Independent on Sunday 1270/Hypnos

Hypnos must be getting fed up with me blogging his IoS puzzles, since this is the third in a row that has come up on my shift.  Generally I enjoyed it, and this setter does write some good surfaces; but there are one or two quibbles that I’d be interested in other people’s opinion about.

 

 

 

Abbreviations

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

definitions are underlined

Across

1  What’s restricted by top command?
BEHEST
An insertion of EH? in BEST.  Nice surface to get us going.

4  Good Indian dish carrying very small weight
GRAVITAS
A multi-part clue that seems to be a bit of a Hypnos trademark.  A charade of G, V inserted in RAITA, and S for ‘small’.  RAITA is an Indian yoghurt-based dip or condiment.  Good with curries if you want to cool down the heat.

9  A recreational walk with miles to go in some farmland?
ARABLE
A RA[M]BLE with ‘to go’ as the removal indicator.

10  Object after argument recurs in Sussex resort
WORTHING
It’s THING for ‘object’ after ROW reversed, but how ‘recurs’ works as the reversal indicator I don’t know.

12  Material from college afterwards beginning to emerge
POLYTHENE
A charade of POLY, THEN and E for the first letter of ’emerge’.

13  Country invested in, say, billions after revolution
LIBYA
Hidden reversed in sAY BILlions, with ‘after revolution’ as a perfect reversal indicator.

14  Sole dry cabin designed in a significant way
CONSIDERABLY
(SOLE DRY CABIN)*

18  Cleric extremely concerned with unrest in Denver
VERY REVEREND
A charade of VERY for ‘extremely’, RE for ‘concerned with’ and (DENVER)*  The anagrind is ‘with unrest’.  Just a bit less important than a RIGHT REVEREND, I’m guessing.

21  Panic shown by a learner given rifle, say
ALARM
A charade of A, L and ARM.

23  Fleet sail in error or must be lacking at sea
AIRLINERS
The setter is inviting you to take OR out of SAIL IN ERR[OR] and then make an anagram (‘at sea’).

24  Terrifying prelude’s ending in distant couple of notes
FEARSOME
An insertion of E for the last letter of ‘prelude’ in FAR, followed by SO and ME for two notes of the tonic sol-fa.

25  Overlook element of reign or emigrate
IGNORE
Hidden in reIGN OR Emigrate.

26  Goat, say, and small pig seen round bird
RUMINANT
Plenty of fauna in this clue: an insertion of a MINA bird in RUNT for the smallest pig of the litter, who struggles to get past his bigger siblings to get on the sow’s teats and as a consequence often ends up in pig heaven more quickly than he’d like. I’d always write the bird as MYNAH or MYNA, but MINA is given as an alternative in one of my dictionaries.

27  Dash among day-trippers
HYPHEN
A HYPHEN is a type of dash, and it’s found in the middle of ‘day-trippers’.

Down

1  Part adapted among second group of young actors
BRAT PACK
An insertion of (PART)* in BACK for ‘second’ in its verbal sense.  The name given to a group of young actors from the 1980s; not to be confused with the RAT PACK, which was two decades earlier.

2  Publicity line penned by poet?  It’s prominent in paper
HEADLINE
I didn’t like this clue much, because Heinrich HEINE is anything but ‘prominent’ as a poet, and LINE appears in the clue as well as the answer.  Whatever, it’s AD L in HEINE.

3  Game from lost era I twice recollected
SOLITAIRE
(LOST ERA I I)*

5  Rejoin a ride that’s winding over foreign port
RIO DE JANEIRO
A charade of (REJOIN A RIDE)* and O for a cricket ‘over’.  Which will elicit unhappy thoughts for those followers of England at either football or cricket.

6  Extremely important Russian not unknown
VITAL
VITAL[Y]  Well, if IAN can be a ‘Scot’ and IVOR can be a ‘Welshman’ then I suppose VITALY can be a ‘Russian’.

7  Feature of rugby cut by the Italian broadcasters principally?  It’s old hat
TRILBY
An insertion of IL for one of the Italian words for ‘the’ and B for the first letter of ‘broadcasters’ in TRY.

8  Remarkable thing followed by train driver
SIGNAL
A dd.  Most often heard in the expression ‘signal failure’, which is not what your train driver would want.

11  Justice followed by ex-PM many are disputing?  Interrogator required
JEREMY PAXMAN
A charade of J for ‘Justice’ (as in JP) and (EX PM MANY ARE)*  Topical clue, since Paxo stepped down from Newsnight last week.  Overly aggressive and sneering, for sure, but given that his starting point for interviewing politicians was ‘Why is this bastard lying to me?’ then you can’t help but like him.

15  General sign of marriage discontenting lady with a sidelong look
LEERINGLY
A charade of LEE, RING and LY for the outside letters of ‘lady’.  ‘Discontenting’ is an invitation to ‘remove the contents of’.  The surface seems meaningless and I’m not sure that I’d describe a ‘sidelong look’ as a LEER.  Suggestive look, perhaps.

16  Giant creature hard to detect among two small ones?  Yes and no!
BEHEMOTH
An insertion of H for ‘hard’ in BEE and MOTH.  The clue for me stops at the question mark, so I can’t see what the ‘Yes and no!’ bit is doing.  Happen I’m missing something.

17  Wandering abroad done, say, when sun is taken in
ODYSSEAN
(DONE SAY S)* with ‘abroad’ as the anagrind.  Referring to the journeys of ODYSSEUS.

19  Boss upset official given tiresome task
GAFFER
A reversal of REF FAG.  Most often used these days in the football sense.  Oops, I mentioned football again.

20  Incendiary stuff from China in Vietnam
NAPALM
An insertion of PAL from the Cockney rhyming slang China Plate for ‘mate’, in NAM for the US abbreviation for ‘Vietnam’.

22  Actor James is figure in lodge
MASON
A dd, referring to the actor James MASON and the fact that FREEMASONS are organised into ‘lodges’.  That rolled-up trouser leg is not a good look, btw.

Thank you to Hypnos for setting this one.