Knut has provided this week’s Thursday puzzle. It is a long time since it has fallen to me to solve and blog a puzzle by him.
I found this to be a fun puzzle to solve, towards the easy end of the Indy difficulty spectrum. There were not many longer entries today, meaning that there was a higher than average number of clues overall and, more specifically, of shorter entries.
I think that I have parsed everything correctly, but I would appreciate confirmation of my parsing at 4, which eluded me for a long time. The entry at 19 was new to me but was staring the solver in the face all along. In addition, I was surprised to find that 10 was actually two words, although I now know that there is a mountain range written as one word and a single mountain written as two – we live and learn!
Apart from that, my favourite clues today were 6, 16, 20, 24A, 29 and 32, all for smoothness of surface.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; a break in underlining separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
|
||
| 1 | STOCKS |
Supplies hose to cover end of street (6)
|
| <stree>T (“end of” means last letter only) in SOCKS (=hose) | ||
| 4 | CRUDE OIL |
Vintage Popeye in film recording that needs to be refined (5,3)
|
| CRU (=vintage, of wine) + homophone (“recording”) of Doyle (=Popeye in film, i.e. Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection films) | ||
| 10 | CAIRN GORM |
Organic bananas repelling Mr Munro? (5,4)
|
| *(ORGANIC) + RM (Mr; “repelling” indicates reversal); “bananas” is anagram indicator; Cairn Gorm is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands | ||
| 11 | LEAKS |
Starts to look enquiringly at Keir Starmer’s dodgy briefings (5)
|
| L<ook> E<nquiringly> A<t> K<eir> S<tarmer>; “starts to” means first letters only | ||
| 12 | ANON |
Answer negative from Macron immediately (4)
|
| A (=answer, as in Q&A) + NON (=negative from Macron, i.e. the French for no) | ||
| 13 | VOLATILITY |
Turbulence until embraced by very old non-clerics (10)
|
| ‘TIL (=until) in [V (=very) + O (=old, as in OT) + LAITY (=non-clerics)] | ||
| 16 | INSIDER |
Privileged individual jailed, back in Dartmoor (7)
|
| INSIDE (=jailed, in prison) + <dartmoo>R (“back in” means last letter only) | ||
| 17 | TRADES |
Retired in Toulouse, D’Artagnan deals in financial products (6)
|
| Returned (“retired”) and hidden (“in”) in “ToulouSE D’ARTagnan” | ||
| 21 | LYCEUM |
My clue shocked college (6)
|
| *(MY CLUE); “shocked” is anagram indicator | ||
| 24 | POOH-BAH |
Bear periodically brash pompous official (4-3)
|
| POOH (=bear, i.e. Winnie the Pooh) + B<r>A<s>H (“periodically” means alternate letters only); Pooh-Bah is an official affecting superiority, after the character in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado | ||
| 25 | CORRUPTION |
My pro unit arranged bribery (10)
|
| COR (=My!, i.e. exclamation of surprise) + *(PRO UNIT); “arranged” is anagram indicator | ||
| 28 | CROC |
Reptile beginning to chase enormous bird (4)
|
| C<hase> (“beginning to” means first letter only) + ROC (=enormous bird); a croc, i.e. crocodile, is a reptile | ||
| 30 | ABUSE |
Maltreat stand-in brought round in A&E (5)
|
| BUS (SUB=stand-in, i.e. substitute; “brought around” indicates reversal) in [A + E] | ||
| 31 | SHAMELESS |
Connery’s identical, to a smaller extent brazen (9)
|
| SHAME (=Connery’s identical, i.e. Sean Connery’s lisped pronunciation of same) + LESS (=to a smaller extent) | ||
| 32 | SIDE DISH |
Small fish tail from pilchard is hot accompaniment (4,4)
|
| S (=small, of sizes) + IDE (=fish) + <pilchar>D (“tail from” means last letter only) + IS + H (=hot, i.e. on tap) | ||
| 33 | MARKET |
Mum runs drug shop in America (6)
|
| MA (=mother) + R (=runs, on cricket scorecard) + KET (=drug, i.e. ketamine, colloquially); a market is a shop in US English | ||
| DOWN
|
||
| 1 | SOCRATIC |
Cast actors in charge of teaching method (8)
|
| *(ACTORS) + I/C (=in charge); “cast”, thrown, is anagram indicator | ||
| 2 | OMINOUSLY |
Fatefully, oxygen present in O- likely discharged (9)
|
| O (=oxygen, i.e. chemical symbol) in [O + MINUS (= -) + L<ikel>Y (“discharged” means all but first and last letters are dropped)] | ||
| 3 | KANT |
Philosophical German soldier supporting King (4)
|
| K (=king, in cards and chess) + ANT (=soldier); the reference is to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) | ||
| 5 | RAMPANT |
Fierce diatribe about current measure (7)
|
| AMP (=current measure, in physics) in RANT (=diatribe, tirade) | ||
| 6 | DELHI |
Husband opening food store in megacity (5)
|
| H (=husband) in DELI (=food store, i.e. delicatessen) | ||
| 7 | OKAPI |
Fine beer served up for African resident (5)
|
| OK (=fine) + API (IPA=beer, i.e. India Pale Ale; “served up” indicates vertical reversal); the okapi is a mammal native to the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, hence an “African resident”! | ||
| 8 | LUSTY |
Vigorous appetite, yen (5)
|
| LUST (=appetite, desire) + Y (=yen, i.e. unit of currency) | ||
| 9 | DOLOUR |
Reportedly ready for American anguish (6)
|
| Homophone (“reportedly”) of “dollar (=ready (cash) for American)” | ||
| 14 | LAD |
Boy unsheathed sword (3)
|
| <b>LAD<e> (=sword; “unsheathed” means first and last letters are dropped) | ||
| 15 | IDLE |
Papers eviscerated leftie disliking work (4)
|
| ID (=papers, i.e. to prove one’s identity) + L<efti>E (“eviscerated” means all middle letters are dropped) | ||
| 18 | AVOW |
Swear nothing concealed by Head of Audi (German car firm) (4)
|
| O (=nothing, i.e. pictorially) in [A<udi> (“head of” means first letter only) + VW (=German car firm, i.e. Volkswagen)] | ||
| 19 | EMBER-WEEK |
Remember wee Kenny securing a fast time? (5-4)
|
| Hidden (“securing”) in “remEMBER WEE Kenny”; an Ember-week is the week in which quarterly days of prayer and fasting are kept in the liturgical calendar of Western Christian churches | ||
| 20 | THICKSET |
Strong and solid ending for Babes in the Wood (8)
|
| <babe>S (“ending for” means last letter only) in THICKET (=(dense) wood) | ||
| 22 | CAR |
Vehicle air-conditioning turned on, heading for Rye (3)
|
| CA (AC=air-conditioning; “turned on” indicates reversal) + R<ye> (“heading for” means first letter only) | ||
| 23 | MITOSIS |
In Germany with little sister, occupied by ordinary division of cells (7)
|
| O (=ordinary, as in O level) in [MIT (=in Germany with, i.e. the German word for with) + SIS (=little sister, i.e. short form)] | ||
| 24 | PROZAC |
Pair from Australia caught importing advanced drug (6)
|
| A (=article, i.e. in grammar) in [PR (=pair) + OZ (=from Australia) + C (=caught, on cricket scorecard)] | ||
| 25 | CRASS |
Boorish character, vacuous idiot (5)
|
| C<haracter>R (“vacuous” means empty, hence only first and last letters are kept) + ASS (=idiot, fool) | ||
| 26 | ROUND |
A few drinks and a sandwich (5)
|
| Double definition: a round of drinks comprises “a few drinks” AND a round is “a sandwich” made with two complete slices of bread | ||
| 27 | UPEND |
Turn over page, captivated by Dune novel (5)
|
| P (=page) in *(DUNE); “novel” is anagram indicator | ||
| 29 | FETA |
Newspaper article featuring European cheese (4)
|
| E (=European) in [FT (=newspaper, i.e. Financial Times) + A (=article, in grammar)] |
I agree with our blogger that this was another fun puzzle from Knut, and with his parsing of 4a. Like him, I was interested by 10a being two words
Thanks to Knut and RR
Thank you for the blog, dear RatkojaRiku.
I can confirm that you’ve got my intended parsing for CRUDE OIL spot on.
Speaking of which, there is a bit of a ghost theme in this puzzle with a bit of waspish commentary on some of the ongoing shenanigans.
best wishes, Rob/Knut
It seems a very long time since I last wrote, ‘What crypticsue said’ …
… just adding that I particularly liked CAIRN GORM (sic), POOH-BAH (love The Mikado), SOCRATIC, OMINOUSLY, KANT and DELHI.
Many thanks to Knut and RR.
Thanks for the note Knut@3. 31a seems particularly apt.
The mountain is most definitely two words. The one-word name for the range appears to have been a later coinage. The etymology section of this Wikipedia entry is interesting reading – apparently the English and Gaelic names can be translated as “blue hills”, “green hills” and “red hills”.
Incidentally, with all the focus on puzzle numbers elsewhere today, Independent 12345 seems to have slipped by unnoticed at the weekend.
Thanks again to Knut and RR
We are always pleased to see that we had a Knut to solve today.
We guessed there would be be a theme and noticed a few connected entries – INSIDER TRADES, CORRUPTION, ABUSE, VOLATILITY and STOCK MARKET.
With SHAMELESS, CRASS, CRUDE OIL AND THICK – perhaps we have the start of a theme.
Thanks Knut and RR.
Hi B&J
Thanks for dropping by!
Funnily enough just this afternoon the SEC in the US announced investigations into several large crude oil trades initiated just before Trump “Truth” social media posts in which he unveils the latest (thirty minute) strategy to deal with the closure of The Strait of Hormuz as more Americans call their representatives to complain about pump prices for gasoline.
The CRASS, SHAMELESS LEAKS plus RAMPANT CORRUPTION and MARKET ABUSE leading to VOLATILITY and INSIDER TRADES in STOCKS and CRUDE OIL is the guts of the ghost theme.
When I sent this puzzle to Eimi I suggested there was no rush to publish since I didn’t see an end to this outrageous behaviour any time soon.
best wishes, Rob