Independent 9166 / Knut

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Knut.has a reputation for producing topical puzzles.

 

 

 

This puzzle is topical, but I suspect it could have been published at any time over the next four months as the topic is one which will be rammed down our throats from now until 23rd June and probably for many months and years after as people argue the result was right or wrong, good or bad, brave or cowardly, emotional or strategic etc, etc [delete as appropriate to your personal opinion]

I have hinted on many occasions that I prefer complex wordplay to cryptic definitions so you will not be surprised that this puzzle was not my favourite of all time.  I know though there are many solvers who like the subtleties of cryptic definitions and they will find this puzzle to their liking.

I am not sure of the parsing of EX-CON at 9 across but I have suggested something that seems plausible [to me anyway].  I will be very happy to be told that I have got the wrong end of the stick and the parsing is really something very simple.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

Humbert Humbert’s clasping part of hand (5)

 

THUMB (hidden word in [clasping] HUMBERT HUMBERT’S)

 

THUMB (part of the hand)

 

4

 

Aus. opener bats for "the other side", according to Farage (9)

 

Anagram of (bats) AUS OPENER

EUROPEANS*

EUROPEANS (people whom Nigel Farage [leader of UKIP] may refer to as "the other side")

I can’t find a specific quote where Nigel Farage calls EUROPEANS "the other side" but I expect many UKIP supporters have used similar words.

9

 

Reckless, perhaps, for one to have left bird behind (2-3)

 

I am struggling a bit with the wordplay here.  

The best I can come up with is that RECK is an archaic [EX] word for CONCERN.  Hence a smaller version of RECK [RECK LESS] could be CON and the whole thing taken together could give RECKLESS as EX CON.

Thanks to Danie at comment 1 for making this clue very clear. Mark RECKLESS was the Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood who defected to UKIP in September thereby making him an EX-CON[servative]. I had forgotten all about Mr RECKLESS. Indeed his constituents have made him yesterday’s man in another way when he failed to gain re-election in the General Election of 2015.

 

EX-CON (an ex prisoner; some one who has left bird [prison] behind)

 

10

 

Left-leaning character supports the whip (10)

 

BACKS (supports) + LASH (whip)

 

BACKSLASH (the character "\" which leans to the left)

 

11

 

One falling off the twig, having croaked (4,4)

 

FROGs CROAK.  CROAK is also slang for die.  Presumably if a TREE FROG CROAKS in this sense it will then fall off the twig it is sitting on in a TREE.

 

TREE FROG (any species of FROG  that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees)

 

12

 

Poles accept thrust of what’s being said (6)

 

(S [South pole] + N  [North pole] giving poles) containing (POKE [thrust])

S (POKE) N

SPOKEN (denoting speech; of what’s being said)

 

15

 

Having 12 passionately, relegate first to last (6)

 

DEMOTE (relegate) with first letter D moved to the last position (first to last)

EMOTED

EMOTED (having SPOKEN [12 across] passionately)

 

17

 

Serbia – a terrible place for fighters (3,4)

 

Anagram of (terrible) SERBIA A

AIR BASE*

AIR BASE (place for fighter planes)

 

19

 

Judge a bishop pinched something from the snack bar (7)

 

(A + RR [Right Reverend; form of address for a Bishop]) containing (pinched) BITE (something from the snack bar)

A R (BITE) R

ARBITER (judge)

 

20

 

Venerated Daily Mail editor’s changed sides (6)

 

DACRE’S (reference Paul DACRE, editor of The Daily Mail.  He is also editor-in-chief of dmg media, which publishes the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, the free daily tabloid Metro, and other titles)  with the first and last letters (the sides of DACRE’S) D and S substituted for each other [changed sides])

SACRED

SACRED (entitled to veneration or worship; venerated)

 

22

 

In Colorado, Lou Reed found the blues (6)

 

DOLOUR (hidden word in [in] COLORADO LOU REED)

 

DOLOUR (grief; the blues)

 

23

 

Heeds the call of time? (6,2)

 

Reference the phrase TIME GENTLEMEN PLEASE [A phrase called out at closing time in a pub to let drinkers know they have a short time to finish off their drinks and leave; call of time)

 

DRINKS UP (by DRINKing UP customers are heeding the call of time)

 

26

 

Eimi scans puzzle having champion quality (9)

 

Anagram of (puzzle) EIMI SCANS For those who may not know, EIMI is the pseudonym of the Independent crossword puzzle editor.

MESSIANIC*

MESSIANIC (having the quality of a MESSIAH [a hoped-for deliverer, saviour, or champion])

 

28

 

Competitor in interstate match?

 

RI (Rhode Island [American State]) + V (versus) + AL (Alabama [American State) together depicting an inter-State match

 

RIVAL (competitor)

 

29

 

Big cheese Mr T became perhaps? (9)

 

Anagram of (perhaps) MR T BECAME

CAMEMBERT*

CAMEMBERT (a soft rich cheese, originally made near CAMEMBERT, in Normandy, often presented for sale in the shape of large soft fairly thick disc).

 
30

 

 Lots of sausages left at the Oktoberfest (5)

 

 LINKS (the word for LEFT in German is LINKS)

 

 LINKS (descriptive of sausages that are made as a LINKed chain of individual sausages.  Fairly common word in Scotland and perhaps elsewhere to distinguish this type of sausage from sliced sausage)  double definition

 
       
Down
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

2

 

Family member for whom Napoleon spied? (5)

 

UNCLE (reference the television series and films The Man from UNCLE (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). NAPOLEON Solo was one of the leading characters / spies)

 

UNCLE (family member)

 

3

 

Migrant rhetoric?  Must be Tories / NF, I suspect (8,7)

 

Anagram of (suspect) MUST BE TORIES NF I

BENEFITS TOURISM*

BENEFITS TOURISM (political term coined in the 1990s and later used for the perceived threat that a huge number of citizens from eight of the ten new nations given membership in the European Union in the 2004 enlargement of the European Union would move to the existing member states to benefit from their social welfare systems rather than to work; migrant rhetoric)

 

4

 

Stitches ruined Totti’s last Rome derby (10)

 

Anagram of (ruined) I (final letter of TOTTI; TOTTI‘s last) and ROME DERBY

EMBROIDERY*

EMBROIDERY (stitches)

 

5

 

Little Richard made a stack (4)

 

RICK (diminutive of [little] Richard)

 

RICK (stack) double definition

 
6 Review of papers cancelled by agreement in 8? (8,7)

The SCHENGEN [8 down]  Agreement is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe’s borderless SCHENGEN Area. It was signed on 14 June 1985 by five of the ten member states of the then European Economic Community near the town of SCHENGEN, Luxembourg.  The borderless area removed the need for PASSPORT CONTROL.

 PASSPORT CONTROL (a location where there is a review of [identity] papers)

7

 

Drivers protect golf range (3)

 

AA (Automobile Association; organisation representing drivers) containing (protect) G (GOLF is the International Radio Communication code word for the letter G)

A (G) A

AGA (reference AGA stoves or kitchen ranges)

 

8

 

Somewhere in Luxembourg, Engineering school leads by two points (8)

 

SCH (school) + ENG (engineering) + (E [East; point of the compass] + N [point of the compass] giving two points)

 

SCHENGEN (town in Luxembourg)

 
13

Jack King (revolting Welshman) (5)

 

K (king) + (EVAN [Welsh male name] reversed [revolting])

K NAVE<

KNAVE (Jack in a pack of cards)

 

14 / 1

 

Mark’s death warrant? (10,6)

 

The MAASTRICHT TREATY signed in February 1992 paved the way for the introduction of the Euro and consequently the demise of the Mark as the German currency (Mark’s death warrant)

 

MAASTRICHT TREATY (The MAASTRICHT TREATY [formally, the TREATY on European Union or TEU] undertaken to integrate Europe was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in MAASTRICHT, Netherlands)  cryptic definition

 

16

 

The Girl from Ipanema? Bellissima! (5)

 

MABEL (hidden word in [from] IPANEMA BELLISSIMA)

 

MABEL (girl’s name)

 

18

 

Democrat gripped by terror; it’s a global problem (8)

 

DEM (Democrat) contained in (gripped by) PANIC (terror)

PAN (DEM) IC

PANDEMIC (affecting a whole people, possibly a global spread of people)

 

21

 

By gum, we should get rid of this English football manager (6)

 

E (English) + PULIS (reference Tony PULIS, football manager, currently manager of West Bromwich Albion in the English Premier League)

 

EPULIS (tumour of the gums, either benign or malignant, and growing from the periosteum of the jaw;something we would want to get rid of)

 

24

 

With this, for open all hours? (5)

 

SEVEN – the clue is number 24 so taking the SEVEN with the clue number we have 24 / 7 or open all hours.

 

SEVEN (number to go with 24 to create 24 /7)

 

25

 

For a bet, TV presenters ignored Washington (4)

 

ANT & DEC, TV presenters who seem to have been on our screens forever, excluding (ignored) DC (reference Washington DC [District of Columbia], capital city of the United States of America)

 

ANTE (a fixed stake put down by a poker player, usually before the deal; for a bet)

 

27

 

Total wrestling rules nothing out (3)

 

SUMO (from of wrestling and traditional Japanese sport) excluding (out) O (zero; nothing)

 

SUM (total)

 

16 comments on “Independent 9166 / Knut”

  1. Hi Duncan

    Thanks for the blog and to Knut for the puzzle.

    I think 9a is a reference to the MP Mark Reckless who was a Conservative before jumping ship and joining UKIP.

  5. Such puzzles as this from “Our Man in Freiburg” help keep me up to date with things in Euroland.

    I loved the left-leaning character. I’d heard of Reckless Eric but not Mark- pretty clear what it was.
    I had heard of Ant Dec but I’ve never witnessed them- again the answer was obvious.

    But I had RICH for made a stack (OK no cigar)

    Great puzzle.

  6. I know what you mean, Duncan, about different styles of puzzles pleasing different types of solvers. Unlike you, I thought this was a super offering (if there was one themed on golf, we’d probably be in different corners as well …) The theme was right up ma rue, and many clues brought a smile, especially EX-CON and the cleverly constructed anagram for BENEFIT TOURISM. And I learned something, because I’d never realised that SCHENGEN was in Luxembourg.

    My only (mega-pedantic) niggle is that in 16dn the Girl from Ipanema wouldn’t be described as Bellissima, because that’s Italian and she’d be speaking Portuguese. I know, I need to stop being up my own arse for at least part of the day.

    Well done to Knut for a fine crossword and thanks to Duncan for blogging.

  7. Been feeling outwitted lately by some seriously difficult puzzles but I did better today. Thanks to both.

  8. I thought the surface of 13dn was a bit unkind for St David’s Day. But I’ll refrain from maledictions in Welsh and instead wish everyone G?yl Ddewi Hapus!

    Thanks, Knut and Duncan

  10. Thought this was going to be straightforward, but got completely stuck in the SE corner – eventually saw all except EPULIS, which was unfamiliar but should have been guessable. As always this was very entertaining.

    Thanks to Knut and Duncan

  12. hello folks,

    Many thank to Duncan for the blog and for the comments. I’d never heard of an EPULIS until a dentist was cutting one out of my mouth just before Xmas; I’d written the clue before it stopped bleeding.
    I tried “Miss Larson’s body double” for CAMEMBERT, but this was quite rightly ruled offside by Eimi. Pity though, as she won an Oscar on Sunday so the timing would have been cool.
    The clue for TREE FROG uses the euphemism for dying “fall(ing) off the twig” as well as “croaked” to indictae an arboreal setting…
    warmest regards to all,
    Rob/Knut

  13. One of the many good things about Knut’s crosswords is that they are never impenetrable.
    As always it was quite easy to find 5+ in the first few minutes.

    Yesterday’s Rodriguez (let alone Tyrus’ prize puzzle) was a nut much harder to crack.
    But see, where I could finish these two, I failed once more to get it all in a Knut puzzle.
    This time 23ac, 30ac and 21d defeated me.

    Cracking stuff, though.
    [Yes, 23 June is the day that the people of the UK may vote for or against ‘something’ – without knowing what the real consequences are.
    Due to the lack of proper information.
    In my opinion, a referendum like this is a form of pseudo-democracy.
    I am not even sure whether I may stay in this country if the outcome is ‘no’    ]

  14. [Sil, I am not sure if I will be able to stay on in France if the answer is “no” since I have a British passport, my husband was working voluntarily from Geneva after his retirement from WHO when he died, and is buried in our village here, it is all rather worrying.]

  15. Another excellent topical puzzle from Knut. We didn’t know the football reference in 21d but guessed that we were looking for a gum disease. We had to resort to a search in Chambers on the ipad.

    25d was easy but we were not that happy removing DC when the two letters were split. However, a small niggle which did not detract from the enjoyment.

    Thanks Knut and Duncan.

  16. Unlike some apparently, I found this very hard. And not nearly as accessible as the previous day. I thought the definition in 21dn was rather loose, as was that in 11ac. And is Washington = DC?

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