Independent Saturday Prize Puzzle 8518 – Monk – 1st Feb 2014

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This was an enjoyable solve – thanks Monk! As usual, there were some lovely surfaces and a few tricky ones to parse including 17ac, if we have sorted it out correctly.

Strangely, there were three clues which contained the letters TRAIN.

By the way, a friend of ours was asked by someone at the local refugee forum how the ’99’ ice-cream got its name. She had no idea. When it appeared in one of the clues we had a look – if you want to know more, click HERE.

At first we thought that there might be a mini-theme here, where all four three-letter solutions ‘regularly use a letter’ as in 16ac – ie they include double letters – however, we later realised that all the solutions include repeated letters!

Across
1   Discussed increasingly assured fate?
KARMA This seems to be a homonym (‘discussed’) of CALMER (increasingly assured) – but it needs a certain accent to make it work!
4   Pompous bimbo cast out
BOMBASTIC An anagram of BIMBO CAST – anagrind is ‘out’
9   Half manage to return to satisfy notice
OBSERVE We think that this is: BOss (manage) half omitted and reversed or ‘returned’ + SERVE (satisfy)
10   Hold back, missing second coach yet again. Thanks gwep!
RETRAIN REsTRAIN (hold back) with S (second) omitted or ‘missing’
11   State of gloom reflected by guard’s pessimism
DOOMWATCH MOOD (state of gloom) reversed or ‘reflected’+ WATCH (guard)
13   For whom poncy niceties are too much?
CYNIC A cryptic definition – hidden in ponCY NICeties – poncy niceties would be too much for a cynic
14   Whipping fetish?
KLEPTOMANIA A play on the use of the verb ‘whip’ to mean ‘steal’, as opposed to ‘lash’
16   Regularly reuses a letter
ESS Alternate, or ‘regular’ letters of rEuSeS.
18   Criminal lacking restraint is a bounder
ROO cROOk (criminal) without the first and last letters, or ‘lacking restraint’
20   Gaelic harp played around round islands
ARCHIPELAGO An anagram of GAELIC HARP + O (around round) – anagrind is ‘played around’ ‘played. Thanks gwep and Pelham Barton!
22   In seconds, somebody or other horribly insulted a dramatist
ORTON Second letters of sOmebody oR oTher hOrribly iNsulted
23   About to be set in adhesive resin that’s fast and powerful
PREVALENT RE (about) in PVA (adhesive resin) + LENT (fast)
25   Greek character’s skilful in dramatic scene
TABLEAU TAU (Greek character) with ABLE (skilful) inside
26   Instrument of essentially Draconian lunatic
OCARINA An anagram of the middle or ‘essential’ letters of dRACONIAn – anagrind is ‘lunatic’
27   It could have stock markets decentralised in order to cut interest
FARMSTEAD An anagram of MARkETS without the central letter, or ‘decentralised’ (anagrind is ‘in order’) in or ‘cutting’ FAD (interest)
28   Fabric made by sentimental daughter
TWEED TWEE (sentimental) + D (daughter)
Down
1   Factory ship linked with uninitiated work at sea
KLONDIKER An anagram of LINKED and wORK (without the first letter, or ‘uninitiated’) – anagrind is ‘at sea’. This was one we had to check, as we’d never come across such a vessel before.
2   At last, dinner is served with fish dish
RISSOLE R (last letter of dinner) + IS + SOLE (fish)
3   Take top off thin projectile
ARROW nARROW (thin) with the first letter or ‘top’ taken off
4   Worker’s brief complaint
BEE BEEf (complaint) without the last letter, or ‘brief’
5   Trade of old worker is stopping textile dealer right away
MERCHANDISE HAND (worker) IS in, or ‘stopping’ MERCEr (textile dealer) without the final R (right)
6   In which you’d get boiling hot car left in hollow
AUTOCLAVE AUTO (car) + L (left) in CAVE (hollow)
7   Novice railway passenger?
TRAINEE If someone in one’s employ can be described as an ‘employee’, then (perhaps!) someone in a train might possibly be described as a ‘trainee’ – we’re not quite sure about this explanation!
8   A 99 is thus served up by some cappuccino coffee. Thanks to gwep again!
CONIC Hidden and reversed in cappucCINO Coffee – again we’re not really sure that because a 99 is in an ice cream cone it can be described as being served ‘conically’
12   Back issue on cryptic clues containing a page that’s for later perusal
TIME CAPSULE EMIT (issue) reversed or ‘backed’ + an anagram of CLUES (anagrind is ‘cryptic’) round A P (page)
15   Reduce exercise having lost one’s following
TRAINLESS TRAIN LESS (reduce exercise) – the third answer containing ‘train’ – somewhat unusual – is there more to it?
17   Sid possibly suggests this writing style
SHORTHAND If one accepts that ‘side’ can be synonymous with ‘hand’ (as in left or right), then SHORT HAND could be ‘Sid’
19   A few weeks to remain after firm turned sour at the end
OCTOBER TO BE (remain) after CO (firm) reversed or ‘turned’ + R (last letter or ‘end’ of sour)
21   Dutch beer served before fish
ALEWIFE WIFE (Dutch) with ALE (beer) before
22   Excluded from possible introduction to date?
OUT OF OUT OF could precede, or be an ‘introduction to’ ‘date’ – but it could also precede ‘time’, ‘money’, ‘respect’.………
24   Area linked to massive “stop” signal?
AVAST A (area) + VAST (massive)
26   Strange sordid characters that are self-contradictory?
ODD Alternate letters or characters of sOrDiD – but they are the even letters, and therefore ‘self-contradictory’

 

8 comments on “Independent Saturday Prize Puzzle 8518 – Monk – 1st Feb 2014”

  1. Thank you to setter & bloggers,

    I’d never heard of 1d, and 8 was also unfamiliar. Thanks for your explanation of 17 which sounds correct to me. I liked 14 with this sense of the term “whipping” I went through lots of possibilities for 6 before chancing on the answer – my LOI.

    I don’t know what LIRE & EURO are doing across the second row. Probably lots of obvious references in other clues or answers but they’ve eluded me.

  2. Thanks to Bertandjoyce for parsing FARMSTEAD, SHORTHAND and CONIC, which I filled in from the letters available whilst scratching my head.

    Suggestions: 10A think it is “coach yet again” that should be underlined. 20A I think the anagrind is simply “played” and the clue (GAELIC HARP)* + O (“a round”). 8D Had never heard of a 99, but could see the hidden reversal fitted. In that case I think “A 99 is thus” should be underlined (whimsical definition0.

    Much thanks to Monk and Bertandjoyce, also to @1WordPlodder for seeing LIRE & EURO, perhaps others can see if there is some further meaning.

  3. Thanks WordPlodder and gwep. The blog was a joint effort – Bert wrote it up so apologises for missing out the O in 20A and Joyce apologises for the incorrect underlining!

    We’ve put everything right we hope!

    We also noticed LIRE and EURO but couldn’t see anything else happening but when we were looking we noticed the double letters.

  4. Thanks Monk for an anjoyable puzzle and B&J for the blog.

    20ac: The version I downloaded from Crossword Solver this morning just says “round” not “around”.

  6. An enjoyable puzzle from Monk that was tough but fair.

    I would have struggle with some of the answers without the help of the wordplay; KLONDIKER, AUTOCLAVE, MERCHANDISE, DOOMWATCH and PREVALENT all fall into this category.

    Until I solved 11ac I was wondering if there was such a fish as an “otto” for 2dn, but I didn’t think there was so I hadn’t entered it.

    FARMSTEAD was my LOI.

  7. Thanks to all for positive comments, and particularly to Bertandjoyce for the marvellous polychromatic blog that is a work of art in itself. Just popped by to be more specific about the correctly spotted Nina: the comment “all the solutions include repeated letters” might more accurately say “all the solutions include only one letter that is repeated”. Even though it’s easy to filter this sort of construction using Tea, a lot of test fills had to be rejected as a result of far more obscure entries than the worst ones here; in the end, I settled on KLONDIKER as the only truly forced entry. And this is the first I’ve heard about LIRE and EURO!

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