Independent on Sunday 1229/Poins

The trickiest IoS I’ve blogged for a bit.  Poins has given us a well-constructed, but tough-in-places puzzle this morning.  Among the solutions, there was one word I vaguely knew and one that I definitely didn’t.  And one solution where I had to call in the cavalry to help me parse it.

 

 

 

Abbreviations

cd  cryptic definition
dd  double definition
(xxxx)*  anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x]  letter(s) missing

definitions are underlined

Across

1  The best spot to discover where lions hang out – just the opposite
PRIDE OF PLACE
Where lions hang out would be PLACE OF PRIDE, so this is a reversal – ‘just the opposite’ – of that.

10  Be informed of, for example, report
HEARSAY
A charade of HEAR and SAY.

11  Address in Ontario released
ORATION
(ONTARIO)* with ‘released’ as the anagrind.

12  Trouble over stashing cocaine near back of sheep fold
PLICA
A reversal of AIL with an insertion of C for ‘cocaine’ preceded by P for the last letter of ‘sheep’.  Well, there it is in my Collins: ‘a fold’.  Not in my passive vocabulary, although it must be related to plier, the French for’ bend’ or ‘fold’; whence plié for the ballet dancer’s bendy knee stuff.

13  Committee member for England’s foremost cricket side in 1750 for instance
DELEGATE
An insertion of E for the first letter of England and LEG for one of the ‘sides’ in cricket in DATE, which 1750 indubitably is an instance of.  A bit of a random choice though: the England team wasn’t even formed then.

15  Visionary Labour leader first to pursue plan to have unlimited credit
IDEALISTIC
Nice surface, but tricky to parse: it’s L for the first letter of Labour and IST for ‘first’ to follow IDEA for ‘plan’ and finished off with IC for [T]IC[K], which would be ‘unlimited credit’.

16  Originally exposed after an article by you many years ago
THEE
The accusative form of the old second person singular THOU.  ‘Get thee to a nunnery’, as Shakespeare’s Hamlet said.  A charade of THE for ‘article’ and E for the first letter of Exposed.  Now limited to dialect use in the Midlands and North of England, leaving standard English with only one word for ‘you’, whether singular or plural, personal or formal.  The French have tu and vous; the Spanish tú and usted; the Germans Du and Sie; the Dutch je and U.  When to use one and when to use the other if you’re learning one of these languages can be tricky.

18  Once more without a profit
GAIN
[A]GAIN

20  A reminder from mother to ring joiner after more damage
MEMORANDUM
An insertion of (MORE)* and AND as a ‘joiner’ in MUM.  ‘Ring’ is the insertion indicator and ‘damage’ is the anagrind.

22  Made a complaint about return of unwelcome French queen
REPORTED
Poins has sharpened his cryptic claws this morning.  A reversal of DE TROP and ER for our current sovereign, Elizabeth Regina.  DE TROP for ‘unwelcome’?  If you must.

24  Give reasons for taking off without Frank
PLAIN
[EX]PLAIN.

26  City worker included in short reference book
ATLANTA
The crossword setter’s favourite ‘worker’, the ANT is included in ATLA[S].

27  Confirm wild animal has escaped
BEAR OUT
A charade of BEAR for ‘wild animal’ and OUT for ‘escaped’.

28  Most excellent gibe about embracing new object of worship
SUPREME BEING
A charade of SUPREME for ‘most excellent’ and an insertion of N in (GIBE)*

Down

2  Tumble to net
REALISE
A dd.

3  Novelist‘s daughter has one from Tel Aviv
DISRAELI
A charade of D and ISRAELI.  As well as being PM, Benjamin DISRAELI was a novelist.

4  Against Year 10 getting material for making cameos
ONYX
A charade of ON for ‘against’, Y for ‘year’ and X for ‘ten’.  ‘Cameos’ in the jewellery sense, are often made from ONYX.  For older readers, Year 10 is what used to be called the fourth form.

5  Bemused prior to receiving the low-down from dad
PROGENITOR
An insertion of GEN for ‘information’ or ‘low-down’ in (PRIOR TO)*

6  Better going back into A&E quickly
APACE
An insertion of CAP for ‘better’ reversed in A and E.

7  Grave words, essentially well-meaning, about father putting on weight
EPITAPH
If you parsed this effortlessly, then bravo, because I had to phone a friend.  Who had to go away and think about it.  Like an investigative journalist, I can’t reveal my sources, but the young lady in question says that it’s E for the central letter (‘essentially’) of well-mEaning, followed by an insertion of AP, which is PA (‘father’) reversed in PITH, for which definition number three in Collins says ‘weight’.  The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would have been galloping into my front garden by the time I’d parsed that.

8  Best to follow with piping hot cooked food
WHIPPING CREAM
‘Best’ is CREAM, as in ‘cream of the crop’.  Poins is asking you to put WHIPPING before this, which is (W PIPING H)* with ‘cooked’ as the anagrind.  WHIPPING CREAM is food in the sense that you can eat it, so the clue is fair; but I would more likely describe it as an ingredient.

9  Denis, seconds away, failed to stop when uncertain
INDETERMINATE
If you take S for ‘seconds’ away from DENI[S], then make an anagram to get INDE (the anagrind is ‘failed’) then add TERMINATE for ‘stop’, then you’ve got your answer.

14  State categorically – this eventually follows when a girl’s on speed
ASSEVERATE
Another word that I wouldn’t count as being high on the list in my passive vocabulary.  Sounds a bit too posh to me.  It’s a charade of AS for ‘when’, S for the last letter of thiS, EVE for ‘girl’ and RATE for ‘speed’.  I am going to need a lie-down soon.

17  Unprepared, in retrospect, to design European fighting machine
WARPLANE
A charade of WAR for a reversal (‘in retrospect’) of RAW, PLAN for ‘design’ and E for ‘European’.

19  Animals lacking in strength left out sadly
IMPALAS
A charade of [L]IMP and ALAS for ‘sadly’.  ‘Left out’ is the indication to leave the L out of LIMP.

21  Force soldiers to run through river
DRAGOON
An insertion of RA for ‘Royal Artillery’ or ‘soldiers’ and GO for ‘run’ in the River DON.  You’re spoilt for choice: there’s a River Don in Yorkshire (think Doncaster); another in Aberdeenshire; and of course the one in Russia featured in Sholokhov’s Quiet Flows the Don.

23  Illingworth had a short one to manage getting out of bed
RUN-UP
Another fairly random cricket reference.  Raymond Illingworth was a slow right-arm spinner from Yorkshire who played for England between 1958 and 1973 and went on to become a selector.  Since he was a slow bowler, he had a short RUN-UP.  It’s RUN for ‘manage’ and UP for ‘out of bed’.

25  Talented government minister needing no introduction
ABLE
The coalition government has been a boon to setters, putting VINCE CABLE, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills into the realms of being well-known enough to include in clues.  It’s [C]ABLE, and I agree with Poins: he is a talented minister, who has an intellect and isn’t afraid to use it.

Many thanks to Poins for this morning’s puzzle – a tough one, but a good one.