Independent 11,734 by Gila

Monday again? Where does the time go?

Gila returns with a fairly easy crossword in most places, one or two needing a bit more thought.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1	READ THE ROOM	That guy interrupting terrible moderator picked up on everyone’s vibe (4,3,4)
		HE – that guy – inside a terrible MODERATOR*
7	SIR	Second run secures current title for Mo Farah (3)
		S(econd) & I – current & R(un). Mo was knighted in 2017
9	SCAMP	Troublemaker needing small group of like-minded supporters (5)
		S(mall) & CAMP – like-minded group
10	BLETHERED	Ran on and on, and ran about that place (9)
		THERE inside BLED – ran as in colours
11	DOCUDRAMA	TV show medic occasionally cut dead when introducing stuff (9)
		DOC – medic & RAM – to stuff – inside alternate letters on cUt DeAd
12	RANDY	Lustful characters at the edges of respectability? (5)
		Edges of respectability are R AND Y
13	NOISOME	Offensive din taking over start of meeting (7)
		O(ver) & M(eeting) all in NOISE – din
15	EASE	Drugs said to relieve anxiety (4)
		Sounds like Es – ecstasies
18	MESS	Put back some disassembled clutter (4)
		Hidden reversed in disaSSEMbled
20	CHIMERA	Fancy ring given to eminent artist (7)
		CHIME – ring & R.A.
23	SWELL	Great hawk bearing west (5)
		W(est) inside SELL – to hawk
24	SESAME OIL	Aisle splattered with some cooking fat (6,3)
		[AISLE SOME]* spaltered
26	TAKE A HIKE	Leave, or agree to accept a raise? (4,1,4)
		Double def
27	RHEIN	Animal mostly seen around East German river (5)
		E(ast) inside most of RHIN(o)
28	SON	Boy, everything’s too full-on at the end! (3)
		Final letters clue – everything’S toO full-oN
29	SKINNY LATTE	Ask intently – after training – for a low-fat drink (6,5)
		[ASK INTENTLY]* trained
DOWN
1	RESIDENT	Neighbourhood head stripped of power (8)
		P(ower) removed from (p)RESIDENT
2	ANARCHIC	Revolutionary disco group supporting an American rapper’s debut (8)
		AN & A(merican) & R(apper) & CHIC a disco group
3	TEPID	Half-hearted attempt is regularly discouraged at the outset (5)
		Alternate letters of aTtEmPt Is & D(iscouraged)
4	EMBRACE	Hold me up with stabilising equipment (7)
		ME reversed & a BRACE
5	OVERAWE	In love, raw emotions are disconcerting (7)
		Hidden in lOVE RAW Emotions
6	MAHARISHI	Faith leader – given to ranting – upset a PM (9)
		I’m not convinced HAM is given to ranting but it’s HAM reversed & A & RISHI (sunak)
7	STRING	Train coming from southern part of Hertfordshire (6)
		S(outhern) & TRING – a Herts town
8	RED EYE	Try another colour to hide electronic fault in photo (3-3)
		It would be RE – DYE with E(lectronic) inserted
14	OVERLOADS	Engineer loves road taxes (9)
		[LOVES ROAD]* engineered
16	DEPONENT	Witness record found in complete set of books (8)
		This took me a while, EP- record inside DONE – complete & NT – set of books
17	PARLANCE	Standard passage featuring ultimately esoteric lingo (8)
		PAR – standard & (esoteri)C in LANE – passage
19	SASHIMI	Mash is prepared to accompany one fish dish (7)
		[MASH IS]* prepared & I – one
20	CISTERN	Tank from Germany is housed in Swiss physics lab (7)
		IST German for IS inside the CERN lab
21	AS IT IS	In reality, a protest largely succeeded (2,2,2)
		A & most of SIT – I(n) & S(ucceeded)
22	RECKON	Scouting mission provides cover for king and count (6)
		King inside RE-CON – a scouting mission
25	MORAL	Person with no time to be virtuous (5)
		T(ime) from MOR(t)AL – a person

8 comments on “Independent 11,734 by Gila”

I could not agree more with our blogger’s very first observation!

Whilst I did not recognise HAM from the wording of the clue, there it is in Chambers as the first of three adjectival definitions: Given to overacting or ranting. I don’t think we can criticise Gila for that! The next two definitions are the ones I would recognise first – Amateur and Inexpert. DEPONENT is unknown to me so that was tricky. A solid Monday puzzle with very clean constructions; SWELL, MORAL and TEPID being my podium.

Thanks Gila and flashling

I linked DEPONENT with depositions when I worked it out.

Thank you to flashling and Gila.

I found this mostly straightforward, but with quite a bit of thought needed to tease out DEPONENT. I eventually landed on a parse for a plausible-looking word, and linking it to ‘depositions’ like Shanne @2 was enough to give me confidence.

Thanks flashling & Gina.

For some reason, this wasn’t quite what I was expecting from this setter. Not to worry, the troublemaker made me smile!

Thanks to Gila and to flashling for the review.

Well I got there in the end. I do my puzzling on the online app so the confetti tells you that you are all present and correct. I would have been far short of 100% sure of a nho DEPONENT, even though I could make the wordplay all work. As with a few others already I had depositions in my head which lead me to the opening D and having all the other crossers (loi) I wasn’t going to spend more time worrying about it before entering it.

There were a few which had me scrambling for a while, but no quibbles to tell of.

Thanks to Gila and flashling.

oed.com doesn’t have rant in its definition for ham, but it does mention actors in its definition for rant: ‘1.a. 1602– intransitive. To talk or declaim in an extravagant or hyperbolical manner; to use bombastic language; (esp. of an actor) to orate or speak in a melodramatic or grandiose style. Now chiefly depreciative…
1935 He [sc. Claude Rains] never rants, but one is always aware of what a superb ranter he could be in a part which did not call for modern restraint but only for superb diction. G. Greene in Spectator 29 November 900/2′ – The film must be The Last Outpost
Thanks G&F

Thanks Gila and flashling.
Enjoyed this. More, please.

Thanks both. Similar experience as others regarding DEPONENT. I thought I knew BLETHERED as a purely Scottish expression as had only heard of it from a Glaswegian colleague, but it appears not to be. Putting in RESIDENT for neighbourhood caused me to hesitate, and I wonder if it is intended in the sense of ‘neighbourhood gossip’ ‘resident expert’ etc?

Comments are closed.