Remember, remember, the 26th of October…unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it up to the Northern S&B get-together last weekend…but will Anax have remembered?…
Not just any old S&B get-together, but a celebration of a prodigious current setter reaching his half century – Many ‘Hoppy’ Returns of the day to JH!
At first this seemed like a straightforward celebration of the event – the real name (HENDERSON) and his Independent setting pseudonym (NIMROD) making an appearance, as well as relevant words like CONUNDRUM, ENIGMATIST and INQUISITOR.
(Plus pseudonyms ‘Elgar’, from the Telegraph; ‘Enigmatist’, from the Grauniad; and ‘Io’, from the FT…)
But then, once the grid was nearly full, it seemed that Anax had a cheeky little extra message to give us, in the left- and right-most columns…
(Maybe factually correct – although surely ‘fifty is the new forty’ these days?…I certainly hope so…)
There may be other relevant thematic words in there that readers can enlighten us of? The ORCA as another ‘hunter’? Maybe Nimrod enjoys cricket (the ASHES), foreign travel (CROATIA, RHODES, the GOBI desert, DARTMOUTH – OK, same country, maybe more like time-travel?!), skiing (PISTE), exotic foods (OSTRICH & PIRANHA) – or maybe Anax thinks he has ‘NOT A CHANCE’ and deserves a bit of OSTRACISM and should ‘LEG IT’?
All in all, a fond tribute, and an event that seems to have been recognised to varying levels in a few other puzzles this week, although I shan’t name any, as they may not have reached their send-in by dates…
Just one last thing – I couldn’t fully explain MISSPELL at 11A – any better suggestions gratefully received.
(Thanks to various commenters below for suggesting ‘right’ as a homophone for ‘write’ – which then makes sense…
Also Gaufrid has pointed out an extra nina – the first letters of the clues spell out ‘Congratulations on John’s fiftieth’! – now Bolded below).
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
| 1A | NOT A CHANCE | Can wobble through missing handlebar on your bike? (3,1,6) | on your bike (!) / NO TACHE (missing a handlebar, moustache) around ANC (anag, i.e. wobble, of CAN) |
| 7A | ORCA | One’s first label: Killer (4) | killer (whale) / O (first letter of One) + RCA (record label) |
| 9A | ITCH | Nameless thing given award to burn (4) | burn (with desire, or from the result of fulfilling desires?!) / IT (nameless ‘thing’) + CH (Companion of Honour, award) |
| 10A | NAVIGATION | Gutted about piercing Giovanni? Nasty cut (10) | cut (as in channel, for navigation?) / anag (i.e. nasty) of GIOVANNI around (pierced by) AT (AbouT, gutted) |
| 11A | MISSPELL | Right wrong? (8) | &lit-ish homonym – to ‘write’ wrong is to misspell / **thanks for various comments along these lines below… |
| 12A | RIALTO | A foreign currency for exchange (6) | exchange (or market, after the Rialto – business centre of Venice) / RIAl (foreign currency + TO (for the purpose of) |
| 13A | RHODES | Transport needs to be announced for island (6) | island / homonym – ROADS – transport needs – ‘announced’ |
| 15A | ARCHIVAL | Ultimate competitor’s run out of records? (8) | of records / ARCH (ultimate) + (R)IVAL – competitor, with R (run) taken out |
| 17A | OPERANDS | Logical expressions also found in ‘illogical’ prose (8) | logical expressions / anag (i.e. illogical) of PROSE, around AND (also) |
| 20A | NIMROD | Angler chasing game, a hunter (6) | hunter (and birthday boy!) / NIM (game, originally Chinese) + ROD (angler) |
| 22A | DRUM UP | To attract doctor, official carries uniform (4,2) | To attract / DR (doctor) + UMP (umpire, official) around U (uniform) |
| 24A | RUN ALONG | Imperative for leaving top taken from shop in bar? (3,5) | Imperative for leaving / RUNG (bar, of a ladder0 around (S)ALON – shop without top letter |
| 26A | INQUISITOR | One prize crossword selected is tackled by desert troops (10) | One prize crossword (in the Independent) / IN (selected) + QUIT (desert), around IS, plus OR (Other ranks, troops) |
| 27A | GOBI | Nearly pass one in the desert (4) | desert / GO B(Y) – nearly pass – plus I (one) |
| 28A | SASH | Somewhat serious as hip-hop band (4) | band / hidden word in ‘seriouS AS Hip-hop’ |
| 29A | ENIGMATIST | One setting puzzle – I am setting cryptic (10) | one setting puzzle / anag (i.e. cryptic) of I AM SETTING |
| Down | |||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
| 2D | OSTRICH | Nut-burying type heading off army – that’s ironic (7) | nut (head)-burying type / (H)OST (army, losing first letter) + RICH (that’s rich, ironic) |
| 3D | ASHES | Jittery 28 secures English Test Series (5) | Test series (in cricket) / anag (i.e. jittery) of SASH (28A) around (securing) E (English) |
| 4D | HENDERSON | Outcome in woman’s cooking for friend of Bigfoot (9) | friend of Bigfoot (as in the film ‘Bigfoot and the Hendersons’, and also the birthday boy!) / HERS (woman’s) around END (outcome), plus ON (cooking) |
| 5D | NOVELLA | Half of student jazz singer’s story, short one (7) | story, short one / NOV(ICE) – half of student – plus ELLA (jazz singer, Fitzgerald) |
| 6D | ELGAR | Newspaper about to carry letter on 20’s creator (5) | 20’s creator (20 being ‘Nimrod’, from the Enigma Variations) / EL (letter, L) + GAR (rag, newspaper, about) |
| 7D | OSTRACISM | Sitcoms broadcast about artist’s isolation (9) | isolation / anag (i.e. broadcast) of SITCOMS, around RA (Royal Academician, artist) |
| 8D | CROATIA | Film about king, one with a country (7) | country / COAT (film) around R (Rex, king) + I (one) + A |
| 14D | DARTMOUTH | It’s run on gas, this Devon town (9) | Devon town / DART (run) + MOUTH (gas, talk) |
| 16D | CONUNDRUM | Fish circles type of buoy – unusual problem (9) | problem / COD (fish) around NUN (type of buoy), plus RUM (unusual) |
| 18D | PIRANHA | This predator is old man around country hotel (7) | (this) predator / PA (old man, father) around IRAN (country) + H (hotel) |
| 19D | STRETTI | Ineptly tries to cross dry passages (7) | passages (in music) / anag (i.e. ineptly) or TRIES, around TT (teetotal, dry) |
| 21D | OMNIBUS | Extended programme: Wrestling rings throw out retired? (7) | Extended programme / SUMO (wrestling) around (ringing) BIN (throw out), all retired |
| 23D | PISTE | Track down detective, one out of position (5) | Track down (a ski slope!) / PI (detective, Private Investigator) + S(I)TE – position without I (one) |
| 25D | LEGIT | Honest soldier kept in check (5) | honest (legitimate) / LET (check, hinder) around GI (US soldier) |
Thanks mc_rapper67 and Anax,
A great introduction to the blog! The crossword was pretty good too.
I took 14a to be a play on “write wrong”.
Thanks mc_rapper67
Like Muffyword, I took 11ac to be a play on misspelling ‘write’. It might also be worth mentioning the other hidden message spelt out by the initial letters of the clues: “congratulations on John’s fiftieth”. No, I didn’t spot this either until prompted.
We took 11ac in the same way as Gaufrid and Muffyword – but it did take a bit of head-scratching.
Bert had a hint from Anax at the Birthday Bash to look closely at the clues – we’d have missed the other message without it!
Thanks to mc_rapper for the blog and the flashing grid!
Well done Anax, a fitting tribute although we’re not sure about the right-hand column!
Congratulations also to John and thanks again for a very enjoyable Saturday get-together. We hope the rest of the celebrations went well.
Thanks for a most entertaining blog, mc_rapper! [One more to highlight is 6d ELGAR – John’s pseudonym in the Telegraph.]
I did this puzzle on the train on the way to Sheffield and the first person I spoke to there was Anax. I thanked him for the wonderful puzzle but was mortified when he gently pointed out the message down the sides [will I never learn?!] and then completely overwhelmed when, with his help [!], I saw the extra message in the clues. What a genius! Many thanks again, Anax – lovely to see you again.
I’d like to echo B and J’s thanks to John and Jane for venturing north and arranging such a super day for us.
A super crossword to mark a super day which I thoroughly enjoyed including Anax’s speech – I think I did not get to talk to him on this occasion, as it happened.
What a tour de force. I was stumped parsing the homophone (not -nym, surely?) in MISSPELL, so thanks all for explaining.
Wow! What a tour de force. Congratulations to Anax as well as to last week’s birthday boy. A suitable follow-up to the Sheffield S&B.
And there’s another entry to highlight – 29ac, ENIGMATIST, John’s Grauniad persona.
Re 10ac, you’re right about NAVIGATION. ‘Cut’ is/was a common term for a canal, and the formal name for many canals was NAVIGATION. That was my CoD, though I took ages to work it out thinking at first it had to be something inclosed in the letters D O N (Giovanni). A facepalm moment when the penny dropped.
Thanks to setter and blogger
Sorry, mc_rapper, didn’t notice you’d mentioned ENIGMATIST in your preamble.
A superb puzzle. Because I solve online a week after the publication date I had almost forgotten about JH’s 50th bash last weekend, and it only occurred to me after I had solved NIMROD and ENIGMATIST. I saw the theme continue with 4dn (by the way, the film is “Harry and the Hendersons”) but I don’t solve puzzles in the other papers John sets for (except The Times which operates a no name policy for setters) so the other references passed me by.
For once in a non-Phi puzzle I looked for a nina round the edges and when I saw it I was able to enter my last two, ITCH and MISSPELL. However, I didn’t see the message hidden in the clues. I know such a device is much harder to spot in the online version, but even if I had been doing the paper version I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have seen in.
I forgot to add that I knew NAVIGATION as a canal because a while ago I wanted to find out where the word “navvy” came from. It was originally a shortening of “navigator”, as the workers who built the canals in the 18th and 19th centuries were called.
Thanks mc_rapper67 and Anax. Splendid stuff, and an excellent tribute. Maybe the left and right columns should have read “NIMROD IS ALSO AN OLD GIT”, remembering last year’s Anax milestone 😉
Wish I’d been there – loved the crossword!
Thanks very much mc_rapper. Needed your help in parsing a couple of these.
I was sitting at my kitchen table congratulating myself not only on finishing this but also on spotting the nina (indeed it was only seeing the nina that enabled me to get my last one in, ARCHIVAL). Then I come here and find that’s only the half of it. Sometimes the virtuosity of our setters just takes the breath away.
Hope the old git enjoyed it. I certainly did 🙂
So, Anax manages to combine a Nina, a hidden theme and an acrostic. What, no pangram?
Yes, a magnificent tribute from [according to the latest information, published in book form] one of the hardest setters on the Cryptic Globe to the other hardest setter around.
Phew.
Hadn’t I seen the nina Saturday a week ago [in the beautifully framed version] then I would have had quite some trouble to finish this one.
Sometimes I ask myself how do people in the tube cope with a puzzle like this.
Full credits to Anax.
Thanks to mc_rapper67 too – great presentation of the theme.
As there is no other I,O combination in the puzzle other than in NAVIGATION (10ac), I presume Anax would like us to highlight IO [John’s FT disguise] in that particular place.
Just for completeness, from Eileen at #4 and Sil at #15, I have re-loaded the grid with ‘Elgar’ and ‘Io’ highlighted (highlit?)…
Also, allan_c at #7 – I had missed the fact that ‘Enigmatist’ is JH’s Grauniad pseudonym…good point! I highlighted it just because I thought it was a ‘crosswordy’ word, and maybe related to the Enigma(tic) Variations – either of the Elgar/musical variety or the Telegraph barred/thematic puzzle variety.
What a masterpiece. How Anax managed to get all that in I can’t imagine. And much of it was wasted on me because I missed several of the references and also the acrostic. It just seemed to be one of Anax’s regular devilish crosswords.
Thank goodness for 15^2.