Independent 8702 / Tees

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Today’s puzzle from Tees provides a good Thursday workout

 

 

 

This was a puzzle of two halves for me.  I solved around half of the clues fairly quickly but took a lot longer to solve the other half.  My last three in were the MOLESTATION / EVILDOER / HARDLINERS crossers.  I seem to have a blank spot on LINERS for ships as I was held up by this definition in a previous crossword fairly recently.

It took me a while to see the parsing for ODENSE where I had also thought about ODESSA.  

Once the penny dropped on MOLESTATIONS I rather liked the clue.

I’m afraid this puzzle is a little short on research as I have had a bit of an internet problem in a campsite inside a National Park.  My dongle won’t pick up a 3G signal and the Caravan Club have just upgraded their site internet with the same result as many upgrades in the IT world – i.e. it doesn’t work immediately and there is no contingency plan yet!.  The blog has been posted from a cafe offering free wifi in a nearby village and I’m unlikely to be able to respond to comments until Friday.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

5

 

James, for example, stops a person working towards same goal (6)

 

ONE (I think this may be a reference to the fact there was a King James I [ONE]) containing (stops) SID (name of a person)

ON (SID) E

ONSIDE (ON the same SIDE; working to the same goal)

 

6

 

Am I put out to catch ball, say? (3-3)

 

MIFF (annoy; put out) containing (catch) DO (party, for example a ball)

MI (DO) FF

MID-OFF (a fielding position in cricket where catches are often taken)

 

9

 

Soldier grabbing lady artist’s heavenly pair (6)

 

GI (American soldier) containing (grabbing) EMIN (reference Tracey EMIN, lady artist)

G (EMIN) I

GEMINI (the Twins, a constellation containing the two bright stars Castor and Pollux, giving its name to, and formerly coinciding with, a sign of the zodiac; heavenly pair)

 

10

 

Owing recognition certainly involves BT (8)

 

BT contained in (involves) INDEED (certainly)

INDE (BT) ED

INDEBTED (owing recognition)

 

11

 

Is back among drinkers now dry and continent (4)

 

IS reversed (back) contained in (among) AA (Alcoholics Anonymous [drinkers now dry])

A (SI<) A

ASIA (continent)

 

12

 

Pound in Our Legend reworked Ethic of Reciprocity (6,4)

 

L (pound sterling) contained in (in) an anagram of (reworked) OUR LEGEND

GO (L) DEN RULE*  – either L could be the one contained

GOLDEN RULE (an economic RULE used by the Treasury, especially in Gordon Brown’s time I think, relating to balancing two amounts or groups of input and output; ethic of reciprocity)

 

13

 

Harassment in GCHQ? (11)

 

MOLE (spy) + STATION [GCHQ  [Government Communication Headquarters in Cheltenham]could be considered to be a spy STATION)

 

MOLESTATION (harassment)

 

18

 

Ultra-conservatives in iron ships (10)

 

HARD (something made of iron is hard) + LINERS (ships)

 

HARDLINERS (people having a definite and unyielding policy, usually associated with the ultra conservatives in politics, but there have been some hard line Socialists as well)

 

21

 

Heavy sea (4)

 

DEEP (heavy)

 

DEEP (sea) double definition

 

22

 

Animal’s revised ideas about sacrificial offering (5,3)

 

Anagram of (revised) IDEAS containing (about) GNU (animal)

A (GNU) S DEI*

AGNUS DEI (this; a figure of a lamb emblematic of Christ, bearing the banner of the cross; reference sacrificial lamb?)

 

23

 

Dance in clubs with cool musician (6)

 

HOP (dance) contained in (in) (C [clubs] + IN [with it; cool])

C (HOP) IN

CHOPIN (reference Frederic CHOPIN, Polish composer)

 

24

 

Gossip or story about King and Queen (6)

 

(TALE [story] containing [about] K [king]) + R (Regina; queen)

TAL (K) E R

TALKER (gossip)

 
25 Clerk is magical collaborator (6) TELLER (I think this a reference to a pair of magicians named PENN & TELLER making TELLER a collaborator in the act) TELLER ([bank] clerk)
Down
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

Old station broadcast repeated phrase (8)

 

O (old) + an anagram of (broadcast) STATION

O STINATO*

OSTINATO (ground-bass [a bass part constantly repeated with varying melody and harmony])

 

2

 

With two old pennies in silver cases (6)

 

AG (chemical symbol for silver) containing (cases) (D [symbol for an old penny] + D [symbol for old penny] + IN)

A (D D IN) G

ADDING (supplemented by; with)

 

3

 

Lawless place that may serve stew? (4,4)

 

WILD WEST (if you treat WILD as an anagram indicator and WEST as the anagram fodder you can generate STEW as an anagram of WEST)

 

WILD WEST (lawless place)

 

4

 

Sweet run for B52? (6)

 

BOMBE (dessert) + R (run in cricket scoring notation)

 

BOMBER (reference B52 BOMBER)

 

5

 

City in a word overcrowded? (6)

 

O (over) + DENSE (crowded) such that if you put the two definitions together you get the one word OVERCROWDED

 

ODENSE (city in Denmark)

 

7

 

Weak sense about black and white’s last piece (6)

 

(FEEL [sense] containing [about] B [black, when describing a pencil lead]) + E (last letter of [last piece] WHITE)

FEE (B) L E

FEEBLE (weak)

 

8

 

Gunfighter can hit deck, not caught in explosion (5,3,3)

 

BILLY (a cylindrical container with a wire handle and lid for boiling water, cooking, etc out of doors; also BILLY-CAN; can) + (an anagram of [in explosion] HIT DECK excluding [not] C [caught])

BILLY THE KID*

BILLY THE KID (gunfighter)

 

14

 

Topless sex toy concealed by endlessly wicked person (8)

 

(DILDO [example of a sex toy] excluding the first letter [topless] D) contained in (concealed by) EVER (endlessly)

EV (ILDO) ER

EVILDOER (wicked person)

 

15

 

Eastern hemisphere‘s quaint and charming (3,5)

 

OLD WORLD (the Eastern Hemisphere was home to many of the WORLD‘S earliest dominant civilisations)

 

OLD WORLD (a marketing term frequently used when describing something the advertising company considers to be quaint and charming)

 

16

 

Good move to tuck into large meatball (6)

 

(G [good] + GO [turn, as in it’s your GO]) contained in (tuck into) FAT (large)

FA (G GO) T

FAGGOT (ball of minced meat)

 

17

 

Tees on the level in what to him should be compiling! (6)

 

ME (reference the writer / compiler , i.e. Tees for this crossword) + TIER (level)

 

MÉTIER (one’s calling or business; that in which one is specially skilled; in Tees’ case, compiling)

 

19

 

Benefit within benefit gives twice the amount (6)

 

UB (unemployment benefit) contained in (within) DOLE (payment made by the state to unemployed people [benefit])

DO (UB) LE

 

DOUBLE (twice the amount)

 

20

 

Way to check pain in medicinal packet (6)

 

ST (street) containing (to check) ACHE (pain)

S (ACHE) T

SACHET (a small usually plastic envelope, containing a liquid, cream, etc)  I’m not to sure about the word ‘medicinal’ in the clue as SACHETs can contain many things other than medicines.

 

 

 

22 comments on “Independent 8702 / Tees”

  2. Yes, agree with Quaiteaux about 1a, but the answer came to mind through the goalkeeper, David James – I was having trouble parsing it when I spotted Sid. NIce clue, as were many others. 6a across appeared ‘elsewhere’ just a few days ago with a very similar construction, though I imagine these puzzles are set long before they appear.

    Thanks Duncan

  4. There’s some discussion, in both places, of the clue in today’s Guardian for RUMP STEAK. ‘woodcut’ needs to be read as ‘wood’ for TEAK and ‘cut’ for the definition. I was reminded of some typically cryptic remarks by one Paul B on the matter of ‘indeed’ to indicate in DEED. Tees makes clear where he stands by eschewing ‘Overcrowded city’ for ODENSE.

    MIDOFF appeared elsewhere yesterday, even fewer than a few days ago.

  5. And a very nice clue it is too. Close to &lit I suppose, but some extra words needed to give the correct solving directions.

    Re that and the well-managed instructions for O plus DENSE, there a few clues here which could have been presented badly, (the STEW joke for example, the B52), but they were carefully handled.

    I concur regarding Sidney James, again indicated fairly as one of any number of Sids.

    A very pleasing piece.

  6. Those of us who prefer to do the Independent crossword before the Guardian have, today, had our enjoyment spoiled by the inconsiderate comment @3

  8. I do the Guardian after the Indy but several hours later, so I’d forgotten about Rhotician’s comment by the time I got round to doing it. Having said that, it doesn’t make it any less inconsiderate.

  11. I always find Tees a thoughtful setter, and this was no exception. Invariably clearly clued without being a giveaway. GEMINI made me smile and AGNUS DEI reminded me of my long abandoned Catholic upbringing. MOLESTATION was excellent – well done, Tees.

    Thought there might be a theme with WILD WEST and BILLY THE KID, but apparently not (said he, the worst nina-spotter in the entire cruciverbal universe …)

    Thanks both.

  12. I had exactly the same feeling as Andy B (and lenny’s) re rhotician’s post.
    But all’s forgiven now.
    That said, he didn’t need to give that Picaroon clue as an example as there are plenty of alternatives to chosse from [mainly found in the Guardian archives].

    Yes, Tees was fully true to his principles.
    And if he wouldn’t have been, this was still a fine crossword.

    Am I the only one who thought it was easy today?
    Finished it well within half an hour without any external help.
    To be clear, for me that’s extremely quick for an average Indy puzzle.
    I guess, many others must have dealt with it even quicker.

    CHOPIN, MOLESTATION and ODENSE were my favourites.
    Thanks Duncan and enjoy the rest of your holiday!

  13. Thanks Duncan – and thanks for battling with (or should we say without?) the technology.

    Thanks Tees. Our LOI was 13ac but we failed on 6ac. Having said that, we did complete the rest of the puzzle a bit quicker than normal.

  14. Re 12ac: the original Golden Rule (and the one more likely to be referenced here I think) is ‘Do unto others as you would be done by’ from the gospels.

  15. Thanks to the mighty Duncs for his usual uberblog, and to all who gave vent.

    I too think that Rhotician is an incredibly bad person, and will only buy him 9 drinks instead of 10 next time he’s at a London meet.

    Re MID-OFF, I saw Imogen’s lovely clue, which as you say above does use the same elements (DO in MIFF), but I was glad to see that we each had a different take on it. Phew. Strange but true, these crosswording coincidences.

    Anyway, I think you’ve sorted it all out up there in the blog ‘n’ thread, so cheers to all. See you at the next one.

  16. There’s another way to get even with rhotician.
    He will “buy you 1 drink instead of 10 next time he’s at a York meet”.
    York.
    Up north.
    Why not?

  17. Geebs is, of course, correct about The Golden Rule though I understand the principle to predate Christianity.
    Sil – I don’t understand your joke and would be grateful for enlightenment.
    Super crossword. Many thanks to Tees; and to Duncan for another great blog.

  19. I do not really want to explain this but since you ask I perhaps have to, William F P.

    Tees is referring to a (yearly) meeting in London where setters (including Tees) come together and where anyone else is welcome too (including Rhotician).
    I have been there only once (due to work commitments) but I am a regular at the other S&B meetings, often held in the Midlands (Birmingham, Derby, Manchester, Sheffield).
    Through the years, many setters have shown their faces (I can easily name 20) but Tees was never one of them.
    As you might know (from the Announcements at this site) there will be another event soon, October 25 in York.
    Get it now?

    BTW, I should have said (reversing Tees’ remark):
    He will “buy you 1 drink instead of 10 next time you’re at a York meet”.

    Anyway, it was only meant to be a light-hearted and surely no stingy remark in the direction of Tees.
    I had some email contact with Tees on cryptic matters in the past few years but I met him only once, briefly, last December in London, and I think he would like these S&B meetings.
    But that said, he’s a drummer in a band and often on the road at weekends, I guess.

    Perhaps, you should join ‘us’ too in York.
    And meet ‘us’ and Anax, and Nimrod, and eXternal, and Poins, and Rorschach, and many more.
    Great fun.

  20. Thank you Sil for so kindly taking the trouble to respond. You really needn’t have explained all about the S & B meetings as that wasn’t my question.
    I didn’t (and still don’t) understand the “up north. Why not?” remarks. I naturally assume this forms the conclusion to a joke about the north, or northerners – which still escapes me.

  21. I think you meant the “up north. Why not” to reference Tees’ apparent reluctance to travel. Whereas, unfortunately for both of us, it reads as an implication towards northerners being mean. That’s how I read it. I now see that you’re not a ‘northist’ after all. I determined many, many years ago to never allow prejudice to go unchallenged. In this case, the culprit is not you, but the ambiguity of your post. And that’s a relief – as I like what I know of you, dear Sil!
    York not possible. Perhaps we’ll meet on another occasion…..

  22. William F P, it is indeed meant as in your first line of #21.
    However, I would not use the words “Tees’ reluctance to travel” as I don’t know anything about that.
    Tees is from London and one has to travel north to get to York.
    That’s all there is.
    No intention to offend anyone (northerners nor Tees).
    Perhaps, we should leave it there.

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