Independent 8970 / Dac

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[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here

Another Wednesday, another Dac puzzle.

 

 

 

I found this harder than some recent puzzles by Dac, but perhaps I’m just getting old and finding things more difficult.

I got off to a good start with quite a few across entries down the left hand side.

Apart from TATI, I struggled a bit with the SE corner.

Clues I particularly liked today were those for GARDENER (9 across. for the misdirection on forest locations), PIRI PIRI (12 across, for its use of ‘doubled’ when talking about a recipe)) and THE DREADED LURGY (6 down, for the wordplay construction of an anagram contained within another anagram)

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

Avoid drink, presumably after flipping work (4)

 

(SUP drink] +  O [nothing] – drink nothing; avoid drink]) all reversed (flipping)

(O PUS)<

OPUS (work)

 

4

 

Group of representatives name Democrat to replace Republican (10)

 

REPUTATION (name) with D (Democrat) to replace R (Republican)

DEPUTATION

DEPUTATION (group of representatives)

 

9

 

Horticulturist, say, circulating round forest close to Leicester (8)

 

(EG [for example; say] reversed [circulating] containing [round] ARDEN [reference Forest of ARDEN]) + R (last letter of [close to] LEICESTER)

G (ARDEN) E< R

GARDENER (horticulturist)

 

10

 

Priest quiet when brought before a prophet (6)

 

ELI (name of a priest) + SH (quiet!] + A

 

ELISHA (name of a prophet)

 

11

 

Unrefined-sounding series of lectures (6)

 

COURSE (sounds like [sounding] COARSE [unrefined])

 

COURSE (series of lectures)

 

12

 

Very good recipe: I doubled the chilli sauce (4-4)

 

(PI [pious; very good] + R [recipe] + I) repeated (doubled)

PIRI PIRI

PIRI-PIRI (spicy sauce made with red peppers; chilli sauce)

 

13

 

Don Carlos, say, smuggled drug into Greece and Austria (5,5)

 

(RAN [smuggled] + DOPE [drug]) contained in (into) (GR [Greece]) + A (International Vehicle Registration for Austria)

G (RAN DOPE) R A

GRAND OPERA (Don Carlos is a five act GRAND OPERA by Verdi)

 

14

 

Book about the present era? (4)

 

RE (about) + AD (Anno Domini; the present era)

 

READ (reading matter; book)

 

16

 

Hooligan taking part in school outing (4)

 

LOUT (hidden word in [taking part in] SCHOOL OUTING)

 

LOUT (hooligan)

 

18

 

Shark movie opens after actor and leading lady take charge (10)

 

HAM (actor) + M (first letter of [opens] MOVIE) + ER (Elizabeth Regina; queen; leading lady) + HEAD (take charge)

 

HAMMERHEAD (type of shark)

 

21

 

Mean lads disturbed Yorkshire resident (8)

 

Anagram of (disturbed) MEAN LADS

DALESMAN*

DALESMAN (someone who lives in the Yorkshire DALEs)

 

23

 

Refuse conveyance for the wounded (6)

 

LITTER (refuse)

 

LITTER (stretcher or bed supported on poles for transporting the wounded) double definition

 

24

 

Cast half-rejected some weird parts (6)

 

CA (first two letters of CAST, the other 2 letters of 4 [half] having been excluded [rejected]) + an anagram of (weird) SOME

CA MEOS*

CAMEOS (small roles in plays or films; parts)

 

25

 

Son caught, given beating (8)

 

S (son) + TRAPPED (caught)

 

STRAPPED (given beating)

 

26

 

I’m right to be in work?  Absolutely (10)

 

I’M + (LICIT [lawful; right] contained in [to be in] PLY [work])

IM P (LICIT) LY

IMPLICITLY (absolutely)

 

27

 

Worthless stuff by independent film-maker (4)

 

TAT (worthless stuff) + I (independent)

 

TATI (reference Jacques TATI [1907-1982], French film-maker)

 
Down
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

2

 

Combination of wine and port entertaining a group of players (5,4)

 

(PINOT [wine] + RIO [port city of Brazil]) containing (entertaining) A

PI (A) NO T RIO

PIANO TRIO (a group of musicians / players)

 

3

 

Smoother young man introducing a director (7)

 

SON (young man) containing (introducing) (A + DIR [director])

S (A DIR) ON

SADIRON (a flatiron pointed at both ends; smoother)

 

4

 

At teen disco, much excitement … created by this 60s’ hit? (5,2,3,5)

Anagram of (excitement … created)) AT TEEN DISCO MUCH

DANCE TO THE MUSIC*

DANCE TO THE MUSIC (1968 hit by Sly & the Family Stone)

 

5

 

Part of ploughman’s lunch?  Don’t you believe it (4,3)

 

PORK PIE (possible item in a Ploughman’s lunch)

 

PORK PIE (Cockney rhyming slang for lie; don’t you believe it) double definition

 

6

 

To trap crooked drug dealer, they’d fixed bug (3,7,5)

 

Anagram of (fixed) THEY’D containing (to trap) (an anagram of [crooked] DRUG DEALER)

THE D (READED LURG*) Y*

THE DREADED LURGY (any illness that is not very serious but is easy to catch)

 

7

 

Traveller who’ll remove clothes except for hat? (7)

 

STRIPPER (one who will remove their clothes) excluding (except for) the first letter (hat) S

 

TRIPPER (traveller)

 

8

 

Different article with gold edges (5)

 

THE (definite) with the letters of OR (gold) forming edges either side of THE

O (THE) R

OTHER (different)

 

15

 

Surprise!  Hampton Court employees wear brimless hats (9)

 

MAZE MEN (reference people who manage and look after the well known MAZE at Hampton Court Palace) contained in (wear) (HATS excluding [less] the outer letters [brim] H and S)

A (MAZE MEN) T

AMAZEMENT (surprise)

 

17

 

Murdoch’s novel clanger (3,4)

 

THE BELL (clanger)

 

THE BELL (1958 novel by Iris Murdoch) double definition

 

19

 

Fixed attitude of nurses initially estimating temperature (4-3)

 

MINDS (cares; nurses) + ET (first letters of [initially] ESTIMATING and TEMPERATURE)

 

MIND-SET (fixed attitude)

 

20

 

Society in a stew where there’s political unrest? (3,4)

 

S (society) contained in (in) HOT POT (stew )

HOT (S) POT

HOT SPOT (an area of potential trouble, especially political or military)

 

22

 

A large weapon creates it? (5)

 

A + L (large) + ARM (weapon)

 

ALARM (state of fear which may be engendered by a large weapon)

 

14 comments on “Independent 8970 / Dac”

  2. Tyke @ 1

    Thanks – much better than my offering of HOT SEAT.

    I guess suggesting HOT EAT as a definition of stew was just too vague.

    I have updated the blog

  4. I loved the anagram for 6D The Dreaded Lurgy! No problems here, except I didn’t know the word 3D Sadiron, and just had to hope my understanding of the wordplay was correct. I whined yesterday about equating “pi” with goodness, and here it comes twice in one clue! But at least I saw it straight away today. Thanks Dac, and all power to duncanshiell, who has written a very fine blog for someone who claims to have struggled with the puzzle!

  6. Took a while to sort out the lower half because I didn’t examine the anagram fodder in 6dn very closely and wrote in LURGI – which is the way I’ve always spelt it. Someone will no doubt correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the phrase originated in an episode of the Goon Show about the panic caused by an imaginary disease of that name. For those too young to remember, the Goon Show was a cult radio comedy in the 1950s – now enjoying repeats on Radio 4 Extra.

    All good stuff but my CoD by a short head is AMAZEMENT.

    Thanks, Dac and Duncan

  7. Agree with @6allan_c. The episode in the BBC boxed set is Lurgi Strikes Britain! and is spelled thus on the cover, the liner notes and, to clinch it, in the contemporaneous Radio Times.

    Particularly liked construction of AMAZEMENT and IMPLICITLY.

    Thanks to Dac and duncanshiell.

  8. Another one here who got held up by 6dn, in this case I already had the final ‘y’ therefore didn’t see “lurgi”.

  9. I don’t know how, when or why ‘lurgi’ changed to ‘lurgy’, but it is in the OCED with a ‘y’, and the spell check is not accepting ‘lurgi’.

    Thanks Dac and duncanshiell, it was great being reminded of the Tati films and of the Goon Show.

  11. Collins spells it “Lurgy”; Chambers gives both spellings and acknowledges the (probable) Goon Show origin.

  13. Thanks for the link Eileen.

    An enjoyable Dac, thanks to him and Duncan for the blog. As with most of Dac’s puzzles, there doesn’t seem much to add although we did wonder about 25ac at one point. We were misled at first as we had the answer as SCRAPPED which meant that there was no definition.

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