This seems to be Saladin’s second Independent puzzle. The first one went down well, and I enjoyed very much solving and blogging this one.
The setter seems to set some store by meaningful and carefully constructed surface readings, which goes down well with this solver. One or two unusual words which had me opening up my Chambers, but nothing wrong with that: it’s part of the pleasure of crosswords to be introduced to words you didn’t know.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
6 Cryptic clues for female yielded satisfaction at conclusion
CLOSURE
(CLUES [F]OR)* with ‘cryptic’ as the anagrind. Generally used in an emotional sense, for example closure after a traumatic event or loss.
7 Liquid turned to jelly like a shot
ASPIC
A charade of AS and PIC.
9 Behaves unpredictably in South Africa with Graeme Smith, at first
ZAGS
A charade of ZA (Zuid Afrika) for the code for the country and GS for the initial letters of the name. The surface will make sense to cricketers: Smith was South African captain for many years before retiring early due to recurring injury.
10 Lovely food store thug and vacuous fool ransacked
DELIGHTFUL
A charade of DELI and (THUG F[OO]L)* with ‘ransacked’ as the anagrind.
11 Time to stop umpire and reflect
MEDITATE
An insertion of T in MEDIATE. The insertion indicator is ‘to stop’.
13 I adore exotic technician on tour
ROADIE
(I ADORE)* with ‘exotic’ as the anagrind.
15 Two articles, one about bread
NAAN
The two ‘articles’ are the indefinite article AN. The first is reversed.
17 Before noon, nearly 20 show contempt
SCORN
A charade of SCOR[E] and N.
18 College address on the Web provides twist
CURL
A charade of C and URL for Uniform Resource Locator.
19 Essentially, woeful festival is feeble
EFFETE
The central letters of ‘woEFul’, followed by FETE.
20 Former partner exercises, assuming spinning course will provide rush
EXPEDITE
A charade of EX and TIDE reversed inserted into PE. The insertion indicator is ‘assuming’ and the reversal indicator is ‘spinning’.
23 Perhaps Pope failing with regard to charging man of high standing
VICEREGENT VICEGERENT
Catholics have to believe that the Pope, in his role as head of the Church, is the vice-regent of God on earth. A charade of VICE, RE and GENT. The ‘charging’ is just indicating that, since English is a left-to-right language, the first two elements are pursuing the third. I think.
Edit: My solution and explanation were complete bollocks. Stephen L has the correct parsing of this clue for us at comment #1
26 Some smartphones horrendously sensitive to the cold
NESH
Hidden in smartphoNES Horrendously. A word very familiar to me, since I live in Derbyshire, which is where I first heard it. I would say it is largely if not exclusively confined to the dialects of the Midlands and Yorkshire. This is from D H Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, where Morel has returned from the mine and is washing himself:
“F-ff-f!” he went, pretending to shudder with cold.
“Goodness, man, don’t be such a kid!” said Mrs. Morel. “It’s not cold.”
“Thee strip thysen stark nak’d to wesh thy flesh i’ that scullery,” said the miner, as he rubbed his hair; “nowt b’r a ice-‘ouse!”
“And I shouldn’t make that fuss,” replied his wife.
“No, tha’d drop down stiff, as dead as a door-knob, wi’ thy nesh sides.”
27 Try out a coat
TESTA
A charade of TEST and A. My Chambers has:
testa (n) a seed-coat derived from the ovule integuments (bot)
28 English band is returning notices collectively
SIGNAGE
A reversal of E, GANG and IS.
Down
1 Conservative logic for one showing guilt
CONSCIENCE
A charade of CON and SCIENCE. Whether logic is a ‘science’ is the subject of much academic debate, but for the purposes of a crossword clue, it’s fine by me.
2 Henry abandons something difficult to crack up in frozen area
TUNDRA
A reversal (‘up’, since it’s a down clue) of [H]ARD NUT. A Henry (abbreviation H) is the SI unit of electrical inductance.
3 Dispense port measure
DEAL
A triple definition.
4 Mostly develop fury inside for sycophant
HANGER-ON
An insertion of ANGER in HON[E]. The insertion indicator is ‘inside’.
5 Discharged small lump of faeces?
SPAT
Lovely. A charade of S and PAT.
6 Stop to examine inspiring bit of expressionism
CEASE
An insertion of E for the initial letter of ‘expressionism’ in CASE. ‘She cased/examined the joint.’
8 Fancy rice cakes our delivery driver‘s delivered
COURIER
An insertion of OUR in (RICE)* with ‘fancy’ as the anagrind. For once, the definition is not at the beginning or end of the clue.
12 Call out incorrect card play right away
EVOKE
[R]EVOKE. The term comes from bridge.
14 Losing millions, Ant and Dec claim being out-of-sorts is not deliberate
ACCIDENTAL
(ANT DEC CLAI[M])* with ‘being out-of-sorts’ as the anagrind.
16 Upset at Cliff’s torment
AFFLICT
(AT CLIFF)* with ‘upset’ as the anagrind.
17 Emaciated itinerant welcomes letter from Athens
SKELETAL
An insertion of the Greek letter ETA in SKELL. I had to open up my Chambers again:
skell (n) a homeless person who lives on the street
21 In bowl, season soup
POTAGE
A charade of POT and AGE.
22 Sample 27 is damaged
TASTE
An anagram of TESTA, which is the solution to 27ac.
24 Regularly repressed language …
ERSE
The even letters of rEpReSsEd.
25 … has changed hands otherwise
ELSE
For once, the ellipses can’t be ignored, since the setter is referring you to the previous solution, ERSE, and inviting you to change R for right to L for left.
Many thanks to Saladin for the puzzle. I could handle some more like this.
Isn’t 23a VICEGERENT….ViCE for failing and RE inside GENT (charging)
It is, Stephen. Thank you for the better, and correct, parsing.
I’m a tad confused wrt VICEREGENT. Apologies if I have this wrong but Stephen L’s parse appears to be for VICE GERENT.
I found this pretty tough and needed a couple of reveals at the end in the far NW. Skell, nesh, testa (and, for what it’s worth, ZAGS as a standalone word) were all new to me. EVOKE, COURIER, DEAL, NAAN and ASPIC were my favourites.
Thanks Saladin and Pierre
Very enjoyable. I found the setter’s wavelength somewhat difficult to locate, mainly due to some very clever misdirection. Also, like our blogger there were a few new words for me that certainly required help/ confirmation.
I’d have preferred 20 in 17a to have been written as twenty to avoid the possible reference to the clue 20?
I’ll highlight HANGER-ON, SPAT, ASPIC and NAAN as real smilers but could have mentioned several others.
Many thanks to Saladin and Pierre for a top puzzle and blog.
I think this setter’s put another encrypted Nina in the grid. I’m inclined to agree with them.
Forgotten the word VICEGERENT, so entered an unparsed VICEREGENT, like Pierre. Thanks Stephen.
Last time the Nina was a “CAESAR TEN” cipher.
This time it’s “ELEVEN” and the rest decodes as “BORIS WHAT A TWAT”
OMG: vicegerent is a word! Another nho. I honestly thought that was a typo!
I had 23a the wrong way until I spotted VICEGERENT in a word search checking the def. I like the clue and I like TUNDRA, DEAL for the triple definition, CURL and I liked the new words NESH, TESTA and ‘skell’ which Google dictionary says is slang in New York. I guess it used in the UK too. Thanks Pierre and Saladin.
I found this difficult in a nicely puzzling way – rather than the occasionally irritatingly abstruse – we sometimes get.
I’m in awe both of the setter for constructing the Nina, and the solvers who spotted it.
I imagine that most will concur with B-P@5.
Just to clear up 23 across, the answer is in fact VICEGERENT, as shown in the grid (note to self: check the answers before publishing the blog). So Stephen L’s parsing is correct for that solution.
Boris, a twat? You might very well think so; I couldn’t possibly comment.
PostMark and Pierre may wish to have another look at a Poins crossword from 2021. Not sure if I can get the link working.
I should have added that you should look at 14d.
You have a good memory, Hovis. Seems like we were all taken in by the same ambiguity two years ago.
Thanks Hovis. I agree it’s a good clue – but it was a decidedly evil choice to put it in the grid! Given that there is such a close alternative, that the critical letters are in unchecked squares and that the clue could just about be read to support that alternative. But that’s definitely one-up to the setter. I have been caught out a few times in recent posts – perhaps I’d better just stick to my list of likes …
Found this quite tough in places and learned a few new words such as skell, testa and zags along with a term used in a game I’ve never played – it does seem to be one that breaks up many friendships! As for the ‘NINA’ I’ll take the word of others for that but it doesn’t seem to be in the true spirit of the original definition.
Tops for me today were CLOSURE, ROADIE, TUNDRA & SPAT.
Thanks to Saladin and to Pierre sans bird link.
Thanks both. I didn’t have quite the same issues with VICEGERENT as with only vowel crossers, I determined it was a word I didn’t know, which proved to be right, and a word-search stood in adequately for my Monday brain – as for needing to decode something (no idea what) to identify a Nina….I would need Friday to be sooner than it is
My memory isn’t as great as you make it sound, Pierre. As I mentioned @6, I had forgotten the word but Stephen’s comment made me remember that I had seen it in a crossword before and a quick search gave it up. With that in mind, PostMark, don’t just restrict yourself to a list of favourites. I’m sure lots of words crop up that I say I’ve never seen before and which I’ve said the exact same thing on previous occasion(s) 🙂
VICEREGENT – Chambers: ‘… — n vicere’gent properly, a substitute for a regent; often used mistakenly for vicegerent. —…’
VICEGERENT:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicegerent
Ignoring the Oxford meaning – In the Roman Catholic Church they appear to be assistants to the deputy of the Pope.
OED has the secondary meaning “a person regarded as an earthly representative of God, especially the Pope” – he’s just a deputy, too.
The Nina runs clockwise from the end of ELSE – ELEVENMZCTDHSLELEHLE
https://www.dcode.fr/caesar-cipher
In the box marked “Caesar shifted ciphertext” paste the Nina, excluding the ELEVEN:
MZCTDHSLELEHLE
Click on the button marked “DECRYPT (BRUTEFORCE)” – It tests all 26 possible shifts and sorts them by likelihood.
>11 (<15) BORISWHATATWAT – floats to the top, like a "Discharged small lump of faeces?" (5d)
Surgical precision. Must be Goliath/ Philistine?
FrankieG@20 Thanks for explaining – I had just spotted that the cipher shifts the given letter ELEVEN places in the alphabet. I won’t invest a lot of time trying to identify similar techniques in the future!
Fun puzzle. I like Saladin’s style, not least the cheeky hidden Nina. Thanks, Saladin and Pierre.
Wow so impressed that you dug out that Nina! Tx Pierre for the entertaining blog especially the DH Lawrence. Enjoyed the interplay between TASTE and TESTA, ERSE and ELSE and NAAN.
Here’s Saladin’s last Nina: CAESARTENPEMUDRODYBSOC People commented that it included EMU, ROD & COSBY backwards.
Follow the procedure @20 with PEMUDRODYBSOC and see what you get.
>10 (<16) …