Independent on Sunday 1,683 by Hypnos

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Sunday comes round again and we have Hypnos for entertainment

PeeDee has moved off to do the Inquisitor so you’ll have to put up with me for a while. I’m actually away in Corfu so I’ll not really be able to correct any errors as I only have my phone with me.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. A national airline carrying British pop group (4)
ABBA

A & B(ritish) inside B.A. But BA is British – a bit clumsy sorry Hypnos.

3. Hotel? One’s a sight almost getting trashed in peak holiday period (4,6)
HIGH SEASON

H(otel) & a trashed [ONES A SIGHT]*

10. Style of 70s music on road exhibits jarring noise (7)
DISCORD

DISCO & RD

11. One, say, often in local government starts to understand localism in end (7)
REGULAR

[G(ov) & initial letters of U(nderstand) L(ocalism)] inside REAR

12. Question role at odd stages for part of a fingerprint (5)
WHORL

WHO – a question & Odd bits of R(o)L(e)

13. Get agreement on fixed terms (8)
CONTRACT

Double def

16. North American singer making comeback shunning Democrat celebrity (6)
RENOWN

N(orth) & D(emocrat) removed from a reversed (stevie) WON(d)ER

17. Island with revolutionary name impervious to external influence? (8)
HERMETIC

HERM – an island in the Channel & CITE – name reversed

19. Unsuspecting railway employee on a break initially (3,5)
OFF GUARD

If the GUARD in having a break he’s OFF

21. Oppose extremists in tough conflict close to militant (6)
THWART

T(oug)H & WAR & end of (militan)T

24. Dire lot troubled about money for long-serving type (3-5)
OLD-TIMER

M(oney) inside a troubled [DIRE LOT]*

25. Preoccupation in gangland brothers, it’s said (5)
CRAZE

Sounds like the KRAYS

27. A new poetic work about US city in turn proves insipid (7)
ANODYNE

A N(ew) & New York in ODE

29. Significant activity associated with grass? (7)
TELLING

Double def if the grass is a rat…

30. Lout in a mob after rampage is left in an isolated position? (3,2,1,4)
OUT ON A LIMB

A rampaging [LOUT IN A MOB]*

31. At intervals, went round educational establishment (4)
ETON

Alternate letters on wEnT rOuNd, although with the current crop I may dispute the educational bit

DOWN
1. American hardly now represented as notable artist (4,6)
ANDY WARHOL

A(merican) * a represented [HARDLY NOW]*

2. Singer on love supported by woodwind instrument (7)
BASSOON

BASS singer & O for love & ON, not entirely convinced this works, maybe I’m mistaken

4. Formally admit religious follower ignoring top court (6)
INDUCT

A (h)INDU & C(our)T

5. Take up positive response about circle in London borough (8)
HARINGEY

YEAH reversed around RING – circle

6. Something that could be scrambled for one outing ultimately (3)
EGG

EG & end of (outin)G

7. Try to obtain note officially approved? (7)
SOLICIT

SO – musical note & LICIT

8. Minor misdemeanour not altogether standard practice (4)
NORM

Hidden in miNOR Misdemeanour

9. Pay close attention to executive or do likewise? (6,4)
FOLLOW SUIT

FOLLOW & SUIT – an executive in business informally, or rather very formally

14. Poor journalist probes unsettled realms in a tumbledown state (10)
RAMSHACKLE

HACK inside an unsettled REALMS*

15. A curt gent’s possibly characterising a random outlook? (7-3)
SCATTER-GUN

possibly [A CURT GENTS]*

18. Councillor given honour by intensely austere leader (8)
CROMWELL

CR – councillor & O(rder of) M(erit) & WELL – very, intensely

20. Give in to temptation before striking quarrel (4,3)
FALL OUT

FALL – to give in & OUT – on strike

22. Sailor is shown in seascapes etc as one familiar with hot regions? (7)
ARABIST

AB – sailor & IS in ART – seascapes etc

23. Repetitive learning in the afternoon for the time being (3,3)
PRO TEM

ROTE inside P.M.

26. Amused expression shown by timeless group in circle of light (4)
HALO

HA & a timeless LO(t)

28. Variable goal in short for a currency abroad (3)
YEN

Y – maths variable & most of EN(d)

 

20 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,683 by Hypnos”

  2. I always enjoy a Hypnos puzzle and this was no exception.

    KVa @1, I am pretty sure that the intention for NORM is that it is a lurker as parsed by flashling, not an anagram as I don’t think that “not fully” would be used as an instruction to remove one unspecified letter from the middle of a word.

    I can’t find “g” = Government in Collins, and according to Chambers it is uniquely an American abbreviation.

    Many thanks to Hypnos and to flashling.

  4. Enjoyed the puzzle with no real difficulties.

    For me bassoon worked OK. I take it that “supported by” is being used as a synonym for “on” not a cryptic instruction this time.

  5. Following the wordplay – sort of – I entered “indict” not INDUCT at 4d which didn’t even make sense for the def at the time. I couldn’t really parse BASSOON either but I think AdrianG @4 has it right. HERM as one of the Channel Islands was also new.

    Enjoyable but not exactly ANODYNE for me.

    Thanks to Hypnos and flashling

  6. This was a lot of fun with several clues inducing a smile, 29a plus 9&18d to name but three.
    Thanks Hypnos and flashing.

  7. Thanks both. FOLLOW SUIT amused me, as it created the image of the executive literally being shadowed. Primary definition of ARABIST for me seemed strange as it suggests an interest in the geography rather than the civilisation and language

  8. Always a pleasure to get a puzzle from this setter and this was as enjoyable as ever.
    Like others, I did hesitate momentarily over the parsing of BASSOON but eventually went down the same route as AdrianG which worked for me.
    Dreading HIGH SEASON starting here when the local roads will once again be awash with litter discarded by folk in passing vehicles – why do they have to do it?

    Rant over – many thanks to Hypnos and also to flashling for the review. I understand that we have another offering from our setter wearing a different hat in a different place in the coming week – looking forward to that.

  9. Rabbit Dave:

    I see NORM as much less complicated, it being the last part of miNOR + Misdemeanour as – ‘not altogether’…

    Thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks everyone for your input and, of course, Hynos…

  10. Thanks Hypnos and flashling

    RD @ 2: HMG is a standard abbreviation for Her Majesty’s Government, so it isn’t purely American usage.

  11. Nice puzzle. HIGH SEASON is H for Hotel with an anagram of ONES A SIGH (almost one’s a sight)

  12. Thanks flashling and Hypnos. I thought this was just right for a Sunday – fun and not too taxing. Very enjoyable.

    Must say I’ve never thought to question “government” for G, and it crops up often enough in crosswords. Chambers doesn’t specify that it’s American, although the example it gives is G-man, which clearly is American.

  13. Edsaid @9. That’s exactly the point I was making to KVa. The answer is a lurker, i.e. hidden in miNOR + Misdemeanour, and not, as postulated by KVa, an anagram after removing one random letter.

    Simon S @10. I am led to believe that setters shouldn’t use one part of a recognised abbreviation. So while HMG is OK for Her Majesty’s Government, H does not equal “Her”, M does not equal “Majesty” and G doesn’t equal “Government” (except in the American example given by Chambers.

  14. RD @ 13: Show me where S = Society is used as a standalone. It’s always part of a compound abbreviation, but occurs frequently in crosswords.

  15. Never thought a hidden answer would cause so many comments. @Simon and RD I’ve wondered before about such letters. I guess if the editor says it’s fine for me then the setter gets more ammo for the toolkit.

  16. Thanks Hypnos for a very pleasant Sunday crossword. I particulary liked REGULAR, TELLING (always happy to remember slang like grass), INDUCT, and PRO TEM. I incorrectly parsed NORM like KVA @1 (I hate missing the hidden ones) and I only guessed at CROMWELL so thanks flaahing for the assistance.

  17. Simon S @14. S = society is listed as an acceptable abbreviation in both Chambers and Collins.

  19. There’s something wrong in 30’s cryptic. 10A won’t accept n in the second position which makes the correct dictionary word and instead forces c, which makes a nonsense word. It was nice as a whole – 23D and 27-29A were the only difficult bits, but the mistake in 10 was kind of natty…

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