Independent 6,780/Dac

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Fairly easy today, I thought. No major stumbling blocks, but some very nice clues as always from Dac.

Across
1 SOAP DISH – ‘One with role of bar keeper’ is a nice definition
5 TEASER – EASTER with ‘time give priority’
10 OLD – OLD[-ham]
11 WEIGHTINESS – EIGHT in WINE,SS
12 PEDAGOGUE – PE,D,”AGOG”
14 GAGARIN – GAGA,R[-ussian],IN – Yuri was of course the first human in space
18 WALLAH – WALL,A,H – Needed to check this one in the dictionary. The ‘someone’ defnition seems a little vague, but so is the meaning of the word, so fair enough!
20 RONDEAU – (OUR DEAN)*
23 ODEON – O + E in DON
24 TRAINABLE – (LEARN A BIT)*
26 UNEMOTIONAL – (MEAN LION OUT)*
28 SEDANS – s[-ecur]E,DANS – ‘People carriers of old’ is another nice definition
 
Down
1 STOPPAGE – Double definition
2 AIDED – HIdden rev. in cruDE DIAgram
3 DOWAGER – DO,WAGER!
4 STING IN THE TAIL – That’s the second time Mr. Sumner has appeared in a recent puzzle
6 EMITTER – MITT in EER
7 STEP ASIDE – (AS IT’S DEEP)*
9 THE ENTERTAINER – John Osborne’s play and the tune which most people know from The Sting
15 GRAVESEND – GRAVE’S END – I guess the strict Ximeneans would argue with the capital letter on ‘Town’, but I’ve got no complaints
19 LINCOLN – Abraham, who’s not quite ABED at 27A
21 NONPLUS – NO + PL in SUN rev.
22 ROGUES – (GROUSE)*
25 BRASH – BRAS,[-pus]H

8 comments on “Independent 6,780/Dac”

  1. Yes, good puzzle. Two very minor points – I thought in 4 down that IN THE TAIL was a homophone ‘in the tale (romance)’ (with role in).
    In GRAVESEND thought it was the dregs of the wine Graves so Graves’ end.

  2. Yep, I’d say you’re correct on both points, Niall. I did actually wonder about how 15D worked as GRAVE’S END, but clearly got too caught up with the capital letter! GRAVES’ END is much better.

  3. I forgot my pen this morning, so had the interesting intellectual challenge of doing this in my head on the tube. Fellow passengers might think I was stumped, staring blankly at the grid, but I got there in the end! Liked SOAP DISH and GRAVESEND.

  4. I think the next challenge for Mick is to solve the puzzle in his head without a pen and without the paper

  5. GRAVESEND

    Ali I don’t think the strict Ximeneans would actually complain about ‘Town’ rather than ‘town, in the clue for 15dn, assuming that Azed has taken on the Ximenean mantle and that his pronouncements tell us what is allowed and what isn’t. He says (I think) that he can accept (just) a capital that has been inserted to help the surface, but can’t accept the lack of a capital when grammar dictates that there should be one. Thus you can’t refer to that place north of Camden Town as kentish town.

  6. Any idea about 29ac? It’s omitted from the original post.

    “Maybe a general term for money that’s not initially supplied”.

    We have:

    _R_S_ H_T

    I’m thinking ‘brass’ for money, but stumped beyond that.

  7. Not got the puzzle now, Simon – but I think it’s BRASS HAT – definition “maybe a general” BRASS (as you suggest) (t)HAT.

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