Independent 7,793/Klingsor

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Finally! I’ve been waiting to land a Klingsor puzzle to blog ever since he kindly published one of mine on his website last December. 10 months later, here we go.

It being Thursday, I expected a pretty tough time, and this definitely delivered. I made a fairy quick start but then slowed to a snail’s pace, eventually having to resort to help for ORRERY, MORSE and JENNET, all of which were new to me. I’ll need a helping hand with some bits of wordplay too.

Nothing whatsoever wrong with the clues that I could solve though. There was a lot of neat stuff here. I especially liked 4A and the cryptic def. at 2D. Thanks to Klingsor for quite the workout.

Across
1 TSETSE – TEST rev. + SE[-mi]
4 IDOLATER – I DO LATER
10 DEPARDIEU – PAR[-t] in DE DIEU
11 FLING – L(ine) in FING
12 URE – R(iver) in oUsE
13 RATTLESNAKE – (LENT STREAK + A[-tmosphere])*
14 MINUET – MINUET with T(ango) given new place
16 JUVENAL – JUVEN[-ili]A + [-enthra]L – subject of a recent Listener, without which I doubt I’d have got this
19 CHEDDAR – ([-r]ED CARD + H(ard)*
20 ORRERY – I think this is a cryptic def.
22 DONER KEBABS – DON + BABE rev. in ERKS
25 ACE – Hidden in chirAC Eats
26 MORSE – MORSE[-l] – A walrus apparently
27 MEDIATION – (I AIM TO END)*
28 ABERRANT – ER RANT led by A B(ritish)
29 DEFEAT – D (Germany) + E(nglish) + FEAT
Down
1 TE DEUM TEDIUM with 1 for E(nglish)
2 EXPLETIVE – Cryptic def.
3 SURER – Definition is ‘safer’, but I’m not sure what the poison gas is and what the cleaner is we’re taking it from!
5 DOUBLE JEOPARDY – [d]E[fendant’s] in (JURY + OLD DOPE + B[-ust])*
6 LIFE SAVER – F(emale) in LIES + AVER
7 TAIGA – A GIA[-n(otts)]T rev.
8 RAGGEDLY – (E.G LADY GR(osvenor)*
9 LITTLE GREEN MEN – (TELL REGIMENT)* + initial letters of Extremely Nasty
15 UNDERWEAR – UNDER WEAR (i.e. don’t tire enough)
17 NARRATIVE – ARR. in NATIVE
18 ACADEMIA – ACADEMI[-c] + A(dult)
21 JENNET – I think this is [-a]NNE in JET (black)
23 NORSE – R(egina) in NOSE
24 SPATE – TAPS rev. on [-leav]E

20 comments on “Independent 7,793/Klingsor”

  1. Thanks to K for an excellent crossword. I think 3d is scourer (cleaner) without the CO (carbon monoxide being the poisonous gas).

  3. Thank you, Ali. I did find this tough but gettable, although in the end I was defeated by JENNET and, er, DEFEAT.

    But an enjoyable puzzle, in which I particularly liked TE DEUM and MINUTE. I knew MORSE, and people from round Derby know ORRERY (which I did indeed take to be a cd) because of the famous Joseph Wright painting, which is here:

    http://www.derby.gov.uk/LeisureCulture/MuseumsGalleries/ArttreasureTheOrrery.htm

    If someone could explain the ERKS bit of DONER KEBABS, I would appreciate it.

  6. Thanks Ali, and Klingsor for this enjoyable workout.

    Managed to get all, but couldn’t explain JUVENAL until coming here.
    Favourites were 2D EXPLETIVE, for its definition (spent some time trying to fit in celebrities and the like), and especially 11A FLING, whose wordplay I got only right at the end. Had totally forgotten (must be coming to 50 years now) “Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be”. If you’d like to refresh your memory, it’s here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-Ycc-yKqY

  7. Thanks for the explanation of ERK. I did have a look online, but couldn’t track down that definition. I did like EXPLETIVE too, scchua, but only after I’d discovered it wasn’t EUPHEMISM, which didn’t help my completion of the NW corner.

  8. Thanks Ali for a much-needed blog and Klingsor for a difficult but enjoyable puzzle. Got jennet but not Morse and glad to know orrery was a cryptic def as I couldn’t see any wordplay. I got Ure but was slghtly alarmed by using the R of what seems to be the definition as part of the wordplay. I thought this wasn’t allowed in crosswordland? Shouldn’t the definition be separate and not used at all in the wordplay?

  9. It’s an &lit, so the definition is in fact the entire clue (the Ouse is formed from the Ure, y’see).

  10. ele@8: if it’s an &lit. (which I think this one is — the Ure flows into the Trent I expect) then the whole clue acts as the definition.

    Nice crossword. I had thought something was wrong with DONER KEBABS and that the girl was Babs and e was the back for ‘some’, but clearly I was the one who was wrong and this seems to be fine.

  11. And finally from me, just to thank you again for your blog, Ali, which I’ve just noticed you had a bit of help from Tinkerbell with … did she sprinkle some fairy dust over the clues to help you get started? (If I knew how to do smileys I’d put one here …)

  13. Thanks, Ali, for the blog, and Klingsor for a lovely puzzle, as always.

    Rather late to the party but would like to add my favourites:

    &lit 27ac and my double-ticked going-on-for-an &lit 9dn – brilliant!

    I’d be really grateful for enlightenment re 20ac: I’d no problem with the definition – it went straight in [and thanks for the picture, K’s D 🙂 – but, especially in view of the question mark, I think there might be more going on. Anybody?

  14. @Eileen #13 Fairly sure it’s just a deliberate mislead as Supermodels are said to have heavenly bodies…
    if there’s also wordplay then this approaches clue of the year!

  16. Re is an alternative spelling of Ra the Egyptian sun god in ORRY a variant of ORRA.

    And if that’s what was intended then I’m giving up crosswords.

  17. Sidey I think you’re doing too many Azeds and Beelzebubs 🙂 Perhaps Klingsor can czech in and enlighten us if there is more to this.

  19. Good morning all and thanks for the nice comments. I can confirm that 20 across was a simple cryptic definition. ORRERY is hard to clue as it’s hard to link its definition with wordplay in a convincing way (at least that’s my experience) so a CD seemed appropriate. If I have to do it again I may well try to develop Sidey’s idea! (Having trouble getting this to post, please delete duplications!)

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