Independent 10,954 by Serpent

by

The penultimate Saturday in November and another tussle with Serpent.

This one seemed to take me longer than it should have, which is never a bad thing. Some excellent mis-directions are my excuse graves? in 1ac a prime example

As to a theme – there certainly is one centring literally on KIRIBATI  which is the only nation to span all 4 hemispheres straddling both the equator and the international dateline – so highly apt it is in the centre of the grid.

There are many answers associated with this island group TARAWA and BANABA and signposts via 2dn and 9ac (CENTRE REGION) to 3dn and 11ac (ISLAND NATION). 24dn and 25dn are apt descriptors too (FORMER COLONY).

It will be one of the first areas to be massively impacted when the global temperature continues to rise despite the pathetic political efforts that were Glasgow COP-out 26, As if a choice of words makes any difference to the constituent gas proportions in the atmosphere causing the climate change. Personally stronger words than Greta’s blah, blah, blah are appropriate.

As to the pick of the clues – for me it was 9ac – simply elegant. 28ac deserves a mention as a very precise way to clue a little known place. 4dn amused me, 19ac loved the definition misdirection and 22dn made me laugh too – amongst many others of note.

Thanks Serpent – no land snakes on Kiribati, but plenty in the sea apparently.

Key: Anagram * ; DD Double definition ; Rev. Reversed; Underline definition

Across
1 Unexpected things the author had found in graves? (9)
I (the author) + ‘d (had) in accents (graves) = ACCIDENTS

9 Area 51’s not part of belief system (6)
Religion (belief system) – LI (51) = REGION

10 Having some correspondence with figure representing North America in Australia (9)
aus (Australia) NA (North America) logo (figure) = ANALOGOUS

11 See 3 Down

12 Primate published article about diversity mainly (5-4)
range (diversity) – e (mainly) in out (published) an (article) = ORANG-UTAN

13 3 sound sheepish about arrest (6)
Baa (sound sheepish) around nab (arrest) = BANABA

17 Drink and go round naked (3)
skirt (go round) – s t (naked) = KIR

19 Japan’s 16 miles east of old capital and close to Shanghai (7)
o(old) + riga (capital) + m (miles) + i (close to Shanghai) = ORIGAMI (Paperfolding)

20 Couple is last in prize list (7)
item (couple) + is + e (last in prize) = ITEMISE

21 Shot decapitated Buffalo Bill? (3)
stab (shot) – s (decapitated) = TAB

23 Fool complied with guards leading priest (6)
met (complied with) around up(leading) + p (Priest) = MUPPET

27 Pout about refusal to record one’s speech (9)
moue(pout) around no log (refusal to record) = MONOLOGUE

28 Tearaway blowing limits of everybody’s capital (6)
Tearaway – ey (limits of everybody) = TARAWA

29 Rebuild her famous home for Tiller Girls? (9)
(her famous)* = FARMHOUSE

30 Firm taking on new railway guard (6)
set (firm) around n (new) + ry (railway) = SENTRY

31 Pay attention to vehicle reversing in confined space (9)
court (pay attention to) + Rev. Dray (vehicle) = COURTYARD

Down
2 What is at the heart of modern cycling? (6)
recent (modern) cycling = CENTRE

3/11 Win race by one second in 2 9? (6,6)
land (win) + nation (race) after i (one) + s (second) = ISLAND NATION

4 Vessel whose cargo is targeted by soldiers? (6)
Cryptic definition = EGGCUP

5 Shock effect of dishevelled man wearing crumpled suit (7)
(man)* in (suit)* = TSUNAMI

6 Divorced father assessed following case of self-abuse (9)
pa (father) + rated (assessed) after se (case of self-abuse) = SEPARATED

7 New kind of TV is making plot-based feature? (9)
digital( new kind of TV) + is = DIGITALIS

8 I saw accommodating woman in order to be overwhelmed (9)
I + dated (saw) around nun (woman n order) = INUNDATED

14 Sectarian party last to cast stigma off (9)
do (party) + (t + stigma)* DOGMATIST

15 Student leaves stupid call smiling inanely (9)
simple(stupid) – l (student) + ring (call) = SIMPERING

16 Documents reporter’s income for each piece (9)
Homonym pay per work = PAPERWORK

17 School abandons vulgar uniform (3)
kitsch(vulgar) – sch (school) = KIT

18 Make fun of progressive characters in right-on liberal bubble (3)
Right-on lIberal buBble = RIB

22 What could be primarily available via on-line shop? (7)
a v (primarily available via) + Ocado (on-line shop) = AVOCADO

24 Previous head of state oppressed by class (6)
Form(Class) + ER (head of state) = FORMER

25 50% of capital invested in modest settlement (6)
lon (50% of capital London) in coy (modest) = COLONY

26 Revolutionary Polish artist’s upset fund manager (6)
Rev rub (polish) + Rev RAs (Artist’s) = BURSAR

17 comments on “Independent 10,954 by Serpent”

  1. A very timely themed crossword which was, as usual with Serpent, both a battle and a treat to solve

    My favourite has to be 4d as I’m always amazed how long it takes me to realise what’s going on when these particular soldiers appear

    Many thanks to Serpent and twencelas

  2. Funny how solvers have different difficulties. ACCIDENTS then EGGCUP were my first two in. Don’t think I’ve seen the “progressive characters” (18d) device before but latched on to the idea. Struggled to see what Buffalo was doing in 21a then recalled that “tab” for “bill” is an Americanism, as might be used in Buffalo (the place, not the animal, I hasten to add). The crossing, ORIGAMI & PAPERWORK were the ones that held me up.

  3. We got there despite being challenged by the island names. But I need more help with digitalis, why is that a plot based feature?

  4. EricW Digitalis is plot based as in a gardening sense was my take on it. Could also be used as a poison in a whodunnit plot too.

  5. Full fat puzzle today, much appreciated. TAB was my pick, short and sweet. EGGCUP was also good, a blind spot like Sue.
    DIGITALIS was last in, as I was sure from the crossers that it had to be KIRIBATI + one more letter.
    Centre region as definition for ISLAND NATION is a bit underhand, as you have to equate it with something hidden in the grid which then provides only an example of the solution.
    Thanks Serpent & Twencelas

  6. A poignant reminder of the perilous situation faced by island nations, reminding me of the shortcomings of our leaders at COP and of my own as a solver.

  8. Perfect Saturday crossword for me – challenging enough without becoming a chore to complete. At first sight the grid does look unfriendly, but the interlinking of clues and solutions across the quadrants pulls it together (presumably not unintentionally).
    Thanks to Serpent and twencelas.

  9. Sorry, Serpent but this was too much of a struggle (not helped by being virtually four separate crosswords) for us to appreciate the message. Thanks, though, twencelas, for the explanations.

  10. It is an unfriendly grid, but here’s a fanciful suggestion: Kiribati is (per Wikipedia) made of 32 atolls + one coral island (Banaba). In the grid we have 32 solutions plus the bonus Kiribati in the middle (shaped as an atoll?).
    I also note that each black square in this grid is isolated; I’m not aware of any other grid with that feature.

  11. I found this difficult but ultimately very satisfying, especially thanks to the excellent blog and helpful comments. Needed Google to check that Banaba exists and shrugged when entering Tarawa. After eventually finishing but not understanding the reference to 2,9 I came here and now feel a bit stupid. I did try to see whether the central squares spelled a word but unfortunately Kiribati was not in my vocabulary. Had I actually read the Wikipedia entry on Banaba all would have been clearer (perhaps).
    I’m glad that our leaders eventually figured out the correct choice of words to save the planet without unduly offending anyone.

  12. In the first hour of looking at this I got three answers and a couple more when I looked at it again. No fun for me.

  13. Many thanks to rwencelas for an excellent blog of what seems to have been a tricky puzzle, and to everyone who has taken the time to comment.

    James @10: I love your theory about the grid and wish it were true, but the only features that drew me to the grid were the ring in the centre for KIRIBATI and the large number of 6-letter entries for other thematic material.

  14. Thanks twencelas and Serpent!

    Beautiful, better late than never, NE took as much time as the rest.
    Got the center square early on, tho parsing was arduous… unfortunately, didn’t see KIRIBATI, though TARAWA, which I got early, too, should have guided me…it was BANABA that led to the theme…
    Likes
    – ANALOGOUS
    – ACCIDENTS
    – ORIGAMI
    – ISLAND NATION

  16. This has the feel of a missing Graham Greene book.
    Very enjoyable-thanks for puzzle, Serpent and blog. twencelas
    4 may well be a chestnut but beautifully clued

  17. Only got round to this tonight, because yesterday I started on eXtent and took two sessions on that.
    Never spotted the theme, having never heard of KIRIBATI, TARAWA, and BANABA.
    NW corner held me up too.

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