EVE (woman tempted, in the Garden of Eden), next to SEMI (short for semi-detached house) + BR (abbreviation – small? – for bedroom, although not a familiar one to me).

A note-length in music: in modern notation it represents a fairly long note, although the name derives from half a “breve” which was considered to be a “short” note in early musical notation.
6 ERNE
10 stone flying bird (4)
ERNE[st] (10 = reference to 10a = Ernest Hemingway), with the ST (abbreviation for stone = unit of weight) “flying” away.

A sea eagle.
7 HOWITZER
Who incorrectly said it’s a gun? (8)
Anagram (incorrectly) of WHO, then a homophone (said) of IT’S A.
8 NAYSAYER
I oppose, in fact, state hospital drama (8)
NAY (in fact = word used to introduce a stronger or more precise statement of what’s just been said: as in “It’s a rare, nay, an archaic usage”) + SAY (state) + ER (TV drama set in a US hospital emergency room, ER).
13 URETHRITIS
Inflammation that’s dire when daughter goes – it hurts badly (10)
Anagram (badly) of [d]IRE (without the D = daughter) + IT HURTS.

An inflammation in the outer end of the urinary system.
15 WASHING-UP
Used to be cool to carry loaded gun in cleansing operation (7-2)
WAS HIP (used to be cool = was in fashion), containing (to carry) an anagram (loaded? – perhaps “drunk” but that seems a bit of a stretch) of GUN.

I gather this is a specifically British term for what others call “washing dishes”.
16 CHARTRES
Plans to hold religious classes in French cathedral (8)
CHARTS (plans = maps), holding RE (abbreviation for Religious Education classes).

Gothic cathedral in northern France.
17 CROSS-EYE
Angry viewer has strabismus (5-3)
CROSS (angry) + EYE (viewer).

Strabismus = squint = a condition where the two eyes fail to align in the same direction: they may be pointing inwards (cross-eye), outwards (wall-eye), or vertically misaligned.
19 TURTLE
Felt ruthless somewhat picking up swimmer (6)
Hidden answer (somewhat), reversed (picking up = upwards in a down clue) in [f]ELT RUT[hless].

A creature that swims, in the same way that “flapper” and “pecker” were birds in earlier clues.
20 ESPRIT
Nymph on a cycle shows liveliness (6)
SPRITE (nymph = fairy-like creature in folklore), with the letters moving round in a “cycle” so that the E moves to the front.
23 GENUS
Type of wildebeest seen across Spain (5)
GNUS (wildebeest) containing (across) E (abreviation for Spain, from España).

A type of plant or animal, one level of classification broader than a species. For example, Malus is the genus of “apples”, which includes the species Malus domestica (the ones we usually eat) and various species of crab-apples and wild apples.
24 JOCK
Sailor’s love for a DJ (4)
J[a]CK (Jack Tar = slang for a sailor), with O (zero = love in tennis scoring) instead of the A (love for A).

DJ = jock = short for disc jockey.

16 comments on “Independent 11,003 by Wiglaf”

  1. Unusually for a Wiglaf, I thought a few clues didn’t really work for me, though I did like the clue for ERNE. The clues I didn’t care for pretty much align with those mentioned in the blog. I also wondered what “Eye raves” were. Perhaps, when the theme is uncovered, I may change my tune.

  2. Thanks for explaining a few like NAY in 8a, RODE at 25a and BE at 1d. MHORR or DOHYO were new and I did briefly wonder about HORNET’S NEST without taking it any further. Maybe the def was a bit non-specific, but I liked the surface for STEPHEN.

    My knowledge of the works of HEMINGWAY is so superficial I wouldn’t be able to identify a related theme if there does happen to be one. Maybe something else.

    Thanks to Wiglaf and Quirister.

  3. There’s an outside possibility that “Rose” may be the theme. There is an actress Hemingway Rose; a mathematician Stephen Rose; there’s a turtle rose, a (wee) jock rose and, at a pinch, Chartres cathedral has famous rose windows (and you might enjoy a drop of rosé on New Year’s Eve).

  9. Thanks Quirister as I struggled with this and share your mild raises of the brow, failed on JOCK with an unparsed HOOK, didn’t understand REED ORGAN and made it hard for myself by missing a few straight ones (eg was convinced that 10A was an obscure word meaning “women” and starting HYM…), but liked the Jorum from MHORR, DOHYO and STOA though my highlights were SEMIBREVE and HOWITZER, thanks Wiglaf.
    PS I had no idea there might be a theme and even now, poring over the grid, I am none the wiser.

  10. Aha! Theme identified, although I have only very faint memories of it so could not hope to spot all the related entries. An avian surname rang a bell…

  11. One of my favourite ever jokes (abbreviated)…

    ‘Shrewsbury. Trinity. Guys. What about you?’

    ‘Birmingham… Birmingham… Birmingham… ‘

  12. Gazzh @10, mw7000 @11: ah, a bit of Googling leads me to the theme, but it’s a topic I know nothing about and would never have worked out.

  15. Even though I loved the series I wouldn’t have twigged the theme. Lost count of the number of new words on me but with the help of Mr G I did manage to complete. Sort of enjoyed it but a bit of a struggle. STEPHEN & ERNE my pick of the clues. Thanks all.

  16. Wiglaf thanks very much for that link, i will renew my acquaintance as was too young to fully appreciate it when first seen (based on what i have read about the satire on Thatcherite Britain).

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