Independent 8,988 by Dac

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Dac tends to be gentle, but this was an easy one. There seemed to be no difficult clues today.

Still up to the usual standard, though. As always plenty of lovely surfaces.

Definitions in italics.

Across
1 FLATMATE
Fine source of cash concealed by former cohabitee (8)

f l(ATM)ate — Automated Teller Machine
5 DIM SUM
Chinese food day: I’m given portion, you say? (3,3)

d I’m “some”
10 REMIX
Version of record by former rock band, reaching No. 9 (5)

R.E.M. IX — R.E.M.
11 ASSIDUOUS
Hard-working twosome? Union brought in help briefly (9)

assi(duo u)s{t}
12 MUSICAL DIRECTOR
I could lead the band, as could Tim Rice possibly? Right (7,8)

(as could Tim Rice)* r
14 TIPPLING
Drinking a lot and leaving gratuity, about a pound (8)

tipp(L)ing
16 WIVES
Mates giving a variety of views (5)

(views)*
19 RANGE
Blow a fuse installing new cooker (5)

ra(n)ge
20 EPISTYLE
Architrave having letter Y inscribed (8)

epist(Y)le
21 GET OFF THE GROUND
Start to obey ref displaying red card? (3,3,3,6)

2 defs, split after ‘Start’
25 EXONERATE
Absolve old individual brought before judge (9)

ex one rate
26 CHEER
Rector joins fellow in church for food and drink (5)

C(he)E r
27 TWEEDY
Wimp with extremely tatty clothing of coarse cloth (6)

weed in t{att}y
28 RECENTLY
Very little money deposited in bank of late (8)

re(cent)ly
Down
1 FORUM
Questionnaire perhaps about university meeting (5)

for(u)m
2 ADMISSION
Entering a religious building, daughter makes confession (9)

a (d) mission
3 MAX
The greatest name for a boy? (3)

2 defs, split after ‘greatest’ — I had ALI for a while, referring to Mohammed Ali — the question mark implying that the name could also be that of a girl (or also someone in a racial minority, as writers of school textbooks know to their advantage, often using this name so as to appeal to everyone)
4 TRAIL BIKE
Yorkshireman crosses line on British motorcycle (5,4)

T(rail B)ike — I had always thought that it was Tyke, but evidently it’s either
6 IN DEEP WATER
Lanternfish found here, beset by troubles (2,4,5)

2 defs, split at the comma
7 SNOUT
I can smell tobacco (5)

2 defs, split after ‘smell’ — I learnt the word ‘snout’ from ‘Porridge’
8 MISTRESS
Worry after change of head teacher (8)

distress with its head changed to m
9 ASTI
Wine provided during repast (Italian) (4)

Hidden in repAST (Italian)
13 COPPERFIELD
Dickensian hero pilfered rum: placed under arrest (11)

cop (pilfered)* — ‘rum’ the anagram indicator
15 GUINEVERE
Queen always visiting republic of Africa, though not its capital (9)

Guin(ever)e{a} — ‘its’ refers to ‘Africa’
17 VOL-AU-VENT
Very little tuna, love, prepared for pastry dish (3-2-4)

(v tuna love)*
18 FRAGMENT
A bit disorientated, RAF chap covers miles (8)

(RAF)* g(m)ent
22 T-BONE
Note about good French steak (1-4)

t(bon)e
23 TEAL
Wrongly take head off duck (4)

{s}teal
24 DERBY
The German boy has lost heart? Hard cheese (5)

der b{o}y
26 CUE
Accuser regularly ignored prompt (3)

{A}c{c}u{s}e{r}
*anagram

6 comments on “Independent 8,988 by Dac”

  1. I agree, John, absolutely orthodox, and very pleasant, thank you, Dac. I, too, was confused by 3D. I had ..X, so wrote in “Rex”, only to have to soon remove it. Never mind, at least 1A Flatmate wasn’t too hard. 20A Epistyle was the only new word for me today.

  2. Even better than the usual standard, I thought. Not a bad clue among them, but I’ll settle for 1a as my favourite, mainly because “source of cash” wasn’t “c”.

  3. Nothing really to take exception to, except that as a tyke myself I always spell it with a Y.

    Thanks, Dac and John

  5. It’s all been said before but we’ll say it anyway …….. good clues and lovely surfaces. Just what we come to expect on a Wednesday when Dac is setting.

    Thanks to Dac and John.

  6. Just reviewing the Independent crosswords after the change to the website and notice that this blog has been numbered as 8968 rather than 8986.

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