Bluebird is a fairly regular setter in the Indy but I don’t think I’ve blogged him before. The original puzzle is at https://puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/cryptic-crossword-independent/?puzzleDate=20260813
I found the definition in 1a slightly disconcerting, but things settled down after that. Bluebird has found a wide range of anagram indicators, so I was amused to find that “confused” in 11a wasn’t one of them. I also liked the misdirection of the “Isle of Man TT” in 25a, and “blanket coverage” in 24a.
There are quite a few film references in the clues, and perhaps also in the solutions (1a, 4a, The 9a, 14a, 25a, 1d, The 14d) – though “film titles” is the sort of theme where you can make almost any word fit. I’d be interested to know whether all of these were intended. Thanks Bluebird for an enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SHAFT |
Quiet at the back, Roger! (5)
|
| SH (sh! = an instruction to keep quiet) + AFT (sailors’ term for the back of a boat).
An exclamation mark for a somewhat vulgar definition: both “shaft” and “roger”, used as verbs, can be slang for the male role in sexual intercourse. |
||
| 4 | CLEOPATRA |
Queen with palace close to Ebbsfleet or Barking (9)
|
| Anagram (barking = slang for mad) of PALACE + end letter (close) of [ebbsflee]T + OR. | ||
| 9 | ODD COUPLE |
Unlikely double act formed when poodle dances with short duck (3,6)
|
| Anagram (. . . dances) of POODLE + DUC[k] (short = all but the last letter).
As in the 1965 play The Odd Couple and its various film and TV spin-offs, or a generic term for two people who wouldn’t naturally work well together. |
||
| 10 | CARRY |
Bear in horror film released from trap (5)
|
| Sound-alike (trap = slang for mouth; released from trap = spoken) of CARRIE (1976 horror film based on a Stephen King novel of the same name).
Bear, as a verb = carry = support. |
||
| 11 | TANGLED |
Confused old German director’s on set at last (7)
|
| ANGLE (old German: member of an ancient North German tribe who later settled in Britain as part of the Anglo-Saxons) + D (abbreviation for director), after the last letter of [se]T. | ||
| 12 | TOURISM |
Travel to ancient city with one manuscript from the East (7)
|
| TO (from clue text) + UR (the classic “ancient city” of crosswords, in what is now Iraq) + I (one in Roman numerals), then MS (abbreviation for manuscript) reversed (from the East = reading right to left).
Travel as a noun, as in “the travel industry”. |
||
| 13 | AMITY |
A film screened by Bluebird’s generating goodwill (5)
|
| A (from clue text), then IT (title of various films, including one based on the Stephen King novel of the same name; we’ve already had a similar reference in 10a so I guess that’s the one our setter is thinking of) contained in MY (Bluebird’s = belonging to the setter of this crossword). | ||
| 14 | ATONEMENT |
One month camping following a repayment (9)
|
| ONE + M (abbreviation for month), inserted into TENT (in a tent = camping), after A.
Repayment in the sense of paying a penalty for wrongdoing. |
||
| 16 | BOOKPLATE |
Surprising announcement by King worried about revolutionary record label (9)
|
| BOO (boo! = a shout intended to surprise or scare someone = surprising announcement) + K (abbreviation for king) + ATE (worried, as a verb), around LP (abbreviation for long-playing record) reversed (revolutionary).
An owner’s label in the front of a book. |
||
| 18 | GEEKY |
E key fixed by guy primarily interested in computers? (5)
|
| Anagram (fixed) of E KEY, after the first letter (primarily) of G[uy]. | ||
| 19 | RUSH OUT |
Hastily release Lulu single after group experiences regular losses (4,3)
|
| SHOUT (song originally by the Isley Brothers, but probably best known as a single released by Lulu in 1964), after [g]R[o]U[p] (regular losses = alternate letters dropped).
Rush out = publish very quickly, often without proper review. |
||
| 21 | ANNOYED |
Anyone getting aggravated and dead angry (7)
|
| Anagram (aggravated = slang for irritated, though pedants may argue its original meaning is “made worse”) of ANYONE, then D (abbreviation for dead). | ||
| 23 | TETRA |
Lawrence emptied trawler – one fish! (5)
|
| TE (T E Lawrence, otherwise known as “Lawrence of Arabia”) + T[rawle]R (emptied = inner letters removed) + A (one).
Common name for various fish, especially pretty-coloured ones kept in aquariums. |
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| 24 | EIDERDOWN |
On the radio, setter had a clue type getting blanket coverage (9)
|
| Sound-alike (on the radio) of I’D A (the setter of this crossword had a . . .) + DOWN (one of the down clues in a crossword).
A bedcover: in older British usage, a thin cover used on top of sheets and blankets rather than the thicker modern duvet. |
||
| 25 | MANHATTAN |
Isle of Man Tourist Trophy area overrun by Chinese people (9)
|
| MAN (from clue text), then TT (abbreviation for the annual Tourist Trophy motorbike races on the Isle of Man) + A (abbreviation for area) contained in HAN (Chinese ethnic group). | ||
| 26 | LAYER |
Film actor quietly leaving (5)
|
| [p]LAYER (actor), without P (p = in musical notation, abbreviation for Italian piano = quietly).
Film = layer = a thin sheet of one material on the surface of another. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SHOOT |
Film part of Black Narcissus? (5)
|
| Double definition. Shoot, as a verb = film = to record moving images; shoot, as a noun = new growth on a plant, for example a narcissus. The surface suggests the 1947 film adaptation of a 1939 novel by Rumer Godden. | ||
| 2 | ANDANTINO |
An experienced martial artist can flay you slowly (9)
|
| AN (from clue text) + DAN (someone who has achieved a particular standard in martial arts) + TIN (can = metal container) + [y]O[u] (flay = remove the outer layer of).
Musical term meaning “fairly slowly”; it’s a diminutive of “andante” (at walking pace), but opinions vary over whether it should mean slightly faster or slightly slower than that. |
||
| 3 | TROLLEY |
One’s filled with food yet goes around snaffling bread (7)
|
| YET reversed (. . . goes around), containing ROLL (bread roll). | ||
| 4 | CUPID |
People love getting shot by him (5)
|
| Cryptic definition: in Roman mythology, a boy god who shoots arrows at people to make them fall in love. | ||
| 5 | ELECTRODE |
Vote for Hull ensemble’s lead conductor (9)
|
| ELECT (vote for) + ROD (entertainer Rod Hull, best known for appearances with his puppet Emu) + leading letter of E[nsemble].
Electrical conductor. |
||
| 6 | PICTURE |
Film old northerner with uniform on (7)
|
| PICT (old northerner = member of an ancient tribe in Scotland) + U (Uniform in the radio alphabet) + RE (on = on the subject of). | ||
| 7 | TORSI |
Sort out one’s trunks (5)
|
| Anagram (out) of SORT + I (one in Roman numerals).
Plural of torso = trunk = body. |
||
| 8 | ASYMMETRY |
Lack of balance in upcoming TV awards defended by a judge (9)
|
| EMMYS (US television industry awards), reversed (upcoming = upwards in a down clue), contained in A (from clue text) + TRY (as a verb = judge in a court of law). | ||
| 13 | ARBORETUM |
Wild boar turned quieter in garden (9)
|
| Anagram (wild) of BOAR, then MUTER (quieter?) reversed (turned). I’m not convinced by “muter” because “mute” means silent rather than just quiet, so the comparative form doesn’t really make sense. UPDATE: As Hovis suggests in the comments below, we could be looking at an agent noun “muter” = quieter = someone or something that reduces sound levels.
A garden of trees. |
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| 14 | APARTMENT |
Divorced blokes finally get Penthouse? (9)
|
| APART (divorced = separated) + MEN (blokes) + last letter (finally) of [ge]T.
Apartment = a self-contained dwelling within a larger building; penthouse = specifically one on the top floor, hence the question-mark for a definition by example. |
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| 15 | EVERYBODY |
Dotty, Brody and Nye discovered going after Eve, Tom, Dick and Harry (9)
|
| Anagram (dotty = mad) of BRODY + [n]Y[e] (dis-covered = outer letters removed), after EVE. There may be some significance to the first three names, but not one I’m aware of.
“Tom, Dick and Harry” = colloquial phrase for everyone or anyone. |
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| 17 | PRO RATA |
Just over half of paratroopers punished proportionately (3,4)
|
| Anagram (punished?) of the first 7 letters (just over half) of PARATRO[opers]. | ||
| 18 | GENERAL |
Universal Soldier (7)
|
| Double definition. Standard and non-specific; or a military leader. | ||
| 20 | SET ON |
Determined boy conceals alien (3,2)
|
| SON (boy = male child) around ET (the usual “alien” in crosswords, from the Spielberg film).
To be “set on” something is to be determined to do it. |
||
| 21 | AUDEN |
Poet with a bare head is depressed (5)
|
| A (from clue text), then NUDE (bare = unclothed) with the first letter (head) moved to the end (to the bottom, in a down clue = depressed).
British-American poet W H Auden. |
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| 22 | DINER |
One who eats at home, embarrassed to go about outside (5)
|
| IN (at home), with RED (blushing = embarrassed) reversed (to go about) around it. |
In 13d, I took “quieter” as an agent noun rather than a comparative.
Hovis @1: yes, thanks, that works.
Thanks for parsing 11a. I was struggling to see how (fritz) LANG made sense. Still it got me the correct solution.
Not a horror fan, so Carry went in from def, and had to think back to school history — Angles, Saxons and Jutes — to twig the old German in Tangled. Pretty cruisy tho, ta B and Q.
Thought ANDANTINO was good. Failed on SHOOT (bizarrely) but otherwise ok. Hadn’t checked the setter so AMITY caused some problems.
Thanks both. This was good fun. I’m not sure GEEKY has applied to people interested in computers for a long time, as it’s a survival skill now, though I know what was intended. Only point of disagreement was TROLLEY as ours tends to be more weighted towards ‘liquids’ than food.
Thanks Bluebird for a cleverly crafted puzzle. This was a slow, methodical solve but eventually all fell into place except for AUDEN. The film theme was clear; DINER can be added to the list. My top picks were TANGLED, BOOKPLATE, MANHATTAN, LAYER, and APARTMENT. BTW, when I printed a copy of this crossword the enumerations were missing but that made little difference. Thanks Quirister for the blog.
Just to add Buster Keaton’s The 18d. Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks both.