As always, a tractable and entertaining puzzle from Peter for the Independent on Sunday slot.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Retired principal keeping hands over picture
PHOTO
Peter is inviting you to reverse (‘retired’) TOP for ‘principal’, insert (‘keeping’) H for ‘hands’ (horsey abbreviation) and then add O for ‘over’ (cricket abbreviation).
10 Foil covering display of bad language
SWEARWORD
An insertion of WEAR in SWORD.
11 Confused rat breeds with bird!
REDBREAST
(RAT BREEDS)* and although it’s not strictly a bird’s name I have been starved of obligatory Pierre birds links recently, so I will indulge myself. It’s stereotypically the little fellow on the two inches of snow on top of the spade in the garden, but it’s an all year round resident of these islands. Cute looking, but they can be very aggressive when it comes to territory.
12 Army chaplain has accommodation next to soldiers
PADRE
A charade of PAD and RE for Royal Engineers or ‘soldiers’.
13 Babe upset about rattle coming unstuck starts to get a little grizzly
BEAR CUB
An insertion of RCU in (BABE)* The anagrind is ‘upset’; the insertion indicator is ‘about’; the first letter indicator for the RCU bit is ‘starts’.
15 Sound made by soldier in pub
LOGICAL
An insertion of GI in LOCAL.
20 Spied for heads of national organisation, scrutinising every document
NOSED
The first letters of the last five words of the clue.
22 Power given to the French after test case
EXAMPLE
A charade of EXAM, P and LE for one of the words for ‘the’ in French.
25 College fellow holding fragments of pad that’s hard to decipher
DEADPAN
An insertion of (PAD)* in DEAN. The insertion indicator is ‘holding’ and the rather imaginative anagrind is ‘fragments of’.
26 European garlic’s beginning to pong!
GREEK
A charade of G and REEK.
30 Cook latched on to competition involving various disciplines
DECATHLON
(LATCHED ON)*
31/18/17/26d Restructuring helped things afoot beyond human control
IN THE LAP OF THE GODS
Nice anagram: of (HELPED THINGS AFOOT)*
Down
1 Bird losing argument in fight
SPAR
SPAR[ROW] That’s enough birds.
2 Landlady welcoming foreign lad holding tip of French stick
HOLD FAST
A multi-part construction, but completely clear if you follow the instructions: to put F for the first letter (‘tip’) of ‘French’ in (LAD)* and then put all that in HOST. The anagrind is ‘foreign’ and the two insertion indicators are ‘welcoming’ and ‘holding’.
3/27a Relaxed alone prior to meeting with leader of supposed inferiors
POOR RELATIONS
A charade of (ALONE PRIOR TO)* and S for the first letter of ‘supposed’.
4 Saint sent abridged papal document to Byzantium
ISTANBUL
A charade of (SAINT)* and BUL[L]. Byzantium became Constantinople and is now ISTANBUL. The anagrind is ‘sent’ (in its druggie sense).
5 Large queue turning up to receive tons of basic foodstuff
LENTIL
A charade of L and LINE reversed with T inserted. The reversal indicator, since it’s a down clue, is ‘turning up’ and the insertion indicator is ‘to receive’.
6 Advertising for irreligious lawyer?
PROPAGANDA
A charade of PRO, PAGAN and DA for the (American) ‘lawyer’ or District Attorney.
7 Policeman from the south is Scandinavian
NORDIC
Here’s an example of a ‘lift and separate’ clue. You need to separate ‘policeman’ into ‘police’ and ‘man’. The first element becomes CID, the second RON. Reverse all that (‘from the south’) and you get NORDIC. Some folk don’t much like ‘man’ to define individual first names like RON, but I’m okay with it.
8 Border held by determined Germans
EDGE
Hidden in determinED GErmans.
13 Financial middleman almost bankrupt
BROKE
BROKE[R]
14 Man eating guts of putrefied fish is a skinflint
CHEAPSKATE
You can’t argue with this ‘man’. He’s CHAP: insert E for the ‘guts’ or middle letter of ‘putrefied’ into him and add SKATE for the ‘fish’ and Robert est votre oncle.
16 Large port is charged
LADEN
A charade of L and ADEN, the port city in Yemen.
19 Insignificant fluid loss?
PIDDLING
Great clue. A dd.
21 Stays for two drinks before end of festivities
SUPPORTS
A charade of SUP (a verb) and PORT (a noun) and S for the last letter of ‘festivities’.
23 Summary found in newspaper cutting
APERÇU
Hidden in newspAPER CUtting. I’ve only ever used this word as meaning ‘a brief insight’ (it’s the past participle of apercevoir, to perceive), but the ‘summary’ definition is in Chambers.
24 Recorded observations originally left in spaces in registers
ENROLS
More first letter indicators: of ‘recorded’ and ‘observations’. These want inserting, along with L, in ENS for the printers’ ‘spaces’. Not to be confused with EMS. In post-lead typesetting days, the terms are still used in em dash and en dash. In case you’re vaguely interested, I’ve just inserted a hyphen into the previous sentence. If you want to use dashes for parentheses – like this – then you’ll need an en dash. Em dashes are sometimes used in books to introduce quotes and are longer, like this —
28 Relative with endless string …
TWIN
TWIN[E]
29 … killed a great number
SLEW
A dd. The first definition is the past tense of the verb to slay (God slew a good many people in the Old Testament); the second definition is as in the sentence ‘There was a slew of people who complained about Pierre’s blog.’ The two are etymologically different: the slay/slew/slain usage is Old English through Germanic; the ‘great number’ use comes from mid 19th century Irish sluagh. So now you know.
Many thanks to Peter for a fine Sunday puzzle. For new readers, no, we’re not related (if the rumours are true, we’re not even the same sex).
Thanks, Pierre.
It’s a surprise – and a shame – that such a good puzzle and blog have not attracted any comments so far.
I really enjoyed both. Some lovely stories told in the clues: my favourites were 9, 11, 12, 15ac and 4 and 23dn – and 19dn made me laugh.
Many thanks, Peter – as Pierre said, most entertaining.
Well, here’s doubling the number of comments – not that we can add much to what Eileen’s already said. No problems with 7dn; ‘lift and separate’ and ‘man’ to clue a personal name are both fine with us – even in the same clue.
Thanks, Peter, and merci, Pierre.
And here’s trebling it. I really enjoyed this, though struggled to parse ‘photo’. I shudder at multi-entry clues as at 31A etc but this one fell nicely into place. Thanks Peter and Pierre.