Nitsy is an infrequent setter for the Independent on Sunday, but always offers us a puzzle in the traditional IoS style – accessible, clearly clued and with no real obscurities or unusual devices.
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 Attractive girl embracing Charlie
CATCHY
An insertion of C for the phonetic alphabet ‘Charlie’ in CATHY.
4 Quicker way – that’s a soldier’s style?
SHORT CUT
A dd, the second referencing a soldier’s typically short haircut.
9 Coarse fish, with love, thrown back
VULGAR
A reversal of RAG for the ‘fish’ and LUV for an alternative spelling of ‘love’.
10 Stone‘s thrown at them outside flipping small yard
AMETHYST
An insertion of SY for ‘small’ and ‘yard’ reversed in (AT THEM)* The insertion indicator is ‘outside’; the reversal indicator is ‘flipping’; the anagrind is ‘thrown’.
12 Stiff uniform – daughter’s after one
RIGID
A charade of RIG, I and D.
13 Doctor anyone can hassle
ANNOYANCE
(ANYONE CAN)*
14 Still footballer – one tries to prevent a shot?
PEACEKEEPER
A charade of PEACE and KEEPER. The misdirection is around the meaning of ‘shot’.
18 Ragbag drags brooms around
SMORGASBORD
(DRAGS BROOMS)*
21 Magician utters this poetry and she’s transformed
HEY PRESTO
(POETRY SHE)*
23 Priest absorbed by Roman Catholic memorial
RELIC
An insertion of ELI for the Old Testament ‘priest’ in RC. This one’s been round the block a bit.
24 Plan to avoid returning after school
SCHEDULE
A charade of SCH and ELUDE reversed.
25 What about this writer, wearing Lieutenant’s headgear!
HELMET
A charade of EH? reversed and ME for ‘this writer’ inserted into LT.
26 Small pants restricting Republican’s bits and bobs
SUNDRIES
A charade of S and R inserted into UNDIES.
27 High quality of sound after soprano departs
STONED
A charade of S for ‘soprano’, TONE and D for ‘departs’ (as in timetables).
Down
1 Whitewashes vessels crossing from side to side
COVER UPS
An insertion (‘crossing’) of OVER in CUPS.
2 Explain cut on, say, farm animal? Wire
TELEGRAM
A charade of TEL[L], EG for ‘say’ and RAM.
3 Lecture supporting His Excellency’s ceremonial attire
HEADDRESS
A charade of HE and ADDRESS.
5 Homer‘s hard poem going in novel
HOMING PIGEON
A charade of H and (POEM GOING IN)* A bit clunky that Homer and HOMING are in the clue and solution.
6 Cross off the sauce, eating fish? On the contrary
RATTY
An insertion of TT for teetotal or ‘off the sauce’ in RAY.
7 Carry lion oddly with head in grasp – this will end in tears
CRYING
A charade of the odd letters of CaRrY lIoN and G for the first letter of ‘grasp’.
8 Little child, after change of heart, was first to be named
TITLED
Nitsy’s inviting you to replace the middle letter of TOT with I to give you TIT, and then follow it with LED for ‘was first’.
11 Nice lady required me to keep nothing I trade in
MADEMOISELLE
A charade of MADE for ‘required’ and O, I and SELL inserted into ME. The ‘Nice lady’ bit needs of course to be read as ‘a lady from Nice, France’.
15 Resuscitate King? Calamitous to rescuer short of oxygen
RESURRECT
A charade of R for Rex or ‘King’ and (T[O]RESCUER)* The removal indicator is ‘short of’ and the anagrind is ‘calamitous’.
16 Shift blame on new fellow who’s 8
NOBLEMAN
(BLAME ON N)* A NOBLEMAN would be ‘titled’, which is the solution to 8dn.
17 Knowledgeable editor supports European coin
EDUCATED
A charade of E, DUCAT and ED.
19 Stay up penning the man’s dissertation
THESIS
An insertion of HE’S in SIT reversed. The inclusion indicator is ‘penning’ and the reversal indicator, since it’s a down clue, is ‘up’.
20 Grippy thong, to an extent – it squeezes everything tightly
PYTHON
Hidden in gripPY THONg.
22 Detection equipment sub-standard?
RADAR
A whimsical cd, referencing the fact that RADAR is the standard method of detection on submarines.
Well done to Nitsy for an entertaining IoS puzzle.
I have GAR for the fish in 9a with only LUV reversed. Not aware of any RAG fish.
Is it just me but I thought the standard method of detection on a submarine was sonar not radar?
Thanks, Hovis. There is a ragfish, but I’m sure you’re right (because it’s not called a rag). Just leaves a bit of ambiguity in telling us which way round to put the elements of the clue, I think.
I thought there were some excellent clues in this, with the beautifully disguised 27 across as my favourite.
At the other end of the scale was 8 down which though eminently gettable was very poor.
I had trouble parsing the ‘side to side’ bit of 1d and I didn’t know the significance of ‘sub-standard’ in 22d, but otherwise everything was understandable and free of anything too obscure. The ‘Still footballer’ at 14a was good and the surface for SUNDRIES brought a smile.
A pleasant way to recover and re-build the confidence after the effort expended on some of the Friday and Saturday offerings.
Thanks to Nitsy and Pierre.
We decided 27ac had to be STONED, but couldn’t parse it – we were fixated on ‘soprano departs’ referring to removing an S.
Otherwise all hunky dory, although we agree about the clunkiness of 5dn.
Thanks, Nitsy and Pierre.
Same query as Hovis. Pleasant trot through. No problem with 8D.
Thanks to S and B