Independent on Sunday 1,758 by Xestobium

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The puzzle is available here.

 

Hello again.  I enjoyed learning about deathwatch beetles … and that was before I started on the crossword!  This took me considerably less time than yesterday’s puzzle, but I finished in the same corner (the NW).  Those who know me can attest that I sometimes have trouble with anagrams but fortunately managed to see the long ones readily and didn’t have to grind them out.  My favourite clue is 18d.  I’m bored stupid indeed!  Well I wasn’t – thanks Xestobium.

 

Definitions are underlined in the clues below.  In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, specified [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    Not on a slippery surface in one’s workplace? (6)
OFFICE
OFF (not on) + ICE (a slippery surface)

4a    V&A visitor becoming most faint (7)
VAGUEST
V & A + GUEST (visitor)

9a    Bird – stuffed – in cantina, mounted (7)
TINAMOU
The bird is inside (stuffed in) canTINA, MOUnted

10a   Change logo that’s about tailless mammal (7)
REBADGE
RE (about) + without the last letter (tailless) BADGEr (mammal)

11a   A comic put back: it’s available in the bathroom (5)
LOOFA
A FOOL (a comic) reversed (put back)

12a   Discovered deer in trouble as mount went lame (9)
FOUNDERED
FOUND (discovered) + an anagram of (… in trouble) DEER

13a   I dose child with rum mixture containing zero salt (6,8)
SODIUM CHLORIDE
An anagram (mixture) of I DOSE CHILD with RUM containing O (zero)

16a   Uncontrollable kid? Teen brat joins RN: life changing! (6,8)
ENFANT TERRIBLE
TEEN BRAT joins RN: LIFE anagrammed (changing)

20a   Sentimental English movement has rally regularly (9)
EMOTIONAL
E (English) + MOTION (movement) + rAlLy regularly

22a   Some reds maybe, as tree initially decays (5)
TROTS
The first letter of (… initially) Tree + ROTS (decays)

23a   He made arty films and collapsed in one (7)
FELLINI
FELL (collapsed) + IN + I (one)

24a   Boy hero getting good, dyeing hair? (7)
TINTING
TINTIN (boy hero) + G (good)

25a   Former US film producer giving headless animal to chap (7)
EASTMAN
Without the first letter (headless) bEAST (animal) + MAN (chap)

26a   Has feelings – strongly at first – giving a gentle touch (6)
CARESS
CARES (has feelings) + Strongly at first

 

Down

1d    Trump not in form (8)
OUTCLASS
OUT (not in) + CLASS (form)

2d    Amusing to try: I would like a mushroom (7)
FUNGOID
FUN (amusing) + GO (try) + I’D (I would)

3d    Medical tube (middle omitted) – put in a member as a plant (9)
CAMPANULA
CANnULA (medical tube) without the central letter (middle omitted); insert (put in) A and MP (member)

4d    Truly a live rat I slaughtered? Just an experience via a headset! (7,7)
VIRTUAL REALITY
An anagram of (… slaughtered) TRULY A LIVE RAT I

5d    Mocked great, upstanding newspaper person (5)
GIBED
BIG (great) reversed (upstanding, in a down entry) + ED (newspaper person)

6d    Daughter standing by river in finale? (To be continued …) (7)
ENDURED
D (daughter) and URE (river) in END (finale)

7d    Sentimentally pretty daughter, initially youthful, resembling a hearty outdoor type (6)
TWEEDY
TWEE (sentimentally pretty) + D (daughter) + the first letter of (initially) Youthful

8d    Regain consciousness with feelings of anxiety? Lots of liquids will have this effect (7,7)
SURFACE TENSION
SURFACE (regain consciousness) + TENSION (feelings of anxiety)

14d   Capek’s play has one named woman in imaginary location (9)
RURITANIA
R.U.R. (Capek’s play) + I (one) + TANIA (named woman)

15d   Chaos, taking a very long time to get texts? (8)
MESSAGES
MESS (chaos) + AGES (a very long time)

17d   Pasta: Italian at last, with a load! (7)
NOODLES
The final letter of (… at last) ItaliaN + OODLES (a load)

18d   This person’s so dull, I’m bored stupid! (7)
BROMIDE
An anagram of (… stupid) I‘M BORED

19d   One’s id: that’s a particular image (6)
SELFIE
SELF (one’s id) + IE (that’s)

21d   A particular turn of phrase: “I had” – on the Isle of Man (5)
IDIOM
I’D (I had) + IOM (the Isle of Man)

 

13 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,758 by Xestobium”

  1. After a week of very tricky Indie puzzles, this was a nice lazy Sunday solve. 22 & 25 my favourites. 9 took us a while to spot that it was a hidden clue, the mounted had us thinking there was backwards word somewhere.

    Thanks Kitty for the colourful blog and Xestobium.

  2. As DiBosco says, a fairly breezy outing. Who knew there would be so many cat photo opportunities?

    FELLINI was my favourite for the surface with TWEEDY as runner up – though it’s a shame daughter = D appears in two successive clues. A personal foible – even though I know what it’s doing, I’m not a huge fan of ‘that’s’ = IE.

    Thanks Xestobium and Kitty

  3. That sense of FOUNDERED was new to me, which slowed me down. I liked FELLINI too which made the definition for EASTMAN just slightly more of a misdirection. Thanks, both. I’m sure there is a cat meme for everything, if you look hard enough.

  4. A fair challenge although nothing like as stiff as yesterday’s – thank goodness. Still find it hard to get my head round that spelling of the bathroom article, positively lazy!
    Top clue here was VAGUEST – not the most difficult but certainly the funniest.

    Thanks to Xestobium and to double-duty Kitty, nice to see your furry friends keeping you company.

  5. Thanks Xestobium for a breezy Sunday crossword. There wasn’t a clue I didn’t like; my top pick was FUNGOID for its amusing surface. I also enjoyed the long anagrams at 13a and 4d. Thanks Kitty for the blog including the feline photos. [They prompted me to write a clue: A thousand simple songs without prelude for cats (7)]

  6. Thanks to setter and blogger. I could manage this puzzle but had never met “Bromide” (18D) defined like this (Cambridge Dictionary)

    ”
    a remark or statement that, although it might be true, is boring and has no meaning because it has been said so many times before
    ”
    Can anyone give me an example of this please as the clue states “Boring Person” so whats going on?

  7. Alan S @ 6

    From Chambers

    bromide noun
    1. A salt of hydrobromic acid, HBr
    2. A platitude
    3. A dull platitudinous person (from the use of bromides as sedatives)
    4. A type of monochrome photographic print, loosely applied to other types

  8. Just the right amount of challenge for a Sunday solve. We liked the four long answers.
    Thanks, Xestobium and Kitty.

  9. PostMark @2, Petert @3 – yes, I think there is a cat meme for everything. Or if not yet, there will be!

    Tony Santucci @5 – nice clue. 🙂

    Simon S @7 – thanks for supplying that definition. It’s one I know only from crosswords so probably should have expanded above. (P.S. I’ve corrected the character which didn’t display properly in your comment.)

  10. Thanks Kitty

    The difficulties of copying from one source and pasting to another, with different stuff behind the scenes!

  12. Alan Swinburne @11: As far as I know there’s no free Chambers. You can access Collins free of charge, however.
    From Collins:
    bromide
    in British English
    (?br??ma?d IPA Pronunciation Guide)
    NOUN
    1. any salt of hydrobromic acid, containing the monovalent ion Br– (bromide ion)
    2. any compound containing a bromine atom, such as methyl bromide
    3. a dose of sodium or potassium bromide given as a sedative
    4.
    a. a trite saying; platitude
    b. a dull or boring person

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