This Sloggers & Betters puzzle from the York event a week ago is a tribute to setters of Independent crosswords. The puzzle is compiled by Methuselah, who is an Independent setter himself.
The puzzle references 38 different setters’ names in the clues, plus a mention of Mike, who we can interpret as Mike Hutchinson, editor of the Independent series for many years. Mike also gets into the clues as eimi.
The blank puzzle can be downloaded HERE
We held this blog back until after Mike Hutchinson’s valedictory Independent 12501 cryptic yesterday, which gave clear confirmation, to those who already know, that the series will no longer publish new puzzles. As mentioned elsewhere on this site, the cryptic published on the Independent puzzles site today is a repeat of cryptic 11561 set by Atrica. Another post on fifteensquared today tells us that there is no cryptic crossword on the online newspaper site. A Google AI query informs me that the Independent newspaper managers have not yet told subscribers that the cryptics have ceased. As it is sourced from AI, I’m not sure how accurate that statement is.
Methuselah’s puzzle, blogged below is a tour de force in constructing clues from a restricted set of words/names, and he deserves credit for getting at least one setter into each of the 28 clues. There are, of course, many more Independent setters than the 38 Methuselah was able to incorporate. I know there are at least double, and probably significantly more, than the 38 mentioned.
The 38 setters include one, Monk, who had a puzzle blogged on 3/112006, just two days after fifteensquared began. Most of the setters of recent weeks are also mentioned in the clues.
There are some splendid anagrams involving two or more setters’ names, the stand-out being that for the film STRIKE UP THE BAND at 1 down, which involves four setters’ names. SITUATION COMEDY at 8 down uses three setters, as does DISHEARTENINGLY at 26 across. SMOKE AND MIRRORS at 1 across involves two setters plus M for Mike.
The meaning of nimrod used as wordplay in the clue to 14 down, AUDIOTAPE, was new to me. I found it in the Oxford Dictionary of English and was relieved to find that Methuselah was not describing the setter Nimrod as an idiot!
Like many themed puzzles, the grid holds a few obscure words that have to fit the crossing letters. Examples are ECHOLALIA, ENAMORADO, OCELLUS and DIABOLISE.
This was a fine tribute to Independent setters. Some set for other publications under different pseudonyms, but let’s hope their Independent alter egos aren’t forgotten and reappear on another site so we can keep benefiting from their ingenuity and craft.
| No | Detail |
| Across | Setters’ names are highlighted in fuschia |
| 1 | Mike‘s bowled over by Raider or Monk‘s new tricks (5,3,7)
SMOKE AND MIRRORS (deception used to achieve one’s aims in spite of being in a weak position; tricks) M’S (Mike is the international radio communication codeword for the letter M) contained in (bowled over by) an anagram of (new) RAIDER OR MONKS S (M) OKE AND MIRRORS* Note that Mike refers to Mike Hutchinson, the long-time editor of Independent crosswords |
| 9 | Story worked into Umpire‘s far from flat surfaces (7)
RELIEFS (an area displaying projections from the general surface; far from flat surfaces) LIE (story) contained in (worked into) REFS (REFereeS; umpires) RE (LIE) FS |
| 10 | Most curious about reversing short break for Rodriguez (7)
NOSIEST (most curious) ON (about) reversed (reversing) + SIESTa (midday or afternoon nap or rest; break) excluding the final letter A (short) – Rodriguez is a surname common in Spanish-speaking countries; siesta is a Spanish word) NO< SIEST |
| 11 | Serpent set to accept a couple from Raich (5)
KRAIT (deadly South Asian rock snake; serpent) KIT (a set of parts or pieces for assembly by the purchaser) containing (to accept) RA (a couple of letters from RAich) K (RA) IT Serpent is the current editor of The Times crossword. I don’t know whether Raich has set for The Times. |
| 12 | English church starts to offer lunch after first half of Liari’s unplanned recital (9)
ECHOLALIA (senseless or compulsive repetition of words heard, occurring in forms of mental illness; unplanned recital) E (English) + CH (church) + OLA (initial letters of [starts to] each of Offer, Lunch and After) + LIA (first 3 of the 6 [first half] letters of LIAri’s) E CH OLA LIA |
| 13 | Setter cycled around Mog he’d spared from harm (9)
UNSCATHED (spared from harm) SUN (an object that sets in the evening; setter) cycled one letter to the left to form UNS + CAT (mog is a slang term for a cat) + HE’D UNS CAT HED |
| 16 | Bluth‘s opening one-liner rejected by American voices (5)
BASSI (more than one BASS voice) B (first letter of [opening] Bluth) + A (American) + (I [Roman numeral for one] + SS [steamship; ocean liner of old]) reversed (rejected) B A (SS I)< |
| 17 | Stamp regularly sent back: “do a rewrite!” (5)
TREAD (stamp) TREAD (reversed [sent back] letters 9, 7, 5, 3 and 1 [regularly] of Do A rEwRiTe) TREAD< |
| 19 | Quince and his colleagues possibly sent dream up (9)
TRADESMEN (Peter Quince is a character in William Shakespeare’s [1564 – 1616] A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He is one of the six mechanicals [manual TRADESMEN] from Athens who perform the play which Quince himself authored, “The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe” for the Duke Theseus and his wife Hippolyta at their wedding) Anagram of (up) SENT DREAM TRADESMEN* |
| 21 | Old lover‘s poem on Grecian subject perhaps holding a different sort of ancient back? (9)
ENAMORADO (obsolete [old] term for a lover) (ODE [reference John Keats’ [1795 – 1821], poem ODE on a Grecian Urn] containing [holding] A ROMAN [a different sort of ancient people]) all reversed (back) (E (NAMOR A) DO)< |
| 23 | City is an enclave of Italicus‘ country (5)
CUSCO (city in Peru, once capital of the Inca Empire) CUSCO (hidden word in [enclave of] italiCUS COuntry) CUSCO |
| 24 | If nothing else, book of maps should include the latest in Longitude and temperature (2,5)
AT LEAST (if nothing else) ATLAS (book of maps) containing (should include) E (final letter of [latest in] longitudE) + T (temperature) AT L (E) AS T |
| 25 | See more than one Magus passing through in east (7)
IMAGINE (envisage; see [in one’s mind’s eye]) MAGI (plural of MAGUS) contained in (passing through) (IN + E [East]) I (MAGI) N E |
| 26 | Angel, Nitsy and Deri wandering around hotel in sad manner (15)
DISHEARTENINGLY (in sad manner) Anagram of (wandering) containing (around) H (hotel is the international radio communication codeword for the letter H) DIS (H) EARTENINGLY* |
| Down | |
| 1 | Bard, Knut, Phi and Tees remade old film (6,2,3,4)
STRIKE UP THE BAND (1940 [old] American musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland) Anagram of (remade) BARD KNUT PHI and TEES STRIKE UP THE BAND* |
| 2 | Egg with Dill inside may lead to smelly containers (7)
OILCANS (containers) O (egg-shaped character) + IL (central letters of (inside) dILl) + CAN (may – I don’t think ‘can’ and ‘may’ are exactly the same, but in everyday conversation they are used interchangeably)) + S (first letter of [lead to] Smelly O IL CAN S |
| 3 | Mev enters boxing competition (5)
EVENT (competition) EVENT (hidden word (boxing) in mEV ENTers) EVENT |
| 4 | Lightweight construction somehow shines in Filbert? (6,3)
NISSEN HUT (a semi-cylindrical corrugated-iron hut designed by Colonel P N NISSEN [1871 – 1930]; a lightweight construction kit forms the raw material) Anagram of (somehow) SHINES contained in (in) NUT (a filbert is the nut of the cultivated hazel) N (ISSEN H*) UT |
| 5 | Get teeth into crossword mag, starting with Madcap (5)
MUNCH (to chew with a steady, deliberate action of the jaws, and often with a crunching noise; get teeth into) M (first letter of [cap] Madcap) + UNCH (a crossword magazine, first issued just over a year ago) M UNCH |
| 6 | Unlucky person upset by Twin missing party’s ready for another breakdown (9)
RESOLUBLE (ready for another chemical breakdown) LOSER (unlucky person) reversed (upset; down entry) + doUBLE (twin) excluding (missing) DO (party) RESOL< UBLE |
| 7 | One sees Amoeba, say, in love with crossword setters (7)
OCELLUS (a simple eye in insects or other lower animals; one sees) CELL (an amoeba is a single-CELL organism) contained in (in) (O [character representing zero, the love score in tennis] + US [Methuselah is describing himself and other crossword setters) O (CELL) US |
| 8 | Eimi, Coot and Tyrus putting out right funny show (9,6)
SITUATION COMEDY (a show) Anagram of (funny) EIMI COOT AND TYrUS excluding (putting out) R (right) SITUATION COMEDY* |
| 14 | Recording Nimrod taking top off during a posh do (9)
AUDIOTAPE (a recording) (iDIOT [nimrod is an American informal term for an idiot. The web has a few theories on the derivation of this meaning]) excluding the first letter (taking top off) I, contained in (during) (A + U [posh] + APE [mimic; do]) A U (DIOT) APE |
| 15 | Make fiendish Dalibor finish off cryptic (extremely ingenious European) (9)
DIABOLISE (represent as diabolical; make fiendish) Anagram of (cryptic) DALIBOr excluding the final letter (finish off) + IS (outer letters of [extremely] IngeniouS) + E (European) DIABOL* IS E |
| 18 | Helps Eccles when new blood dismisses his two cents (7)
ENABLES (helps) EccLES with (N [new] + AB (blood [group]) replacing (dismisses) (C [cent] + C [cent] – two cents) E (N AB) LES |
| 20 | Disguising male as Guinevere or Penelope‘s mate? (7)
MASKING (disguising) M (male) + AS + KING (both Guinevere and Penelope were married to KINGs, Guinevere to KING Arthur in Arthurian legend, and Penelope to Odysseus, KING of Ithaca in Homer’s Odyssey) M AS KING |
| 22 | Maybe Hoskins cheers up or snorts cocaine (5)
ACTOR (reference Bob Hoskins [1942 – 2014], English ACTOR) (TA [thank you, cheers] reversed [up; down entry] + OR) containing (snorts) C (cocaine) A (C) T< OR |
| 23 | Animal covering kernel of Maize (5)
COATI (a tropical American carnivorous mammal) COAT (covering) + I (central letter of [kernel of] maIze) COAT I |
A fitting tribute. Maize should be in fuchsia, too.
Thanks duncanshiell for a comprehensive blog (and Kenmac for organising these S&B follow-up blogposts). Apologies to the many Indy setters I couldn’t get in (I was at least glad to include UNCH, which has published a few of the absentees). And happy to confirm I was not calling our Nimrod an idiot!
Thanks to everyone on the Indy team especially Mike, and thanks to everyone who’s solved or blogged one of a Methuselah puzzle since 2021. It’s sad to think this is probably the last Methuselah puzzle, but I hope to continue elsewhere.
Lovely stuff, Methuselah! Thx Duncan.
Thank you Methuselah for a very entertaining puzzle – and for squeezing me in at the end 🙂 Quite the achievement, and very fitting to celebrate the Indy crosswords we love so much. At least we’ll get to do them for another nearly 4 years in the i paper… hopefully!
Many thanks for this excellent puzzle, Methuselah, incredible to fit so much in.
Thanks also for the wonderful blog, Duncan.
In answer to Duncan’s question raised in context of the clue, Raich does set in Times (Hurley in Times Quick Cryptic – thanks, Serpent, and Bannsider before him for that and also has had a few in 15X15 series there.)