Independent 8606 / Hephaestos

A quick search of fifteensquared shows that Hephaestos is a setter’s name that has not featured before.  I wonder what kind of puzzle he/she will set?

 

 

 

Well we usually find the most quirky or most difficult puzzle on a Thursday and I think that’s the case this week.

This is clearly a themed puzzle.  If you are a fan of Greek mythology this puzzle was probably a doddle for you.  For others, I feel there may be a slightly different reaction.

Having said that, there is a lot more going on in this puzzle than just a tour through characters in Greek mythology.

The puzzle is focused on THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES [17/19/8] which is the title of a poem by W H Auden.  The poem is based on a reworking of an element of Homer’s Iliad where Auden changes the images on the SHIELD.  There are a number of detailed analyses of the poem on the web, this one for example

The long clue makes reference to something in the grid – "as our grid asserts".  There is a message spelled out by the unches in rows 5 and 11 which is W H AUDEN vs HOMER

A number of the entries, ACHILLES [8 across], HECTOR [9 across] and ANDROMACHE [15 down] feature in The Iliad with many other characters from wider Greek mythology included in the clues.

Finally, from a thematic point of view that I can see, the setters name HEPHAESTOS refers to individual [or Greek God of Metalworking] who forged THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES in The Iliad.  

I note that NESTOR is also character in The Iliad, so I wonder if HEPHAESTOS is another manifestation of the setter NESTOR?

In terms of solving this puzzle, I had to rely heavily on the wordplay as Greek mythology is not one of my strong points.  In most cases you did not need such knowledge to unravel the wordplay.  However, I had to indulge in a fair bit of research to satisfy myself of the validity of some of the entries and also to learn more about the theme.

I got off to a reasonable start as HECTOR [9 across], LEUCOCYTE [12 across] and BOOZING  [22 across] fell quickly.  The town of ALLOA [26 across] was not obscure for me, so that too was a fairly easy clue, but to many I feel it won’t be the best known Scottish town.  In the down clues, MUDDLE [10 down], and BOEING [22 down]  went in quickly such that I had a good footing in the right hand side of the puzzle.

At that point I could see that ACHILLES was going to be in the long entry and I was able to deduce the rest from the remaining anagram fodder.

From that point on, it became a bit of a struggle and clues were solved slowly.  I found DYSON [18 across] a bit obscure and I was not familiar with the sacred works of Zoroastrianism at 16 down although in that case it was fairly obvious that TRY would be the container.  I have seen images of the GREEN MAN [7 down] but hadn’t been aware of its pagan roots  I wasn’t aware of Corydon’s role as a SHEPHERD [2 down] and IDEATES [13 across] is not a word that I use regularly.  For IDEATES, I could see that this was the most likely solution even though the wordplay is of the type more often found in weekend barred crosswords.

There were a number of clues that I enjoyed, examples being those for ABANDON [20 across] because of it’s excellent surface, BOOZING [22 across] for the unlikely juxtaposition of a Bishop and Bacchanalian activities, TIN HAT [17 down] for it’s topical football allusion and it’s clever cryptic definition and ULNA [25 down] for the definition “partner in arms”.

Overall though I am left with the feeling that this was not really a weekday puzzle that could be solved on the morning or evening commute or over a cup of coffee.  I have however learned a lot that I didn’t know before.

The grid with highlighted meassage is shown below:

Independent 8606

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Across

No. Clue Wordplay

Entry

9

 

Explosive caught soldiers whose nemesis was 8 (6)

 

HE (high explosive) + CT (caught, sometimes used in cricket scoring notation but I can’t find it in Chambers, Collins or the Shorter Oxford) + OR (other ranks; soldiers)

 

HECTOR (nemesis of ACHILLES [8 across])

 

11

 

Anglo-Saxon author with the shakes? (5)

 

AS (Anglo-Saxon) + PEN (author)

 

ASPEN (tremulous; with the shakes)

 

12

 

Roving eye, occult, in cell for our protection (9)

 

Anagram of (roving) EYE OCCULT

 

LEUCOCYTE (a white corpuscle of the blood or lymph.; cell for our protection)

 

13

 

Unconscious by river reflective storm god produces thought (7)

 

ID (in psychoanalytic theory, one of the three parts of the personality, being the unconscious mass of primitive energies from which come instincts for the gratification of basic desires for food, sex, etc, and for the avoidance of pain, modified by the ego and the superego) + EA (river) + (SET [Egyptian god of the desert, storms,disorder, violence and foreigners] reversed [reflective])

ID EA TES<

IDEATES (forms ideas, produces thought)

 

14

 

Mogul capital once shown in blurred illustration (7)

 

AGRA (Indian city, home of the Taj Mahal, capital of the Mughal [Mogul] Empire from 1556 to 1658) contained in (shown in) DIM (blurred)

DI (AGRA) M

DIAGRAM (illustration)

 

16

 

Royal house teacher takes daughter in for second time (5)

 

TUTOR (teacher) with D (daughter) replacing (for) the second T (time)

 

TUDOR (Royal House)

 

17 / 19 / 8 Battle lines – as our grid asserts -where old chief halts and heel is shot? (3,6,2,8)

Anagram of (shot) OLD CHIEF HALTS and HEEL IS

The phrase in the clue ‘as our grid asserts’ is explained in the introduction to the blog above

THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES (poem [lines] by W H Auden referring to images on  a SHIELD used by ACHILLES in battle)

18

 

Man back at work celebrated literary critic (5)

 

SYD (man’s name) reversed (back) + ON (working; at work)

DYS< ON

DYSON (reference Anthony Edward [Tony] DYSON (1928 – 2002), British literary critic)

 

20

 

Evidence of engagement in desert? (7)

 

[having] A BAND ON (wearing a ring, which may be an engagement ring)

 

ABANDON (desert)

 

22

 

Bishop loves vitality of Dionysian pastime (7)

 

B (bishop) + OO (love [zero score in tennis] twice for loves) + ZING (vitality)

 

BOOZING (drinking alcohol, celebrating Dionysus [Bacchus], Greek God of wine)

 

24

 

Happy ten years we have in company (9)

 

OUR (we have) contained in (in) (anagram of [happy] TEN + AGE [years])

ENT* (OUR) AGE

ENTOURAGE (company)

 

26

 

Everything and nothing close to Penthesilea’s town (5)

 

ALL (everything) + O (nothing) + A (last letter of [close to] PENTHESILEA)

 

ALLOA (town [in Scotland, on the north bank of the Forth, east of Stirling)

 

27

 

Peisistratos was one not to roll over in competition (6)

 

NARY (not) reversed (to roll over) contained in (in) TT ([Isle of Man] Tourist Trophy, motorcycle racing competition)

T (YRAN<) T

TYRANT (Peisistratos was a TYRANT) who rules Athens between 561BC and 527BC)

 

28

 

Erratic, then king complete in place as monarch (8)

 

Anagram of (erratic) THEN + R (Rex; king) + ONE (complete)

ENTH* R ONE

ENTHRONE (install as monarch)

 

Down

1

 

A wicket taken in one African state or another (6)

 

(A + W [wicket; cricket scoring notation]) contained in (in) MALI (African state)

MAL (A W) I

MALAWI (another African state)

 

2

 

Say Corydon‘s fine to go round boozer and start to drink (8)

 

(SHEER [thin; fine] containing [to go round] PH [public house; boozer]) + D (first letter of [start to] DRINK)

SHE (PH) ER D

SHEPHERD (Corydon is the stock name for a shepherd in ancient Greek pastoral poems and fables)

 

3

 

Due rant with Poseidon’s temper? (3-7)

 

ILL-NATURED (the entry ILL-NATURED could be used as word play for DUE RANT where ILL is the anagram indicator and NATURED is the anagram fodder)

 

ILL-NATURED (Poseidon is the God of the Sea in Greek mythology.  He is also referred to as the Earth-shaker for his role in causing earthquakes.  Capable of causing mayhem he presumably has an ILL-NATURED temper)

 

4

 

Eviscerated Alcyone freed soul for her dad (6)

 

AE (first and last letters of [eviscerated] ALCYONE) + an anagram of (freed) SOUL

AE OLUS*

AEOLUS (father of Alycone in Greek mythology)

 

5

 

Servant to Aphrodite in the room – or having male leave it (4)

 

HERO (letters remaining from THE ROOM after excluding [having … leave it] TOM [male of various animals])

 

HERO (servant to Aphrodite)

 

6

 

Maybe Castor to accommodate the old guest? (6)

 

STAR (reference Castor, one of the stars in the constellation Gemini) containing (to accommodate) YE (archaic [old] form of the)

STA (YE) R

STAYER (guest)

 

7

 

Inexperienced staff serving pagan representative (5,3)

 

GREEN (inexperienced) + MAN (staff)

 

GREEN MAN ( in British folklore, a figure symbolizing fertility, often depicted with branches and greenery protruding from his mouth; pagan representative)

 

10

 

Identical keys put in shoe get mixed up (6)

 

DD (reference the musical key of D, used twice to give identical keys) contained in (put in) MULE (backless slipper; shoe)

MU (DD) LE

MUDDLE (get mixed up)

 

15

 

Wife to 9 and mother pushed into rotten chore (10)

 

AND + (MA [mother] contained in [pushed into] an anagram of [rotten] CHORE)

AND RO (MA) CHE*

ANDROMACHE (wife of HECTOR [9 across])

 

16

 

Sham attempt to bind incomplete Zoroastrian works (8)

 

TRY (attempt) containing (to bind) (AVESTA [the Zoroastrian holy Scriptures.] excluding the final letter [incomplete])

TR (AVEST) Y

TRAVESTY (sham)

 

17

 

Unconvincing Hearts sent bottom by top shot stopper (3,3)

 

(THIN [unconvincing] with H [Hearts] moved to the end [bottom]) + AT (by)

TIN H AT

TIN HAT (military steel helmet; used to protect against shots to the head [top]; top shot-stopper]  The football allusion is good as Heart of Midlothian Football Club has had an awful season on and off the pitch and will play in the second tier of Scottish football nest season. A 15 point deduction for entering administration sent them to the bottom of the League.

 

21

 

Star-shaped structure on point behind Argonaut? (6)

 

ASTER  (a star-shaped structure formed during division of the nucleus of an animal cell [definition found in Shorter Oxford]) + N (point of the compass)

 

ASTERN (if you are behind a ship, the Argonaut being example, you are ASTERN of that ship)

 

22

 

Plane brings nothing into existence (6)

 

O (zero; nothing) contained in (into) BEING (existence)

B (O) EING

BOEING (brand of aeroplane)

 

23

 

Gorgon’s head competes with Euphrosyne and sisters (6)

 

G (first letter of [head] GORGON) + RACES (competes with )

 

GRACES (Euphrosyne and her sisters comprise the Three Graces in Greek mythology)

 

25

 

Grateful nation owing share to one partner in arms (4)

 

ULNA (hidden word in [owing share] GRATEFUL NATION)

 

ULNA (one of the two main bones in the lower arm; one partner in arms)

 

 

20 comments on “Independent 8606 / Hephaestos”

  1. Definitely one which needed time and thought and a bit of investigoogling but well worth it. I believe this ‘Greek god’ to be a setter who usually uses other aliases. I can report to those who are keeping an eye on my New Year’s resolution, that I did spot the Nina.

    Thanks to the setter and Duncan for the excellent blog of a tricky puzzle. Incidentally you appear to have ‘hoglighted’ the message 🙂

  2. What a lovely puzzle. I could not parse IDEATES, and I had to Google to confirm DYSON. I was held up too long for not having noticed the correct enumeration of 17, 19, 8, scratching my head for a one-word epithet for Achilles that fit “S_I_L_O_” (stillion?). Many thanks to Hephaestos, whoever you are, and Duncan.

  3. Unlike today’s Paul in another place, I’m on my home turf here. Great (and quite a relief).

    Are we making a book on who it might be? I have put my suggestion in a sealed envelope.

  4. Excellent. Very difficult but a tour de force. I suppose he/she was taking a risk with some of the references; solvers often complain when a lot of general knowledge seems to be needed. But my experience was that despite having little Latin and less Greek I was able to do it without looking anything up – Alloa and Dyson I just had to hope existed, and I was helped by knowledge of other literatures. I knew Andromache/Andromaque from Racine/French A-level (also Baudelaire) and people like Corydon, Hector etc. crop up all over English lit. Having said that I missed the nina, despite the very helpful nudge in the long clue. I didn’t know the Auden poem, but will seek it out. By the way Simon Armitage’s Trojan War adaptation sounds well worth seeing. I think it’ll be coming to Shakespeare’s Globe later in the year.

    Nestor sounds possible for the setter. Phi is very versatile though…

  5. Bravo, Duncan – a splendid blog!

    Like Conrad, I was nicely nestled in my comfort zone here and enjoyed the puzzle tremendously.

    I’m ashamed to say that I spotted W H AUDEN but missed HOMER completely. [What can I say but ‘D’oh’? 🙁 ]

    As noted by others, this setter is obviously no tiro and possibly, given the theme, it’s a nonce pseudonym [I’m rather intrigued by the hybrid spelling] so perhaps we’ll never know.

    Very many thanks, whoever you are, for what was a real treat for me.

  6. I’m glad others have enjoyed it, because I don’t give up through lack of interest on many Indy puzzles, but I gave up on this one. Okay, Thursday is the ‘hard one’, but mythology is not my strong point, and this just struck me as a ‘look how clever this is’ crossword. Cue other setters telling us how good it is.

    Peisistratos is a tyrant? Really? Corydon is a shepherd? If I’d been in Another Place I’d have taken it as a typo for Croydon. Aeolus is the father of Alycone; Andromache is the wife of Hector? Yer, well I knew that. And yes, I know you get two goes in cryptics, but with proper nouns, if you don’t see the wordplay, you’re bollocksed.

    I appreciate that the Indy is innovative, but this for a daily cryptic? I don’t think so.

    Thank you anyway to Tees for the puzzle and to Duncan for the usual informative blog.

  7. I managed to complete this without resort to aids, but only once I’d changed the unparsed “tin man” at 17dn to the correct TIN HAT. The congratulatory message, or lack of it, can come in very handy. My knowledge of the themed clues is superficial so it was a struggle, but it was a finely crafted puzzle, especially with the nina that I missed. IDEATES and TYRANT went in from their definitions and DYSON from the wordplay with fingers crossed that there hadn’t been a literary critic called “Dison”.

  8. 21D. The ship is the Argo, the Argonauts were its crew, so “astern” is the point behind the Argonaut.

  9. Andy B@9: I guessed TIN CAN for 17dn, the traditional item for target practice in films, and as I was doing the paper version no lack of message to tell me I was wrong.

    It’s been some years since I read the Iliad and I didn’t know of the Auden poem, and I had to look up some of the names to remind myself who they were as the word play eluded me.

    I parsed 24ac as Gideon did.

  10. I shall accept this as just punishment for complaining that there is too much football and pop music in the Indy crossword

  11. Well, I’ll argue that this was pretty much a ghost theme, apart from the long clue, which in any case told you to look for a Nina. There, I’ve argued it. Though I was thinking how much fun it would be to bring two poems, 28 centuries distant, a bit closer together for discerning solvers. And I lurve all that ole stuff.

    Some very amusing comments here, so thanks as usual, and a great blog from Dunks. Don’t think you’ve missed a thing.

    Cheers
    Hephaes-tees.

  12. Well done Duncan, a great blog! Not having had any classical education at all loads of stuff here went over my head. I had great fun getting the solutions that I knew about though. Thanks Hephaestos for an excellent puzzle.

  13. We’re with K’s D on this one!

    We completed it but needed considerable searching – all seemed a bit contrived. Obviously our lack of a classical education.

    Anyway, we learnt something Tees, but we were glad that we weren’t blogging this one.

    Thanks Duncan especially for parsing TIN HAT and for your excellent preamble.

  14. What a Tees!
    After initial scan, I felt as K’s dad and Bert and Joyce. But I persevered and, though took longer than usual, managed to complete in under half an hour. I love the smell of eclecticism on a Thursday!
    Had trouble parsing “ideates” so many thanks to Duncan for clarification – and for an extraordinarily comprehensive blog. What a guy!
    Luckily, Eileen, I knew the meaning of “nonce” you invoked!! (and you were right!)
    3dn a nice clue, 4dn a clever spot – but my favourite had to be “ulna”
    Many thanks, Hephaestees; a puzzle of singular repletion!

  15. 2018 , this was a waste of ink. Does the EDITOR of the i ever try these crosswords, it may have been ok for the Independent in 2014, but not for the general readership of a QUALITY,CONISE newspaper today.

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