Independent 9113 / Dac

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This is the final Dac puzzle of 2015.  

 

 

 

The entries were fairly well known words or phrases.  For me, the least well known was SLOTH BEAR at 17 down.

There are a couple of clues where I don’t understand the word play.  I offer a possible parsing for RAIDS at 10 across but I am currently defeated by the parsing of LOVE HEARTS at 16 across.  I’m sure there will be many solvers who can put me right.

Otherwise, this was a standard Dac crosswords where the cluing was very precise and very fair.

I liked the culinary surface at 5 across and the various military allusions at 20 across, 27 across and 3 down.

A very Happy New Year to all and best wishes for successful setting and solving in 2016.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

Head of sales to improve appearance of new business (5-2)

 

S (first letter of [head of] SALES) + TART UP (smarten; improve)

 

START-UP (the process of setting up a company or business; such a company or business)

 

5

 

Roast meat tasty with ends trimmed (7)

 

LAMB (type of meat) + AST (letters remaining in TASTY after the first and last letters TY are removed [trimmed])

 

LAMBAST (reprimand severely; roast)

 

9

 

Human being, unusually large and thin (9)

 

Anagram of (unusually) LARGE and THIN

EARTHLING*

EARTHLING (inhabitant of planet Earth; human being)

 
10 Storms making crack in roads (5)

I’m not sure about the word play here.  I can see that AI (A one) could refer to the main road from Edinburgh to London and RDS is short for roads.  The wordplay may indicate that one road (AI) is contained in (cracks) others (RDS)  to give:

R (AI) DS

I’m not entirely happy with this parsing so I will be interested to hear about possible alternatives.

Thanks to Andrew at 1 for pointing that AI can also be interpreted as first class or ‘crack’

 RAIDS (storms)

11

 

Tiny new truck driven by Australian on motorway (6)

 

M1 (M one; motorway) + N (new) + UTE (utility truck; UTE is a word used in Australia and New Zealand)

 

MINUTE (very small; tiny)

 

12

 

In America, attempt to secure dollars is hard work (8)

 

(IN + US [{United States of} America] + TRY [attempt]) containing (to secure) D (dollars, given as an abbreviation in Collins)

IN (D) US TRY

INDUSTRY (hard work)

 

14

 

Gosh – vet’s mislaid lead (4)

 

CHECK (examine; vet) excluding (mislaid) the first letter (lead) C

 

HECK (mild exclamation of surprise; gosh)

 
16 Oh!  Is that how the compiler views these sweets? (4,6)

Another clue where I am not sure how the wordplay works.  I can’t see an anagram and I am unsure where Oh!, the compiler and views are included.

Going off at a complete tangent, perhaps the compiler (Dac) is an ardent fan of Heart of Midlothian Football Club but I think I’m clutching at straws there.

Once again I will be interested in other solvers’ views

Thanks for the comments from Andrew and Wordplodder at 1 and 2 which explain that OH should be interpreted as LOVE (O; zero score in tennis) + HEARTS (H)

 LOVE HEARTS (a type of sweets)

19

 

In France, Peter keeps girlfriend … here? (4-1-5)

 

PIERRE (French man’s name) containing (keeps) DATE (girlfriend)

PIE (D A TE) RRE

PIED-A-TERRE (a dwelling kept for temporary, secondary, or occasional lodging; perhaps somewhere where PIERRE meets his girlfriend)

 

20

 

Bullets lodged in commander’s back (4)

 

AMMO (hidden word [in] reversed [back] COMMANDER)

AMMO<

AMMO (ammunition; bullets)

 

22

 

Female’s account in court:  it’s impressive (5,3)

 

(LASS [female] + AC [account]) contained in (in) CT (court)

C (LASS AC) T

CLASS ACT (something impressive)

 

23

 

Ready to welcome sailor back in part of North African city (6)

 

CASH (money; ready) containing (to welcome) AB (able seaman; sailor) reversed [back]

CAS (BA<) H

CASBAH (castle or fortress in a N African town or the area round it, especially in Algiers [North African city])

 

26

 

Maybe coat isn’t needed after second of April (5)

 

P (second letter of [second of] APRIL) + AIN’T (is not; isn’t)

 

PAINT (reference coat of PAINT)

 

27

 

Start to speak about soldier returning home (9)

 

ORATE (speak) containing (about) (GI [American soldier] reversed [returning] + IN [home])

OR (IG<  IN) ATE

ORIGINATE (bring into existence; start)

 

28

 

Stuffy person with no children dying thus, you say? (7)

 

AIRLESS (sounds like [you say] HEIRLESS [dying with no children])

 

 AIRLESS (without air; stuffy)

29

 

Left in cattle trough, one causes great damage (7)

 

L (left) contained in (in) MANGER (trough from which horses and cattle take food)

MANG (L) ER

MANGLER (one who causes great damage)

 
Down
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

First of seafaring crew’s in boat (9)

 

S (first letter of [first of] SEAFARING) + TEAM‘S (crew’s) + HIP (with it; in)

I did briefly toy with TEAM SHIP as a definition for CREW but decided against it.  If it had been SHIP TEAM I might have gone for it.

STEAMSHIP (boat)

 

2

 

Brief display on northern island (5)

 

ARRAY (display) excluding the final letter (brief) Y + N (northern)

 

ARRAN (Scottish island in the Firth of Clyde)

 

3

 

Soldiers successfully attacked one Pacific location (6)

 

TA (Territorial Army; soldiers) + HIT (successfully attacked) + I (one)

 

TAHITI (largest island in French Polynesia in the Pacific)

 

4

 

Prudish, like one sort of minister mostly (4)

 

PRIME (reference PRIME Minister) excluding the final letter (mostly) E

 

PRIM (prudish)

 

5

 

Fruit squash began to be transported by juggernaut (10)

 

Anagram of (squash) BEGAN contained in [be transported by] LORRY [juggernaut]

LO (GANBE*) RRY

LOGANBERRY (fruit)

 

6

 

Mother less polite about a person involved in 10? (8)

 

MA (mother) + (RUDER [less polite] containing [about] A)

MA R (A) UDER

MARAUDER (someone involved in RAIDS [10 across])

 

7

 

Trade I’m in will collapse temporarily (2,7)

 

Anagram of (will collapse) TRADE I’M IN

AD INTERIM*

AD INTERIM (for or in the meantime; temporarily)

 

8

 

Before end of journey pilot becomes irritable (5)

 

TEST (pilot) + Y (last letter of [end of] JOURNEY)

 

TESTY (irritable)

 

13

 

Suddenly find me wearing short garment. far from happy (4,6)

 

(ME contained in [wearing] COAT [garment] excluding the final letter [short] T) + CROSS (far from happy)

CO (ME) A CROSS

COME ACROSS (suddenly find)

 

15

 

Noble‘s shout of joy, swallowing tranquilliser without hesitation (9)

 

CHEER (shout of joy) containing (swallowing) VALIUM (tranquilliser) excluding (without) UM (expression of hesitation)

CHE (VALI) ER

CHEVALIER (knight; nobleman)

 

17

 

Beastly type hanging around in various hotel bars (5,4)

 

Anagram of (various) HOTEL BARS

SLOTH BEAR*

SLOTH BEAR (a black Indian bear with a long snout)

 

18

 

Recording prescribed in class (8)

 

SET (prescribed) contained in (in) CASTE (class)

CAS (SET) TE

CASSETTE (a plastic case containing a reel of magnetic tape, often with pre-recorded material on it)

 

21

 

Fellow giving daughter a look (6)

 

D (daughter) + A + MIEN (an air or look)

 

DAMIEN (man’s name; fellow)

 

22

 

Drink up quietly in empty cafeteria (5)

 

(UP + P [piano; quietly]) contained in (in) CA (letters remaining in CAFETERIA after all but the outside letters [empty] are deleted)

C (UP P) A

CUPPA (drink [of tea usually])

 

24

 

Skirmish in Civil War botched up (5)

 

BRAWL (hidden word [in] reversed [up; down clue] CIVIL WAR BOTCHED)

BRAWL<

BRAWL (punch-up; fight; skirmish)

 

25

 

Starts to fidget in long motion picture (4)

 

FILM (first letters of [starts to] each of FIDGET IN LONG MOTION)

 

FILM (cinema show; picture)

 

7 comments on “Independent 9113 / Dac”

  1. Thanks Duncan.
    10: “crack” can mean “good quality” (e.g. a crack regiment), hence A1, which is in RDS
    16a: “Oh” is 0 + H = Love Hearts

  2. Yes Andrew @1, that’s how I saw 10 & 16. A good mid-week solve with a few unfamiliar words gettable from the word play. I thought LOVE HEARTS was a real highlight, but I also liked MANGLER, MARAUDER and LOGANBERRY.

    Thank you to Dac and to Duncan.

  3. A nice puzzle but the blog was very necessary. I had ‘armless’ for 28a – (ch)armless – but was better pleased with the right answer! Thanks to both!

  4. Thank you so much Duncan. For those like myself who got there, but didn’t always know why, your exposition was masterly.
    Thanks to Dac and to Andrew for explaining what is now obvious in 16ac.

  6. This felt like light relief after the challenging Picaroon in the Guardian – mostly straightforward and elegant, though COME ACROSS took me a while to see, and needed all the crossers.

    Thanks to Dac and Duncan

  7. A fairly challenging offering from Dac but none the worse for that. I parsed ROADS as Andrew and Wordplodder did but couldn’t see the parsing of LOVE HEARTS. Several answers took me longer to spot and/or parse than they should, but I got there in the end. PIED À TERRE and CLASS ACT are my nominations for CoD.

    Thanks, Dac and Duncan.

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