Independent 10,293 / Crosophile

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Crosophile is occupying this week’s mid-week slot. It is a long time since it has fallen to me to blog one of his puzzles.

I found this one quite a challenge, a tougher solve than is perhaps customary on a Wednesday. I think that I have successfully completed the grid, but I am not totally happy with my parsings. I would thus be grateful for any input from solvers, particularly in respect of the following: the use of “puts a lid on” at 5; the various definitions at 17A; the wordplay at 18; and the use of “remark” in 21.

My favourite clues today by some margin were 9, for sustaining the cricket references throughout, and the & lit. at 14. I also rather liked the “finial” device at 3, once I had looked up its meaning and could see how it could be used to indicate that the first letter of a down entry needed to be dropped. Having to tease out 17A also boosted the entertainment value of the puzzle for me.

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

Across    
     
08 ISOLATE Fifth of vaccinations very delayed, resulting in quarantine

<vacc>I<nations> (“fifth of” means fifth letter only) + SO (=very) + LATE (=delayed)
     
09 ELLIPSE Caught out for 50 in predictably dark spell in The Oval

E<L (=fifty) for C (=caught, on cricket scorecard)>LIPSE (=predictably dark spell, e.g. solar eclipse)
     
11 TRADESMEN Rents made high for shopkeepers

*(RENTS MADE); “high” is anagram indicator
     
12 EGRET For instance soak heron

E.G. (=for instance) + RET ((to) soak)
     
13 DWELLING Somewhere to live comfortably in a row with a bit of garden

WELL (=comfortably) in [DIN (=a row) + G<arden> (“bit of” means first letter only)]
     
15 DIVINE Have meal around six? Wonderful

VI (=six, in Roman numerals) in DINE (=have meal)
     
17 GIVE THE GAME AWAY 2 18, 23 the 5, 3 a 26 and 21

Multiple definitions, some cryptic: DONATE (=give away; entry at 2) + VENISON (=the game; entry at 18) AND SPILL (=entry at 23) the BEANS (=entry at 5) AND TAKE (=entry at 3) A DIVE (=26; to give the game away, in boxing, is to rig the outcome by deliberately losing) AND RESIGN (=entry at 21)
     
19 GENTRY The low-down exasperate posher folk

GEN (=the low-down, info) + TRY (=exasperate, as in to try one’s patience or I find it trying that …)
     
20 MEASURED Considered honey drink’s safe

SURE (=safe) in MEAD (=honey drink)
     
24 BESET Get ready for plague?

BE SET (for) (=GET READY); e.g. to be beset/plagued with problems
     
25 PARODISTS They take off dirt with soaps in a lather

*(DIRT + SOAPS); “in a lather” is anagram indicator; to parody is to imitate, hence “they take off”
     
27 TENDRIL Mind one’s held by both hands, a help to climbers

TEND (=mind, care (for)) + [I (=one) in R L (=both hands, i.e. “right” and “left”)]; the “climbers” of the definition are climbing plants
     
28 SAVAGES The likes of Solomon in the Authorised Version? Quite the opposite

AV (=Authorised Version) in SAGES (=the likes of Solomon, i.e. wise men); savages are anything but wise!
     
Down    
     
01 LISTED Like buildings of interest, e.g. the Pisa tower?

As the Pisa tower leans, it can be described as having listed to one side!
     
02 DONATE Present fellow was a consumer

DON (=fellow, at university) + ATE (=was a consumer)
     
03 TAKE Remove finial off post

<s>TAKE (=post, pail); “take finial (=top decoration) off” means first letter is dropped
     
04 FERMENTED Source of news is about right about blokes turned alcoholic

[MEN (=blokes) in RT (=right)] in FEED (=source of news)
     
05 BEANS Conserving energy, puts a lid on vegetables

E (=energy) in BANS (=puts a lid on, brings to an end)
     
06 SLEEPINESS Lethargy of fish hauled up to languish on steamship

SLEE (EELS=fish; “hauled up” indicates vertical reversal) + PINE (for) (=languish) + SS (=steamship)
     
07 FEATHERY That female yankee, after performance, is covered in boas?

FEAT (=performance) + HER (=that female) + Y (=yankee, in radio telecommunications)
     
10 PURVIEW Not quite decent to compete with weak in field of activity

PUR<e> (=decent; “not quite” means last letter is dropped) + VIE (=to compete) + W (=weak, in particle physics)
     
14 LITERATURE What’s ‘true’ composed with art into a story?

*(TRUE + ART) in LIE (=a story); “composed” is anagram indicator; & lit.
     
16 GATECRASH Have an uninviting appearance?

Cryptic definition: someone gatecrashing an event has no invitation, hence “uninviting”
     
17 GIGABYTE Light carriage a belter initially yet disintegrating in billions of bits

GIG (=light carriage) + A + B<elter> (“initially” means first letter only) + *(YET); “disintegrating” is anagram indicator
     
18 VENISON Envision moving 2 to the right and 1 down in some game?

“moving 2 – i.e. 2 letters – to the right” sees letters “en” appear after “v” AND “1 – i.e. the letter “i” – down” means a letter “i” is dropped
     
21 RESIGN Make your remark and quit job?

Cryptically, if “to make one’s mark” is “to sign”, then “to make one’s re-mark” would be to “re-sign”!
     
22 DESIST Stop believer keeping Sabbath

S (=Sabbath) in DEIST (=believer)
     
23 SPILL Strip of wood // or shed

Double definition: a wooden spill can be used to light a fire AND a lorry that spills its load sheds it
     
26 DIVE Pass on around five in seedy joint

V (=five, in Roman numerals) in DIE (=pass on)
     
     

 

9 comments on “Independent 10,293 / Crosophile”

  1. Wasn’t mad keen on this offering I’m afraid. All my parsings match yours RatkojaRiku.

    The clue I most disliked was that for MEASURED where “drink’s” seems to be doing double duty as the inclusion indicator?

  3. Crosophile @2. I just realised that and came back to apologise but you beat me to it. Sorry anyway. Not the first time I’ve messed up that construction.

  4. We were a bit nonplussed at first by all the cross-references, but solving a couple of the referenced clues plus the enumeration of 17ac served to GIVE THE GAME AWAY fairly quickly.  We wondered, though, if ‘2 to the right and 1 down’ was a deliberate misdirection to make us think of a knoght’s move in chess.

    We needed a wordfinder for 16dn which was obvious when we saw it, but weren’t happy with ‘uninviting’ – should have been ‘uninvited’ in our opinion, although that might have been almost a straight definition.  And we weren’t happy wiith 20ac, either – there’s no indication that “sure” has to be inserted into “mead” unless “drink’s” is doing double duty.

    We couldn’t parse 4dn – we were fixated on the source of news being the FT so couldn’t explain ‘er’ other than ‘about’ (reversed) or the ‘ed’ at the end, so needed the blog to explain that.  We agree with your parsings of 5dn, 18ac and 21dn; the separation of ‘remark’ ./.required in the latter is a device more associated with another newspaper, but not infrequent here.

    LISTED and TENDRIL were among our favourites.

    Thanks, Crosophile and RatkojaRiku

  7. I enjoyed most of this but at 17A had a ‘What the…..’ moment.  I’m not keen on clues that depend on solving one other clue, let alone seven.  Yet it all made sense on completion of the grid.  Thanks to setter and blogger.

  8. I very much enjoyed teasing out the answers that make up 17a and agree with our blogger that fir the surface alone 9across is an outstanding clue.

    I also agree with others above that 16 down is just wrong. A gatecrasher may well have an inviting appearance therefore charming the bouncer into opening the gate 🙂 🙂

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