Independent on Sunday 1,666 by Hypnos

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The puzzle is available here.

 

Hello everybody.  Thanks to Hypnos who provides a puzzle in traditional Indy on Sunday style.  Wicked! (+ 1000)

I liked the TRICK in 12a and found plenty more to enjoy too.

 

Definitions are underlined in the clues below.  In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, explicit [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.  For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.

 

Across

1a    One that’s elevated site of seaside entertainment, we hear (4)
PEER
PIER (site of seaside entertainment), sound-alike (we hear)

3a    Crowd when swaying varied cry lately for footballer (5,5)
JAMIE VARDY
JAM (crowd) + an anagram of (when swaying) VARIED + the last letter of (… lately) crY

10a   Unwavering rival once to Duran Duran? (7)
ADAMANT
ADAM ANT (rival once to Duran Duran?)

11a   One inside aspires to be this English actor (7)
FREEMAN
One in prison, or inside, likely aspires to be a FREE MAN

12a   Mo holds lead in race – it’s a fast one (5)
TRICK
TICK (mo, short period of time) contains (holds) the first letter of (lead in) Race

13a   Step made unstable in headlong rush by a crowd (8)
STAMPEDE
STEP MADE anagrammed (unstable)

16a   One enthralled by pecan nuts as a party snack? (6)
CANAPE
A (one) inside (enthralled by) an anagram of (… nuts) PECAN

17a   A supplier of tiles? (8)
MILLINER
A cryptic definition, the tiles being hats

19a   Caution a fellow hiding money in a roundabout way (8)
ADMONISH
A + DON (fellow) around (hiding) M (money) + ISH (in a roundabout way)

21a   Large niche designed for thing growing among stones, say (6)
LICHEN
L (large) + NICHE anagrammed (designed)

24a   Terrible fighter getting knocked out proves just (8)
RIGHTFUL
[f]RIGHTFUL (terrible) with F (fighter) removed (getting knocked out)

25a   Asian national consumes final piece in casual type of Indian meal (5)
THALI
THAI (Asian national) goes around (consumes) the last letter of (final piece in) casuaL

27a   One-time source of public announcements about Arab airline (7)
CARRIER
CRIER (one-time source of public announcements) around (about) AR (Arab)

29a   See bishop in farewell that’s endearing (7)
LOVABLE
LO (see) + B (bishop) in VALE (farewell)

30a   Set up month for mobilising as an active campaigner? (2,3,5)
ON THE STUMP
An anagram of (… for mobilising) SET UP MONTH

31a   Britain gets positive response for some extras (4)
BYES
B (Britain) + YES (positive response)

 

Down

1d    A big cat’s wandering below place, source of environmental damage? (7,3)
PLASTIC BAG
A BIG CAT’S anagrammed (wandering) following (below, in a down entry) PL (place)

2d    Uncle, maybe, after ousting Republican shows joy (7)
ELATION
[r]ELATION (uncle, maybe) having removed (after ousting) R (Republican)

4d    Witness watching a Lord’s match, say (6)
ATTEST
AT TEST (watching a Lord’s match, say)

5d    Informal artist given gibe that’s degrading (5,3)
INFRA DIG
INF (informal) + RA (artist) + DIG (gibe)

6d    Struggle in European capital (not half!) (3)
VIE
VIE[nna] (European capital), with 50% removed (not half)

7d    On reflection, nothing to spoil a period of religious austerity (7)
RAMADAN
The reversal of (on reflection) NADA (nothing) and MAR (to spoil)

8d    Californian, say, overseas accommodated in Turkey (Ankara) (4)
YANK
The answer is contained within (accommodated in) TurkeY ANKara

9d    Group of rugby players with a mixed drink make a strong impact (4,1,5)
PACK A PUNCH
PACK (group of rugby players) + A + PUNCH (mixed drink)

14d   Prince fabricated a lie vital as a temporary expedient (10)
PALLIATIVE
P (prince) + an anagram of (fabricated) A LIE VITAL

15d   Author in church over consecutive Sundays shows eccentricity (10)
CRANKINESS
RANKIN (author) in CE (church) goes over S S (consecutive Sundays)

18d   Request to get computer support? That’s to invite trouble (3,3,2)
ASK FOR IT
The answer could also mean a request for IT, or computer support

20d   A time when flustered to get hold of Greek detective (7)
MAIGRET
A TIME when anagrammed (flustered) is around (to get hold of) GR (Greek)

22d   British Olympian grabbing a bed made up for a top student? (4,3)
HEAD BOY
HOY (British Olympian) containing (grabbing) an anagram of (… made up) A BED

23d   In this way Frenchman captures all crashing in an Alpine race? (6)
SLALOM
SO (in this way) and M (Frenchman) contains (captures) an anagram of (… crashing) ALL

26d   Something characterising a chamber in Harlech officially (4)
ECHO
The answer is found in HarlECH Officially

28d   Traditional drinks accompaniment ditched on a regular basis (3)
ICE
Alternate letters of (… on a regular basis) dItChEd

 

11 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,666 by Hypnos”

  1. Unlike yesterday morning and the predictions for this evening, it’s a period of relative calm here in the English Midlands this morning so it’s kind of Hypnos to provide a breeze! Either I was bang on the wavelength or this was the most accessible Indy puzzle for quite a while. INFRA DIG held out til last as I couldn’t see the parsing. And I was held up – no doubt by design – through bunging in WAR for 6d, being half of Warsaw – which frustrated the obvious FREEMAN as well as leaving me with a probable footballer surnamed W-R-Y. Even I have heard of someone called VARDY at which point Vienna came to mind and the last few resolved.

    Thanks Hypnos and Kitty

  2. Thanks both. A few unknowns for me including that fighter can be abbreviated to its initial letter – was delayed briefly having entered war for 6dn (half of Warsaw) which I still feel works.

  3. Like others, I initially went for WARsaw but then got FREEMAN and VIEnna was then clear. No chance of getting 3a though. Never heard of him and was assuming the first name was David from the crossers. The rest were all pretty easy though.

  4. Spot on for a Sunday. I took a while to see F for ‘fighter’ too, but it’s obvious now of course – F-15, F-18 etc. I thought of Paul FREEMAN as the ‘English actor’ but I suspect we were meant to go for someone a bit younger who shares the surname. Fortunately thought of VIE(NNA) first, but I agree “Warsaw” works. Favourite was the ‘Greek detective’ at 20d, with memories of the excellent 1960’s TV series with Rupert Davies in the lead role.

    The only reason I knew JAMIE VARDY was a previous clue somewhere referring to the legal proceedings initiated by his wife in the “Wagatha Christie” scandal. Crosswords can come in useful for such indispensable knowledge.

    Thanks to Kitty and Hypnos

  5. It’s always good to come across a Hypnos puzzle and I really enjoyed this one, despite the inclusion of an unindicated American expression as the answer to 30a.

    TRICK was my favourite.

    Many thanks to Hypnos and to Kitty.

  6. Thanks WordPlodder @4 for explaining F= fighter plane. Hadn’t thought of that. Jamie Vardy was practically a write-in for me: living with a follower of the beautiful game means I’ve picked up more football knowledge than I ever intended to, which comes in useful for crosswords. Pity he’s not a cricket fan, too.
    I took 30a to be a political reference that’s seen and heard quite a lot in the UK come election time.
    Thanks to Hypnos for an enjoyable start to the day and to Kitty for the blog.

  7. Most of this came to mind in a gentle Sunday morning kind of way, but I couldn’t quite parse RIGHTFUL and ADMONISH. I got hung-up on trying to make something out of an anagram of “fighter”.

  8. Sadly have to record a DNF because I’ve never heard of the footballer and didn’t find a way to solve the clue without that knowledge.
    Fortunately there were plenty of other clues that greatly appealed and my top two were TRICK & ASK FOR IT. The latter being particularly apt given my woeful performance in this world of computer wizardry!

    So nice to see you, Hypnos. Knowing your alter egos came in handy over on BD this morning although I still insist that you’re really a twinkly-eyed leprechaun!
    Thanks also to our favourite Kitty cat for another excellent review.

  9. Thanks hypnos for an easy one for me anyway even if the rightful parsing kept me thinking for a while looking at fighter* . thanks to kitty cat for the blog too.

  11. Thanks Hypnos for the Sunday fun. I hadn’t heard of Jamie Vardy but I was able to solve this clue from the wordplay alone. However, I didn’t know INFRA DIG and I could not guess the DIG portion of that solution. I enjoyed TRICK, RAMADAN, and CRANKINESS among others. Thanks Kitty for the blog and your RIGHTFUL parsing.

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