The Monday offering in the Independent is from Bluejacket. I blogged this setter’s debut puzzle in April of this year, so they are still a little bit of the new kid on the block. Another delightful cryptic today, which I much enjoyed.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Check safe’s cover again
REINSURE
A charade of REIN and SURE.
5 One dotting i, crossing t with style
TITTLE
An insertion of T in TITLE. The insertion indicator is ‘crossing … with’. A TITTLE is the point above the lowercase letters i and j. Great surface.
10 Way in which we’re sure to have an impact?
COLLISION COURSE
A cd.
11 Lance corporal ultimately introduced by dog tag
LABEL
A charade of LAB and EL for the final letters of ‘lance’ and ‘corporal’.
12 Working out at first gym class
OPERATING
A charade of O for the initial letter of ‘out’, PE for ‘gym’ and RATING.
13 One making play has to nudge Romeo after botched cue
PRODUCER
A charade of PROD, (CUE)* and R for the phonetic alphabet ‘Romeo’. The anagrind is ‘botched’.
15 Somewhere on campus, does drag for audience
HALLS
Aural wordplay (‘for audience’) of HAULS.
18 Maps mineral area to the west
ATLAS
A reversal (‘to the west’) of SALT A.
20 Drug‘s bearing on case
SEDATIVE
A charade of SE and DATIVE, the grammatical ‘case’ indicating in some languages through inflection of the noun the recipient or beneficiary of an action. In English, the equivalent is using ‘to’ with the noun in question to act as the indirect object. ‘I gave the bone to the dog.’
23 Leads on sets of each period drama
SOAP OPERA
A charade of SO for the initial letters of ‘sets’ and ‘of’, A POP for ‘each’ and ERA. ‘She bought five roses at £1 a pop/each.’
26 Small, hard tool making holes in woollen cloth
SHAWL
A charade of S, H and AWL.
27 Filmmaker misrepresented Taichang Emperor
CINEMATOGRAPHER
(TAICHANG EMPEROR)* with ‘misrepresented’ as the anagrind.
28 Combine yttrium with oxygen in air
MELODY
An insertion of O in MELD and Y. The insertion indicator is ‘with … in’.
29 What surfer may use, having disturbed the sea-eagle close to nest
ETHERNET
A charade of (THE)* ERNE and T for the final letter of ‘nest’.
Down
1 Bring back spun fabric in right length
RECALL
An insertion of LACE reversed in R and L. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
2 In uprising, declare billionaires opposed to freedom
ILLIBERAL
Hidden reversed in decLARE BILLIonaires.
3 Able seaman’s beginning to get wasted
SKILLED
A charade of S for the initial letter of ‘seaman’ and KILLED.
4 Thick-skinned type articulated sarcastic denial
RHINO
Aural wordplay (‘articulated’) for WRY and NO.
6 Depth marker is near middle of hot tub
ISOBATH
A charade of IS, O for the central letter of ‘hot’ and BATH.
7 Upset at repetitive strain injury in ankle bones
TARSI
A charade of AT reversed and RSI.
8 Boost source of electric current throttled by Greens misguidedly
ENERGISE
A charade of E for the initial letter of ‘electric’ and I for ‘current’ inserted into (GREENS)* The insertion indicator is ‘throttled by’ and the anagrind is ‘misguidedly’.
9 Deduced most of info was wrong
INFERRED
A charade of INF[O] and ERRED.
14 Recording caught asset with the shot of heroin
CASSETTE
A charade of C, ASSET and T[H]E.
16 Huge monster returning? No thanks, I’ve left!
LEVIATHAN
A reversal of NAH, TA, I’VE and L.
17 Copper tucked into fresh scampi and pepper
CAPSICUM
An insertion of CU in (SCAMPI)* The insertion indicator is ‘tucked into’ and the anagrind is ‘fresh’.
19 Attacked and brought back spoils by sea
STORMED
A charade of ROTS reversed and MED.
21 Having bequests start from these belongings
TESTATE
A charade of T for the initial letter of ‘these’ and ESTATE.
22 Left poorly after eating yellow bit of broccoli
FLORET
An insertion of OR for the heraldic ‘yellow’ in (LEFT)* The insertion indicator is ‘after eating’ and the anagrind is ‘poorly’.
24 Cancel yearly bar crawl at centre
ANNUL
ANNU[A]L
25 Early barely understood slang
ARGOT
I think this is [E]AR[LY] and GOT.
Many thanks to Bluejacket for this Monday’s Indy puzzle.
Lovely tight cluing throughout and some nice surfaces; a good combo. Faves inc TITTLE, LABEL, SEDATIVE, SHAWL, RECALL, SKILLED, LEVIATHAN, CAPSICUM and FLORET. ARGOT seems slightly odd: I’d normally expect ‘barely’ to indicate the deletion of just the two outermost letters. Taking one from one end and two from the other feels rather imprecise.
Thanks Bluejacket and Pierre
I did enjoy this for the most part. It’s a shame a very similar clue for SOAP OPERA appeared just a short while ago. Not the setter’s fault, of course. Wasn’t sure how ‘title’ equates to ‘style’ in 5a. Also wasn’t sure about the parsing for ARGOT. If ‘early barely’ is as in blog, then I don’t like it.
ARGOT: I wonder whether ‘early’ in the clue should be ‘earl’. The surface would read better and the parsing would make more sense.
I think that’s a good call, Hector.
Loved this from start to finish – LEVIATHAN and TITTLE were my faves, but all-in I hope to see many more from this setter. Many thanks to Bluejacket and Pierre.
Early (no pun intended) comment just to confirm that the clue for 25 Down should indeed start “Earl…”. Thank you to Pierre for the great run-down and to the kind commenters already here.
TITTLE was a new word for me despite dealing with words all my working life. So thanks BJ and Pierre. Liked the long anagram which helped a lot with the bottom half. This was a nicely paced start to the week.
So that’s what not one jot nor tittle means!
Thanks for an enjoyable puzzle and lucid blog.
Hovis@2. I found this. …. A title is like duke, marquess etc, while a style is what you would call him/her, for example “your grace” or “your lordship”.
Great puzzle, super surfaces. My favourites were at the end TESTATE and FLORET. Simple and elegant
Thanks to both
Nho TITTLE and couldn’t work it out, so a dnf for me, but an excellent puzzle nonetheless.
I’d also nho ISOBATH, but got it from the wordplay (and it looked like a feasible fit for the definition).
Thanks Bluejacket and Pierre.
And I thought ARGOT must have been early bar ely leaving ar + got. Liked the hidden clue at 2d and TITTLE which required a google. Thanks both.
Thanks both. Quite a challenge for a Monday, given I switched decades yesterday, but all enjoyable. Delighted to have remembered TITTLE from a fairly recent Indy puzzle, so the birthday hasn’t been too damaging. LOI nho ARGOT, of course not aided by the clue’s misprunt
sofamore @11. That’s very good. Shame it was a misprint.
Xmac @9. Thanks for that. Never come across that meaning for ‘style’ before.
Very nice puzzle and I love Sofamore’s parse of ARGOT!
Thanks Bluejacket and Pierre.
Thanks Bluejacket, that was quite satisfying with my favourites being OPERATING, CINEMATOGRAPHER, ETHERNET, SKILLED, TESTATE, and ANNUL. I had the same questions as others about ARGOT & I tend to agree with Hector @3. Thanks Pierre for the blog.
Thanks to Pierre, and to the setter @6 for checking in to confirm Hector’s astute surmise @3. I was ready to give that a pass in view of the brilliant anagram at 27, having seen that the Emperor in question was an actual personage. My equation of TITLE with “style” was along the lines of online Chambers’ “style (verb) 2: to name or designate someone • styled himself an expert“.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Too many faves to mention.
Indeed a shame about the misprint but it didn’t spoil the fun in any way. (And anyway, sofamore@11’s alternative parse is brilliant!)
Coloradan@16 I think you’ve cracked it, re title/style. And now that I think about it, I imagine that applied usage comes directly from the meanings presented by Xmac@9.
Thanks both