Independent 9329 / Eccles

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I think Eccles is a new setter as I can’t find him on a search of the fifteensquared website.

 

 

 

I started this fairly quickly in the North West corner but I then slowed down a bit before finally finishing off in the South West corner.

There seemed to me to be some very basic clues – e.g. 23 down for RESIN and the double definitions for SPIDER [16 across] and EXACT [3 down], but there were also some clues requiring a bit of lateral thinking such as those for PERPETRATE [22 across] and SOLEMN [25 across].  I particularly liked the hiding of the definition in the clue for SOLEMN

There were surprisingly few anagrams and no reversals in the wordplay, not that that is a problem.  It’s just slightly unusual.

I’m not a fan of ‘retail’ as a direction to change the last letter of a word, but I am sure that there will be many who like it.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Entry

1

 

Ready to go wearing the latest clothing (2,4)

 

IN (in fashion; latest;  also alludes to wearing [clothes]) + GEAR (clothing)

 

IN GEAR (if the car is IN GEAR, it is ready to move)

 

5

 

Notices everybody at last leaving to have a game of bridge, perhaps (8)

 

PLAY CARDS (have a game of bridge perhaps) excluding (leaving) Y (last letter of [at last] EVERYBODY)

 

PLACARDS (notices)

 

9

 

Mentor a new criminal accessory (8)

 

Anagram of (criminal) MENTOR A and N (new)

ORNAMENT*

ORNAMENT (accessory)

 

10

 

Disprove theory of official language of North America (6)

 

REF (referee; official) + UTE (language of a North American people of the same name)

 

REFUTE (disprove [theory of])

 

11

 

Be relieved by reason to go to the butcher’s? (3,3,4)

 

GET THE CHOP (descriptive of a reason to go to the butcher to get some meat)

 

GET THE CHOP (be fired; be relieved)

 

12

 

Retail therapy with time short (4)

 

Change E the last letter of (re-tail [ugh!]) CURE (therapy) to T (time)  

 

CURT (short)

 

13

 

Unfinished conversation with a working escort (8)

 

CHAT (conversation) excluding the final letter (unfinished) T + PER (a) + ON (working)

 

CHAPERON (person [especially an older woman] who accompanies a girl or young woman to social events for protection, restraint, or appearance’s sake; escort)

 

16

 

Creature‘s rest by table (6)

 

SPIDER (rest for a cue in billiards or snooker; rest by table)

 

SPIDER (creature)  double definition

 

17

 

Stick promotion in this place (6)

 

AD (advertisement; promotion) + HERE (in this place)

 

ADHERE (stick)

 

19

 

Businesses crazy to produce fruit (8)

 

(CO [company; business] + CO [company; business] to give businesses) + NUTS (crazy)

 

COCONUTS (fruit: Wikipedia tells me that COCONUTS can be classified as nuts, fruit or seeds)

 

21

 

Setters’ internet phenomenon (4)

 

(ME [setter] + ME [setter] to give setters)

 

MEME ( idea or question that is disseminated via the Internet and changes in form during the course of being passed on; internet phenomenon)

 

22

 

Be responsible for a vet’s system of charges? (10)

 

PER PET RATE (the RATE [charge] for each [PER] PET; a vet’s system of charges)

 

PERPETRATE (commit or execute; be responsible for)

 

25

 

August 1, 1000 – Norman’s first meeting (6)

 

SOLE (one; 1) + M (Roman numeral for 1000) + N (first letter of [first] NORMAN)  I think meeting is just a word to indicate all the bits of wordplay go together and it also adds sense to the surface)

 

SOLEMN (august)

 

26

 

Fragment of glass as singular agent of murder (8)

 

ASSASSIN (hidden word in [fragment of] GLASS AS SINGULAR)

 

ASSASSIN (person who, usually for a fee or reward, or for political reasons, kills by surprise or secretly; agent of murder)

 

27

 

Sweatier pants, so to speak (2,2,4)

 

Anagram of (pants) SWEATIER

AS IT WERE*

AS IT WERE (so to speak)

 

28

 

Watch Sweden’s contestant (6)

 

S (international Vehicle Registration for Sweden) + ENTRY (contestant)

 

SENTRY (watch or guard kept by such a designated soldier, etc)

 
Down

2

 

Never shakes bottle (5)

 

Anagram of (shakes) NEVER

NERVE*

NERVE (cool courage; bottle)

 

3

 

Specific demand (5)

 

EXACT precise; (specific)

 

EXACT (demand)  double definition

 

4

 

Animal groomed regularly – expensive we hear (3,4)

 

ROE (letters 2, 4 and 6 [regularly] of GROOMED) + DEER (sounds like [we hear] DEAR [expensive])

 

ROE DEER (animal)

 

5

 

Do your bit, and mine, with punch (5,2)

 

PIT (mine) + CHIN (strike [punch] on the CHIN)

 

PITCH IN (join in, co-operate; do your bit)

 

6

 

A very large rest in between is pertinent (7)

 

PROP (support; rest) contained in (in between) (A + OS [outsize; very large])

A (PROP) OS

APROPOS (pertinent)

 

7

 

Pretence – not a time for love (9)

 

AFFECTATION (pretence) excluding (not) (A + T [time])

 

AFFECTION (love)

 

8

 

Cleaner put off respectable man (9)

 

DETER (put off) + GENT (GENTleman; respectable man)

 

DETERGENT (cleansing agent; cleaner)

 

14

 

That man would finally bring morphine – enough to drug small mammals (9)

 

HE’D (that man would) + GEHOG (last letters [finally] of each of BRING, MORPHINE, ENOUGH, TO and DRUG) + S (small)

 

HEDGEHOGS (mammals)

 

15

 

What Zechariah and Malachi do, for example (9)

 

PRECEDE NT (PRECEDE the New Testament).  Zechariah and Malachi were two of the minor prophets who wrote in dates before Christ, therefore they PRECEDE the New testament

 

PRECEDENT (a prior example)

 

18

 

Stretch of river hosting searches for gold (7)

 

EXE (reference River EXE) containing (hosting) (PANS [searches for gold])

EX (PANS) E

EXPANSE (stretch)

 

19

 

Ran around in enclosed area, creating havoc (7)

 

Anagram of (around) RAN contained in (in) CAGE (enclosed area)

C (ARN*) AGE

CARNAGE (havoc)  I think CARNAGE (butchery, murder, slaughter etc) implies something more serious than just havoc

 

20

 

Stops cuddling rector, and falls about laughing (7)

 

CEASES (stops) containing (cuddling) R (rector)

C (R) EASES

CREASES (doubles up with laughter; falls about laughing)

 

23

 

Maybe lust again for Amber? (5)

 

RE SIN (sin again; lust again)

 

RESIN (yellowish fossil resin)

 

24

 

Queen abandons dog in German city (5)

 

TERRIER (dog) excluding (abandons) ER (Elizabeth Regina; queen)

 

TRIER (city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle)

 

13 comments on “Independent 9329 / Eccles”

  2. Hearty congratulations Eccles on your debut puzzle! Well done!

    I started off very quickly at the top but a fair bit of thinking required later on.

    I particularly liked CURT, PERPETRATE, SOLEMN, AS IT WERE, PRECEDENT and RESIN

    I also liked the surface for CHAPERON

    Look forward to seeing more!

  3. Thank you Eccles and duncanshiell.

    An enjoyable puzzle, the clues for IN GEAR, MEME, PERPETRATE, ASSASSIN, and SOLEMN, along with many others, were fun.
    I could not understand SPIDER, not being a billiard or snooker player.

    I, too, am looking forward to the next one.

  4. Going along very nicely until I became stuck for ages in the SW corner, with SOLEMN being my last in and favourite clue. Plenty to like elsewhere though including PERPETRATE, PRECEDENT and the ‘Sweatier pants…’ in 27.

    Thanks to Duncan and Eccles

  5. Like yesterday, this was pitched at just the right level for me. As it happens, the NE corner was where I finished, possibly because I realised I had problems in the SW and concentrated on getting that out of the way first.

    Incidentally, surely in 15dn, the point is that Zechariah and Malachi are the last two books of the Old Testament so in a bible, they actually do precede the New Testament.

  6. Very good – enjoyed it. SOLEMN was my last in, but the puzzle was just right for a Dac ‘replacement’ – all fairly clued with some good surfaces.

    DETERGENT is a bit of a chestnut, but I did like AS IT WERE and PRECEDENT. And thanks to Dormouse for pointing out the subtlety of the latter.

    Well done, Eccles and thanks to Duncan for the blog.

  8. A new setter to me, though apparently known in some circles; now about to become ‘The Famous Eccles’?

    This was tough in places, particularly the NE corner for me. I think the ‘re-tail’ device is perfectly acceptable in the case of 12ac because of the ‘retail therapy’ surface reading; I wouldn’t be too keen on it in any other context. I also struggled with 11ac, getting it into my head that the definition was “butcher’s” (butcher’s hook = look) and the answer had to be SEE THE -H–; a facepalm moment when the penny dropped.

    CoD was SOLEMN, with APROPOS a close second.

    Thanks, Eccles and Duncan

  9. Thanks Eccles, just right for me too. My solve must have been the reverse of Duncan’s – I liked “retail”, and SPIDER was my last one in. Something for everyone, it seems!

  10. Lots of good gags in there – many thanks Eccles and congratulations on your debut with the Indy.
    Started readily enough in NW corner and sort of swung round ever more slowly anticlockwise with LOI being, like Cyborg, SPIDER.
    Particularly liked PLACARDS,PERPTRATE, SOLEMN, ASSASSIN, HEDGEHOGS and PRECEDENT.

  11. Well Duncan perhaps 16ac was trivially easy but I didn’t find it so. There are an awful lot of creatures and it wasn’t a doddle to isolate the definition.

  12. Thank you for the review, Duncan. Debut indeed, so thanks to all for being gentle. Up against a corker from Julius, too.

  13. We’re late solving this one as we were in transit most of Tuesday and have been trying to catch up ever since.

    The first two went in quickly but we were then slowed down by some excellent clueing. We couldn’t agree about retail however – Bert in favour, Joyce against.

    Thanks to Duncan for the as ever comprehensive blog. Congratulations to Eccles on your debut and we look forward to the next.

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