Independent 9,062 / Phi

9 comments on “Independent 9,062 / Phi”

1. Thanks RatkojaRiku and Phi.
   LOI was 2 down. BALTI is served in British restaurants, but is it really British cooking?

2. Yes, the Balti as a British type of cooking lost me somewhat and I kept trying to make B part of the wordplay, to no avail. I suppose the implication is that Balti, like tikka masala, is really a British invention.

   I found this easy apart from Balti, scientistic and Davies. For the Canadian writer, I kept thinking it had to be Dagoes, which seemed like an odd name to say the least, and I was convinced that 11 should be scientific, except that it didn’t fit. CIE as a French company abbreviation was a bit obscure and made 11 tricky.

3. Can now get the cryptic on my iPad since recent revamp of the Independent . Able to use the free app(no sub required for most of the content) or go to website where can get help as an option.
   Found yesterday quite straightforward but took much longer today and needed a couple of “show letter” to finish.
   Thanks for the parsing of 2d and 9a. Got both quickly but couldnt see why.
   The new app is clunky (apart fro the crossword) so i will be sticking mainly to my Telegraph paid for app.

4. Thanks, RR.

   I never go looking for Phi’s ghost themes (life’s too short, I’m afraid) but it was pretty evident that there was one today, because some of the clueing seemed a bit forced.

   I don’t think I’ve ever written down JAMMIES, and we’ve always pronounced it JARMIES, so I was surprised to find that dictionaries give that spelling.

   Is BALTI British cooking? Well, we eat a lot of it, and since Chicken Tikka Masala is the nation’s favourite dish, I guess you could say that we’ve adopted both. The origin of the word is interesting: it seemed to originate in Birmingham in the 1980s, but it’s unclear where it came from. A while ago, Victoria Coren did a TV series on word origins in conjunction with the OED, and this was one that she tried to get to the bottom of. And couldn’t.

   I think the 9th column, with MUTATED MURDER might just be the setter giving us a nudge towards the MURTHER spelling. Or maybe not. There’s only one person who knows, and thank you to him for the puzzle.

5. I managed the crossword but didn’t get the hidden connections; it was odd, though, to find ‘ice’ in two answers. Any significance? Thanks to both.

6. I thought there might be a theme based on Robertson Davies but was unaware of the Toronto trilogy so no marks there this time, I’m afraid.

   As for the origins of the word BALTI, Wikipedia states: “Balti, as a food, is named after the steel or iron pot in which it is cooked. The word is found in Urdu, Hindi and Bengali, and means ‘bucket.’ The word developed from the Portuguese ‘balde’, meaning bucket or pail, and traveled to South Asia via the Portuguese seafaring enterprises of the early sixteenth century. One can deduce that the word made its way into the English language during British colonial rule of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.” But does the dish’s presumed origin in Birmingham make it British?

   Thanks, Phi and RatkojaRiku

7. That the style of non-authentic “Indian” cookery was invented somewhere in Birmingham seems indisputable. I suspect the originator of the term was having a laugh at the expense of the ‘twelve pints of lager and the hottest curry’ brigade. It must be about the simplest way to cater for all comers, a bucket of hot spicy sauce that can be mixed with almost anything must have made life in the kitchen vastly simpler.

8. A little saddened by the surprising and rare, if slight, inexactitude on Phi’s part in 21ac. As all who read, or are employee by, the Independent should know the Vietnam would be better described as a 60s war zone. Though it encompassed the second half of the ’50s and the first half of the ’70s, it was ongoing throughout the 1960s. I’m surprised no-one else noticed.
   That apart, a typically enjoyable Phi puzzle – both good and easy. (Personally, I prefer his clever Ninas – which first attracted me – to his themes. I guess the cerebral légerdemain of the former require more time and effort.)
   Thank you to setter and blogger.

9. There was a lot that I wasn’t sure about with this one:

   ACROSS
   2A How does ON mean READY? Can anyone give a sentence where they’re interchangeable?
   14A Bit of an unfair clue IMO, since IN GOOD HUMOUR means IN GOOD SPIRITS, but GOOD HUMOUR doesn’t mean SPIRITS
   21A I’d put down NAM not MAN, so it messed up my attempts to solve 17D and 15D. I’ve done this a few times before with other crosswords – in future I’ll put in both words until I know which one is the right answer.
   27A How does WARNING mean THREAT?

   DOWN
   2D The ‘s of “it’s” doesn’t belong in the clue when it comes to solving it, but is required for the surface reading to work; “a place to try out” is an odd/incomplete definition for LAB; whether invented in Birmingham or not (the OED says the origin of the term is “uncertain and disputed”), Balti is certainly a very popular form of “British cooking” in the sense that it’s cooked a lot in Britain
   15D “other” is redundant, but helps the surface reading; can ICE mean RESERVE? (from “icy” meaning “cold”, “reserved”); can IMMANENCE be defined as “pervasive effect”? [this is presumably from this meaning of “immanent”: (of God) permanently pervading and sustaining the universe) (OED)]; wouldn’t “pervasive quality” be better than “pervasive effect”?
   20D “not out” is being used to define “waking” (adj.) (e.g. my waking hours). Is this acceptable? I think of “out” (as in “out for the count”) as meaning “unconscious”, not asleep, as is meant here.
   25D Is “lack of welcome” an acceptable definition for ICE? (from “icy” meaning “cold”, “unwelcoming”)

   Engelbert

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