Independent 10,269 / Gila

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Gila has provided today’s crossword in what is fast becoming his regular Wednesday slot.

I enjoyed this puzzle very much, finding it at the right level for a mid-week solve. As I blogged the puzzle, however, one or two aspects of the parsing proved a tad puzzling, so I would be keen to hear what other solvers thought of various clues: 18 appears to be a container-and-contents clue, but is “extra” (in the sense of “added to”) being used to indicate this?; there seems to be no particular reason for saying “woman from Kigali” in 18 rather than “man”, but why not?; what is the precise definition in 20, since for me “topspin” would be an element of the shot (as in topspin lob), but not a synonym for the shot itself; in what way is “rounding” an anagram indicator at 26?

My favourite clues today were the smooth surfaces and most concise of anagrams at 1 and 28. 23 as a word was new to me but could be worked out satisfactorily from the wordplay and crossing letters.

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

Across    
     
01 MELTON MOWBRAY Town memorably manufacturing a pie

*(TOWN MEMORABLY); “manufacturing” is anagram indicator; & lit., since the town of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire is famous for its pork pies!
     
10 IRAQI Rebel army leads intelligence in retreat from Baghdad

IRA (=rebel army, i.e. Irish Republican Army) + QI (IQ=intelligence, i.e. Intelligence Quotient; “in retreat” indicates reversal)
     
11 GREY AREAS They’re woolly and are horribly greasy on the outside

ARE in *(GREASY); “horribly” is anagram indicator
     
12 RELEGATED Hash dealer almost gets sent down

*(DEALER + GET<s>); “almost” means last letter of word is not needed for anagram, indicated by “hash”; poorly performing football teams can get relegated to a lower division
     
13 DRAMA In Japan, no doctor starts to access medical archives

DR (=doctor) + A<ccess> M<edical> A<rchives> (“starts to” means first letters only are used); no is a form of Japanese drama
     
14 EARDROP Crest removed from sweet piece of jewellery

<p>EARDROP (=sweet); “crest removed” means first letter is dropped
     
16 AMADEUS Musical biopic produced in Australia

MADE (=produced) in AUS (=Australia); the reference is to the 1984 film Amadeus about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
     
18 RWANDAN Woman from Kigali managed extra staff

WAND (=staff, rod) in RAN (=managed)
     
20 TOPSPIN After excellent glass of beer, finish off a shot?

TOPS (=excellent) + PIN<t> (=glass of beer; “finish off” means that the last letter is dropped); e.g. a topspin lob is a shot in tennis
     
22 SADHU Ascetic, dispirited Hindu leaving India

SAD (=dispirited) + H<ind>U (“leaving India” means letters “IND (=India in IVR)” are dropped); a sadhu is a Hindu ascetic
     
24 LODGEMENT Men got led out for military occupation

*(MEN GOT LED); “out” is anagram indicator; a lodgement is the occupation and holding of a position within enemy territory by a besieging party
     
26 ACTUALISE Engineer from America rounding St. Lucia and heading for Ecuador

A (=America, as in NA) + *(ST. LUCIA) + E<cuador> (“heading for” means first letter only); “rounding” appears to be an anagram indicator; to actualise is to realise, make happen, hence “actualise”
     
27 ERATO Muse are making a comeback, then cancel tour halfway through

ERA (ARE; “making a comeback” indicates reversal) + TO<ur> (“cancel halfway through” means last 2 letters are dropped); the “Muse” of the definition is not the UK rock band but the Muse of lyric poetry!
     
28 TRAINSPOTTING Film‘s novel starting point?

*(STARTING POINT); “novel” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the 1996 UK film based on the novel by Irvine Welsh
     
Down    
     
02 E-TAILER Report written up about independent web business

I (=independent) in RELATE (=report, as verb); “written up” indicates vertical reversal
     
03 TRIGGERED Set off and attempted to tour the eastern part of Augsburg, Germany

[<augsbur>G (“eastern part” means letter on extreme right only) + GER (=Germany)] in TRIED (=attempted)
     
04 NIGHT Dark and almost monstrous at heart

NIGH (=almost) + <mons>T<rous> (“at heart” means middle letters only)
     
05 OVERDRAFT Complete plan for banking agreement

OVER (=complete, over) + DRAFT (=plan)
     
06 BRAND Burn British and foreign currency

B (=British) + RAND (=foreign currency, i.e. of South Africa)
     
07 ACETATE Type of film seen in one gallery

ACE (=one, in cards) + TATE (=gallery)
     
08 PIERCE BROSNAN Actor enters without brother and grandma

[BRO (=brother) in PIERCES (=enters, penetrates)] + NAN (=grandma); the reference is to Irish actor Pierce Brosnan (1966-)
     
09 ASSASSINATION Two idiots initiating one state shooting, perhaps

ASS (=idiot) + ASS (=idiot) + I (=one) + NATION (=state)
     
     
15 PENALISES Very severe restrictions and punishments

PENAL (=very severe, in Chambers) + TIES (=restrictions)
     
17 AT PRESENT Volunteers turning up, here and now

AT (TA=volunteers, i.e. Territorial Army; “turning up” indicates vertical reversal) + PRESENT (=here)
     
19 AUDITOR Examiner in car company faces rising corruption

AUDI (=car company) + TOR (ROT=corruption; “rising” indicates vertical reversal)
     
21 PREDAWN Person used to drink wine very early in the dawn

RED (=wine) in PAWN (=person used, i.e. manipulated)
     
23 UMAMI I’m a male with universal, elevated taste

I’M A M (=male) + U (=universal); “elevated” indicates vertical uprising; umami is a savoury, satisfying taste, from Japanese
     
25 DUE TO On account of two people performing together, love ensues

DUET (=two people performing together) + O (=love, i.e. zero score)
     

 

7 comments on “Independent 10,269 / Gila”

  1. This crossword took me more time than perhaps necessary.

    In 18ac I saw “managed extra staff” as “RAN going outside of WAND”.

    Some may question G for “eastern part of Augsburg” in a Down clue but it is at the RHS of Augsburg as we write it.

    Not sure I like the anagram indicator in 26ac (’rounding’) but you can’t have it all, can you.

    Nice but (for me) somewhat challenging crossword.

    Many thanks for the blog, R…R…!

     

     

  3. Couple of typos in the blog.  15D is PENALTIES and definition in 21D is “early in the day”.

    Also a bit puzzled by RWANDAN, neither explanation seems convincing.

    Excellent anagrams top and bottom and 8D pretty good too.

    Thanks to Gila and RatkojaRiku.

  4. Didn’t get use of extra in 18a but Sil is correct as extra = outside (as a preposition or prefix). Wasn’t bothered with topspin as “shot” – perhaps more used in table tennis? Like others, I wasn’t mad keen on “rounding” as an anagram indicator but I often have similar concerns.

    Fantastic crossword so thanks to Gila and to RatkojaRiku.

  6. A few head-scratching moments but nothing to hold us up seriously.  1ac was a write-in for us (incidentally, Melton Mowbray pies enjoy protected geographical status).  We had no problems with ‘extra’ for ‘outside’ once we’d thought about it, but we thought ’rounded’ as an anagrind was stretching things a bit.

    Favourite, though, was DRAMA for its ingenuity and the misleading surface.

    Thanks, Gila and RatkojaRiku.

  7. Well, the use of “rounding” in 26 seems to have hit a nerve with several of us. Let’s put it down to a rounding error 🙂

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