Independent 11,463 by Serpent

by

Early July and the Serpent slithers a puzzle towards us.

And enjoyably devious as one has grown to expect. Always refreshing.

Clues of note in my opinion are 10ac and 20dn for their straight forward deviousness.10ac doubly so in light of the high rates of inflation we are suffering post Brexit and the need to raise interest rates to attempt to alleviate them.

A trio of unambiguous amusing homophones too at 18ac, 23ac and 3dn – the latter being the one that took me a while to see.

All in all marvellous fun and the hidden theme completely passes me by even though it is there in plain sight (CAN SHE EXCUSE MY WRONGS?) – in my defence have had a busy week Thanks NeilW – I’d be surprised if there is not one.

Thanks Serpent as always

Clues:

Key * anagram; underline definition; DD double definition; Rev. Reversed

Across
1 Meets the cost of day-to-day account for March (8)
foots (meets the cost) + log (day-to-day account) = FOOTSLOG

5 Computer circuit corporation sent back (6)
lap (circuit) + Rev. pot (corporation) = LAPTOP

9 Spiral had to follow cyclic shift in size (8)
scale(shift in size) cycles to escal + ate (had) = ESCALATE

10 One who takes considerable interest in financial matters? (6)
USURER (very pertinent clue)

11 Sparkling scraps of silver? (8)
ag (silver) + litter (scraps) = AGLITTER

12 Person with stable job‘s tense in unfamiliar roles (6)
t (tense) in (roles)* = OSTLER

14 Curious boy exhorted to ignore book’s radical line (10)
(boy exhorted – b)* = HETERODOXY

18 Fuel serious complaint by departing faculty reportedly (10)
anthrax (serious complaint) – x (by) + homophone of sight (faculty) = ANTHRACITE

22 Divinity prize presented retrospectively for best in class? (3,3)
Rev. god (divinity) + pot (prize) = TOP DOG

23 Carefully choreographed act established calm mood for the audience (3,5)
Homophone of set peace (established calm mood) = SET PIECE

24 Times restricts press coverage related to climate change? (6)
by (times) around roll (press) = BROLLY

25 Doctor to cure me and be fulfilled (4,4)
(to cure me)* = COME TRUE

26 Involved in ingesting sandwiches? (6)
hidden involveD IN INGesting = DINING

27 Period of adjustment in early ape’s evolution (4,4)
(early ape)* = LEAP YEAR

DOWN
1 Title belonging to upstanding member of opposition (6)
Rev. name of (title belonging to) = FOEMAN

2 Hidden aspect of postdoc culture (6)
Hidden postdOC CULTure = OCCULT

3 Pay tribute to Salvation Army officer’s declaration (6)
SA (Salvation army) + homophone of lieut (officer) = SALUTE

4 Undecided about exhausted force invading from there (2,3,5)
on (about) + fe (exhausted force) in thence (from there) = ON THE FENCE

6 Fools largely irritated examiner (8)
asses (fools) + sore (irritaed) – e = ASSESSOR

7 Bondage ends in Margaret and Harold getting excited (8)
(m+t + harold)* = THRALDOM

8 Describes where one could land fish (8)
Port(where one could land) + rays (fish) = PORTRAYS

13 Passionate cook beginning to make omelettes (10)
(m + omelettes)* = METTLESOME

15 One provides some sense of liking friend (5,3)
taste(liking) + bud (friend) = TASTE BUD

16 Depressed after favourites tipped to relinquish position at the top? (4,4)
Rev. pets (favourites) + down (depressed) = STEP DOWN

17 Bear regularly playing in urban area (8)
brook (bear) + pLaYiNg = BROOKLYN

19 Cost of maintenance and support at university rises (6)
keep up (support) moving up (at university) = UPKEEP

20 Passengers in this vehicle will definitely be late (6)
HEARSE

21 Indicator contains circle that generates dazzling light (6)
meter (indicator) around o (circle) = METEOR

19 comments on “Independent 11,463 by Serpent”

  1. Thanks, Serpent and twencelas!
    Liked ESCALATE, ANTHRACITE, BROLLY, DINING, FOEMAN and SALUTE.

    BROLLY
    I had
    BY restricts (includes) ROLL (press)
    Def: Coverage related to climate change?

  2. Very enjoyable though perhaps not vintage Serpent. Unlike our blogger I thought USURER and HEARSE were a tad weak and I failed to make any connection whatsoever between the former and the high rates of interest we are “suffering post Brexit”. I did like several others though including ANTHRACITE SET PIECE, LEAP YEAR, PORTRAYS and STEP DOWN.
    Many thanks Serpent and twencelas.

  4. From Wiki: “Can She Excuse My Wrongs” is a late 16th-century song by the English Renaissance composer John Dowland, the fifth song in his First Booke of Songes or Ayres. The words are set to a dance-tune, a galliard.

  5. From Wiki: It’s a late 16th-century song by the English Renaissance composer John Dowland, the fifth song in his First Booke of Songes or Ayres. The words are set to a dance-tune, a galliard.

  7. A minor omission:
    FOEMAN
    The definition is not underlined (‘member of opposition’)
    SALUTE
    Should the def not be ‘pay tribute to‘?
    ON THE FENCE
    exhausted force=FE (the inner letters of ‘force’ removed)
    Def: Undecided

  9. Doesnt Sting get a mention here-his version with the lute player is tremendous.

    Serpent’s ninas often give me a nudge getting the last couple in

    His Guardian Genius is another example of his musical taste.

  10. Agree that this is not a terribly serpentine although 14a and 1d stumped me. Agree with KVa’s parsing comments. My top clues today are BROLLY and BROOKLYN and I liked METTLESOME for ‘passionate’. Thanks to twencelas and Serpent.

  11. NeilW@3/4/5: Well spotted!
    The tune is The Earl Of Essex’s Galliard, also by Dowland, published in consort form in his Lachrymae, and widely known as a lute solo, which is challenging and satisfying to play (I’m a lutenist myself). Nobody knows whether the song or dance tune came first.
    All of which makes it slightly odd that Serpent prefered to pun “LEUT” (blogged as officer, though it’s completely new to me. Short fo Lieutenant?) in the clue to SALUTE rather than the thematic instrument.

  12. I think the homophonic officer is actually a LOOT – given in Chambers as “short form of lieutenant”, and familiar to me as a character in Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honour trilogy.

  17. An easy ride today, helped by the nina which we spotted fairly early on. We wondered if Can she excuse my wrongs might have been by William Byrd, the 400th anniversary of whose death is currently being commemorated, but were not altogether surprised to find that it’s by his contemporary, Dowland. Incidetally one online source incorrectly gives 1623 for Dowland’s death too, but atually we’ve got to wait another three years to mark Dowland’s 400th.
    Thanks, Serpent and twencelas.

  18. Thanks Serpent, it’s always rewarding. My top picks were ANTHRACITE, BROLLY, COME TRUE, and DINING. I searched long and hard for a theme or nina and I can’t believe I never saw it. Thanks twencelas for the blog.

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