Shabbo made his Indy debut on 1 June 2020 and has contributed since to both the daily and Sunday versions. This was very much in line with the previous offerings: tightly clued, one or two nice touches, and overall a puzzle that meets the criteria for a Monday or Sunday slot in this journal. I enjoyed solving and blogging it.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Capital gets behind French speaking song
LONDONDERRY AIR
A charade of LONDON and a homophone of DERRIÈRE, which is the French word for ‘behind’. The clever use of ‘French speaking’ as the homophone indicator made me smile. The tune is the one to Danny Boy.
10 Mighty regal Elgar Variations
LARGE
A double anagram: of (REGAL)* and (ELGAR)* Hence the plural in ‘Variations’, which fits beautifully with the surface.
11 Recalls tie in whist wryly
WITHDRAWS
An insertion of DRAW in (WHIST)* with ‘wryly’ as the anagrind.
12 Sow unusual box hedges that flower
COWSLIP
An insertion of (SOW)* in CLIP. The anagrind is ‘unusual’; the insertion indicator is ‘hedges that’. ‘The Duchess boxed the Queen’s ears’ (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland).
13 Permit creativity
LICENCE
A dd. And all correct on the spelling front: ‘permit’, depending on where you put the stress, can be a noun or a verb; you need the nounal version to allow for LICENCE (noun), rather than LICENSE (verb). Except if you’re American, in which case get over yourself.
14 4X?
TIMES
Another dd. The solution to 4dn is NEWSPAPER and X is the mathematical symbol for ‘times’.
16 Severe restrictions result in shoot-out?
PENALTIES
A charade of PENAL TIES.
19 Champion Irishman is without doubt not unknown
CONQUEROR
An insertion of QUER[Y] in CONOR. The insertion indicator is ‘without’.
20 Snatches short sleep on board
SNAPS
An insertion of NAP in SS. ‘On board’ is crosswordspeak for inserting something into SS for ‘steamship’.
22 Rubbish time to dawdle around
TWADDLE
A charade of T and (DAWDLE)*
25 Please change name before our wedding
ENAMOUR
A charade of (NAME)* and OUR. I think the ‘wedding’ is there for the surface, and to confirm that the two particles need to be joined together.
27 Indigestion from cola consumed during days off
DYSPEPSIA
An insertion of PEPSI in (DAYS)* The anagrind is ‘off’ and the insertion indicator is ‘consumed’.
28 Savour a kiss
SMACK
Another dd.
29 One timid deletion could become a collector’s item
LIMITED EDITION
(I TIMID DELETION)*
Down
2 One flashing a blade in a row
OARSWOMAN
A cd.
3 Live close to contaminated water supply
DWELL
A charade of D for the final letter of ‘contaminated’ and WELL.
4 Content to renew spa personnel daily?
NEWSPAPER
Hidden in reNEW SPA PERsonnel.
5 Old auction item brought up for praise
EXTOL
A charade of EX and LOT reversed.
6 Derides the French supporting free hospital ward
RIDICULES
A charade of RID, ICU and LES for one of the words for ‘the’ in French.
7 Commander elected once more
AGAIN
A charade of AGA and IN.
8 Registers open-top cars? Not these days
ROSTERS
RO[AD]STERS with AD read as Anno Domini, crosswordspeak for ‘these days’.
9 Deli cited for concealing extract
ELICIT
Hidden in dELI CITed.
15 Passes away with trust distributed around the strongest
STURDIEST
An insertion of DIES in (TRUST)* The insertion indicator is around’ and the anagrind is ‘distributed’.
17 Nanny runs media organisation
NURSEMAID
(RUNS MEDIA)*
18 Lover imprisoned during China moratorium
INAMORATO
Hidden in ChinA MORATOium.
19 Keep changing dialect
CITADEL
(DIALECT)*
21 Pet butterfly, perhaps
STROKE
Another dd.
23 A service is brought up for tea
ASSAM
A charade of A and MASS reversed.
24 Relaxed and let student off
EASED
[L]EASED
26 Benefit from rise in old savings account
ASSET
A reversal (‘rise in’, since it’s a down clue) of TESSA, which was indeed an old government savings account.
Many thanks to Shabbo for the start to the Indy week.
I’m less used to encountering ‘Monday fare’ in the Indy, in contrast with the clear policy of the G. This is, as Pierre observes, a Monday puzzle but plenty of nice touches, even if the test was fairly brief. I thought Shabbo achieved good surfaces pretty much throughout which always earns a tick in my book.
I liked the anagrams for NURSEMAID and LIMITED EDITION, the hidden NEWSPAPER, the construction of DYSPEPSIA, the subtraction in ROSTERS and the outrageous homophone in LONDONDERRY AIR. But COTD goes to TIMES which was very neatly done.
Interesting to see how often INAMORATA/O pops up in puzzles and nearly always as a lurker. I’m sure I’ve seen it clued thus several times relatively recently.
Thanks Shabbo and Pierre
A pleasant puzzle and should have been a confidence builder, but I failed on the spelling front with an S not a C for LICENCE. I suppose I could take the American defence / defense, but I’ll cop it sweet. I did think the ‘wedding’ at 25a was a bit odd, but as you say probably there for the surface and to indicate “linking”.
Favourites as mentioned by PM @1, plus the LARGE double anagram. Whaddya know, but the “lurker” he refers to has since appeared elsewhere (not using that device) in the very recent past.
Thanks to Shabbo and Pierre
Another fan of LONDONDERRY AIR. A great song for the rhotic ones who pronounce their R s.
LONDONDERRY AIR leapt out immediately at 1A, so provided a good start. I was foxed by ‘wedding’ at 25A but see it now, very clever. Most enjoyable, so thanks Shabbo and Pierre.
Thanks both. In COWSLIP I assume clip relates to box in the sense of ‘clip round the ear’?
That’s exactly the example I gave in the blog, TFO.
What a lot of fun! Brief accurate cluing with great surfaces throughout and a French homophone which works to boot!
There are two very minor bits of padding. “Wedding” in 25a is only needed for the surface as it is duplicating “before” as a joining instruction; and “a” in 28a is surplus to requirements. By what the heck, I loved this.
Spoilt for choice in terms of picking a top clue, I will nominate LONDONDERRY AIR as my long favourite and TIMES as my short favourite.
Many thanks to Shabbo and to Pierre.
We found this very slow to get into. Our first pass through the acrosses yielded only tentative pencillings-jn of LICENCE and SNAPS, neither of which we found convincing. We had better luck with the downs, when 3, 5, 6, and 7 gave us enough crossers for 1ac and we were able to make better progress and eventually finish. But not the most satisfying of solves.
Thanks, though, to Shabbo and Pierre.
Well done indeed, Shabbo, just the ticket for an Indy Monday – or anywhere else for that matter!
Thanks also to Pierre, sorry you didn’t get any ‘bird link’ opportunities in this one.
Many thanks to all for your kind comments – much appreciated.
RD – you are too kind. Your cheque is in the post!!
I agree that “wedding” in 25a and “a” in 28a are arguably padding, but they both greatly improve the surface reads. Must try harder next time.
Well, try harder if you like, Shabbo, but this will do in the meantime.
What Rabbit Dave said. Good stuff.
Didn’t parse Rosters (not sure I’d know a roadster if I saw one)
Thanks to Shabbo and Pierre
What RD said Shabbo except I didn’t notice the padding. Thanks
Thanks Shabbo and Pierre. Well that was possibly my fastest ever Indy solve. Yep the wedding bit threw me a bit. Twenty seconds in and saw nothing then couldn’t write them in fast enough. Not a complaint I should stress. It’s nice to get a solving confidence boost after being bested a couple of times recently.