Independent 11,550 by Eccles

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One of our regular Wednesday setters today, and he’s always worth the time.

A few unfamiliar words in this one, but that’s part of the fun. Lots to enjoy: the misdirection in 4a (wrong Turner), the ingenious anagram in 10a, the lovely quirk in 1d where two apparently contradictory phrases have the same meaning, and the cryptic definition of 8d where the rhyming phrase neatly disguises an old crossword favourite. Thanks Eccles as always.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 SCOOBY
Clue: Dash by, short of time (6)
SCOO[t] (dash = run quickly) + BY, without the T (time).

As in “I don’t have a Scooby what this is supposed to mean” – well, it was a guess-and-check for me. Cockney rhyming slang: Scooby = Scooby Doo (animated cartoon character) = clue.
4 THEBES
Turner masterpiece mostly displayed in Greek city (6)
THE BES[t] without its last character (mostly). Not JMW Turner the painter, but Tina Turner the singer. The song was written and originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler, but Tina’s version is better known and could be called one of her masterpieces; it’s often called “Simply the Best” but the original title is just “The Best”.
9 MALI
Nation formalises borders (4)
Hidden answer (. . . borders, as a verb = surrounds) in [for]MALI[ses].
10 ASYMMETRIC
Time my car’s scrapped; it’s unbalanced (10)
Anagram (scrapped = broken up) of TIME MY CAR’S.
11 GDANSK
Martial arts experts visiting Greek port (6)
DANS (people who have reached a particular rank in martial arts) inserted into (visiting) GK (abbreviation for Greek).

Port city in Poland.
12 ROTHESAY
People, not us, run to the front and are close to ecstasy in Scottish seaside resort (8)
OTHERS (people, not us) with the R (abbreviation for run in cricket scoring) moved to the front, then A (abbreviation for are, a unit of land area, 1/100 of the more commonly used hectare) + closing letter of [ecstas]Y.
13 OPEN-ENDED
What often happened after 72 holes is not clearly defined (4-5)
The Open (short for The Open Championship, or the British Open to distinguish it from the US Open) is a golf championship played over four rounds (72 holes); in most years the OPEN ENDED at this point with a clear winner at the end of the fourth round, but additional holes have sometimes been needed if there’s a tie, hence “often . . . after 72 holes” but not always.

Referring to something started without a clear definition of when it will end, such as a rental contract that doesn’t have a fixed end date.
15 ISLE
Terrible lie about introduction to Scarborough Fair? (4)
Anagram (terrible) of LIE, around the first letter (introduction) of S[carborough].

Definition by example: Fair Isle in Shetland, known as the source of traditional multi-colour knitted sweaters.
16 EATS
Takes in sustenance from nipples, first off (4)
[t]EATS (nipples) with the first letter taken off. An extended definition because that’s where mammals take their sustenance from at first.
17 SEA CHANGE
Every individual getting ratted around centre of Leeds gets complete transformation (3,6)
EACH (every individual) with SANG (ratted = slang for informed on someone) around it, then the centre letter of [le]E[ds].

The definition is originally from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, where the phrase “doth suffer a sea-change” apparently just means “is changed by being in the sea”, but it’s come to mean a major transformation.
21 OVERSHOT
Paramours left scratched – getting passionate went too far (8)
[l]OVERS (paramours) without the L (abbreviation for left), then HOT (passionate).
22 AUSTIN
Former car capital of America (6)
Double definition. Former British car marque, no longer used after a series of mergers and acquisitions; or the state capital of Texas in the US. Always worth remembering that the US doesn’t just have one capital.
24 CLEVER DICK
Self-satisfied know-all oddly calmed by decision to throw out Thailand and Cambodia (6,4)
Odd-numbered letters from C[a]L[m]E[d], then VERDIC[t] (decision) without the T (International Vehicle Registration code for Thailand), then K (the equivalent code for Cambodia, which has had several names in its history, including a few beginning with K).
25 ANTI
I’m opposed to granny dating, essentially (4)
Middle letters (essentiall) from [gr]AN[ny] [da]TI[ng].
26 PUNISH
Amusing wordplay is hard to beat (6)
PUN (amusing wordplay) + IS + H (abbreviation for hard, as in 2H pencils).
27 HECTOR
Retch horribly around old Harry (6)
Anagram (horribly) of RETCH around O (abbreviation for old).

Harry, as a verb = hector = to bully someone by talking threateningly.
DOWN
1 STAND-UP
Comedian is let down (5-2)
Stand up = let down = leave someone waiting in vain for a prearranged meeting, especially a romantic date.

A comedian performing alone on stage.
2 ONION
Repeated denial about being cut by top of incandescent bulb (5)
NO NO (a denial, repeated) reversed (about), cut by the first letter (top) of I[ncandescent].
3 BRACKEN
Fern Britton’s head stand when half-cut (7)
First letter (head) of B[ritton] + RACK (as in coat stand = coat rack) + [wh]EN with the first half cut.
5 HAMATE
Hooked up, I see, with friend (6)
AH (I see = an expression indicating understanding) reversed (up, in a down clue), then MATE (friend).

A rather obscure Latin-derived word meaning “hook-shaped”, apparently used in anatomy. The clear wordplay made it a guess-and-check.
6 BATTERSEA
Initially, England and Australia support cricketers providing home for rescued dogs (9)
Initial letters of E[ngland] and A[ustralia] after (below, in a down clue = supporting) BATTERS (cricketers).

Charity based in Battersea, south London; it was previously known as Battersea Dogs Home, but it also rescues cats, and is now officially known as just Battersea.
7 SKI RACE
Expert supports outrageous risk in competition (3,4)
ACE (expert, as in “WW2 flying ace”) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) an anagram (outrageous) of RISK.

Perhaps an extended definition, for a sport in which failure can be very dangerous?
8 HYDROELECTRIC
Description of flower power? (13)
Cryptic definition, using the old favourite of flower = something that flows = river.
14 NOT PROVEN
In Stirling, result of trial of drunk patron dumping a kiln (3,6)
Anagram (drunk) of P[a]TRON (dropping the A), then OVEN (kiln).

A verdict that can be returned by a jury trial in Scotland (so for example in the city of Stirling), which predates the modern choice of “guilty” or “not guilty”. It’s legally equivalent to “not guilty”, which includes “there isn’t sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant did it”, but it persists for historical reasons.
16 ENVELOP
Tailor almost never cut shroud (7)
Anagram (tailor, as a verb = reshape) of NEVE[r] without its last letter (almost), then LOP (cut, especially to cut a tree branch).
18 CRACKLE
Cleavage, extremely large, seen in China? (7)
CRACK (cleavage) + end letters (extremes) of L[arg]E.

A pattern of fine cracks on the surface of glazed ceramics (china).
19 GLITTER
Good babies scintillate (7)
G (abbreviation for good) + LITTER (a group of baby animals born together).
20 CHORUS
Macho Russian guards sing together (6)
Hidden answer (. . . guards, as a verb = holds) in [ma]CHO RUS[sian].

Chorus as a verb = sing together.
23 SMART
Clever vehicles reversed (5)
TRAMS (vehicles) reversed.

9 comments on “Independent 11,550 by Eccles”

  1. I have run out of superlatives for Eccles’ puzzles, which are always an absolute joy to solve. This one was no exception.

    The answer to 5d was a new word for me but readily derivable from the wordplay. I found 17d the hardest to parse but got there finally. HYDROELECTRIC was my favourite.

    Many, many thanks to Eccles and to Quirister.

  2. Liked THEBES, AUSTIN and CRACKLE but my toppie is SCOOBY DOO for clue. New for me. Thanks Quirister and Eccles for a perfect puzzle.

  3. Before SCOOBY-Doo (1969) there was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoubidou – I wouldn’t have known how to spell it at the time.
    ‘…(Craftlace, scoobies, lanyard, or gimp) is material used in knotting craft. It originated in France, where it became a fad in the late 1950s and has remained popular. It is named after the 1958 song of the same name by the French singer Sacha Distel.’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoubidou_(song)
    ‘Coined for the song as a nonce word’. Royalties went to the orphaned sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
    Another witty and fun crossword from Eccles.
    Thanks E&Q

  4. A beautifully crafted puzzle as per. All went in satisfactorily although I did not know that def of CRACKED and needed our excellent blogger’s explanation. THEBES, SKI RACE, PUNISH, CHORUS all earned big ticks but HYRDOELECTRIC takes the biscuit.

    Thanks Eccles and Quirister

  5. I loved 8D, good to see old friends flower/banker = river making a comeback recently. Great stuff so thanks Eccles and Quirister.

  6. One up to our setter – I failed miserably on 1a even when all the checkers were in place.
    So much to enjoy, as always, in a puzzle from this setter and a new word for me in HAMATE.
    Favourite here was HYDROELECTRIC with a mention for CRACKLE.

    Thanks to Eccles and to Quirister for the review.

  7. Thanks Quirister & Eccles.
    Rhyming slangs always trip me; took a wrong TURN(er); a couple more I needed parsing.
    Result: grudging admiration.
    SEA CHANGE, NOT PROVEN in my list.

  8. Superb puzzle, simply the bes(t).
    (L)oved OVERSHOT, what an inspired surface read, CLEVER DICK and ASYMMETRIC and of course the “Turner masterpiece” amongst many others. Great stuff
    Many thanks to Eccles and Quirister

  9. Generally I like Eccles but I thought this seemed a bit flat to me. I did enjoy ASYMMETRIC for the anagram, OVERSHOT for its surface, and ONION for its construction. I had an unparsed SEX CHANGE (“complete transformation”) for 17a and I needed hints for GDANSK and ROTHESAY, the latter unknown to me. In 22a I thought “capital in America” would have been more precise than “capital of America” but that had no effect on solving the clue. Thanks to both.

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