Independent 6876 by Dac

by

Excellent, accessible, puzzle by Dac, as ever. Solving time, 14 mins

* = anagram < = reversed

ACROSS

1 MAOIST Very good with seamless join at old time/communist O (old) in Siam< t = time

4 CHEQUERS Double definition

9 CO LOUR SERGE ANTS Serge = (archetypal Russian)

11 CHANTEUSE (Each tune’s)*

12 E (X) T RA Egyptian god

13 SAKI “Sarky”

14 CH ESTERTON (on street)*

17 CORIOLANUS (Louis Caron)*

18 G ROT G = German ROT = Red in German

21 BRASS Double definition (instruments)

23 OL F ACTION lo<

24 RE CON SIDE RATION Excellent surface

25 T (U TO) RIAL

26 P EARLY

DOWN

1 MAC A COS

2 OIL TANKER (in lake Rot)*

3 S (MUTt) TY

5 HARLEM SHUFFLE (Mahler)*

6 QUE (that in French) BECER “Becker” A great seamless join at Canadian/French

7 ERNST Hidden

8 S (US) TAIN

10 SOUTH CAROL INA (Out, scholar)*

15 TERR (IF) IER

16 POIS (ON) E R

17 CA (BARE) T

19 giTE NANCY

20 SCRAPE Double definition

22 A S (C) OT c = clubs (cards)

10 comments on “Independent 6876 by Dac”

  1. The only one I didn’t get was 2dn: “Sailing vessel going off course in lake? Rot!” I can see the anagram, but does ‘sailing vessel’ define OIL TANKER or is it a +lit with ‘rot!’ indicating that it’s not a sailing vessel at all?

  3. By the way, I’m not just adding extra separate comments to increase the Indy’s share v the Guardian – that would be cheating, of course!

  5. Although it doesn’t actually have a sail it is a vessel that sails and so could be described (slightly cryptically) as a “sailing vessel”.

  6. I really enjoyed this puzzle – particularly 5 down, which took a little while to dawn on me. If Eimi is reading this blog today, could he say whether we’re ever likely to get a sequel to Volume 1 of the Independent Book of Cryptic Crosswords? Given the consistently high quality of the Indy puzzles these days, it would be a pity if a representative sample were not to be made available in a more permanent form. And, while I’ve got the opportunity, could I put forward a request for the Indy website to include a more comprehensive crossword site, including the facility to print puzzles. I’d be very happy to pay a subscription (as for the Times), but, of course, even happier to get it free (as for the Guardian).

  7. Hi Richard. Glad you’re enjoying the puzzles. On the first point, I have spoken to Chambers about the possibility of a more up-to-date book and it’s likely that there will be one, but I don’t have a date for you yet. As for the crossword site, it’s something I have suggested in the past and I will pass your comments on to back up my request.

Comments are closed.