Independent 8192 / Dac

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We took a while to get started on this one and also a while to finish it! Thankfully there were a few easy clues like 11/13 which at least gave us some crossing letters!

It was an enjoyable solve though. We thought that all of the clues were clear although we did have to check a few references. We’d never heard of the US term in 5d or the alternative meaning of 9ac.  There were some devilish misdirections, 24ac was one of them!

 

Across
1   Prang in rear car park
BUMP BUM (rear) + P (car park)
3   After ages, here’s new publicity for horror movie
ERASERHEAD ERAS (ages) + anagram of HERE (anagrind is ‘new’) + AD (publicity)
9   Instrument made of clay
LUTE Double definition – LUTE (instrument) and also LUTE (clay)
10   After school term I’m putting away uniform collection
COMPENDIUM COMP (short form of Comprehensive or school) + END (term) + I’M around or ‘putting away’ U (uniform)
11/13   Books for vacation in grey Idaho, travelling about with lad
HOLIDAY READING Anagram of GREY IDAHO + LAD (anagrind is ‘travelling’)
14   Small person is lame, following leg getting crushed
HALF-PINT HALT (lame) around or ‘crushing’ F (following) + PIN (leg)
16   Maybe Kelvin MacKenzie formerly expressed vitriol?
RAGED Kelvin MacKenzie was editor of the Sun so was a RAG ED(itor)
17   Cross Sierra: steer to avoid odd parts
IRATE Odd letters of sIeRrA sTeEr
19   Supposed you get paid to check American’s CV
PRESUMED PD (paid) around or ‘checking’ RESUME (American’s CV) Thanks to Ian SW3 for putting us right!
22/23   Substantial character writer’s introduced to North and South, a 19th –century classic
FATHERS AND SONS FAT (substantial) + HERO (character) around or ‘introducing’ SANDS (writer as in Lynsay Sands), or maybe SAND’S(writer George Sand) + N (North) + S (South). The classic references refers to this novel by Ivan Turgenev which Bert vaguely remembered.
24   News reveals four terrible deeds, first being censored
DIRECTIONS DIRE (terrible) + aCTIONS (deeds) with first letter removed or ‘censored’. The fact that news reveals four refers to North, East, West and South.
25   See reserve as something antisocial
VICE V (see as in Latin) + ICE (reserve)
26   Noddy Holder performing in Slade, also Jagger? Not half
LEAD SINGER Anagram of IN SLADE (anagrind is ‘preforming’) + GER (half of JagGER)
27   Stay on Welsh island
WAIT W (Welsh) + AIT (island)
Down
1   Uppity loafer, extremely haughty and stroppy
BOLSHY SLOB (loafer) written up or ‘uppity’ + HY (first and last letter of HaughtY or ‘extremely’)
2   Woman has admitted guilt finally in communication to lawyer
MATILDA T (last letter of guilT or ‘finally’) inside or ‘in’ MAIL (communication) + DA (lawyer)
4   Spacious parts of grassy moorland to the north
ROOMY Hidden backwards or ‘to the north’ as it is a down clue in grassY MOORland
5   Drink abstainer gets in before closure of the store
SUPERETTE SUP (drink) + TT (abstainer) around or ‘gets in’  ERE (before) + E (last letter or ‘closure’ of thE). Thanks flashing for pointing out the error of our ways!
6   What stadium’s manager does: hits a problem, being at sea
RUNS AGROUND A stadium manager RUNS A GROUND
7   Going out – it’s hot, not cold
EXITING EXcITING (hot) without C (cold)
8   Barrier, old and in poor condition
DAMAGED DAM (barrier) + AGED (old)
12   Disputes involving top cop and criminals: upstanding judge intervenes
DIFFERENCES DI (top cop as in Detective Inspector) + FENCES (criminals) with REF (judge) reversed or ‘upstanding’ inside or ‘intervening’
15   Fire one politician when endless rumour circulates
IMPASSION I (one) + MP (politician) + AS (when) + NOISe (rumour) reversed or ‘circulating’ and with last letter removed or ‘endless’
17   Elected Cuban leader, a non-believer
INFIDEL IN (elected) + FIDEL (the Cuban leader Fidel Castro)
18   A riot’s breaking out close to aneighbourhood in New York
ASTORIA Anagram of A RIOT’S (anagrind is ‘breaking out’) + A
20   A chapter I ripped up in pornographic collection
EROTICA A + C (chapter) + I + TORE (ripped) all reversed or ‘up’
21   Look at frames for growing mushrooms
ASPECT AT around or ‘framing’ CEPS (mushrooms) written up or ‘growing’
23   Schwarzenegger wants sandwiches without crusts
ARNIE aARNIEs (sandwiches without initial and last letter or ‘crusts’)

 

11 comments on “Independent 8192 / Dac”

  1. Thanks B&J. Wednesday Dacs are always a treat, but he had me beat with SUPERETTE here – just couldn’t see it and had never heard of it. I’m also not mad keen on clues like MATILDA – which woman’s name of several hundred would you like me to have a guess at?

    But EROTICA was clever and I liked RUN AGROUND too. And at least Dac managed to get Noddy Holder into a clue without going anywhere near a KIPPER TIE.

    I think the setter should listen out for the heavy knock on the door from the Sun’s lawyers as well. But I guess some rag has to cater for 7.3 million folk with an average reading age of eleven …

  3. Thanks to Dac, Bert and Joyce.

    Your solution and parsing of 19a have got inverted — it’s paid (pd) surrounding resume, not presumed minus pd.

  6. 25 across s simpler than that: See reserve as something antisocial
    A vice chairperson is a reserve chairperson and vice is something antisocial.

  8. Thanks Dac and B&J. VICE was my last in. I parsed it like John@6 but I prefer B&J’s version – I think Dac would not use “See” if it was not needed (as it isn’t, strictly, in my/John’s version).

    “growing” as an inversion/reversal indicator in 21d is exceptionally devious – but there were several neat devices in this puzzle.

  9. That’s not me at 6. I was silly to take that name for my blogs, since there are so many Johns.

    As always good from Dac, but I was surprised that he didn’t have a ‘for example’ after ‘Noddy Holder’. He’s normally so precise in these matters.

  10. Noddy Holder performing in Slade, also Jagger? Not half (4,6)

    Dac travels in new lands there, methnks Wil, though since Holder was (and possibly still is) ‘(the lead singer) in Slade’, and since Jagger, if only half of him, is the lead singer of The Rolling Stones, the risk is a calculated one.

    A lovely puzzle, as usual, from one of the masters.

  11. Busy day, yesterday, so only completed this this morning. Nothing too taxing, though – just a nice warm-up before tackling today’s Rorschach.

    I parsed 3ac slightly differently: I took “era” for “ages” since an era can be a very long time, then the anagram was of “here’s” rather than “here”.

    Thanks, Dac and B&J

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