Independent on Sunday 1,521/21 April

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Dutch made his debut as an setter for the Independent just over two years ago, but this is the first time we have bumped into each other on my blogging day. Fits the bill well for a Sindy puzzle: tractable, solver-friendly grid, no real obscurities. Well done, that man.

 

 

 

Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed

definitions are underlined

 

Across

1 Two fantasies involving twenty French hunks basically doing everything you want
LIVING THE DREAM
I think this is an insertion of VINGT (‘twenty French’) and H in LIE and DREAM, ‘two fantasies’. I’m slightly uncomfortable with ‘basically’ as a first letter indicator (if indeed I have parsed it correctly) and with the fact that VINGT and H are in fact inserted into only one fantasy, the first one.

10 Bug-like bites
TAPAS
A charade of TAP and AS gives you the Spanish nibbles (well, okay, posh nibbles).

11 Name Dutch hit single
UNMATCHED
Didn’t realise our setter had produced one. (NAME DUTCH)* with ‘hit’ as the anagrind.

12 Leak needed during regressing bar session
BOOZE UP
An insertion of OOZE in PUB reversed.

13 Round woman’s in special movie
SPHERIC
An insertion of HER in S and PIC.

14 Be first to go after divorcee?
EXIST
IST for 1st or ‘first’ follows EX. Great surface.

16 Finally realise who in Brussels said it’s indefinite
EQUIVOCAL
Setters have had some stuff to work with given all this Brexit malarkey, haven’t they? A charade of E for the last letter of ‘realise’, QUI, and VOCAL. There are three official languages in Belgium, and Brussels is essentially bilingual, so QUI as the French word for ‘who’ works perfectly well to allow the setter to get ‘Brussels’ into the surface.

19 Dean for one is creakiest when well-oiled
ICE-SKATER
(CREAKIEST)* Referencing Christopher Dean, the skater who partnered Jayne Torvill. Their gold medal winning, maximum points performance to Ravel’s Boléro in Sarajevo in 1984 is a thing of great beauty.

20 Loves running around pinching sister
NURSE
Hidden reversed in lovES RUNning.

22 Drama writer’s device to capture the young
PLAYPEN
A charade of PLAY and PEN.

25 Format for European gig to become increasingly steamy
FOGGIER
(FOR E GIG)* with ‘format’ as the (verbal) anagrind.

27 A phoney with no sex life
ANIMATION
A charade of AN and IM[IT]ATION. The ‘sex’ for ‘it’ device.

28 Graphic expression using exclamation mark, or just italic capitals
EMOJI
The first letters of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth words of the clue. I use one exclamation mark a year and have never used an emoji in my life. Never will.

29 I seek handsome United fans for joint tenderness
HOUSEMAIDS KNEE
(I SEEK HANDSOME U)*

Down

2 To play by ear is better entertaining
IMPROVISE
An insertion of IS into IMPROVE.

3 Children matter
ISSUE
A dd.

4 Terribly upset, grim and extremely surly
GRUMPIEST
Dutch must have known that I’d be blogging to have included the personality traits outlined in my Fifteensquared job description. (UPSET GRIM)*

5 Rider bears unpleasant smell that camels have
HUMPS
Since it’s a down clue, HUM over PS. The setter might cop some criticism from the cryptic grammar police about the way the definition is written.

6 Strong pot – perhaps from Amsterdam range
DUTCH OVEN
The reference is to drugs, but the kitchenware is indeed a ‘strong pot’, and Dutch is whimsically suggesting it might be part of a range of such items from the Netherlands.

7 Type of chemical bonds not involving outer shell
ETHER
[T]ETHER[S]

8 Test for health food that contains mainly mince
MEDICAL
An insertion of DIC[E] in MEAL.

9 Bygone leader wearing musty uniform
STABLE
An insertion (‘wearing’) of B for the first letter of ‘bygone’ in STALE.

15 Peace talks mostly failing to happen
TAKE PLACE
(PEACE TALK[S])*

17 Rough peacekeepers about to get penalised
UNREFINED
A charade of UN, RE and FINED.

18  No vegan feast lacks a litre of rye, oddly
CARNIVORE
Dutch is asking you to take A and L out of CARNIV[AL] and add O, R and E for the odd letters of OfRyE.

19 Flibbertigibbet – a person to call into question
IMPEACH
A charade of IMP and EACH (‘£10 each/a person for entry’) but I’m not convinced IMP and ‘flibbertigibbet’ are the same sort of animal. Not in my house, anyway.

21 Eavesdrop to try and understand without introductions
EARWIG
A charade of [H]EAR and [T]WIG.

23 Notice one at the centre queued for so long
ADIEU
A charade of AD, I and EU for the central letters of ‘queued’.

24 Advance under half of ascendant Nigerian’s money
NAIRA
Clever. Since it’s a down clue, it’s A for ‘advance’ under NAIR for half of ‘Nigerian’ reversed (‘ascendant’). The clever bit is that the the NAIRA is not just any ‘money’, but the currency of Nigeria.

26 European government’s right response to scare tactics
GREEK
A charade of G, R and EEK.  I should have put an exclamation mark at the end of EEK but I have used this year’s already.

Many thanks to Dutch for the Sunday morning solve. Goed gedaan, Meneer.

19 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,521/21 April”

  1. Great puzzle with really witty surfaces. As an old currency lag, I wrote in NAIRA straight away but I think A is only really suitable as an abbreviation for ADVANCED (as in A-level). Top clue for GREEK; plenty more besides.

    many thanks to Dutch & Pierre, and happy Easter

  2. Spotted a pangram was on the cards (it is! I use exclamation marks excessively) which did help me in the NW.

    Agree with all comments made by Pierre and baerchen although I didn’t mind the placing of the insertion in 1a.

    Thanks to all.

  5. Lovely puzzle, 29a classic Dutch, put me in mind of his shower curtain clue, one of the clues of the year last year for me. A = advance is in Chambers, as well as advanced, although I can’t think why.

    Thanks to Dutch and Pierre.

  6. As a currency ignoramus, NAIRA was my last in, half-guessed, half-helped by the wordplay.

    Very pleasant solve with ANIMATION and the ‘device to capture the young’ my favourite bits.

    The pangram capped everything off nicely.

    Thanks to Pierre and Dutch.

  7. Apologies for missing 18d (and thanks to Dilip for the spot).  Added now.

    Pangram?  What pangram?  You’ll be expecting me to spot ninas next.

  8. A very fine pangram for a very fine Easter Sunday with smooth surfaces throughout and nice touches  of humour.

    I particularly liked 10a & 11a, but there were lots more goodies on offer.

    Many thanks to Dutch and to Pierre.

  9. Great crossword; I even spotted the pangram.

    Lots of Dutch about and many fine clues. I ticked TAPAS, BOOZE UP, EQUIVOCAL, HOUSEMAID’S KNEE, IMPROVISE, ETHER, MEDICAL, EARWIG & GREEK. And there were several more that were really entertaining.

    I couldn’t spot any eggs or rabbits here, though.

  11. Someone commented a few weeks back that certain setters seem to think we are all a nation of solvers who love to solve clues that are full of innuendo, drug references or less tasteful stuff.

    Count me out.  An occasional one fine, but the need to overegg the pudding ruins the puzzle for me. When I want it, I do the Private Eye crossword where Cyclops does it so much better, and have won a couple of prizes.  Do I want it in my daily puzzles?  Nope.

  12. Nice to see you back in the setter’s chair, Dutch.

    Top two for me in this puzzle were 22a & 17d – I could do with one of the former for the impending visit of my young grandson……….

    Thanks for the puzzle and thanks to Pierre for the blog.   I’d have to give up writing if someone restricted me to using only one exclamation mark per year!

  13. jane @ 12: if Dutch is in the setter’s chair, does that make us the settee(s)? Asking for a friend…

  14. Excellent puzzle and much appreciated. Spotted the pangram which was a help at the finish.

    Thanks Dutch and Pierre.

  15. Many thanks Pierre for a kind and excellent review and thanks all for your comments, all highly appreciated.

    For what it’s worth, in 6d the intention was to have wordplay: perhaps from amsterdam=dutch, range=oven, with the whole surface referring to drugs rather than kitchenware. Did anyone at all parse it that way?

    cheers and thanks

    dutch

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