Independent on Sunday 1716 Silvanus

Thank you to Silvanus. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1. Everyone is wearing blue around American city (6)

DALLAS : ALL(everyone) contained in (is wearing) reversal of(… around) SAD(blue/feeling down).

4. Enterprise possibly shown by trendy celebrities previously (8)

STARSHIP : HIP(trendy/cool) placed after(… previously) STARS(celebrities/famous people).

Defn: Possibly/could be refering to the USS Enterprise, a fictional spacecraft in the Star Trek TV and film series.

The first in the line of NCC-1701s:

9. Pollute river that will carry scum miles away (6)

DEFILE : DEE(a river in the British Isles – more than one with the same name) containing(that will carry) “film”(a thin layer over a surface, in this case of dirt or froth on a liquid/scum) minus(… away) “m”(abbrev. for “miles”).

10. Kidnapper is muscular type (8)

ABDUCTOR : Double defn: 1st: One who takes someone away by force or deception; and 2nd: A type of muscle that draws a limb away from the central line of the body.

11. Place to go surfing and then have lunch? (9)

CYBERCAFE : Cryptic defn: A commercial establishment where access to the Internet is available for you to surf, on your computer or ones provided there, and to have food and drinks.

13. Money in stupidity female’s withdrawn for student (5)

LOLLY : “folly”(stupidity/foolishness) with “f”(abbrev. for “female”) replaced by(…’s withdrawn for) “l”(letter displayed by a learner driver).

Defn: Informal term for ….

14. Almost entitle Chinese to run country? (13)

LIECHTENSTEIN : Anagram of(… to run) [ “entitle” minus its last letter(Almost …) + CHINESE].

17. Engineer said soft mortar between bricks is inadequate (13)

DISAPPOINTING : Anagram of(Engineer) SAID + P(abbrev. for “piano”, a musical direction to play softly) + POINTING(the mortar used to fill the joints between bricks in brickwork).

21. Old man sacked by competent guy? (5)

CABLE : “pa”(like “old man”, an informal term for one’s father) deleted from(sacked by) “capable”(competent/having the ability to do something successfully).

Defn: …/a rope or line fixed to the ground to secure a tent or other structure.

23. Rudeness from oddball seen with Colin (9)

INSOLENCE : Anagram of(oddball) [SEEN plus(with) COLIN].

24. Source of protein to feed country creature (8)

TERRAPIN : 1st letter of(Source of) “protein” contained in(to feed) TERRAIN(country/a stretch of land and its physical features).

These have red ears:

25. Elderly drinking wine endlessly? It’s okay (6)

AGREED : AGED(elderly/old) containing(drinking) “red”(short for “red wine”) minus its last letter(endlessly).

26. Move from Hell? (8)

DISPLACE : [DIS(the Roman god of the underworld) PLACE(where one resides/home)](Hell).

27. Meaty waffles hypermarket stocks (6)

FLESHY : Hidden in(… stocks) “waffles hypermarket“.

Down

1. Gather moderate Democrat will oust Republican (6)

DEDUCE : “reduce”(to moderate/to make smaller in degree or size, away from an extreme) with “D”(abbrev. for a member of the Democratic Party) replacing(will oust) “R”(abbrev. for a member of the Republican Party).

Defn: …/to conclude.

2. They could help rescue career hit hard by recession essentially (4,5)

LIFE BELTS : LIFE(one’s way of life, in this case, one’s occupation or profession) + BELT(to hit with heavy blows) + middle letter of(… essentially) “recession“.

3. In general worried about US city risking being evacuated (2,5)

AT LARGE : ATE(worried/bothered) containing(about) [ LA(abbrev. for “Los Angeles”, US city) + “risking” minus its inner letters(being evacuated) ].

5. Number wrong to be upset following board game (5,6)

TABLE TENNIS : [ TEN(number 10) + reversal of(… to be upset, in a down clue) SIN(a wrong/an offence) ] placed after(following) TABLE(board/the food that is provided).

Remember ping-pong diplomacy?:

6. Problems heading off getting ready for Moscow trip? (7)

ROUBLES : “troubles”(problems/difficulties) minus its 1st letter(heading off).

Defn: Ready/money to be used in Moscow, Russia.

7. Holidaymakers’ initial destination perhaps in Lesotho not so awful? (5)

HOTEL : Anagram of(… awful) [ “Lesotho” minus(not) “so” ].

Defn: …. Also word representing the 1st letter of(… initial) “Holidaymakers” in the phonetic alphabet.

8. Having fun at celebration, saying goodbye hugging unknown character (8)

PARTYING : PARTING(goodbye/act of leaving) containing(hugging) Y(symbol/character for an unknown quantity in maths.).

12. Erotic chap dancing round pole, Tim’s rival occasionally (11)

APHRODISIAC : Anagram of(… dancing) CHAP containing(round) [ ROD(a pole/a staff) + 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th letters of(… occasionally) “Tim’s rival” ].

15. Provokes female perhaps to divide English and Poles (9)

ENGENDERS : GENDER(an example/perhaps of which in grammar is “female”) contained in(to divide) [ E(abbrev. for “English”) + N,S(abbrev. for “North” and “South” Poles, respectively) ].

16. Dead cute criminal is well-read (8)

EDUCATED : Anagram of(cute criminal) DEAD CUTE.

18. Heard maybe description of nun’s childhood to be accepted (7)

PREVAIL : Homophone of(Heard maybe) “pre-veil”(a whimsical description of the childhood of one before/pre becoming a nun/taking the veil).

Defn: …/be predominant.

19. Crooked European visits sick former prisoner in retirement (7)

ILLEGAL : E(abbrev. for “European”) placed after(visits) ILL(sick/unwell) + reversal of(… in retirement) LAG(a former prisoner/an ex-convict).

20. Prime US prosecutor occupies two years going after ambassador (6)

HEYDAY : [ DA(abbrev. for “District Attorney”, public prosecutor in the US) contained in(occupies) Y,Y(2 x abbrev. “year”) ] placed below(going after, in a down clue) HE(abbrev. for “His/Her Excellency”, form of address for an ambassador).

Defn: …/period of someone’s or something’s greatest success/at one’s peak.

22. Poet feels terribly hot (5)

BURNS : Double defn: 1st: Robert, Scottish poet.