We welcome Stetson to the Indy today – a new setter with a blockbuster of a puzzle.
Unfortunately, whilst we admire the skill in including in the grid five long thematic entries plus the author associated with them, we really didn’t enjoy unravelling them.
Maybe it’s because we are not familiar with Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ (TWL in the clues) but we think it’s more than that. We guessed that TWL stood for ‘The Waste Land’ when we solved 5d – it’s one of the few T S Eliot works we have heard of. Once we had checked that TWL has five sections, we realised that it would be very easy to cheat on the five long thematic entries with some electronic assistance. We endeavoured to avoid doing that, solving the clues from the wordplay, but the surfaces are not very smooth, most of them comprise very long anagrams and apart from 17d/4d and 18d/31ac, the section titles are not exactly in common usage. Eventually we had to resort to the internet to check the last entry to finish what was a somewhat frustrating experience.
We appreciate that we probably should know a lot more about ‘The Waste Land’, described as ‘one of the most important English-language poems of the 20th century’, but our education is clearly sadly lacking – from what we have found out today, it is a rather depressing read – we won’t be studying it any time soon.
So… sorry Stetson, we are obviously not on the right wavelength for this puzzle, but we are impressed at the grid-fill, with only four unusual words in the non-thematic clues.
Despite our experience this time, we are looking forward to your next offering.
CH (chain) in the alternate (regular) letters of bOuRsE
FALl (decline) missing the last ‘l’ (pound) – the ‘banker’ being a river
R (runs) in or ‘entering’ A HAT (‘Derby?’) – a new word for us
MA (mum) in a reversal (‘returning’) of HIT (Blockbuster) A F (female) – we had to check this as we are not overly familiar with Islam
O (old) CT (court) lETTEr (middle letters or ‘content’ only)
SPED (moved quickly) round or ‘securing’ URN (vessel)
This had us foxed for some time, as we had to google Bo Svenson, never having heard of him – it’s BO + an anagram (‘eccentric’) of IS AN – the ‘plane’ being a tree
D with AD (notice) coming first
ST (saint – ‘virtuous sort’) + A SHED (drop)
Hidden in or ‘contributing to’ CromE YEllow
A (American) GREED (desire for wealth)
An anagram (‘formed’) of SEE UNIT
HEN (chicken) IS ‘served’ in R (rook – in chess) H (hearts – card suit)
This one also had us foxed, as we did not know Frida Kahlo. However, wth the crossers we decided it must be RID (deliver) in F A (first letters or ‘starts’ of fits and)
A homophone (‘spoken’) of TEE (the letter or ‘character’)
DO (execute) OF US (our) – another one we had to check
A reversal (‘retiring’) of TO ILE (French for island) – the clue that gave the game away for us.
Zyzzyva would be the LAST WORD in an alphabetical dictionary – although it is not in Chambers
An anagram (‘swirling around’) of THAT WITH HADES round UNDER (below)
HE in an anagram (‘playing’) of IN FOR, S (singular) and METRE
W (west) in SEE (view) R (first letter or ‘head’ of ram) round or ‘receiving’ a reversal (‘raised’) of EDICT (order)
An anagram (‘bats’) of L (left) TO FATE HERE BUDDHA round or ‘saving’ I (one)
H (hard) in or ‘stopping’ a reversal (‘upping’) of FOE (enemy) MAGA (‘Trumpian slogan’) + CESS (tax) (not reversed) – not our favourite clue
SHE (Rider Haggard heroine) RAN (managed) round or ‘netting’ ID (fish)
CH (church) after or ‘supporting’ (in a down clue) WREN (‘Navy woman)
RE (on) HASH (mixed dish)
An anagram (‘criminal’) of WHAT BETRAYED
Poetry is not on my radar, so I had no option but to cheat once I had solved 5D, and entering the other TWL answers was a write-in. Despite which, I enjoyed the puzzle, so thanks and welcome Stetson and also thanks B&J for the blog.
Agree it was a admirable achievement setting this puzzle. Also agree less fun to solve.
I know enough of The Waste Land that almost all Down clues went straight in.
Liked quite a few of regular clues Spurned Stashed and loved Last Word
Thanks Stetson and Bert and Joyce
A very similar experience to yours, Bertandjoyce. Got 5d early on, and it then immediately became clear what was going on. But I am also (I’m ashamed to say) unfamiliar with TWL, and (I’m even more ashamed to say) I had less patience than you with the long anagrams and simply looked up the titles.
However I did like a lot of the other clues, so look forward to seeing Stetson again. And perhaps I will now attempt TWL (I have the complete poems of Eliot on my bookshelf – a 21st birthday present from a kind friend who obviously overestimated my intelligence. It remains untouched to this day, and 40 years on perhaps it’s time to take the plunge).
I got most of the unthemed clues, realised what the theme had to be and then looked up the titles
Thanks Stetson – a very good crossword for someone who knew about TWL but I’d like to solve a puzzle from you with less themed content. Thanks also to B&J
The pseudonym and some of the clues had me suspecting a US setter and I did look up what TWL might be I’m afraid. To find several potential contenders – Tournament Word List (US Scrabble official word list), The Wikipedia Library (a source of editorial material), Twilight (the codename for the Nintendo DSi – which could easily have had five versions and was my hot favourite) – and The Weakest Link which may be a UK series but quite possibly with a US version). The Waste Land did not appear in the list so it took until solving ELIOT for the penny to drop. At which point it was suddenly a write in of a couple of the titles and I have to confess I looked up the others for the same reason as others; those anagrams were too long to do in my head. LAST WORD was LOI – nho the word in the clue and it’s not in Chambers as B&J observed making it a bit of a disappointment to finish with.
Thanks Stetson and B&J
“…. Our education is clearly sadly lacking – from what we have found out today, it is a rather depressing read – we won’t be studying it any time soon.”
“Sadly lacking”, correct. To me the comments at the top really seem staggeringly uncultured. Stronger descriptions than that could also be used.
“A rather depressing read”? Really? Has anyone ever thought that T.S. Eliot was a standup comic?
What B&J said. Unlike others, I’ve never even heard of The Waste Land. Got most of the themed answers from wordplay but cheated on The Fire Sermon (looking at the blog, I think it parses better using the second ‘IN’). I did know DOOFUS though.
So, as a themed crossword, it gets a big thumbs down from me. But the setter certainly shows talent so I hope to better enjoy future outings.
T.S.Eliot was a crossword aficionado, so he would have appreciated this. I am another who had to resort to Wikipedia. Congratulations to those who didn’t. Thanks Stetson and B and J
TWL is a serious read, and one I haven’t done for years. But THE FIRE SERMON and THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD came to mind and I winkled out the others by a mixture of wordplay, crossing letters and faltering memory.
Makes a change from having to winkle out pop song references, doesn’t it?
I know of the poem, but I don’t know it, so I got little help from that except for it allowing me to confirm ELIOT. I then constructed a series of ominous-sounding phrases for the five long entries – a different experience than my usual crosswording solve, but quite satisfying to complete without assistance.
My LOI was LAST WORD, where the first option that sprung to mind with the crossers was FAST FOOD. I eventually twigged what the answer had to be, although still don’t quite get the ‘rage’ definition.
Thanks Stetson and B&J.
Amoeba @10: if something is ‘the last word in …’ it means it is the most up-to-date, the most developed, the most fashionable. Which is all the rage
Thanks PM – that was the closest I could think of, though I’m still not entirely convinced!
I thought this was awful
I solved some “normal” clues and saw A GAME OF CHESS and it was themo collapso.
I remember a puzzle by the beloved Rev which featured OT which we learnt could be Oliver Twist or Old Testament .Thems were the days
Wondering if Stetson is a temporary name as this word figures in part 1.
I would have at least liked to have seen April in the grid
I dont reckon Tom would have liked it either
Unreal puzzle!
My heart sank when I saw all the TWL clues, guessing it was probably a fantasy film series I’d never heard of, with the possibility that the long entries included fantasy names, etc. with non- standard spellings. But poetry by Eliot was a different matter, so once I got the hook, I persevered and thoroughly enjoyed teasing it out.
Based on very little ( I haven’t read it, but sometimes you just know about a thing without actually knowing it, don’t you?) I think there might be other references: I seem to think Rhenish gets mentioned, and Fatimah wouldn’t be a surprise. That sort of thing. Maybe I’ll read it and find out.
Anyway, thumbs up from me, and hope to see Stetson again. And thanks to Bertandjoyce for persisting, despite it all….
The Waste Land was pretty much compulsory reading back in the day, but we were encouraged to engage with its initial impact, “a parade of pompous erudition” amongst others… as a theme here, it seems to fail by using the silly code of initials, which could signify many things (as outlined by Postmark@5)… thus it is turned into something annoying, and resisting the temptation to look up the relevant bits seems pointless. Just listing the chapter headings seems unimaginative, rather than an opportunity to engage with some of the content… “April is the cruelest month” could be “Their serpent’s lilac mouth”? Apart from that it was ok..
Thanks Stetson n Bertandjoyce
More familiar with Mama Cass Elliot than Thomas Stearns, I resisted the urge to Google and write in 11 more solutions.
Concentrated on the non-themers, which were chewy enough. Luckily I’d heard of Bo (Swedish), Frida (Mexican), and Richard Brinsley (!rish).
Then came the fun of teasing out the rest. — L2i: 11d,3d THE FIRE SERMON
Brilliant. Thanks S & B&J
Thought 20a EYE’s “Crome Yellow” might have been a typo, but it’s the title of Aldous Huxley’s 1921 debut novel, roughly contemporary with TWL (1922).
6d The LAST WORD on oed.com is Zyzzyva
‘Zoology. 1922– A genus of tropical weevils (family Curculionidae) native to South America and typically found on or near palm trees.
Also (in form zyzzyva): a weevil of this genus.’ — Latest citation:
“2012 Her favourite word is zyzzyva, a bright red South American weevil. ‘It’s the last word in the dictionary and it’s fun to say and it’s fun to spell.’
Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan) (Nexis) 27 March a9″
So it was “all the rage” in 1922, too, (although that phrase comes from 1780, and…
…”the last word in…” comes from 1852). COTD
Couldn’t find any reference to the initials TWL on-line so concentrated on solving the non-themed clues. Managed about ten of those and then threw in the towel. Just popped in to say a big well done to B&J who now deserve a very large drink!
Love the extra information FrankieG – I really enjoy finding out when phrases which sound very modern are actually centuries old.
Very interesting, with out-and-out erudition required, or not, depending on the likelihood of your having engaged with this massive work of modernism, as opposed to, say, Cats.
Like so many themes, if you know the subject you pretty much write the answers in, though I did enjoy most of this just for the style, or you’re stumped unless you can be bothered to ‘solve cold’, and just work at it.
I found this:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/08/ts-eliot-waste-land-stetson-anagram-riddle
This was no fun at all. When I had finished it, it was with a sense of relief.
Well done B&J!
TS could translate as Tees? He has used one-problem names before?????
…continued from @20: ”the last word” is even making a guest appearance today, in The Guardian, in the clue for 24 Across.
And old TS himself is in The Financial Times, in the clue for 14 Down.
Ui Imair@23 – interesting link. Petert@25 – interesting theory.
I loved it. A very impressive feat of construction. Eliot is up there with Auden, Abse, Blake, Donne, and Raleigh as one of the poets I return to most often. I’ve known the poem well since since I was at school about 55 years ago.
The time TWL was written almost coincides with the birth of the crossword. The older practice of writing poetry (making things with words that had both form and content) split in two directions: meaningful content almost without form (so called “free verse”), epitomised by TWL, and form almost without meaningful content, epitomised by the crossword.
Thanks both. I have no doubt a lot of time and energy went into constructing this, all of which for the most part was wasted on me, as I neither know of, or care to know of the theme. I persevered as though sitting an anagram exam, not helped by the length, uncertainty of the fodder, and that the answers were strewn across the grid. FRIDA is still a bit of a mystery for me but I was losing the will at that point. Of course, it’s a world of opinions, I’m just disappointed to see one or two here suggesting we should all have certain elements of knowledge. Test match tomorrow, so I am hoping the weather is somewhat kinder.
Had no idea what TWL referred to. Realised that I was looking for titles of some works by Eliot, of which it turned out I knew none. Spent a fair bit of time checking posited solutions and finding they were wrong and eventually had to reveal some answers to get anywhere. After just under an hour of struggling I got the all correct confetti with a 75% success rate. Not one of my happier solves. Thanks for putting me out of my misery B&J.
Re 26 oh no, it’s the LITOTES anagram. Badly written as well.
Roughly what B&J said, although once I got ELIOT, sussed TWL I just looked up the five sections. I don’t think my education was sadly lacking. It just concentrated on areas far removed from studying literature and I feel none the poorer for that.
Respect to Stetson for fitting all that into the grid. Five theme words is an achievement. Five theme phrases is incredible.
Thanks B&J for the blog.
I agree with you B and J. I don’t really enjoy this sort of puzzle where once you have grasped the ‘theme’ a lot of the grid is a simple write in.
Funny, I actually enjoyed this. As Phi said, much easier than obscure pop singers or footballers. I went through an Eliot phase back in my twenties, and although I haven’t read The Waste Land for years, I was able to dredge the title up from my memory.
I’m so uncultured I thought TWL stood for Thames Water Ltd. I thought it would be an achievement to construct a crossword on that theme, so was quite disappointed when I got 5D. Just looked up the titles and wrote them in,because life is too short. Rest of the puzzle was fine.
Thanks to our setter and valiant bloggers.
The Wasteland is a very accurate description of me and my day after attempting this
For me the worst sort of theme.
Either you know the work involved in which case the answers are easy or you don’t in which case they’re ridiculously obscure phrases (or you look them up).
No fun had here.
Reddevil took the words out of my mouth in that it seems an unsatisfying experience, whether you know the titles or not, so it seems a bit pointless to have abbreviarted the title of the work in the first place.
I guessed what TWL was but I’m another for whom it did no good beyond guessing from the anagram fodder that OF THE or BY would crop up here and there.
Ah, well. Maybe the next one will have something I know all about and I can look down my nose at anyone who lacks the same body of knowledge.
I agree it was *very* impressive to fit that lot into the grid, so well done to Stetson on that.
Not something the next generation will be queuing up for. The appeal of cryotic crosswords is shrinking by the day.
endwether@39 – I hope not. Do you have any suggestions as to how to make the puzzles more appealing to young people? Please let us know and don’t leave us with a negative! I can’t believe that the fun of solving is generational.
Incidentally I liked working this one out, but I knew the poem and am part of a generation perhaps more likely to have read it. Given the state of the planet perhaps it should be more widely known.
And lest I forget, thanks to Stetson (a one-time pseudonym?) and B&J.