Independent on Sunday 1,687 by Wire

Sunday rolls round again and I’ve got Wire again.

Tricky in places but probably about right for a Sunday – can’t see any theme or Nina but if you know better…

 picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
9. Suffering introduction to Tudor dance game (9)
PAINTBALL

PAIN & T(udor) & BALL

10. Female bird once carried by current westwards (5)
NAOMI

Can’t say I’m a fan of female for just a woman’s name to be honest, MOA an extinct bird in – carried by – IN – current all reversed – heading westward

11. Student in institute excelled (5)
TUTEE

Hidden answer

12. It keeps you off the drink while boarding (9)
GANGPLANK

Cryptic def

13. Relegate clubs on outskirts of Sochi and Grayvoron (7)
CONSIGN

C(lubs) & ON & edges of S(och)I G(rayvoro)N

14. Wasted this amount over strip of land (7)
ISTHMUS

THIS* wasted & SUM reversed

17. Feathered creature dog decapitated (5)
EAGLE

A decapitated (b)EAGLE. Not a pleasant surface image

19. Barb in 21 having shin scratched (3)
DIG

21 is a party or SHINDIG without the shin

20. Duck spinning item cast by one on throne (5)
EIDER

DIE – cast reversed – spinning & Liz – E.R.

21. Party King eyed regularly with drink (5-2)
KNEES-UP

Alternate letters of KiNg EyEd and SUP – drink

22. Drug-fuelled man emptied lavatory for pennies (7)
CHEAPLY

E(cstacy) fuelling CHAP & an emptied L(avator)Y

24. Diagram lecturer included in evidence about network (5,4)
FLOOR PLAN

L(ecturer) in PROOF reversed & LAN – computer network

26. Abrupt language after concert’s conclusion (5)
TERSE

End of concerT & ERSE – Irish poetically

28. Funds that might be frozen (5)
LOLLY

Double def

29. ‘Performing Great’ ultimately typified by McKellen? (9)
TRAGEDIAN

Extended def cum all in one. GREAT* perforrming & (typifie)D ultimately & IAN (mckellen). Ian McKellen – Wikipedia

DOWN
1/13. Random appraisal of one’s complexion? (4,5)
SPOT CHECK

Cryptic def really with reference to acne I guess

2. Young adventurer needs two asses to ascend (6)
TINTIN

2 x NIT – ass as in fool ascending

3. Grit from small river coating ropes (10)
STEELINESS

S(mall) & LINES- ropes inside the river cum setter TEES

4. Greek vessel briefly vanished (6)
JARGON

I assume Jargon as in it’s all Greek to me. JAR – vessel and most of GON(e)

5. Highland chief making a racket in his armour? (8)
CLANKING

The chief maybe a CLAN KING

6. Bargain with bit of info held by British Nationalists (4)
SNIP

A bit of I(nfo) in the SNP

7. Prophet second on played rather badly (8)
MOHAMMED

MO – a second & HAMMED for acted badly

8. Captain Jock’s place of worship (4)
KIRK

Star Trek captain and somewhat iffy Jock for Scottish church

13. See 1

 

15. Tight seatbelt secures extremely hostile group (3,7)
THE BEATLES

Extremes of H(ostil)E inside tight – drunk SEATBELT*

16. Wander around section of pricey art shop (5)
STRAY

Reversed hidden – around to show reversal and section for hidden. priceY ART Shop

18. Right leg bone fractured in Alpine location (8)
GRENOBLE

[R LEG BONE]* fractured

19. Wax maybe from French governor of Judea (8)
DEPILATE

DE french “from” & PILATE he of the hands washing

22. 2’s saucy performance? (6)
CANCAN

2 is TINTIN which could be CAN CAN

23. Suggestion possibly from stylist Grant (6)
PERMIT

A stylist could ask PERM IT?

24. Grabbed a handful of material (4)
FELT

Double definition

25. Moonlight perhaps when increase announced (4)
RAYS

Sounds like RAISE

27. Stake put up for a potential hotspot (4)
ETNA

Well it is an active volcano. ANTE – bet reversed

 

15 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,687 by Wire”

  1. Great surfaces, smooth and fair clueing, really enjoyed today’s offering.
    Particularly liked CLANKING and JARGON
    Thank you to Wire and Flashling

  2. An enjoyable mixture of straightforward and tricky today, though I almost spoilt things from the get go by confidently slapping in FACE VALUE at 1d instead of SPOT CHECK. Realised my mistake when 13a had to be CONSIGN – though I don’t know why the C was plural rather than singular, as I thought that would indicate a CC or a CS. Is it the norm for C to stand for clubs? I’m sure someone will enlighten me.

    All in all very good. Thanks to Wire and thank you flashing for the explanation of LAN in FLOOR PLAN. An expression new to me.

  3. Yes, Salad, C is given in Chambers as abbreviation for Clubs. All four of the suits can be represented by their initial letter.

    I liked the linking of TINTIN and CANCAN, and KNEES-UP and shinDIG. I confess to smiling at both the cheeky Scottishisms: CLAN KING and (sorry flashling) KIRK. ISTHMUS, FLOOR PLAN and TRAGEDIAN were my other favourites.

    Thanks Wire and flashling

  4. I don’t really see ‘consign’ = ‘relegate’, just ‘deliver’ or ‘allocate’, but no doubt someone will tell me it has this sense in some dictionary or other (none of mine). Otherwise all very fair and amusing, so thanks Wire and Flashling.

  5. Thanks PostMark @3. Clubs as in suits! Of course! My brain was stuck on clubs as societies. So obvious when it’s pointed out but one of those woods for the trees moments.

    Re consign = relegate, as in ‘consigned to the bin’, I guess.

  6. I see what you mean about CONSIGN and ‘relegate’ Tatrasman @4. Like Salad @5, I thought of it in the sense of “consign (=relegate) to the dustbin of history”, but even in this saying, consign really just means “send to”.

    Another enjoyable offering from our setter after Thursday’s Leonidas in the FT. My favourites were the all-in-one TRAGEDIAN, the parsing of FLOOR PLAN and the original def for JARGON, my last in after an alphabet trawl.

    Thanks to Wire and flashling

  7. The first definition of ‘relegate’ in Chambers is ‘consign to an inferior or less important place or position’.

  8. Thanks both. Ideal level of challenge for me today. I’m with Tatarstan and WordPlodder in the CONSIGN/relegate debate though it did not cause me to reject the correct answer

  9. As I was trying to think about feathered things beginning with E, EIDER came to mind, until EAGLE made more sense. Then, when I came to 20ac, I benefited from my own error. A very pleasant puzzle and blog, though I have to agree that for consign to mean relegate, you have to consign it to somewhere. I’m afraid the word is tainted for me by the attempt to rebrand Royal Mail as Consignia.

  10. Just noticed my intro sounds like a moan. Wasn’t intended at all. Perhaps I should consign it to the bin.

  11. Can anyone think of a way to use consign to mean sed to a superior place or position? I can’t.
    Thanks Wire and Flashing – I agree with you re ‘female’ to mean a random name, otherwise an enjoyable solve.

  12. Very clever throughout and very enjoyable. Some real smilers, not least the Scottish related clues as well as a couple of PDMs.
    Thanks Wire and Flashing.

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