Independent 10,656 by Alchemi

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Alchemi has brewed up an enjoyable Monday morning challenge: mostly straightforward but with a few tricky bits.

Lots of good surfaces and amusing misdirections. I liked the obvious-when-you-see-it 12d and the sneaky cryptic definition of 21a, but my favourite was 2d – both for its surface and for the laugh-out-loud nostalgic pop reference. Thanks Alchemi for the entertainment.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 BOWLS Gets out dishes (5)
Double definition: the first is one of several ways to get a batsman out in cricket.
4 MILOSEVIC Some civil disturbance does for alleged war criminal (9)
Anagram (disturbance) of SOME CIVIL.
Former president of Yugoslavia; “alleged” because he was put on trial for war crimes but died before a verdict could be reached.
9 STABLED Kept horses mad about light (7)
BATS (mad = crazy), reversed (about), then LED (light-emitting diode).
10 SHANNON Quiet touchdown at last in nameless airport (7)
SH (a command to be quiet), then the last letter of [touchdow]N in ANON (anonymous = nameless).
The name of two airports: I assume Alchemi means the one in the Republic of Ireland, but there’s also a Shannon airport in Virginia, USA.
11 HAVE A GOOD TIME Enjoy attempt at demo – it fails! (4,1,4,4)
HAVE A GO (attempt, as a verb), then an anagram (fails) of DEMO IT.
14/22 LORD MAYOR Peer, prime minister or civic dignitary (4,5)
LORD (peer) + MAY (Theresa, former British PM) + OR.
Ceremonial title for the mayor of a major city.
15 SIDEPIECE Part on edge as deep ice is melting (9)
Anagram (melting) of DEEP ICE IS.
Not a familiar word to me, but logical enough – it means “a component at the edge of something”, for example the side arm of a pair of spectacles. The word also has a derogatory slang meaning, but let’s not go there.
18 PRIZE DRAW Valued fresh lottery (5,4)
PRIZED (valued) + RAW (fresh – as in fresh food rather than cooked or preserved, perhaps).
19 OTIC See sides being removed from organ (4)
[n]OTIC[e] (as a verb = see), with the outer letters (sides) removed).
The grammar of the definition doesn’t quite work for me. “Otic” means “relating to the ear” (which is an organ), but “from the ear” is an odd way to put it. “Organ” as an adjective (as in otic canal / ear canal) is possible but seems too much of a stretch.
21 MELTON MOWBRAY Town memorably built on lies? (6,7)
Anagram (built) of TOWN MEMORABLY.
Not quite clue-as-definition: the last two words aren’t part of the wordplay, unless “built on lies” (constructed misleadingly?) is intended as the anagram indicator. But it’s a cryptic definition: the town of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire is famous for producing pork pies, which is rhyming slang for “lies”.
24 TESTIFY Fully cleared after sounding angry, swear (7)
F[ull]Y (cleared = middle letters removed), after a homophone (sounding) of TESTY (which really means “irritable” or “easily angered” rather than “angry”).
Swear as in a court of law.
26 RAMPAGE Sheep needs servant, as elephant may (7)
RAM (male sheep) + PAGE (as in page-boy = servant).
27 RED ALERTS Danger signals about weapons the French brought in (3,6)
RE (about) + DARTS (weapons), with LE (French “the”) brought in.
28 SHEAR Remove hair at second try (5)
S (second) + HEAR (try, as in a criminal case in court).
DOWN
1 BUSK Transport king to sing outside station? (4)
BUS (public transport vehicle) + K (king).
Busk = to perform music in a public place, such as a railway station, in the hope of collecting donations.
2 WEATHERGIRL I threw lager, upsetting forecaster (of male downfall?) (11)
Anagram (upsetting) of I THREW LAGER.
A female weather presenter on TV. The last three words aren’t strictly required for the definition, but they’re a reference to a classic of early 80s pop music: a duo called “The Weather Girls” with the song It’s Raining Men. Which I now can’t get out of my head.
3 SALIVA In extremes of scarlatina, not quite breathing spit (6)
ALIV[e] (breathing: not quite = last letter removed), in the end letters (extremes) of S[carlatin]A (otherwise known as scarlet fever).
4 MY DEAR SIR Mary rides round man’s address (2,4,3)
Anagram (round, in the sense of “spun around” I suppose) of MARY RIDES.
Formal and somewhat old-fashioned way of addressing a man.
5 LASSO Catch up in Franco’s salon (5)
Hidden answer, reversed (up in: upwards in a down clue) in [franc]OS SAL[on].
6 STAND-UPS Laurel’s holding party for comedians (5-3)
STAN’S (Stan Laurel as in Laurel and Hardy), holding DUP (the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland).
7 VAN Morrison‘s delivery vehicle (3)
Double definition: the first is the singer Van Morrison. The surface refers to a UK supermarket chain; other grocery suppliers are available.
8/23 CONFERENCE PEAR Meeting standard to preserve English fruit (10,4)
CONFERENCE (meeting) + PAR (standard, as in golf scoring) containing E (English).
A common variety of pear, named after the National British Pear Conference where it won first prize.
12 I REST MY CASE Strange mysteries enshroud Clement Attlee’s origins, you must agree (1,4,2,4)
Anagram (strange) of MYSTERIES, containing the first letters (origins) of C[lement] A[ttlee].
Phrase originally used by lawyers to mean “I’ve finished presenting my evidence”, but now used more generally to mean “what’s just been said proves me right beyond doubt”.
13 CLAPOMETER Measure of audience approval a complete fiasco ending in disaster (10)
Anagram (fiasco) of A COMPLETE, then the end letter of [disaste]R.
Once a feature of TV talent contests and game shows, which purported to measure each contestant’s popularity by the volume of audience applause.
16 DOWNWARDS Have fights, splitting theologians vertically (9)
OWN (have) + WAR (fights), inserted into (splitting) DDS (plural of Doctor of Divinity = theologian).
17 MEMORIAL Foreign currency note found on top of the Cenotaph? (8)
RIAL (currency in several nations, though “foreign” is of course a relative term), with MEMO (memorandum = note) on top of it.
The question mark helpfully indicates a definition by example; the Cenotaph in Whitehall, or indeed any other cenotaph elsewhere, is an example of a memorial.
20 CRUMBS I’m surprised American network has strange content (6)
CBS (American broadcasting network), containing RUM (strange).
Crumbs! = an expression of surprise or dismay.
22 See 14 Across
23 See 8
25 SAD The German up and down (3)
DAS (one of the forms of “the” in German), reversed (up, in a down clue).
Down = unhappy = sad.

 

12 comments on “Independent 10,656 by Alchemi”

  1. Re 21A, I wondered how ‘on lies’ came into it but understand now, so thanks Quirister.  Point of order at 1D: in London nowadays buskers need a licence to perform at specified spots inside rather than outside stations, and in public places such as Covent Garden.  Talking of buskers, does anyone else remember the Happy Wanderers, a fabulous 1960s quartet who used to play jazz while sauntering slowly along the road to comply with the law.  Thanks Alchemi and Quirister.

  2. porky pies = lies … in some spots.. maybe Leicestershire?.. confirmed it for me… in fact never saw the anagram.. oops!

    thanks to Alchemi n Quirister

  3. This all went in without too much trouble, though there were some cultural references I missed such as that to “It’s Raining Men”; thankfully no ear worm anyway! I let ‘from organ’ go through to the keeper, but your reservations are probably justified. Not my favourite foodstuff, but the anagram and CRS “pork pie” bits in MELTON MOWBRAY were my picks for the day.

    Thanks to Quirister and Alchemi

  4. I found this light but great fun.  I too missed the “It’s Raining Men” reference and was puzzled by “…(of male downfall?)” – very clever.

    Just a couple of things jarred slightly: the definition for OTIC and the surface of 3d.

    I had a lot of ticks with BOWLS, MELTON MOWBRAY and BUSK making it onto my podium.

    Many thanks to Alchemi and to Quirister.

  5. Another thumbs up from me – in Leicestershire so MM was easy – but also stuck with the Weathergirls ear worm 🙁
    Probably worth it for the smile the clue gave me.

    Thanks to Michael and Quirister

  6. Very nice change to have a Monday Cryptic that needs the sprocket connected to the whatever Brig says

    Very much appreciated. Difficult to pick a fave but the Porky clue is a contender.
    Thanks Q and Matilda

  7. Like undrell moore @2: I never saw the anagram for MELTON MOWBRAY but, with the two M’s as crossers, it had to be.  And thanks to Quirister for explaining the male downfall in 2d.  I’m afraid I rather assumed a female weather presenter had been involved in some gossip-worthy shenanigans of which I was blissfully unaware.

    Other ticks from me for CRUMBS, BUSK, TESTIFY, SHEAR and the double definition for BOWLS.  CLAPOMETER took me straight back to Hughie Greene and the days the family sat around the TV on a Saturday night (I think – I was very young!)

    Although not a weighty topic and nothing more than chance, I’ve always found coincidences/multiple appearances in crosswords to be intriguing.  This is my second prize draw of the day and the third time in a week or so that I’ve seen a clue about verticality.

    Thanks Alchemi and Quirister

  8. An enjoyable solve, if a bit more challenging than some Monday offerings, with some good examples (such as 17dn, our LOI) of the ‘you need not mean what you say but you must say what you mean’ dictum for clue writing.  We liked 25dn using ‘das’ for a change from the usual ‘der’.  But favourite was MELTON MOWBRAY – we always prefer Melton pies to any other.

    Thanks, Alchemi and Quirister.

  9. Melton Mowbray had to be a favourite, although I too missed the reference.  Great song, though.  Thanks to Alchemi and Quirister.

  11. Very late in but I did very much enjoy this one with the possible exception of 15&19a.

    Top clues for me were those for WEATHERGIRLS & MELTON MOWBRAY.

    Thanks to Alchemi and to Quirister for the review.

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