Independent 11,797 / Grecian

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Grecian has provided this Thursday’s cruciverbal workout, and a workout indeed it was, at least for me.

I really enjoyed grappling with this puzzle, which was positively teeming with flair and ingenuity. I think that I have arrived at a set of correctly solved and parsed solutions, but I have no doubt that you will correct me if I am wrong.

I often find puzzles set on this grid, which has a very long history, quite hard to complete, as it really involves solving four mini-crosswords which are linked together by the longer entries. The intersecting 6-letter entries are the most numerous and generally hold the key to finishing the puzzle, I find. This time, however, it was the clues at 1, 3 and 13 that were my last ones in.

My favourite clues today were 9, for its canine content; 11, for the split between the two definitions coming in the middle of “Band // Aid”; and the clever use of 8 in the wordplay to clues at 5D and 16. The unexpected need to split up the numbers used in the wordplay to clues at 3 and 16 was a particularly devious move on Grecian’s part. Incidentally, the game at 25 was new to me.

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues

Across    
     
05 NOTION Fancy duck breaking out

O (=duck, i.e. zero score in cricket) in NOT “in” (=out!)
     
06 LEADER Chief supplier to Spooner

“leader” is a Spoonerism for “dealer (=supplier, e.g. of drugs)”
     
09 SCHEME Red setter chasing his tail in plot

<hi>S (“tail” means last letter only) + CHE (=red, i.e. communist, here Che Guevara) + ME (=setter, i.e. Grecian!)
     
10 RIOT ACTS Diplomacy restricted by city’s laws

TACT (=diplomacy) in  RIO’S (=city’s, in Brazil)
     
11 HELP Number 1 single by Band // Aid

Double definition: Help was a number one single for the Beatles AND aid is help, assistance
     
12 TIP ONE’S HAT Show respect to thespian in Metamorphosis

*(TO THESPIAN); “in Metamorphosis” is anagram indicator
     
13 INDESIGNATE Damage done to Angie and Den – it’s unquantifiable

*(ANGIE + DEN + IT’S); “damage done to“ is anagram indicator; in logic, indesignate means without any indication or quantification
     
18 FULL-CIRCLE 360° satisfied company

FULL (=satisfied, i.e. no longer hungry) + CIRCLE (=company, troupe, group); if a wheel turns full-circle, it turns through 360°
     
21 NULL Invalid making a comeback in artificial lung

Reversed (“making a comeback”) and hidden (“in) in “artificiaL LUNg”
     
22 CLOUSEAU Inspector listened to suggestions with his drink

Homophone (“listened to”) of “clues (=suggestions, hints)” + EAU (=his drink, i.e. the French word for water); the reference is to Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther films
     
23 RELISH PM briefly drinking the Spanish sauce

EL (=the Spanish, i.e. a Spanish word for the) in RISH<i> (=PM, i.e. former UK PM Rishi Sunak; “briefly” means last letter is dropped); a relish is a kind of sauce, condiment
     
24 DIRECT Frank has temperature following terrible cold

DIRE (=terrible, awful) + C (=cold, as on tap) + T (=temperature)
     
25 SHINTY Bit of beef with Turkey’s wingers in game

SHIN (=bit of beef, i.e. a cut) + T<urke>Y (“wingers” means first and last letters only); shinty is a game of Scottish origin that is similar to hockey
     
Down    
     
01 STEEL PAN Folk group with eyes out for instrument

STEEL<eye s>PAN (=(British) folk group, formed in 1969; “with eyes out” means letters “eyes” are dropped); a steel pan is a percussion instrument made from the hammered out and faceted top of an oil drum
     
02 FOMENT Whip up fish rolls wrapped in newspaper

OMEN (NEMO=fish, in children’s film; “wrapped” indicates reversal) in FT (=newspaper, i.e. Financial Times); to foment is to whip up e.g. racist sentiment, to inflame it
     
03 ZERO IN ON Aim for 007 at the end to keep cool

IN (=cool, trendy) in [ZERO (=O) + O + <seve>N (“at the end” means last letter only); “0/0/7” gets split up and contributes three separate parts to the wordplay
     
04 IDEALS Creed is carrying timber

DEAL (=timber, wood) in IS; a creed is a set of beliefs or principles, hence “ideals”
     
05 NUCLEI Number 8 held up by Italy centres

N (=number) + *(CLUE) (CRYPTIC CLUE is the entry at 8, with “cryptic” here serving as an anagram indicator) + I (=Italy, in IVR);
     
07 RATTAN Cane toad on top of cane

RAT (=toad, i.e. nasty person) + TAN (=to cane, thrash)
     
08 CRYPTIC CLUE Celtic cup upset inspiring line like this

L (=line) in *(CELTIC CUP); “upset” is anagram indicator
     
14 EVIDENCE Study into English wrongdoing gets support

DEN (=study, private office) in [E (=English) + VICE (=wrongdoing, sin)]; evidence is support for, i.e. backs up, a theory, say
     
15 TINKLING 5A supporting Tesla in producing a jingle

T (=Tesla, i.e. the derived SI unit of magnetic flux density) + INKLING (=notion, vague idea, i.e. the entry at 5A)
     
16 EUCLID Mathematician of 81 died

*(CLUE) (CRYPTIC CLUE is the entry at 8, with “cryptic” here serving as an anagram indicator) + I (=1) + D (=died); Euclid was an Ancient Greek mathematician, born around 325 BC
     
17 CLASSY Stylish girl inspired by Cyprus

LASS (=girl) in CY (=Cyprus)
     
19 LOUVRE Learning about type of radiation in museum

UV (=type of radiation, i.e. ultraviolet) in LORE (=learning, as in folklore)
     
20 EARTHY Lusty husband comes down to get rude

HEARTY (=lusty, lively); “husband (=H) comes down” means letter “h” falls to a lower place in the word
     
     

 

13 comments on “Independent 11,797 / Grecian”

  1. I found that a real struggle. Lots of bung it in and hope to parse later.

    Will now study blog and see what I was missing.

    The self references to 8d were very clever

    Thanks Grecian and RatkojaRiku

    Ps is Grecian anything to do with Imogen; two Queen Vic references, one in each of Independent and Guardian

  2. I totally agree with the introductory comments from the blog which I needed to explain the parsing of EUCLID and NUCLEI both of which I couldn’t see for looking. Likewise I solved but couldn’t parse STEEL PAN thinking Steely Dan somehow although I can remember STEELEYE SPAN and ‘All Around My Hat’. I like CRYPTIC CLUE and it’s thematic offshoots but my favourite is ZERO IN ON. Very clever as was the entire puzzle. Thanks RR and Grecian.

  3. I’d agree with quite a workout requiring a bit of grappling. I’ve also been trying to work out how many years ago it was I saw Steeleye Span live in Canterbury – an investigoogle reveals it was over 50! Doesn’t time fly?!

    Thanks to RR and Grecian

  4. STEELEYE SPAN in 1d. 18d FULL-CIRCLE = 360° = “All Around”. There’s a HAT in 12a TIP ONE’S…
    So here’s Steeleye Span’s All Around My Hat (On TopPop, the Dutch equivalent of TOTP, a UK No. 5 hit in 1975 (shame it’s only 49 years ago)).

  5. It’s a while since I said, ‘What crypticsue said’. Today I’m remembering the Enigmatist fiftieth anniversary puzzle that I blogged in November 2019 (which means that this year is the 55th – and I see they’re in Hastings in October, Sue. 😉 )

    Yes, quite a workout today – and a very enjoyable one. I was delighted to see STEELEYE SPAN emerge @1dn. (We sang Gaudete at our choir’s last Christmas concert.) Other favourites were 9ac SCHEME, 22ac CLOUSEAU, 24ac DIRECT, 2dn FOMENT, 8dn CRYPTIC CLUE and 15dn TINKLING.

    Many thanks to Grecian and RR.

  6. 6a LEADER – A Spoonerism of a single word?
    10a RIOT ACTS – The wordplay’s an old chestnut, but I hadn’t seen it in the plural before.
    11a HELP! is very clever, with the double definitions across a ‘lift and separate’.
    Thanks G&RR

  7. I think you may have one incorrect parsing, RR. In 8D I believe line = RY into an anagram of CELTIC CUP. Thanks Grecian and RR.

  8. What a humdinger of a puzzle. A huge amount of creativity with the various uses of 8/CLUE*, the 007 trick, STEEL(EYE S)PAN, the split in Band Aid being great examples. Too many likes to list them all – but those quirky ones are all in there. I’d agree with Spinynorman on the parsing of C(RY)PTIC CLUE and with Frankie G’s raised eyebrow re the Spoonerism: one does see single words treated that way and I suppose it does work but it’s not a construction I particularly like.

    Thanks Grecian and RR

  9. Matthew Newell @1: Grecian is Brockwell in the Guardian. Imogen is also Vulcan in the Guardian. They are listed in the Setters page on this site. The appearance of similar/linked clues is coincidence – pretty much without exception.

  10. Fortunately there’s only 1 folk group, that I know of, incorporating “eyes” in their name but not sure I’ve heard of “steel pan” as the instrument. The Spoonerism was a bit weak perhaps, but happy to accept anything with 2 or more syllables as fodder. Interestingly I saw the 8 reference in NUCLEI, but not in EUCLID, which shows how easily I’m confused. It was LOI n i had all the crossers, so just happy it sparked the light show of success… 10ac seemed unfortunately prescient.
    Good puzzle..
    Thanks Grecian n RatkojaRiku

  11. Thanks both. Whilst I at one point had little hope of finishing, the classic approach of put down and come back to it worked a dream, with all parsed. All credit therefore to the setter, with a few contenders for favourite, though perhaps ZERO IN ON wins for its delayed penny-drop- moment.

  12. Many thanks to RatkojaRiku for the lovely blog and to the rest of you for the nice comments. Just for the record, we have NOTION, LEAD, HELP, TIP, SIGN, HINT, OMEN, IDEA, CLUE, EVIDENCE and INKLING in there. G

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