Independent on Sunday 1508 Kairos

Thanks to Kairos for an enjoyable IoS. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 No drugs sign – one seen in park? (4,3,3,5)

KEEP OFF THE GRASS : KEEP OFF(no!/don’t even think of it!) THE GRASS(slang for the drug marijuana/cannabis).

9 Greed – a sin besetting returning soldiers (7)

AVARICE : A + VICE(a sin) containing(besetting) reversal of(returning) RA(abbrev. for “regular army”; alternatively the Royal Artillery in the British Army, all soldiers of course).

10 Port exporting old English hair (7)

BRISTLE : Bristol(a port in SW England) minus(exporting) “o”(abbrev. for “old”) + E(abbrev. for “English”).

And not to confuse you, OE is the abbreviation for Old English.

11 Ascertained state of a French region (9)

PROVENCAL : PROVEN(ascertained/shown to be true) + CAL(abbrev. for the US state of California).

Defn: Of/relating to a French region, specifically, Provence.

12 Mr Donnelly maybe about to see record producer (5)

DECCA : DEC(could refer to/maybe, Mr Declan Donnelly, aka Dec in the duo “Ant and Dec”, TV presenters) + CA(abbrev. for “circa”/about, in reference to dates and specific time periods).

13 In time computer memory is flipping dead (2,4)

NO MORE : Reversal of(… is flipping) [ EON(a long period of time) containing(In …) ROM(abbrev. for “read-only memory”, the permanent part of a computer’s memory) ].

15 Frosty member of parliament? (5,3)

SNOWY OWL : SNOWY(covered with snow/cold/frosty) + OWL(one of/a member of a parliament/group of owls).

Answer: A species in the owl family whose colour blends in with its (snowy) Arctic habitat. 

18 Sacred syllable in Jewish language conjures up moonshine? (4-4)

HOME-BREW : OM(a sacred syllable, the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism) contained in(in) HEBREW(the Jewish language).

Defn: In North America, illegally distilled alcohol.

Answer: Alcohol brewed at home could be/? illegal.

19 French city risks deposing duke (6)

ANGERS : “dangers”(risks/perils) minus(deposing) “d”(abbrev. for “duke”).

21 Transform middle of the road pub (5)

MORPH : MOR(abbrev. for “middle of the road”, used to describe music that is pleasant and not extreme nor unusual) + PH(abbrev. for “public house”/a pub).

23 Young animals born in container (6,3)

LITTER BIN : LITTER(young animals/offspring of an animal born at one time) + B(abbrev. for “born”) + IN.

25 Therefore involves qualification in ban (7)

EMBARGO : ERGO(from Latin, “therefore”, as in “cogito, ergo sum”) containing(involves) MBA(abbrev. for “Master of Business Administration”, a degree/an academic qualification).

26 Telephoned confused laddie start of lessons (7)

DIALLED : Anagram of(confused) LADDIE containing(about) 1st letter of(start of) “lessons“.

27 Second eleven maybe has reason boarding crazy form of transport (5,10)

STEAM LOCOMOTIVE : S(abbrev. for “second” in time notation) + TEAM(one which could be/maybe, an eleven/a sports team made up of 11 players) + [ MOTIVE(a reason for doing something) placed after(boarding) LOCO(slang for crazy/mental) ].

Whilst good for the clue’s surface, “boarding” doesn’t quite fit as a placement indicator.

Down

1 Man sleeping with football team’s strikers! (8-7)

KNAPPING-HAMMERS : K(abbrev. for “king”, a piece/man in a chess game) + NAPPING(sleeping) plus(with) HAMMERS(nickname for the English football team, West Ham United).

Defn: …/tools for shaping stone.

2 Muse returning from Dakota region (5)

ERATO : Reversal of(returning) and hidden in(from) “Dakota region“.

Defn: In Greek mythology, the Muse for love poetry.

3 Green colour of a lovebird flying around (5,4)

OLIVE DRAB : Anagram of(… flying around) A LOVEBIRD.

4 Quickly leave church with plunder (6)

FLEECE : FLEE(to quickly leave) + CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).

5 Perplexing lout with tacky jewellery (8)

HOBBLING : HOB(short for hobgoblin/lout? – I think the connection is that they’re both mischief makers, sort of) plus(with) BLING(tacky, flashy and ostentatious jewellery) .

Defn: Hampering or hindering progress or development, in this case, with complications, confusion or uncertainty.

Answer: Hampering or hindering progress or development.

6 Reportedly gloss over corporation (5)

GUILD : Homophone of(Reportedly) “gild”(to gloss over/to give a falsely attractive appearance).

Defn: …/organisation of persons with the same interests.

Incidentally, “gild” is also an alternative spelling of “guild”.

7 With skill I stop the growth of vegetable (9)

ARTICHOKE : ART(skill at doing something, usually through practice) plus(With …) I + CHOKE(to stop/strangle the growth of something).

8 Lethal advice to tourists in Italy? (3,6,3,3)

SEE NAPLES AND DIE : Cryptic defn: A literal interpretation of the phrase extolling the beauty of Naples – once you’ve visited it, you can forget about the rest of your bucket list, supposedly.

14 Special note on half-hearted crowd (9)

MEMORABLE : MEMO(short for “memorandum”/an informative note) placed above(on, in a down clue) [ “b”(one of the 2 core letters) deleted from(half-hearted) “rabble”(a disorderly crowd) ].

16 Work on a big new camper van (9)

WINNEBAGO : Anagram of(Work) ON A BIG NEW.

Defn: … manufactured by the American company, Winnebago Industries.

17 Very comfortable with healthy excitement (4-2-2)

WELL-TO-DO : WELL(healthy/free of illness) + [TO-DO](a commotion or fuss/an excitement).

Defn: …, financially.

20 Hard working American leaves film company (6)

STUDIO : “studious”(hard working/diligent) minus(… leaves) “US”(things American).

22 Women’s collective invested in share market (5)

HAREM : Hidden in(invested in) “share market“.

Defn: A collective body of, say, a sultan’s concubines.

24 Dash of turmeric contained in Indonesian island dish (5)

BALTI : 1st letter of(Dash of) “turmeric” contained in(contained in) BALI(the Indonesian island).

Defn: … of Indian origin.

The bucket/dish in which the dish is cooked and gets its name from: