Independent 10137 by Eccles

by

The very satisfactory and enjoyable production that we have come to expect from Eccles. A good collection of convincing surfaces.

Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.

No apparent theme, but I haven’t looked hard since however hard I tend to look it doesn’t make much difference.

Across
1 ALL-EMBRACING What Wally is doing is affecting everyone (3-9)
‘Wally’ embraces ‘all’
9 MONSIGNOR Priest‘s sermons ignored, somewhat (9)
Hidden in serMONS IGNORed
10 IDIOT Stupid dictator’s extremely overconfident (5)
Idi [as in Amin] o{verconfiden}t — stupid could be a noun, as in ‘what a stupid I am’, or both stupid and idiot could be verbs [adjectives of course, as has been pointed out.  Silly mistake.]
11 NON-DOM Johnny about to be kicked out by nationalist in exile (3-3)
condom [johnny] with c replaced by n. The usual sexual Indy stuff.
12 CINEASTE Film fan apoplectic in East End screening (8)
Hidden in apoplectiC IN EAST End
13 STURDY Substantial scrapyard split into three parts! (6)
I think this is s [s] crap [turd] yard [y]
15 PHEASANT Affable Henry replaces learner in game (8)
pleasant with H replacing l — only obvious after solving since as the clue is written it could be a word for a game with H replacing l in it, such as ludo becoming hudo, and the definition ‘Affable’
18 INCURRED Experienced where you might find cheesy lumps, say? (8)
“in curd” is where you might find the cheesy lumps
19 PAPERS Documentation of poor people not suitable for everyone (6)
pa{u}pers — the u being U, the film classification
21 FRUMPISH Seek compliments about backside, becoming dowdy (8)
f(rump)ish
23 DAMSEL Young girl beginning to deliver cooked meals (6)
d{eliver} *(meals)
26 MOURN Keen on rum being drunk (5)
(on rum)*
27 CATATONIC In a stupor, Kitty gets a boost (9)
cat a tonic
28 MAKE-UP ARTIST One who prepares an actor to be a really good liar? (4-2,6)
2 defs
Down
1 ALMONDS Nearly, nearly accepting new director is nuts (7)
almo(n D)s{t}
2 LINEN Fifty-nine folded tablecloths? (5)
L (nine)*
3 MAIL ORDER According to hearsay, chap’s degree obtained by post (4,5)
“male” order [degree]
4 RAND Organised Duke’s money in Cape Town (4)
ran [organised] D — the South African currency
5 CORNICHE My specialism is building a coastal road (8)
cor! [my!] niche [specialism]
6 NAIVE Trusting mother to have temperature taken (5)
na{t}ive [native = mother]
7 MISSTATE Incorrectly claim to be late for gallery (8)
miss [be late for, as in miss the bus] Tate
8 STREET In this way, soprano leaves producer tense (6)
S [soprano] tree [a producer of leaves, and nothing to do, as I had thought, with Herbert Beerbohm Tree, the actor-manager] T
14 UNCTUOUS Sycophantic global organisation caught out over America (8)
UN c (out)rev. US
16 ALABASTER Are basalt rocks gypsum? (9)
(Are basalt)*
17 VERSICLE Criminal is clever, getting short sentence (8)
*(is clever) — it looks as if Eccles has consulted Collins
18 INFAMY At home with relatives, I left covered in disgrace (6)
in [at home] family [relatives] with the ‘il’ covered up (at least that’s my take on it)
20 SOLICIT At first, sex and love legal to offer in return for money (7)
s{ex} 0 licit
22 PANDA Father’s letters for fussy eater (5)
The letters of ‘pa’ are p and a — I never knew pandas were fussy eaters but this website seems to support that view
24 SINAI Mountain sloths? (5)
The two sloths are sin, of the seven deadly sins, and ai (the maned, tree or three-toed sloth)
25  STOP Prevent second murder (4)
s top [slang word for murder]

*anagram

13 comments on “Independent 10137 by Eccles”

  1. Always enjoy an Eccles puzzle. Glad I didn’t write in ALL-INCLUSIVE for 1a and waited until I had a few crossers. RAND quickly put paid to that option.

    Missed the parsing for STREET. Drat! Thought there must be some producer named Strese or Strees that I’d never heard of.

    Thanks to Eccles and to John.

  2. I thought this was absolutely excellent with concise accurate cluing and great surfaces throughout.  I did sigh slightly at 13a – it’s a very clever clue but in my opinion not suitable for inclusion in a daily paper.  I couldn’t parse 24d, so I was very grateful for John’s elucidation of this – another very clever clue – which, with hindsight, gets my vote as favourite.

    My page is littered with far too many ticks to list them all.

    Many thanks to Eccles and to John.

  3. Hovis@1 – I started with a tentative ALL-CONSUMING before RAND sorted me out. I didn’t parse STURDY or SINAI – good to be reminded about the AI as I’d quite forgotten about it. I also bunged in NON-COM without thinking. I’d never heard of CINEASTE or VERSICLE but both were clearly clued. It’s my first Eccles puzzle and I look forward to the next one. Thanks to him/her and John.

  4. Despite remembering the three-toed sloth, I couldn’t parse SINAI either, but wish I had been able to. Very good. I thought STURDY and NON-DOM were both clever and amusing and for me anyway, not too naughty or offensive.

    I liked the clue for VERSICLE which was a new word to boot.

    Thanks to Eccles and John

  5. Uncanny @3WhiteKing – I had exactly the same experience with ALL-CONSUMING (bunged in confidently) and NON-COM (didn’t know NON-DOM), also didn’t pass STURDY and SINAI.

    Nevertheless all enjoyable, though I query the grammar in the wording of the IDIOT clue – John, you didn’t really mean stupid and idiot could be verbs?

    Thanks to Eccles and John

  8. Best daily puzzle I’ve seen for a long time. Watertight clueing with some really clever misdirection. STURDY is brilliant and high honours for MOURN, MAKE UP ARTIST, STREET and ALABASTER.

    Eccles is going to have his work cut out to top this with his next one!

  9. Some entertaining moments during the solve – thanks Eccles! If you make it to Leicester for the S&B, we will buy you a drink for 13ac and 8d.

    Thanks to John for the blog.

  10. Many thanks for the blog and the comments.  I realised 1a might have alternative answers, but failed to think of one.  Thanks Cruciverbophile! Can’t promise, but will do my best. B&J, I will be at Leicester, but probably not until later.  If too late, I will have to pop into your local one Sunday to claim my drink – I pass through very frequently.

  11. Sorry to sound a slightly sour note, but whilst we found this good we can’t go OTT about it. 15ac is our main grumble: to us the clue is asking for a word meaning “affable”, not an example of game. But thanks, Eccles and John.

  12. Thanks to John and Eccles

    I thoroughly enjoyed this but several constructions were not worthy of a setter of this calibre. ALL CONSUMING, and ALL INCLUSIVE are valid answers, especially ALL INCLUSIVE as WALLY does not embrace ALL – WY does. With NON-DOM we have C for ABOUT being KICKED OUT but nothing to suggest that N for nationalist must replace it – only that it is doing the kicking. I know that A for B is a bit of a giveaway but the device should have some sort of replacement indicator. The appearance of TURD in an entry seems to have caused an irresistible urge to make a schoolboy reference to it but this has resulted in a very easy clue. If you SEEK compliments you FISH for them, FISH here simply means SEEK. You may also FISH for information, vulnerabilities and many other things.

    5a IS BUILDING – redundant and misleading (NOT misdirecting)

    18a I LEFT “covered” produces INFAM  Y

    All that said Eccles is becoming one of my favourite setters.

     

  13. Very late to this, but we enjoyed tackling this one in the pub. My favourite was STURDY.

    Thanks to Eccles and John

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