Independent 9118 / Crosophile

by

The first Independent Crosophile of 2016 is published today.

 

 

 

This was a good example of a broadsheet cryptic crossword puzzle.  There were no obscure words in the grid (except perhaps for LAMIA) but the clues had to be read a couple of times or more before it became clear which part was the definition and which part was the wordplay.  Although the roots of all the entries weren’t obscure, sometimes the form of the entries was unusual.  The use of  LULLABY as a verb to yield LULLABIED at 17 down is given in both Chambers and Collins but it still seems odd to me.  Also, SEA-WALLED at 19 across is not a form that I would use on a regular basis

I had to study the clue to HEADRESTS at 16 down a few times to realise that is wasn’t an anagram but simply a clear phrase in the clue with one letter removed and another letter moved.

I liked the clue to GRANNIES at 28 across as it took me a while to see that the definition was ‘female OAPs perhaps’, but as I mention in the blog, GRANNIES can be a lot younger than OAPs.

The clue for HAIKU yielded an audible groan when I realised what the homonym was.  This was an entry where, for me, the definition yielded the answer long before the wordplay.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

Copy of standard drivel (6)

 

PAR (normal, standard) + ROT (nonsense; drivel)

 

PARROT (repeat; copy)

 

4

 

Stick the bubbly in stout (8)

 

Anagram of (bubbly) STICK THE

THICKSET*

THICKSET (having a short THICK body; stout)

10

 

Stock cars ending in these? (5)

 

Anagram of (stock [root up?] CARS and E [final letter of {ending in} THESE])

RACES*

RACES (STOCK CAR RACing is competition between specially adapted and strengthened ordinary saloon cars in which the cars are often destroyed or damaged in collisions [ending])

 

11

 

Is it performed precipitately? (4,5)

 

The word play here is based on the definition of PRECIPITATION as ‘RAIN‘ and the different definition of PRECIPITATE as ‘to bring on suddenly.  A DANCE is a performance’

 

RAIN DANCE (religious ceremonial DANCE performed by Native Americans in the belief that it will bring RAIN)

 

12

 

Round end of September it’s autumn run riot in flower (10)

 

Anagram of (run riot) IT’S AUTUMN containing (round) R (last letter of [end of] SEPTEMBER)

NASTU (R) TIUM*

NASTURTIUM (flower)

 

13

 

Unwanted messages and charts returned (4)

 

MAPS (charts) reversed (returned)

SPAM<

SPAM (electronic junk mail; unwanted e-mail messages)

 

14

 

Animation shows vine struggling in a relatively poor environment (9)

 

Anagram of (struggling) VINE contained in (in a … environment) (A + LESS [relatively poor])

A L (IVEN*) ESS

ALIVENESS (animation)

 

16

 

This chap will start to suffer in such dreadful places (5)

 

HE’LL (he will; the chap will) + S (first letter of [start to] SUFFER)

 

HELLS (dreadful places)

 

18

 

Force top off liquid rum (5)

 

F (force) + (RUNNY [liquid] excluding [off] the first letter [top] R)

 

FUNNY (rum, as in FUNNY peculiar rather than FUNNY ha-ha)

 

19

 

Protected against the main ground weeds around area everything’s put in (3-6)

 

ALL (everything) contained in (put in) (an anagram of [ground] WEEDS containing [around] A [area])

SE [A] W (ALL) ED*

SEA-WALLED (protected against the main [SEA])

 

21

 

Hike with a lake occasionally glimpsed (4)

 

W (with) + A + LK (letters 1 and 3 [occasionally glimpsed] of LAKE)

 

WALK (hike)

 

23

 

Cutter or junk seen by sailor (10)

 

LUMBER (anything cumbersome or useless;junk) + JACK (sailor)

 

LUMBERJACK (someone employed in the felling, sawing, etc of timber; cutter)

 

26

 

Prompt one friend touring Mediterranean with Crosophile (9)

 

I (one) + (MATE [friend] containing [touring] [MED {Mediterranean} + I {Crosophile; puzzle setter}])

I M (MED I) ATE

IMMEDIATE (prompt)

 

27

 

Hindu deity that’s quiet with four arms principally (5)

 

SH (quiet!) + IV (Roman numerals for 4) + A (first letter of [principally] ARMS

 

SHIVA (the third god of the Hindu triad, destroyer and reproducer)

 

28

 

Dubious earnings of female OAPs perhaps? (8)

 

Anagram of (dubious) EARNINGS

GRANNIES*

GRANNIES (certainly some GRANNIES [female] are old age pensioners, but in these days, ladies can become GRANNIES in their thirties)  I realise that is why the question mark is in the clue in this case.

 

29

 

Those on stage might not hear these catchier songs? (6)

 

A-SIDES (on old vinyl singles the catchier tune [at least the one expected to sell better] used to be on the A-SIDE of the record)

 

ASIDES (words spoken by an actor which the other persons on the stage are not supposed to hear)

 
Down
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

Pressure put on country?  That’s a laugh – it’s ferocious (7)

 

P (pressure) + IRAN (Country) + HA (denoting laughter)

 

PIRANHA (ferocious South American river fish)

 

2

 

Recipe row over putting pinch of salt in is a small setback (9)

 

REC (recipe) + (NOISE [din; row] reversed [over] containing [putting in] S [first letter of {pinch of} SALT])

REC E (S) SION<  Either of the Ss could be the one contained

RECESSION (setback)

 

3

 

Like the occult old book secretive about panacea (9)

 

O (old) + B (book) + (SLY [secretive] containing [about] CURE [panacea])

O B S (CURE) LY

OBSCURELY (like the dark and hidden; like the occult)

 

5

 

Poem "On Hearing A Dove in A Tree" perhaps (5)

 

HAIKU (sounds like HIGH [up above; IN A TREE perhaps] COO [the sound made by a DOVE])

 

HAIKU (a Japanese poem in three lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables)

 

6

 

Not genuine piece of encryption? Yes, it is (4)

 

COD (hoax; not genuine) + E (first letter of [piece of] ENCRYPTION)

 

CODE (a system of words, letters or symbols which represent sentences or other words, to ensure economy or secrecy in transmission; so yes it is a piece of encryption)

 

7

 

Dawn French one’s seen in drink? (5)

 

UN (French for one;French one) contained in (seen in) SUP (drink)

S (UN) UP

SUNUP (SUNrise; dawn)

 

8

 

Remove protective net from lowest drink container (7)

 

NETHERMOST (lowest) excluding the outermost letters (protective) spelling NET

 

THERMOS (brand of vacuum flask; drinks container)

 
9 Monks maybe in bordellos changing hands (8)

BROTHELS (bordellos) changing L [left] to R [right] thereby changing hands.

BROTHERS

It’s a pity that the R at the beginning didn’t change to L as well, but I don’t think there is a word BLOTHERS

 BROTHERS (members of a religious order, e.g.. Monks)

15

 

Walks haltingly in mess (8)

 

SHAMBLES (shuffles; walks haltingly)

 

SHAMBLES (mess)  double definition

 

16

 

Miss Whiplash owing to these?  Director leaves the address short time later (9)

 

THE ADDRESS excluding (leaves) D (Director) with T (abbreviation for [short] time) being moved to a later position.

HEADRESTS

HEADRESTS (if your car has HEADRESTS then you are likely to avoid [miss] the effects of whiplash in a collision or other car accident)

 

17

 

After quiet period I can be seen in a cot and sung to sleep (9)

 

LULL (quiet period) + (I contained in [can be seen in] [A + BED {cot}])

LULL A B (I) ED

LULLABIED (sung to sleep)

 

18

 

Crawling following the blind? (7)

 

F (following) + AWNING (covering, especially of canvas, to shelter e.g. a window, door or patio from the sun or weather; blind)

 

FAWNING (servile; crawling)

 

18

 

Child raised with old rags and orders to be obeyed (7)

 

KID (child) reversed (raised; down clue) + TATS (old rags)

DIK< TATS

DIKTATS (orders or statements allowing no opposition; orders to be obeyed)

 

22

 

Bloodsucking serpent shedding skin to maim all climbing up (5)

 

(MAIM ALL excluding the first and last letters [shedding skin] M and L) reversed (climbing up; down clue)

LAMIA<

LAMIA (in Greek and Roman mythology, a bloodsucking serpent-witch)

 

24

 

Practice in banger leaving South America (5)

 

SAUSAGE (banger is an formal word for SAUSAGE) excluding SA (South America)

 

USAGE (practice)

 

25

 

Amateur’s dive in port (4)

 

A (amateur) + DEN (dive)

 

ADEN (port city in Yemen on the Red Sea)

 

16 comments on “Independent 9118 / Crosophile”

  1. Not too bad after a couple of hard ones here and elsewhere recently. A few words I didn’t know eg LAMIA, and I can’t remember having come across ‘lullaby’ as a verb before either. HAIKU was my favourite.

    Do I hear the strains of Liberty Bell?

    Thanks to Crosophile and Duncan.

  2. I liked brothers but thought aliveness an awful word. I twigged(sorry) haiku but I’m not convinced by it as a clue.

  4. Thanks Crosophile and Duncan

    As Wordplodder@1 and Geebs@3 have hinted, there are various references to Monty Python in some of the answers. I can see PARROT, SPAM, HELLS GRANNIES, LUMBERJACK, and I think FUNNY WALK may be intended to stand in for the Ministry of Silly Walks, but FUNNY may have been used in place of Silly to allow the grid to be completed without obscure words.

  7. Thanks for all the comments so far.

    The Monty Python references passed me by this time, partly because I’ve run out of printer ink and haven’t been able to look at a complete grid on a single sheet of paper, but mainly because I didn’t study the entries properly.

    Thanks also to Paul A @6 for suggesting a much more plausible parsing of RACES at 10 across. That’s much better than my tortuous attempt to get an anagram from a very unlikely anagram indicator.

  8. Yes, I thought some of the word forms were a little unusual (ALIVENESS, SEA-WALLED etc) – no doubt to accommodate the themed entries. I knew LAMIA from having studied Keats’ poem at school and being enthralled by his use of language, for example:

    She was a gordian shape of dazzling hue,
    Vermilion-spotted, golden, green, and blue;
    Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard,
    Eyed like a peacock, and all crimson barr’d;
    And full of silver moons…

    The theme passed me by, though. I never really took to the Python’s visual gags; I much preferred their forerunner, the Goons. As Spike Milligan said, the scenery’s better on radio.

    Thanks, Crosophile and Duncan.

  9. Asides lost me, I’m afraid. I was never a big listener to music generally and certainly not the old vinyl records. I thought “catchier songs” was a little too vague and needed more context.

    Curiously, I thought of Monty Python after getting parrot but by the time I’d finished the puzzle I’d forgotten to go back and look for a theme.

  10. Thanks, Duncan.

    Liked this one: pretty accessible with only a couple of less common words. I thought HAIKU was really good.

    I was/am into the Pythons, but I’m afraid the theme completely passed me by. No matter – as Duncan says, a good broadsheet cryptic. Although the Indy is strictly not a broadsheet any more.

    Thanks to Crosophile too.

  11. I see 10a caused some parsing trouble, but my first thought was CUBES i.e. The shape cars end up in after the hydraulic crusher!
    Enjoyable puzzle. Thanks to Crosophile and Duncan.

  12. This was just the right level of difficulty for me with some witty clueing, my favourite being the Miss Whiplash one. As Duncan and others have noted, some of the answers are unusual or inelegant word forms but they are all in the dictionary and all clearly clued. Personally, I had misgivings about the plural Hells. For those who believe in such a place one Hell is probably enough. All became clear when Geebs pointed out the hidden theme with the answer forming part of Hell’s Grannies.

  13. @12lenny- I think it’s ‘hell’ with a small ‘h’ which can be plural, as in ‘gambling hells’. And apologies to the Pythons and others for suggesting – via a misplaced apostrophe – that there was only one of them.

  14. Thanks once again, Duncan, for another classy blog. And thanks for other kind comments. I was sort of half-expecting a Spanish Inquisition…

  16. Thanks, Sprouthater. Re stock cars, I’m passing the buck to Chambers dictionary: “stock car – a specially adapted and strengthened ordinary saloon car used for a type of racing (stock car racing) in which cars are often damaged or destroyed in collisions” 🙂

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