Bluebird has set today’s puzzle in The Independent
The grid includes a couple of newspapers and magazines (The Telegraph and The Spectator) that will continue to publish crosswords after 31st October, unlike The Independent. It’s probably a coincidence, though, as this puzzle was likely set before the news about the Independent crossword was announced.
Looking for an alternative potential theme, I wondered if EDWARD WOODWARD had ever appeared in a stage adaptation of THE TURN OF THE SCREW, but the answer is no. However, several allusions to the stage, film, cast, actors, and players appear throughout the clues and grid.
Both major American political parties are mentioned in the clues.
I feel there is a theme somewhere in the puzzle. Perhaps some solvers will identify it.
The definition of YARDS at 12 across as gardens seems more American than British.
I had no issues with the clues which seemed very fair. The only one I thought about for a while was the wordplay for COCKROACHES, but I’m fairly happy with my parsing.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
See 28 [THE] TURN OF THE SCREW |
| 10 | Conducted electricity activates this (3)
LED (Light Emitting Diode – an item activated by electricity) LED (conducted) double definition LED |
| 11 |
Wheel around two kings in cars – Beetles? (11) COCKROACHES (orthopterous insects, the so-called black beetles) (O [wheel-shaped character] + C [circa; around] + K [king] + R [Rex; king]) contained in (in) COACHES (cars) C (O C K R) OACHES |
| 12 | Gardens close to trees where squirrels are going about (5)
YARDS (gardens, although I think this usage is more prevalent in the USA and Canada) (S [last letter of {close to} treeS] + DRAY [squirrel’s nest; where squirrels are]) all reversed (going about) (YARD S)< |
| 13 | Support strike covered by the odd newspaper (9)
TELEGRAPH (name of a newspaper) (LEG [a support] + RAP [strike]) contained in (covered by) an anagram of (odd) THE TE (LEG RAP) H* |
| 14 | Run and run in dress covered in stalks (4-5)
RUSH-GROWN (covered in rushes [stalks]) RUSH (hurry; run) + (R contained in [covered in] GOWN [dress]) RUSH G (R) OWN |
| 18 | Tea service one knocked over (5)
ASSAM (a full-bodied tea) (MASS [church service] + A [one]) all reversed (knocked over) (A SSAM)< |
| 19 | In audition, 40 do really well (5)
EXCEL (do well) XL (Roman numeral for 40) is pronounced [in audition] EXCEL EXCEL |
| 20 | Groups of actors, say, unclothed, went cycling, bless ’em (9)
ENSEMBLES (groups of actors) EN (letters remaining in wENt when the outer letters W and T are removed [unclothed]) + SEMBLES (character string obtained by cycling BLESS ‘EM three letters to the right and moving the end letter to the front) EN SEMBLES |
| 22 | One watching actor with pets at play (9)
SPECTATOR (person who looks on; one watching) Anagram of (at play) ACTOR and [with] PETS SPECTATOR* |
| 25 | One serving drink? One leaving drink? (5)
WATER (a drink) WAiTER (one who serves food and drink) excluding (leaving) I (Roman numeral for one) WATER |
| 27 | Revived, cuckoo raced up tree (11)
RECUPERATED (revived) Anagram of (cuckoo) RACED UP TREE RECUPERATED* |
| 28/1 | Book act performed by prison officer? (3,4,2,3,5)
THE [TURN OF THE SCREW] (novel [book] by Henry James [1843 – 1916]) THE TURN OF THE (the performance [the act]) + SCREW (slang term for a prison officer) THE TURN OF THE SCREW |
| 29 | Actor and journalist in front of court with Democrat framed by charges (6,8)
EDWARD WOODWARD (1930 – 2009) was an English actor ED [editor; journalist) + ([WOO {court} + D {Democrat}] contained in (framed by) (WARD [a person under the protection [charge] of a guardian] + WARD [a person under the protection [charge] of a guardian] giving charges) ED WARD (WOO D) WARD |
| Down | |
| 2 | Fewer than one in Vichy turned Communist (5)
UNDER (lower than; fewer than) UN (French [Vichy] word for one) + RED (communist) reversed (turned) UN DER< |
| 3 | Skin on head pierced by 100 cuts (5)
NICKS (cuts) SKIN reversed (on head; down entry) containing (pierced by) C (Roman numeral for 100) NI (C) KS |
| 4 | Front and back of jet plane (5)
FACET (small flat area; plane) FACE (front) + T (last letter of [back of] jeT) FACE T |
| 5 | Unlucky actor may struggle to remember them (4,5)
HARD LINES (bad luck; unlucky) HARD LINES (a speech [set of lines] that an actor may find difficult to remember) double definition HARD LINES |
| 6 | Burst into song about the end of all trouble and strife? (5)
SLANG (‘trouble and strife’ is rhyming SLANG for wife) SANG (burst into song) containing (about) L (last letter of [end of] alL) S (L) ANG |
| 7 | Judges probing material for actors’ read-through (9)
REHEARSAL (an actors’ read-through is a form of early REHEARSAL of a play) HEARS (judges) contained in (probing) + REAL (actually existing; material) RE (HEARS) AL |
| 8 | Group of 9s we initially suggested to bad actor (4,3)
WEST HAM (English Championship football team; a group of PLAYERS [entry at 9 down]) WE + ST (first letter of [initially] of each of Suggested and To) + HAM [bad actor]) WE S T HAM |
| 9 | Actor in Powell & Pressburger’s first film (6)
PLAYER (actor) P (initial letter of [s first]) both Powell and Pressburger) + LAYER (covering, such as a film) P LAYER |
| 15 | Almost all actors put up with Republican bully that can’t be criticised (6,3)
SACRED COW (an institution, custom, etc, so venerated that it is above criticism) CASt (actors in a play) excluding the final letter (almost all) reversed (put up; down entry) T + RED (a word used to describe a US State with a tendency to vote Republican) + COW (subdue the spirit of; bully) SAC< RED COW |
| 16 | Set stage up (3)
GEL (set) LEG (stage of a race) reversed (up; down entry) GEL< |
| 17 | Abolish patent department without getting upset (9)
OVERTHROW (abolish) OVERT (evident; patent) + HR (Human Resources; personnel department) + W/O (without) reversed (getting upset) OVERT HR OW< |
| 18 | Branch without the first letter – ranch? (3)
ARM (branch) fARM (ranch) excluding the initial letter (without the first letter) F ARM |
| 19 | Damaged steel cases about film studio (7)
ELSTREE (English film studio) Anagram of (damaged) STEEL containing (cases) RE (with reference to; about) ELST (RE) E* |
| 21 | Enormous tree that contains human habitations? (6)
STREET (location for houses and human habitation) STREET (hidden word in [contains] enormouS TREE That) STREET |
| 23 | Warm-blooded creature one turned on with naked girl (5)
TAPIR (a warm-blooded creature) TAP (an item that can be turned on) + IR (letters remaining in gIRl when the outer letters G and L are removed [naked]) TAP IR |
| 24 | Proportion of inspiration and perspiration? It’s roughly 45% and 42% (5)
RATIO (proportion) RATIO (5 of the 11 letters [roughly 45%] of inspiRATIOn and 5 of the 12 letters [roughly 42%] of the letters in perspiRATIOn) RATIO |
| 25 | Woman left behind when knight’s thrown out of hole in the wall? (5)
WIDOW (a woman whose husband is dead and who has not remarried; one left behind) WInDOW (a hole in the wall) excluding (when …’s thrown out) N (chess notation for a knight) WIDOW |
| 26 | Teacher in top half of tree, holding out nuts (5)
TUTOR (teacher) TR (first [top] two of the four [half] letters of TRee) containing (holding) an anagram of (nuts) OUT T (UTO*) R |
A totally enjoyable challenge, very accessible, but crafty with it.
There seemed to be theatrical undertone, “actors” cropping up a lot in wordplays/ solutions?
Plus, PLAYER, REHEARSAL, ELSTREE, LINES, ENSEMBLES.
Nice to see ED WOOD WOOD WOOD in the grid.
The Wicker Man, a classic, tarnished by later “remakes”.
Must say…RUSH-GROWN is a new one, on me.
Cracking job, by Bluebird & duncan
I hadn’t met RUSH-GROWN or DRAY before but both gettable.
I do enjoy Bluebird’s crafting of clues. Clues like those for WATER & ARM are very clever. I was fortunate in getting the actor straightaway. I just thought ‘journalist’ = ‘ed’ and the enumeration led me to the answer which was soon parsed.
Rush grown a new two word combination for me, but clear enough from the clue.
I’m just pleased to be able to take refuge in the Indy after being rather miffed by today’s Grauniad. I’d better enjoy it while it lasts.
Thanks Bluebird and Duncan.
I wonder why the Dems are blue and the Reps are red. Just to be contrary I suppose.
Thanks to Duncan for the blog, and to those who’ve commented – it’s much appreciated.
This puzzle honours Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree.
As this will be the last Bluebird puzzle in the Independent …
Thanks to all the bloggers and commenters over the last few years.
And big thanks to Mike.
All things can appear insignificant if looked at from far enough away. For me though the Independent cryptic crossword has been a significant part of my life for a while now, and I’m very sad to see it go.
Nice challenge, all within my meagre budget.. LED is also a reversed inclusion in “conducteD ELectricity”, maybe just my fevered imagination.
As others have said, there was an element of theme, but maybe just a collection of theatricalisms… I would normally spell the squirrel home as DREY, but reversal doesn’t turn it into a Yank garden… following on from Bluebird@4, I’ve grown accustomed, as Prof Higgins would say, to the many voices of the setters, and bloggers, here, and it will be a tougher, lesser world after 31/10/26… the Indy has definitely been a significant part of my life…
Thanks to Bluebird and duncansheill
Bluebird@4
” we’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when”. There’ll bluebirds over, I hope.
Thank you for the many challenges, always top-notch, and you finish on another high-flyer.
Thank you, Ian Bolland