A fine start to our week in the Indy with a puzzle from Gila. An excellent example of an approachable, entertaining cryptic for a serious daily weekday paper. Even though you can’t solve it on paper any more.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Items on quite strange TV show
QUESTION TIME
(ITEMS ON QUITE)* with ‘strange’ as the anagrind.
9 One small child adopts a zoologist’s last parrot
IMITATE
A charade of I and A plus T for the last letter of ‘zoologist’ inserted into MITE. The insertion indicator is ‘adopts’.
10 Asian girl visiting African country, avoiding the easternmost part
BENGALI
An insertion of GAL in BENI[N]. The insertion indicator is ‘visiting’.
11 Twist of lemon finally placed in extremely elegant drink
ENTWINE
An insertion of N for the final letter of ‘lemon’ in E and T for the outside letters of ‘elegant’, all followed by WINE. The insertion indicator is ‘placed in’.
12 Meditation requires but little time
THOUGHT
A charade of THOUGH and T.
13 Extent of displeasure right at the start
RANGE
Gila is inviting you to move the last letter of ANGER to the beginning.
14 Tesla coil failing to move up and down
OSCILLATE
(TESLA COIL)* with ‘failing’ as the anagrind.
16 Archer and others succeeded after initially seeing terrible ratings
STAR SIGNS
A charade of S for the initial letter of ‘seeing’, (RATINGS)* and S for ‘succeeded’.
19 Cocaine, grass and ecstasy put in a container
CRATE
A charade of C, RAT and E.
21 City detective pursued by arsonists occasionally
DETROIT
A charade of DET and ROIT for the odd letters of aRsOnIsTs.
23 List of top US students reportedly having repeated successes
ON A ROLL
A homophone (‘reportedly’) of HONOR ROLL, which is AmEng, hence the ‘US’.
24 Close match for clothing you may go out in
NIGHTIE
A charade of NIGH and TIE. ‘Go out like a light’ is the meaning referenced.
25 No current story brought about much joy
ELATION
A reversal of NO, I and TALE. I is the SI symbol for electrical current.
26 Fancy ride-sharing apps ultimately making a bob or two?
HAIRDRESSING
(RIDE SHARING S)* with ‘fancy’ as the anagrind. A ‘bob’ is a hairstyle.
Down
1 Last drop of moonshine in fairly new still
QUIETEN
An insertion of E for the last letter of ‘moonshine’ in QUITE, followed by N. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
2 Cunning female pockets credit card when standing up
EVASIVE
An insertion of VISA reversed in EVE. The insertion indicator is ‘pockets’ and the reversal indicator, since it’s a down clue, is ‘standing up’.
3 Show’s intro gets me mostly hot ‘n’ bothered
THEME SONG
(GETS ME HO[T] N)* with ‘bothered’ as the anagrind.
4 Circulation of gold coin
ORBIT
A charade of OR and BIT. The second particle will be familiar to those old enough to remember a thruppenny bit.
5 Work to insulate home with fine wrapping material
TINFOIL
An insertion of IN and F in TOIL. The insertion indicator is ‘to insulate’.
6 Blimey, Gila has essentially produced something that’s painful!
MYALGIA
A charade of COR! MY! and (GILA A)* ‘Essentially’ is the instruction to take the middle letter only; the anagrind is ‘produced’.
7 Six leaders from councils exert pressure on local deputy
VICE PRESIDENT
A charade of VI, CE for the initial letters of ‘councils’ and ‘exert’, P and RESIDENT.
8 Surrounded by restless teething child endlessly, I get very angry
HIT THE CEILING
An insertion of I in (TEETHING CHIL[D])* The insertion indicator is ‘surrounded by’; the anagrind is ‘restless’.
15 Bespoke gear is oddly removed for clients
CUSTOMERS
A charade of CUSTOM and the even letters of gEaR iS.
17 Island hostile to another island miles away
ANTIGUA
A charade of ANTI and GUA[M].
18 More strong beer leads to excessive retching
STOUTER
A charade of STOUT and ER for the initial letters of the last two words of the clue.
19 Tea includes some butter and bread
CHAPATI
An insertion of PAT in CHAI. The insertion indicator is ‘includes’.
20 Like devoted fans of Sting in a circle
ADORING
An insertion of DO in A RING. The insertion indicator is ‘in’. ‘He was about to sting/do me out of a tenner.’
22 Beneficiary follows tip from two of those people
THEIR
A charade of T for the initial letter of ‘two’ and HEIR gives you the third person plural possessive pronoun (and in an increasingly non-binary world, the third person singular pronoun as well).
Many thanks to Gila for the start to the Indy week.
We always solve it on paper Pierre – although I appreciate you were referring to the printed newspaper!
Me too, skt. Can’t be doing with this new-fangled technology.
…. and me! What a super puzzle, everything went in so smoothly from start to finish, so thanks Gila and Pierre.
Well, gulp, I’m strictly tech. Great crossword, ENTWINE an extremely elegant clue. Thanks.
Nice gentle start to the week. Loved the cryptic definition of HAIRDRESSING. Thanks to Gila and Pierre.
Thanks both. Agree with all the above. I got to CHAPATI from cha rather than chai which was an unknown; also not sure I have come across still as a verb in the sense of QUIETEN, though it makes complete sense
Paper or electronic, 6d is MY not COR ALGIA. Easy mistake mon brave.
Nice Monday puzzle.
Thanks Gila and Pierre
Gila in a reasonably non-monstrous mood but I had trouble spotting the defs for ENTWINE (I thought it just had to be ‘drink’) and ADORING as my last couple in. I enjoyed HAIRDRESSING, both for the def and overall surface.
Thanks to Gila and Pierre
As I started to pencil in ciabatta for CHAPATI I realised that there was no homophone indicator and that I couldn’t count. I echo the praise for HAIRDRESSER.
Most enjoyable, although it took us a while to see the parsing of MYALGIA. Favourites were ENTWINE and HAIRDRESSING.
Thanks, Gila and Pierre.
I always print if I can – a more preferable experience. Very quick solve compared to some Gila puzzles I’ve done. Thanks both.