Independent 11,440 by Kairos

by

There was an excellent puzzle with lots of very subtle touches.

14, 16 and 3 were great examples of the use of grammar and meaning to misdirect.

ACROSS
1 ANAESTHETICS
Teaches saint about Numbers? (12)

(Teaches saint)*. The def is numbers in the sense of things which cause numbness.
9 OAKLAND
Headless deer found by tree in American port (7)

Oak + [e]land. Oakland is in California
10 TORONTO
Cowboy’s companion accommodates soldiers in provincial capital (7)

Tonto(=companion of the Lone Ranger) around OR(=military abbrev for Other Ranks). Toronto is the capital of Ontario.
11 LOAFERS
Shoes for those kicking their heels (7)

DD
12 LAICISE
Make public “Alice is confused” (7)

(Alice is)*. To laicise would be to open a church office up to ordinary members of the public.
13 WIDOR
Composer with incredibly diverse organ repertoire (primarily) (5)

Initial letters of "with incredibly diverse organ repertoire". Charles-Marie Widor was a French composer.
14 EARWIGGED
Nobleman got lieutenant sacked having eavesdropped (9)

Ear[l t]wigged(=Nobleman got). The lt dropped is an abbrev for lieutenant and sacked is the drop indicator.
16 ORGANISED
Methodical newspaper’s editor (9)

Organ is(=newspaper's where the 's is a contraction rather than possessive) + ed{itor}
19 ALLOW
Let gangster down (5)

Al(=gangster, Al Capone) + down(=low, as in "I'm feeling down at the moment").
21 BEST MAN
Worst person to become match official? (4,3)

Worst(=best in the sense of "to worst/best someone") + man(=person). Match here refers to a wedding (as in the old registry office description of "hatches, matches and dispatches").
23 ENHANCE
Space he can constructively improve (7)

En(=space measurement in printing) + (he can)*
24 WHITSUN
Festival with blockbusters – one in Cannes (7)

W{ith} + hits(=blockbusters) + un(=French for one)
25 ORINOCO
River dweller in Wimbledon? (7)

DD, referring to the South American river and the Womble.
26 NEW STATESMAN
Reporter describes gallery’s magazine (3,9)

Newsman around(=describes) Tate(=Tate gallery, one various art galleries in the UK)
DOWN
1 AWKWARD
Embarrassing section in Mohawk war dance (7)

Hidden in "Mohawk war dance"
2 AMATEUR
Classically he loves European ham (7)

Amat(=he loves in Latin) + Eur{opean}. The def is used in the sense of "ham radio enthusiasts".
3 SIDESTEPS
Avoids part of Charleston? (9)

DD. The charleston dance involves a fair amount of moving side to side, so would involve side steps.
4 HOTEL
Place to stay after golf? (5)

Hotel appears after golf in the phonetic alphabet.
5 TERMINI
Ends of trimmed fur wrapped in short ribbon? (7)

Ermin[e] in ti[e]
6 CUNNING
Crafty Conservative’s standing for election right away (7)

C{onservative} + [r]unning
7 HOLLYWOOD BOWL
Walsh and Victoria, say, play skittles in LA venue (9,4)

Holly(=Holly Walsh, English comedian) + Wood(=Victoria Wood, late English comedian and example of a Victoria) + bowl(=play skittles).
8 HONEYDEW MELON
When old yeomen gathered fruit (8,5)

(When old yeomen)*. You would need to know your fruit to know it wasn't honeydew lemon.
15 RIDGEPOLE
Travel around Gabon with staff canvassing support (9)

Ride around G{abon} + pole(=staff). G is the license plate abbrev for Gabon. A ridgepole is used to support a tent, hence the canvassing.
17 GAS FIRE
Gdansk friary regularly used energy for heater (3,4)

Odd letters of "Gdansk friary" + e{nergy}
18 NEMESIS
Downfall of Geordie footballer swapping back pair (7)

NE(=North Eastern i.e. Geordie, although people from Durham and Cleveland may take issue with that) + Messi with the last two letters reversed.
19 ATHEISM
Independent articles first lady returns in disbelief (7)

I{ndependent} with a + the(=articles) before it, then Ms<. Ms is a female equivalent of Mr.
20 LINCOLN
See army officer in deep ravine (7)

Col in linn. A linn is a word for a steep ravine and Lincoln would be a see in the bishopric sense.
22 NINJA
Role of assassin in Japan (5)

Hidden in "assassin in Japan". I think role would be too vague a definition, so the clue must be intended as an &lit.

11 comments on “Independent 11,440 by Kairos”

  1. I entered without any idea how to parse LINCOLN. I thought it would be a See but could find no evidence online. Now it makes sense so thanks for that. The Holly and the Wood in 7d were also unknown but the solution was obvious. My toppie is EARWIGGED for the extraction and I also enjoyed NEMESIS and LAICISE which I found in a word search. Thanks for the blog and thanks to Kairos for a good Monday challenge.

  3. NINJA
    I feel that this one is an&lit as NealH has indicated.
    The clue works fine as a definition.
    For the wordplay, if it is proper to take ‘role’ as ‘a part’,
    then a part of ‘assassiN IN JApan’ works fine.

  4. Very enjoyable with the nice touches as pointed out. I didn’t know LINN for ‘deep ravine’ so entered LINCOLN from the def, guessed ORINOCO must be a Womble and couldn’t (though should have been able to) get my head around the parsing for ATHEISM, so no gentle Monday stroll either.

    My favourite was the EAR[LT]WIGGED too.

    Thanks to Kairos and NealH

  5. Thanks both. Gentle in the main, which was welcome as I have a victory parade to attend in Manchester, which will at least guarantee some rain. Like others, I have learned some not-so-general knowledge, including that Tonto’s mate was considered a cowboy (who I thought were on the other team)- most useful of all, I will now know if the next person to obstruct my drive is from Gabon

  6. Struggled mightily with LINCOLN as I fell headfirst down the rabbit hole of thinking the answer had to begin with LO. Didn’t know “linn” so it was an age before I could justify the LINCOLN that kept suggesting itself. Kairos may chuckle to know that I even asked Mr Google if there was an ocean trench by that name. Finally remembered the other meaning of “see” and groaned at my incorrigible forgetfulness. The old ones are the best. Big moral victory to the setter on that clue. Many thanks for the entertainment of this puzzle overall and also to NealH for the blog.

  7. I thought 20d would start LO as well, particularly with crosser already in. A nice bit of misdirection. Also only know LINN as a waterfall so it held me up for a bit.
    My favourite was EARWIGGED and I was glad I didn’t whack in OVERHEARD (with its truncated earl) without thinking it through.
    A good way to start the week.

    Thanks to K & NH

  8. We found this a fairly gentle start to the week, although we had to wait till we got all the crossers for LAICISE. We liked ANAESTHETICS and EARWIGGED.
    Thanks, Kairos and NealH.

  10. Thanks Kairos, that was enjoyable with my top choices being WHITSUN, AMATEUR, RIDGEPOLE, NEMESIS, and ATHEISM, my LOI. I hadn’t heard of a “linn” before but that was no obstacle to solving LINCOLN. Thanks NealH for the blog.

  11. LINCOLN is the standout clue:
    LINN has 2 “somewhat conflated” etymologies (Wiktionary) – pool and waterfall. Kairos has chosen the second, without the water.
    I only knew the first, because Dublin means Blackpool (and vice versa).
    ‘Etymology 1 – From Scottish Gaelic or Irish linn, conflated to some extent with linn (“waterfall”).
    Noun – linn – (Scotland, Northern England) A pool of water, especially one below a waterfall.
    Etymology 2 – From Middle English *linne, from Old English hlynn (“torrent”), though this and linn (“pool”) have been somewhat conflated.
    Noun – linn – (UK dialectal, especially Scotland, Northern England) A waterfall or cataract, or a ravine down which its water rushes.’
    Then “See” misdirects us to “LO” rather than diocese, and the “officer” could be NCO, CO or COL.
    Thanks K & NH

Comments are closed.