Independent 11,553 by Wire

by

A new setter to blog as the storm continues in the north.

And very enjoyable it was too. Not the storm but the crossword, that is. Lovely surfaces throughout this puzzle, which is no easy feat to achieve.

Favourite clue has to be 27ac – took a while to see why but a nice social comment and clue construction. Exactly why does a city dweller need a vehicle that can go off road unless they don’t have the capability to stay on the road themselves or is it so they can change lanes without looking – knowing other people will get out of the way of their bullying tank of a vehicle. Second would be 1ac – reminded me of Schadenfreude’s frequent use of cat in his clues.

Thanks Wire – looking forward to your next one.

* anagram; Rev. reverse; Underline definition; DS double definition

Across
1 Favourite cat maybe exchanged for racer? (7)
pet (favourite) + whip (cat) exchanged = WHIPPET

5 Caveat broadcast before Democrat quit (7)
(caveat)* + d (democrat) = VACATED

9 Swift attack blocked by prince (5)
raid (attack) blocked by p (prince) = RAPID

10 Inside of barn, turn left to see fabulous flier (9)
ar (inside of barn) + change (turn) + l (left) = ARCHANGEL

11 Nuts attached to ends of the panel are basic (9)
mental (nuts) after e + l + e (ends of the panel are) = ELEMENTAL

12 What needs scratching on a letter (5)
a + itch (what needs scratching) = AITCH

13 Spirit and beer drunk with grandma’s biscuit (11,3)
gin (spirit) + (beer + grandma)* = GINGERBREAD MAN

18 Turkey with ham perhaps on Clinton’s vehicle (7,7)
chelsea (Clinton) + Tr (turkey) + actor (ham) = CHELSEA TRACTOR

20 Religious adherent cheerful on announcement (5)
Homonym of sunny (cheerful) = SUNNI

22 Curry aces cooked something cold and salty (6,3)
Balto (curry) + (aces)* = BALTIC SEA

24 Needs to have dismissal of one hundred extras (9)
addictions (needs) – c (one hundred) = ADDITIONS

25 Lively bishop joins two knights in retreat (5)
b(bishop) + Rev. k + sir (two knights) = BRISK

26 What vibrates at end of canal heard rumbling somewhat (7)
hidden hEARD RUMbling = EARDRUM

27 Result of representing 18 as a product? (7)
Chelsea tractor is a 4 x 4 = SIXTEEN

Down
1 Artist climbing inside bird colony of fast breeders (6)
Rev. RA (artist) in wren (bird) = WARREN

2 Inaccurate setter’s inaccurate recipes (9)
I’m (setter’s) + (recipes) = IMPRECISE

3 Father contributing towards iPad reluctantly (5)
Hidden iPAD REluctantly = PADRE

4 Show extravagant images around restaurant (9)
Rev. air (show) + ott (extravagant) + art (images) = TRATTORIA

5 Verse replacing opener in pub song (5)
local(pub) swapping v(verse) for opener = VOCAL

6 Bus one caught to follow child on horse (9)
an(one) + c (caught) after ch (child) + arab (horse) = CHARABANC

7 Mean things periodically atop empty shed (5)
ThInGs (periodically) + hut(shed) – u = TIGHT

8 School members record greeting among fellows (8)
lp (record) + hi (greeting) in dons (fellows) = DOLPHINS

14 Gossip with sexier guy in a boiler suit? (3-6)
gas (gossip) + fitter (sexier) = GAS FITTER

15 Country folk truss liar up (9)
(truss liar)* = RURALISTS

16 Second one smuggling cut of beef and liquor (9)
mo (second) + one around shin (cut of beef) = MOONSHINE

17 After murder in NY, Ray’s getting bladed item (3,5)
ice (murder in NY) + skate(ray) = ICE SKATE

19 Piece of linen from pot rolled over blood (6)
Rev. pan (pot) + kin (blood) = NAPKIN

21 Lowest point of wire exposed below new plug (5)
n(new) + ir (wire exposed) around ad (plug) = NADIR

22 Weaver supports head of bent flower (5)
loom (weaver) after b (head of bent) = BLOOM

23 Folder 10 contains note signed with a kiss? (5)
io (ten) around nb(note) + x (kiss) = INBOX

14 comments on “Independent 11,553 by Wire”

  1. Thanks, Wire and Twencelas!
    Great puzzle and a great blog!

    CHARABANC
    I read one as AN and caught as C.

    Top faves: SIXTEEN, TIGHT, GAS-FITTER and ICE SKATE.

  2. ADDITIONS
    parsing left out inadvertently.
    May I…
    ADDICTIONS (needs) less (to have dismissal of) C (one hundred)

  3. Very enjoyable!
    I particularly liked WHIPPET, CHARABANC, DOLPHINS, GAS FITTER (lol) and MOONSHINE.
    Many thanks to Wire and Twencelas

    There’s no explanation for ADDI(C)TIONS.

  4. “Exactly why does a city dweller need a vehicle that can go off road”

    I’m not a big fan of the W*****r Panzer either, but some of the roads where I live are starting to resemble farm tracks, so a bit of off- road capability doesn’t go amiss!

    A very enjoyable puzzle today. Thanks Wire and Twencelas.

  5. I’m not sure I understand our blogger’s first line – Wire has been publishing in the Indy for 4 or 5 years I believe. Somehow your stars have not aligned in that time, perhaps. I agree with other commenters – a very nice clean crisp puzzle with CHELSEA TRACTOR a particular delight. My other faves are very much in line with StephenL though I’d throw in my LOI, GINGERBREAD MAN, as well. I stared at that three letter second word thinking ‘biscuit? biscuit?’ for far too long and it was only when I ditched the long anagram idea and thought of the favourite (second favourite?) crossword spirit that the penny dropped. At one point I was wondering if ‘spirit’ in the sense of bogeyman was going to be the def. Great fun.

    Thanks Wire and twencelas

  6. I, too, was puzzled by the opening sentence but then realised the significance of ‘to blog’. You’ve been missing out on some real treats, twencelas!

    Most enjoyable, with excellent surfaces, as usual, as has been said. My favourites were GINGERBREAD MAN (similar experience to PostMark’s), BALTIC SEA, BRISK, IMPRECISE, DOLPHINS, GAS-FITTER, INBOX and, to top the list, the cleverly linked CHELSEA TRACTOR and SIXTEEN.

    Thanks to Wire for a lot of fun and twencelas for the blog.

  8. An enjoyable solve but it was over too quickly. We liked GINGERBREAD MAN and CHELSEA TRACTOR. [why does a city dweller need a vehicle that can go off road? Well, the supermarket car park’s off-road, innit?]
    Thanks, Wire and twencelas.

  12. Thanks Wire for a nicely constructed crossword. My top picks were ARCHANGEL, ELEMENTAL, GINGERBREAD MAN, DOLPHINS, and ICE SKATE. I guessed CHELSEA TRACTOR from Clinton and the crossers but I did not fully get the clue so I missed the clever connection to SIXTEEN, another guess of mine. I used a word finder to solve CHARABANC. Thanks Twencelas for the blog.

  13. Not too big a struggle for a Saturday puzzle, although there were a couple I couldn’t parse. As a non-driver, I had heard of a CHELSEA TRACTOR, but I was only vaguely familiar with the term 4 x 4 and then answer went in unparsed.

  14. A wee belter: this young Wire chappie really knows his Ximenonions. One or two minuscule femtoquibblets but otherwise really lovely surfaces and tight cryptic readings: virtually no unwanted scraps falling from Wire’s table for doggy solvers! It’s extremely refreshing to see a ‘new-wave’ setter actually saying what is meant; and one who knows how to orchestrate link-words. Bravo! 😉

Comments are closed.