Independent 7227 by Hypnos

by

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism

Reasonably challenging in parts with a good mixture of clue types. The clues were mostly solid rather than inspiring, although there were a few neat ones (especially 21 and 19).
 

Across
1 Perusal: (Pleasur[e])*.
5 Cypress: Hom of Cyprus.
9 Tudor: D[e]tour*.
10 Appetiser: Pet in praise*.
11 Good Will Hunting: CD referring to Will Shakespeare.
12 No doubt: CD (Doubting Thomas).
14 Placebo: Lace in Pb + o[rder].
16 Ariadne: Aria + end<.
19 Stewart: Steward with D replaced by t. CD referring to motor racer Jackie Stewart.
21 Somerset Maugham: (Rummest home saga)*.
23 Torpidity: I’d in pit in tory.
24 Trent: T[or]rent.
25 Delight: CD (de-light).
26 Drapery: (Rep in yard)<.
Down
1 Patagonia: A tag in Po + (in a)*.
2 Redford: Hom of read + Ford. Referring to Robert Redford and the director John Ford.
3 Shrew: She (novel by H Rider Haggard) around r (royal) + w (wife).
4 Leaflet: LEA (Local Education Authority) + (felt)*.
5 Cop Shop: CD.
6 Potentate: Note* in pt + ate.
7 En suite: (Itunes + e)* (echo = e in phonetic alphabet).
8 Shrug: Sh + ru[n]g.
13 Underling: Un + der + l in [ba]g.
15 Optometry: CD.
17 Immoral: MM (two marrieds) + OR + a (are = unit of measurement) in il.
18 Elegist: Leg (=on in cricket) + Is in ET.
19 Samoyed: Someday*.
20 Achieve: A c + hive around [gam]e.
21 Sited: S + diet*.
22 Ultra: Hidden in awful traditions.

7 comments on “Independent 7227 by Hypnos”

  1. In 4dn LEA is more probably Local Education Authority.

    I failed on 19ac, missed the definition completely.

  3. Got a lot of pleasure from finishing this one, although it took me ages to get started. A few that I didn’t understand the wordplay on, so thanks to Neal for the explanations. NO DOUBT was indeed clever, and I liked the Shakespeare clue as well.

  4. Thanks for the post, NealH. I really enjoyed this one – I thought it had that nice balance where one could guess the answers fairly easily but the wordplay was quite tough to work out. (At least there were a few clues where common crossword indicators were used in slightly surprising ways, e.g. LACE = “Doctor” (rather than MO, MB, DR), BAR = “rung” (rather than INN, PUB, LOCAL), etc.)

    In 17d, I wondered where IL is used for “Italian”?

  5. In 17d I think it’s more that IL is “the Italian”, i.e. the Italian definite article.

    Was pleasantly surprised to get through this relatively swiftly – I usually struggle quite shamefully with Hypnos puzzles.

  6. Finished this with a little help from Chambers etc but happy with my achievement.17d I got with letters I had but what was immoral definition?

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