Independent on Sunday 1,698 by Tees

by

The puzzle is available here.

 

Hello again.  It’s good to have another Tees puzzle to blog.  I found it less of a workout than yesterday’s Indy, but entertaining as ever.  Thanks Tees!

 

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    Admired decoration in this clue on prize-winner (8,5)
VICTORIA CROSS
I ACROSS (this clue) next to (on) VICTOR (prize-winner)

8a    A mischievous creature sent back, one bringing irritation? (4)
FLEA
A + ELF (mischievous creature) reversed (sent back)

9a    Thought blunder on field should be represented in legal document (10)
COGITATION
OG (own goal: blunder on field) needs to be put inside (should be represented in) CITATION (legal document)

10a   Start to eat pastry having at some previous point worn swimsuit? (3-5)
ONE-PIECE
The first letter of (start to) Eat and PIE (pastry) contained within (having … worn) ONCE (at some previous point)

11a   What kestrels will do to keep egg clean? (6)
HOOVER
HOVER (what kestrels will do) containing (to keep) O (egg)

12a   Power in Britain, as corrupt, supported by Con and Lab? (10)
BIPARTISAN
P (power) in an anagram of (… corrupt) BRITAIN AS

15a   Bankers from Poughkeepsie, in their chopper, coming to peak (4)
APEX
The outer letters of (bankers from) PoughkeepsiE, in AX (their chopper, i.e. the American spelling of axe)

17a   Loud organ causes apprehension (4)
FEAR
F (loud) + EAR (organ)

18a   The PM arose to change prevailing mood (10)
ATMOSPHERE
THE PM AROSE needs to be anagrammed (to change)

20a   Forest with walnut ultimately burning (6)
ARDENT
ARDEN (forest) + the last letter of (… ultimately) walnuT

23a   Emancipate wife? Detrimental to give independence! (4,4)
FREE WILL
FREE (emancipate) + W (wife) + ILL (detrimental)

25a   Pose holding large fish, crossing river to find narrow shelter (4,6)
SLIT TRENCH
SIT (pose) containing (holding) L (large) + TENCH (fish) around (crossing) R (river)

26a   Poet eschewing university calls for port (4)
ADEN
A[u]DEN (poet) without (eschewing) U (university)

27a   Ace times in Arts Centre rocking in fashionable way? (7,6)
CARNABY STREET
A (ace) and BY (times) in an anagram of (… rocking) ARTS CENTRE

 

Down

1d    See 19

2d    Problem for athletes affected covering run (5)
CRAMP
CAMP (affected) around (covering) R (run)

3d    Men box with hawk-headed god in ensemble (9)
ORCHESTRA
OR (men) + CHEST (box) + RA (hawk-headed god)

4d    Entrance French painter signalling at first (7)
INGRESS
INGRES (French painter) + the initial letter of (… at first) Signalling

5d    100 at church finding hidden problem (5)
CATCH
C (100) + AT + CH (church)

6d    Therapist exercised toes turning hot tap round (9)
OSTEOPATH
An anagram of (exercised) TOES + the reversal of (turning) H (hot), TAP and O (round)

7d    Small figure coming to point in Scottish palace (5)
SCONE
S (small) + CONE (figure coming to point)

13d   Two characters in elevated correspondence? (3,6)
AIR LETTER
The two characters are AIR and LETTER

14d   Iron structure in sunset horribly hot inside (6,3)
NISSEN HUT
IN SUNSET anagrammed (horribly) with H (hot) inside

16d   In film, lost climbing team should make admission (9)
ENROLMENT
In ET (film) we have LORN (lost) reversed (climbing) and MEN (team)

19d   & 1. Show tune‘s in tune: fly out with Navy men (2,5,9)
MY FUNNY VALENTINE
IN TUNE FLY anagrammed (out) together with NAVY MEN

21d   Trace local banished from Ireland for example (5)
RELIC
PUB (local) is removed from (banished from) RE[pub]LIC (Ireland for example)

22d   Legally land small turtle, leaving trap (5)
TERRA
TERRA[pin] (small turtle) without (leaving) PIN (trap)

24d   Hunted creature‘s mournful cry heard (5)
WHALE
WAIL (mournful cry), as heard

 

13 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,698 by Tees”

  1. I enjoyed working steadily through this without too much trouble until I hit my last couple, MY FUNNY VALENTINE and especially ENROLMENT. I couldn’t work out the anagram fodder for the ‘Show tune’, which isn’t a song I’m very familiar with and had just about given up on the ‘admission’ before’ it materialised in front of me, obviously with the help of checkers. LORN for ‘lost’ and MEN for ‘team’ were both perfectly fair, but not common in either sense in crossword land and the def was pretty sneaky too; thank goodness for the old ET stand-by for ‘film’.

    Favourite was BIPARTISAN – just a touch cynical!

    A good work-out and one I was satisfied to finish and parse correctly.

    Thanks to Tees and Kitty

  2. First in again. Where is everybody? I really liked this but have a couple of little niggles. At 9A, I don’t think any soccer fan would call the playing area a field, it’s a pitch. And at 26A “calls” seems superfluous – wouldn’t it work as well without it? But many thanks Tees for the enjoyment and Kitty for the blog.

  4. Always pleased if I can finish a Tees though MY FUNNY VALENTINE is, whilst not actually a nho, absolutely not something that’s going to come to my mind. All crossers needed. And I couldn’t parse AIR LETTER – it took me a while even after reading your explanation, Kitty. For a moment I was wondering if AIR might be a Japanese character or a mah jong tile – and then the penny finally dropped!

    As always, so much to like but highlights included HOOVER, ATMOSPHERE, ARDENT, SCONE (felt like a rather poignant surface), NISSEN HUT and another poignant one in WHALE. I was held up with FLEA for a while – amazing what immersion in Tolkien can do to change one’s perception of elves; mischievous creature just did not come to mind.

    Thanks Tees and Kitty

  5. I liked the 1 across device, missed the own goal(two errors cancelling themselves out), but I enjoyed this puzzle and blog. Thanks.

  6. Crafted to the max, and many a fine conjuring of surface. I particularly liked the painfully evocative whale clue, whose definition was all it needed to be, to drive home the point, as Queequeg might have said. Oh and ONE-PIECE. That was amusing, especially for a middle-aged lady with an appetite like mine.

    For T-man, I think removing ‘calls’ changes the surface sense, doesn’t it? I had the poet leaving his studies in favour of the booze, rather than a visit to the docks.

  7. Certainly needed our blogger’s help with a few bits of parsing – that wretched own goal and the lost soul caused me problems.
    SLIT TRENCH was a ‘look up and learn’ but very fairly clued and 24d was heart-rending.
    Think my favourite was HOOVER with VICTORIA CROSS sliding into second place.

    Thanks to Tees and to our favourite feline.

  8. Excellent stuff as ever from Tees, some very fine and inventive wordplay, especially the 1 across trick. Neat. And thanks for the blog, Kitty.

    Tatrasman @2 – the laws of the game refer to it as the “field of play”.

  9. Mew mew mew mew mew. Mew mew (thanks for a fine blog Kitty).

    Thanks to all commenters too. Glad you liked the whale. Occasionally I do a good one, and sometimes it’s the really simple ones that turn out well. I hope the next time I see Wales slaughtered is in the World Cup.

    Tx Ts.

  10. Thanks Tees. Count me as another supporter of WHALE, one of my top choices along with VICTORIA CROSS and BIPARTISAN. I was surprised that all the words were familiar to me — I always expect one or two answers that require a Collins consultation. I still don’t get AIR LETTER, however. Thanks Kitty for the blog.

  12. Well a letter(a,b)is a character and having an air, of say confidence, is a trait of character. I think that is the idea anyway.

  13. Thanks all. (To Tees: meow miaow mew mew meow.)

    Re 13d, yes I took the two meanings to be the air/character of place or person and an alphabetical letter/character. Two very different characters. Clearly I should have expanded, but was busy dealing with invaders guests in the morning so was pushed for time. Then travelling* later, hence the delay in replying. Thanks to nicbach and Lady Gewgaw above for answering questions.

    *to Wales, in fact – but I hope to drink in moderation and not to see Wales slaughtered!

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