Our fortnightly Wednesday fun from Eccles.
Lots to enjoy here: nothing too obscure, if (like me) you’re old enough to remember Stig of the Dump and Sir Les Patterson. Though I can’t quite imagine the latter getting to grips with G&S. 6d is brilliant, although the definition is a little alarming. Thanks Eccles as always – I hope we’ll see you one more time in October before the Independent shuts these puzzles down.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | RUBRIC |
Polish ruse uncovered in instructions (6)
|
| RUB (polish, as a verb) + [t]RIC[k] without the outer letters (uncovered).
Written instructions, traditionally printed in red ink. |
||
| 5 | FOCUSSED |
Determined, cunning individual nearly swore (8)
|
| FO[x] (slang for a cunning person) without the last letter (nearly), then CUSSED (corruption of cursed = swore). | ||
| 9 | HINT |
Perhaps tip-off impacted new charges (4)
|
| HIT (impacted) with N (abbreviation for new) inserted (charging it). | ||
| 10 | EQUESTRIAN |
Is Queen Rat travelling on horseback? (10)
|
| Anagram (travelling) of IS QUEEN RAT. | ||
| 11 | INSTIGATOR |
Popular man occupying dump next to a hill is prime mover (10)
|
| IN (popular = fashionable) + STIG (man occupying dump = title character in the Clive King children’s novel Stig of the Dump, a modern-day caveman) + A TOR (a hill). | ||
| 12 | AREA |
Region in Near East (4)
|
| Hidden answer (in . . .) from [ne]AR EA[st]. | ||
| 13 | CONTESTS |
Expenses covering ten swimming competitions (8)
|
| COSTS (expenses) around an anagram (swimming) of TEN. | ||
| 16 | TITIAN |
Painter from India embraced by intellectual giant (6)
|
| I (India in the radio alphabet) contained in TITAN (intellectual giant).
Italian Renaissance painter. |
||
| 18 | MEMBER |
Politician: “Learn to ignore religious classes” (6)
|
| [re]MEMBER (learn) without RE (abbreviation for Religious Education classes in school).
Short for Member of Parliament. |
||
| 20 | MARGINAL |
German in docking area left on the edge (8)
|
| G (abbreviation for German) contained in MARINA (a dock for yachts and small boats) + L (abbreviation for left). | ||
| 22 | AS IS |
British leaving fundamental ingredient unaltered (2,2)
|
| [b]ASIS (fundamental ingredient) with the B (abbreviation for British) taken away. | ||
| 24 | PATTER SONG |
Maybe Humphries’ alter ego beginning to grasp Gilbert and Sullivan’s speciality (6,4)
|
| PATTERSON (Sir Les Patterson, character created by Australian comedian Barry Humphries) + first letter (beginning) of G[rasp].
A song (usually comic) with a lot of words sung very quickly: a regular feature of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. |
||
| 27 | HALF-SECOND |
Sentient computer following subordinate for a moment (4-6)
|
| HAL (fictional talking computer in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey) + F (abbreviation for following) + SECOND (an assistant or deputy = subordinate). | ||
| 28 | GORE |
It’s bloody good source of metal (4)
|
| G (abbreviation for good) + ORE (a mineral from which metal can be refined). | ||
| 29 | ANGLESEY |
Director mostly agreed to go round Welsh island (8)
|
| ANG LE[e] (film director) without the last letter (mostly), then YES (agreed) reversed (to go round).
Island at the north-west corner of Wales. |
||
| 30 | POTEEN |
Spirit of youngster on river (6)
|
| TEEN (short for teenager = youngster) after PO (Italian river well known in crosswords).
Irish distilled alcoholic drink, traditionally an unlicensed home-brew. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | UNION |
One stops backing socially unacceptable marriage (5)
|
| I (one in Roman numerals), inserted into NON-U (socially unacceptable) reversed (backing). | ||
| 3 | RAT-A-TAT |
Knocking sound thrice at bottom of door, moving to the top (3-1-3)
|
| AT (from clue text) three times, with the last letter (bottom, in a down clue) of [doo]R moved to the top.
Imitation of the sound of knocking on a door. |
||
| 4 | CLEGG |
Former deputy PM caught at last concealing housing support (5)
|
| C (abbreviation for caught, in cricket scoring) + last letter of [concealin]G, containing (housing, as a verb) LEG (support, as in a three-legged stool).
Nick Clegg, Britain’s deputy prime minister in the early 2010s. |
||
| 5 | FAUSTUS |
Character of Marlowe in uniform punching dissolute American (7)
|
| U (Uniform in the radio alphabet) inserted into FAST (dissolute = morally irresponsible) + US (abbreviation for United States = American).
Doctor Faustus, title character of a play by Christopher Marlowe. |
||
| 6 | CASTRATER |
Theatre critic, one producing disengaged bollocks? (9)
|
| Someone who gives assessments of the players in a theatre production could be called a CAST RATER.
For the definition, we need to read “bollocks” literally rather than as slang for nonsense. |
||
| 7 | SERVANT |
Old boy abandoning watchful attendant (7)
|
| [ob]SERVANT (watchful) without OB (abbreviation for old boy = former pupil of a boys’ school). | ||
| 8 | ELATE |
Empathise, taking top off to provide joy (5)
|
| [r]ELATE (empathise, as in “I can relate to that” = I understand that) without the first letter (top, in a down clue). | ||
| 14 | ONE |
Joke about Spain (3)
|
| ON (on the subject of = about) + E (abbreviation for España = Spain).
As in “Have you heard the one about . . .?” |
||
| 15 | STRAPLESS |
Worry about pal dancing without over-the-shoulder support (9)
|
| STRESS (worry) around an anagram (dancing) of PAL. | ||
| 17 | AGA |
Periodically laugh at Turkish commander (3)
|
| Alternate letters (periodically) from [l]A[u]G[h] A[t].
Turkish title for a military commander (also spelled Agha). |
||
| 19 | BASHFUL |
Modest party with coke, perhaps, but ecstasy discarded (7)
|
| BASH (slang for a party) + FU[e]L (for example coke = a fuel produced by heat-treating coal), without E (slang abbreviation for the drug ecstasy). | ||
| 20 | MUTTONY |
Like sheep meat or dog but not llama, at first (7)
|
| MUTT (slang for a dog, especially a mongrel) + ON[l]Y (but, as in “there is but one way”), without the L which is the first letter of L[lama]. | ||
| 21 | INSIGHT |
Practical knowledge from one changed things (7)
|
| I (one in Roman numerals) + anagram (changed) of THINGS. | ||
| 23 | STAIN |
Mark acted as a substitute? Time to get promoted (5)
|
| SAT IN (acted as a substitute in someone’s absence), with the T (abbreviation for time) moved up one place towards the start (promoted). | ||
| 25 | END UP |
Arrive in burlesque performance when son thrown out (3,2)
|
| [s]END-UP (a caricature or parody = burlesque performance) without S (abbreviation for son). | ||
| 26 | NURSE |
Stand up, extremely sensitive and tender (5)
|
| RUN (stand = to put oneself forward as a candidate for election) reversed (up = upwards in a down clue), then the end letters (extremes) of S[ensitiv]E.
One who tends = looks after people. |
Thanks Quirister. Nice to be reminded of the wonderful Stig of the Dump, on a day when another (also wonderful) children’s book is celebrated elsewhere.
Great stuff. Strange how much easier it is to remember a book you read 60 years ago than Nick Clegg.
Sir Les was Cultural Attaché to the Court of St James’s so I’m sure he enjoyed a bit of light opera.
If 4d had said posh boy who destroyed the Liberals and ran away to America it would have been more obvious if not at all cryptic.
I hope we get to see more Eccles somewhere even if the Independent goes ahead with its dumbing down.
Thanks Q too.
A pleasant diversion from Eccles. I particularly liked PATTER SONG. A minor point about 6dn, though; I would spell it with an O rather than an E – it’s not in Chambers but Collins (2006) has the O spelling.
Thanks, Eccles and Quirister.
The top half of this went more quickly for me than Eccles typically does, but I bogged down a bit towards the bottom. Still, I was done before I got off the train. I had never heard of either Patterson or Stig of the Dump, so those two went in unparsed.