Independent 7881 by Dac

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It’s a Dac, so it’s what you expect, just a fine puzzle as per usual.

My learned colleagues have been under the impression that Dac appears every Wednesday, but actually he gets a week off for good behaviour once a month when Crosophile does locum duties. Anyway, on with the show, a couple of long anagrams in the middle downs that nicely fit the surface/answer I thought.

Across:

1 Disagreement E in [TEN ARMED GI’s]*
10 Heist HE + IS +T
11 Sailor-man [IS A NORMAL]*
12 Medical (Spotted) DIC(k) in MEAL
13 Athlete LET in A + THE
14 (Count) Basie Alternate letters in BeAtS tImE
16 Fieldfare A type of Thrush and CDD
18 Taoiseach TAOIS(m) + EACH. I always misspell this at first.
19 Steam Hidden in vigorouS TEAMwork
21 Created C + E in TRADE*
23 Amorist A + (0 + R) in MIST
25 Editorial TIDE rev + 1 in ORAL
26 Flame L in FAME
27 Deliberation Parisian playing a bit of double duty DE (of fr.) + LIBERATION
Down:    
2 Iliad I(nd) + DAIL(y) rev
3 Attackers A(re) T(argeting) T(ourists) + ACKERS (money)
4 Risk life and limb [BIKER LADS IN FILM]*
5 Elizabeth Taylor [A BIT LAZY THE ROLE]*
6 Epoch H + COPE all rev.
7 Temperate TEMP + (b)ERATE(d)
8 The mob THEM + O + B
9 Annexe EX in ANNE
15 Shore bird R in SHOE + BIRD (prison sentence)
17 Discomfit M(ale) in DISCO + FIT
18 Ticker (s)TICKER
20 Mither M.I.T. + HER
22 Troll T(enor) + hom of ROLE
24 Idaho I(nternational) + D.A. + HO(use)

 

10 comments on “Independent 7881 by Dac”

  1. An earlier start than usual and over and done with fairly quickly. You must have breathed a sigh of relief flashling after your recent blogs! Can’t believe we are the first ones to comment!
    The clues read well with a few new words thrown in for good measure. We had to complete it online which always seems to make reviewing more difficult.
    Thanks Dac and flashling.

  2. Thanks Dac for an enjoyable puzzle and flashling for the blog.

    12ac: I read this as DIC[e] in MEAL, but DIC[k] is just as good.

    12ac/2dn/18ac: We have “briefly” three times to indicate removal of the last letter. Repeating this device is in itself not ideal, and I also wonder whether it is really appropriate for keeping five letters out of six, as in 18ac.

  3. Bertandjoyce, see post 166 on the General Discussion page for a nicer way to do the Indy online.

    There’s never much to say about a Dac, they are just consistently good.

  4. Thanks flashling. Another lovely puzzle from Dac which went in steadily and enjoyably. Just got a bit stuck on AMORIST and the parsing of ATTACKERS (never heard of the ACKERS bit). Liked MITHER too – it’s a word I don’t think I’d heard till I came to Derbyshire, although I doubt it’s just from round here. I too was in the spotted dic[k] camp – possibly because the surface reading was about a meal.

  5. Thanks flashling and Dac. Good fun. Anyone able to explain 23a, AMORIST, a bit more? I put in the answer but couldn’t see what the definition was. Is it a kind of &lit, a play on Dac (reversed), or is the setter boasting/confessing . . . ?

  7. Thanks Sidey.
    We completed the puzle using.a crossword app on our ipad which restricts the software you can normally use when completing it on line. Give me a dead tree version anyday!

  8. MikeC I’d put 23a as at least semi &lit as just someone who writes/appreciates stories about love.

    Re dick or dice I felt the food connotations led to spotted dick and the medical bit too (don’t really want to go there over dinner!)

  9. Got the upper half out, less successful with the lower half.
    Missed the hidden word at 19a -my excuse that the print version with clues underneath is
    Energy essential to vigorous
    team work, whereas the paper version was “vigorous team” -obviously much much harder when on different lines!
    Thought a troll was a little malicious creature and hadn’t come across the singing.

  10. Thanks flashling and nmsindy, re 23a. I had the word play. What I’m getting from your postings is that “me” is someone who enjoys “a film about love” – which makes sense.

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