Independent 8,181 / Nestor

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The last time I was scheduled to blog a Nestor puzzle was the unfortunate occasion on which I confused my dates and someone had to step in and write a blog on my behalf. So producing any blog at all today has to be seen as an improvement on that performance!

I had a real struggle to complete today’s puzzle – perhaps the overindulgence of the festive season has numbed my brain? For me, this was at the harder end of the Nestor/Indy spectrum, with some rather intricate wordplay, e.g. at 6 and 7. Nestor is certainly setting the bar high early in 2013.

Despite being made to work (too?) hard today, I found much to appreciate in this puzzle. My favourite clues today are 7 and 24 for their & lit. components, as well as the rare quadruple definition at 26. I am somewhat baffled by the wordplay at 23 and hope to be enlightened by fellow solvers – done, thanks!

*(…) indicates an anagram

Across    
     
1   VESTAL Hidden (“featured”) in “ReeVES TALe”; a vestal (virgin) is a “modest female”
     
5   ANGERS Double definition: ANGERS is “winds up”, irritates AND “Maine city”, i.e. city on River Maine in French department of Maine-et-Loire, not the US State of Maine
     
10   URGE G (=good) in URE (=Live Aid organiser, i.e. Scottish musician Midge Ure)
     
11   CHATTERBOX C (=conservative) + HATTER (=Tea Partier, from the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) + BOX (=fight, i.e. spar)
     
12   MANITOBA [TO (=as far as) + B (=British)] in MANIA (=uncontrolled state)
     
13   ORACLE O (=nothing) + [L (=left) in RACE (=contest)]
     
14   HALLE L (=large) in HALE (=healthy); the reference is to US actress Halle Berry
     
15   STAR TURN START URN (=first step in serving tea to crowd)
     
17   ODYSSEUS SUES (=prosecutes) + S<omebod>Y (“renouncing inside” means all but first and last letters are dropped) + DO (=party); “from the east” indicates a (total) reversal
     
20   LEFTY LEFT (=went) + <speedil>Y (“at the finish” means last letter only); the definition is “Trot maybe”, i.e. Trotskyite
     
22   ERRATA RAT (=grass, i.e. betray) in ERA (=stage, i.e. period)
     
24   ATTORNEY A<ssaul>T (“case of” means first and last letters only) + *(TRY ONE); “out” is anagram indicator; & lit.
     
25   INFINITIVE INFINIT<e> (=limitless; “endless” means last letter dropped) + I’VE (=Nestor’s, i.e. Nestor – today’s compiler – has)
     
26   BUTT A quadruple definition: BUTT is “target”, i.e. in   archery or butt of joke AND “vessel”, i.e. water butt AND “ram”, drive at AND “end”, i.e. cigarette end
     
27   OBLONG O (=old) + [N (=new) in BLOG (=online diary)]
     
28   YOGURT RUG (=carpet) in TOY (=trifle); “turned over” indicates a (total) reversal
     
Down    
     
2   EARBASHED R (=run) in [<steeplechase>E (“finally” means last letter only) in ABASHED (=out of countenance, i.e. disconcerted)]; the definition is “did nag”, i.e. nagged, henpecked
     
3   THE PILL [HE (=male) + P (=power)] in TILL (=up to)
     
4   LACTO-VEGETARIAN *(EATING VEAL OR CAT); “is preposterous” is anagram indicator; & lit.
     
6   NATIONAL LOTTERY [ALL (=quite, i.e. altogether, completely) + OTT (=lavish, i.e. over-the-top)] in {N (=name) for ST (=street)}-ATIONERY (=letterhead, etc)
     
7   EARHART <s>EARCH PART<y> (“those   within” means internal letters only); “leaving edges of Pacific” means first and last letters of word, i.e. “p” and “c”, are dropped; & lit. , since US aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared without trace over the Pacific Ocean in 1937
     
8   SHOAL H (=hospital) in *(ALSO); “distressed” is anagram indicator
     
9   HARASS HAR<d>ASS (=American tough guy); “democrat (=D) ousted” means letter “d” is dropped; the definition is “press” as a verb, i.e. pressurise, coerce
     
16   RHYMESTER HYM<n> (“short” means last letter dropped) in RESTER (=person making no effort); & lit. , since rhymesters, poetasters tend to produce second-rate poetry
     
18   SPANIEL [I (=one) + N<ow> (“primarily” means first letter only)] in LEAPS (=is a springer); & lit. , since a springer is a kind of spaniel
     
19   SHARIA SH (=not a word, i.e. be quiet!) + ARIA (=song)
     
21   FIREBUG *(FIGURE + B<laze>); “involved with” is anagram indicator; & lit. , since a firebug is an arsonist
     
23   RINGO John / Paul / I (=Ringo) / George (and another), i.e. the four Beatles; RING (=papal regalia, in word form) + O (=papal regalia, in picture form, i.e. a ring)
     
     

 

9 comments on “Independent 8,181 / Nestor”

  2. Thanks RR and N. I do agree this was a tough one! Raich’s explanation of 23d seems good; I also struggled with parsing 24a, although the answer seemed obvious enough. Good stuff.

  4. Another one who struggled with this one. Couldn’t get there in the end but enjoyed the bits I did manage. STAR TURN was priceless …

    Thanks to S&B.

  6. Oops, what happened there? What I intended was S(omebody) should read S(omebod)Y but the angled brackets seem to have fouled it up. So replace ‘(‘ and ‘)’ with angled brackets.

  7. I thought this was hard but fair, and I was very pleased to finish it without resorting to aids. Ringo was my last in after the penny finally dropped on “John Paul I”.
    Andy B.

  8. Many thanks to allan_c for spotting the typo – there is one almost every week, despite my efforts to proof-read my blogs before posting them.

    And to Raich for the parsing of 23. The bit about the word “ring” and the picture (of a ring) “o” seems obvious now that it has been explained to me. I think that I was expecting a more technical term for papal regalia, although I suppose the wording was chosen mainly to reinforce the papal reference initiated by John Paul I. I did, however, expect a reversal (“backed”), although I suppose this could be understood to be back to back, one after the other. If this is the case, it is not a device that I recall having seen used very often ….

    I will supplement the blog accordingly.

  9. A difficult puzzle today. Sorry, yesterday – we’ve only just finished it!

    We wondered whether ‘backing’ in 23d referred to Ringo’s role (as opposed to drum-roll).

    Thanks RR and Nestor fir keeping us awake with a good and enjoyable challenge.

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