Independent on Sunday 1636 Atrica

Thank you to Atrica. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

A crossword where each solution contains a “y” (a couple with 2, and one with 3), in addition to being a pangram – quite a setting achievement.

Across

6. Order, for example, thus (3-2)

SAY-SO : SAY(for example/possibly) + SO(thus/in this way, as in “when you are ready, do it so”).

Defn: …, as in “on my say-so, go back to your seats”.

7. One day isles to the west, rejecting society, become peaceful (7)

IDYLLIC : I(Roman numeral for “one”) + D(abbrev. for “day”) + reversal of(… to the west, in an across clue) “Scilly”(Isles of, an archipelago off the south-western tip of Cornwall) minus(rejecting) “s”(abbrev. for “society”).

9. Quarry Etna? Ludicrous, according to geologists nowadays (10)

QUATERNARY : Anagram of(…? Ludicrous) QUARRY ETNA.

Defn: …, ie. the current and most recent geological period, from about 2.5 million years ago to now.

10. Vegetation finally eaten by shy rabbit (4)

CONY : Last letter of(… finally) “Vegetation” contained in(eaten by) COY(making a pretence of shyness or modesty).

11. Accidentally annoy Egypt’s leader, an arbitrary individual (6)

ANYONE : Anagram of(Accidentally) [ANNOY + 1st letter of(…’s leader) “Egypt“].

13. Banking controller delights bloodsucker (8)

JOYSTICK : JOYS(delights/things that give you joy) + TICK(a bloodsucking parasite).

Defn: … on an aircraft for, among other things, making it turn and tilting/banking it in the process.

14. Periodically escaping to yonder river (4)

TYNE : 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th letters of(Periodically escaping) “to yonder“.

Defn: … in N. England.

15. P, not L, is a kind-hearted soul (5)

SOFTY : “softly”(how to play part of a music piece, as indicated by “p”/abbrev. for “piano” in a music score) minus(not) “l“.

17. The man in question intoned church music (4)

HYMN : Homophone of(… intoned) “him”(pronoun to refer to that man in question).

19. Channel influence to contain annoying person (8)

SPILLWAY : SWAY(influence/control, as in “she held sway over him” containing(to contain) PILL(an annoying/tedious person).

Defn: … draining off surplus water.

22. Critically, disastrously, weirdly failing to start (6)

DIRELY : Anagram of(disastrously) [“weirdly” minus its 1st letter(failing to start)].

Defn: …/while in desperate circumstances.

23. Tactic when love becomes a farce? (4)

PLAY : “ploy”(a tactic/a plan of action) with “o”(letter representing 0/love in tennis scores) replacing(when … becomes) “a“.

Defn: …, one of a genre of stage plays.

24. Distressed by who’d use a brothel (5,5)

BAWDY HOUSE : Anagram of(Distressed) BY WHO’D USE A.

27. Parking neatly when hammered? Fine, sometimes (7)

PENALTY : Anagram of(… when hammered) [ P(abbrev. for “parking”) + NEATLY ].

Defn: A punishment, an example of which could be/sometimes, a monetary fine.

28. How the abstinent imbibe, ironically (5)

DRYLY : Cryptic Defn: How you might ironically describe the way that the abstinent/teetotallers imbibe/drink, ie. dry/without alcohol but still in liquid form/not dry

Down

1. Case of chronically having stone in bladder? (4)

CYST : 1st and last letters of(Case of) “chronically” plus(having) ST(abbrev. for “stone”, the unit of weight).

Defn: In the body, a pocket of tissue containing fluids like a sac/bladder. And cysts may grow (rarely) in one’s urinary bladder.

2. Perhaps drives one’s jury mad (8)

JOURNEYS : Anagram of(… mad) ONE’S JURY.

Defn: Trips which could be/perhaps drives in a land vehicle.

3. Greeting from Hawaii always uplifting (4)

HIYA : HI(abbrev. for the US state of Hawaii) + reversal of(.. uplifting, in a down clue) AY(poetically, always/ever).

4. At heart envisions playful, amazing style – prefiguring, maybe, a linear arrangement (6)

SYZYGY : Middle letters, respectively, of(At heart) “envisions playful, amazing style – prefiguring, maybe“.

Defn: … whereby a celestial body, the sun, and the earth lie in a straight line.

5. Bird gets spider (10)

FLYCATCHER : [FLY CATCHER](what one might call a spider, using its web).

… not with a pedestrian web, but with its beak, and on the wing.

6. One of five in hovel not seeing straight (7)

SQUINTY : QUIN(short for a quintuplet, one of five babies born at one birth) contained in(in) STY(a hovel/a very dirty or untidy house).

8. A bit of diplomacy? Nice, but I doubt your motives (5)

CYNIC : Hidden in(A bit of) “diplomacy? Nice“.

Defn: The “I” in the defn.

12. Covering up, given royal discomposure (10)

OVERLAYING : Anagram of(royal discomposure) GIVEN ROYAL.

13. Judge doubtful for a moment (5)

JIFFY : J(abbrev. for “judge”) + IFFY(doubtful/full of “ifs”).

16. 24h repeated over and over and so on across the pond (4-4)

YADA-YADA : Reversal of(… over and over, in a down clue) 2x(repeated) [A DAY](a 24-hour period)].

Defn: Americanism/across the pond/Atlantic to refer to what has already been said, and too boring or predictable to be repeated.

18. Donations for working in bread and wine (7)

MALMSEY : ALMS(donations/charity) replacing(for) “on”(working/functioning, as with an electrical appliance) in “money”(in slang, bread).

Defn: Fortified … from Madeira.

20. Growth of power with steel tower mostly erected (5)

POLYP : P(symbol for “power” in physics) plus(with) reversal of(… erected, in a down clue) “pylon”(a steel tower carrying electricity cables high above ground) minus its last letter(mostly).

Defn: An abnormal tissue ….

21. Unsteady, with old boy feebly taking charge (6)

WOBBLY : W(abbrev. for “with”) + OB(abbrev. for an “old boy” who attended a particular learning institution) + “feebly” minus(taking) “fee”(a charge for services).

25. Sounding like sensible questions (4)

WHYS : Hidden in(Sounding like) “wise”(sensible/prudent).

26. Two axes and no going back? This is hard (4)

ONYX : Reversal of(… back) [X,Y(2 axes in mathematics) plus(and) NO].

Defn: … material, specifically a semi-precious stone.