Independent on Sunday 1262/Hypnos (27 April)

I thought this was a fine Hypnos puzzle in the expected IoS style – in other words, reasonably tractable.  That said, I struggled in the SW corner for a good while, before 12dn gave me some starting letters for the acrosses.

 

 

 

Abbreviations

cd  cryptic definition
dd  double definition
(xxxx)*  anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x]  letter(s) missing

definitions are underlined

Across

1  Western Irishman enthralled by return of fashionable canal feature
TOWPATH
An insertion of W PAT in a reversal of HOT.  Spookily, I was walking along one in Rickmansworth with two old friends before returning home to crack on with solving and blogging this puzzle.

5  Lead journalist behind river in outdoor resting place
CAMP BED
English is an ideal language for cryptics, because often the same word can be a verb or noun.  Like ‘lead’.  In the surface, Hypnos is using it as a verb (as in ‘lead someone astray’).  But in the definition, you have to take it as a noun, the metallic element with atomic number 82 and symbol Pb.  So it’s a charade of CAM for the river where punting goes on, PB and ED for ‘journalist’

9  Straight line could come from this king perhaps
RULER
A dd.

10  Revolutionary look obtained with outlandish skill in restaurant
TRATTORIA
A reversal (‘revolutionary’) of AIR (‘look’), OTT (‘over the top’ or ‘outlandish’) and ART (‘skill’).

11  Go and see chaos possibly emerge from this futile search
WILD-GOOSE CHASE
A kind of reverse anagram thingy, I think.  (GO SEE CHAOS)* with ‘possibly’ as the anagrind gives you GOOSE CHASE; then if that was ‘wild’ (another anagrind) you’d have GO SEE CHAOS.  Shakespeare used the expression; and although dictionaries give both hyphenated and unhyphenated versions, I prefer the hyphen, since it’s a WILD-GOOSE that you’re CHASING.

13  Characteristic of a kipper?
COMATOSE
Unless I’m missing something, this is a pretty weak cd, referring to a ‘kipper’ in the sleeping rather than the fishy sense.

15  Spring sun in borderlands
BOUNDS
A charade of BOUND and S for ‘sun’.

17  A large number welcoming a Palestinian
ARAFAT
I wanted to put ARAFAT as soon as I got the three As, but couldn’t justify it because I was fixated on FAT being the ‘large’ bit.  In fact it’s an insertion of A in A RAFT.  ‘A raft of measures has been introduced by the government.’  Referring to Yasser ARAFAT, the PLO leader who died in 2004 in what many considered to be suspicious circumstances.

18  Wine in carafe mostly?  It’s spilt
FRASCATI
(CARAF[E] ITS)* with ‘spilt’ as the anagrind.

20  Object that’s precious to me cleric lost sadly
COLLECTOR’S ITEM
(TO ME CLERIC LOST)*

23  Slate name for part of Florida?
PANHANDLE
PAN and HANDLE, two informal words for ‘slate’ (as in criticise) and ‘name’ give you an informal term for part of Florida

24  Attentive resident initially occupying a rental property
ALERT
An insertion of R for the first letter of ‘resident’ in A LET.

25  Gets black chest put into secluded room on Sunday
DARKENS
We’ve had S for ‘sun’; now we’ve got S for ‘Sunday’.  You need to precede that with an insertion of ARK in DEN.  It’s the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ definition that is referred to here: a ‘chest’ which God instructed Moses to create as a place to keep the stones on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed.

26  River close to US city
TRENTON
A charade of TRENT and ON, referencing the River TRENT and the New Jersey capital city.  We’re more used to seeing ON TRENT, of course: Stoke-on-Trent, Newark-on-Trent.  But – strictly – it’s Burton-upon-Trent.

Down

1  Sailor on Northern lake
TARN
A simple charade of TAR and N.  ‘Northern’ lake is a nice touch, since TARN is ultimately an old Norse word and its usage is mainly confined to the North of England.  FELL and BECK are other examples of such Norse words to do with landscape that are similarly confined.

2  US writer with command represented a UK rifleman
WILLIAM FAULKNER
I guessed the WILLIAM bit quickly, but couldn’t see the rest of it.  It’s a charade of WILL for ‘command’ and (A UK RIFLEMAN)*  He died over 50 years ago, but his works are pretty well known.

3  Pungent drug enveloping back of bar
ACRID
An insertion of R for the last letter of ‘bar’ in ACID.

4  Growing area you once found with watering device outside
HOTHOUSE
Another insertion, of THOU (‘you once’) in HOSE.

5  What might cause scrape, we hear, in part of contract
CLAUSE
A homophone of CLAWS.

6  Scrambling in moors, Scot crashed
MOTOCROSS
(MOORS SCOT)*

7  Place to get snip?
BARGAIN BASEMENT
Well, I had mine done as an outpatient at my local hospital and it only started hurting when the anaesthetic wore off.  But that’s not the sort of snip that Hypnos is referring to here.  A cd, and another one that’s a bit weak in my opinion.

8  Heard spiel that’s misleading in commercial entity
DEALERSHIP
(HEARD SPIEL)*

12  Eliminate maybe flat source of notes?
SCRATCH PAD
A charade of SCRATCH and PAD.

14  A term devised about foreign port – commercial term?
TRADE NAME
An insertion of ADEN for the Yemeni ‘foreign port’ in (A TERM)* with ‘devised’ as the anagrind.

16  Woman, one engaged in opening that’s lewd
PRURIENT
A charade of PRU and I in RENT.  RENT is the past participle of REND, but it’s also a noun, so the cryptic grammar is sound.

19  A forerunner of Sassoon V gets to be in disagreement?
AT ODDS
Sassoon V (Vidal) was a famous hairdresser.  So was TODD S (Sweeney).  The latter is fictional and the former didn’t slit your throat.  Meat pie, anyone?  It’s A followed by TODD S.

21  Cross protected by choir at evensong
IRATE
Hidden in choIR AT Evensong.

22  Shock performance by showman curtailed
STUN
STUN[T].

Many thanks to Hypnos for this morning’s puzzle.  I enjoyed solving and blogging it.  May the Fourth be with you.