Independent 6796 by Merlin

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed

An anagram-heavy puzzle from Merlin with some good long anagrams and a couple of excellent &literals. There were a couple (17 across and 19 down) I didn’t completely follow.

Across
8	Romanic: Or< + manic.
10	Ophidia: o phi aid<.
11	Square leg umpire: (I’m super)* around (qua[r]rel) + eg. Superb &literal without the “run out” wordplay fitting seamlessly into the clue.
12	Tossing the caber: (hearten big Scots)*.
13	End user: ensured*.
15	Rostrum: or< + strum.
17	Underhandedness: I found this a little odd. There appear to be a couple of cryptic definitions (short-staffed and differences between left and right hands), but neither actually conveyes the proper meaning of the word.
20	In apple-pie order: (pale pipe)*.
21	Osmotic: OS + MOT + i c.
22	Tetanus: tautens*.
Down
1	Cross the rubicon: (corrections Bush)*.
2	Amours: A[r]mours + &lit.
3	Entrails: latrines*.
4	Longshore drift: (Lord of the Rings)*. Quite surprising to find there is a perfect anagram for that.
5	Thymic: thy + mic[e].
6	Ad libber: a dibber around l.
7	Careers mistress: cryptic def (charges = pupils).
9	Call girl agency: brilliant cryptic def.
14	Dad’s army: Dad + s[t]ar + my.
16	Sidmouth: Cryptic. You have to be old enough to remember the “if you see Sid, tell him” campaigns for gas privatisation.
18	Repute: Ree[d] around put.
19	Ending: Didn’t really get this – “Feature of big swing song providing finale”. I assume “providing finale” = ending, but not sure about the rest.

5 comments on “Independent 6796 by Merlin”

Andrew

#1 - Mon 28th Jul 08, 13:31

19dn – “big”, “swing” and “song” all END IN G…

nmsindy

#2 - Mon 28th Jul 08, 14:50

UNDERHANDEDNESS I think dicts give it in the sense of short-staffed. I wondered was the other part a play on the ‘dishonest’ meaning, but was not quite sure. And, as you say, some excellent clues here.