Independent 8848/Scorpion

Chuffing Nora.

 

 

 

 

I keep telling the editor and setters that I only decided to put my name down to blog the Monday Indy because it was ‘the easy one’.  Easy this wasn’t.  I did eventually get there, with a lot of dictionary help; and then the parsing of many clues took me the longest time.  Is that me not being good enough?  Is that Scorpion being a bit too venomous?  You’ll tell me, no doubt.

And what partly made it harder for me was the fact that there were quite a few clues without 50% checking.  But since it’s only me and John/Wil R who get exercised about that, I won’t make that into an excuse.

I have wittered on a bit this morning, but my medication kicks in soon, which will allow me to go and earn a living. So I will leave you all to your own devices till later this afternoon.

 

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

Across

6  Priest’s consumed by ale, so moving thus?
ASLOPE
An insertion of P for ‘priest’ in (ALE SO)*  My SOED gives for ASLOPE ‘inclined, sloping, crosswise, aslant’, so I guess it’s semi-&lit because the priest would be drunk.  But wouldn’t the ale be consumed by the priest to give this outcome?  I don’t like this much.

8  Liked dad with full hair regularly trimmed
POPULAR
A charade of POP and the even letters of fUlL hAiR.

10  Somewhere in Africa a bag’s returned comparatively empty, we hear
CASABLANCA
A reversal of A SAC and a homophone of ‘blanker’.  I can’t say I warmed to this one much either.  And as I keep saying, she never said ‘Play it again, Sam’.

11  One’s played rough, but hospital unit not needed
VIOL
VIOL[ENT]  ENT for ‘Ear, Nose and Throat’.

12  Unstable boy knocked back a sort of jelly
ROCKY
This is my best stab at this, and those of a sensitive disposition should look away now.  It’s a reversal (‘knocked back’) of COR! for BOY! (synonymous exclamations) and KY for ‘a sort of jelly’.  KY JELLY is most commonly used as a vaginal lubricant to aid comfortable sexual intercourse.  I did tell you to look away.

13  Wipers on the Renault, front only, beset by problems
SNOTRAGS
This is an insertion of OTR in SNAGS.  But since two clues already have slightly irked me, I will say that OTR would need ‘fronts only’, which would completely screw up the surface reading.  But what do I know about cryptic grammar?  I’m a humble blogger.

15  Travelling west, briefly film mating jumbo
TITANIC
A reversal of CIN[E] and AT IT for having sex or ‘mating’.  The reversal indicator is ‘travelling west’.  Are CINE and ‘film’ synonymous?  Or is it CIN[EMA]?  Whatever, let’s hope the mating (female) jumbo had access to the KY Jelly, because a bull elephant is big in every sense.

17  What jay is to jump first?
INITIAL
The bird is the ‘jay’, but you’re not having an obligatory Pierre bird link because it’s not the solution.  J is the INITIAL letter of ‘jump’.  But I don’t like setters using random homophones like JAY to clue single letters.  I’m not liking this puzzle much so far, am I?  It’s a dd.

20  Con man replicated the ad misleadingly
TED HEATH
I liked this.  (THE THE AD)* for our sailing, conducting Conservative PM from the 1970s.

22  One unravels locks before finding current heating system
COMBI
A charade of COMB (which unravels locks of the tressy variety) and I for the symbol for electrical ‘current’.  A type of boiler.

23  Animals here with mark on pelt
ZOOM
A charade of ZOO and M for ‘Mark’, the old German currency.

25  Does salt enhance this ropey game?
DECK QUOITS
Nice surface, but it’s a bit of a weak cd, imho.  DECK QUOITS is played on board ships, so a ‘salt’ might enhance it, I suppose.

26  Old brass name seen on bog discovered in gorge
PFENNIG
The PFENNIG was one hundredth of an old German Mark, so ‘old brass’.  It FEN and N in PIG for ‘gorge’.

27  Former newsman joining artist where Classical debate held
EXEDRA
A charade of EX, ED and RA.  My SOED is getting a bit of wear and tear this morning.  ‘Classical History: a hall or arcade with seats, attached to a palestra or a private house and used for conversation.’  I so knew that.

Down

1  Exotic grub‘s on the house air-conditioning, they inform
FOCACCIA
A charade of FOC for free of charge or ‘on the house’, AC and CIA, who ‘inform’.  Most folk (especially in Islington and Hampstead) wouldn’t describe FOCACCIA as ‘exotic’, but the setter’s using the word in the sense of ‘foreign’, so fair play.

2  First signs of mustiness?  Empty drawers and line with potpourri
MEDLEY
This works for me: the first ‘signs’ (plural) of Mustiness, Empty and Drawers followed by a LEY line.

3  Son having roast damaged his tongue
SPANISH
A charade of S, PAN and (HIS)*

4  Duck pate’s made with this TV cook
OLIVER
Referring to Jamie Oliver. It’s O plus LIVER, because pâté – including duck pâté – can be made with liver.  But since the surface reading of the clue would have been much better if the accents had been included, I just wonder why the setter gave us ‘pate’.  Perhaps to misdirect us into thinking of ‘head’.  Which is certainly where I was for a good while.

5  Ancient ship earlier patrolled river
ARGO
An insertion of R in AGO for Jason’s ship.

7  Wisteria’s spreading by steps
STAIRWISE
(WISTERIAS)*  Is STAIRWISE a word?  Not one I’d ever use.

9  Map nailed to old military unit
PLATOON
An insertion of TO O in PLAN.  ‘Nailed’ as an insertion indicator?

14  Extremely graceful backward roll by woman wrestler?
GLADIATOR
A charade of GL for the outside letters (‘extremely’) of ‘graceful’ plus a reversal (‘backward’) of ROTA IDA.  ‘Convoluted for a daily cryptic’ comes to mind.

16  With constant and close interaction, start to instruct relative with racket
IN-AND-IN
This crossword is still not growing on me.  BY-AND-BY, perhaps?  ON-AND-ON more likely.  No, it’s IN-AND-IN.  ‘Designating breeding within a limited stock; intimate and exclusive breeding’ (SOED).  It’s I for the first letter of ‘instruct’, NAN and DIN.

18  Male singer gets award, judge captivated by vocal qualities
TOM JONES
This is a good clue by anyone’s standards.  The ‘award’ is OM or Order of Merit, J is ‘judge’; you need to insert them in TONES for ‘vocal qualities’.  Do female fans of the Welsh crooner still take off their knickers and throw them at him when he’s on stage?  I think we should be told.

19  Marathon character about to try US 26-miler here
CHICAGO
This is ask the audience time, I’m afraid.  CHICAGO is of course a US venue for a marathon; and GO is a ‘try’.  Beyond that, I am discombobulated.  Chico from the Marx brothers?  No, thought not.  In fact, on giving the blog a final check, I think I have it.  CHI for the Greek letter (‘marathon character’), CA for ‘circa’ or ‘about’ and GO for ‘try’.

21  Joint allowed a little settlement
HAMLET
A charade of HAM and LET.

22  Trifle that Parisian wanted in place of kippers
COQUET
An insertion of QUE for one of the French words for ‘that’ (Je crois que c’est important/I think that it’s important) in COT, which is where young ‘kippers’ would go bye-byes.  I’m more familiar with COQUETTE, the female version; but my SOED gives COQUET as a verb: ‘to dally, trifle or toy (with)’.

24  I’ve done wrong surgery, cutting into bone
OOPS
Well, I got it without much conviction, because it could only be OP in OS and I knew that OS was French for ‘bone’  (which has given us OSSIFY, OSTEOPOROSIS, and much else).  OS for ‘bone’ is in my SOED (you’re getting bored with this now, I know) but ‘only as a modifier in Latin names of particular bones’.  Like OS PENIS, the bone of the penis found in many mammals.  But not humans.  Which is perhaps why we need KY Jelly.

Thanks to Scorpion.  Not my favourite ever puzzle of yours, but that could just be me.  Others will decide.