Independent 10,264 / Serpent

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Serpent has provided our cruciverbal entertainment this Thursday morning, on a grid leaving scope for a Nina.

I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, which gave me a good workout as a solver and an even better one as a blogger, since I found some of the wordplay a challenge to parse, e.g. at 9, 15 and 24. However, I think that I got there in the end, with the entries at 9 and 11 (in the sense used here) both being new to me.

I had spotted the potential for some kind of Nina across the top and bottom rows, and when I solved 14, it helped me to fill in the missing letters of its author and solve some of the remaining clues.

My favourite clues today were 12, 16 and 25, all for surface – indeed, it was only when I re-read the clues for this blog, and saw them as pieces of English rather than as cryptic clues, that I realised just how incredibly smooth all three of those surfaces were.

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

Across  
   
07 BEAR PIT Support upset about aggressive environment

BEAR (=support, hold) + PIT (TIP (up)=upset, overturn; “about” indicates reversal)
   
08 LOITER Be slow to introduce sex to role playing

IT (=sex, as in to do it) in *(ROLE); “playing” is anagram indicator
   
10 LOGARITHM Auditor’s recording device beat something to simplify calculation

Homophone (“auditor’s”) of “logger (=recording device) + rhythm” (=beat)”
   
11 RIDER Free beer regularly included in performer’s list of requirements

RID (=free (from), deliver) + <b>E<e>R (“regularly” means alternate letters only); a rider is a list of e.g. food and drink requirements written into a performer’s contract
   
12 WINCH Crank about to be placed in secure hospital

C (=about, i.e. circa) in [WIN (=secure, as verb) + H (=hospital)]; to crank is to winch, hoist
   
13 DUNCE’S CAP New College blocking fees to improve on fool’s mark

[N (=new) + C (=college)] in [DUES (=fees, i.e. for Union membership) + CAP (=to improve on)]
   
14 HEART OF DARKNESS Classic book by Forster has naked swimming

*(FORSTER HAS NAKED); “swimming” is anagram indicator; the reference is not to any of E. M. Forster’s works, but rather to the 1899 novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad, whose name is spelt out by the unchecked lights along the top and bottom rows of the completed grid!
   
17 BLASPHEMY Helps case for atheism by tempering irreverent behaviour

*(HELPS + A<theis>M (“case for” means first and last letters) + BY); “tempering” is anagram indicator
   
19 ERASE Blot out recollection of Caesarean section

Reversed (“recollection”) and hidden (“section”) in “caESAREan”
   
21 LICIT Soliciting publicity explicitly in each case is legitimate

Thrice hidden (“in each case”) in all “soLICITing”, “pubLICITy” and “expLICITly”
   
22 TENEBROUS Gloomy rendition of sober tune

*(SOBER TUNE); “rendition of” is anagram indicator
   
24 BISTRO Restaurant‘s first to open branch and last to go

1ST (=first) in [BR. (=branch) + <g>O (“last to” means last letter only)]
   
25 ASSURED Confident Trump’s behind rude outburst

ASS (=Trump’s behind, i.e. bottom, rear in US slang) + *(RUDE); “outburst” is anagram indicator
   
Down  
   
01 JARGON Legendary vessel impounded by Japanese navy is Greek

ARGO (=legendary vessel, captained by Jason) in [J (=Japanese) + N (=navy, as in RN)]; jargon is Greek in the phrase “It’s all Greek to me”
   
02 OPERA HAT I’m surprised dons love cheeky part of theatrical ensemble

AHA (=I’m surprised) in [O (=love, i.e. zero score) + PERT (=cheeky)]
   
03 STET Let it be recording stolen from seven-piece band

S<ep>TET (=seven-piece band); “recording (=EP) stolen” means letters “ep” are dropped
   
04 ELEMENTARY Nearly meet suspect linked to lead?

*(NEARLY MEET); “suspect” is anagram indicator; the “lead” of the definition is the element with chemical formula Pb
   
05 PIERCE Stick man ending in perpendicular lines

<perpendicula>R (“ending in” means last letter only) in PIECE (=man, e.g. in chess); to stick, as a verb, is to stab, transfix, penetrate, hence “pierce”
   
06 HEADACHE Long for leader to pre-empt trouble

HEAD (=leader) + ACHE (for) (=long for)
   
07 BELOW THE BELT Unfair wager in which he blew lot stupidly

*(HE BLEW LOT) in BET (=wager); “stupidly” is anagram indicator
   
09 PREPOSSESSED Crowded around men pursuing partisan

POSSE (=men pursuing, i.e. in pursuit) in PRESSED (=crowded (into)); “possessed” means biased, prejudiced, hence “partisan”
   
13 DEFLECTION Labour leader’s penetrating treacherous parting glance

L<abour> (“leader” means first letter only) in DEFECTION (=treacherous parting); a glance is a deflection, stroke, in cricket
   
15 ANARCHIC Uninhibited singer with style that’s lacking in control

<c>ANAR<y> (=singer, i.e. songbird; “uninhibited” means first and last letters are dropped) + CHIC (=with style)
   
16 KIELBASA Son practised reversing in car that’s a banger

ELBAS (S=son + ABLE=practised, skilled; “reversing” indicates reversal) in KIA (=car, i.e. by Korean manufacturer Kia Motors)
   
18 POTATO Corporation starts to acquire technology of chip producer

POT (=corporation, i.e. pot-belly) + A<cquire> T<echnology> O<f> (“starts to” means first letters only are used)
   
20 ABOARD Foreign places lowering resistance on ship

ABROAD (=foreign places); “lowering resistance (=R)” means letter “r” falls to a later position in the word
   
23 NEAR Dawning of new era could be at hand

N<ear> (“dawning of” means first letter only) + *(ERA); “new” is anagram indicator
   

 

12 comments on “Independent 10,264 / Serpent”

  1. Another example of Nina to the rescue. I doubt I would have solved KIELBASA otherwise and it also helped with PIERCE, my last in.

    Yes, some good surfaces eg for OPERA HAT and LOITER and I particularly liked the ‘in each case’ triple wordplay for LICIT. Only one slight disagreement; far from being ‘something to simplify calculation’ I found LOGARITHM(s) hard work. I was more cutting edge and preferred a slide rule myself.

    Thanks to Serpent and RR

  2. Brilliant  like a haiku. Pretentious moi?

    Loved the symmetry with title in middle with another author in the wordplay-and the actual writer at top and bottom.Spotting that as RR said was a help to the finishing line.

    Thanks Serpent and RR

  3. 14a’s brilliant

    Naked guys cavorting stir me & u – could be Rupert and Simon swimming? (4)

    Thanks Serpent, RR

  4. Isn’t 23d just an anagram of (N[ew]+ERA), with ‘could be‘ as the indicator?

    Otherwise ‘new’ would do double duty, something I think is very unlike Serpent.

     

  5. Guessed KIELBASA from the wordplay. Thought that could never be a word but better check. Good job I did.

    14a and 21a were my favourites.

    Thanks to Serpent and RatkojaRiku.

  6. We had much the same experience as others – once we’d solved 14ac the nina was obvious and helped with our last ones in.  KIELBASA was our last one in after trawling Chambers and even then it took a while for the penny to drop thyat the car was the Kia marque rather than the Ford Ka.  TENEBROUS was a new word for us but obvious from the definition and anagram fodder, and we knew of the related ‘Tenebrae’.

    Thanks, Serpent and RatkojaRiku.

  8. Lots of previous comments to agree with.

    As it did for WordPlodder @1, the nina definitely came to my rescue.  (And I thought there might be a comment or two like that about LOGARITHM!)

    I’m with those who loved LICIT (original, great surface) although there were many other clues which would have been favourited without hesitation on another day.  I could mention LOITER, I could mention ANARCHIC.  I could go on.

    I agree with Sil @4 about NEAR (another lovely surface too).  Serpent wouldn’t do double duty.

    While I’m agreeing with everyone, I can ditto copmus @2.

    TENEBROUS seemed just the teeniest bit familiar … but not until I had all the checkers.

    My last in was the not at all familiar KIELBASA, which cause me lots of problems because even after I’d thought of ABLE for the practised part I was still hunting for a five-letter word to go in that position.  This was because I’d spent ages completely in the dark as to what the car could be, then suddenly remembered the Ford KA and of course was completely convinced that was the one.  Grr!

    Grrs forgotten, purrs and thanks to Serpent and RatkojaRiku.

  9. Thanks to RatkojaRiku and Serpent

    I’m not sure what “included” is doing in 11a, or “for” in 6d, but otherwise top class.

    My dictionaries don’t have J for Japanese, but I suppose it must be listed somewhere as no-one has mentioned it

  11. Dansar, J = ‘Japanese’ is in Chambers (not in Collins, though).

    I agree about your other reservations, although I didn’t have them while solving.

    That said, Serpent is a top setter, worth being given the benefit of the doubt.

    Thanks to RR for the blog.

  12. Dansar@9
    Re the objection to ‘included’ in 11a.
    ‘Included’ can be seen as suggesting that after RID, E and R  (‘free regularly’) are picked up and added to form the answer. ‘Free’ and ‘ride’ must be seen separately.
    I don’t see ‘included’ as any extra, non-functional word.

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