Independent 11,807 / Atrica

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Atrica is filling the Tuesday slot this week, with a puzzle that must have taken a lot of time and effort to compile.

I found this highly enjoyable to solve, but quite tricky to finish, as I needed to search the dictionary to find 21 (which I mistakenly thought must begin IM-), after which 27 fell into place.

It soon became clear from the clues and some of the grid entries that we had a poetic theme to this puzzle. However, had it not been for 8 and 18, I would have completely missed both the metre and the rhyming couplets throughout the clues – this would have been a shame, since this is doubtless what Atrica spend most of his compiling time trying to achieve. And what an achievement it was!

My favourite clues today were 19 and 22, for sheer ingenuity, but here the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Incidentally, I didn’t know “nit” as a measure at 23, but Chambers came to the rescue, as almost always; and I am not sure of the definition at 2, where I cannot make “parallel” truly fit any definition of “direction” – any offers?

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

Across    
     
05 LOOFA Returned a dessert, an inedible sponge

A + FOOL (=dessert, e.g. a gooseberry fool); “returned” indicates reversal; a loofa is a bath sponge
     
06 SKINHEAD Son, family nut, hairless oaf dressed in grunge

S (=son) + KIN (=family) + HEAD (=NUT, colloquially, bonce); the grunge of the definition refers to untidy clothes, such as ripped jeans, etc
     
09 REFRAIN Words oft repeated // conveying “Forbear”

Double definition: a refrain is a recurring section of a poem or song AND to refrain (from) is to keep oneself from action, forbear
     
10 GALILEE I allege, unreliably, Jesus was there

*(I ALLEGE); “unreliably” is anagram indicator
     
11 COUPLET Poetry item with myths at the core

COUPLE (=item, i.e. two people dating) + <my>T<hs> (“at the core” means middle letter only)
     
12 FLOODER Supplier of spam left in snack? I’m not sure

[L (=left) in FOOD (=snack?)] + ER (=I’m not sure, i.e. interjection); in internet slang, a flooder posts repetitive comments, spams people
     
14 TALL STORIERS High crimes at last with Conservatives’ lies

TALL (=high) + <crime>S (“at last” means last letter only) + TORIES (=Conservatives)
     
20 HEIRESS Sire he’s upset: she inherits the prize

*(SIRE HE’S); “upset” is anagram indicator
     
23 MEASURE Setter one definite nit, among others

ME (=setter, i.e. Atrica) + A + SURE (=definite); a nit is both a unit of luminance and, in computing, a unit of information
     
24 MUMMIES Well-preserved bodies belonging to mothers

MUMMIES’, i.e. with apostrophe (=belonging to mothers); the reference is to e.g. Egyptian mummies
     
26 RATCHET Chatter wrecked unirotational gear

*(RATCHET); “wrecked” is anagram indicator
     
27 DUST BATH Wipe off a tub – a bird washes here

DUST (=wipe off (to clean)) + BATH (=a tub)
     
28 VERSE The theme of this creation, in clever sequestration

Hidden (“in”) in “cleVER SEquestration”
     
Down    
     
01 TO A FAULT Rather too much from a flat out confection

*(A FLAT OUT); “confection” is anagram indicator; cf. to be generous to a fault
     
02 PARALLEL The French, below average in every direction

PAR (=average, as in below par) + [LE (=the French, i.e. a French word for the) in ALL (=every)]
     
03 SING Rat that you’ll find in canals in Geelong

Hidden (“that you’ll find”) in “canalS IN Geelong”; to sing is to turn informer, to grass, hence to “rat”
     
04 BALLAD Two lines are padding inferior song

[LL (=two lines, i.e. 2 x l=line ) + A (=are, i.e. unit of metric land measure, 100 sq m)] in BAD (=inferior, poor)
     
05 LYRICS Player miscast now and then for 18s?

<p>L<a>Y<e>R <m>I<s>C<a>S<t>; “now and then” means alternate letters only are used; lyrics can be lyric poetry, hence “rhymes”
     
06 SANITISES Crude antisepsis lacks power, but cleans

*(ANTISE<p>SIS); “lacks power (=P, in physics)” means letter “p” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “crude”
     
07 HELLO Fellow will ring for a “how do you do?”

HE’LL (=fellow will) + O (=ring, pictorially)
     
08 METRE Standard of length and rhythm that’s observed throughout except in this particular clue

METRE (=standard of length, i.e. 100 cm + standard of rhythm, in poetry); all the clues apart from 8 display the same metre
     
12 FROGMARCH Push on a jumper with first part of spring

FROG (=a jumper, i.e. animal that jumps) + MARCH (=first part of spring, i.e. first month);
     
13 ODE Sounding outstanding a multifoot thing

Homophone (“sounding”) of “owed (=outstanding, due)”; the foot of the definition is a division of a line of poetry, hence an ode is “a multifoot thing”!
     
15 AIR Televise // tune // with // look // that’s inspired

Quadruple definition: to air is to televise, broadcast AND an air is a tune, melody AND an air of e.g. mystery is a look, aura of AND air is inspired, i.e. breathed in
     
16 INACTIVE Popular stage routine I have retired

IN (=popular, trendy) + ACT (=stage routine, as in double act) + I’ve (=I have); a retired person is economically inactive
     
17 SOUTHERN Going the other way, oddly “use north”

*(USE NORTH); “oddly” is anagram indicator; south is “the other way” to north, of course
     
18 RHYME What pairs of clues do, first/second, third/fourth …

The clues, taken in clue order, form rhyming pairs, i.e. 5A+6A, 9+10, 11+12, etc; at 28, the rhyme is within the clue
     
19 SETTEE Solver perhaps in a comfortable chair

Cryptically, if a compiler is a setter of crosswords, then a solver could be described as a “settee”!!
     
21 IAMBUS This person’s vehicle – maybe repair?

I AM (=this person’s, i.e. Atrica is) + BUS (=vehicle); an iambus is a metrical foot of two syllables, one short followed by a long one, as exemplified by the word “repair”
     
22 ELIOT He wrote up his name (add initials) in loos

TOILE (ELIOT=his name; “up” equals vertical reversal) + TS (=initials, of this British poet) = TOILETS (=loos)!!
     
25 SCAN Point caught by article – quickly peruse

S (=point, of compass, i.e. south) + C (=caught, on cricket scorecard) + AN (=article, in grammar)
     
     

26 comments on “Independent 11,807 / Atrica”

  4. Just brilliant to pull this off in the clues and get about 10 thematic solutions in the grid as well. Thanks Atrica and RR for the blog.

  6. Great fun. Lots of smiles while solving, especially once I saw the gimmick. Nicely done, Atrica. And a nice blog too, RR.

  7. Nice crossword – but more impressive that it was set like that than it was enjoyable to solve. Post modern lit-crits might call it Setterly as opposed to Solverly – fun and rewarding for the Setter rather than the Solver.

    Eliot was a proper chuckle when finally parsed

    Thanks Atrica and RatkojaRiku

    I read Parallel as direction due to East and West being the parallel lines of latitude rather than converging lines of longitude. Thus an east west line is called a Parallel by military folks

  9. Modern UHD televisions measure their luminance in nits so this was well-known to me, even though I don’t own such a set.
    I did enjoy the cleverness of the clueing (even though “core” and “sure” don’t rhyme to me). Skinheads will, no doubt, object to ‘oaf’.

  10. …and “grunge” – Skinheads were well-dressed, in Ben Sherman button-down shirts, Levi Sta-Prests, and loafers or brogues.

  12. Brilliant stuff, Atrica, bravo. I didn’t solve in clue order, going immediately to places where I had crossers, so the delightful PDM was somewhat delayed for me. All the better, I think. Particularly liked 5D for the rhyme scheme requiring “18s” to be “eighteens”, but the grammar requiring it to be the cross-reference. Thanks too to RR, particularly for parsing 2, as I thought it was something to do with LE and LA both being in there in opposite directions.

  13. I did need help from our reviewer to see all of the cleverness in this one although I’d picked up on the various hints about the theme along the way.
    Well done indeed, Atrica, and thanks to RR for his invaluable assistance.

  16. Thanks both. I am inclined to agree with Matthew@7 as the theme was quickly apparent, but it didn’t assist the solutions, and the rhyming was inevitably going to make some clues a little contrived. So from ‘setterly’ to SETTEE which I would always describe as a seat more readily than a chair, and comfortable? – well I’m not sure, thinking back to my own furniture down the years, but at least that clue was.

  17. Yes, I too think Matthew is probably on the right lines (tee hee) with the explanation for PARALLEL as ‘direction’, although it’s also the name for a printer’s mark of two parallel lines (used subsequent to an asterisk, obelus etc) which could be said to be a direction to read a footnote.
    This was such a brilliant puzzle, so clever, superbly clued. I’d like to know how difficult it was to compose, and how many ideas had to be put aside for not quite being able to work etc. Many thanks to Atrica, and thank you to RatkojaRiku for the blog.

  19. Remarkable, but wasted on me because I never solve in clue order.
    I did wonder why Geelong. Now I see.
    Thanks Atrica and RatkojaRiku.

  20. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments, and especially to RR for explaining everything so well. I first attempted to make a puzzle like this in 2022 but decided that it was impossible and gave up. Then recently I was on a business trip from Boston to Taiwan and during two very long plane rides decided to dust off the old puzzle (I’d already filled the grid) and see if I could make it work. There was very little leeway to change any of the words in the grid because it was filled with theme words relating to poetry. I nearly gave up again when I reached FROGMARCH! Eimi was kind enough to allow me some poetic licence in the definitions. We debated about parallel = direction but reasoned similarly to Matthew Newell @7. Actually Chambers crossword dictionary gives parallel = connection (which would also rhyme) but that seems to me like a contradiction in terms. Apologies to any skinheads I may have offended, incidentally. I was so pleased to find a word that rhymed with “sponge” that I really didn’t think about much else! (Incidentally for any aspiring poets out there I found http://www.rhymezone.com extremely helpful).

  21. Thank-you Atrica. This was right up there in Araucaria’s league. A memorable crossword, once realisation eventually dawned.

  23. I doubt this comment will be seen as I’m a day late – dragged from my bed yesterday morning to taxi to work a son whose car battery had gone flat so I did not get through my usual solves. I had heard whispers that this was a puzzle worth doing so, hard on the heels of completing Eccles, I turned to it today. And am very glad that I did: a tour de force. A delight to go back and read through the clues afterwards. In my opinion, absolutely right for the setter to be allowed some latitude here and I am delighted the editor concurred. A superb conceit – no particular faves given how late I am: I agree with RR that the total is more than the sum of its parts, even if many of them were individually delightful. Chapeau.

  25. ..and I’m later still but had to drop in to add my applause for an extraordinary masterpiece of compiling. Glad you persevered Atrica. It was well worth the effort!

  26. Also late, thanks RatkojaRiku for explaining ELIOT (I had JOHNS at first, forgetting that his initials were WE and not WC! needed the crossers to take a punt) and a few more items. I agree this was a brilliant concoction with some memorable ingredients too eg, for me, AIR; GALILEE and BALLAD. This sort-of 6A was definitely not offended, thanks Atrica for a superb puzzle.

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