Independent 11,747 by Grecian

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Grecian provides our Tuesday entertainment.

I enjoyed the very plausible surfaces of many clues here – especially the sporting ones in 15d and 26d, and the neat quadruple definition of 10a. Thanks Grecian for the fun.

It’s Tuesday so we should expect a theme, and Grecian has helpfully given us a pointer to it at 24a. It’s the novel THE PICKWICK PAPERS by Charles Dickens, featuring the character SAMUEL Pickwick and his eponymous CLUB; other characters’ surnames include WELLER, WINKLE and JINGLE, and at one point the title character is sentenced to a PRISON TERM. [EDIT: thanks to Andrew @1 for pointing out that this is in FLEET Prison, and that there’s another character called AUGUSTUS Snodgrass.]

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

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
8 SATIRISE
Mock exam that is opened by retired teacher (8)
SAT (abbreviation for Standard Assessment Task = exam taken in UK primary schools) + IE (i.e. = abbreviation for Latin id est = that is), containing (opened by) SIR (formal address to a male teacher) reversed (retired).
9 LARVA
Grub includes starter of vegetables in batter (5)
Starting letter of V[egetables] in LARA (Brian Lara, West Indian cricketer: in his day he was probably called a batsman, but “batter” is now the approved term).
10 PICK
Choose the best tool to open lock (4)
Quadruple definition! To select one of a range of options; the best among multiple items, as in “the pick of the crop”; a tool (also called a pickaxe) for breaking up soil and dislodging rocks; or to use tools other than the intended key to break open a lock.
11 GANGBUSTER
Strange bug confused American agent (10)
Anagram (confused) of STRANGE BUG.

Not a familiar term for me, but an obvious anagram for a guess-and-check: it’s US terminology for a law enforcement officer who specialises in identifying and braking up organised crime gangs.
12 WINKLE
Shellfish or half a long kipper? (6)
Half of [rip van] WINKLE: the title character of a novel by Washington Irving about a man who drinks something dubious and falls asleep for 20 years = a long sleeper. Kip = slang for sleep.
14 URBANEST
Britain reflected in Austen novel is most civilised (8)
BR (abbreviation for Britain or British) reversed (reflected), in an anagram (novel = new) of AUSTEN.
16 INANITY
Suggs finally leaving Madness for senseless remark (7)
IN[s]ANITY (madness) without the S which is the final character of [sugg]S. For the surface, Suggs is the nickname of the lead singer in the band Madness (1970s onwards).
18 DR SEUSS
Cartoonist in America wearing fancy dress (2,5)
US (United States of America) contained in (wearing) an anagram (fancy) of DRESS.

US writer of children’s cartoon books (The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and many more), real name Theodor Seuss Geisel.
21 ODYSSEAN
Characteristic of old Grecian and yes, so cryptic! (8)
Anagram (cryptic) of AND YES SO.

Characteristic of King Odysseus in ancient Greek legends.
23 SAMUEL
Opening of Ulysses inspired by identical line in another book (6)
Opening letter of U[lysses] contained in (inspired by = breathed in by) SAME (identical) + L (abbreviation for line).

Old Testament book: originally a single book, but early Greek and Latin translations divided it into two (1 Samuel and 2 Samuel), and the division survives in most modern Bibles.
24 PAUL WELLER
Case of unusual Dickensian family following pop singer (4,6)
Outer letters (case) of U[nusua]L + WELLER (surname of a father and son in Charles Dickens’s novel The Pickwick Papers), after PA (Pop = colloquial terms for father).

Singer with The Jam, then The Style Council, then later a solo musician.
26
See 17 Down
27 FLEET
Christmas movie recalled number ones from Eminem and Taylor Swift (5)
ELF (2003 Christmas film starring Will Ferrell) reversed (recalled), then the first letters (number ones) of E[minem] + T[aylor].

As in “fleet of foot” = quick.
28 AUGUSTUS
Gold rush essentially limiting blow for empire builder (8)
AU (Au = chemical symbol for gold, from Latin aurum) + middle letters (essentially) from [r]US[h], containing (limiting) GUST (a gust of wind = blow, as a noun).

The first Roman emperor, also known as Octavian; the name was also used as a title for later emperors.
DOWN
1 MAGICIAN
Nixon was one to think endlessly about spies (8)
[i]MAGIN[e] (to think) without the end letters (endlessly), around CIA (the US Central Intelligence Agency = spies).

David Nixon, 20th-century UK magician and TV personality.
2 WICK
Alien departing from gate in Scottish airport (4)
WICK[et] (a small gate or door for pedestrian access, especially within or alongside a larger entrance for vehicles) without ET (Crosswordland’s favourite alien, from the Spielberg film).

Airport in the far north of mainland Scotland.
3 JINGLE
Jack on fire delivering memorable tune (6)
J (abbreviation for Jack in playing cards) + INGLE (a fire in an indoor hearth).
4 HEINOUS
Evil in house cast out (7)
Anagram (cast out) of IN HOUSE.
5 CLUB
Stick-up in Istanbul casbah (4)
Hidden answer (in . . .), reversed (up, in a down clue) in [istan]BUL C[asbah].

As in a piece of wood used as a weapon.
6 PRISON TERM
Pen end of sentence (6,4)
PRISON (pen = enclosure) + TERM (end). Slightly weak because “prison” means the same thing in both wordplay and definition.
7 PAPERS
Press photographers capturing queen (6)
PAPS (short for paparazzi = photographers who take pictures of celebrities and public figures), containing ER (the late Queen Elizabeth II).

The press = the papers = newspapers and those who work for them.
13 KINGSOLVER
American writer‘s most important piece on you (10)
KING (the most important piece on a chessboard, although not the most powerful) + SOLVER (you, solving this puzzle).

US writer Barbara Kingsolver; her novel Demon Copperhead won the Pulitzer Prize in 2023.
15 BAR
Seaman tipped over Ronaldinho’s header to make save (3)
AB (abbreviation for able-bodied seaman) reversed (tipped over = upside down in a down clue), then the first letter (header) of R[onaldinho]. These two footballers did indeed play against each other in international matches.

As in “all bar one” = save = except for.
17/26A THE DELL
Ambassador absorbed by finale in Port Vale’s old ground (3,4)
HE (abbreviation for His/Her Excellency = official title for an ambassador), contained in (absorbed by) the final letter of [por]T + DELL (vale = valley).

The Dell is a former football ground, but not Port Vale’s – it was Southampton’s home ground until 2001.
19 SHELL OUT
Spend hour gripped by very popular show (5,3)
H (abbreviation for hour), contained in (gripped by) SELL-OUT (an event where all available tickets are sold = very popular show).

Shell out = to pay, especially when the price is considered to be high.
20 UNCLOAK
Discover incomplete part of the family tree (7)
UNCL[e] (part of the family) without the last letter (incomplete), then OAK (a tree).
22 DWARFS
Stars fighting inside furniture shop (6)
WAR (fighting) inside DFS (UK furniture retailer).

Dwarf = a star typically smaller and/or less bright than the Sun.
23 STREGA
Son concocted great Italian liqueur (6)
S (abbreviation for son) + anagram (concocted) of GREAT.
25 EATS
Part of great skua’s diet? (4)
Hidden answer (part of . . .) in [gr]EAT S[kua].

Eats, as a noun = colloquial term for food = diet.
26 DASH
Mark Wood supporting principle of Duckworth-Lewis (4)
ASH (wood from the ash tree) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) the first letter (principle?) of D[uckworth-lewis]. I think we need to take “principle” as meaning “source”; it’s spelled “principal” when it means first or most important.

Punctuation mark.

12 comments on “Independent 11,747 by Grecian”

  2. Gah! Kicking myself for missing the theme. It’s one I’ve read too, albeit some years ago now. You could probably count ODYSSEAN as a theme word too, but maybe that’s a bit tenuous.

    Anyway, very enjoyable puzzle, lots of fun. Thanks, Grecian and Quirister.

  3. Thanks Andrew – I have to admit I don’t know the book so I thought there might be references I’d missed. I’ll update the blog.

  4. What a treat! – another literary puzzle from Grecian.

    I have to confess to not having read this Dickens novel, either, but learned the characters’ names from my repeated reading of ‘Little Women’ from early childhood. The four March girls formed their own Pickwick Club, Jo being AUGUSTUS Snodgrass. See here: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/littlewomen/full-text/chapter-10/

    I believe Dingley DELL comes into it somewhere, too.

    Apart from the theme, my favourites were DR SEUSS, ODYSSEAN, PAUL WELLER, FLEET, MAGICIAN, BAR and THE DELL – very nifty ‘lift and separate’.

    Many thanks to Grecian and Quirister.

  5. I don’t know the book well but enough to recognise the title/principal character and Sam WELLER. Nice to be alerted to the other themers by the blog. An excellent puzzle, well crafted throughout. i was undone by two bits of GK – Only vaguely heard of THE DELL and had a biffed in THE OVAL until DASH disabused me. I also have not heard of David Nixon so the def for 1d did not come to mind.

    LARVA, WINKLE, INANITY, FLEET, WICK, PAPERS, BAR and SHELL OUT were my faves. Isn’t URBANEST a horrible word!

    Thanks Grecian and Quirister

  6. Oh what a lovely puzzle! Knew some of “The Pickwick Papers” references but if I have read it, that would have been a very long time ago! Lots of ticks (most already mentioned as favoured by others above) – though the Nixon who was not Richard (1d), THE DELL (17/26a) and STREGA (23d) were unfamiliar to me.
    Thanks to Grecian for a very clever puzzle and to Quirister a thorough and interesting blog.

  7. [If you see this, Eileen@6, just a note of thanks for the great link you posted regarding “Little Women”. Great memories come flooding back, both of reading the book myself (avidly) as a young girl and then my visit to Orchard House where the Alcotts lived in Concord, in 2019.]

  9. [JinA @8 – I thought you’d like that.
    I have no idea how many times I read the book.
    You’re very privileged, to have visited both the the Brontës’ and the Alcotts’ homes!]

  10. Thanks both. I thought THE DELL was a really well crafted clue, and the GK was familiar ‘ground’, though not so for the MAGICIAN who almost completely pre-dates me, nor Pickwick Papers, so PAUL WELLER was a guess-a-Paul and look it up moment. KINGSOLVER was another unknown and seemed unlikely until I persuaded myself to check.

  11. Many thanks to Quirister, for yet another excellent blog. Thank you to everyone else, for solving the puzzle and for the nice comments. I’m so glad that it was an enjoyable experience. David Copperfield was my original MAGICIAN in this puzzle but, given recent revelations, I felt it best to make him disappear and conjure up someone else. Hope to see you again soon. G

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