Independent on Sunday 1528 Kairos

Thanks to Kairos – not too easy for a relaxing Sunday. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Totter’s tip – “Play cards and pray” (9)

SCRAPYARD : Anagram of(Play) [CARDS plus(and) PRAY].

Defn: A tip/place for dumping unwanted stuff frequented by a totter/a person who makes a living by salvaging saleable discarded items.

6 Passage in left part of church (5)

LAPSE : L(abbrev. for “left”) + APSE(part of church, specifically, a recess with a domed roof).

Defn: …/interval of time.

9 Record travelling back in canoe with divers (5)

VIDEO : Hidden in(… in) reversal of(travelling back) [“canoe ” plus(with) “divers “].

Defn: … of moving visual images with audio.

10 Reportedly heard no-good ostler in trial venue (9)

COURTROOM : Homophone of(Reportedly) “caught”(heard/picked up something said) + “groom”(ostler/one employed to groom/look after the horses of guests staying at an inn) minus(no-…) “g”(abbrev. for “good”)

11 Tyneside author extremely short gets credit facility (5-5)

NEVER-NEVER : NE(abbrev. for “Northeast”, in the context of England, the region that includes Tyneside) + VERNE(Jules, the French author) + “very”(extremely/to a large degree) minus its last letter(short).

12 Complete beginner returns for gift (4)

BOON : Reversal of(… returns) NOOB(a complete beginner/inexperienced person in a particular activity, especially computing – from “newbie”).

14 Jazz fan behind push to get American skunk (7)

POLECAT : CAT(slang for a jazz fan/enthusiast) placed after(behind) POLE(to push/propel a boat by, well, pushing a pole against the bottom of a river, canal, or lake).

Defn: In the US, a term used for a skunk, which is, however, only distantly related to the polecat.

15 Excessive hint about award (3,4)

TOO MUCH : TOUCH(a hint/a trace/a small amount of) containing(about) OM(abbrev. for the Order of Merit, an award from the English Sovereign).

17 Dancing with North African around bar (7)

TAPROOM : TAP(tap dancing/a form of dance where a dancer makes a tapping sound with his/her shoes) plus(with) reversal of(… around) MOOR(a member of a North African Muslim people).

19 Pointed article removed from official (7)

CONICAL : “an”(an article in grammar) deleted from(removed from) “canonical”(according to approved and recognised rules/official, such as canon law)

20 Champion in the rotunda (4)

HERO : Hidden in(in) “the rotunda“.

22 Trump’s dressed in tailored timelessly cute red coat (10)

ACCOUTERED : Anagram of(tailored) [ “cute red coat” minus(…lessly) “t”(abbrev. for “time”) ].

Defn: How an American, like this Trump (certainly cuter than the other one), will spell “accoutred”/dressed in something noticeable or impressive … say, a “cute red coat”:

25 Pieces of software for gas and electricity companies? (9)

UTILITIES : Double defn: 1st: Programs that perform specific tasks to enhance a computer system’s efficiency or effectiveness, such as data recovery, virus detection, etc.; and 2nd: Companies that own and/or operate facilities used for generation and transmission and distribution of utilities, ie. electricity, gas and water, to the general public.

26 Learner welcomed by second chess player (5)

BLACK : L(as displayed by a learner driver) contained in(welcomed by) BACK(to second/to endorse).

Defn: … denoted by the colour of the pieces he/she plays against the white ones.

27 Picture of Kairos with Melchior? (5)

IMAGE : I(self-referential pronoun for the setter of this puzzle, Kairos) plus(with) MAGE(alternative term for a magus, an example of which/? is Melchior, one of the three biblical Magi who bore gifts to the baby Jesus).

28 Festival regularly endears resident of New Jersey? (9)

EASTERNER : EASTER(the Christian festival) + 2nd, 4th and 6th letters of(regularly) “endears“.

Defn: A resident of the east of a region or country, an example of which/? is one in New Jersey, a state in the eastern USA.

Down

1 Film Swedish manager touring Spain (5)

SEVEN : SVEN(-Goran Eriksson, football manager, for a time, of the English national team) containing(touring) E(the international registration code for vehicles from Spain).

2 Communist has to hide missing nationalist in overhaul (9)

REDEVELOP : RED(term for a Communist) plus(has) “envelop”(to cover/to wrap around/to hide) minus(missing) “n”(abbrev. for “nationalist”).

3 Instrument to stretch out the rank and file (10)

PROTRACTOR : PROTRACT(to stretch out/to prolong) + OR(abbrev. for “other ranks”, the non-commissioned personnel/the rank and file in the military).

… gone digital.

4 Old Anglo-Norman church holds single part of the bible (7)

ANCIENT : AN(in French , a form of which is Norman, abbrev. for “Anglais”, French for English/Anglo – a guess, as I couldn’t find justification for “AN” as an abbrev. for “Anglo-Norman”) + CE(abbrev. for the Church of England) containing(holds) I(Roman numeral for “one”/single) + NT(abbrev. for the New Testament, part of the bible).

5 Grimmest earl arrested by Tudors in revolt (7)

DOUREST : E(abbrev. for “earl”, a nobleman) contained in(arrested by) anagram of(… in revolt) TUDORS.

6 Allows Westside gang leader to change (4)

LETS : “Jets”(the teenage gang in the musical, West Side Story, rivals of the Sharks) with its 1st letter(leader) replaced(to change).

7 Picture instruction to reader to embrace prostitute (5)

PHOTO : PTO(abbrev. for “please turn over”, an instruction at the end of a page for a reader to turn overleaf) containing(to embrace) HO(slang for “prostitute”, from “whore”).

8 Melt ham and nearly new processed cheese (9)

EMMENTHAL : Anagram of(… processed) [ MELT HAM plus(and) last letter deleted from(nearly) “new” ].

13 The French footing drinks bill for meeting (5,5)

ROUND TABLE : LE(French for “the”, the article) placed below(footing, in a down clue) [ROUND TAB](what one might term the bill/tab for a round of drinks).

14 Cover heads of old Ukrainian ladies in essential oil (9)

PATCHOULI : PATCH(a piece covering a small area, such as an eyepatch, or an elbow patch) + 1st letters, respectively, of(heads of) “old Ukrainian ladies in“.

Defn: … used in perfumery, insecticides and medicine.

16 True Incan sacrificed in the lap of the gods (9)

UNCERTAIN : Anagram of(… sacrificed) TRUE INCAN.

Defn: Refering to an outcome that depends on chance or uncontrollable factors.

18 Switzerland intervening in state’s political organisation (7)

MACHINE : CH(the ISO code for Switzerland) contained in(intervening in) MAINE(state in the USA).

19 Goes over religious symbols (7)

CROSSES : Double defn: …, say, a road or river; and 2nd: … in Christianity.

21 Portrait artist eats Indian food (5)

RAITA : Hidden in(… eats) “Portrait artist“.

23 Capital of Germany with a king and a queen (5)

DAKAR : D(the international registration code for vehicles from Germany) plus(with) A + K(abbrev. for “king”, in chess notation) plus(and) A + R(abbrev. for “Regina”/Queen).

Defn: … city of Senegal.

24 Notes occasion (4)

TIME : TI,ME(2 of the notes in the sol-fa system of naming the notes in a musical scale).

Defn: An instance of something happening or being done.