Independent No. 11,427 by Tyrus

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Hello everyone. A puzzle from Tyrus today.

I managed a solve within a pretty reasonable time for me, but it would be dishonest to say i totally enjoyed it. Tyrus might be a solver who i just can’t seem to get on their wavelength.

As a result I’ve ended up with a few clues by filling in the gaps between the crossers, but unable to parse the clues successfully:  I don’t think I have 24a and 17d completely to my satisfaction, and 4d has a letter I can’t account for. I’m sure there will be some forehead slapping in my near future once you guys get involved!

On the plus side though, some delightfully constructed anagrams, and one new word for me: Antre.

In the past Tyrus has been a frequent Nina user, often using it to pass comment on the politics of the day. I can’t see any obvious Nina or theme today.

Thanks very much to Tyrus for a hefty challenge today.

ACROSS

1/8: Unnaturally calm at half-time? Yes, Tranmere’s third guaranteed survival (14,4)

MATHEMATICALLY SAFE

Anag. Calm at half-time Yes, plus “a” (Tranmere’s third letter).

Followers of league competitions will know being “mathematically safe” means your side has enough points accrued to avoid relegation by the end of the season.

9: Hear ghoul’s terrible guffaw (5,5)

HORSE LAUGH

Anag. Hear ghouls

10: Back before duke is arrested (8)

HINDERED

Back [HIND] before [ERE] duke [D]

11: Beat poet uncertain about metre (5)

TEMPO

Poet uncertain [anag. POET] about metre [M]

12: Prepared for taking off – Gerard decamped first (7)

FLEDGED

Gerard [GED] decamped [FLED] first

14: Leaving town, caring American kept giving cause to be loved (6)

ENDEAR

Leaving town, caring [TENDER with T removed] American kept [add an A]

16: Women’s movement falls short across Royal North London Borough (6)

MERTON

Women’s movement [ME TOO] falls short [take last O] across Royal [R] North [N]

17: Fascist society’s protected in Tameside town (7)

MOSSLEY

Fascist [MOSLEY] society’s [S] protected [placed inside]

18: Little fellow hides smoker’s last joint (5)

MITRE

Little fellow [MITE] hides [around] smoker’s last [R]

20: Appreciate it’s surprising – Sir Gav going round showing seriously impressive quality! (8)

GRAVITAS

Appreciate it’s  [“TA”] surprising – Sir Gav [anag. SIRGAV] going round [around TA]

23: Contractor starting to work over nurse (10)

ASTRINGENT

Starting to work [anag. STARTING] over [around] nurse [N]

Astringent substances cause the contraction of skin cells and other body tissues.

24: Writer‘s mates not here (4)

AMIS

My best guess on this is: Mates [AMIGOS] not here [GO!] but I’m not totally happy with that.

25: A dose of honesty served up when everything goes wrong (3,2,5,4)

ONE OF THOSE DAYS

“Served up” gives the anag. clue of A DOSE OF HONESTY

DOWN

1: City, one hemmed in by motorway repeatedly (5)

MIAMI

One [A] hemmed in by motorway [M1] repeatedly

2: Most in conclusion visiting Italian city but not all (9)

TRENDIEST

Conclusion [END] visiting [inside] Italian city but not all [TRIESTE without last letter].

“In” a synonym for fashionable = trendy. Therefore, the most “in” is “Trendiest”

3: Woman finally swapping sides – heavens! (5)

ETHER

Woman [ETHEL] finally swapping sides [last letter changed from L – left, to R – right: “changed sides”]

Traditionally the stars and space were known as the “ether”. Aether (classical element) – Wikipedia

4: Scraped through lying – take notice (7)

ABRADED

Lying [ABED] – take notice [AD]. Where’s the R from?

5: Seen pints spilt – that’s being clumsy (9)

INEPTNESS

SEEN PINTS spilt [anag.]

6: Danger warning – like room to be vacated (5)

ALARM

Like [A-LA] room to be vacated [RM]

7: On island tracks old soldier (9)

LEGIONARY

On [LEG – direction term from cricket] island [IONA] tracks [RY -railway]

12: Lodger’s complimentary to relations (9)

FREEMASON

Complimentary [FREE] to relations [MA and SON]

Freemasons basic level of organization is a “Lodge”

13: Gunter played with spirit in red top (6,3)

GINGER NUT

Anag. of GUNTER and GIN.

A “Ginger Nut” is a British slang term for a person with ginger hair, probably related to the orange coloured McVities Ginger Nut biscuit. One of the more famous examples is shown here:

Prince Harry: 15 Irresistible Photos of Everyone's Favorite ...

15: Boy upset by trouble with a largely crazy holy man (5,4)

DALAI LAMA

Boy [LAD] upset [turned upside down] by trouble [AIL] with a [A] largely crazy [MAD shortened]

17: Returned without case powerful school generator (7)

MAGNETO

Returned without case [backwards and with first/last letters removed] powerful [POTENT] school [GAME]

19: Body beautiful in essence? Not exactly! (5)

TORSO

Beautiful in essence [T – “essential” etc. a common indicator of the middle letter] Not exactly [OR SO]

21: Aren’t building cave (5)

ANTRE

Anag. ARENT.

My internet source tells me this is a French-derived word coming from the original Latin antrum (a cavity).

23: Sign to go up’s a bit twisted (5)

ARIES

Anag. of ARISE (“go up”).

12 comments on “Independent No. 11,427 by Tyrus”

  1. Thanks, Tyrus and Leedsclimber!
    AMIS
    mates in French (not here=not in the UK)-This is my understanding.
    ABRADED
    take=R=recipe. notice=AD.
    MAGNETO
    school=GAM (as in a gam of whales)

  3. ABRADED (missed out something)
    (R+AD) in (through) ABED.
    METRON
    ‘London borough’ (N(orth) is used in the wordplay) is the def.

  4. I found this quite tough with some well hidden definitions but very enjoyable.
    I particularly appreciated MATHEMATICALLY SAFE, ONE OF THOSE DAYS, GRAVITAS, AMIS and FREEMASON.
    Many thanks Tyrus and Leedsclimber (gin isn’t part of the fodder in GINGER NUT otherwise it would be an indirect anagram)

  5. As usual, agree with KVa on all points. Didn’t get MERTON (bit obscure) and ANTRE was a jorum. I thought the GK for 17a was a bit unfair, especially when more common words (misplay, for example) would fit. Thought the anagram for 25 was very good.

  7. Beaten by this one today. Resorting to a number of reveals. MOSSLEY very tricky – nho

    A couple of minor points on the blog: North definitely part of the WP in MERTON. The borough is in SW London. It’s a tiny point but I think the WP in ARIES is hinting that there’s a very small reversal at the end of ‘ariSE’ rather than a full anagram.

    I had no idea T can be an abbreviation of Town or that GED is a diminutive of Gerard. I can’t pretend to be an enormous fan of ‘not here’ as a French language indicator.

    Thanks Tyrus and Leedsclimber

  8. PostMark@7 Was thinking exactly that about ARIES: ARISE – “a bit” (the SE) “twisted” (reversed). It’s a nice nuance.

  10. I completed this but struggled in the SW corner for some time, with half an eye on Luton T v Coventry C. Didn’t know HORSE LAUGH, GED, ANTRE, MOSSLEY (guessed it from moss side in the end) or what ASTRINGENT actually means, but somehow it all came out.

    I quite liked AMIS when the penny dropped, which was after I’d decided that was the answer.

    Granted I live in London, but think MERTON is fair game (albeit not one of the more famous boroughs). We’d be happy with ‘county’ for Rutland or Dorset, and boroughs are the equivalent in the capital.

    FREEMASON, TRENDIEST, and MATHEMATICALLY SAFE were my picks – as a Crewe fan I’ve spent a bit too long this season contemplating the latter.

    Thanks Tyrus and Leedsclimber

  11. I think that the team from MERTON, being MATHEMATICALLY SAFE, might have had something to do with this.

  12. Thanks to Leedsclimber for the blog and to everyone who commented.

    The team from Merton have been so poor since January there’s nothing really to celebrate.

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