Independent 10,668 by Vigo

by

Mostly on the easy side with a couple of exceptions.

There might be a theme, as there seem to be quite a lot of food or plant-related items, but I'm not sure what it is.

I struggled for an eternity with 5 down – one of those clues that looks too much like container and contents. Sometimes you just have to conclude that it's impossible for the 1D interpretation to work, so it must be something else. 16A I was somewhat dubious about, as I've explained in the blog. 15A would be a tricky device for a lot of less experienced solvers.

ACROSS
1 WRAITH Ghost is one consumed by rage (6)
 

I in wrath
4 HARMLESS Husband having no weapons in safe (8)
 

H{usband} + armless. Not sure anyone would ever use armless instead of unarmed to indicate having no weapons.
10 RADICCHIO Salad ingredient two hundred welcome during broadcast (9)
 

CC + Hi in radio.

11 SCOUR Search scrub (5)
 

DD (scour the area)
12 PELT Little piggies returned holding wolf skin? (4)
 

Hidden, rev in litle piggies
13 ESTIMATION Respect valuation opinion (10)
 

Triple def
15 ARSENIC As a rule Sun has nice characters upset (7)
 

A r{ule} s{un} + nice*. As is the chemical symbol for arsenic.
16 LICHEN Vegetation right outside church (6)
 

Lien around ch. I struggle a bit to justify lichen for vegetation. Lichen isn't a plant – it's a symbiosis of a fungus and an alga. However, both words can refer to morbid growths or rashes, so maybe you could get away with it on that.
19 TALLOW Time to get permit for rendered fat (6)
 

T{ime} + allow
21 OREGANO Ecstasy in heart perhaps before love leaves (7)
 

E{cstasy} (abbrev from the drug, of course) in organ + O
23 LANGUOROUS A slug on our ground is lethargic (10)
 

(A slug on our)*
25 BONE Brownies regularly dropped anvil perhaps (4)
 

Brownies with the even letters dropped. The anvil is a bone in the ear (proper name incus).
27 ZILCH Nick losing head following unknown love (5)
 

Z(=unknown) followed by [f]ilch
28 TRADEMARK Backward arrow on e-book brand (9)
 

Dart< + e-Mark (Biblical book).
29 RINGSIDE Call team to edge of fighting area (8)
 

Ring + side
30 PIGEON Opine about gripping head of game bird (6)
 

Opine* around g[ame]
DOWN
1 WORDPLAY Promise drama and witty repartee (8)
 

Word(=promise i.e. I give you my word) + drama(=play)
2 ANDALUSIA A sundial fixed by artisan initially in part of Spain (9)
 

(A sundial)* + a[rtisan]
3 TACK Heads of the army caught knight in course of action (4)
 

Initial letters of the army caught knight
5 ASOCIAL Disinclined to mix in a party (7)
 

DD
6 MISMATCHED Mad chemist raging and discordant (10)
 

(Mad chemist)*

7 E COLI Half of line covered by green bacteria (1,4)
 

Li[ne] with eco on top of it.
8 STRING Swindle involving river train (6)
 

Sting around r{iver}
9 PHYSIC Something healing scientist drops first (6)
 

Physic[ist]
14 ONSLAUGHTS Last shogun organised attacks (10)
 

(Last shogun)
17 ELABORATE Pack up before lecture becomes complicated (9)
 

Bale< + orate
18 MOLESKIN 12 spots family (8)
 

Moles(=type of brown spot on the skin) + kin. 12 is pelt, so this would be another type.
20 WORSTED Got the best of fine fabric (7)
 

DD – to worst someone can bizarrely be the same as to best them. One of the words (cleave being another example) that can have both the same meaning and the opposite meaning.
21 OCULAR Compose carol about start of unity of vision (6)
 

Carol* around u[nity]
22 BLAZER Fire republican in jacket (6)
 

Blaze + r{epublican}
24 NYLON Material held by many longshoremen (5)
 

Hidden in many longshoremen
26 YETI Mythical beast besides setter (4)
 

Yet + I

9 comments on “Independent 10,668 by Vigo”

  1. Thanks Vigo and Nealh

    I saw 5D as a single definition ‘Disinclined to mix’ with ‘a’ + ‘social’ (party) as the wordplay. Or possibly it’s a whole-clue extended definition.

  3. I agree it was on the easy side but I struggled to solve the anagrams at 6D and 23A. It’s funny how they sometimes leap out at you and elsewhen need much head-scratching. Thanks Vigo and Neal.

  5. loved the anagrams.. the partial anags took way longer than strictly needed …to find PIGEON.. and entirely forgot As as symbol for arsenic..
    thanks Vigo n NealH

  6. A very enjoyable solve with one or two minor hiccups along the way – sorting out the spelling of LANGUOROUS, and spotting that ‘As’ was the definition in 15ac. On the other hand RADICCHIO was a bit of a write-in, given away by 200 indicating CC.
    Favourite, though was PHYSIC.
    Thanks, Vigo and NealH

  7. Thanks Neal and Vigo made a rod for my own back by writing in a different light in 1a svc wondering why i couldn’t get the top left corner to work. Doh. Generally quite easy bit like Angel on Saturday.

  9. Maybe not one of my favourite puzzles from this setter but it would be cruel to expect her to delight me with every compilation.
    12a made me laugh (the grandchildren are just up to learning about the big bad wolf!) so that gets my vote today.

    Thanks to Vigo and to Neal – best of festive wishes to both of you.

Comments are closed.