Independent 10,488 by Tees

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An enjoyable and interesting puzzle from Tees.

There were a few war-related entries but probably not enough to constitute a theme. 17 was my favourite clue for the oblique definition and neat surface reading.

Across
9 LOATHSOME Look in to restrain son being obnoxious (9)
  I think this is lo(=look) + at home(=in) around s{on}
10 RADII Almost set one, maybe two bones? (5)
  Radi[o] + I.
11 ECLIPSE Solar event in these clips examined (7)
  Hidden in these clips examined
12 STIPEND Gratuity in post used as wage (7)
  Tip in send
13 INCH Winger losing front part of foot (4)
  [F]inch (foot obviously in a measurement sense)
14 BEING THERE Showing one’s support for movie with Sellers (5,5)
  DD.  Being There is a 1979 Peter Sellers film about a simplistic gardener is who mistaken for an insightful thinker.
16 GARMENT Man respected concealing weapon in coat? (7)
  Arm in gent
17 BACK OFF Give ground with defender shown red card? (4,3)
  Back(=defender) + off(=shown red card)
19 RETROSPECT Review top secret revenue’s source after hacking (10)
  (Top secret r[evenue])*
22 MESH Certain notes hard to harmonise (4)
  Mes (=notes, variant spelling of mi from the doh-re-mi scale) + h{ard}
24 UNDERGO Open about amount of work experience (7)
  Undo around erg, an old unit of work.
25 STELLAR Immense rook goes after girl (7)
  R{ook} after Stella
26 HAREM Runner on form perhaps marks female group (5)
  Hare (a form is a shallow depression where a hare sleeps during the day) + m{arks}
27 PRO PATRIA Support the courts for your country (3,6)
  Prop + atria (plural of atrium, a sort of courtyard). Pro patria is familiar from the Wilfred Owen poem Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, which was originally a line from the Roman poet Horace.
Down
1 SLEEPING DRAUGHT Disturbed night — drug please! (8,7)
  &lit – (night drug please)*
2 CABLE CAR Transport taking 50 people up? (5,3)
  &lit – cab(=transport) + l(=50, Roman numeral) + race<
3 SHAPE Design phase botched (5)
  Phase*
4 COHERENT Confined to bed at this point, not primarily making sense (8)
  Cot around (here + n[ot])
5 LESSON Not doing as much in class? (6)
  DD.  Less on (as in “I’ll have less on tomorrow”).
6 ARMISTICE Delayed start for hostilities — bad weather combination brings ceasefire (9)
  [W]ar + mist + ice
7 ADHERE Stick heard shattering — ultimately brittle (6)
  Heard* + [brittl]e
8 MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Guidelines here laid down for moderate (6-2-3-4)
  DD
15 MELODRAMA Cast made moral sentiment the focus here? (9)
  (Made moral)*
17 BUCKSHOT I’m loaded, but money’s stolen (8)
  Buck’s + hot
18 OVERLORD Supremo for D-Day operation? (8)
  DD.  Overlord was the name of the WW2 operation which launched the Normandy landings.
20 TUDORS Those from royal house built in Stroud (6)
  Stroud*
21 PROMPT On time to assist an erring actor? (6)
  DD
23 BELAY Stop at sea: the Spanish brought into harbour (5)
  El in bay.  Belay is probably more familiar from mountain climbing but can also be a nautical term.

*anagram

12 comments on “Independent 10,488 by Tees”

  2. Excellent. Agree re Loathsome. At 15D I spent far too long trying to fit ‘marmolade’ to the clue, before remembering that it’s ‘marmalade’ anyway. I’ve always spelled Do-Re-Mi but guessed it had to be ‘Mesh’. ‘Form’ as a hare’s resting place new to me, surprised it hasn’t occurred more frequently in crossword-land. Thanks Tees and Neal.

  3. Parsed 9a as did passerby. That meaning for “form” was also new to me. A TILT as people like to say these days.

    Answers to 14a and 18d were clear but I didn’t bother checking not knowing the film or the WW2 operation.

    I don’t like the use of “Delayed” in 6d.

    The clues for 1d and, to a lesser extent 2d, were both superb. Thanks to Tees and Neal.

  4. Thanks for a great blog, NealH – I found it an enjoyable and interesting puzzle, too.

    No obscure words or general knowledge – just good, sound cluing throughout. I  particularly enjoyed UNDERGO, RETROSPECT, SLEEPING DRAUGHT and COHERENT.

    Many thanks to Tees.

     

  6. I meant to say that I learned ‘form’ along with sett, drey, lodge, etc in primary school [that was the kind of thing that came up in the Eleven-plus!] but I don’t think I’ve seen it in a crossword before.

  7. Fine crossword as always from Tees.
    It’s quite something to produce quality puzzles week after week (just like Phi, by the way).

    I started this puzzle with 10ac (RADII) and I thought “I’ve seen that clue very recently”.
    When also 1d began to ring bells, I was afraid I was doing an ‘old’ crossword.
    It turned out to be that exactly the same clue (as for 10ac) was used in a not too difficult Times Jumbo Crossword from last February which I tackled only last week.
    Which made clear who the setter was of that one!
    That’s how things go when you write for different publications.
    [and I do fully understand that – so, no complaints]

    Many thanks to NealH (especially for clearing up ‘form’) & Tees.

  8. It’s a shame that such forensic analysis doesn’t apply to certain senior government advisers, in my opinion.

    RADII might have slipped through the net there, (‘spoke more than once?’ having been well and truly exhausted) but not the other one. As far as I know.

  9. An enjoyable solve for a Bank Holiday and the start of another week adhering to Government guidelines, not instincts.

    Thanks to S&B.

  10. Enjoyable, but over too quickly.  First one in, and our favourite was RADII (well, we hadn’t encountered it before).

    Thanks, Tees and NealH

  11. Without wanting to start a trend here, what Eileen and crypticsue said.  Except to add my thanks to Neal for explaining ‘form’ in the clue for HAREM.

  12. Enjoyed the &lits, and the reference to the sellers movie (though i did wonder if sellers were going to be traders of some kind)

    Missed pro patria though should have seen the wordplay.

    Thanks Tees & NealH

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