Mog has provided our Tuesday challenge this week on what is typically theme day for the Indy cryptic.
I found this to be a medium-difficulty puzzle and it was perhaps not as tough as I had being expecting, given my limited experience of solving and blogging Mog’s work.
The theme today doesn’t have to be looked for in the usual way, but is rather flagged up openly in the clue at 29. I have endeavoured to highlight in the grid people or things known to flip and various items that are regularly flipped, since both categories could be loosely covered by the notion of “flipper”. I may have missed some, though, so keep your eyes peeled, solvers!
My favourite clues today were 1D and 8, both for smoothness of surface reading; the ingenious & lit. at 4; and 16, for its surprising definition. I would appreciate confirmation of my parsing at 28, since “stiff” in this sense was new to me.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are underlined; a break in underlining separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
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||
| 1 | CALIGULA |
Around ’51, Soviet camp nearly assassinated ruler (8)
|
| CA (=around, i.e. circa) + LI (=51, in Roman numerals) + GULA<g> (=Soviet camp; “nearly” is anagram indicator); the Roman emperor Caligula was assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard in 41 AD. | ||
| 5 | PHONIC |
Vocal baby interrupts film (6)
|
| HON (=baby, i.e. honey, used as term of endearment) in PIC (=film, movie) | ||
| 9 | RUDIMENTS |
Basic concepts one’s found in dirty books section (9)
|
| [I’M (=one’s, i.e. in formal speech) in RUDE (=dirty, obscene)] + NT (=books, i.e. New Testament) + S (=section) | ||
| 11 | TEMPI |
Opera reflected irrational score markings (5)
|
| TEM ((the) MET=opera, in New York; “reflected” indicates reversal) + PI (=irrational (number), in maths); tempi (or times) are marked on a musical score | ||
| 12 | PANCAKE MAKE-UP |
Theatre foundation name a peak Puck for casting (7,4-2)
|
| *(NAME A PEAK PUCK); “for casting” is anagram indicator; pancake make-up is cosmetic (“foundation”) in cake form, often moistened before application, used in theatre productions | ||
| 14 | ARBITER |
Referee a right snappy sort? (7)
|
| A +R (=right) + BITER (=snappy sort) | ||
| 17 | UNDRAWN |
Pulled back from ground raw nutmeg (7)
|
| Hidden (“from”) in “groUND RAW Nutmeg” | ||
| 18 | ERUPTED |
Broke out old royal at university lecture series (7)
|
| ER (=old royal, i.e. Elizabeth Regina) + UP (=at university) + TED (=lecture series, i.e. the online TED talks) | ||
| 20 | AUSTERE |
Goethe hero beheaded before grave (7)
|
| <f>AUST (=Goethe hero; “beheaded” means first letter is dropped) + ERE (=before, in poetry); austere is severe, harsh, grave | ||
| 22 | PINBALL WIZARD |
Band will pair poorly with unknown 60s song (7,6)
|
| Z (=unknown, in algebra) in *(BAND WILL PAIR); “poorly” is anagram indicator; Pinball Wizard was a 1969 single by the British rock band The Who | ||
| 26 | OCTET |
In Versailles and chasing old court musicians (5)
|
| O (=old) + CT (=court, in addresses) + ET (=in Versailles and, i.e. the French word for and) | ||
| 27 | EXPERTISE |
Punditry, once smart, is primarily excruciating (9)
|
| EX- (=once, former) + PERT (=smart, forward) + IS + E<xcruciating> (“primarily” means first letter only) | ||
| 28 | SCRIPT |
Person forced to fight without stiff hand (6)
|
| <con>SCRIPT (=person forced to fight; “without stiff (=con, cheat)” means letters “con” are dropped; one’s hand is one’s handwriting or script | ||
| 29 | FLIPPERS |
Loud footwear not principally part of diver’s kit (several found in this puzzle) (8)
|
| F (=loud, i.e. forte, in music) + <s>LIPPERS (=footwear; “not principally” means first letter is dropped) | ||
| DOWN
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||
| 1 | CARD PLAYER |
Person at table died tucking into fish, perhaps chicken (4,6)
|
| [D (=died) in CARP (=fish)] + LAYER (=perhaps chicken, i.e. layer of eggs) | ||
| 2 | LADEN |
Loaded fellow going to space (5)
|
| LAD (=fellow, young man) + EN (=space, in printing) | ||
| 3 | GYMNAST |
Competitor crashing many GTs (7)
|
| *(MANY GTS); “crashing” is anagram indicator | ||
| 4 | LANCE |
Knight’s impaling spike? (5)
|
| N (=knight, in chess) in LACE (=(to)spike, e.g. a drink); & lit. | ||
| 6 | HOTHEAD |
Ate around edge of jalapeño – the fiery type (7)
|
| [<jalpen>O (“edge of” means last letter only here) + THE] in HAD (=ate, consumed) | ||
| 7 | NAMEPLATE |
Office panel upset with others training staff (9)
|
| ET AL. (=with others, in Latin) + PE (=training, i.e. physical education) + MAN (=(to) staff, as verb); “upset” indicates vertical reversal; a nameplate is a plate or plaque indicating one’s office or position | ||
| 8 | COIN |
Company concerned with change (4)
|
| CO (=company) + IN (=concerned with, involved with, as in I’m in finance); coins are loose change | ||
| 10 | SPATULA |
Kitchen help dispute contents of pulao (7)
|
| SPAT (=dispute, row) + <p>ULA<o> (“contents of” means first and last letters are dropped) | ||
| 13 | UNDERDRESS |
Pressured to remove uniform, initially go too casual (10)
|
| UNDER D<u>RESS (=pressured (into); “to remove uniform (=U, in NATO alphabet)” means letter “u” is dropped) | ||
| 15 | BLUE PETER |
Show Britpoppers toting record on topless holiday (4,5)
|
| [EP (=record, i.e. extended-play) + <f>ETE (=holiday; “topless” means first letter in vertical entry is dropped)] in BLUR (=Britpoppers, i.e. British band formed in late 1980s): Blue Peter is a popular BBC children’s TV programme, hence “show” | ||
| 16 | RADIATE |
Consider bracketing capsized support beam (7)
|
| DIA (AID=support; “capsized” indicates reversal) in RATE (=consider, judge); to beam is to radiate, shine | ||
| 19 | TANK TOP |
Garment kept on at dances if dropping ecstasy (4,3)
|
| *(K<e>PT ON AT); “dropping ecstasy (=E, the drug)” means letter “e” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “dances” | ||
| 21 | STIRRUP |
Pet’s sound when satisfied it’s lifted bone (7)
|
| PURR (=pet’s sound when satisfied) + IT’S; “lifted” indicates vertical reversal; the stirrup is one of the bones in the inner ear | ||
| 23 | LAPEL |
Drink fell, missing exterior jacket flap (5)
|
| LAP (=drink, e.g. of a cat) + <f>EL<l> (“missing exterior” means first and last letters are dropped) | ||
| 24 | ANIME |
An Independent setter that’s big on Japanese TV (5)
|
| AN + I (=independent) + ME (=setter, i.e. Mog!) | ||
| 25 | BOSS |
Stud who calls the shots (4)
|
| Double definition: a boss is a raised round decoration, e.g. on a shield, hence stud AND, colloquially, the person in charge, hence the one “who calls the shots” |
Top-notch setting, with a pleasing variety of devices and difficulty. A clever/novel theme, to boot, which didn’t mar the quality of the clues.
What’s not like? Nothing.
RR… “that salesman just stiffed me”, and similar, is pretty mainstream for a rip-off or scam.
Flippers, I think you’ve found ’em, but I’ll go off-piste: if ARBITER is a ref., well..they toss a coin before the kick-off.
A HOTHEAD might be someone who “flips”, i.e. loses it.
Too far? Yep, I agree.
Lovely stuff, both thumbs up, Mog + Riku
You can flip the SCRIPT as well. I bet there are others.
I found the top right hand corner the hardest and didn’t spot THE being included in HOTHEAD. Took me ages to see UNDRAWN so that’s a good hidden-word clue. LANCE was my fave.
Great stuff. I spent a while looking for reversible words, and then for a dolphin.
Thanks both. I thought the gateway clue for the theme was directing us to other pieces of diving kit, especially when I found TANK TOP. A devil in me wants to suggest some of the examples are ‘flipees’ i.e. those being flipped rather than those flipping, but that would be flipping pedantic.
Another great challenge from Mog, enthusiastically accepted. Will be sorely missed barring a u-turn.
A little point of order: scuba divers call them “fins” – “flippers” are worn by children in swimming pools. (And the “tank” is called a “cylinder”.)
Thanks both!
Lots of unknown words/expressions to me, but all gettable, and enjoyable. I also thought of an ARBITER flipping/tossing a COIN. Thanks a lot Mog and RR!
A slight typo in the blog: in CALIGULA, “nearly” indicates not an anagram but a truncation