Independent 10,910 / Serpent

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Serpent’s latest crossword has been provided for our entertainment this Thursday.

I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable, medium-difficulty puzzle, pitched at exactly the right level for a mid-week solve. I particularly appreciated some of the less usual container-and-contents indicators at 1A, 25, 26, etc.

I would appreciate confirmation of my parsing at 13 and 22. My favourite clues today were 1A and 17, both for smoothness of surface; the “country runner’s home” component of the wordplay at 10; and 27, for sheer flair.

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

Across  
   
01 COMFORT Company in favour of sticking mount to console

CO (=comfort) + [FOR (=in favour of) in MT (=mount, on map)]
   
05 COWSLIP Mistake by bully is a common bloomer

COW (=bully, intimidate, as verb) + SLIP (=mistake); the “bloomer” of the definition is a flower, of course
   
09 BRIEF Give information to // brusque // lawyer

Triple definition
   
10 CRUCIFORM Like a cross country runner’s home on Channel Islands housing police once

[RUC (=police once, i.e. Royal Ulster Constabulary, disbanded in 2001) in CI (=Channel Islands)] + FORM (=country runner’s home, i.e. where a hare lives!)
   
11 LETTERING Written signs sanction barriers to trade by cartel

LET (=sanction, allow, as verb) + T<rad>E (“barriers to” means first and last letters only) + RING (=cartel, as in vice ring)
   
12 POISE Stance assumed by newspaper shows balance

(the) i (=newspaper) in POSE (=stance)
   
13 DISCONNECT Part of Rhode Island is next to Conneticut

Hidden (“of”) in “rhode islanD IS + CONNECTicut”; to part, as a verb, is to separate, disconnect
   
18 STEEPENING Becoming more inclined to convert 50% of petrol engines

*(PET<rol> + ENGINES); “50% of” means 3 of 6 letters only are used in anagram, indicated by “convert”
   
22 AHEAD Leader of academy doubled up

A<cademy> (“leader of” means first letter only) + HEAD (=leader of academy); “doubled” means to be taken twice; e.g. to be a goal ahead/up
   
23 SKINTIGHT Figure-hugging skirt’s fantastic thing for Romeo

*(NIGHT) in SKI<r>T; anagram, indicated by “fantastic”, of “night” replaces the letter “r” (=Romeo, in radio telecommunications)
   
24 IGNORANCE Lack of understanding displayed by sovereign or ancestor

Hidden (“displayed by”) in “sovereIGN OR ANCEstor”
   
25 BEEFY Hefty charge recalled by banks

EEF (FEE=charge; “recalled” is anagram indicator) in BY
   
26 TOTALLY Quite unbelievable play’s screened

TALL (=unbelievable, as in a tall story) in TOY (=play, as verb); e.g. it is quite/totally unacceptable that …
   
27 EMENDED Anthem and poem are thus improved

Cryptically, both “anthem” and “poem” are “em -ended”, i.e. they end in the letters “em”!
   
Down  
   
01 COBALT British Aluminium Company Ltd essentially manufactured metal

*(B (=British) + AL (=aluminium) + CO (=company) + <l>T<d>); “essentially” means middle letter only is used in anagram, indicated by “manufactured”
   
02 MOIETY One part author’s written about that is included in books

[I.E. (=that is) in OT (=books, i.e. Old Testament)] in MY (=author’s, i.e. Serpent’s); a moiety is each of two parts into which something can be divided, cf. the French moitié=half)
   
03 OFFSET Compensate for firm have cancelled earlier

OFF (=cancelled, e.g. of event) + SET (=firm, hard)
   
04 TACTICIAN Military expert’s diplomacy at home controls agents

TACT (=diplomacy) + [CIA (=agents, in US) in IN (=at home)]
   
05 CLUNG Stuck with inspiring manager backing clubs

C (=clubs, i.e. the suit in cards) + LUNG (= “inspiring manager”, because the lung regulates our breathing)
   
06 WHIPPING Send message following political enforcer’s defeat

WHIP (=political enforcer, in party) + PING (=send message, using e.g. beeper)
   
07 LIONISED Light-emitting object containing charged particle is treated as a star

[ION (=charged particle) + IS] in LED (=light-emitting object, i.e. light-emitting diode)
   
08 PIMIENTO Fruit stone containing air and element of water

[MIEN (=air, bearing) in PIT (=stone, in fruit)] + O (=element of water, i.e. oxygen)
   
14 CENTIPEDE Leggy individual recklessly enticed naked apes

*(ENTICED + <a>PE<s> (“naked” means first and last letters are dropped)); “recklessly” is anagram indicator
   
15 ESSAYIST Influence is possessed by established writer

[SAY (=influence, as in to have a say in a matter) + IS] in EST. (=established)
   
16 BETEL NUT Perhaps John Lennon caught fan with legal high

Homophone (“caught”) of “Beatle (=perhaps John Lennon)” + nut (=fan, enthusiast)”; with their mind-altering qualities, betel nuts, which are often chewed, offer a legal high
   
17 EPIDURAL Means to reduce suffering of Labour rule paid off

*(RULE PAID); “off” is anagram indicator; women in labour are offered pain relief in the form of epidurals
   
19 STABLE Group of people working together // establish // firm

Triple definition
   
20 AGREED Shared the same view about old houses

RE- (=about) in AGED (=old)
   
21 STAYED Remained sober for the hearing

Homophone (“for the hearing”) of “staid (=sober)”
   
23 SANDY Son dispatching one third of Brandy Alexander

S (=son) + <br>ANDY (“dispatching one third of” means 2 of the 6 letters are dropped)
   
   

17 comments on “Independent 10,910 / Serpent”

  2. Thanks RR and Serpent…needed parsing for CLUNG…btw, typo in 7d LIONISED…
    @Sil …couldn’t see nina, now that you have confirmed, will look harder.

  7. Always thoroughly enjoy a Serpent. Thought the nina was superbly done. Had to look in Chambers to see that meaning of FORM in 10a. Reading 16d, I immediately thought “perhaps John Lennon” must be a cryptic reference to the airport. Ah well!

    Spoiler alert. The nina is found starting at the D in SANDY and going clockwise around the inner perimeter.

  10. It reads “Daughter of Al Hirschfeld”. Google it for more info. As I mentioned earlier, her name is, appropriately, Nina.

  12. We got it all in the end, but it took longer than it might have done because of the unfriendly grid making it essentially four mini-puzzles. No surprise that we failed to spot the nina.
    Thanks, though, to Serpent and RatkojaRiku.

  15. Late to comment but I had to thank Serpent for a great crossword, particularly as I found the Nina!

    My favourite was 23d as my grandfather was an Alexander who was always known as Sandy

    Thanks to RR too

  16. Not as late as me crypticsue 🙂 didn’t get to this until today but am very glad I did. Think that’s the first time I’ve completed a serpent, and what a wonderful Nina.

    Thanks both.

  17. Thanks to ilippu for spotting the typo at 7, now corrected.

    I couldn’t spot the Nina even when I knew it was there to be found – a brilliant twist!

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