Independent 9,676 / Radian

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Radian’s latest puzzle awaited solvers on this rather windy Tuesday morning, windy at least for those of us living in the north of England.

I enjoyed what turned out to be a medium-difficulty puzzle, in my opinion. Radian has clearly had fun peppering the grid with words associated with power and influence, although the solver does not need to be aware of this to complete the puzzle successfully. In the end, I was left with a pair of entries to solve in each of two parts of the grid: the intersecting 8 and 12 in the NE quadrant and the inter-related 4 and 13 in the NW quadrant. I got there in the end, although the expression at 12 in this particular sense was new to me.

My favourite clues today were 4, for sheer ingenuity; 16, for the combination of “BSE” and “pet” in the anagram; and 25, for the clever juxtaposition of “yen” and “marks”.

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across  
   
09 EXECUTIVE Dispatch about four big cheeses

IV (=four, in Roman numerals) in EXECUTE (=dispatch, perform); the big cheeses together form the executive, governing body
   
10 TEETH Saw projections // showing real effectiveness

Double definition: TEETH are the sharp projections on a saw AND a law that has TEETH is a really effective one
   
11 UNEQUAL Not even weird American gives way to English queen

UN-US-UAL (=weird); “American (=US) gives way to English (=E) Queen (=Q, in  cards)” means the letters “us” are replaced by “eq”
   
12 ELECTOR Prince and European minister changing sides

E (=European) + L <for r>ECTOR (=minister); “changing sides” means that the “r” (=right) becomes an “l” (=left); the title of elector was held by such as princes and archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire who had the right to elect the Emperor
   
13 STATE Contents of 4 beginning to disappear, say

<e>STATE (=contents of will, i.e. entry at 4); “beginning to disappear” means first letter is dropped
   
14 SHOWGIRLS Hoofers escort servicemen around wings

SHOW (=escort, usher around) + [R L (=wings, i.e. right and left) in GIs (=servicemen)]; colloquially, hoofers are professional dancers
   
16 THE POWERS THAT BE How BSE threat jars with pet authorities

*(HOW BSE THREAT + PET); “jars'” is anagram indicator
   
19 SUPREMACY Engineers in university reflected Yankee dominance

[RE (=engineers, i.e. Royal Engineers) in SUPMAC (CAMPUS=university; “reflected” is anagram indicator)] + Y (=Yankee, in radio telecommunications)
   
21 MIGHT May in the past // revealed 6

MIGHT is “may” in the past (tense), i.e. as modal verb AND strength (=entry at 6)
   
22 RATTLED How conductor feels when he meets diva at first?

RATTLE (=conductor, i.e. Simon Rattle) + D<iva> (“at first” means first letter only is used; semi- & lit.
   
23 SEMITIC Group of languages using signs and symbols (except O)

SEMI<o>TIC (=using signs and symbols); “except O” means letter “o” is dropped
   
24 LINER Dubliner forgets name for cosmetic

<dub>LINER; “forgets name (=dub, call)” means letters “dub” are dropped
   
25 STAINLESS Go out more often without yen and without marks

STA<y> IN LESS (=go out more often); “without yen (=Y, i.e. unit of currency)” means letter “y” is dropped
   
Down  
   
01 REQUISITES Returns to collect one’s essentials

I’S (=one’s) in REQUITES (=returns, i.e. someone’s feelings, reciprocates)
   
02 LEVERAGE Hold party up a long time

LEVER (REVEL=party; “up” indicates vertical reversal) + AGE (=a long time)
   
03 FUTURE What lies ahead makes you // tense

Double definition: the FUTURE is what lies ahead in life AND a tense in grammar
   
04 WILL Boy // is bound to // leave // drive // with damage

Multiple definition: WILL is a boy, short form of William AND is bound to, shall AND to leave, bequeath AND drive, determination; W (=with) + ILL (=damage)
   
05 GENEROUSLY Display energy and soul with largesse

*(ENERGY + SOUL); “display” is anagram indicator
   
06 STRENGTH Power of small river bordering Grand Hotel

S (=small, in sizes) + [G (=grand, i.e. £1000) in TRENT (=river, in Midlands)] + H (=hotel)
   
07 BETTER Recovered dry ale bottles

TT (=dry, i.e. teetotal) in BEER (=ale)
   
08 THOR US writer ignoring French water deity

THOR<eau> (=US writer, Henry David Thoreau 1817-62); “ignoring French water (=eau, i.e. the French word for water)” means the letters “eau” are dropped
   
14 STEWARDESS Cabin girl set out on minor eastern ship

*(SET) + WARD (=minor, as in a ward of court) + E (=Eastern) + SS (=ship); “out” is anagram indicator; cryptically, a stewardess could be described as a cabin girl in that she works in the cabin of an aircraft
   
15 SCEPTICISM Doubt that is quietly occupying worried 23A

SC. (=that is, scilicet) + [P (=quietly) in *(SEMITIC, i.e. entry at 23A)]; “worried” is anagram indicator
   
17 OVERLORD Master completed choice of old money?

OVER (=completed, done with) + L or D (=choice of old money, i.e. a pound or a penny)
   
18 TOGETHER Turn up in tie at the same time

OG (GO=turn, as in It’s my turn to play; “up” indicates vertical reversal) in TETHER (=tie, e.g. an animal to a post)
   
20 POTENT Persuasive work about headings in Times

PO (OP=work, opus; “about” indicates reversal) + [E N (=headings, i.e. East and North on a compass) in T T (=Times, i.e. 2 x T=time)]
   
21 MOMENT Maureen suggested pulling out a tick

MO (=Maureen, colloquially) + ME<a>NT (=suggested; “pulling out a” means letter “a” is dropped)
   
22 RULE Regret stocking large line

L (=large, in sizes) IN RUE (=regret)
   
23 SWAY Rock, for instance, keeps wicket

W (=wicket, on cricket scorecard) in SAY (=for instance)
   
   

 

9 comments on “Independent 9,676 / Radian”

  2. Thanks, RR, especially for 4dn – answer as well as parsing!

    13ac had to be STATE but I didn’t write it in because I didn’t get the connection with the unsolved – and very clever – 4, so I’m afraid this was a ‘did not finish’.

    Lots of lovely clues – favourite STAINLESS, I think. Many thanks to Radian for an enjoyable puzzle. [And I hope you, as well as Puck, weathered the storm.]

    [RR – I know you meant to write CAMPUS = university in 19ac.]

  3. We struggled in the NW corner but eventually twigged the 4dn/13ac connection which only left us with -E-E-A-E for 2dn but we failed to identify LEVERAGE from the list provided by our wordfinder. We can’t say that we’re very keen on clues where all the checking letters in the answers are vowels.

    But there was plenty to like, including RATTLED, STRENGTH and BETTER, plus the 23ac/15dn and 6dn/21ac connections.

    Thanks, Radian and RatkojaRiku

  4. Finished, but only got WILL after getting STATE and couldn’t parse the former, clearly not the only one. Thanks for the explanation RR. I also had to lookup ELECTOR to see the prince connection. A good workout.

  5. Always enjoy a Radian puzzle, and usually get beaten too. This was no exception, but I did pretty well and spotting the theme helped muchly. Fave clue was 3d for I do like a truism wrapped up in a clue. Cheers to the setter and to RR for the blog.

  6. Most went in without too much trouble but I was held up in the SW and NW. Eventually spotted RATTLED, which I liked, but then hit another roadblock and was about to give up until I finally worked out what was going on with WILL. This was the highlight for me – the first quintuple def. I can remember coming across.

    Thanks to Radian and RR

  7. Thanks, Eileen, for pointing out the typo, now corrected!

    I agree with allan_c about vowels only as checking letters, although I suppose it is just mild annoyance at having my job as solver made that bit harder.

  8. Thanks RR – we needed your help with 20d. We just couldn’t see that N and E were ‘headings’.

    Otherwise, we were fine although we guessed 13ac before we solved 4d.

    All power to Radian’s elbow for an impressive puzzle.

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