Independent 10,006 / Tees

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Tees has supplied the Wednesday puzzle this week. The Wednesday slot for many years was the preserve of Dac, whose sad death was announced last week. Dac’s puzzles, with their tight clueing and silky-smooth surfaces, entertained us for many years and will be sadly missed by myself and doubtless many other solvers.

Back to Tees’ crossword now: I found this to be an enjoyable and not too time-consuming solve, probably mid-range in terms of Indy difficulty. I think that I have managed to solve and parse everything correctly, although I needed Chambers to confirm 8 as well as “in” in 22. It also took a while for the penny to drop with the wordplay at 19D.

My favourite clues today were 19A and 19D, both for originality; and 9 and 27, both for smoothness of surface; and 26, for raising a smile.

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across  
   
01 TOOL Cat’s paw not small enough?

Cryptically, “too L (=large, of sizes)” would mean “not small enough”; a cat’s paw is someone who is the mere instrument of another, hence “tool”
   
03 FLASHPOINT Critical moment – time to take picture?

Cryptically, a picture is taken when the flash goes off, hence “flashpoint”
   
10 TANKARD Irish MP sent around capital endlessly seeking a quantity of beer

ANKAR<a> (=capital, of Turkey; “endlessly” means last letter is dropped) in TD (=Irish MP, i.e. Teachta Dála)
   
11 LAOTIAN National starter refused, ruining Thai neighbour

*(<n>ATIONAL); “starter refused” means first letter is dropped from anagram, indicated by “ruining”
   
12 OBELI Bookmarks put back in Vile Bodies

Reversed (“put back”) and hidden (“in”) in “vILE BOdies”; cryptically, obeli, as dagger-signs used in printing, could be described as “bookmarks”
   
13 INCORRECT Wrong to have Irish soldiers pressing NCO at court

{NCO in [IR (=Irish) + RE (=soldiers, i.e. Royal Engineers)]} + CT (=court, in addresses)
   
14 INPATIENT Overnight case?

Cryptic definition: an inpatient is a patient (=case) who stops in hospital overnight
   
16 SCALP Flat flake almost touches soft skin on head

SCAL<e> (=flat flake, e.g. of skin; “almost” means last letter is dropped) + P (=soft, i.e. piano, in music)
   
18 TULLE Material litter lout occasionally scatters

L<i>T<t>E<r> L<o>U<t>; “occasionally” means alternate letters only are used in anagram, indicated by “scatters”
   
19 MIDWINTER Coolest times New Testament suggests?

<wi>NT (=New Testament) <er> are the middle letters of “winter”
   
21 CATATONIA Sicilian city comes around to unresponsive state

TO in CATANIA (=Sicilian city)
   
22 AGAIN Stove lit for second time

AGA (=stove) + IN (=lit, alight)
   
24 IN UTERO Changed routine yet to be delivered

*(ROUTINE); “changed” is anagram indicator; a baby “yet to be delivered” is still in the womb, hence “in utero”
   
25 EROTICA Time invested in symphony and certain literature

T (=time) in EROICA (=symphony, i.e. Beethoven’s 3rd)
   
26 GHOST-WRITE Author secretly wore tights to dance

*(WORE TIGHTS); “to dance” is anagram indicator; the “author” of the definition is a verb
   
27 FLEE Ships ultimately abandoned: take flight

FLEE<t> (=ships); “ultimately abandoned” means last letter dropped
   
Down  
   
01 TATTOOIST Marksman in military show is German

TATTOO (=military show) + IST (=is German, i.e. the German word for is); cryptically, a tattooist could be described as a “marksman”, i.e. one who marks a person’s skin
   
02 OUNCE Round relative sheds pound in weight

O (=round, i.e. pictorially) + UNC<l>E (=relative; “sheds pound (=L)” means letter “l” is dropped)
   
04 LUDDITE Machine-wrecker diluted fluid

*(DILUTED); “fluid” is anagram indicator
   
05 SOLICIT To that extent permitted to harass for cash

SO (=to that extent) + LICIT (=permitted)
   
06 PROCRASTINATOR One to drag feet moving on airport carts

*(ON AIRPORT CARTS); “moving” is anagram indicator
   
07 ITINERANT One can rave about eastern traveller

E (=eastern) in [I (=one) + TIN (=can) + RANT (=rave)]
   
08 TINCT Cool, cold and dry outside in shade

[IN (=cool, trendy) + C (=cold, on tap)] in TT (=dry, i.e. teetotal); a tinct is a shade of colour, tint
   
09 MAN IN THE STREET Average person entertains them extravagantly

*(ENTERTAINS THEM); “extravagantly” is anagram indicator
   
15 POLITBURO Drunk bishop in to serve old Soviet executive

[LIT (=drunk) + B (=bishop, in chess)] in [POUR (=to serve) + O (=old)]
   
17 PARENTAGE Ancestors are not wrapped in sheet

AREN’T (=are not) in PAGE (=sheet, of paper)
   
19 MAN HOUR Work unit: when second part arrives, first arrives too?

The wordplay refers to the expression “cometh the hour (=second part of solution), cometh the man (=first (part))”
   
20 DEAREST Most expensive // honey

Double definition: dearest is a term of endearment, hence “honey”
   
21 CLING Hold on tight having caught fish

C (=caught, on cricket scorecard) + LING (=fish)
   
23 ARIEL Emerge missing second line in dramatic role

ARI<s>E (=emerge; “missing second (=S)” means letter “s” is dropped) + L (=line); the reference is to the spirit Ariel in Shakespeare’s The Tempest
   
   

 

11 comments on “Independent 10,006 / Tees”

  1. Enjoyed this. Had to look up TULLE and CATANIA neither of which I knew.

    Thanks for explaining MAN HOUR. Nice spot which escaped me.

    Favourite was GHOST WRITE. Thanks to Tees and RatkojaRiku.

  2. Not too difficult though the parsing of a few such as TULLE, MAN HOUR and ARIEL, my last in, escaped me. IN for ‘lit’ in 22a was also new to me.

    It’s humbling to be made aware of what you don’t know. As a result of doing this, my knowledge of Sicilian cities has expanded by 50% – Palermo, Messina and now the well-known CATANIA, which I read is situated at the foot of that famous cryptic standby, Mt. Etna.

    I liked the device for ‘Coolest times’ in 19a.

    Thanks to Tees and RR.

  3. At 1A a cat’s paw is also a carpenter’s tool; I guess it also works for the other definition.

    Impressed by TULLE, MAN HOUR, long anagrams at 6D and 9D.

    Thanks to Tees and RatkojaRiku.

  4. A pleasant, not too difficult, solve although we went off on a couple of false scents.  For 18ac we originally thought of ‘toile’ and for 21ac we started looking for a possible Sicilian city ending in ‘-coma’; fortunately POLITBURO put us right on both.

    Hard to nominate a CoD, but we liked TANKARD, OBELI, MIDWINTER and IN UTERO.

    Thanks, Tees and RatkojaRiku

  5. Many thanks Tees, very enjoyable, especially liked the succinctly clued long anagrams as well as GHOST WRITE. and many others of course

    I’d stupidly entered en route for 24a, so that was a welcome correction when I got the checkers.

    Thanks RR

  6. I thought this was a lovely puzzle, clued very fairly and concisely.  A real pleasure to solve.  Thank you, Tees!

  7. Meow!  Took an age over some of these, but eventually prodded the somnolent cells in my head into action.

    I too learned a new city.

    Obviously loved the cat’s paw (TOOL).  Didn’t know it was also a carpenter’s tool, so thanks gwep.  MIDWINTER was a d’oh! when I eventually got it, and the MAN HOUR was another nice moment when that cameth to me.

    I also really liked GHOST WRITE and more.

    Thanks to Tees and RR.

  8. An honour to be in the Weds slot I can assure you.

    I was a massive fan of Dac’s, and always took time out to solve his witty and concise clues. Mike’s Dac obit is up on 225, and well worth a read.

    Thanks Rat, and all who contributed.

  10. In the end I got stuck on 14ac and 23dn, for which I had to do word searches, and even then I couldn’t parse the latter.

    It said “ruining” in the printout I made of the puzzle.

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