Independent 8575 / Dac

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It’s always a pleasure to blog a puzzle by Dac. The most difficult part however, is knowing what to say in the preamble!

Perhaps we’ll just leave it at that apart from adding that if there are any errors, Joyce sincerely apologises and will correct them when she returns at lunchtime after her National Trust gardening duties!

Across
1   Criticise an old lady’s hat
PANAMA PAN (criticise) + A MA (an old lady)
4   A great may wearing attractive, small garments
CULOTTES LOT (great many) inside or ‘wearing’ CUTE (attractive) + S (small)
9   Tree, one screened by rambling rose
OSIER I (one) inside or ‘screened by’ an anagram of ROSE (anagrind is ‘rambling’)
10   Listened to True Blue record
WRITE DOWN Sounds like RIGHT (true) + DOWN (blue)
11   Basically I head away from here after losing capital
IN ESSENCE I + NESS (head) + hENCE (away from here) losing first letter or ‘capital’
12   Experimental film maker’s passion
ANGER Double definition. We’d never heard of the film maker but if you want to know more click about him click HERE. Once we had the crossing letters it was an easy guess.
13   Infer second portion of food includes a form of egg?
EXTRAPOLATE EXTRA PLATE (second portion of food) around O (egg)
17   Find allotment’s been taken over by someone else, and become confused
LOSE THE PLOT A play on the fact that if your allotment was taken over by someone else you would LOSE THE PLOT
20   Poet making mark briefly, attending top-class university
AUDEN DENt (mark) with last letter removed or ‘briefly’) after or ‘attending’ A (top-class) + U (university)
22   Monitoring old boy working behind bar?
OBSERVING OB (old boy) + SERVING (working behind the bar perhaps)
23   Primates nibble fruit on the outside
GREAT APES EAT (nibble) with GRAPES (fruit) around the outside
24   TV pioneer making broadcast in Bangladesh
BAIRD AIR (broadcast) inside BD (Bangladesh)
25   Display of information set out in Chapter 1
PIE CHART An anagram of CHAPTER I (anarind is ‘set out’)
26   Physicist reportedly was aware of weight
NEWTON NEW (sounds like knew or was aware of) + TON (weight)
Down
1   One pledged, I understand to appear at end of concert
PROMISEE I SEE (I understand) after PROM (concert)
2   Top dog ultimately rejected piece of meat
NOISETTE NO I (number one or top) + SETTEr (dog) with last letter removed or ‘rejected’
3   Materials processed in plant
MARES-TAIL An anagram of MATERIALS (anagrind is ‘processed’)
5   Film company started in US it turned out
UNITED ARTISTS An anagram of STARTED IN US IT (anagrind is ‘turned out’)
6   The last character loathsome gangsters could restrain
OMEGA Hidden in the clue loathsOME GAngsters
7   Idea that’s incomplete nevertheless
THOUGH THOUGHt (idea) with last letter removed or ‘incomplete’
8   In bar, one stands up for a Spanish lady
SENORA Reversed or ‘standing up’ and hidden within the clue bAR, ONE Stands up
10   Potential buyer of computer software, one expecting to save a bit of money
WINDOW  SHOPPER A play on the fact that if you were a SHOPPER after some software for a PC it would be WINDOW software! If you were only ‘window shopping’ you wouldn’t be spending any money! Querulous at 3 &4 has a much better parsing to this clue!            Personally we prefer MACS!
14   River swimmer finds edges of lake very unpleasant
EXECRABLE EXE (river) + CRAB (swimmer) + LakE (first and last letter or ‘edges’). It seems strange to think of a CRAB being a swimmer though!
15   Climber with an inclination to protect leg
ALPINIST A LIST (an inclination) around or ‘protecting’ PIN (leg)
16   Beast half wiped-out in past I assume
STEGODON paST (half missing or ‘wiped-out’) + EGO (I) + DON (assume)
18   Outlaw and fighter brought round and put in cell
BANG UP BAN (outlaw) + PUG (fighter)  reversed or ‘brought round’
19   Grotesque head on stick
ADHERE Anagram of HEAD (anagrind is ‘grotesque’) + RE (on). We’re not sure whether we’ve come across this use of ‘grotesque’ before but Chambers has it as ‘extravagantly formed’!
21   Unknown number attending church, that goes without saying
NATCH N (unknown number – used in mathematics) + AT (attending) + CH (church)

 

9 comments on “Independent 8575 / Dac”

  1. This one didn’t take long to solve but was most enjoyable. Thanks to Dac and the Blogging Duo

  2. Count me as another who only got 12ac from half of the clue. This was another enjoyable Dac puzzle that seemed on the easy side for him. STEGODON was my LOI after I finally saw the wordplay, having only previously come across the “stegosaur”.

  3. I had 10D as “Potential buyer” as the definition, and the wordplay WINDOWS (computer software) + HOPER (one expecting) around (to save) P (little money).

  6. Well, I completed it and mainly without aids, except I opened Chambers to see how to spell 16dn – thought it might be “stegadon”, either way I couldn’t parse it so thanks for explanation. I also had trouble parsing 10dn.

  7. Usual good stuff from Dac, with excellent surface readings to most of his clues. Liked NEWTON today, for no other reason than that he’s a scientist and we don’t get that many science-related clues.

    Thanks all three.

  8. Well apart from not actually parsing 10d because the answer shouted so obviously at me and 12a because I’d not heard of the director, the usual Dac goodness. Why in 13 do we have “a form of egg” when surely just “an egg” would be fine?

    Thanks B&J

  9. Interesting question flashling@8.

    My guess would be that Dac either doesn’t much like egg = O, or else that he feels it belongs in the world of barred puzzles.  Maybe he reckons that ‘a form of egg’ is more helpful to novice solvers… even if it is a bit confusing to those who already know that egg = O!

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