Independent 11,675 by Tees

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Our Tuesday challenge comes from Tees this week.

We have a wide range of subject matter in the clues, with definitions that fall somewhere between obvious and obscure depending on your range of general knowledge, and one clue that (as far as I can see) is only cryptic if you happen to know about electric guitars. Lots to enjoy, including the slightly sinister 18a, the misdirection of 3d, and the groan-worthy pun of 23d.

It’s Tuesday so we’re probably looking for a theme. It’s also awards season in the entertainment industry: after the EMMY awards in January and the GRAMMY awards in February, we’ve just had the OSCARs (more formally the ACADEMY awards), and the TONYs will be along later in the year. We also have a reference in 14a to the rather ugly name EGOT (the rare achievement of winning all four of the above awards during a career). I suppose PROMPT relates to the Tony awards for theatre, TRACK to the Grammy awards for recorded music, and perhaps BLURB could be the promotional text for a film or stage play too. It might be a 28a to fit in any more . . . Thanks Tees for the fun.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
9 IRREGULAR
Disorderly Irish customer frequently in pub (9)
IR (Ir = abbreviation for Irish) + REGULAR (a customer who frequently goes to a particular pub).
10 OSCAR
Character coming before Papa gets 22A award (5)
In the radio alphabet, OSCAR (representing O) comes before PAPA (representing P).

Nickname for an Academy Award (reference to 22 across): it’s a statuette of a man, but precisely why he’s called Oscar is the subject of various different stories.
11 BLURB
Obscure book — promotional copy? (5)
BLUR (obscure, as a verb = deliberately make unclear) + B (abbreviation for book).

Slang for a piece of promotional text (copy), for example on the back cover of a book.
12 PACHYDERM
Wave to welcome pained daughter? Thick-skinned sort (9)
PERM (short for permanent wave = chemically-produced curls in hair), containing (to welcome) ACHY (pained) + D (abbreviation for daughter).

Term for thick-skinned animals such as elephants and rhinos.
13 BUS LANE
Restricted way in which sulphur absorbed into volatile nebula (3,4)
S (chemical symbol for sulphur) absorbed into an anagram (volatile) of NEBULA.
14 EGOTIST
Bighead having grand slam of 25, 21D, 10 & 6 first? (7)
EGOT (the “grand slam” of EMMY, GRAMMY, OSCAR and TONY awards as indicated by the referenced clues) + IST (1st = first).
16 TRACK
Dog tucking right into food (5)
R (abbreviation for right) tucked into TACK (slang for food, especially uninteresting rations, as in “hardtack” = ship’s biscuit).

Dog, as a verb = track = follow.
18 SPY
Latest information unknown: work for MI6? (3)
SP (abbreviation for “starting price” = odds offered at the start of a horse race, and by extension slang for the latest inside information on a particular topic) + Y (mathematical symbol for an unknown number).
19 EDGES
False strokes producing boundaries (5)
Double definition. Edge, in cricket = accidentally hitting the ball with the edge rather than the middle of the bat (which might score a boundary, but runs the risk of a catch); or boundary = outer edge.
21 GREATER
More on passing through eighteenth entrance? (7)
RE (on = on the subject of) inserted into (passing through) GATE R (which would be the eighteenth of a set of alphabetically-marked entrances starting from Gate A).
22 ACADEMY
Day came for reforming educational institution (7)
Anagram (for re-forming) of DAY CAME.
24 AGAMEMNON
Soon pressing flesh, leader from Mycenae? That’s him (9)
ANON (soon), containing (pressing) GAME (meat from wild animals = flesh) + leading letter of M[ycenae].

Extended definition: in Greek mythology, Agamemnon was king of Mycenae and commander of the Greek army during the Trojan War.
26 SKEIN
Flying V? (5)
Cryptic definition: skein = a group of geese in flight, in their characteristic V formation. The cryptic element is that “Flying V” is also the name of a V-shaped electric guitar made by Gibson.
27 MADAM
Bonkers seen with a male brothel-keeper (5)
MAD (bonkers = crazy) + A + M (abbreviation for male).
28 TALL ORDER
Story run about noble’s unreasonable request (4,5)
TALE (story) + R (abbreviation for run, in cricket scoring), around LORD (nobleman).
DOWN
1 BIT BY BIT
Gradually — how crypto fortune is made? (3,2,3)
Definition and cryptic definition: for the latter, cryptocurrencies are based on computer data and calculations (stored as binary digits or bits).
2 ARGUES
Talks back when checking explosive urge (6)
AS (when), containing (checking) an anagram (explosive) of URGE.
3 AGE BRACKET
Group about to appear in Great Bake Off (3,7)
C (abbreviation for Latin circa = about = approximately), appearing in an anagram (off) of GREAT BAKE. We’re presumably supposed to think of TV’s cooking competition The Great British Bake Off.

People within a specified age range, such as 40 – 49. I can’t help thinking “group” is a rather vague definition for this.
4 ELAPSE
Drinks in midweek? Pass! (6)
We need to split “mid” and “week” to make this work: LAPS (drinks, as a verb, used of an animal such as a cat that drinks with its tongue) in the middle letters of [w]EE[k].
5 CROCKERY
China has many an ornamental garden (8)
C (Roman numeral for 100 = many?) + ROCKERY (an ornamental garden containing plants among stones).
6 TONY
Play about Gazan finally getting award (4)
TOY (play, as a verb) around the last letter of [gaza]N.

Common abbreviation for the New York theatre award more formally known as “Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre”.
7 SCHEMING
French path in South Gironde at first slippery (8)
CHEMIN (French word for a path, as in chemin de fer = iron path = railway), in the first letters of S[outh] G[ironde].

Scheming = slippery = descriptive of a dishonest or untrustworthy person.
8 PROMPT
Quick to help the erring player? (6)
Double definition. Speedy; or (as a verb) to act as a prompter in the theatre, reading out a line to help an actor (player) who has temporarily forgotten what comes next.
15 ONE-MAN SHOW
N European in country who’s wrecked individual enterprise? (3-3,4)
N + E (abbreviations for North + European) in OMAN (country on the Arabian Peninsula), then an anagram (wrecked) of WHO’S.
17 ADELAIDE
‘Queen dead’ a lie possibly (8)
Anagram (possibly) of DEAD A LIE.

Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, who was Queen Consort to King William IV. (Or possibly one of a dozen or so other Queens elsewhere with that name.)
18 SERENITY
Calmness before stupid coming through Surrey’s borders? (8)
ERE (archaic word for “before”) + NIT (stupid, as a noun = a foolish person) inserted into the outer letters (borders) of S[urre]Y.
20 SAYONARA
Perhaps on air one refused a farewell (8)
SAY (perhaps = for example) + ON A[i]R, refusing the I (one in Roman numerals), then A.

Japanese word for “farewell”, used in English as a casual goodbye – though I’ve read that in Japanese it has more the sense of a final I’m-never-going-to-see-you-again.
21 GRAMMY
Elegist covering very short distance gets award (6)
GRAY (poet Thomas Gray, author of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, sometimes called simply Gray’s Elegy), containing (covering) MM (abbreviation for millimetre = a very short distance).

An award, previously known as a Gramophone Award, presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to honour musical performers and recorded music.
22 ARNOLD
Poet, Italian flower, died around lake (6)
ARNO (Italian river, or in Crossword-speak “flower” = a thing that flows) + D (abbreviation for died, in genealogical records) around L (abbreviation for lake).

There seem to have been a number of poets with the surname Arnold and I can’t say I’m familiar with any of them; I’ll hazard a guess that Tees intends the 19th-century English poet Matthew Arnold, and a quick Google of “poet arnold” appears to back me up.
23 EMENDS
What Cockney repairman does? Makes alterations! (6)
What does a Cockney repairman do? Well, [h]‘E MENDS, and according to crossword convention he usually drops his initial H sounds.
25 EMMY
Award or prize judge denied? (4)
[j]EMMY (prize, as a verb = to force something open using a lever) without the J (abbreviation for judge). I’ve always used the spelling “prise” and assumed that “prize” was the US version, but the dictionaries accept both as British English.

An award presented for artistic and technical merit in the television industry. According to Wikipedia the name is derived from “immy”, short for “image orthicon tube” (a component of early television cameras), but changed to sound more like a woman’s name because the award statuette depicts a woman. I may or may not remember that next time someone asks.

14 comments on “Independent 11,675 by Tees”

  1. LOI was PROMPT. I wonder if Tees meant the player was saying “er, er” having forgotten the lines as opposed to ‘erring’ having made a mistake? I like SKEIN and also GRAMMY from the thematic entries and paused to read the elegy. EMEND was droll and I liked the clue for BUS LANES because there seem to more and more road restrictions in my city these days. Thanks Quirister for a comprehensive blog and Tees for an entertaining puzzle.

  2. PROMPT
    Had the same thought Sofamore@1. The ? justifies the whimsical ‘erring’.
    BLURB
    Collins confirms what the blog intro says: The blurb about a new book, film, or exhibition is information about it that is written in order to attract people’s interest.
    A promotional copy!
    Thanks Tees and Quirister!

  4. It was only after I finished that, diving into the pool I suddenly thought “chemin”for French path
    Nice clue. ,Timely theme

  5. Loved the EGOTISTic theme.
    My favourite OGTEE is Rita Moreno(1931–) who GOT her ” Best Actress in a Supporting Role” O for West Side Story(1962);
    her “Best Recording for Children” G for The Electric Company(1973);
    her “Best Featured Actress in a Play” T for The Ritz(1975); and last, but by no means least – just watch this
    her “Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music” E for The Muppet Show(1977)
    She got her second E for The Rockford Files the following year.
    Thanks T&Q

  7. KVa @6: that is how I interpreted BIT BY BIT.

    A nice mini-theme, appropriately timed. IRREGULAR, SKEIN, PROMPT and EMENDS were my favourites. All super clues. Great Bake Off is a lovely idea but, as Quirister points out, the lack of ‘British’ sticks out. (Not everyone likes the inclusion of random abbreviations in anagram fodder but, with B for British, Great British Bake Off does result in great kebab!)

    Thanks Tees and Quirister

  8. Thanks both. Liked EGOTIST as part of the theme which advertised itself loudly. Eventually remembered chemin as part of SCHEMING from French at school 45ish years ago, then switched to Japanese for SAYONARA which I don’t recall seeing written before. At least AGAMEMNON was clearly clued to achieve the correct spelling, though it looks like he’s appeared 5 times in Indy cryptics in the last 12 months and probably deserves a long rest.

  10. Thanks, Tees and Quirister. Most enjoyable, and not excessively taxing – although I did spend far too long looking for something more going on in 26a, and trying to work out which EGOT winner would fit in 14a before the penny dropped.

  11. I’m not getting the love for SKEIN, which as Quirister says is barely cryptic. I know the guitar, but didn’t know the terminology for how migrating geese fly. I thought the clue was probably alluding to what it turned out to be and also had SKEIN as an option, but needed a wordchecker to confirm. I’m not keen on clues/answers that can’t be worked out, probably because my GK is so poor.

    I did get to AGAMEMNON from wordplay and a previous appearance in the Indy I think.

    Other than my little moan I thought this was a delightful puzzle. My favourite was BUS LANE today.

    Thanks to Quirister and to Tees.

  12. Thanks Tees, excellent as always, with my picks being IRREGULAR, TALL ORDER, ARGUES, AGE BRACKET, ELAPSE, and ONE-MAN SHOW. I failed with SKEIN, CROCKERY, and PROMPT but that didn’t ruin my morning. Thanks Quirister for the blog.

  13. Agamemnon, eh? Agamemnon, sack of wine. Especially as it was Achilles who wanted his name remembered. Paris did best of all, of course, with a capital city and a Hilton named after him.

    Thanks for enjoying the EGOT thing. At the Oscars, which films bombed? (See what I did there.) Answers on a cruise missile please, by no later than Armageddon.

    Thanks Quirister and all commenters.

  14. Didn’t know about false strokes but EDGES fitted. SKEIN did feel a bit too simple as I did not twig the guitar reference.
    I was wrong footed by getting the initial B first in BLURB and therefore was looking for a word meaning ‘obscure’ for the whole!
    I chuckled at ‘gate R’ for the eighteenth entrance, and the ‘many an ornamental garden’ wp for CROCKERY. Thank you Tees & Quirister.

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