Independent 11,785 by Methuselah

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Methuselah is a fairly regular setter in the Independent, but this is only the third time I’ve found him in my blog slot.

I enjoyed the previous encounters with this setter so I was looking forward to this challenge – and I wasn’t disappointed. There are some lovely surfaces (I liked the lazy ex-commandos and the ambitious sound engineers), and good misdirections (run a mile, damsel in distress, line of work). A couple of slightly loose definitions, but I’ll forgive 12a because I liked “Welsh Greens”; and my favourite of all was the ingenious clue-as-definition 25a. Thanks Methuselah for the fun.

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

ACROSS
1 TOILET ROLL
Labour beginning to examine provocateur’s white paper (6,4)
TOIL (labour = hard work) + beginning letter of E[xamine] + TROLL (someone who posts provocative messages online).

There used to be a fashion for toilet paper in various pastel shades, but I think it’s almost always white now.
6 AMOK
One way to run a mile without problems (4)
A + M (abbreviation for mile) + OK (without problems).

As in the phrase “run amok” = go on a rampage.
10 MALES
Blokes taking lead from damsel in distress (5)
Anagram (in distress) of [d]AMSEL without the first letter (lead).
11 CHAMPAGNE
Fake suffering’s called out – Methuselah’s full of it (9)
Homophone (called out = spoken aloud) of SHAM PAIN (fake suffering).

Very large sizes of champagne bottles are named after various Biblical kings, Methuselah being one of them.
12 LEAKS
Illicit recordings of Welsh Greens broadcast (5)
Homophone (broadcast) of LEEKS (vegetables, or “greens”, which are a national symbol of Wales).

The definition seems a bit loose – surely “leak” isn’t the actual recording, legal or not, but the act of releasing it in public? But it’s close enough.
13 VANDALISE
Museum regularly checked old issues for damage (9)
V AND A (abbreviation for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London), then alternate letters (regularly checked) from [o]L[d] I[s]S[u]E[s].
14 THUS FAR
Sailor transports hot American fellow to date (4,3)
TAR (slang for a sailor), containing (transporting) H (abbreviation for hot) + US (American) + F (abbreviation for fellow).

Thus far = to date = until now.
16 DONE
Accomplished director playing character in Romeo and Juliet (4)
D (abbreviation for director) + ON (playing = on stage, or on the field in sports) + E (the only character that is in both names romEo and juliEt).
19 HELL
Opening sections of Howards End lots like Where Angels Fear to Tread (4)
First letters (opening sections) of H[owards] E[nd] L[ots] L[ike].

A place where you wouldn’t expect angels to go, except for fallen ones.
21 BEDTIME
Downright discontented setter’s punching worker’s lights out (7)
D[ownrigh]T (dis-contented = contents removed) + I’M (setter’s = the writer of this crossword is), inserted into (punching) BEE (possibly a worker bee).

Lights out = the time when people are supposed to be in bed with the lights off.
24 LAZY SUSAN
Service revolver (4,5)
Cryptic definition: a rotating tray to serve food, placed in the middle of a dining table.
25 TABOO
What might make you say “don’t mention it!” and “less of that!” (5)
TA (slang for thank you, which might prompt the response “don’t mention it” to deflect undue praise) + BOO (expression to indicate that you don’t like something and would like to see less of it).

Clue-as-definition (&lit): taboo = something that should not be done or mentioned in polite society.
26 RECTANGLE
Figure Jung’s half-cut when going into Electra complex (9)
[ju]NG (half-cut), going into an anagram (complex) of ELECTRA. The psychologist Carl Jung developed the idea of a psychological complex, including the Electra complex (a girl’s obsession with her father).
27 EMBED
Top journalist ringing gong in lodge (5)
ED (abbreviation for editor = senior journalist), surrounding (ringing) MBE (a medal, or “gong” in slang).

Lodge = embed = become stuck.
28 SO-SO
Some retired commandos ostensibly not up to much (2-2)
Hidden answer (some . . .), reversed (retired), in [command]OS OS[tensibly].

Slang for not very good.
29 PENTAMETER
Saint taking on new and unexciting line of work (10)
PETER (a saint), containing (taking on) N (abbreviation for new) + TAME (unexciting).

A line of a work written in verse with a rhythm of five syllable groups to a line, such as most of Shakespeare’s output which is written in iambic pentameter.
DOWN
1 TEMPLATE
Low-ranking office worker behind incomplete work (8)
TEMP (short for a temporary office worker, often though not always low-ranking) + LATE (behind = not keeping to schedule).

An outline document to be modified and/or filled with the required detail.
2 IN LEAGUE
Working together like many a football team (2,6)
Double definition. Description of two people or groups working together, especially for dubious purposes; or referring to teams in the English Football League or similar organisations elsewhere.
3 EASES
Relaxes with cups and saucers, repeatedly taking time out (5)
[t]EA SE[t]S (cups and saucers), with the letter T (abbreviation for time) removed twice (repeatedly).
4 RECOVER
Engineers do their own version of Get Back (7)
RE (abbreviation for the Royal Engineers regiment in the Army) + COVER (sing a song that was originally recorded by someone else = do their own version of it).
5 LEARNED
Wise poet – Homer’s neighbour (7)
LEAR (Edward Lear, probably best known for comic poetry although he was also an artist and musician) + NED (Ned Flanders, neighbour of Homer Simpson in the cartoon The Simpsons).
7 MAGPIE
Thief supposedly cleaned up image to win power (6)
Anagram (cleaned up) of IMAGE, containing P (abbreviation for power).

A bird proverbially known as a thief, for its supposed habit of collecting small shiny objects.
8 KEEPER
One member of team upset exercise group, I’m afraid (6)
REP (abbreviation for repetition = a group of physical exercises that may be repeated multiple times during a training session) + EEK! (an expression indicating fearfulness), all reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue).

Short for goalkeeper or wicketkeeper in sports.
9 SPRAINED
Wiggling ends, pair did twist (8)
Anagram (wiggling) of ENDS PAIR.
15 FREESIAS
Self-governing Welshwoman’s wanting national flowers (8)
FREE (self-governing) + SIA[n]‘S (Siân = Welsh female name, equivalent to Jane in English), without the N (abbreviation for national).
17 BIT BY BIT
Gradually got teeth into Times piece (3,2,3)
BIT (got teeth into) + BY (multiplied by, as in 3 by 2 = times, as in 3 times 2) + BIT (piece).
18 RECORDER
Getting round copyright, provide new arrangement for instrument (8)
RE-ORDER (provide new arrangement for) getting around C (abbreviation for copyright).

Traditional wooden musical instrument (or the cheaper plastic version played by schoolchildren).
20 LASAGNE
Krypton possibly brought up halfway through a certain Lois’s meal (7)
GAS (krypton possibly: a definition by example), reversed (brought up = upwards in a down clue), inserted into (halfway through) LANE (Lois Lane, character in the Superman comics). For the surface, Superman comes from the planet Krypton.
21 BONIEST
Perhaps the lightest jockey is bet on (7)
Anagram (jockey, as a verb = push around) of IS BET ON.
22 ALARMS
Sirens in the way of ship (6)
A LA (French à la = short for à la mode de = in the style of) + RMS (abbreviation for Royal Mail Ship = a sea-going vessel that carries mail under contract to the British Royal Mail).
23 CZECHS
Reportedly looks for mistakes in Kafka, Kundera, etc (6)
Homophone (reportedly) of CHECKS (looks for mistakes in).

The writers Franz Kafka and Milan Kundera were both born in what is now the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia.
25 THERM
A bit of heat delineated by weather map (5)
Hidden answer (delineated by . . .) in [wea]THER M[ap].

A unit of heat energy.

12 comments on “Independent 11,785 by Methuselah”

  1. Excellent puzzle. Especially liked 24a LAZY SUSAN – a ‘lift and separate’ and nothing else! – [like “Robert Lindsay? (6)”].

  2. This was fun. I came unstuck on the interlocking AMOK, KEEPER and MAGPIE unfortunately; but I enjoyed LAZY SUSAN, ALARMS, BEDTIME, and eventually CHAMPAGNE (I’ve only being doing these a short while, but I think I’ve read here before that this setter sometimes uses his nick literally and sometimes as an indicator for I/ME etc.. the literal usage today caught me out!)

    I also liked TABOO – and more so when I discovered here that it’s actually a semi-&lit instead of the mere CD that I interpreted it as.

    Thanks both!

  3. The FT and The Guardian occasionally have italics in the clues. They’re usually lost in the blogs (by the software, I assume). I’ve often thought it a shame that the Indy app doesn’t do italics, so it’s a nice touch, Quirister, that you’ve put them in, for the two Forster novels in 19a HELL, the Murdoch rag in 17d BIT BY BIT,
    and The Beatles’ (and Billy Preston’s) song in 4d RECOVER. [Get Back (1969, a 55th (Emerald) anniversary)]
    Thanks M&Q

  4. A splendid solving experience today. I have very much enjoyed the last few Methuselahs and, as Quirister says, this was no exception. Lots of good surfaces and some intriguing constructions, all of which solved and parsed in the end – though I was not confident about the REP element of KEEPER and I have no idea who Homer Simpson lives next to, though it had to be NED. Probably too many favourites to list but, to pick a few: CHAMPAGNE, LEAKS, DONE, BEDTIME, LAZY SUSAN, TABOO, RECTANGLE, PENTAMETER, TEMPLATE, BIT BY BIT, RECORDER, LASAGNE and ALARMS. OK, I picked all the ones I liked!

    Thanks Methuselah and Quirister

  5. I almost missed the old V&A trick. LOI PENTAMETER. Lots to enjoy and surely worthy of a few more appreciative comments. Curse of the Indy vs the Grauniad blog.
    Thanks Methuselah and Quirister.

  7. I agree with your comment, Pete HA3. The lack of comment here – particularly when the puzzles are as worthy as this one – is mystifying.
    Anyhow, CHAMPAGNE and LAZY SUSAN were my favourites today.
    Thanks Methuselah for the sparkling wordplay and Quirister for an equally fine blog.

  8. I often find it hard to get on Methuselah’s wavelength, but it repays the effort. I am sure I have seen the sham pain trick before but I was still fooled by the definition.

  9. Thanks both. I quite often ask myself post-solve whether I would recommend a puzzle to a new solver – many recently I would not such were the obscurities and unknowns, however this was entirely the opposite – it felt like each clue took the right amount of reason out, all familiar words, and parsing complete. And any puzzle incorporating the underrated ‘boo’ and a Simpson’s character must be on the right track.

  10. Cor I struggled with that one. Just had to keep plugging away though. Didn’t parse KEEPER but was pretty sure it must be correct.

    Should probably have given up and done something more productive to be fair after getting 2 and a bit clues from the first dozen I read.

    Thanks for the excellent blog Quirister, and to Methusulah for the brain stretching.

  11. Nearly finished this, but it was struggle. Got stuck about half way through and came back to it in the evening, but there were a couple I couldn’t get.

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