Independent 8,744 by Klingsor

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I always enjoy Klingsor’s crosswords. They provide quite a 26a but all is fair and amusing and one can always explain the clues afterwards: indeed, judging by the number of answers written down for me to look at and work out the parsing, the answers are often ahead of their explanation.

There may well be a Nina here but, surprise surprise, it’s quite lost on me. There looked as if there might possibly be a pangram, but some letters are missing. With these rather demanding crosswords I’m always so relieved to complete them that the final flourish is beyond me.

Definitions underlined.

Across

1 Fruit grew in … (7)
ROSEHIP
rose [= grew] hip [= in]
5 … type of acid soil initially held to be harsh (7)
ASCETIC
a(s{oil})cetic — the ellipses between these two clues are just there I think because 1ac doesn’t really make sense on its own, although there is a nice link since rose hips (rosehips?) like soil that is a bit acid
9 Entertainer, one from Santa’s locality briefly appearing with reindeer (3,6)
LAP DANCER
Lap{p} Dancer [one of Santa’s reindeer]
10 One’s kept in check by knight that’s advanced, resulting in mate (5)
CHINA
(ch (1) N A)
11 Apparently, it’s where you’ll get hands on a Rolex? (2,3,4,2,2)
ON THE FACE OF IT
2 defs
13 Not used to knock, somehow end up boxing (8)
UNTAPPED
tap in (end up)*, the inclusion indicated by ‘boxing’ — youzzed and youssed
15 Bumble, aka David Lloyd, first of all to enter competition (6)
BEADLE
be(a{ka} D{avid} L{loyd})e — ref Mr Bumble the beadle in Oliver Twist
17 Can army besiege old capital? (6)
BOGOTA
bog (o) TA — bog = can lavatorially
19 Work on grand scale managed to be successful (2,6)
GO PLACES
G op (scale)*
22  Something in Your Eyes gets Rugby League’s No 1 out of a peevish mood (7,6)
AQUEOUS HUMOUR
a querulous humour is a peevish mood and this loses RU L(eague}
25 After change of heart, judge becomes more honest (5)
TRUER
trier with the u changed to i — such clues always seem to me to have something lacking: we’re not told what the heart is changed to and should we not be?
26 Can he finally bowl leg breaks for Test? (9)
CHALLENGE
(Can he {bow}l leg)*
27 Not heartless, I’m consumed by regret for the duration of execution (3,4)
RUN TIME
ru(n{o}t I’m)e
28 Overheard rumours partly thanks to this? (7)
EARDRUM
Hidden in OverhEARD RUMours — the definition having an &lit. aspect, referring to the wordplay

Down

1 Government needs to take stock, having lost the way (4)
RULE
ru{st}le — to take stock in the sense steal cattle
2 Stay, having a couple of drinks (7)
SUPPORT
sup port
3 Wife lost new hot water bottle (5)
HEART
(h water – w)*
4 Go for starter of ricotta wrapped in fish – this one? (8)
PICKEREL
pick e(r{icotta})el
5 An examination of Chambers (6)
ATRIAL
a trial — the adjective from atrium
6 Provider of wake-up call on phone for British inventor (9)
COCKERELL
“cockerel” — ref Sir Christopher Cockerell
7 One pair of fellows digging into soil turned up nasty vegetation (7)
TRIFFID
(1 ff) in (dirt)rev. — ref. The Day of the Triffids
8 Drink soldiers on exercise under the table (10)
CHARTREUSE
chart RE use
12 Non-speaking character in Beckett play offering a lift? (10)
DUMBWAITER
dumb waiter — characters in Waiting for Godot are waiters
14 Mary Jane’s to be mother? Right, I will provide a selection of tunes (9)
POTPOURRI
pot [= Mary Jane, something that in my ignorance I had to look up] pour r I
16 The masses love pulp novel by expert (8)
POPULACE
(o pulp)* ace
18 Artist needs a month to imbibe half of stout? On the contrary (7)
GAUGUIN
Guin{ness} round Aug
20 Bing maybe moving up second to Google? That’s official (7)
CORONER
crooner with one of the o’s [{G}o{ogle}] moved up — Bing the search engine and Bing Crosby
21 Mind training involves year in school (6)
PSYCHE
P(s(y)ch)E
23 Old bird ignores book well known for crude content (5)
OILER
{b}oiler — I think it’s boiler rather than o ibler or some bird containing a b — nice definition, a well that is known for the crude oil therein
24 A masculine hairdo (4)
PERM
per [= a, as in one a day/one per day] m
*anagram

7 comments on “Independent 8,744 by Klingsor”

  2. A fine challenge from Klingsor indeed. I didn’t see anything wrong with the clue for TRUER to be honest, although it was only once I got it that the SW opened up properly for me. AQUEOUS HUMOUR was my LOI after GAUGUIN, BOGOTA and DUMBWAITER. I thought the clue for BEADLE was excellent.

  3. Well it took a pint so can’t have been too hard but the numerous scribbles around the grid suggest otherwise.
    Many thanks John for explaining some bits I put in and hoped and klingsor for a fine test worthy of the Thursday toughie slot.

  4. This certainly put me in a querulous humour. I almost gave up on the top left corner. Finally, I managed to get mackerel out of my head and invent a fish called a pickerel. This enabled me to get rosehip and then rule, which I had pencilled in earlier but could not parse. I Liked the crooner/coroner clue.

  5. 3dn was my last one in. I guessed the answer but couldn’t for the life of me see how it worked, not even sure which part was the definition.

    22ac, on the other hand, was so obvious after only a few crossing letters that I entered it and it was only when I came here, I had no idea how that one worked, either. So thanks for the explanations.

    I thought MACKEREL for 4dn at first too, but then immediately goet 1ac. Fortunately I had Chambers on my lap to confirm that PICKEREL is a word.

  6. I worked in Cambridge for a while in a pub called the Pickerel (opposite Magdelen college), so it was a quick smile and easy entry

  7. Superb – thoroughly enjoyable and cleverly set at a level neither too easy nor too tricky. I would say, that given it’s a Thursday puzzle, I had expected (and hoped for) a more challenging solve….
    Many thanks to Klingsor and John.

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