Hoskins has the Monday Indy puzzle for us. What will he provide for us this morning?
A straightforward enough puzzle, as it turns out, but we have a theme, which is unusual: there is LOVES and HATES top and bottom; and DEREK and CLIVE left and right. DEREK and CLIVE were roles inhabited by Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, with some of their expletive-laden material being seriously inappropriate for playing to your granny. Quite where the love and hate comes in, I can’t say. Someone will unravel the mystery, I’m sure.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
6 Whip commanding officer on head to sate desire
SCOURGE
A charade of S for the first letter of ‘sate’, CO and URGE.
7 Hoskins has to go topless to receive new income
MEANS
A charade of ME and an insertion of N in [H]AS. The insertion indicator is ‘to receive’.
9 Volunteers to punch stupidly entitled art-fan
DILETTANTE
An insertion of TA in (ENTITLED)* The insertion indicator is ‘to punch’ and the anagrind is ‘stupidly’. TA is for Territorial Army or ‘volunteers’, but the TA hasn’t been around since 2014, when its name changed to the Army Reserve.
10 Impressive City holding quiet Inter at the start
EPIC
An insertion of P and I for the initial letter of ‘Inter’ in EC for the postcode for the City [of London]. The insertion indicator is ‘holding’.
11 Big smoker had to return around noon
ETNA
An insertion of N in ATE reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘around’; the reversal indicator is ‘to return’.
12 Stop with good man to visit whisky producer?
STANDSTILL
This seems to be ST, AND and STILL, but if ‘with’ is clueing AND then I’m not convinced by the order of the particles.
Edit: The clue is fine. It’s AND plus ST in STILL. Muppetry on my part.
15 Bread men sent over by Western Union essentially
ROTI
A charade of OR for Other Ranks reversed and T and I for the middle letters of wesTern and unIon.
17 Had a shot and bound to drink drop of red
TRIED
An insertion of R in TIED. The insertion indicator is ‘to drink’.
18 Those leading all new talks intimidate opponent
ANTI
The initial letters of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth words of the clue.
19 Check out German girls as they help people to read
EYEGLASSES
A charade of EYE, G and LASSES.
21 Unpaid worker lacking energy is Russian?
SLAV
SLAV[E]
23 Port fine to be knocked back with half of beer
KOBE
A charade of KO reversed and BE[ER].
25 Blot it out with beer a lot
OBLITERATE
(IT BEER A LOT)* with ‘out’ as the anagrind.
27 A drunk snorting cocaine in town
ASCOT
A charade of A and C inserted into SOT. The insertion indicator is ‘snorting’.
28 Son very sadly vacuous (being 22 can make you so!)
STRESSY
A charade of S, TRES and SY for the outer letters of ‘sadly’.
Down
1 Man like Gove mostly annoyed Congress
LOVEMAKING
(MAN LIKE GOV[E])* with ‘annoyed’ as the anagrind.
2 Old informants taking in drug lectures
ORATES
A charade of O and E inserted into RATS. The insertion indicator is ‘taking in’.
3 Rake ultimately into French wine and crack
VEIN
An insertion of E for the final letter of ‘rake’ in VIN. The insertion indicator is ‘into’.
4 Gyrating Hoskins did the deed with set in …
EMBEDDED
A charade of ME reversed and BEDDED.
5 … southern diner, but not with cold Peter
SAFE
A charade of S and [C]AFE. ‘Peter’ is a slang word for a SAFE.
6 Cashless society set to come about third of June
SKINT
A charade of S and N for the third letter of ‘June’ inserted into KIT. The insertion indicator is ‘to come about’.
8 Group putting freshly-shot game animal in this?
SKILLET
An insertion of KILL in SET and a cad. The insertion indicator is ‘putting’.
13 A woman giving children lines is wrong
AMISS
A charade of A and MISS. Not sure teachers give lines any more …
14 Strangers getting jiggy with soprano might do this
TRANSGRESS
(STRANGERS S)* with ‘getting jiggy’ as the anagrind. Another cad.
16 Contradictions in terms used by foxy moralist
OXYMORA
Hidden in fOXY MORAlist. Personally I would always write OXYMORONS, but dictionaries give this as an alternative, so fair enough.
17 Actor seen in craft heading up African river
TRAVOLTA
A charade of ART reversed and VOLTA.
20 Comedy modelled on international soldiers
SATIRE
A charade of SAT, I and RE for Royal Engineers.
22 Itchy Y-fronts lacking an opening Y-shape
ANTSY
A charade of [P]ANTS and Y.
24 Cut and run to get out of France
ETCH
[F]ETCH
26 Desire to do one large American tenor
LUST
A charade of L, US and T.
Many thanks to Hoskins for the start to the Indy week.
Good vulgar fun from Harry as usual.
Doesn’t “very” in 28a need a French indicator?
Derek and Clive had a love-hate relationship, which may be the relevance of the Nina.
Many thanks to Hoskins and to Pierre.
STANDSTILL is surely AND + ST inside STILL. Good fun crossword as usual from Harry.
With RD @1’s comment in mind, I was surprised to see that “très” is in at least one of the usual sources as an informal term for ‘very’.
A Nina and lots of good fun and amusing surfaces – two related to (opera) singers no less – to add to the early week enjoyment.
Thanks to Hoskins and Pierre
Thanks both. Spotted the Nina and also unsure of how they link, and was held up only by looking for the river not the actor as the answer for TRAVOLTA, which I will blame on Monday morning
I’m with Rabbit Dave on très-its in the Chambers Crossword Dictionary but without Nice, Nancy etc it belongs in a barred puzzle
But its not the worst job he’s ever had!
WordPlodder @3 and copmus @5, using très in English strikes me as somewhat affected. However it did raise a smile by reminding me of Miss Piggy’s protestation, “Pretentious, moi?”
Maybe not my favourite puzzle from ‘our Harry’ but I did particularly like the clue for SATIRE and learnt a new port to add to my list.
Thanks to Hoskins and to Pierre for the review.
Not really sure I equate run and fetch in any meaningful way but enjoyed the rest of this and did spot the perimeter nina without actually understanding the connection.
Thanks to Hoskins and Pierre
Thanks, Hoskins & Pierre. “Straightforward enough” is a pretty good summary, but with a couple of chewier bits to slow me down in places. All good fun, though the juxtaposition of LOVEMAKING and Gove makes me feel nauseous.
Much like chic, a word it often accompanies, très is considered naturalised enough to have its own entry in Chambers. Definitely an affectation to use it in English though – makes me think of Lucia in EF Benson’s Mapp & Lucia books.
Not molto difficult but ein Bischen tricky in parts. Thanks both.
redddevil @8 “Run to get” is the definition for fetch there, I think.
Many thanks to Pierre and to all who solved and commented.
Nice work, RD on the Nina front @1 and Petert and Nidoking @9 and 10 respectively.
For those curious about Pete and Dud’s relationship, there is an excellent drama (still on Channel Four’s streaming service, I think) called Not Only but Always, which explains the cyclical and reversable nina. For those brave enough, you can see the same (albeit it much more weighted to hate) relationship at play in Derek and Clive Get the Horn.
Hope to see you all next time around, but until then it only remains for me to say goodnight and goodluck to all.
Failed to spot the Nina but am slowly getting the hang of Hoskins & am a big fan – nowt wrong with sex & drugs or rock& roll for that matter. I’ll check out Not Only But Always.
Thanks all.
Thanks Hoskins for great fun. Derek and Clive are beyond my orbit but there was still much to enjoy. My favourite was EMBEDDED. Thanks Pierre for the blog.