Independent 9,328 by Punk

by

Punk has favoured us with a delightful little crossword today.  Just right for a daily cryptic. He has another incarnation, as Mudd in the FT, and I once posted on the blog of one of his puzzles to say that we don’t always appreciate how good he is. This crossword does nothing to change my view.

Definitions underlined, in maroon.

At a cursory glance I counted eleven clues that are connected with horses. But my suspicion is that this isn’t all.

Across
8 DERRIÈRES Riders e’er reckless as those upon the saddle? (9)
(Riders e’er)*
10 GHANA Horse caught by a horse back in the country (5)
h in (a nag)rev.
11 INCOG Characters at the back in Saudi Arabian music video twerking under assumed names (5)
{Saud}i {Arabia}n {musi}c {vide}o {twerkin}g
12 PRESIDENT Commander in chief available to embrace Independence Day, for starters (9)
pres(I D)ent — ‘commander in chief’ seems a bit strong: there are plenty of presidents of organisations who are not commanders-in-chief so I should have thought a ‘perhaps’ or something like that was necessary
13 THIRSTY Figure drinking first of sherries, dry (7)
thir(s{herries})ty
15 DIORAMA Little scene, as Christian priest drops cap (7)
Dior [as in Christian Dior] {l}ama
17 HAGGARD Rider, evidently weary? Difficult to grip a horse (7)
I think it’s one definition and then two bits of wordplay: evidently weary, ‘evidently’ I suppose because to look haggard is the result of being weary; and h(a gg)ard
19 PANACHE Style required long past eternal youth (7)
Pan ache. the ‘past’ indicating that it comes second
21 MEDULLA Punk on grey with a bit of a brain (7)
me dull a — Punk is the setter of this crossword, the writer
23 PIEBALD Horse able to manoeuvre during swim, doing the backstroke? (7)
(able)* in (dip)rev.
25 CELESTIAL Divine end to piece captured by a cellist in rhapsody (9)
{piec}e in (a cellist)*, the anagram indicated by ‘in rhapsody’
27 WAGON Continue to shake as a carriage (5)
wag on — go on wagging
28 OBAMA Old US state, not in the style of 12 (5)
o {Ala}bama — 12 = PRESIDENT
29   See 26 Down
Down
1 ADRIFT Notice split is wide of the mark (6)
ad [= notice] rift [= split]
2 CRACKING Breaking up is great (8)
2 defs
3 WING Hen bit some sparrow in garden (4)
Hidden in sparroW IN Garden — a wing is a bit of a hen
4 TROPHY Old war horse’s place to claim local prize (6)
Tro(PH)y — the old war horse’s place is Troy, it being the Trojan horse
5 UGLI Fruit far from a peach, we hear? (4)
“ugly” — far from beautiful
6 FAVELA Preferred US city, seeing Brazilian shantytown (6)
fave LA
7 RAG TRADE Selling of clothes, classic in fashion (3,5)
rag(trad)e
9 SPEED UP Drugs at an increased level, put your foot down (5,2)
speed [= drugs] up [= at an increased level]
14 SNAIL L’Escargot caught up by Italian stallion (5)
Hidden reversed in ItaLIAN Stallion — escargot is the French for snail
16 OUNCE Cat in Australia, briefly? (5)
Australia briefly is Oz, and oz. is short for ounce
17 HAM ACTOR Player ideally taken off – or a match abandoned? (3,5)
(or a match)*
18 DIARIST Frank, perhaps, in frightful joint, loosely speaking? (7)
“dire wrist” — Frank Harris was a writer most famous for his sexually-explicit diary My Life and Loves — it looks as if the policy here is to say ‘perhaps’ when it’s a first name (as here) but not when it’s a second name (as in ‘Christian’ in 15ac) — I’m not sure why or whether this is the universally approved system
20 CHARGERS Horses caught Shergar far from stable (8)
c (Shergar)* — the anagram indicated by ‘far from stable’
22 DALLAS Everyone breaking down upset, in US city (6)
all in (sad)rev. — ‘breaking’ the inclusion indicator, ‘upset’ the reversal i.
23 PULLET Chicken – don’t push it through one’s ears! (6)
“pull it” — the homonym indicated by ‘through one’s ears’ — if you don’t push it you pull it
24 DANCER European houses chuffed at first with Russian principal in Nijinsky, perhaps? (6)
Dan(c{huffed})e R{ussian} — ‘houses’ a verb, the containment indicator — Nijinsky wasn’t just a horse
26/29 STAY THE COURSE Chasers out, yet to beat Never Say Die (4,3,6)
(Chasers out yet)*
27 WHOA Wild horse overly accelerating initially – stop! (4)
W{ild} h{orse} o{verly} a{ccelerating}

*anagram

8 comments on “Independent 9,328 by Punk”

  3. I agree with commenters 1 and 2 as to the writers Punk wanted us to remember.

    A splendid crossword with lots to smile at so thank you to Punk and John

  5. Not as tricky as Picaroon in today’s Graun, but every bit as enjoyable (and that’s saying something)
    Thanks to Punk and John

  6. Just about right for me, this one. I agree about Frank and Haggard (the latter an author I seem to have quite a few books by).

  7. I had a go at this after reading John’s preamble, glad I did. Very enjoyable. I could not explain OUNCE, and I am kicking myself now. Australia = OZ, of course!

    Thanks to John and Punk.

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