Independent 10,709 by Vigo

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A fairly straightforward and enjoyable Monday puzzle from Vigo.

There are some good surfaces doing their best to mislead us – especially 27a, where what looks like a verb needs to be read as a noun and vice versa. 22d wasn’t the hardest to work out but it made me smile. As did 12a – I know some people don’t like the use of trade names in clues, and this one may be unfamiliar to some overseas solvers, but it works for me. Thanks Vigo for the entertainment.

UPDATE: there’s a theme of band names – see the comments below for more details. Thanks Tatrasman @3 and passerby @4 for pointing this out.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 PASSPORT
Qualify to get drink producing ID (8)
PASS (reach the required standard in a test = qualify) + PORT (a drink).
5 BLEARY
Black king you’re initially finding dull (6)
B (black) + LEAR (Shakespearean king) + initial letter of Y[ou’re].

Bleary (as in bleary-eyed) = dull.
9 PRE-EXIST
Expert is broadcast live before now (3-5)
Anagram (broadcast = scattered) of EXPERT IS.

Live, as a verb = exist. Live at an earlier time = pre-exist.
10 ABUSER
One taking advantage of a vehicle ferry regularly (6)
A BUS (a vehicle) + alternate letters (regularly) of [f]E[r]R[y].
12 PRETENDER
Candidate in sandwich shop having goal to meet the Queen (9)
PRET (short name for Pret A Manger, chain of sandwich-and-coffee shops) + END (goal) + ER (Elizabeth Regina = the Queen).

A claimant to a (disputed) throne or other position.
13 REHAB
Treatment facility in pub holding male back (5)
BAR (pub = drinking establishment) containing HE (male), all reversed (back).
14 FACE
Confront exterior features (4)
Triple definition. Face, as a verb = confront, stand up to; face as in “on the face of it” = external appearance; facial features.
16 DRIFTER
Vagrant putting newspaper in towel? (7)
FT (Financial Times = newspaper) in DRIER (something that dries, for example a towel).
19 NUANCES
Sister almost trips avoiding duke in shades (7)
NU[n] (sister; almost = last letter dropped) + [d]ANCES (trips) without the D (duke).

As in “shades of meaning” = subtle distinctions = nuances.
21 STEP
Way to record pace (4)
ST (short for street = way) + EP (extended-play record: more than a single track but shorter than an album).
24 RADII
Artist finally sculpted two bones (5)
RA (Royal Academician = artist) + final letter of [sculpte]D + II (two in Roman numerals).

Plural of radius (bone in the forearm).
25 IMPLEMENT
Carry out utensil (9)
Double definition: implement (verb) = to put a plan into effect, or implement (noun) = a tool or utensil.
27 DEGREE
Measure jade green boxes (6)
Hidden answer (. . . boxes) in [ja]DE GREE[n].
28 HEIGHTEN
Female embracing crew in lift (8)
HEN (female bird) containing EIGHT (a rowing crew).

As in “heightened awareness” = raised.
29 SENATE
Special educational needs bothered governing body (6)
SEN (abbreviation for Special Educational Needs = additional assistance needed in schooling for some children and adolescents) + ATE (worried = bothered).
30 REVEREND
Clergyman trailing king is always close (8)
R (abbreviation for Rex = King), with EVER (always) + END (close, as in close of play) following it (trailing).
DOWN
1 POP-UPS
Temporary retail outlets in post offices enthralling youngster (3-3)
POS (plural of PO = post office), containing (enthralling) PUP (youngster).

More usually “pop-up shops” = shops set up for a short period, often in otherwise unused retail space, for example to sell seasonal goods or for a brief promotion.
2 SEEKER
Inquirer ekes out sign of hesitation (6)
Anagram (out) of EKES, then ER (expression of hesitation).
3 PIXIE
Selects note in audition as fairy (5)
Homophone (in audition) of PICKS E (selects the note E in the musical scale).
4 RESIDUE
Remains in lodge outside university (7)
RESIDE (lodge, as a verb) outside U (university).
6 LIBERTINE
Reprobate tribe disbanded during occupation (9)
Anagram (disbanded = broken up) of TRIBE, inside LINE (occupation, as in the old TV panel game What’s My Line?).

Libertine = reprobate = person with no regard for accepted moral standards.
7 AESTHETE
Article and note supporting main upset for art lover (8)
THE (definite article) + TE (note in the sol-fa musical scale), after (supporting = below, in a down clue) SEA (main) reversed (upset).
8 YARDBIRD
American convict in square with chick (8)
YARD (square = open space such as a parade ground) + BIRD (chick = small bird; either word could also be slang for a young woman).

African-American slang for a prison inmate.
11 TROD
Set foot in gastro diner (4)
Hidden answer (in) [gas]TRO D[iner].
15 ARCHITECT
Designer in the Arctic collapsed (9)
Anagram (collapsed) of THE ARCTIC.
17 INTRUDES
Gatecrashes popular, authentic society holding first of dances (8)
IN (in fashion = popular) + TRUE (authentic) + S (society), holding the first letter of D[ances].

Gatecrash = intrude = to go where one is not welcome.
18 CARDIGAN
Funny person I scold about clothing (8)
CARD (an amusingly eccentric person) + I, then NAG (scold) reversed (about).

A knitted sweater with button fastening.
20 SLIT
Soloist not even opening (4)
S[o]L[o]I[s]T, without the even-numbered letters (not even).
21 SUPREME
Presume dancing is best (7)
Anagram (dancing) of PRESUME.
22 BEATLE
John or Paul perhaps got the best of the French (6)
BEAT (as a verb = got the best of = defeated) + LE (French “the”).
23 STONED
High Street I deserted (6)
ST (abbreviation for street) + ONE (I in Roman numerals) + D (abbreviation for deserted, according to Chambers: I assume this is used in map notation or something similar?). UPDATE: it’s used in military records to indicate that someone left the service by desertion; thanks Simon S @2 for the correction.

High = stoned = slang for under the influence of drugs.
26 EAGLE
Raptor starts to eat allosaurus, gauging left eyeball (5)
Initial letters (starts) of Eat Allosaurus Gauging Left Eyeball.

Raptor = bird of prey, for example an eagle.

22 comments on “Independent 10,709 by Vigo”

  1. The trade name debate does pop/flare up occasionally on various blogs. I see the whole art developing to incorporate neologisms, new abbreviations (e and I being the first that come to mind) and we’re even beginning to draw on text speak. Trade names are part of our world, as much as any other proper nouns so I have no particular issue with them being cleverly used. Some, like Hoover, have been adopted into everyday use and Ford has been a crossword staple for decades.

    I enjoyed all of this, even the homophone for PIXIE, with the sole exception of the awkward EAGLE.

    Thanks Vigo and Quirister

  2. Thanks Vigo and Quirister

    D = DESERTED is a military abbreviation, referring to how someone left the service. Cf KIA, MIA etc.

  3. There’s a very obvious theme here, relating to musical acts. I counted 27, but there may be more, and some of those may be unintentional. For some of them, you need to add ‘The’ in front, add an ‘s’ or remove a letter at the end. The trouble is, musical acts are so desperate to find a name that is different from everybody else, so hundreds of words have probably been used by some act or other. Great fun, so thanks Vigo and Quirister.

  4. Lots of references to members of bands: BEATLES, STONES, EAGLES, YARDBIRDS, FACES, DRIFTERS, PRETENDERS, STEPS, PIXIES, CARDIGANS, LIBERTINES, SEEKERS, (Three) DEGREES. SLITS, SUPREMES. I may have missed some others.

  6. A very enjoyable puzzle, with some lovely surfaces, as Quirister says. I share her admiration of 22ac DEGREE and, like her, I smiled at 22dn BEATLE and 12ac PRETENDER: I’m with PostMark re trade names and enjoyed seeing PRET. I was also amused by the picture painted in 19ac NUANCES and 15dn ARCHITECT and I thought 20dn slit was rather neat.

    Many thanks to Vigo for the puzzle and Qurister for the blog.

    (I wrote this before reading there was a theme – I did think when I entered YARDBIRD, ‘That used to be a band’!)

  7. Thanks all for the comments – can’t believe I missed the theme! Thanks Tatrasman and passerby for pointing it out. I think you can add ARCHITECTS to passerby’s list.

  10. Pleasant way to start the week with the “singular” bands theme, together with POP-UPS, being an enjoyable add-on to spot at the end.

    Thanks to Vigo and Quirister

  11. This was great fun and I enjoyed finding most of the bands, many of whom are right up my street. Wouldn’t the surface of 26d make more sense using GOUGING instead of GAUGING?

    Many thanks to Vigo and to Quirister.

  12. A not-too-difficult Monday solve. We didn’t notice the theme till it was pointed out in the blog, but it was very cleverly done – it would have been difficult if not impossible to use so many names ending in S in a puzzle but at the same time would have been too obvious.
    PRETENDER, DRIFTER and PIXIE were among our favourites.
    Thanks, Vigo and Quirister

  13. Rabbit Dave @11: yes, I thought that too, but perhaps Vigo wanted to spare us a rather unpleasant image. Or it might just be a misprint.

  14. Always enjoy a Vigo puzzle and this was no exception. The theme mostly passed me by although I did think it made a refreshing change for John & Paul not to have a religious connection and decided I needed to have a rethink about the background of the Yardbirds!
    Apart from the themed answers, I rather liked the 25a utensil and the 3d selective fairy.

    Many thanks to Vigo and to quirister for the review.

  15. Four weeks ago today, I collapsed in my bathroom and called an ambulance. Apparently I had an aortic dissection and the five-hour operation that followed led to a stroke. The next week of so was very confused (with some odd waking dreams). I did have my mobile phone with me, but no charger, so I had no easy access to puzzles and when I eventually came out over a week ago, I was not in the mood to do puzzles. Finally, about a week ago I started attempting puzzles again. However, I kept getting stuck. Today, however, I got this nearly complete – onl two I couldn’t get.

  18. Hey Quirister, just thought we’d drop in to tell you how much we appreciate your write-ups. As a young couple which has just somewhat recently gotten into crosswords (lockdowns do that to you don’t they) we learn a huge amount from reading these after the fact. We always find your explanations really clear and detailed – there’s no worse feeling than not understanding a clue, and then not even understanding the write-up’s explanation of it.
    Thanks Quirister, and thanks Vigo, we loved this puzzle the entire way through!

  19. Dormouse @15, very glad to hear you are recovering. Two and a half years ago I had open-heart mitral valve repair surgery in a five-hour operation. I used to solve the Guardian puzzle as a graduate student and returned to cryptics during the (long) recovery. They kept me going and I pray that they will do the same for you. Thanks to Vigo for providing us our sustenance today.

  20. TandW @18: welcome to Fifteensquared, and thanks for your comment. I always wonder whether I’m going into too much detail – but then I know there are many like you who have been getting into cryptics for the first time during lockdown, so I try to write for beginners. Hope you continue to learn and enjoy this weird and wonderful pastime!

  21. Couldn’t get going yesterday, but second wind this morning and got on better with it! Nowhere near spotting the theme! Couldn’t understand PIXIE or the end of CARDIGAN until I got here so fully agree with TandW @18 about all the help the bloggers and commenters give. Glad you are on the mend Dormouse @15

    Thanks to Vigo and Quirister

  22. A late addition for the record. I noticed while solving that a possible interpretation of ‘radius’ is ‘band’, so maybe Vigo intended ‘radii’ at 24A to be the hint for the theme.

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