I shouldn’t have left such a big glass of sherry out for Père Noël last evening. He’s brought me a puzzle to blog on Christmas Day.
What’s occurring? I guess that since the Independent is online only, why wouldn’t the crossword editor offer us a Crimbo Cryptic? Except it’s not really themed around Yuletide. Here’s the most appropriate quote I could find related to the actual theme:
The more it snows (tiddely pom),
The more it goes (tiddely pom),
The more it goes (tiddely pom),
On snowing.
And nobody knows (tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (tiddely pom),
Are growing.
We are in Winnie-the-Pooh territory, which suits me, because I am a fan. Given the very particular, and often made-up, names for the characters, Umpire has had to hint at them in some cases. Here’s what I have found. RABBIT across row one; KANGER and ROUX across row five for KANGA and ROO; AYE AYE and MILLINER across row seven for A A MILNE; TRIGGERS and POOLED in row nine for TIGGER and POOH; OWL is there in DOWEL at 23ac; PIGLET makes a perfect appearance in 26ac; ROBBING in 28ac gives the nod to Christopher ROBIN. In addition we’ve got [HUNDRED] ACRE WOOD in the acrosses as well. I was going to grump that EEYORE – my favourite character since I’ve modelled my life on him for six decades – was missing. But in his ‘well, mustn’t grumble, got to get on with it’ kind of way, he’s in the last three letters of 10ac.
I thought that this was a Trap of Some Kind. But a very enjoyable one in which to fall. Probably a good time to thank the Independent crossword editor, Eimi, for all the puzzles he’s commissioned and curated for us this year and for keeping the team of setters in some kind of order. And to thank him for this delightful puzzle, because a decade of blogging Indy puzzles on this site makes me think it’s him behind the wheel today. I think we should be told.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Male winner not married?
CHAP
CHA[M]P
4 Interpreter of God — one protecting books
RABBI
An insertion of two Bs in RA for the Egyptian god and I.
7 Record of tiny bone discovered
TAPE
[S]TAPE[S] You need to read ‘discovered’ as ‘uncovered’ (standard crosswordspeak). The bone is one of the three in the inner ear: the other two are the incus and malleus, since you ask.
9 Many consonants originally forgotten by whimsical translated language
SWAHILI
Umpire is asking you to remove M and C, the initial letters of ‘many’ and ‘consonants’ from ‘whimisical’, and make an anagram. So it’s (WHI[M]SI[C]AL)*
10 Measure gold that’s found in space
METEOR
A charade of METE and OR.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
[Matthew, 7:2, KJV]
11 Clothe Republican no longer in rubbish
DECK
D[R]ECK
12 Irritate majority of French city
ANGER
ANGER[S]
13 Sauce base‘s ordinary recipe sent back by wife
ROUX
A reversal of O and R for ‘recipe’, followed by UX. ‘User experience’? Nah. My Chambers has:
ux abbrev: uxor (L), wife
It’s given us words like uxorial, ‘of a wife’, uxorious, ‘excessively fond of a wife’ and ‘uxoricide’, which I suppose we shouldn’t mention on this day, because it’s all sweetness and light like in the adverts on the telly.
14 Umpire repeatedly reported agreement to captain
AYE AYE
Since the setter is Umpire, this is a homophone of I, I. Scotty to Captain Kirk, for example.
16 One will start to leave restaurant at first sign of Mad Hatter
MILLINER
A charade of M for the initial letter of ‘Mad’, I’LL for ‘one will’ and [D]INER.
17 They cause firing of pianist finally performing Grieg at Royal Society
TRIGGERS
A charade of T for the final letter of ‘pianist’, (GRIEG)* and RS. The anagrind is ‘performing’.
20 Gathered dog died being sent to the Far East
POOLED
Umpire is inviting you to send the D for ‘died’ in POODLE to the far right of the word. A word used in this sense often for blood.
22 King born — one bowed to show respect
KNEE
A charade of K and NÉE. The nod to Christmas, I suppose: the magi bowed their heads, but didn’t kneel. And weren’t kings.
23 Pin we stuck in short puppet
DOWEL
An insertion of WE in DOL[L]. The insertion indicator is ‘stuck in’.
25 Measure a corset with regular trimming?
ACRE
A charade of A and C[o]R[s]E[t].
26 Baby investigator allowed to infiltrate government? On the contrary!
PIGLET
An insertion of G in PI for ‘private investigator’ and LET. ‘On the contrary’ gives you the instruction to do it this way round.
28 Stealing from Queen in tears — spouse’s beginning to leave
ROBBING
A charade of R for Regina and [S]OBBING.
29 Try to win affection of daughter in forest
WOOD
A charade of WOO and D.
30 Handwritten book medic returned written by former partner
CODEX
A charade of DOC reversed and EX.
31 Team expressed relief audibly
SIDE
A homophone of SIGHED.
Down
2 Sprinter occasionally runs wearing cyclist’s underwear
HOSIERY
An insertion of SIE for the regular letters of ‘sprinter’ and R in [Sir Chris] HOY. The insertion indicator is ‘wearing’.
3 Prince chased King for a joke
PRANK
A charade of P, RAN and K.
4 Rule briefly troubled Surrey town
REIGATE
A charade of REIG[N] and ATE for the usually anonymous Surrey town.
5 Jewellery originally listed in search engine
BLING
An insertion of L for the initial letter of ‘listed’ in BING. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
6 Setter’s test millions entered is not good
IMMORAL
An insertion of M in IM and ORAL. The insertion indicator is ‘entered’. You need to read ‘setter’s’ as ‘setter is’, or I’M.
7 Singer‘s repetitive to some extent
TIT
Hidden in repeTITive. I want for nothing this morning: Santa has brought me the opportunity for the obligatory Pierre bird link. I am going for the coal tit, It’s the smallest of the UK tits and is to be found mainly in coniferous woodlands, but is also a visitor to your garden bird table if you are lucky.
8 Bring about course of action sacking journalist
PROCURE
PROC[ED]URE
13 Large beast with horn I shot
RHINO
(HORN I)*
15 Discuss American doctor disappearing from morgue
ARGUE
A charade of A and [MO]RGUE. MO is mostly American English for Medical Orderly or Medical Officer.
16 Royal Mail put up with small writing at top of letter, perhaps
MRS
A charade of RM reversed (‘put up’, since it’s a down clue) and S.
Dear Mrs Smith, We regret that all your Christmas mail is still lying undelivered in our sorting office …
18 Short musical composition beginning to raise commotion about touching love
RONDINO
An insertion of ON for ‘touching’ in R for the initial letter of ‘raise’ and DIN, all followed by O for ‘love’. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
19 One with incredible memory individually recalled long name
EIDETIC
A reversal of CITE and DIE. ‘Individually’ is there to indicate the order of the two particles, otherwise we’d end up with ETICEID
20 Sick bishop overcome by disease where medicine might be found
PILLBOX
An insertion of ILL and B in POX. The insertion indicator is ‘overcome by’.
21 Incensed by thrown grenade
ENRAGED
(GRENADE)* It wasn’t ANGERED after all, was it?
24 Earth turned rapidly, by the sound of it
WORLD
A homophone of WHIRLED.
25 Italy swamped by troubles for so long
ADIOS
An insertion of I in ADOS. The insertion indicator is ‘swamped by’.
27 Cover of outdoor pool finally removed
LID
LID[O]
Many thanks to Umpire for the holiday entertainment. If you’re celebrating Christmas today, enjoy. And don’t be too grumpy.
Liked TAPE, AYE AYE, POOLED and EIDETIC.
Thanks, U and P!
Merry Christmas to all!
Congratulations to Umpire on their Indy debut. The first of many I’m sure. Most enjoyable and all very fairly clued. I spotted RABBI T and was looking for the others after PIGLET and WOOD. I didnt spot eeyore in METEOR
though so thanks Pierre.
I won’t out the setter here that’s their prerogative, but it’s not Eimi Pierre. I agree with you about his stewardship.
Thanks Umpire, Eimi and Pierre and Merry Christmas.
Waited until I’d finished to look for a theme. K ANGER ROUX leaped out at me, then the theme became obvious. I did wonder whether Umpire was made up from 2 setters. I could imagine Tramp + Wire -> ampire -> Umpire but Blah’s seems to be in the know and suggests it’s just one setter. It seems that just about every setter is a cricket fan, so the name doesn’t give much away.
Good morning! Long time reader but first time commenter I think… Thank you so much for the kind words and comments. Being assumed to be the editor in disguise is high praise indeed! I was afraid that the theme would be considered too daft by some but it seems to have gone down well so far.
I’m Umpire on Raider’s MyCrossword site too. I am glad you enjoyed the puzzle and hopefully will get to reappear in the future.
Merry Christmas indeed!
Congratulations on a well-deserved Indy debut, Umpire. A lovely Christmas present. I didn’t know if there would be anything to solve before we crack open the breakfast bubbly and this had tons of fun as well as an intriguing theme treatment. I particularly enjoyed the AYE AYE MILLINER combo. And you treated us to a goodly number of clues – we cannot complain about being shortchanged with more than three dozen to play with.
Other favourites include SWAHILI, METEOR, ROUX, TRIGGERS, KNEE, HOSIERY and MRS.
[Our blogger may not have known your identity, Umpire, but he does appear to have picked on the word ‘grumpy’ from somewhere. How amusing …]
Thanks Umpire and Pierre
Didn’t even think to look for a theme until I’d completed the solve but what a joy when it appeared. Loved dear old Winnie from the first time I read about his adventures, many moons ago. Some years later, I spent many happy hours playing Pooh sticks with my two daughters, what happy memories.
Many thanks for the Christmas Day puzzle, Umpire, and thanks also to Pierre for the review and the delightful Coal Tit. Best of wishes to setter and reviewer for the festive season.
Fine debut done despite the stuffing done by the crimbo dinner and wine beforehand. Thanks Pierre for the blog too and hope to see you in the new year sometime.
Fun puzzle but hard going for me. Stumbled across the line at 78% Must have been the sprouts.
Should have seen the theme as I was reading Milne earlier ‘Two little bears etc’ https://www.poeticous.com/a-a-milne/twice-times
Many smiles as I read the blog and comments so thanks to all involved and best Christmas wishes.
Congrats on the debut, Umpire – it was TRIGGERS and PIGLET that gave the game away for me, and I enjoyed hunting for the rest of the amusingly hidden themed solutions. Very nice.
Thanks for the splendid blog, Pierre, and for all your blogs throughout the year. And seconded on the thanks to Eimi.
Didn’t twig the theme until post solve but really enjoyed the puzzle & an accomplished Indy debut for sure. Struggled a bit to get on wavelength but perseverance paid off. EIDETIC new to me & got it despite dodgy parsing.
Thanks both
I’ve been taking a complete break from crosswords over the Christmas weekend, so only just read this. Thanks for the kind remarks. I thought there was no longer any justification for not having a new crossword for Christmas Day. I’m a big Eeyore fan, so pleased that we did meet Eeyore in 10 Across, though Nimrod doesn’t say it that way.
Rather late to the party but congrats on your debut Umpire and thanks for a delightful puzzle! Theme was right up my street and this was a pleasure to solve.