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Hippogryph challenges us today
There are a few references in the clues and in the grid to the sitcom ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE [27 across /23 down /4 down] that ran for 10 years between 1990 and 2000. The writer was David Renwick [born 1951] and the lead actor was Richard Wilson [born 1936], who played the curmudgeon Victor Meldrew. The opening titles featured a GIANT [9 across] TORTOISE [17 down]. Meldrew’s wife was MARGARET [8 down]. Victor’s famous phrase ‘I don’t believe it’ is probably referenced in UNBELIEVABLE [14 across].
Some of the other entries in the grid may have featured in some of the sitcom episodes, but I don’t have enough knowledge to highlight any of them. Possible candidates are BULLDOG, BROWNIE POINT, TAIL LIGHT and BOG OFF.
I can’t see any obvious anniversary that suggests there should a crossword about ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE today.
It took me a long time to work out the wordplay for DETHRONING (3 down) as I was playing about with THRONG for pressing, and ED for heartless END, and IN for a long time before I got what I think is the right parsing.
I liked the reference to John ISNER [26 across] as I remember dipping in and out of watching that 70-68 set he played at Wimbledon in 2010.
Thanks to Hippogryph for a challenging crossword.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Clip from rubbish trailer? (7)
BULLDOG (a brand of stationery clip with a spring, used for holding papers, etc together or to a board) BULL (nonsense; rubbish) + DOG (one who stalks or trails; trailer) BULL DOG |
| 5 | From six rambling claims, overturned basis for socialist ideology (7)
MARXISM (socialist or communist ideology) MARXISM (reversed [overturned] hidden word in [claims] FROM SIX RAMBLING) MARXISM< |
| 9 | Huge soldiers (5)
GIANT (huge) GI (American soldier) + ANT (reference a soldier ANT), giving soldiers GI ANT |
| 10 | One initiating attack runs in, dagger unsheathed, two seconds before other ranks (9)
AGGRESSOR (one initiating attack) (R [runs] contained in [in] AGGE [letters remaining in DAGGER when the outer letters D and R are removed [unsheathed]) + (S [second] + S [second], giving seconds) + OR (other ranks) AGG (R) E S S OR |
| 11 | Lily Allen discovered US fried bananas (5-2-3)
FLEUR-DE-LIS (in heraldry, a design representing a lily with three distinct petals) Anagram of (bananas) LLE (letters remaining in ALLEN when the outer letters A and N are removed [dis-covered]) and US FRIED FLEUR-DE-LIS* |
| 12 | Sample of maternal genetic material (1,1,1)
RNA (Ribonucleic acid, any of a group of nucleic acids, present in all living cells; genetic material) RNA (hidden word in [sample of] MATERNAL) RNA |
| 14 |
Be just about OK drug-smuggling on Uzbekistan’s borders – amazing! (12) UNBELIEVABLE (amazing) UN (outer letters of [borders] UZBEKISTAN) + BE + (LIVABLE [just about OK] containing [smuggling] E [ecstasy; drug]) UN BE LI (E) VABLE |
| 18 | What one hopes to earn from chocolate cake tip? (7,5)
BROWNIE POINT (notional good mark or commendation for doing well; what one hopes to earn) BROWNIE (chocolate cake) + POINT (tip) BROWNIE POINT |
| 21 | Make a catch in cricket practice (3)
NET (catch [a fish for example]) NET (‘have a net’ is a cricketing phrase that means practicing in a net) double definition NET |
| 22 | European fashion designer returns to fetch skirts with vintage stitching (10)
BROIDERING (archaic [vintage] embroidery [stitching]) BRING (fetch) containing (skirts) (E [European] + DIOR [reference Christian DIOR [1905-1957], French fashion designer) reversed (returns) B (ROID E)< RING |
| 25 | Cramped housing area with bad illumination at the back end of Lincoln? (4,5)
TAIL LIGHT (illumination at the back end of a Lincoln car) TIGHT (cramped) containing (housing) (A [area] + ILL [bad]) T (A IL L) IGHT |
| 26 | Big American tennis star is not ever ranked in leading positions (5)
ISNER (reference John ISNER [born 1985], 2m 8cm tall [big] American tennis player, perhaps best known for winning the longest ever final set at Wimbledon in 2010, ISNER beat Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in that set. ISNER also featured in the second longest final set in 2018 when he lost to Kevin Andersen 26-24) IS + NER (initial letters of [in leading positions] NOT, EVER and RANKED) IS NER |
| 27/23/4 | A person I have forgotten sadly is close to death (3,4,2,3,5)
ONE FOOT [IN THE GRAVE] (near to death) ONE (person) + an anagram of (sadly) I HAVE FORGOTTEN ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE* |
| 28 | Producer of 2 metre long English pants? (3,4)
ELM TREE (producer of LEAVES [entry at 2 down]) Anagram of (pants) METRE L (long) and E (English) ELM TREE* |
| Down | |
| 1 | Impolitely go away with frequency following promotion (3,3)
BOG OFF (vulgar [impolite] slang for ‘go away!’) BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free – supermarket promotion) + F (frequency) BOG OF F |
| 2 | Earl Grey possibly sets out permissions (6)
LEAVES (Earl Grey tea consists of tea LEAVES) LEAVES (goes; set out) LEAVES (permissions) triple definition |
| 3 | Heartless end for one in pressing for removal of the King (10)
DETHRONING (removal of the king) DEATH (end) excluding the central letter (heartless) A, replacing (for) the I (Roman numeral for one) in IRONING (pressing,) to form DETH RONING DETH RONING |
| 4 |
See 27 Across [ONE FOOT IN THE] GRAVE |
| 5 |
Noble Italian sprayed foam icing (9) MAGNIFICO (Venetian [Italian] noble) Anagram of (sprayed) FOAM ICING MAGNIFICO* |
| 6 | Bank‘s free cycling (4)
REEF (shoal or bank) FREE with all the letters cycled one to the left and the first letter going to the end to form REEF REEF |
| 7 | Mark is entertained by Pontins crib evening (8)
INSCRIBE (engrave or mark) INSCRIBE (hidden word in [entertained by] PONTINS CRIB EVENING) INSCRIBE |
| 8 | Thatcher, for instance, lifted very heavy weight (8)
MARGARET (reference MARGARET Thatcher [1925 – 20-13], former Prime Minister of the UK) TERAGRAM (a weight equivalent to 1012 grams; very heavy weight) reversed (lifted; down entry) MARGARET< |
| 13 | Is money chasing investor propping up Tesla, perhaps spreading good news? (10)
EVANGELISM (spreading of good news) EV (Electric Vehicle, a Tesla is an EV) + ANGEL (financial backer or investor, especially one who finances theatrical ventures) + IS + M (money, when referenced in M0, M1 etc [economic and monetary indices) – this being a down entry, the letters ANGELISM are propping up the letters EV EV ANGEL IS M |
| 15 | Setter picked up vivid plant (9)
EYEBRIGHT (a small plant of the genus Euphrasia, with white flowers often tinged violet or red, formerly used as a remedy for eye diseases) EYE (sounds like [picked up] I [the setter]) + BRIGHT (vivid) EYE BRIGHT |
| 16 | Are small book stores in on it from the beginning? (2,6)
AB INITIO (from the beginning) (A [are, a unit of area) + BIO (abbreviation for [small] BIOgraphy [a genre of books]) containing (stores) (IN + IT) A B (IN IT) IO |
| 17 | Reptile found in wrong river in France (8)
TORTOISE (a reptile of the order Chelonia) TORT (legal wrong) + OISE (a river that rises in Belgium and flows through France to join the Seine) TORT OISE |
| 19 | Victor Meldrew finally put in the ground after heart transplant (6)
WINNER (victor) W (last letter of [finally] MELDREW + INTER (bury; put in the ground) with the central letter T replaced by N [heart transplant) to form INNER W INNER |
| 20 | Old marketplaces in lagoon’s prime locations are chaotic (6)
AGORAE (marketplaces in ancient Greece) A, G and O (letters in positions 2, 3 and 5 [the first three prime numbers] of LAGOON) + an anagram of (chaotic) ARE AGO RAE* |
| 23 |
See 27 Across ONE FOOT [IN THE GRAVE] |
| 24 |
Voice note exposed the French revolutionary (4) ALTO (counter-tenor voice) (OT [letters remaining in NOTE when the outer letters N and E are removed {exposed}] + LA [one of the French forms of ‘the’) all reversed (revolutionary) (AL TO)< |
Some weirdly way out clues here, but I suppose that’s what cryptics are all about. Failed at 26A, never having heard of the player (but I have no real interest in tennis) and in haste to finish entered an unparsed INNER. Thanks Hippogryph and Duncan.
Liked this very much. LOI was BOG OFF. Maybe I vaguely remember it from UK TV – Ric Mayall may have said it. I had beg off, but that wasn’t impolite enough. When the software said “you are very close but” I put in the ‘o’ and the confetti came down. Then I had a pdm with bogo. Among the clues, I liked MARGRET for the reversal and DETHRONING which I parsed, but my top clue was BULLDOG. I liked AB INITIO too but struggled with the parsing so thank Duncan and thanks Hippogryph for a great crossword.
Alan (Everyman) Connor’s Crossword blog for The Guardian …the best TV gags about crosswords:
‘The best example, though, of a bored character turning to a puzzle comes in The Trial, an absurdist episode of One Foot In The Grave.
It’s a solo performance from Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew spends the day at home awaiting a call for jury service. Listless, he grabs a leaky pen and turns to the crossword in a scene that evokes the bafflement felt by even seasoned solvers when inspiration fails:’
“Perhaps I’ll have a stab at the cryptic crossword. Now… one across: ‘Mad poet mugged by banjo player sees red when eating pickles.’ Three and four.
‘Mad poet… mugged by banjo player… sees red when eating pickles.’ Erm… five across.
‘Bag eggnog but get a tad bugged.’ Four letters. ‘Bag… eggnog… but get a tad bugged.’ Two down.
Erm… ‘Elk’s ego gets my goat. Head of MI5 upset the French by reversing into Dad’s underpants. It’s a doddle.’ ‘Elk’s ego gets my goat…’ I’m sorry. I don’t seem to be able to do the crossword today as I appear to be temporarily out of mind-bending drugs! Who compiles the thing anyway?”
Of course, it doesn’t help that David Renwick’s clues appear to be invented purely for their baffling surface readings and to have no real solutions… unless you, reader, can make one of them work?’
Thanks Hippogryph and Duncan!
Loved the puzzle. What a blog! Superb!
MARXISM
Is the ‘basis for’ to be underlined as a part of the def?
I thought his name was SINNER so I wrote INNER
This was tough but proved to be an enjoyable challenge. Although, in the dim and distant past, I only rarely watched episodes of OFINTG, I spotted several of the less obscure aspects of the theme.
I got held up slightly by not checking the anagram fodder for 11a and writing in the spelling I am familiar with, i.e.: LYS as the final part.
EYEBRIGHT is a new word for me but fairly clued. MARXIST is an absolute belter of a reverse lurker. That one plus BULLDOG and MARGARET were my top picks.
Many thanks to Hippogryph and to Duncan.
Copster @5. Jannik SINNER is the rising star of Italian tennis. He is only 22 years old and has just rising to no.3 in the world rankings.
I do think this setter’s puzzles have got more tricky over time but the theme of this one kept me battling on – one of my favourite sitcoms of yesteryear featuring Victor and his long-suffering wife. Stumbling blocks for me were the unknown tennis player and opting for the more familiar spelling of 11a.
Pick of the bunch were BULLDOG, BROWNIE POINT & ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE.
Thanks to Hippogryph and to Duncan for the review.
I really liked this crossword. I had deja vu all over again with 2d as I completed Grunniad first today.
I was at Wimbledon for the stupidly long final set; people were just standing around avidly watching a simple off-court scoreboard of a match between two less-favoured players as if they were on centre court for men’s final
KVa @ 4
Yes,, your suggestion that ‘basis for’ be included as part of the definition seems sensible, especially as I didn’t use those two words in the parsing of the entry.
Same deja vu as Matthew@9, but I always tackle the Indy second. Maybe that’s why there’s generally fewer comments. Are people’s cryptic skills exhausted after the Grauniad?
EYEBRIGHT new to me too, but seemed clear enough from the clue.
Thanks Hippogryph and Duncan.
Thanks both. Pleasantly varied and challenging, with some help needed especially for parsing. For GIANT I initially had major, with an unconvincing breakdown of ‘maj’ and ‘or’ as the respective soldiers, but at least I was on the right lines. AGORAE was one of a few previously unknowns, and I forgot that prime had been used for the same purpose recently whilst taking on the clue.
Thanks to all who gave the puzzle a go and took the time to comment – Frankie G @3 I’d forgotten about that episode, I’ll have to look it up on youtube. One Foot in the Grave was one of my favourite sitcoms – nicely dark with some surreal elements and great visual comedy. I was disappointed not to be able to get some more thematic material into the grid, particularly the excellent Mrs Warboys, but I think the long title limited my options a bit
Thanks to Duncan for the brilliantly clear, accurate and detailed blog – just to confirm that “basis for” was intended as part of the definition in 5a.
The poignant last episode: Series 6, Episode 6 Things Aren’t Simple Any More went out on 20 November, 2000 on BBC1 from 21:15 to an audience of 12.84 million.
I’m watching it now, and Richard Wilson’s first line, five minutes in, is “UNBELIEVABLE!”
There was a ratings war going on at the time. ITV had Who Wants to be a Millionaire? scheduled against ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE,
and the news that future Egghead(2003-2022) Judith Keppel would be winning £1,000,000 had somehow been leaked.
That was a Monday. The previous Wednesday, 15 November, 2000, was The Remorseful Day that another fictional character, well-known in cruciverbal circles, also had his poignant swansong. Watched by 13.66 million, scheduled against a repeat of Only Fools and Horses and a new David Attenborough. The end of two eras.
Thanks FrankieG@14-16 for the extra information – shows what a popular comedy it was at the time…now I’ve got some more episodes I need to watch on Youtube ?
They’re all available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer. Loved the puzzle. Thanks H&ds