Like the rest of my fellow Monday Indy bloggers, I’ve given up on the first puzzle of the working week being the ‘easy one’ (although that was the only reason that I put my hand up to blog the Monday puzzle in the first place).
And no problem with that: I will try to solve/blog what’s put in front of me. This was just really hard, for me at least. There were no full anagrams, which is normally my way into a hard puzzle. So it took ages for me to get going and to see what was occurring. What is going on with the capital letters in the clues? Who is that mathematician/philosopher at 4/17? I just hope that I’ve explained everything correctly. I may have got the whole thing wrong, so happy to receive corrections.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Bloomers by 10 spoil anagram
OXLIPS
(X SPOIL)*
4 Soldier’s second gadget
GISMO
A charade of GI’S and MO
8 Call round
RING
A dd.
9 Wind that’s NOT OK for trouser material
CHINO
CHINO[OK]
10 Flatulent? Heading off – that’s us, shortly
INDY
[W]INDY, referring to ‘us’, the INDY, which is the popular name for The Independent.
11 Top man contributing to research on cholera
HONCHO
Hidden in researcH ON CHOlera.
12 Record one’s involuntary movement related to complex orchestration
LOGISTIC
A charade of LOG, IS and TIC.
13 Pine toilet seat? Just a tip for warm bottoms
LONG JOHNS
A charade of LONG, JOHN and S for the first letter of ‘seat’.
19 Switch type found in 10, digitally
ON-OFF
I will have a vague stab at this by saying that 1 0 is computer code for ON, OFF and it’s something to do with BOOLEAN stuff.
21 Sheep cloned by surgery found in M&S tarts once
DOLLY-MOPS
This is not a great surface, imho. It’s DOLLY, (1996-2003) for the famous cloned sheep and OP in M and S. The answer is an old word for prostitutes or ‘tarts’. Why was she called DOLLY? Because she was cloned from a somatic mammary gland cell, and DOLLY PARTON’S mammary glands came into the equation. Who says scientists have no sense of humour?
26 New moon, with x OR y, makes darkness visible perhaps
OXYMORON
For me, this is just an equation, rather than a surface. (MOON X OR Y)*
28 Head no good, with drink taken
NOGGIN
A charade of NO, G and GIN.
30 I love a bum
HOBO
Bad word was uttered when I finally twigged this one. It is, of course, HOB plus O. Since we’ve had tits already, I’ll give you bums as well, since the clue reminded me of a Jake Thackray song:
I love a good bum on a woman; it makes my day
To me it is palpable proof of God’s existence, a posteriori
I also love breasts and arms and ankles, elbows, knees
It’s the tongue, the tongue, the tongue on a woman that spoils the job for me
He was from Yorkshire and it was written in 1970, so you’ll have to forgive him.
31 It’s NOT about time to ring for an Indian, some might say
TONTO
A charade of NOT reversed, T and O. The Lone Ranger’s faithful companion, so anyone under the age of 70 will probably have no idea. For those of a certain age, ‘Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!’ and ‘Over the ridge, Kemo Sabe’ will ring a bell.
32 Bullshit about the other information provided on 19 basis by 10
BITS
More sex. An insertion of IT for ‘the other’ in BS for ‘bullshit’. I think, but only think, that it’s referring to the fact that 1 and 0 are switched ON and OFF in the binary code that is used for computer programming. But that’s probably bullshit and someone else will tell me what’s going on.
33 Thin youth, primarily sluggish?
SLIMY
A charade of SLIM and Y for the first letter of ‘youth’.
My pet snail was too slow to win races, so I took his shell off. It just made him even more sluggish.
34 Bulbs working? No, current’s off
ONIONS
A charade of ON for ‘working’ and something else. You tell me.
Down
1 One found on Wimbledon Common OR in Colombia, circling round
ORINOCO
A charade of OR, IN, a reversal of CO for ‘Columbia’ and O. Wombles, anyone?
2 First out of 12, due to sound reasoning
LOGIC
If you take IST out of the answer to 12, LOG[IST]IC, you get LOGIC. No doubt to do with the theme of BOOLEAN LOGIC.
3 Instrument panel initially at 100, taking in 200 AND 50 later
PICCOLO
Give me a break, this is a daily cryptic. And another more or less meaningless surface reading. P plus 100 for ‘hundred’ with CC for ‘200’ inserted, and then L for ’50’ inserted ‘later’.
4/17 Mathematician and philosopher, having drunk beer, go into East Yorkshire town
GEORGE BOOLE
An insertion of (BEER GO)* in GOOLE. My problem with this is that there are a lot of ‘mathematicians and philosophers’ and a lot of ‘East Yorkshire towns’, so I needed to guess GEORGE before I could have a stab at the answer. It’s the 200th anniiversary of his birth today. He gave us BOOLEAN algebra and logic, which I’m guessing is the reason that NOT OK, x OR y, NOT, OR, AND and AND are capitalised in the clues.
5 Vessel carrying fuel stains
SOILS
An insertion of OIL in SS for ship or ‘vessel’.
6 Former pupil awarded medal, cycling to Ireland
OLD GIRL
The setter is asking you to put the first letter in GOLD last (‘cycling’) and then add IRL.
7 Very bad hotel, reported for fiddle
VIOLIN
An alleged homophone of VILE INN. Please let’s not start a homophone debate. I already need a lie-down.
14 Type of picture, one taken by girlfriend
GIF
An insertion of I in GF for ‘girlfriend’ gives you the acryonym for Graphics Interchange Format which is widely used on T’internet.
15 Concealed through fresh identity
HID
Hidden in fresH IDentity.
16 Star of Latin origins?
SOL
The Latin word for ‘sun’, which is our ‘star’.
18 Ring the Queen? Some resistance there
OHM
A charade of O and HM for Her Majesty giving you the unit of resistance.
20 Unwholesome sense about Times and Indy
NOXIOUS
An insertion of X for Times and 10 for Indy (the answer to 10ac) in NOUS for ‘sense’.
22 In possession of fashionable dress? The other half’s first
OWNING
‘Fashionable dress’ would be IN GOWN. Put the last half first and you’ve got OWNING. Surface meaning might have gone missing here. It’s not putting a picture in my head.
23 Sort of green car
LINCOLN
A dd.
24 Nothing up with model going into pubs, four of which are in Trafalgar Square
PLINTHS
This is a long clue for a seven-word answer. And it’s also complicated to parse, although the definition is clear. Since it’s a down clue, it’s a reversal (‘up’) of NIL with T for Model-T Ford in PHS for public houses, or ‘pubs’. PH is, or was, the OS abbreviation on maps for ‘public house’. Duncan S will confirm, because he’s an ex OS man, I think.
25 Light and unsubstantial, as coffee may be
FROTHY
A dd.
27 What Daisy AND Ermintrude might have said, having left one root veg
MOOLI
‘Daisy’ is your general cow name; ‘Ermintrude’ was the cow in The Magic Roundabout. They might have said MOO. Add L and I, and you’ve got MOOLI, which is a type of radish with a slender white root, and hence a ‘root veg’. No, I hadn’t either. Time for bed, said Zebedee.
29 Hunchback has mouth with foul smell
GOBBO
A charade of GOB and BO for body odour or ‘smell’. The solution is not in any of my dictionaries, but I did find it in online ‘urban’ dictionaries.
Thanks to Hob for the start to the Indy week.
Hi Pierre. 4/17 was the inventor of Boolean Algebra -which clothed and fed me for nearly five decades. Hence all the AND OR etc in the cluing, and the plethora of I and O in the answers. We have to salute Hob.
29 I took to refer to Lancelot Gobbo, who was Shylock’s servant.
BTW I eat a lot of mooli, even if you don’t.
31 reminded me of the story:
Lone Ranger: Tonto! We are surrounded by Indians. What are we gonna do?
Tonto: What do you mean ‘we’, Paleface?
Just getting my coat.
Thanks Pierre and Hob. An interesting theme.
34 across: I think the end part is anagram of(off) [ON and I(symbol for electrical current) ]
And GOBBO is Italian for “hunchback”.
Sorry, for 34 across that should be [ON’S and I].
Thanks, Conrad. I was on the right track, but the I and O bit (I see now that each clue contains either or both letters) was well beyond me.
Your jokes are even more rubbish than mine, btw.
Each answer, even.
Thanks, Pierre.
Fortunately, I’d seen Google’s home page before I started this, otherwise, shamefully, I’d have been completely lost. As it was, the mathematician went in relatively easily and, surprisingly, I quite enjoyed this, although I didn’t get 19ac.
34ac is just ON + [NO I’S]*
Thanks to you and Conrad for the jokes and to Hob for the puzzle, which I wish I understood better.
Is anyone else having problems with the online version? I can only get yesterday’s puzzle.
Yes, sidey, the online version will currently only give you yesterday’s puzzle. The whole new crossword site for the Indy is a piece of rubbish. The least of my worries is that you don’t ‘play’ a crossword. It’s not a game.
George Boole was born 200 years ago today.
Sorry Pierre, just spotted that when going on the web today and missed it in your blog.
Oops, sorry, became dyslexic when writing my @2 and 3.
“The whole new crossword site for the Indy is a piece of rubbish.” Hear, hear! Words like “dog’s” and “breakfast” come to mind. Up till Friday, although it said the puzzle was the previous day’s, it was actually the puzzle for that day. But it took ages to load and in very small type was “please read this message from our sponsor”. What message? There wasn’t one. Over the weekend we got the previous week’s prize puzzles (I don’t have a problem with that) but this morning there is a ridiculous 13×13 puzzle that is an insult to anyone’s intelligence.
If anyone from the Indy is reading this – what on earth are you playing at? Have you never been told that IF IT AIN’T BROKE IT DOESN’T NEED FIXING?
Sorry, Gaufrid, but I can’t comment on the puzzle.
Thanks Hob and Pierre. As you might expect, given my pseudonym, I found it all fairly simple. Just right for a Monday.
In amongst all the booleans, I thought 30a was a wonderful clue and it almost seems a shame to bury it in a themed crossword. I’ll applaud for a while and see if it comes back for an encore.
The puzzle was fun and for the most part straightforward. As a septuagenarian I picked up most of the required knowledge as it became common currency starting with frothy coffee in the 1950s. However, even I am too young to have had any dealings with the original Dolly Mops. Thanks Hob and special thanks to Pierre for a very funny blog.
Nice puzzle. It got everyone talking too!
Thanks Pierre, think there’s a bit more to 16d in that the first letters spell sol too. Nice one though Hob.
Thanks, flashling for SOL explanation. I was going into brain fade by then.
Thanks Hob and Pierre.
A Boolean crossword, well done Hob. Of course, George Boole was born in a Boolean Town in a Boolean County.
Apart from in the mathematician’s name, the only vowels used are I and O (and the U in noxious).
Oh! well spotted, muffyword – makes this rather neat puzzle even more sparkling.
I found this very straightforward indeed (sorry to those who thought otherwise) but no complaint about that – it is a Monday. But, for a simple crossword, I found it a delightful construction, all the more given muffyword’s spot.
Well done – and thanks to Hob. And Pierre, bien sur.
Bright as he was, I guess Boole had little control over his 200th anniversary falling on a Monday…
Thanks Hob and Pierre.
Thanks to the ‘new’ on-line site we tackled this one tonight. Joyce completed an assignment on Boolean Algebra when she was a student and had noticed the google home page, so the theme was straightforward.
Having said that, some of the clues weren’t. There were some rather clunky surfaces but overall it was a real achievement. Thanks to muffyword for spotting the Os and Is.
Thanks for the amusing blog Pierre.
Thanks Hob for an amazing, mathematically themed puzzle – they are thin on the ground.
But no one has noticed that George was born in Lincoln!