Independent on Sunday 1768 Tees

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

Across

9. Room tiny arachnid enters backwards — it has four dimensions (5-4)

SPACE-TIME : SPACE(room/area or volume that is available for occupation) containing(… enters) reversal of(… backwards) MITE(a tiny arachnid/an insect related to the ticks).

Defn: A mathematical model fusing the three dimensions of space with the one dimension of time.

10. Strange sort of force leaving dismembered body (5)

TORSO : Anagram of(Strange) SORT + “of” minus(… leaving) “f”(abbrev. for “force”).

Defn: …/upper part of the body minus the attached arms and legs.

11. Metallica finally exiting festival compound (5)

ESTER : Last letter of(… finally) “Metallica” deleted from(exiting) “Easter”(the Christian festival).

Defn: An organic ….

12. Brawling woman to call Turkish leader, not without guts (9)

TERMAGANT : TERM(to call/to label) + AGA(a Turkish leader/military commander) + “not” minus its middle letter(without guts).

13. Sailor runs into sea, extremely eager (7)

MARINER : R(abbrev. for “runs” in cricket scores) contained in(into) MAIN(literary term for the sea) + 1st and last letters of(extremely) “eager“.

14. Mansion rebuilt for personal pleasure (7)

ONANISM : Anagram of(… rebuilt) MANSION.

Defn: …, sexually.

As Woody Allen said (pardon me if you’ve heard this before): “… like bridge – if you don’t have a good partner, then you’d better have a good hand”.

16. American rotter holding Henry back in Russian cottage (5)

DACHA : Reversal of(… back) [ A(abbrev. for “American”) CAD(a rotter/a rogue) ] containing(holding) H(abbrev. for “Henry”, the unit of electrical inductance).

18. Proper contest shortened (3)

DUE : “duel”(a contest between 2 people with deadly weapons) minus its last letter(shortened).

Defn: …/fitting in terms of quality or extent, as in “with due care”.

19. End of sunbathing? Make tracks for dance (5)

TANGO : TAN(end of/result of sunbathing) + GO(to make tracks/to depart).

21. Atlantic Provinces bordering right rural idyll (7)

ARCADIA : ACADIA(Atlantic Provinces, a region consisting mainly of the Maritime Provinces of north-eastern Canada) containing(bordering) R(abbrev. for “right”).

Defn: …/a rural place of innocence and simple quiet pleasure

22. Short French article perhaps coming to a point? (7)

LACONIC : LA(French for the article “the”) + CONIC(an example of/perhaps “coming to a point”; in this case describing an object in the shape of a cone with a circular or roughly circular base tapering to a point).

Defn: …/concise/using very few words.

24. Vessel crossing river in southwest — atomic boat (9)

CATAMARAN : CAN(a metallic vessel/container) containing(crossing) [ TAMAR(a river in southwest England) + A(abbrev. for “atomic”) ].

26. State main points again where MP bans duke (5)

RECAP : “redcap”(an informal term for a military policeman”/abbreviated as “MP”) minus(bans) “d”(abbrev. for “Duke”).

27. Tees had the ne plus ultra, ensnaring old fool (5)

IDIOT : I’D(contraction of “I had” or “Tees had”/”setter had” using the self-referential pronoun) + IT(the ultimate, or, in Latin, “ne plus ultra”, as in “This is it! No more!”) containing(ensnaring) O(abbrev. for “old”).

28. Seaman stole this empty wagon (9)

BOATSWAIN : BOA(a stole/a woman’s long scarf made of, in this case, feathers or similar material) + “this” minus its middle letters(empty) + WAIN(a farm wagon or cart).

Down

1. Respected English horse touring Middle East (8)

ESTEEMED : E(abbrev. for “English”) + STEED(a large strong horse used for riding) containing(touring) ME(abbrev. for “Middle East”).

2/4/8. Manager charged with change, Harlow’s ending season last in table (6,12)

WALTER WINTERBOTTOM : ALTER(to change/modify) contained in(charged with …) [ last letter of(…’s ending) “Harlow” + WINTER(one of the four seasons) + BOTTOM(last in table/lowest in a columnar list of items) ].

Defn: The first full-time … of the English national football team.

3. Sound clear and brilliant inside skull — is this needed? (7,3)

HEARING AID : [ RING(to sound clear/to make a resonant sound) plus(and) AI(A1/excellent/brilliant, with substitution of the Roman numeral) ] contained in(inside) HEAD(one’s skull).

Defn: The “this” in “…” – a rhetorical question if one can already hear well as indicated in the first part of the clue.

4. See 2

5. More safe crackers triggering alarm? (8)

FEARSOME : Anagram of(… crackers) MORE SAFE.

Defn: Describing that which is ….

6. Neptunian feature regularly seen that spews lava (4)

ETNA : 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th letters of(… feature regularly seen) “Neptunian“.

Defn: That which spews volcanic lava.

7. World‘s response where Conservative rises (8)

CREATION : “reaction”(a response to a situation or event) with “C”(abbrev. for a member of the Conservative Party) going to the start(where … rises, in a down clue).

Defn: The …, or, more broadly, the universe in which the world is.

8. See 2

15. Supremely evil influence in Chartist reforms (10)

ANTICHRIST : Anagram of(… reforms) IN CHARTIST.

17. Dish with seafood: chicken to follow (8)

COCKTAIL : COCK(a male fowl, perhaps a chicken) + TAIL(to follow/to shadow).

Defn: A dish made of small pieces of food, seafood in this case, served as an appetiser.

18. Kid arrested by police inspector, put away for attack (8)

DIATRIBE : RIB(to kid/to tease) contained in(arrested by) [ DI(abbrev. for “detective inspector”) + ATE(put away/devoured) ].

Defn: A forceful verbal ….

20. Insider from Acton wrongly claiming prize (8)

OCCUPANT : Anagram of(… wrongly) ACTON containing(claiming) CUP(the prize/trophy awarded to the winner in a sports contest).

Defn: …/a person who is the holder of a position inside an organisation.

21. Cold in HGV in polar region (6)

ARCTIC : ARTIC(short for an “articulated vehicle”, consisting of a powerful motor vehicle pulling a trailer, such as an HGV, abbreviation for “heavy goods vehicle”) containing(… in) C(abbrev. for “cold”).

22. Secure gold in horse-drawn carriage (6)

LANDAU : LAND(to secure/to get, as in “to land a starring role”) + AU(symbol for the chemical element, gold).

23. Drink downed noisily at bar after opening (6)

NECTAR : Homophone of(… noisily) “necked”(downed/swallowed drinks) plus(at) letters after the 1st of(… after opening) “bar“.

Defn: A delicious ….

25. Sheep’s flesh not being cooked for dog (4)

MUTT : “mutton”(sheep’s flesh as food) minus(not) “on”(being cooked, literally, as in “the lamb is on the grill”, or being figuratively cooked/planned, as in “what’s being cooked/planned for later?”).