On checking I find that Hob has mainly contributed the Indy Saturday Prize puzzles, or a Thursday ‘hard one’. It’s Bank Holiday, of course, so perhaps the Ed thinks we have a bit more leisure time to complete a hard one. Which is certainly how I found this. There are many clues where I just have no idea what is going on, so it’s going to be ask the audience time.
There are two MORRISONS involved – VAN MORRISON and (once only) JIM MORRISON. The former’s songs/albums are featured throughout the puzzle, and I’ve no doubt missed a few.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Plays outside church in former Greek capital
DRACHMA
An insertion of CH in DRAMA.
5 One spotted in bad mood, touring
DOMINO
An insertion of IN in (MOOD)*
8 Nothing in opening to Crazy Love that’s a surprise
COO
An insertion of O in CO. Crazy Love is a Van Morrison song.
9 Number of flat in untidy house?
SEVENTY
An insertion of EVEN in STY. We’re having a few insertions already, aren’t we?
10 Instruments taking over tenor sax intro
OBOES
A charade of O for the cricket ‘over’, BOE for Alfie BOE, the tenor, and S for the first letter of ‘sax’.
11 Status taken from group involving a national government funded body
QUANGO
An insertion of A, N and G in [STATUS] QUO. Millionaires from the three-chord trick. Don’t knock it.
12 Net found in Sid Vicious’s penultimate appearance in football team
RESIDUAL
An insertion of SID and U for the penultimate letter of ‘Vicious’ in REAL [MADRID] for the Spanish football team. Or REAL [SOCIEDAD] of course, although they are probably less well-known by their ‘Royal’ prefix only.
13 Legendary Stones act begins with a mike stand being abused
ADAMANTS
A for the first letter of ‘act’ followed by (A M STAND)* The ‘mike’ bit is from the phonetic alphabet and the clue is perhaps another nod to the 1970s.
15 Singer in session includes bits of Cleaning Windows?
RINSES
Hidden in singeR IN SESsion. Cleaning Windows brings to mind George Formby; but in fact it’s a Van Morrison song.
17 Sort of plane coming from down under, having ejected Unionist Paisley?
ASTRAL
(A[U]STRAL[IAN] The astral plane is a plane of existence postulated by classical (particularly neo-Platonic), medieval, oriental and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions. Just in case you didn’t know that already.
19 Fruit given weight by physicist
APPLETON
A charade of APPLE and TON. Sir Edward APPLETON, English physicist and Nobel Prize winner.
21 Play a music festival
LATITUDE
A dd. It’s also a song by Van Morrison. Only joking.
23 Money given to those in debt in Jersey and Guernsey?
LOWERS
I think this is L for ‘pound’ followed by OWERS for ‘those in debt’. Jersey and Guernsey are types of cows, so they would be LOWERS. ‘The cattle are lowing; the baby awakes.’
25 Be against top model going topless
OPPOSE
[T]OP POSE.
26 All that is offered by Oxbridge poets?
UNIVERSE
UNI plus VERSE.
27 Get rid of the guitar
AXE
A dd. AXE is a slang word for ‘guitar’.
28 Session’s over – losing heart as sounds unmusical
NOISES
A reversal of SESSION with the middle S removed. The definition I don’t really understand. NOISES are NOISES, not necessarily ‘unmusical’.
29 Dodgy priests remain
PERSIST
(PRIESTS)* And in the Roman Catholic church, they certainly did.
Down
2 Echo and the Bunnymen – do you possess their every last output?
RESOUND
Help, please, because I have no idea, apart from the fact that they were a band from the 1970s.
3 Moving home, artist’s left county
CAVAN
CA[RA]VAN for the Irish county.
4 A day early, put up note of the rainy season
MONSOONAL
A charade of MON, SOON and LA reversed.
5 Openings for another one of the 14’s group
DOORS
Jim MORRISON fronted the group DOORS. That’s as much as I can tell you.
6 Revolting canned music, starting with old love song
MOONDANCE
This is a bit unfair, especially if you haven’t spotted the theme. The definition is ‘song’ and it’s MOONDANCE by Van Morrison. There are only about a trillion ‘songs’ in the world. It’s M for ‘music starting’, O for ‘old’, O for ‘love’and then (CANNED)* with ‘revolting’ as the anagrind. In fact, no it’s not: it’s (MOOCANNED)* otherwise there’s no indication to put MOO at the start.
7 No. 1 in 9s, when playing a set
NASTASE
Referring to the tennis player Ilie NASTASE, who was indeed No. 1 in the seventies. Something to do with AS for ‘when’ and (A SET)* but I’m afraid I can’t help further.
8/19 RUC spy arranged a place to meet in Belfast street
CYPRUS AVENUE
(RUC SPY)* plus A VENUE. It’s a Van Morrison song and is indeed a Belfast street.
13 Girl from 3, featuring in Caravan
AVA
It’s found in the middle three letters of 3dn as well as in CarAVAn. Caravan is another Van Morrison song.
14 Title of today’s theme turned up in Berks supermarket
MORRISONS
A reversal of SIR in MORONS, giving us the two MORRISONS that feature in today’s puzzle. Van Morrison was knighted earlier this year, hence the ‘title’ bit. Let’s not go into the derivation of Berks.
15 Queen upped the beat, covering 6 – flipping gross!
REPULSIVE
A reversal of ER followed by PULSE with VI for 6 reversed (‘flipping’).
16 Today’s setter in paper yesterday?
SUN
Well, the SUN is a ‘setter’ when it goes down; and The SUN is a paper (in the broadest sense of the word). But I don’t really understand it.
18 9s film shocks cleaner
SHAMPOO
A dd. A not that well known film from the 1970s starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie and Goldie Hawn. ‘Shocks’ as in ‘shock of hair’.
20 Some of those blooming old cars don’t start – there’s one of them in 14!
ORRISES
There is one ORRIS in 14dn, and it’s also [M]ORRISES. More 1970s’ nostalgia, I suppose, although the MORRIS brand dates back to just after the First World War.
22 Eyeballs somewhat suave characters when drunk
UVEAS
(SUAVE)*
24 No. 1 by Kansas, for an indefinitely long time
WEEKS
I’m not sure that I like the definition, because it’s too vague. But it’s WEE for ‘number one’ and KS. And Kansas were a 1970s rock group.
Many thanks to the setter for today’s puzzle. Way too hard for me, but those that like them tough will no doubt have enjoyed it. Oh, and by the way, Van the Man is 9ac today and is hidden in the fourth column. And ASTRAL WEEKS as well as AVALON SUNSET might strike a chord with aficionados if you spotted them. I knew there was something going on. I take it that Hob is a fan, so sorry not to be a big fan of this crossword.
Pierre, how on earth do you know all this stuff? This was as far outside my comfort zone (and ken) as Saturday’s Guardian Maskarade. I’d have been completely stymied without my Significant Other (whose youth was clearly as misspent as yours).
A significant technical achievement for Hob, though. Just glad I wasn’t doing it in lonely commuter conditions.
Thanks Pierre
2dn is an anagram (output) of the last letters (every last) of [an]D [th]E [bunnyme]N [d]O [yo]U [posses]S [thei]R.
I parsed 7d as N[ines] (No.1 in 9s) AS (when) plus an anagram (playing) of A SET giving an &lit when ‘9s’ is read as seventies.
Amazing blog! 13a: perhaps ref to Adam and the Ants? 7d: No. = number = n. 16d: Today the Sun is a ‘setter’ but yesterday it was a paper (although the opposite is also true). Thanks to both!
An enjoyable puzzle for a rainy bank holiday despite the theme. (Most things about the seventies, and all of its popular music, are best forgotten. Being able to tell one Morrison from another or recognise any of their works was fortunately not required, however.)
Thanks, Hob and Pierre.
16d – Yesterday was Sun, just as today is Mon ?
I think SUN is a triple – yesterday was Sunday.
Actually, I liked this puzzle very much.
But then I often enjoy crosswords with musical references in them.
Van the Man.
Thanks Pierre and sorry that it was such a struggle for you!
I parsed NASTASE (7d) just like Gaufrid did.
IanSW3: “Most things about the seventies, and all of its popular music, are best forgotten”.
While I cannot agree, one must also disconnect Van Morrison from a particular era.
He started in the sixties and is still going strong – a timeless phenomenon.
Anyway.
There’s also one of his early hits in 5ac (DOMINO).
17ac+24d gives us ASTRAL WEEKS, more or less his breakthrough album.
And there’s a nina too.
In the first and last column we’ll see AVALON SUNSET, another Van Morrison album.
Thanks Pierre & Hob.
I found this very tricky, particularly in the NE, but got there in the end. All in all I thought it was an excellent puzzle and a good challenge for a bank holiday, which I’m sure is what the editor intended. My only biff was OBOES because I’d forgotten about Alfie Boe, and I finished with NASTASE when I finally parsed it. I normally associate Echo and the Bunnymen with the 80s, although in all fairness they formed in 1978 so just about fit in with the theme.
As far as derogatory comments about music in the 70s is concerned, I always find them ignorant in the extreme. Yes, there was a fair bit of dross around, as there is in any era, but some of the finest music ever made came from that era. Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and Jackson Browne, to name but a few, made some wonderful albums in the 70s. I could name plenty more artists but I think I’ve made my point.
@ 7&8, well, I wouldn’t know Van Morrison or any of the others mentioned if they bit me in the elbow, and I certainly can’t keep track of which pop stars have not yet died of drug overdoses. While marginally preferable to a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, can still think of several thousand things I’d rather do than listen to an amplified human voice accompanied by electric guitar.
I think this puzzle appears today because Van is celebrating his 70th by playing live in Cyprus Avenue, Belfast, this evening.
Good spot, Geebs, and thank you to others for explaining the ones I couldn’t parse.
Conrad, I wouldn’t necessarily say ‘know’ all this stuff; more like ‘sounds a bit like it could be that’ and then busking it with the help of Mrs Google. Talking of misspent youth, there’ll be one on jazz coming along soon.
I did like BROWN-EYED GIRL, though, despite it not making an appearance here.
great puzzle by Hob, many thanks.
I twigged the theme when I saw Astral Weeks in the grid but I’d never heard of Avalon Sunset so although I looked for a Nina I missed it completely – top effort by Sil to spot that, and a great blog too Pierre
IanSW3 @4. I frequently annoy my children and grandchildren by calling the 70’s the decade that taste forgot.
Andy B @8
“but some of the finest music ever made came from that era”
Some of us would in all seriousness beg to differ.
Pierre @ 11 ” there’ll be one on jazz coming along soon”. I hope it will be good (btw how do you know?). Not that I judge jazz to be uniquely valid, but it is where I have spent my own life, and I’ll be able to tell if it is any good.
Conrad, I can at least thank the seventies, the first full decade I am old enough to remember, for making me think for myself, on seeing that everything built, worn, coiffed, painted, sung, written, etc. by others was so uniformly awful.
Meanwhile(1), our Birthday Child has nothing to do with the seventies.
The Man crossed all borders – blues, jazz and Irish folk (with The Chieftains) are more Van Morrison than pop and rock.
True, he shouldn’t have duetted with Cliff Richard but he did.
Meanwhile(2), for me, Hob (who, I think, lives in Northern Ireland and is a musician too if I am well informed) has hit the nail with this tribute.
Super puzzle and equally super blog (and some comments, too). Thanks.
I agree. I managed to finish it, but found several clues insufficiently well defined.
Some of the brilliance of this piece was lost on me as I am not, sadly, a Van Morrison aficianado. But I still enjoyed the solve. I had no problems with the parsing save 14dn, not knowing that VM is a knight, and SUN where I couldn’t, and still can’t, see the need for “Today’s” in the clue.
Overall, it is clear that Hob is a very special talent. I pray he won’t lower his standards (or standard, for that matter!) and greatly look forward to his future works, particularly if any theme should be more everyday. That way will lie the recognition he deserves…..
And Pierre – I loved your blog. You’re clearly more patient than I (if perhaps a little less tolerant?!)
Thanks again both.
Hardly anyone will read this, I’m afraid.
But if one does:
Tomorrow (Sunday 6 September) there is – on BBC4, of course, where else? [10.30-11.30pm] – a programme with highlights of Van Morrison’s birthday performance at Cyprus Avenue!
So yes, Hob’s puzzle did make sense.