Independent 6,821/Virgilius – Numbers game

This was a belter of a puzzle, with every clue containing the word ‘number’. The fact that this word can be interepreted in, ahem, a number of different ways (quantity, music, anaesthetic, etc.), coupled with the fact that this is the first day after a long weekend (drinking, lack of sleep, etc.), made for a pretty tough solve for me. Some grey areas along the way, but very entertaining, very clever stuff from Virgilius. 23D is as good a clue as you’ll see anywhere.

Across
1	HIT LIST – Nice DD. ‘Numbers’ in the musical sense here
5	AT ODDS – AT,ODDS
9	SHEAF – Hidden in numberS HE AFterwards
10	TWENTY SIX – 26 being the numbers of letters in the alphabet, and also 2 x a baker’s dozen, but not sure how that relates to ’11 minimally’
11	BAKERS DOZEN – 13 being ‘unlucky’ (for some!)
15	TWENTIES – WENT in TIES
16	STRAIN – R in STAIN
20	RIGADOON – RIGA,DO,ON
22	ANAESTHETIST – (IN THE STATE AS)* – One who numbs patients!
26	EXISTENCE – SIX rev. + TEN in E,CE
28	MELODY – DOLE rev. in MY
25	STEVENS – I checked this online and it is right. I’m assuming it’s T in SEVENS and refers to ‘even stevens’

Down
2	TRES – 3 in Spanish, ‘very’ in French (and English if you like)
3	INFRACTIONS – IN,FRACTIONS
4	TETHERED – This feel like it should be THREE in TED, but isn’t, so I’m a bit puzzled
5	AVERSE – A,VERSE
6	TWO – OWT rev.
7	DESPERADOS – (SPEARED)* in DOS
8	AXIS – A,SIX rev.
12	ON THAT SCORE – (NOT)*,HAT,SCORE
13	OTTO – 8 in Italian, male name to Germans
17	NINE – Not sure on this one. Does it relate to 10A?
18	FIFTEENS – F in (SEEN FIT)*
22	AXES – A,SEX rev.
23	FIVE – F,IV,E – An outstanding clue. Has it been done before? Probably, yes, but I don’t think I’ve seen it
24	XMAS – Had to check this online too, and presume it’s X,MAS, but unsure on the MAS part
26	TWO – As represented by the ii in Pompeii. Very nice indeed

10 comments on “Independent 6,821/Virgilius – Numbers game”

Great puzzle – I think the minimally is 2 13s i.e, 26 i.e. the fewest possible. X M AS (coin in Rome), I think NINE last two letters IX of 10 ac. You’re right about ‘even steven’