Independent 7713 by DAC

by

So after a week off for good behaviour DAC returns with a crossword I found a little harder than usual. Probably just me though.

 

Across

1 LIKE BLAZES Cryptic Double Definition.
6 TOSA O(ver) S(ize) in the T.A.
10 MOWED Homophone of MODE
11 GREYHOUND (young herd)*
12 AUSTERE A + U(nion) + hom of STEER
13 DECLASS DEC(k) + LASS
14 HEAD RESTRAINT HEAD (master) + TRAIN in REST
17 REARRANGEMENT RE + ARRAN + ME in GENT
19 CATTISH TIT* in CASH (ready)
21 BOTTLER Double Defintion
23 WEEKENDER KEN in WEEDER one who weeds
24 OFTEN Alternate letters in lOw FaT mEaNs
25 RASH R(epublican) + ASH
26 UNDERSCORE Fail to score enough goals hence under score
Down    
1 LAMMAS MA(ss) in LAMS (Lamentations)
2 KIWIS W(ell being) + KI (hom KEY) + I’S
3 BUDGET AIRLINES BUDGE + (agreemen)T  + (IN ISRAEL)*
4 ANGLE IRON (NO LAGER IN)*
5 EMEND ME in END – see 9
7 OCULARIST (A CLOUT SIR)*
8 ANDESITE ANDES + ITE (hmm not sure In The East ?)
9 THE CORRECTIONS Cryptic definition, see link and the editing reference in 5
14 HEARTLESS (A SHELTER’S)*
15 SHERBORNE R(iver) in SHE + BORNE
16 PRICE WAR P+ RICE + RAW rev. You’d expect pennies off, not on in a price war
18 CRINGE RING in C.E.
20 HAD ON DO IN HAN. HAN is the largest ethnic group in China
22 LET GO LET (permit) + GO(leave)

 

18 comments on “Independent 7713 by DAC”

  1. Thanks, flashling

    I think 8dn is AND [also] E[astern] SITE [location]

    In 1dn, I think ‘introducing’ means ‘prefacing’: LAM [see Chambers] + MAS[s]

  2. 8d – “Also Eastern location”= AND+E+SITE (Definition is “Rock named after S American region”)

  4. Thanks, Flashling. Nothing too difficult today. Tosa makes a quick return after Dac included it in his 15 June crossword. I remembered because I misspelt it toza. Dac must be a fan of the breed. Andesite is also a word that I have tripped up on in the past when it has just been defined as Rock. Dac kindly hands the definition on a plate today. I was also unaware that Lammas was a harvest festival but the wordplay is very clear.

    Thanks to Dac, I now know the difference between an oculist and an ocularist.
    ?

  6. Thanks, flashling.

    Enjoyable and accessible stuff as always from Dac, thank you. Got a bit stuck in the NW corner for no special reason. I didn’t fall head over heels in love with THE CORRECTIONS, but I did specially like CATTISH and HEAD RESTRAINT.

    Didn’t help myself by putting in ROSE for 6ac (OS in RE, and dog rose … it worked for me).

  9. This was the closest that I have ever got to an unaided weekday Indie solve.

    Failed on
    1d. I think lammas is incredibly obscure and unlike Lenny at 4 I think the wordplay is very hard- never heard of lamentations.
    5d Just couldn’t get it
    8d sorry don’t get “ite”
    13a Don’t think I’ve come across declass before.

  10. Have only just discovered Indy crosswords online – hurrah. Actually found this the easiest of the ones I’ve attempted so far – must be starting to get used to the style.

    Bamberger, Lammas was very well known in agricultural times, as it was one of the main feast days of the year, and a festival in the middle of one of the quarters (rent periods). See

    5d is ME in END (aim)
    8d as others have pointed out, is AND (also) + E[astern] + SITE (location) = a rock/mineral named after the Andes.

    Thanks for the blog, Flashling. I didn’t manage to parse 14a, so appreciate the explanation.

  11. Oops – should have previewed. Hang my head in shame at that dreadful piece of coding….

    ——————————–

    Have only just discovered Indy crosswords online – hurrah. Actually found this the easiest of the ones I’ve attempted so far – must be starting to get used to the style.

    Bamberger, Lammas was very well known in agricultural times, as it was one of the main feast days of the year, and a festival in the middle of one of the quarters (rent periods). See Quarter days (Wikipedia)

    5d is ME in END (aim)
    8d as others have pointed out, is AND (also) + E[astern] + SITE (location) = a rock/mineral named after the Andes.

    Thanks for the blog, Flashling. I didn’t manage to parse 14a, so appreciate the explanation.

  12. Hi Bamburger @9, and apologies. I too get very annoyed when people say the wordplay is clear when it isn’t to me. In solving this clue I went for Mas(s) as short service. This made me think of Christmas, Michaelmas and, the only word that fitted the answer, Lammas. Then, I thought, is there a book of the bible called Lam? Well, yes there is. A couple of years ago I realised that a significant proportion of crossword setters are retired vicars supplementing their CofE pensions. Even though I am a devout atheist, I downloaded a list of books of the bible and their abbreviations (including the Apocrypha) and committed them to memory. So the book of Lamentations came to mind. Sadly, anyone who wants to improve their crossword-solving ability, does have to bone up on cricket and the bible.

    The definition, harvest festival, was just a guess, but, as a heathen, the pagan harvest festival of Lughnasa may have been at the back of my mind. Many people know the term from Brian Friel’s play Dancing at Lughnasa. That’s the sort of sideways method that many people use to solve difficult crossword clues.

  13. Thanks Lenny. I’m ok on cricket but religion and Shakespeare I have little knowledge of. I liked your comment “A couple of years ago I realised that a significant proportion of crossword setters are retired vicars supplementing their CofE pensions”.

  14. LAMMAS is a word I learned from crosswords, lenny, but you’re right – cricket and the bible are two key areas of knowledge for the cryptic solver. And talking of christians nicking pagan festivals for their own ends, it’s only 171 days till Christmas.

  15. well thanks all, thomas99 and lenny you should join us bloggers, you’re better than me. Bamb you’re getting there keep going. you’ll get there now.

  16. I found this Dac a little harder than usual but it all came out fine in the end, as always with Dac. Thanks Flashling for the blog. I liked 9d, and re Richard@8, is the wordplay really a problem here? Made me smile when I finally got it. Glad that Bamberger is making progress. Onward and upward.

  17. According to Brewer, LAMMAS, 1st August, is a Scottish quarter day and a half-quarter day in England. Derived, says Brewer, from Old English “hlafmesse”, the loaf-mass. Presumably celebrating loaves made with the first grain from the year’s crop.

  18. Thanks, flashling, and Dac. I found this quite a bit harder than some Dac puzzles but got there in the end. LAMMAS I’d heard before but I struggled a bit in the SE quarter.

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