Independent 6728

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All but three or four seemed to be the usual pleasant accessible Phi crossword, but then I became totally stuck on 11dn, 21dn perhaps, 22dn perhaps and 25ac, and eventually I had to use various electronic cheating devices.

Across
1 SHANTYTOWN – shanty, w in (not)rev.
6 C(hemistry) LEF(t)
9 SILVERWARE – (were rivals)*
10 D(r)AFT
12 WORLD-BEATING – (girl downbeat)*
15 IN THE MAIN – 2 mngs
17 TASER – (resat)rev.
18 TENCH – (net)rev. CH. Is this a case of definition by example insidiously creeping into the Indy, as it already has The Times, or is it OK? Not sure.
19 SPHERICAL – (his parcel)*
20 STAINED (G)LASS
24 O(bserve) B(erlin) O(rchestra) E(xcitedly)
25 POST MODE RN. The word wasn’t generated by my simple little Chambers Concise handheld electronic thing because in Chambers (even 2006) it’s hyphenated (I had to use one on the internet), and the definition didn’t help, although I see now that perhaps it should have done.
26 (l)EVE(l) N. An &lit. that doesn’t in my opinion quite come off. ‘note’ seems to be uncomfortable in the surface.
27 ASCENDANCY – (candy-canes)*
 
Down
1 S(AS)H
2 (p)ALLY
3 THE DONE THING – the do(n the*)ing
4 T(r)OWEL
5 WORKBENCH – w broken* ch
7 LEAF INSECT – (cat’s feline)*
8 FITZGERALD – f (Zelda rig(h)t)*
11 TAX THRESHOLD – CD. This took me ages.
13 BIRTHSTONE – (this Bronte)*
14 S((foo)T)ANDAL ONE
16 ASS I(DUO U)S
21 LAT(T(ea))E? It seems to be the only coffee that fits, but ‘late’ for ‘out of office’ seems a bit odd. OK if you’re out of the office you may well be late, but … I’m very unsure about this.
22 ‘VE IN? Again I’m very unsure. It’s possible, but the definition seems to be only loosely supported by Chambers.
23 ENVY – “n(ot) v(icious)”

6 comments on “Independent 6728”

  2. I had the same reservations as you over 26A and 21D and I’ve not heard of “out of office” being used as a euphemism for dead.

    I was happy with 22D (as in “he carried on talking in the same vein for hours on end”) and 18A which I don’t think is a definition by example. To my mind a definition by example would involve using “tench” to indicate the answer FISH (which personally I’m not too bothered by but would prefer “tench, say”). There must certainly be no problem in using “fish” to indicate the answer TENCH and I think “angler’s target” is simply a slightly more indirect way of indicating the answer (or possibly even a more precise way seeing as it is narrows things down to game fish) and one that fits the surface better.

    Overall I liked the puzzle.

  3. I don’t think out of office is a euphemism for dead, merely a way of saying former – it’s a definition straight from Chambers.

  4. I might have been fortunate with this, as found it in the general Phi style, with everything adding up and no particular difficulty. Particularly liked the wordplay for POSTMODERN.

    I enjoyed it.

    Maybe you’re lucky, John, that a phrase like TAX THRESHOLD does not come quickly to mind…

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