Independent 9422 by Tees (Saturday Puzzle 24 December 2016)

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Season’s greetings! Peace on earth and goodwill to all men? Sometimes seems an unlikely prospect, and Tees seems to have a gloomy message in today’s puzzle…

…starting with 1A (THE MIDDLE EAST) and continuing down the sides with ASSASSINATION and AN EYE FOR AN EYE…chillingly prophetic given the events in Turkey this last week…and then across the bottom an inquisitive (or confirmatory?) KNOW WHAT I MEAN(?).

Phew…depressing stuff…happy Christmas everyone!…

On a brighter note, 26A evoked one of my favourite Monty Python sketches – ‘Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat’…etc.

A couple of new (to me) words in OENOTHERA and my LOI – LAGNIAPPE – could both just about be got from the word play but needed a quick look-up to be sure.

18A evokes a bizarre image of the romps that got Tiger Woods into the wrong kind of headlines and all sorts of domestic strife a few years back. I was slightly unsettled by the term NEGRITUDE – sailing close to the derogatory N-word(?), but in fact Chambers defines it as ‘Black identity, especially when viewed in a positive or empowering way’…which the younger Tiger in his pomp certainly embodied…

And I have no idea what is going on with the parsing of IRISH STEW!…Any enlightenment welcomed…

On second thoughts…just got it…it is a homophone of sorts – I ARREST YOU (I-RISH ST-EW) IN THE NAME OF THE LAW…which is an old chestnut (stale joke, or cliche)…ha ha…that has lightened my mood!…

 

indy9422

 

Thanks to Tees for a mix of doom and gloom and merriment – maybe a metaphor for the coming festive period itself!…Best wishes to setters, solvers, bloggers, commenters and lurkers alike…

Across
Clue No Solution Clue Definition (with occasional embellishments) /
Logic/parsing
1A THE MIDDLE EAST Land mass within has title deed redrafted (3,6,4) land (region?) /
anag, i.e. redrafted, of HAS TITLE DEED around M (mass)
10A SAMOVAR Soldiers guarding V&A with missile Russian leaves here? (7) Russian (tea?) leaves here /
SAM (suface to air missile) + O_R (ordinary ranks, soldiers) around (guarding) VA (V&A)
11A GRAFTON Hard work ahead in village of many shires (7) village of many shires (common village name?) /
GRAFT (hard work) + ON (ahead)
12A ACTON Hundred added to bill in London district (5) London district /
AC (account, bill) + TON (hundred)
13A SAINTS DAY In RC celebration, ultimately Jesus is not Son having died ever (6,3) (In) RC (Roman Catholic) celebration /
S (ultimate letter of Jesus) + AINT (is not) + S (son) + D (died) + AY (ever)
14A SCI-FI Lewis in comeback provided one literary genre (3-2) literary genre /
SC (C.S, as in CS Lewis, coming back) + IF (provided) + I (one)
16A TIPPED OFF Warned in argument about social science degree half-done (6,3) warned /
TI_FF (argument) around PPE (social science degree) + DO (half of ‘DOne)
18A NEGRITUDE Tiger playing unclothed round shows black identity (9) black identity /
N_UDE (unclothed) around EGRIT (anag, i.e. playing, of TIGER)
19A TENOR Singer in English National Opera runs on time (5) singer /
T (time) + ENO (English National Opera) + R (runs)
20A TEACHINGS Moral guidance from G&S after hot drink and punch (9) moral guidance /
TEA (hot drink) + CHIN (punch) + GS (G&S)
23A SATIN Deputised in band that supplies material (5) band that supplies material /
SAT IN (for) – deputised
24A ORBITER Old piece about King and Queen in spaceship (7) spaceship /
O (old) + BIT (piece) around R (rex, king), plus ER (queen, Elizabeth Regina)
25A BREWERY Right jug brought in by booze factor (7) booze factor(y?) /
B_Y around (bringing in) R (right) + EWER (jug)
26A KNOW WHAT I MEAN Wink at woman eh? Wickedly? Nudge nudge? (4,4,1,4) nudge, nudge (insinuation) /
anag, i.e. wickedly, of WINK AT WOMAN EH!
Down
Clue No Solution Clue Definition (with occasional embellishments) /
Logic/parsing
2D HAMSTRING Lame man rights wrong (9) (make) lame /
anag, i.e. wrong, of MAN RIGHTS
3D MAVEN Staff outside see European and American expert (5) American expert /
MA_N (staff) around V (vide, see) + E (European)
4D DARTS Game moves quickly (5) double defn. /
DARTS can mean moves quickly, or refer to the game of DARTS
5D LAGNIAPPE City ace in Epping sent up small gift (9) small gift (tip, gratuity) /
LA (Los Angeles, city) + GNI_PPE Epping, sent up) around A (ace)
6D ENACTMENT Court workers brought in ruined neat legislation (9) legislation /
ENA_T (anag, i.e. ruined, of NEAT) around CT (court) + MEN (workers)
7D SATED Filled in footmarks at Edgbaston (5) filled /
hidden word in ‘footmarkS AT EDgebaston’
8D ASSASSINATION Two fools and one country in politically-motivated crime? (13) politically motivated crime /
ASS + ASS (two fools) + I (one) + NATION (country)
9D AN EYE FOR AN EYE Law of Retaliation requiring private detective to be replaced? (2,3,3,2,3) Law of Retaliation /
if a private detective, or private eye, was replaced by another, it mught be a case of ‘an eye for an eye’
15D IRISH STEW This in the name of the law? Let’s hear it for mutton, spuds, and an atrocious chestnut! (5,4) mutton & spuds /
homophone, i.e. let’s hear it – ‘I ARREST YOU (I-RISH ST-EW) in the name of the law’ is a cliched phrase, or old chestnut, from film and stage.
16D TRUE NORTH Having strayed, turn to her for direction (4,5) direction /
anag, i.e. having strayed, of TURN TO HER
17D OENOTHERA Primroses: one that’s different, and different one (9) primroses /
OEN (anag, i.e. that’s different, of ONE) + OTHER (different) + A (one)
21D ALBAN British protomartyr’s outlaw seen by a loch (5) British protomartyr /
A + L (loch) + BAN (outlaw)
22D SABOT Sailor wearing drunk’s wooden shoe (5) wooden shoe /
S_OT (drunkard) around (wearing) AB (Able-Bodied seaman)
23D STEAM Second XI shows power (5) power /
S (second) + TEAM (XI, eleven)

9 comments on “Independent 9422 by Tees (Saturday Puzzle 24 December 2016)”

  1. Well done for parsing 15D. Not an old chestnut that I’ve ever heard; atrocious indeed.

    I think you must be right about 11A (except that the “o” is short for “other”).

    I guess in 25A a booze factor could be somebody, or some process, who or that makes beer – cf the book The Sotweed Factor by John Barth; although that does refer to a person, perhaps by whimsical extension it could refer to the brewery itself.

    Thanks to Tees and mc_rapper 67 and happy Christmas to all setters, bloggers and commenters.

    In Adelaide tomorrow we are expecting a Christmas Day maximum temperature of 40C.

  2. Oh don’t get TOO depressed Mike! I agree the end of the world IS now nigh, but so what.

    Yes of course we like to keep it real at the Indy, though words like ASSASSINATION prophesy nothing usually, apart from an obvious parsing. Anyway, we had 13A in just to help us along, with its lovely Christmassy feel.

    Though any sort of feel is welcome at my age.

    Happy Xmas for tomorrow all.

    Cheers
    Cheesey Chestnutty Teesey

  3. 3D: “Maven” is in fact a Yiddish word for an expert and not specifically American and is often used ironically. Perhaps Mr Gove should have used it.

    In this season of good cheer happy Chanukah to everyone, which by chance begins this evening.

  4. Belated happy birthday to the teeser. Took longer than it should. I blame entirely the pub that forced five pints of fullers’ ESB in me before I started. Hic.

  5. Thanks for popping by, Tees @ 2 – like flashling @ 4 my mood is improving proportionately to my increase in blood alcohol level this Xmas eve!

    Happy Chanukah to trenodia @ 3 – and happy non-denominational interfaith agnostic prognostic festive period to all of us, regardless of which particular set of fairy tales we choose to believe in and follow!…

  6. Only got round to this yesterday. Agreed it was a bit sombre but the mood was lightened by the old chestnut at 15dn. Actually there are a number of similar ones that my kids delighted in at primary school, to do with a policeman living at 999 Letsby Avenue and liking truncheon meat sandwiches. Groan!

    Not been able to post for a few days, so belated season’s greetings to all.

    Thanks, Tees and mc_rapper.

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