Independent 10,537 / Dill

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Dill is a setter with whose work I am not yet particularly familiar, so I was a bit worried that it could all turn a bit hairy for me.

A bit forced, I admit, but I couldn’t resist. In actual fact, it was only at the very end of the solving process, when I solved 26 and my eye caught sight of 7 and 12 as I skimmed the grid, that I realised that today’s (ghost) theme was around hairdos. There is a huge number of theme words here – the more you look, the more you find!

I enjoyed the solve, perhaps even more so because I hadn’t twigged the theme; if I had, I might have been looking to see where the entry at e.g. 17D might have been in the grid.

My favourite clues today were 12, for its splitting of “Iron // Curtain” between the wordplay and definition parts of the clue; 20A, for originality; and 22, for smoothness of surface.

Incidentally, the meaning of “queue” used at 26 was new to me. I would also be grateful if any fellow solver could explain the role of “today’s” in the wordplay at 20D.

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

Across  
   
07 MOHICAN Original American way of working upset China

MO (=way of working, i.e. modus operandi) + *(CHINA); “upset” is anagram indicator; the Mohicans are a native American tribe, hence “original American”
   
08 PAGEBOY Yahoo, say, backed up by secretary’s young assistant

PA (=secretary, Personal Assistant) + GEBOY (YOB=yahoo, hooligan + E.G.=say, for example; “backed up” indicates reversal)
   
10 SKIM Polar native lacks wings to make plane

<e>SKIM<o> (=polar native); “lacks wings” means first and last letters are dropped; to plane is to skim the surface of the water, of a boat
   
11 PERMANENT Hospital department follows each person full-time

PER (=each) + MAN (=person) + ENT (=hospital department, i.e. Ear Nose and Throat)
   
12 FRINGE Criminal gang caught by Iron Curtain border?

RING (=criminal gang) in FE (=iron, as chemical formula)
   
14 MOOCHING Skulking, low life-force’s no good

MOO (=low, of cattle) + CHI (=life-force, in Chinese medicine) + NG (=no good)
   
16 STAG Only men party with sinister-looking guns

GATS (=guns); “sinister-looking”, i.e. looking to the left, indicates reversal
   
17 BANGS Abolish Grammar School reports!

BAN (=abolish) + GS (=Grammar School)
   
18 GENE Hereditary factor, somewhat degenerate

Hidden (“somewhat”) in “deGENErate”
   
19 DAYDREAM Nightmare about dead Mary? On the contrary

*(DEAD MARY); “about” is anagram indicator; a daydream is anything but a nightmare!
   
20 MULLET Verbal instruction to infuse red wine for fish

Homophone (“verbal”) of “mull it (=instruction to infuse red wine)”
   
21 TACKINESS Shoddy quality of disorganised ski ascent

*(SKI ASCENT); “disorganised” is anagram indicator
   
23 GOTH Old German picked up French in the end

GOT (=picked up, heard) + <frenc>H (“in the end” means last letter only)
   
25 CONIFER Maybe yew produced fir cone

*(FIR CONE); “produced” is anagram indicator
   
26 PIGTAIL Queue to see final part of Babe?

Cryptically, a pigtail could be described as “final part (=tail) of Babe (=a pig)”, referring to the porcine eponymous character in the 1995 film Babe; a queue is a braid of hair hanging down the back of a head
   
Down  
   
01 LOCK Timer doesn’t open security device

<c>LOCK (=timer); “doesn’t open” means first letter is dropped
   
02 MISMANAGED Messed-up girl shouted at male, possibly over ninety

Homophone (“shouted”) of “miss (=girl)” + MAN (=male) + AGED (=possibly over ninety)
   
03 SAMPLE Starter of samosa with considerable taste

S<amosa> (“starter of” means first letter only) + AMPLE (=considerable, abundant)
   
04 MATADORS We hear little Matthew loves beastly fighters

Homophone (“we hear”) of “Matt (=little Matthew, i.e. abbreviation) + ADORES (=loves)”
   
05 MERE Lake discovered in game reserve

Hidden (“discovered”) in “gaME REserve
   
06 CONTINENCE Africa, for one, curtailed church’s control of water

CONTINEN<t> (=Africa, for one; “curtailed” means last letter is dropped) + CE (=church, i.e. Church of England); cryptically, continence could be described as “control of (one’s) water(works)”
   
09 PRIME NUMBER Excellent anaesthetic like 3 perhaps

PRIME (=excellent, top-quality) + “NUMBER” (=anaesthetic)
   
13 RETRACTION Taking back right to rise up in response

TR (RT=right; “to rise up” indicates vertical reversal) in REACTION (=response)
   
15 HIGHLIGHTS Memorable moments from top-class matches

HIGH (=top-class) + LIGHTS (=matches, as in Do you have a light?)
   
17 BEEHIVES Colonies rash to support US cooperative gathering

BEE (=US cooperative gathering, as in a knitting bee) + HIVES (=rash, spots)
   
20 MASHIE Purée that is No.5 on today’s course

MASH (=purée) + I.E. (=that is); a mashie is a five iron club used in golf
   
22 CLIP Coldplay’s first album includes one film passage

C<oldplay> (“first” means first letter only) + [I (=one) in LP (=album)]
   
24 TRIM Smart leaders of the revolution in Moscow

T<he> R<evolution> I<n> M<oscow>; “leaders of” means first letters only
   

 

9 comments on “Independent 10,537 / Dill”

  1. At 20 down I think the word ‘today’ is used simply becauase MASHIE is an old-fashioned term for what ‘today’ we call a 5-iron on the golf course.

  2. Thought that was one of the best we’ve seen from Dill since she joined the list of Indy setters.   I did register the theme quite early in the solve and it could have upset me had it not been for the fact that I’ve managed to secure an appointment to finally get my locks sheared next Monday!

    FRINGE was without doubt my favourite but I thoroughly enjoyed the whole solve.

    Many thanks to Dill and also to RR for the review.

  3. I only saw the theme on completion, so no write-ins for me.  For the record, I spotted 13 theme words: Mohican, Pageboy, Perm(anent), Fringe, Bangs, Mullet, Goth, Pigtail, Lock, Clip, Beehives, Highlights and Trim.  There may be others.  Thanks Dill, very clever, and to RR for the blog.

  6. Fun solve today, just the parsing of PAGEBOY missed. Not sure why there is a question mark at the end of 12a,  seems to be a perfectly straightly forward clue to me.

    MATADOR is a brand of professional-grade hair combs, so may well be part of the theme. Which I didn’t spot as usual. Thanks RatkojaRiku and Dill.

  7. We spotted the theme early on but that didn’t particularly help the solve. Rattled through very quickly but the LOI took about the same length of time again as we did not know the other meaning of queue. This time, the theme helped confirm the answer even before the ‘tick’ appeared.

     

    Thanks to RR and Dill.

  8. Just one of us on solving duty today, but even so it didn’t cause any problems.  Didn’t spot the theme – in fact it was only a few hours later that I suddenly thought ‘it’s Tuesday, there should have been a theme’ and looking at it again the theme was staring me in the face.

    I too enjoyed FRINGE – and MULLET (which Chambers defines as ‘a hairstyle that is short at the front, long at the back, and ridiculous all round’).

    Thanks, Dill and RatkojaRiku.

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