Madcap made a debut in November with a heavily themed puzzle. I couldn’t find anything here, but that didn’t in the least detract from a well-constructed and pleasing crossword.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Son meets resistance during embracing showing lack of care perhaps
SHRUGGING
A charade of S and R inserted into HUGGING. The insertion indicator is ‘during’.
6 Shred half of the letters
ATOM
A to M would be half the letters of the alphabet, wouldn’t they?
8 Bar cricketers who get out easily?
SNICKERS
The chocolate bar that will be known to older readers as a Marathon is also, whimsically, how we might describe cricketers who get out snicking the ball behind to the wicketkeeper or slips. The clever tech that shows whether the batter has really made contact with the ball in cases of doubt is called the Snickometer. A dd.
9 Steady girlfriend who may be a Londoner
SEDATE
Given that London is situated in the country known as the Independent Republic of the South East of England, this is a charade of SE and DATE.
10 Upset stomach – onset of headache’s gone – that’s lucky
MASCOT
(STOMAC[H])* with ‘upset’ as the anagrind.
11 Poor terminology, lacking beginning, middle and end, is not so bright
GLOOMIER
([T]ERMI[N]OLOG[Y])* with ‘poor’ as the anagrind.
12 Bombs go down breaking ship apart
SPEEDS
An insertion of PEE for ‘go’ and D in SS for ‘ship’. The insertion indicator is ‘breaking … apart’.
15 Element of doubt expressed in a fool having first made a comeback
TITANIUM
A reversal of IN A TIT followed by UM.
16 It’s located through the rear right exits from flat
PROSTATE
PROST[R]ATE. Any examination of the prostate is generally done through Digital Rectal Examination, which explains the surface. Get it checked out if you have symptoms, men.
19 Weakening digital connection cuts off West
EBBING
[W]EBBING. The ‘digital’ refers to fingers and toes. Think frogs.
21 Reaction in disorder is suffering from loss of appetite
ANORETIC
(REACTION)* with ‘in disorder’ as the anagrind.
22 Book about Tesla is gossip
TITTLE
An insertion of T in TITLE. The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the tesla (symbol T) is the unit of magnetic flux density.
24 City artist inspired by Turner
TIRANA
An insertion of RA in TINA, one of the famous Turners that the world has seen (but who wasn’t as good at painting as Joseph Mallord William Turner).
25 He’s still alive, extraordinarily over virus without using drug
SURVIVOR
(OV[E]R VIRUS)* with ‘extraordinarily’ as the anagrind.
26 Product from, for example, both sides of gonads
EGGS
A charade of EG for exempli gratia and GS for the outer letters of ‘gonads’. Since gonads include ovaries and they come as a pair, this is a cad.
27 Separates as a result of princess’s wild sprees
DISPERSES
A charade of DI’S and (SPREES)* with ‘wild’ as the anagrind. Diana Spencer, for those who have forgotten.
Down
1 Dancer pulls him for one frenetic night when the magic happens
SANTA
The dreaded C-word makes an early appearance. A cd.
2 Green’s advice on how to get from Kyoto to Tokyo?
RECYCLE
A kind of reverse anagram thingy. If you applied the anagrind RECYCLE to ‘Kyoto’ you’d get ‘Tokyo’.
3 Company is regressively part of fascist’s eugenics
GUEST
Hidden reversed in fascisTS EUGenics.
4 Stimulate auditory perception
INSIGHT
Aural wordplay (‘auditory’) of INCITE. I’m not a fan of placing the soundalike indicator in the middle of the clue, since it could work either way. Folk will tell me that since the solution has seven letters and not six, it can only be one option. And they’re right. In this case.
5 What might raise temperature at garden party? Chatter and spirit!
GAS BOTTLE
A charade of GAS and BOTTLE. I guess if the patio heaters were running on gas, then this clue would work.
6 Guts churning – bad sign
ABDOMEN
A charade of (BAD)* and OMEN. The anagrind is ‘churning’.
7 Remix of our tenth number is no longer fresh
ON THE TURN
(OUR TENTH N)* with ‘remix of’ as the anagrind.
13 Raising the issue about being choked by breathlessness
PARENTING
An insertion of RE in PANTING. The insertion indicator is ‘being choked by’.
14 Following sting, eccentric means to pay
SMART CARD
A charade of SMART and CARD.
17 Start to roast stuffing, cuts of meat and shoots without dressing
STREAKS
An insertion of R for the initial letter of ‘roast’ in STEAKS. The surface is referring to those who choose to run naked at a sporting event, usually when they have had far too much to drink. Here’s a famous example.
18 Apologies if endless indulgence consumes us
EXCUSES
An insertion of US in EXCES[S]. The insertion indicator is ‘consumes’.
20 Buns (sandwiches, that is)
BUTTIES
An insertion of IE for id est or ‘that is’ in BUTTS. ‘Buns’ is slang for ‘buttocks’, so you could describe this as an extended definition. The insertion indicator is ‘sandwiches’.
22/23 Cardinal pride in national emblem
THREE LIONS
THREE is a ‘Cardinal’ number, LIONS come in a ‘pride’, and there’s far too much footie in the Indy crossword.
This is my last Indy blog of 2024 so Happy New Year to all the Indy setters (including the editor, of course), bloggers and commenters. It’s been a fun year on this thread.
[1a SHRUGGING = “showing lack of care perhaps” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]
[2d “on” = RE, then CYCLE Kyoto => oKyot => tokyo’.(not anagram)]
I had ANEROTIC for ANORETIC. I enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks.
I’ll keep the footie if we can excise the cricket…
Thanks so much to Pierre and Madcap!
Petert @3: there is probably something deeply Freudian about that!
I think FrankieG is right wrt RECYCLE as, otherwise, the ‘on’ in the clue would be redundant? GLOOMIER may not be particularly festive – though it does describe the weather reasonably accurately – but it was my favourite clue for the ‘beginning, middle and end’ spot.
Thanks Madcap and Pierre (thanks to the latter also for a year’s worth of good blogs. Merry Christmas)
My faves: GLOOMIER, RECYCLE, STREAKS and BUTTIES.
Thanks Madcap and Pierre.
@Petert, I got ANEROTIC too. .Setters are so very careful to construct clues without that kind of ambiguity, that I think this is the first I’ve ever seen where “my” answer was as good as the settler’s.
Thanks to Madcap for an entertaining puzzle, and to Pierre for the typically fine blog.
Re: ANORETIC/ANEROTIC – there are occasionally clues that end up ambiguous, but in this instance the similarity with ‘anorexic’, which has a related meaning, meant I had little doubt.
I remember a clue in a
Tees puzzle which was an anagram, can’t recollect the details but the answer was a girl’s name, sadly there were two anagrams of girl’s names and they both fitted with the crossers. He was very apologetic here. Anyway thanks to madcap and Pierre.
A well-crafted puzzle from Madcap, who has also had work published by 1Across and Big Dave.
For me, RECYCLE tops the list of some excellent clues.
Thanks to Madcap and to Pierre for his blog.