Independent 7514 by Mordred

by

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

Enjoyable puzzle by Mordred of middling difficulty. It was probably a better puzzle for more experienced solvers because it had a few old staples like iambi for feet and Eli for priest. There were a couple I wasn’t quite sure about.
 

Across
1 Guardian Angel: Guardian (=watchdog) + spirit.
10 Unarm: Una + RM (Royal Marines).
11 Misshapen: Miss + hap[p]en.
12 Hiroshima: Don’t entirely see this one – seems to be Hi + Rosa around HIM, but not sure where Rosa comes in.
13 Where: We around her.
14 Enduing: Ending around U.
16 Matisse: M[irror] + ate around [m]iss.
18 Effendi: Effie* around nd.
20 Shafted: Shaft + ed.
22 Relic: RC around Eli.
24 Sebastian: &lit. (A saint)* after last letters of “arrows the club”.
26 Paintings: T[atum] + gin* in pains.
27 Email: Hidden, rev in “URL I am expecting”.
28 Time Signature: (Suiting a metre)*.
Down
2 Unaired: (Rain due)*.
3 Remission: Remiss + [l]ion.
4 Iambi: A MB in 11 (legs eleven in bingo).
5 Nystagmus: (Nasty gums)* – apparently an involuntary movement of the eyeball.
6 Nohow: Ho in now.
7 Express: Ex + press.
8 Bush Telegraph: Bus + (great help)*.
9 Independently: I is short for Independent, so I expanded = Independent + even letters of play.
15 Glissandi: &lit – (as sliding)*.
17 Transient: T + trannies*.
19 Fellini: &lit. Fell in I.
21 Thin air: Thin(=fine) + air(=bearing).
23 Cutie: Cut + i.e.
25 Bosun: Seems to be un after bos, but I don’t know why bos =men.

14 comments on “Independent 7514 by Mordred”

  1. Thanks NealH for the blog, and Mordred for a challenging puzzle.

    12A HIROSHIMA, I think ROSA comes from the linkage to a “she” in 11A. Perhaps not the most satisfying use of the ellipses, unless there’s something more.

    25A BOSUN, I think BO is a male name, and therefore BO’S = “men”

    Favourites were 8D BUSH TELEGRAPH, 9D INDEPENDENTLY, with “I” = INDEPENDENT instead of the usual vice versa, and 19D FELLINI, a nice surface reading.

    What made it challenging was some of the uncommon equivalents used, eg. “perhaps” = HAPpEN (as in “it may happen”?), “gain confidence” = UNARM (where the “of” after “confidence” is missing?), “tasty one” = CUTIE.

    Thanks for explaining 24A SEBASTIAN. This was a great &lit since S.Sebastian was first shot with arrows and then finished off with a club. Hence I didn’t connect “finishes” to the wordplay for SEB.

    How is 28A TIME SIGNATURE defined by “This”. There doesn’t seem to be a hint of an &lit.

  3. Thanks for the blog, Neal, and Mordred for a very entertaining puzzle.

    In 8dn, you need another H [from ‘a bit of hearsay’].

    Re 25dn, Chambers gives ‘bo: a familiar term of address for a man’.

    Favourite clue: SEBASTIAN – superb &lit.

  4. Challenging is the word, scchua! I did finish it, but it was just about at the limit of my solving ability. It was a good puzzle with some clever clues; what made it hard for me was that I couldn’t see either BUSH TELEGRAPH or GUARDIAN ANGEL until the very end, so depriving me of some nice juicy starting letters. Elsewhere the vocabulary was unfamiliar and the clueing devious – so I was pleased to get there in the end. I liked in particular TIME SIGNATURE and SHAFTED.

    Thanks for blogging, Neal, and to Mordred for a stiff challenge.

    To stray slightly off-topic, hope the post-op recovery is proceeding well, Mordred.

    Oh, and since you mention yesterday afternoon, Yesyesyesyesyesssssss (at least I think that’s how you spell it).

  5. Nobody seems to have mentioned it yet, but there are 8 daily newspapers in here (if you count FT), and one in the clues. Any significance?

  6. I wonder if the the likes of the Mail and the Mirror will complain about the free advertising given to the Guardian, Independent, Telegraph, Express, Times and Sun when they haven’t been included?

  7. Hi IanN14
    Thanks for noticing one more than I did (I didn’t count the FT). My comment #6 only applies to the Mirror then.

  9. Thanks for good wishes, KD. Hip going well, but head’s a bit muzzy still, possibly because I’m suffering withdrawal symptoms from morphine-based pain relief which I had been taking for months.

    Re STAR, I thought I had to draw the line somewhere on what I called a newspaper, otherwise I might have had to include SPORT.

  11. V enjoyable puzzle, which I found a little easier than some Mordred Indy puzzles, seeing the third newspaper around the perimeter gave me the theme and sped solving up at the end. Thanks for the blog, NealH, and Mordred for the puzzle, good to hear the hip’s going well.

  12. Now the theme’s been pointed out, it’s an even better puzzle.

    I hope Gaufrid won’t mind me mentioning it on this thread, but I bought the new Independent i (the 20p paper) today after enjoying it a few times since its launch, and Ed-in-Chief has announced that due to popular demand from the ‘crossword community’ there’s going to be a cryptic every Friday. A toughie, with a prize, apparently. Other days there will be the usual ‘five-clue cryptic’, which is an interesting (if slightly bizarre) concept if you’ve not come across it yet.

  13. Gah what a day, didn’t start this ’til late. Found this tough in places initially, until the themed answers around the perimeter became obvious but didn’t see the others peppered around the grid,very lax of me. Couldn’t see the wordplay for remission for some reason so ended up putting it in last as a dubious answer. Lots of great clues thanks Mordred some outstanding &lits & semis and cheers Neal for explaining remission.

    @K’s D what’s there to crow about? Even Liverpool can beat them these days! 🙂

  14. Re K’s D #12 Gaufrid are you going to add a section for i-Friday ala quiptic? Not that I can get the “i” down here yet, will it be on line Eimi?

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