Independent 9,323 by Dac

by

I hope this means that Dac is becoming restored to his former health, because he has appeared today and also last week. I was under the impression that he had been unwell and was now only going to be doing every other week. If that was wrong then I’m sure everyone welcomes him back with open arms.

After a crossword last week that was arguably one of Dac’s less imaginative and elegant productions (that at least was the verdict of some of those posting here) he is right back to form: smooth surfaces and the whole thing satisfactory and (apart perhaps from 23ac) uncontroversial. The only thing militating against the surfaces is the unusually large number (for Dac) of clues that cross-reference some other clue.

Definitions underlined and in maroon.

Across
1 CAUGHT ON THE HOP Apprehended a thug suspiciously joining in flashy techno dance (6,2,3,3)
(a thug)* in (techno)* hop
8 CONSOMMÉ Dish soon polished off by males entering empty café (8)
((soon)* m m) in c{af}é
9 BITTER Beer making you resentful (6)
2 defs
10 STAB Knife taken into constabulary (4)
Hidden in conSTABulary
11 STATE CABIN 16 accommodation, say, sailor’s occupying after start of cruise (5,5)
16 being ON BOARD, this is state [= say] c{ruise} AB in
12 UNFRIEND Cease to be allied to peace keepers as day reaches close (8)
UN Fri. end — a 21st-century word that comes from various social media. I think.
13 POTAGE Reverse of, say, a first-class course (6)
(eg a top)rev.
14 ACCORD Men in Civil Defence backing current agreement (6)
AC C(OR)D
17 ONLOOKER One gazes at enthroned king and queen? (8)
(on loo) [= enthroned] K ER
20 HERBAL TEAS Hears 5 will need preparing for drinks (6,4)
5 being TABLE, this is (Hears table)*
22 GOSH My work is close to Soho, oddly (4)
go S{o}h{o} — ‘is close to’ is a juxtaposition indicator
23 SHEARS Try cutting furthest edges of grass – with these? (6)
s(hear)s, the ss coming from {gra}ss — this way of getting the last two letters by calling them the furthest edges is new to me, but I’m sure that’s what Dac intends
24 INDENTED Definitely packing collection of books ordered (8)
inde(NT)ed — this word is more common nowadays as something to do with word processing, but its old meaning would no doubt have been familiar to people in the armed services
25 AN IDEAL HUSBAND Oscar Wilde’s best mate? (2,5,7)
I’m not quite sure what the definition is here; perhaps it’s ‘Oscar Wilde’s’, or more likely the clue is some sort of CD, something which I would not have expected Dac to use — it refers to Oscar Wilde’s play
Down
1 CROUTON Mate briefly eating out wanting accompaniment for 8 or 13 Across? (7)
8 and 13 Across being CONSOMMÉ AND POTAGE, this is cr(out)on{y}
2 UNSOBER Our Ben’s terribly drunk (7)
(Our Ben’s)*
3 HAMPSTEAD A politician’s time in chief London district (9)
h(a MP’s t)ead
4 OVER AND DONE WITH Rambling review don had not completely finished (4,3,4,4)
(review don had not)*
5 TABLE Propose pill if not getting rest ultimately (5)
table{t}, the t coming from {res}t
6 ENTRANT Competitor in French race sprinted on the inside (7)
en [= in French] T(ran)T — isn’t the TT a series of races? But perhaps one of them is a TT race.
7 OPENING Turned up one over the eight during work: good start! (7)
(nine)rev. in (op g)
13 PALISADES Fences fool put up to protect ladies in trouble (9)
(ladies)* in (sap)rev.
15 CHECHEN Twin revolutionaries leading new republic (7)
Che Che n
16 ON BOARD Ready to join in, as directors are? (2,5)
Directors are on the board of a company
18 ORGANZA Extremists literally behind newspaper material (7)
organ [= newspaper] ZA [= extremists literally; the letters at the extremes of the alphabet]
19 EAST END Mostly simple to oversee part of London (4,3)
eas{y} tend
21 LASSA One fever a type of drug initially eliminated (5)
{C}lass A

*anagram

11 comments on “Independent 9,323 by Dac”

  2. Thanks for blog and kind words, John. My consultant told me a couple of weeks ago that I am ‘in complete remission’ so that was good news. Hoping to maintain the once-a-fortnight supply; today’s extra was a one-off!

  3. Thanks Dac and John.

    I’ve only recently started doing Indy puzzles, so was unaware that Dac had been ill, and wish him a full recovery.

    I read 25 as a double definition: Oscar Wilde’s [work], and a best mate would be an ideal husband, which may imply that mate is used in a coital sense.

  6. Took longer than I should have done on this – I didn’t look at the anagram fodder in 1ac carefully enough and put in CAUGHT IN THE ACT – which held me up on 4dn and 7dn.

    Nice misdirection in 20ac – thought there might be a homophone of ‘table’ (if there is one) in it, or else a V for ‘5’. And I took 25ac to be deliberately ambiguous/equivocal.

    Thanks, Dac – and pleased to hear the good news. And thanks also, John.

  7. Great to see Dac again so soon and very glad to hear the news. This was as good as ever. LASSA was new to me, but beautifully clued. Nice to see UNFRIEND too. I’m all for social media speak creeping into crosswords.

    Thanks to setter and blogger

  8. Glad to see Dac back, and pleased for the good news. Thanks to John for blog too.

    Enjoyed this, but minor quibble on 15d. The republic in question is Chechnya surely. Chechen would be an inhabitant.

  10. Geebs &8, same thought about 15d, but it is often referred to as the Chechen republic so fair enough. And anyway, Dac on the last Wednesday of the month would have been a bonus in DTV days, so good to hear the recovery is going so well and thanks to John for the blog

  11. We’ve only just sat down to look at the puzzle. Dac on top form as far as we are concerned. Came here to check the blog and saw the comment from the man himself.

    Great news Dac!

    Thanks John.

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