As usual everything (with the possible exception of 25dn) is quite simple but very complicated since the words are so difficult. Hence many of these clues can be explained in one short statement.
Definitions underlined
John
Independent 8,839 by Monk
Rather a difficult Monk today I thought, but as usual very enjoyable. There are one or two loose ends which, thanks to the wisdom of those reading this blog, should be tied up before the end of the day.
And of course there’s the Nina, which I half saw and then forgot, to be reminded by Herb @1, who saw rather more than I did. The bottom row is a clear statement, so I looked at the top and couldn’t understand what was happening. All explained below. Very good. I can’t see why Herb thinks he hasn’t got it, for it clearly refers to the Russian novel.
Definitions underlined.
Independent 8,834 by Phi
As I said when posting last week, I am always slow to begin Phi’s crosswords, but then everything becomes clear and you wonder why there were any difficulties, because it all fits together fine and one is left wondering what the problem ever was. Perhaps that’s the mark of a good setter.
I have given up having more than a cursory glance (which of course failed to find anything here) to see if Phi has given us a Nina, since his — if they exist at all — are always so difficult to see. No doubt …
Definitions underlined.
Independent 8,825 by Eimi
A pleasant crossword from Eimi. Of course there are references to football and pop music, but I was expecting those. If there is a Nina I can’t see it; it all seems quite straightforward.
Definitions underlined where appropriate.
Independent 8,820 by Dac
What new is there to say about Dac? This was one of his easiest, many of the clues not really very different from those in The Times Quick Cryptic, but the surfaces were as always perfect. I wondered if Dac was amusing himself by having all clues with their definition at the beginning — certainly this seemed to be the case at first — but it soon became clear that he wasn’t.
Definitions underlined.
Independent 8,815 by Nimrod
What you always get with Nimrod, although I must admit that I tend not to do his crosswords nowadays since they are so difficult and I also usually end up being a bit irritated by something, but this time I had to see it through: quite extraordinarily difficult, for some reason, but some imaginative and brilliant clues.
This puzzle had a rather strange grid, which suggests that it was like this for a reason, but that reason is beyond me. Perhaps it was just because Nimrod didn’t want to go down the evil path of having less than 50% checking.
Definitions underlined.
Independent 8,810 by Phi
Phi’s crosswords are almost like Dac’s: there is really very little to say, because all the clues are straightforward and have a nice surface. One can talk about the Nina, but in Phi’s case either — and this is quite often — he doesn’t have one, or it hardly cries out to me and I lazily prefer to let others find it.
Definitions underlined.
AZED 2,221
Something very odd has happened this week. The paper and originally the website printed a totally irrelevant clue for 20ac, with Azed’s clue provided (hastily?) after a day or two. Also the website had some extraordinary glitches: it put (5) (5) after 25ac, (7) (7) after 18dn, and (6) (6) after 22dn. Also, 10dn was given as (7) instead of (5), and — at any rate by Tuesday — this hadn’t been corrected.
Which didn’t detract from the usual pleasant solving experience. Everything was straightforward enough and it was obvious what the mistakes were. Azed’s clues are in retrospect nearly always easy to solve: they are difficult simply because they use words that are, to say the least, outside one’s normal experience. This doesn’t take away from their quality, though.
As usual some dictionary research will be needed by you, dear reader, if you are to understand eveything about all the clues. I have underlined the definitions.
Independent 8,801 by Tees
Tees does sometimes test us to the limits (all right, he did here for me with 16dn, although that was just my fault) but in this enjoyable crossword, with clues that are all so far as I can see good and interesting despite my misgivings about 24dn, he has been fairly gentle to us.
The simple theme uses the unches at the top and bottom and near the sides. In these types of Nina we usually see the unches at the very left and right, not as here, but perhaps it’s easier to fill a more conventional grid.
Definitions underlined
Independent 8,797 by Hieroglyph
All the time that I was doing this the answers seemed to be clear enough, all of a piece with 9ac, and I was telling myself that the meaning of CA would eventually appear. But it wasn’t until quite long after finishing that I realised that CA was 100 Acres, 100 Acre Wood, the place where Pooh and his friends live. I’m not an expert on W-the-P, having unfortunately missed out on it in my childhood, but over the years all the names have become familiar — except for 6dn.
I’ve only just realised (after writing a long paragraph saying that I couldn’t understand ‘would say’) that ‘CA would, say’ is a homophone of ‘CA wood’. Why 6dn has commas but the others don’t is a mystery, though.
But I still can’t see the connection with today. It doesn’t seem to be any significant Pooh anniversary. Is it a non-Christmas crossword? Or, which is far more likely, am I missing something?
A nice crossword from Hieroglyph. Perhaps there are rather a lot of letters indicated by the first or last letters of words, but then perhaps that is the devilish intention.
Definitions underlined.
Independent 8,792 by Crosophile
Initially I felt ill-disposed towards this, because of my obsession (some would call it a hang-up) with less than 50% checking, something that appears several times in the grid. But actually this is a perfectly pleasant crossword with some nice clues.
The inadequate (in my opinion) checking is sometimes excusable if there is a Nina and the setter is trying to get normal words into the grid. But in this case the Nina (which for once I’ve seen, although perhaps there is more) is fairly simple: look at the seven-letter words going diagonally from top to left, top to right, etc in the grid. They are all of a kind, and, further, the shape of the words surrounds something that may also be regarded as one of these.
Definitions underlined.
Independent 8,787 by Phi
As usual with Phi I was a little slow to get started as few answers seemed to be obvious, but once going it all seemed clear enough. And then I came to a long halt with the last three, 21ac, 19dn and 22dn, which wouldn’t budge. The somewhat unusual sense of ‘clipped’ is my excuse; although it isn’t perhaps all that unusual, being the first item in the second Chambers definition.
In the end it was the usual very pleasant Phi experience. Lots of single-letter abbreviations here: is this a theme? (l = league, d = depth, f = farthing, n = note, E = European, r = runs, h = hard, n = name, m = millions, o = old, s = son, again n = note, and perhaps others I’ve missed.)
The unches at the top and the bottom spell out two words which no doubt send us to some series of books that escape my experience.
Definitions underlined.
Independent 9,778 by Radian
Three checked letters in a seven-letter answer is bad enough; two in a five-letter answer is even worse. Unless, some say, Radian has been constrained by a Nina and has been forced to use answers of this type. If he has (and of course I can’t see it) then perhaps this is justified. And anyway it’s only my view (but also that of some eminent others, I might add).
Pity, because much of this crossword is good, and there are some excellent clues. I particularly enjoyed 1dn.
Definitions underlined.
Independent 8,773 by Quixote
It seems that Quixote is now doing the Wednesday crossword on the days (the last Wednesdays of the month) that Dac isn’t doing it, and there is no noticeable diminution of quality. Everything here is very clear and efficient and as with Dac I expect few to have much to say.
AZED 2,215
A standard and typically sound and pleasant Plain from Azed this week. Most of the clues allow a very straightforward and brief parsing. One or two of his ways are a bit beyond me, and 8dn is completely beyond me, but I trust someone will explain.
As usual I won’t trouble you with explanations of the rare words: they are all there in Chambers.
Definitions underlined.