Independent 11359 / Tees

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When you see Tees is the setter you know you are going get an interesting set of entries with the requirement for a bit of general knowledge.

 

 

 

The wordplay for OIREACHTAS was very clear but I had to check that the word was in the dictionary.  The entry was probably a write-in for Irish solvers.

I’m not sure of the full parsing of BULLY FOR YOU.  I don’t see how the word ‘FOR‘ is referenced in the clue.  It’s probably very clear, but I can’t see it.

Tees likes his Greek mythology, so it was no surprise to see HERA in the grid.  Alcyone in the clue was new to me.

I was a little surprised to see DUMBWAITER indicated as a single word as most dictionaries used by crossword setters list it as two words.

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether you see a link between 18/2 and 5/21.

No Detail
Across  
1

Fed by father, old swimmer wearing rubber (7) 

FROGMAN (swimmer who wears a rubber wetsuit)

FR (father) + O (old) + G-MAN (an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also known as a FED)

FR O GMAN
5/21

Small party on the left with grouch penning article? There’s 23 according to complainants! (7,4) 

DOMINIC [RAAB] (reference the Conservative politician [born 1974], who is currently Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor.  Currently, RAAB is the subject of a number of complaints (probably at least 23 at the moment) alleging that he is a BULLY [entry at 23 down])

DO (party) + MINI (small) + (CRAB [sour-tempered person; grouch] containing [penning] A [indefinite article])  DO is on the left of MINI as stated in the clue.

DO MINI C RA (A) B
9

Horse must pass round wide tree (5) 

ROWAN (type of tree)

ROAN (a horse of the colour ROAN) containing (must pass round) W (wide)

RO (W) AN
10

Anglican chore? Special team needed (4,5) 

TASK FORCE (a group formed by selection from people of different skills to carry out a specific job; special team)

TASK [chore] + FOR + CE (Church of England [Anglican]) i.e. chore for Anglicans

TASK FOR CE
11

Coming in over time, I reach a second Irish assembly (10) 

OIREACHTAS (the bicameral parliament of Ireland; Irish assembly)

(I + REACH) contained in (coming in) (O [over] + T [time]) + A + S (second)

O (I REACH) T A S
12

What’s writ large for Alcyone deceived Olympian queen (4) 

HERA (wife of Zeus; queen of the twelve Olympians)

I’m struggling with the wordplay here, but I think it might be a reference to the capital letter (a letter write large) A at the beginning of Alcyone’s name, i.e. HER A

I’m also a bit unsure about the relevance of ‘deceived’.  I found something in Wikipedia that suggested that Alcyone and her husband Cyex called themselves Zeus and HERA, possibly as some deception of HERA.

Tees is far more aware of Greek mythology than I shall ever be.  Perhaps he will comment to say how far adrift my suggestions are.
14

Still he follows group on leaving class (11) 

NONETHELESS (still)

NONET (group of nine) + HE + LESSON (class) excluding (leaving) ON

NONET HE LESS
18/2

Cope with wife distressed in city after Satan deviously displays what he is? (1,5,5,2,4)

A NASTY PIECE [OF WORK] (Satan can be described as A NASTY PIECE OF WORK)

Anagram of (deviously) SATAN + (an anagram of [distressed] COPE and [with] WIFE]) contained in (in) YORK (a city)

A NAST* Y (PIECE OF W*) ORK
21

See 5 

[DOMINIC] RAAB
22

Thick liquid drowning upright character in hotel lift (10) 

DUMBWAITER (small lift for food and dishes used in some hotels and restaurants) – DUMB WAITER is listed as two words in each of Chambers, Collins and the Oxford Dictionary of English, but possibly exists as one word elsewhere.

DUMB (thick) + (WATER [liquid] containing [drowning] I [an upright letter [character])

DUMB WA (I) TER
25

Leader in media having no case to retreat back (9) 

EDITORIAL (the leading article [leader] in newspapers is the EDITORIAL)

MEDIA excluding the outer letters (having no case) M and A + TO + LAIR (den or retreat) reversed (back)

EDI TO RIAL<
26

Bulb producing this lit up explosively (5) 

TULIP (any plant or flower of the bulbous liliaceous genus Tulipa; bulb)

Anagram of (explosively) LIT UP

TULIP*
27

Weapon not deployed at the front? (7) 

SIDEARM (weapon worn at the SIDE)

SIDEARM (as above, a weapon at the SIDE rather than at the front)

SIDE ARM
28

We might say this about yellow pants (1-6)

Y-FRONTS ([under]pants)

Y is the first letter of YELLOW so Y FRONTS the word YELLOW

Y FRONTS
Down  
1

See 23 

[BULLY] FOR YOU
2

See 18 Across 

[A NASTY PIECE] OF WORK
3

Internal memo? (6,4) 

MENTAL NOTE (NOTE [memo] that you keep in your brain [internal])

MENTAL (internal) + NOTE  (memo) – cryptic definition

MENTAL NOTE
4

Nick‘s short comment on chapter (5) 

NOTCH (small cut; nick)

NOTE (comment) excluding the final letter (short) E + CH (chapter)

NOT CH
5

Detectives meeting hood break down bit by bit (9) 

DISMANTLE (take to bits; break down bit by bit)

DIS (Detective Inspectors) + MANTLE (a hood or network of fire-resistant material that becomes incandescent when exposed to a flame)

DIS MANTLE
6

Offend certain characters in room if forthright (4) 

MIFF (offend)

MIFF (hidden word in [certain characters in] ROOM IF FORTHRIGHT)

MIFF
7

Invaders in North or South Yemen deposing leader (8) 

NORSEMEN (Vikings; old invaders from Scandinavia)

N (North) + OR + S (South) + YEMEN excluding the first letter (deposing leader) Y

N OR S EMEN
8

Rent at high level? (8)

CREVASSE (crack or split [rent], especially applied to a cleft in a glacier)

CREVASSE (glaciers are usually located at a high level) – slightly cryptic definition

CREVASSE
13

Patron having been upset by agent (10) 

BENEFACTOR (person who aids e.g. an institution financially, a patron)

Anagram of (upset) BEEN + FACTOR (agent managing estates)

BENE* FACTOR
15

Change menu and put in scarce chemical (9) 

NEPTUNIUM (artificially produced element; scarce chemical)

Anagram of (change) MENU and PUT IN

NEPTUNIUM*
16

Hotel, poorly ventilated, unlocked perhaps? (8) 

HAIRLESS (without any locks of HAIR)

H (hotel) + AIRLESS (poorly ventilated)

H AIRLESS
17

Paid with radicchio, initially, that is found among mixed greens (8) 

SALARIED (paid)

(R [first letter of {initially} RADICCHIO] + IE [id est; that is]) contained in (found among) SALAD (mixed greens)

SALA (R IE) D
19

Hot duck St Leonard eats? (6) 

STOLEN (HOT can be defined as ‘recently stolen or obtained dishonestly’)

(ST (saint) + LEN [Leonard]) containing (eats) O (character representing zero; duck score in cricket)

ST (O) LEN
20

Pressure needed in bellows? I’m astounded! (6)

CRIPES (expression of surprise or worry; I’m astonished)

P (pressure) contained in (needed in) CRIES (bellows)

CRI (P) ES
23/1

Farm animal behind another heard outside yard? Well done! (5,3,3)

BULLY [FOR YOU] (well done!)

I can see BULL (a farm animal) and YOU (sounds like [heard] EWE [another farm animal]) and I can see the Y (yard) that BULL and YOU are outside the Y, but I’m struggling to parse the FOR part of the entry.

BULL (Y) FOR YOU
24

Colorado state prosecutor closing bars (4)

CODA (a passage forming the completion of a musical piece; closing bars)

CO (Colorado) + DA (District Attorney [state prosecutor in American states such as Colorado)

CO DA

24 comments on “Independent 11359 / Tees”

  3. Found this on the web:

    Hera was courted by her brother Zeus who was the leader of the gods on Mount Olympus. At first, she was not interested, but Zeus tricked her into marrying him by disguising himself as a wounded cuckoo bird. Hera rescued the cuckoo bird and ended up marrying Zeus.

    The ‘deceived’ bit of HERA may have something to do with this.

  4. I enjoyed this a lot but I found it really tough.

    Duncan, in 23/1, “behind” can mean “for”, and in 12a, Zeus was a serial philanderer.

    I don’t understand “there’s” in 5/21. Shouldn’t it be “he’s a”? The wordplay for 25a is fine, but “retreat back” makes for a tautological surface.

    Many thanks to Tees for the challenge and to Duncan.

  5. Tricky and enjoyable at the same time. 26a is obviously bulb of the week as this is the second or third time we’ve seen it

    Thanks very much to Tees and Duncan

  6. I’d never heard of the ‘Irish assembly’ at 11a; I thought it was called the “Dail”, but looking it up now I see that’s just the lower house. Missed the parsing of FROGMAN (despite having often seen G-MAN for ‘Fed’ before) and couldn’t get “rep” out of my mind for ‘agent’ at 13d which was my last in, after the difficult to parse A NASTY PIECE OF WORK.

    Thanks to Duncan, Tees and KVa above for the Greek mythology lesson.

  10. Enaitz @8. Yes I took 23d in that way too. Either works I think.

    Found this tricky but funny too in places. I liked 12a because initially my heart sank at what looked like a clue requiring fiendish levels of classical erudition. It then turned out to that you only needed a bit and the rest was misdirection. So that was nice.

    5/21 took me ages. When it finally popped into my head I remembered that the Independent allows such topical references. I remember being caught out by MICHELLE MONE a while back.

    Only needed help for 11 so feeling quite happy this morning.

  11. FROGMAN could also be a shout out to a fellow setter – the Guardian’s Fed – hiding in plain sight at the front of the clue, real name Dave Gorman:
    F(ather)+(GORMAN)*

  12. Well, you lot have sorted it all out as far as I can see. Alcyone’s A is HER A (and she is, or was, a deceived Olympian queen), and behind = for. Def for TULIP is ‘bulb producing this’. ‘Retreat back’ is tautologous, but as that’s what the wordplay needed, I stopped worrying remarkably quickly about it.

    Is there any correlation at all between the entity ‘Dominic Raab’ and ‘a nasty piece of work’? I’m sure there’s not, as we’ve always been able to believe what the Tories, sorry, Conservatives, tell us. Everything they’ve said up to now, in the last 13 years of their loving governance in this royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise,
    and fortress built by Nature for her self, this Brexited isle, has been 100% reliable as far as I’m concerned.

  13. Nick@10 “…topical references.”
    Independent 11,319 by Tyrus
    Simon S (January 21, 2023 at 10:52 am) said: “…it may well end up as one of the puzzles of the year.”
    “Highly recommended!”, “A must see!”, “Go and do it now!”, “(1,1,1)!”, “Triple Tea Tray!”

  14. Hi Tees@12:
    I loved this – so chewy it’s Wrigley’s Spearmint.
    I took A NASTY PIECE OF WORK as referring to yourself for cluing OIREACHTAS. BULLY FORE YEW.
    D RAB is just a DUUMB diim buulb (TUULIIP) who only ever took a knee to propose to his wife.
    But where’s the obscure football GK GK?
    I’d like to see Menenius Lanatus in Aktion soon.

  15. Really had a fight on my hands with this and almost gave up on it once or twice but sheer bloody-mindedness kept me going!
    Top three for me were FROGMAN, TASK FORCE & DUMBWAITER.

    Thanks to Tees for the considerable challenge and to Duncan for the review.

  17. Good one. I’m not really a fan of Raab, and it’s nice to see some fun poked at the vicious so-and-so, if that’s what he is. I’m sure it will all be covered up, for as long as the leaks hold, at least!

    For the clues I liked the Raab one, and ‘unconnected’ (ha ha) nasty one, and full marks for cluing OIREACHTAS without using an anagram, which would have caused a bit of a storm I’m sure. Actually you can get TAOISEACH out of it, plus an R, so it must have been tempting.

  18. I too bilked at DUMBWAITER being one word: even it if it’s in an obscure dictionary as such somewhere surely nobody with any sense would write it thus. It wouldn’t have hurt to show it as two words. Apart from that black mark (from me anyway) very much enjoyed, so thanks to Tees and Duncan.

  19. Thanks both. I enjoyed being misdirected by HERA and FROGMAN (I never remember G-Man) Like Ui Imair@17 I was relieved about the cluing for OIREACHTAS as my Gaelic remains weak, and wonder whether the head of state has ever been used as anagram fodder for the assembly

  20. It WAS tempting, as a matter of fact, but maybe save that one for a Mephisto. If I ever get to do a Mephisto. Also, EACH features in both words, so probably not the best ‘nag anyway. I did try to get rid of it, but the crossers (for OF WORK and FOR YOU, plus MENTAL NOTE going down into A NASTY PIECE) made that tricky.

  21. @https://www.onelook.com/
    “We found 24 dictionaries with English definitions that include the word DUMBWAITER”
    “We found 18 dictionaries with English definitions that include the word DUMB WAITER”
    “We found 10 dictionaries with English definitions that include the word DUMB-WAITER”

  22. Lovely puzzle, thanks, Tees. As others have said, tricky but fair, and lots of fun. Loved the clue for HERA – and my superficial knowledge of greek myths was enough for me to get the reference. Y-FRONTS also made me laugh.

    I entered OIREACHTAS from the wordplay alone and thought it looked plausibly like it could be the name of the Irish assembly, so took it on trust.

    Thanks for the blog, Duncan.

  23. Very tough indeed. Had another look before lights out & completed at the 3rd attempt albeit with 3 letter reveals. Chuckled at RAAB & A NASTY PIECE OF WORK but my top 3 the same as Jane@15.
    Thanks Tees & Duncan

  24. OIREACHTAS & MAYNOOTH (Independent 11,342 by Phi) have something in common
    Both would have been more appropriate a week from today.
    Thanks Tees & Duncan.

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