If you will indulge me, let me tell you a story.
A long, long time ago (September 2010) I produced my first blog for Fifteensquared. I had put my hand up to blog the Quiptic (a new addition for 225 at the time) and the Everyman puzzle, because I felt confident enough as a solver to be able to tackle them and get the blog out before dark. A little while later I felt emboldened to reply positively to Gaufrid when he was looking for another blogger for the Independent; but I said I would do the Sunday and Monday blogs only because they were the ‘easy’ Indy offerings for the week. I knew that if I landed one of the other days, I would end up in an uneven contest with the likes of Anax (back in the day), Tyrus or Nimrod, and would be found curled up and rocking myself in the foetal position in the corner of the living room.
So in fifteen years, Nimrod and I have never encountered each other here. Until today. Quite what Nimrod is doing with a Sunday Indy offering I am not sure. I didn’t quite have to curl up into a ball (and to be fair, the grid is generous), but this was undoubtedly in the hard category, for this solver at least. As always with this setter, it was hard but fair; but it took a long time to solve and later parse, so please forgive any errors or omissions.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
7 Beautiful valley not enough for tyrant emperor
TEMPE
Hidden in tyranT EMPEror. The Vale of Tempe is a scenic gorge in Greece and is a mythical site associated with Apollo and the Muses.
8 What deli may offer visiting prodnose down west
PANCETTA
I have looked at this long enough, and have come to the conclusion that I will never parse it, so over to some kind soul out there who will put me out of my misery.
Edit: KVa has kindly explained this at comment no 1.
9 Promotion introducing love song and dance
ADO
A charade of AD and O.
10 Pass over Panamanian port
COLON
A charade of COL and ON.
11 Spooner’s suggestions are much better than cosmetic
LIPSTICK
A Spoonerism of TIPS LICK.
12 How hard, hiding large hooter
OWL
A charade of [H]OW and L, and some light relief (for me at least) to be had from the Obligatory Pierre Bird Link. Since we have some ancient Greek references in the puzzle today I have gone for the Little Owl: it’s also known as the owl of Athena, (Athene noctua) since she was the goddess of wisdom.
14 The Sun’s as large when Earth’s eclipsed
SOLAR
SO LAR[GE]. Here’s what my Chambers says:
Gaea, Gaia or Ge (n) Earth apprehended as a living entity within the solar system
15 Trunks he’s thrown in for nothing in the price of suit
CHESTS
The setter is inviting you to replace the O in COST and S for spades, the ‘suit’ with HE.
16 Don’t read all of tense letter
TAU
TAU[T]
17 Comparatively modest height at which acrobat has no head
HUMBLER
A charade of H and [T]UMBLER.
20 Roman speciality laid out on a grid
ROADING
(ON A GRID)* The Romans built some famous roads. Including the (very minor) one I live on, as it goes.
22 Dark substance prepared by distilling salt
TAR
A dd.
23 Some of our thoroughbreds out of the frame
FOURTH
Hidden in oF OUR THoroughbreds. If you came fourth in a race, you would be out of the frame for a medal.
24 Young people support couple holding hands
TEENS
A charade of TEE and NS for the partners in bridge (who would be holding the hands dealt to them).
27 Mischiefmaker was irritating
ATE
A dd. ATE was the Greek goddess of mischief, delusion, recklessness, and ruin. Sounds like a good Friday night date.
29 Author is apparently identifiable figure
PENTAGON
A charade of PEN for ‘author’ in its verbal sense and TAG ON, which would make something or someone easily identified.
30 Monster course dominated by stand
BRUTE
An insertion of RUT in BE. RUT, loosely, could be a ‘course’ in its sense of a track. The equivalence for the second element is in ‘she had to stand/be firm.’ The insertion indicator is ‘dominated by’.
31 The first fifteen letters as well?
TOO
The first fifteen letters of the alphabet would take you TO O.
32 Slimmed manner, not so round?
LEANNESS
An insertion of [M]ANNE[R] in LESS, and a cad. The insertion indicator is ’round’.
33 Spanish gentleman has cycled here from Scandinavia
NORSE
‘Has cycled here’ is the invitation to take the first two letters of SEÑOR and move them to the end.
Down
1 Plaster-work crosses over with business
STUCCO
A charade of CUTS reversed and CO. ‘The M62 cuts/crosses over the M1 near Leeds.’
2 One female crossword compiler, among others
AMELIA
An insertion of ME in ALIA. The insertion indicator is ‘among’.
3 Possibly vote against party
BEANO
If you were to vote against something, you might BE A NO.
4 Official quietly breaks into military area
INSPECTOR
An insertion of S in IN SECTOR. The insertion indicator is ‘breaks’.
5 Dumb-ass guy disturbs writer somewhat
MEATHEAD
An insertion of HE for ‘guy’ in ME A TAD. The insertion indicator is ‘disturbs’.
6 Historic train terminus in Co. Durham – not Beds – carrying King north
STOCKTON
An insertion of K in NOT COTS, all reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘carrying’ and since it’s a down clue, the reversal indicator is ‘north’. An appropriate clue in the year when we are celebrating 200 years of railways, which of course began in Stockton.
8 Take head off/tail off parrot
POLL
POLL[Y]
13 River Don
WEAR
A dd, referencing the river overlooked by the Stadium of Light, home to the mighty Sunderland AFC, who as this blog is published sit in a Champions League spot in the Prem. Just saying.
14 Note: not a word – OED editor omitted parts
SOH
An insertion of O[ED] in SH. The insertion indicator is ‘parts’.
16 Poet wanted hug? He shunned embraces
TED HUGHES
Cleverly hidden in wanTED HUG HE Shunned. Is there a hint of an extended definition here? Hughes/Plath scholars can tell us.
18 Like the champagne that’s on ice, this is his
UNOPENED
If the word ‘this’ were ‘unopened’, you’d end up with ‘his’.
19 He’ll sing it through with a single exception
BARITONE
An insertion of IT in BAR ONE. The insertion indicator is ‘through’.
20 Transported under cover, thus delivered?
RAPT
Aural wordplay (‘thus delivered’) of WRAPPED.
21 Cut short energy supply
GAS
GAS[H]
25 French poet read in French; read in translation about it
ÉLUARD
An insertion of LU, the past participle of the French verb lire, ‘to read’, in (READ)*. The insertion indicator is ‘about it’ and the anagrind is ‘in translation’. The French poet is Paul Éluard (1895-1952). No, I hadn’t either.
26 Born, then died, one no longer essential
NEEDED
A charade of NEE and D[I]ED.
27 Hill residents periodically cannot use
ANTS
The odd letters of cAnNoT uSe.
28 Napoleon with energy climbing tree
EBONY
Nimrod is inviting you to move the E in BONEY, Napoleon’s nickname, three places upwards.
Many thanks to Nimrod for the Sunday challenge.
PANCETTA
Visiting AT
prodnose TEC (detective)
down NAP
West reversal indicator
SOH was the clue that beat me and one or two went in unparsed e.g. 8a which KVa had explained. I had no idea about prodnose but at least I know now it is a detective of sorts. On review I found it hard to see why it had taken me so long but thats obviously a reflection of this setter’s art. Top clue for me and the best spoonerism I’ve seen in a long while is LIPSTICK and I love the clue for UNOPENED which Pierre explained perfectly in the blog. Big thanks to Pierre and to Nimrod for dropping by.
Also took me a while to cotton on to Napoleon’s nickname but oddly enough the song was in my high school songbook along with the regulation hymns. ‘Boney was a warrior wah, wah, wah’.
Enjoyed this. For a while I wondered if Nimrod had set himself the challege of writing a puzzle without any anagrams. I see POLLUTANTS down the middle and GAS on one side. Is SOH a polluting compound?
Thanks KVa, pancetta among several bits non-parse — Ge = Earth; S for Spades; rut for course — and a couple of revealed squares, so a definite dnf for ginf. Happy to be tested, ta Nimrod and well survived Pierre.
Never heard of the Frenchman and couldn’t summon up the past participle either.
I had SO (as) L (large) AR (when (ARE) Earth’s (E) eclipsed). But I was scrabbling around for a parsing of the only possible solution.
Thanks both.
chapeau, Pierre – glad I wasn’t having to blog this!
Needed some aids to finish but got there in the end, apart from entering PANCETTI for 8a (I was thinking PI around something, but got no further – so thanks KVa).
My first thought for 8d was (t)aper, which I think fits the clue, but already had the O from ADO & L from OWL, so needed a rethink.
Well that was the mauling I expected to get. Thanks Nimrod and well done Pierre.
What Flashling said!
Thanks both. Far too difficult for me, and evidently deliberately so. REVEAL and CHECK were my favourites.
I’m still wondering why Nimrod appeared today, can’t see any themes or Nina but such a rare outing is unusual to put it mildly
Well, wonders will never cease. I didn’t parse SOLAR (thanks Pierre) or PANCETTA (thanks KVa) but otherwise I didn’t find this too bad for a Nimrod and I finished it in (for me) a reasonable time, which for most here I suspect would be unimaginably slow. I’m sure the “generous” grid helped as Pierre says and I doubt we’ll be as fortunate whenever and wherever JH turns up next time. Favourite bit was the ‘this is his’ wordplay.
I remember Nimrod appearing on a Sunday a few years ago, which was a shock to the system then as seeing his name today was. I liked today’s challenge but it will be good to have Filbert hopefully return to his usual Sunday spot next week.
Thanks to Nimrod and Pierre