Independent on Sunday 1,727 by Xestobium

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A new setter it seems today, it’s a Death Watch beetle, lovely.

A lot of double and cryptic definitions which I often struggle with but this was to me mostly straightforward, thanks Xestobium

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. United in bind say nowt (4,2)
CLAM UP

U(nited) in CLAMP – to bind

5. Foreman often seen with tape? (6)
GAFFER

Double definition

8. Small part in film came to nothing! (5)
CAMEO

CAME & O – nothing

9. A nasty boil got rid of; terminated (9)
ABOLISHED

A & a nasty BOIL* & SHED – got rid of

11. A bishop making a mark, yet being unwilling to voice an opinion (10)
ABSTAINING

A & B(ishop) & STAINING – making a mark

12. Advertise an electrical accessory (4)
PLUG

Double definition

14. What’s cooking? Chemistry and physics – in one’s own house! (8,7)
DOMESTIC SCIENCE

Cryptic def

17. Head of Church, with false doom words, stirred up the prospect of imminent calamity! (5,2,8)
SWORD OF DAMOCLES

A stirred up [C(hurch) FALSE DOOM WORDS]*. Nice one setter

20. Desserts put in nice sauces (4)
ICES

Hidden in nICE Sauces

21. Be quick! Rattle Lego like crazy! (10)
ALLEGRETTO

A crazy [RATTLE LEGO]*

25. Last piece of jewellery with centre missing – it’s rather charming! (9)
ENDEARING

END – last & middle missing from EAR(r)ING

26. Leans over nasty people (5)
HEELS
Double Def again
27. Nursed a number (now deceased), it’s said (6)
TENDED

TEN – number & sounds like DEAD

28. Right old bankrupt is very strong (6)
ROBUST

R(ight) & O(ld) & BUST – bankrupt

DOWN
2. Large payment for the painful outcome of a collision? (4,3)
LUMP SUM

Cryptic definition

3. Set up a machine to make money (5)
MOOLA

A LOOM reversed

4. Former claimant seen in unattractive quarrel (9)
PLAINTIFF

PLAIN – unattractive & TIFF – quarrel, not entirely sure why former is there.

5. Complaint is now even bigger, we hear (5)
GROAN

Sounds like GROWN

6. Just a lot of rides and stuff? (4)
FAIR

Double definition

7. Once, Hell almost created this level (7)
ECHELON

A created [ONCE & most of HEL(l)]*

8. Scottish family intend to be secretive (11)
CLANDESTINE

CLAN – scottish family & DESTINE intend to be

10. Really appreciate funky seniors with singular deviations! (11)
DIGRESSIONS

DIG – appreciate & a funky SENIORS* & S(ingular)

13. Drunkard in row in off-licence (4)
WINO

Hidden in roW IN Off-licence

15. Ground a soft drink? (4)
SODA

SOD – lump of earth & A

16. Son caught by vigilante, perhaps: being one who takes what he can get (9)
SCAVENGER

S(on) & C(aught) & AVENGER – vigilante maybe

18. Deliveries needed, right now: payment should have already been made (7)
OVERDUE

OVER deliveries in cricket & DUE – right now

19. Do they have property for rent, such characters? (7)
LETTERS

Double definition

22. Landowner makes den on top of Dartmoor (5)
LAIRD

LAIR – den & top of D(artmoor)

23. Addiction centre where you could see mixed up humans, initially bare? (5)
REHAB

A mixed up [H(umans) BARE]*

24. Poet not allowed on the radio? (4)
BARD

Sounds like barred

 

27 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,727 by Xestobium”

  1. I enjoyed this puzzle and solved and parsed it as the blog has. I liked being reacquainted with the SWORD OF DAMOCLES but WINO is my top clue because it took time to spot the correct definition. Thanks.

  2. Thanks, Xestobium and flashling!

    GAFFER
    Should we take the wordplay part as ‘often seen with tape?’ as the reference is to ‘gaffer tape’?

    DOMESTIC SCIENCE
    I took ‘what is cooking?’ as the main def (by example) and the remaining part as a cryptic def (whimsical).

    PLAINTIFF
    Found this online:
    “Plaintiff” is the term used in civil cases in most English-speaking jurisdictions, the notable exceptions being England and Wales, where a plaintiff has, since the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules in 1999, been known as a “claimant”

  3. LUMP SUM

    Collision Tumour-learnt today.

    Collision tumours are rare clinical entities wherein two histologically distinct tumour types occur at the same anatomic site. Collision of the two malignancies can occur between tumours originating in the same organ or between metastases from other sites.

  4. Welcome to the Death Watch beetle. Mostly a gentle introduction from our new setter, but I had trouble working out what was going on with DIGRESSIONS (good clue) and REHAB, one of those ones which was easier in retrospect. I parsed LUMP SUM as a kind of double def cum cryptic def. Thanks to KVa @2 and 3 for the explanation of ‘Former’ in the def for PLAINTIFF and for the info re “collision tumour”.

    Favourites were DOMESTIC SCIENCE – maybe the parsing is as suggested by KVa @2 – and the SWORD OF DAMOCLES anagram.

    Thanks to Xestobium and flashling

  5. Well done on the debut, Xestobium – a nice gentle introduction with much to like. WINO is nice.

    Thanks for the blog, flashling.

  6. By the way, did everyone else already know Xestobium was a death watch beetle? I had to look it up.

  7. Loved the gentle introduction from the Death Watch Beetle, much enjoyed.

    Thank you to Xestobium and flashling

  8. Very enjoyable, I don’t think I’ve done many quicker though.
    Standout favourite for me was SWORD OF DAMOCLES, but I also liked WINO, a great example of its clue type and DIGRESSIONS.
    Many thanks and well done Xestobium and flashling.

  9. A light and fun debut with just one very slight quibble from me. The answer to 15d is not a British term; it is American, and in any event the surface seems a bit weird.

    Favourite long answer: SWORD OF DAMOCLES.
    Favourite short answer: WINO

    Many thanks to the X-man and to flashling.

  11. As others have said, nice and gentle for a Sunday morning. Maybe over just a bit too quickly but early days.

    Thanks X and flashling

  12. A very nice Sunday crossword

    Many thanks to the Death Watch Beetle (it’s easier to type than the alias!) and to Flashling

  13. RD @9 – depends whether the clue is referring to soda-water or fizzy pop. It could be either. If the former, it’s not an Americanism.

  15. Thanks both. Absolutely did not know LUMP SUM as a collision tumour – I parsed as ‘lumps’ being the painful outcome and ‘um’ being the question mark

  16. I knew the word MOOLA from Ball of Fire, the 1941 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Gary Cooper & Barbara Stanwyck
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_of_Fire
    Cooper plays Professor Bertram Potts, a grammarian who is researching modern American slang.
    In this conversation with a Garbage Man (G), Potts (P) is realising that his research is outdated:’
    G: I could use a bundle of scratch right now on account of I met me a mouse last week.
    Potts: Mouse?
    G: What a pair of gams. A little in, a little out, and a little more out…
    P: I am still completely mystified.
    G: Well, with this dish on me hands and them giving away 25 smackaroos on that quizzola.
    P: Smackaroos? What are smackaroos?
    G: A smackaroo is a…
    P: No such word exists.
    G: Oh, it don’t? A smackaroo is a dollar, pal.
    P: Well, the accepted vulgarism for a dollar is a buck.
    G: The accepted vulgarism for a smackaroo is a dollar. That goes for a banger, a fish, a buck or a rug.
    P: Well, what about the mouse?
    G: The mouse is the dish. That’s what I need the moolah for.
    P: Moolah?
    G: Yeah, the dough. We’ll be stepping. Me and this smooch…I mean, the dish, I mean, the mouse. You know, hit the jiggles for a little rum boogie.’
    A very gentle solve.
    Thanks Xestobium & flashling

  17. A very enjoyable debut from the Death Watch Beetle – yes, Widdersbel, I did have to look it up!
    Particularly liked CAMEO, ENDEARING, FAIR & WINO.

    Many thanks to Xestobium (sounds as though it should be an element!) and to flashling for the review.
    More like this on a Sunday, please.

  18. SWORD OF DAMOCLES put me in mind of Tony Hancock, who pronounced it ‘damoakles’; similarly ‘calibre’ as ‘ka-libe-er’. Thanks and welcome to Xestobium and of course thanks to Flashling.

  19. Tatrasman@8 – maybe Damoakles sword was Eks-ka-libe-er.

    Thanks to Xestobium – a fine debut – and to flashling for the blog.

  21. Thanks to new setter Xestobium. Fun with some novel/innovative clues. Perhaps on the gentle side for Sunday.

  22. Thanks Xestobium. I can’t remember ever finishing an Indy crossword so quickly. I enjoyed many of the clues but I was expecting more of a challenge for a Sunday puzzle. Thanks Flashling for the blog.

  23. Yes, as said above a friendly start from X. A bit like watching a movie and waiting for the twist in the tail – but it never came 🙂

    It was very welcome after yesterday’s contortions and complications (which I also enjoyed but in a different way).

    Thanks to X and F

  24. Many thanks to X. I have finished some faster, and this was the perfect balance of difficult enough (for me) and doable. And of course thanks to Flashling for the fine blog.

  26. As others have said, a quick solve from a new setter. Quite a change from my struggle with the Azed today.

    Incidentally, cream soda was a popular drink in our house in the north of England back in the sixties, and I see it is still available.

  27. Thanks for the nice comments! I may be new to the Indy, but I’m not new to setting (some of you may recognise my style from other papers, under a different pseudonym…): I like to inject a bit of humour into my puzzles – so if some clues raised a smile or two, that’s good. I also like to put in the occasional lesser-known word; just to stretch solvers’ vocabulary. Cheers!

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