Independent 11,368 by Vernon

by

This was an entertaining puzzle which had some difficult clues.

20A and 3D were tough to get without some knowledge of the subject. There were also a couple where I wasn't totally sure on the parsing.

ACROSS
1 BRAN TUB
Possibly a feature of fair skin, except when reflected (4,3)

Seems to be bran(=skin) + but<, but I'm not clear in what context bran=skin.
5 ABROAD
On moving right to the left out in the open (6)

Aboard(=on e.g. a ship) with the R{igtht} moving 2 places to the left.
8 DIESEL
Oil peters out – last drops of the well (6)

Looks to be dies(=peters) + [w]el[l], although I'm not sure why the first letter of well should be dropped along with the last.
9 INNUENDO
Nude in no improper suggestion (8)

(Nude in no)*
10 AFAR
A group of fliers returning from a long way off (4)

A + RAF<
11 TAKEN ABACK
Disconcerted king held by methodical revolutionary, cryptically (5,5)

K{ing} in (neat< aback), which applied cryptically would give the word neat(=methodical).

13 MEA CULPA
My fault – Paul came – out of order (3,5)

(Paul came)*
15 LAIR
Little animal in reality starts here? (4)

&Lit – initial letters of "little animal in reality", the whole referring to the home where the animal might live.
17 ACAI
Type of berry found over in Victoria, Canada (4)

Hidden, rev in victoria Canada. Actually a type of berry native to South America.
18 DRENCHED
Soaked headless fish in a bit of dessert wine (8)

[T]ench in (d[essert] red(=wine))
20 BUONARROTI
Michelangelo’s Apollo: ultimately limited, lacking finish, but I will acquire it (10)

([Apoll]o + narro[w]) in (but I). Buonarroti was one of the surnames of Michelangelo, in full Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni.
21 INCH
Bird heading off reaches Scottish island (4)

[F]inch
23 STAGNANT
Children’s game with Grandma in street, standing still (8)

(Tag + nan) in st{reet}
25 INTACT
In time, performance will be perfect (6)

In + t{ime} + act(=performance)
26 AROUSE
A river and its name evoke a reaction (6)

A r{iver} + Ouse
27 ROMANCE
Italian church affair (7)

Roman(=Italian) + CE(=Church of England)
DOWN
1 BRIEF
Concise instructions (5)

DD
2 ABSTRACTION
Removal of cars not a bit unusual (11)

(Cars not a bit)*
3 TELLTALE
As Rossini opera might be described for singer? (8)

CD referencing Rossini's work William Tell.
4 BRICKS AND MORTAR
Person helping polish big gun in building (6,3,6)

Brick(=a slang term for someone who is reliably helpful) + sand(=polish) + mortar(=big gun)
5 AWNING
Canopy, wide but with no top (6)

[Y]awning
6 RYE
Oddly rhymes with ‘Winchelsea’ added to the original five (3)

Odd letters of rhymes. I think this is a reference to the Cinque ports, although there seem to be different views of exactly which towns are included in those. I did find one reference which says "The importance of Rye and Winchelsea and the decline of Hastings elevated them to become Cinque Ports and Head Ports in their own right in the 14th Century".
7 ADDICTIVE
Artificial ingredient contains carbon, causing dependency (9)

Additive around C(=Carbon in periodic table)
12 BALUCHISTAN
Sadly, China’s all but abandoning one large Asian region (11)

(China's al[l] but)* i.e. removing 1L = 1Large. Baluchistan is a mountainous area on the border of Pakistan and Iran.
14 ENCOUNTER
Meet in Parisian bar (9)

En(=in in French) + counter(=bar)
16 DELIRIUM
I heard you are beset by a sort of milder hysteria (8)

(I + U(=hom of you)) in milder*
19 ARCADE
Are clutching a CD excitedly, for playing here? (6)

Are around (a CD)*
22 CACHE
Hidden store of money, reportedly (5)

Hom of cash
24 GNU
Animal sung about endlessly (3)

[S]ung<

19 comments on “Independent 11,368 by Vernon”

  1. Thanks, Vernon and NealH!

    BRAN TUB:
    Bran in the context of wheat bran could mean ‘skin’. Right?

    DIESEL
    ‘last drops of thE welL’ =the last letters of the and well. This is how I saw it.

  2. Had DIESEL as KVa. Blog should mention that “singer” can be read as somebody who sings/rats on/tells tales (so a ‘telltale’).

  3. TAKEN ABACK:

    TAKEN aback=NEKAT= king(K) held by methodical (NEAT)
    NEKAT revolutionary (aback) =TAKEN
    Revolutionary seems redundant to me.
    Solved the clue and understood the logic, but now I feel it is somewhat circular.
    I must have missed something.

  4. 1a fair skinned me. Something new. Good clue. An entertaining puzzle. I liked TELLTALE for singer without knowing the Rossini reference until I read the blog and also like the word BRICK in the 4d clue. Don’t hear it much. Thanks.

  5. TELLTALE (one of the meanings):
    a person, especially a child, who reports others’ wrongdoings or reveals their secrets=singer (Hovis@2 has already explained this above. I am adding a few words).

    ‘Singer’ should be the main def and the other part a CD.

  6. I parsed revolutionary as the reversal indicator ‘cryptically’ for ‘aback’ so circular but in jest.

  7. Thanks for explaining RYE which I had no idea about. I’m not sure I understand TAKEN ABACK either and I thought a BRICK was just a reliable person, though Chambers does confirm the ‘helpful’ bit. I managed to remember BUONARROTI from somewhere but it was hardly a write-in. Couldn’t have told you where BALUCHISTAN is on a map.

    Good way to start the week with some pretty tough clues to parse and a bit of history and geography thrown in.

    Thanks to Vernon and NealH

  9. Agree there’s something funny about TAKEN ABACK if you think about it too much.
    Was pleased to work out BUONARROTI from the wordplay.

    Liked 5a for sneaky use of ‘on’. A crossword with no hidden clues. It seems like there’s usually one but I guess it’s not a must.

    Tx to Vernon and NeilH.

  10. Nick@9 Is ACAI not a hidden clue? My brain has frozen, trying to work out TAKEN ABACK. A very nice puzzle, though. Thanks.

  12. For some reason part of the above comment is in blue. Not intended. And I see that I posted this without changing the name of the poster to Vernon (something it only now is inviting me to do), so now I’m outed.

  13. WR / Vernon @ 11 & 12

    The blue is a link to a 2012 Guardian article by Alan Connor on crosswords in fiction, this particular one being on Brief Encounter.

    From the extracts of the film quoted solutions were BALUCHISTAN & DELIRIUM. Not sure if there were any/more

    Thanks

  14. ROMANCE is the one that Mrs gets from the quotation clue, crossing with BALUCHISTAN and DELIRIUM. Nice idea, Alan Connor will be tickled.

  15. Thanks, Vernon and NealH. Rather tricky in places but an enjoyable challenge.

    Completely failed to notice BRIEF ENCOUNTER, which is annoying because it’s one of my all-time favourite films. I’ve seen it numerous times but had forgotten the role of the crossword in the plot. Great idea for a theme, bravo!

  16. We were stumped for a long time with 3dn, 8ac and 20ac, but eventually the penny dropped for TELLTALE and, DIESEL, with BUONARROTI worked out from the wordplay and confirmed via Google. No real problems with the rest apart from slow progress. We missed the theme/nina but we weren’t looking for one, it being Monday. Favourite was RYE.
    Thanks, Vernon and NealH.

  17. The extra bit that I mentioned is that, as our esteemed editor noticed, today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Cyril Raymond, who played Fred in Brief Encounter.

  19. Hi Vernon @12,17 (& Wil Ransome@11 – you’ve outed yourself – easy to do when the “Remember me” doesn’t work)
    I liked your puzzle and the nina. I thought you and others might like to know that:
    BRIEF ENCOUNTER is currently available on the BBC iPlayer for the next 26 days. Hurry or you’ll miss it!
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00041p7/brief-encounter
    The ROMANCE DELIRIUM BALUCHISTAN bit occurs at 13:10-13:40
    But don’t miss the bit at 36:00-37:20 where you can see Cyril Raymond as Fred Jesson doing a crossword.
    My touchscreen allows me to zoom in on the grid and see that Fred is repeatedly trying to fill squares that are already filled and not even using real letters.
    He really hasn’t got a clue! I suppose the production budget couldn’t stretch to multiple copies of the newspaper. 🙂

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