Independent 10,221 / Gila

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Gila has set our mid-week puzzle this time, on a less common grid with three 15-letter lights.

I found this quite a teaser, and although I made swift progress through the top half, I struggled with the bottom half, with 12, 17, 23 and 25 all proving rather stubborn. Once I had solved one of them, however, the others followed in relatively quick succession thanks to the extra crossing letters. I wasn’t familiar with the abbreviation at 12, which made solving that much harder, since I didn’t know what I was looking for in a clue with very concise wordplay.

My favourite clues today were 1, for smoothness of surface; 13, for the “on vacation” device, which I never remember; and 23, for making me smirk. I am not totally sure of my parsing at 14, since I am not convinced of “damage” to refer to punishment, or at 15 and the words “got up”. Any elucidation would be gratefully received!

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

Across    
     
01 MILLIONAIRESSES Rich people showering Lionel Mess with endless praise

*(LIONEL MESSI + <p>RAIS<e>); “endless” means first and last letters are dropped from anagram, indicated by “showering”
     
09 SEAT BELT After initially swallowing ecstasy tablet when drunk, this may save your life

S<wallowing> E<cstasy> (“initially” means first letters only) + *(TABLET); “when drunk” is anagram indicator
     
10 APIECE A gun for each person

A + PIECE (=gun, in US slang)
     
11 ALL NIGHT LONG Hit single in From Dusk till Dawn?

ALL NIGHT LONG (=from dusk till dawn); the reference is to the 1983 hit single by Lionel Richie
     
13 BORG Tennis player in Bilbao, relaxing on vacation

B<ilba>O R<elaxin>G; “on vacation” means all but first and last letters are emptied out; the reference is to Swedish tennis player Björn Borg (1956-)
     
14 PUNITORY Joke by one politician is intended to do damage

PUN (=joke) + I (=one) + TORY (=politician); “punitory” means concerned with, inflicting or intended to inflict, punishment
     
17 SINCLAIR British inventor, from that time on, nearly left an impression

SINC<e> (=from that time on; “nearly” means last letter is dropped) + L (=left) + AIR (=an impression, as in an air of authority); the reference is to British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair (1940-), best known for his work in consumer electronics and with Spectrum computers
     
18 RACE Vehicle brought back to Spain for the Barcelona GP?

RAC (CAR=vehicle; “brought back” indicates reversal) + E (=Spain, in IVR)
     
20 REMUNERATIVE Profitable and extremely resolute venture I am arranging

*(R<esolut>E + VENTURE I AM); “extremely” means first and last letters only are needed in anagram, indicated by “arranging”
     
23 COITAL From the get-go, celebs on Instagram mostly chat about sex

C<elebs> O<n> I<nstagram> (“from the get-go” means first letters only) + TAL<k> (=chat; “mostly” means last letter is dropped)
     
24 ICEBOXES Going round Spar, for example, I can primarily see counter and freezers

BOX (=spar, for example, i.e. fight) in [I + C<an> (“primarily” means first letter only) + EES (SEE; “counter”, i.e. in the opposite way, indicates reversal)]
     
25 DEMAGNETISATION Making unattractive noise, it managed to break over time

T (=time) in *(NOISE IT MANAGED); “to break” is anagram indicator
     
Down    
     
02 ITEM Couple’s sexual relations upset me

IT (=sexual relations, as in to do it) + EM (ME; “upset” indicates vertical reversal)
     
03 LETHARGIC Slow-moving glacier melts, engulfing empty trench

T<renc>H (“empty” means all but first and last letters are dropped) in *(GLACIER); “melts” is anagram indicator
     
04 ONE-ALL Shaq – basketball’s ultimate draw?

O’NEAL (=Shaq, i.e. retired US basketball star) + <basketbal>L (“ultimate” means last letter only)
     
05 ANTI-IMPERIALIST One Italian MP tries working against expansionism

*(I (=one) + ITALIAN MP TRIES); “working” is anagram indicator
     
06 REACHING Coming to and in pain again?

Cryptically, “re-aching” could means “in pain again”
     
07 SPIEL Pitch from film director cutting a lot of ice

(Stephen) SPIEL<berg> (=film director); “cutting a lot of ice (=BERG)” means letters “berg” are dropped
     
08 ECCENTRICS Odd people heavily focused on Europe, essentially obsessive

EC-CENTRIC (=heavily focused on Europe, i.e. European Community) + <obse>S<sive> (“essentially” means middle letter only)
     
12 MOBILE HOME RV with a phone in

MOBILE (=a phone) + HOME (=in, i.e. at home); a RV is a recreational vehicle
     
15 TURNED OUT Got up and // went to an event

Double definition: “turned out” can mean dressed, “got up” in fine clothes AND made an appearance at, “went to”, an event
     
16 MAGELLAN Explorer and crew taking a set line

[A + GEL (=set, congeal) + L (=line)] in MAN (=crew, staff, as a verb); the reference is to Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)
     
19 DIVERS Several old // people entering a swimming pool

“divers” is an archaic word for various, miscellaneous, “several” AND people diving into e.g. a pool
     
21 ULTRA Extremist involved in awful tragedy

Hidden (“involved”) in “awfUL TRAgedy”
     
22 RENO A good place to gamble and lie around

ONER (=(big) lie, untruth); “around” indicates reversal; the reference to the gambling mecca Reno, in Nevada
     

 

6 comments on “Independent 10,221 / Gila”

  1. We  found this to be not too difficult, with a number of anagrams that virtually uscrambled themselves, for example our first one in, 1ac.  In 15dn we took ‘got up’ in the sense of turning out of bed, but we think your parsing is better.

    Favourites were ECCENTRICS and MOBILE HOME

    Thanks, Gila and RatkojaRiku.

  2. Had never heard of Shaq O’Neal but bunged ONE ALL in anyway.

    Had never heard the term ‘oner’ for lie but bunged in RENO anyway.

    Enjoyed this, I think.

    Thanks to setter and blogger

  3. Like Doofs@2, I’ve never heard “oner” for “lie” and just bunged in RENO. I assume GP in 18a refers to Grand Prix? As you can probably tell, I’m not a racing fan.

    My favourites were SEAT BELT with its nicely constructed cryptic part and DIVERS.

    No real struggle for me except the anagram at 25a. Spent ages on it and when the penny dropped couldn’t believe it took me that long.

    To Gila and RatkojaRiku.

  5. I spent ages on my last two, the difficult (for me anyway) anagram at 25a and RENO, as I’d also never heard of a ‘oner’. DIVERS was very good and I liked the ‘film director cutting a lot of ice’

    To Hovis @3. As our setter is named after a beastie, maybe ‘Barcelona GP’ refers to another more appealing creature, in this case a RACE of Guinea Pigs? Just a thought.

    Thanks to Gila and RR

  6. A lot of good and long anagrams and a a few tricky (to me) short ones.  Thought SPIEL was excellent.  Like almost everybody it seems, did not know this use of “oner” and thought that was slang for a punch.  Still, had to be RENO.

    Thanks to Gila and RarkojaRiku.

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