Independent 9004 by Alchemi

Old style blog today as the Indy’s site just won’t work for me today.

Bits of this were a bit tricky, thanks Alchemi, can’t see any themes or Ninas but who knows, certainly for the FT this setter does.

Apologies if this doesn’t work well on some devices, been a while since I had to blog like this.

Across
1 Was nosy about one fellow’s way of serving fish, for instance (3-5)	PANFRIED	AN & F(ellow) all in PRIED
5 Signals ticket prices are over a pound (6)	FLARES	L (pound) in FARES
9 Resort head’s amiability (8)	NICENESS	NICE (french resort) & NESS (head)
10 Authors with masses? (6)	WRITES	W(ith) & RITES (masses say)
12 Characters Eliot assigned parts (5)	IOTAS	Hidden answer
13 Sort of bag boy’s parent finally left outside (9)	GLADSTONE	LAD’S & (paren)T all in GONE
14 Cashiers swallowing an indefinite number of nibbles (6)	SNACKS	N(umber) in SACKS (cashiers)
16 When back outside, monarch dismisses nurse with empty kindness and funny noises (7)	SQUEAKS	QUE(en) less E.N. in AS reversed & K(indnes)S
18 Uses essentially feebleminded tricks (7)	EMPLOYS	(feebl)EM(inded) & PLOYS
20 Switch position with child beginning to get in good form (2,4)	ON SONG	ON (a switch position) & SON & G(et)
22 Going over books, there’s space in a seaside town (2,3,4)	ON THE MOVE	O(ver) & N.T. (books) & EM (space) in HOVE
23 Chairman welcomes doctor to dance (5)	MAMBO	MB in MAO
24 Sarah Millican’s beginning shambolic retreat (6)	ASHRAM	[SARAH M(illican)]* shabolically
25 British Library expert keeping crucial evidence of beating (5,3)	BLACK EYE	B(ritish) L(ibrary) & KEY in ACE
26 County worked out 98% reduction in the end (6)	SUSSEX	SUSSE(d) with X for D. That’s 10 not 500 less hence 98% off.
27 Counts terrible scenes involving their opponents (8)	CENSUSES	US (against them) in SCENES* terribly
Down
1 The Italian replaces bottom of change drawer (6)	PENCIL	PENCe & IL replacing the e
2 Nice cop hesitant about treatment for addicts (8,7)	NICOTINE PATCHES	[NICE COP HESITANT]* about. Liked this
3 Allows German to leave and launches tirade (5)	RANTS	G(erman) from (G)RANTS
4 They fly from ships sensing trouble (7)	ENSIGNS	SENSING* troubled
6 A bit of fun encourages flowers (9)	LARKSPURS	LARK & SPURS (eggs on)
7 Spooner’s country dances form a countably infinite set (8,7)	RATIONAL NUMBERS	Spooner of NATIONAL RUMBAS
8 To take action about small animal enclosures causes tension (8)	SUSPENSE	S(mall) PENS in SUE
11 Film was rubbished by judge (4)	JAWS	J(udge) & WAS* rubbish
15 Maybe Alice had to work with others (9)	COOPERATE	Alice COOPER & ATE (had for lunch say)
17 More confused Eastern European backing deportations (8)	REMOVALS	MORE* confused & SLAV reversed
19 Wearing slippers, perhaps in small house Down Under (4)	SHOD	S(mall) HO(use) & D(own) underneath
20 Tell too many fibs to be on top (7)	OVERLIE	OVER LIE
21 12 repeatedly sleeps around noon (6)	DOZENS	N(oon) in DOZES
23 1000 cards, all clubs (5)	MACES	M (1000) & ACES (cards say)

8 comments on “Independent 9004 by Alchemi”

Thanks, flashling. I don’t think there’s anything else in it – certainly I didn’t consciously put anything extra in.

All pretty straightforward. In 10ac it took me a few moments to remember that ‘author’ can be a verb as well as a noun; and I would have enumerated 15dn as (2-7). Liked 19dn for its surface suggesting something to do with an Australian loo.

Thanks, Alchemi and flashling.

26ac – took a while to do the maths but needed an X for the pangram so it had to be Sussex

15 down was my LOI – I tried to think of other meanings of Alice, but Mr Cooper wasn’t high on my list. It took me a while to cotton on to the Chairman in 23 across being Mao – kept trying to think of abbreviations. My only slight quibble is why we need an “all” in 23 down. I suppose it helps a bit with the surface, but the clue would just about work without it.