Independent 6523/Dac – Fifteensquared

A quickish pleasurable solve with a couple of tricky clues and new words (for me). Once I’d found some of his well-hidden definitions, Dac’s cluing left no doubts for even the toughest of the clues. There was a handful of drink-related answers and clues though not enough to suggest a theme perhaps.

Across
5	CHAMPS — M in CHAPS — very nice &lit;
10	BLOTTO — B+LOTTO — lotto is a form of bingo.
12	CARPET SLIPPERS — A+R+PETS in CLIPPERS — I spent a while assuming boats was the definition rather than the more subtle, “mules?”
14	EACH — TEACH – T(own)
16	BROKEN DOWN — KENDO in BROWN — a case where part of the answer is staring you in the face, but it’s right for the surface.
19	SEMI — tIMEShare
21	WET ONE’S WHISTLE — L in (SWEET WINE HOST)* — excellent anagram and very nice use of sparkling to give a good surface.
25	STALLAGE — ALL in STAGE — a fee paid by a market trader for a pitch. Covent Garden has a famous market but also a theatre to make the surface.
26	MINGER — mannheiM IN GERmany — a relatively new word—it’s not in the 1998 Chambers I keep at work.

Down
1	PRESCIENCE — R in PE+SCIENCE — the first of the school subject is, along with PT, RE and RI, a crossword standard.
4	UNRESTRAINED — UNREST + “reigned” —
6	HALF-PINT — double definition
8	SHOT — double definition — This was the last to go in as I worried that there might be more than one possibility.
11	MILK-AND-WATER — MILK AND WATER — a term new to me clued very concisely but fairly.
13	INSIDE LEFT — IN SIDE + LEFT — that little used football position again.
15	CARTESIAN — C+ARTESIAN — an excellent clue with, “Well, sort of” used superbly in the surface to hide its role in the word play.
17	GABONESE — ONE in GABS + E — E = east is part of the word play though that didn’t stop me thinking through East Africans first!
20	MILLET — “mill it”

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