Independent 10,510 by Phi

by

I’ve had dreadful software problems and am doing this in the very old-fashioned way. Sorry it’s so primitive.

Phi has as usual produced a very nice straighforward but not entirely simple crossword. The definitions are underlined, but forgive me, I really can’t go through them all putting them into some other colour; anagram indicators are in italics

Across
1 Comic writer’s unhappiness about Dutch Royal family — WODEHOUSE wo(D)e House [as in the House of Orange] — he was a boy at 25 26 — I see the inklings of a Nina coming on
6 Excellent Old English writer — DEFOE def [excellent] O E — well OE had to be in there somewhere, and I think def is something people say when they’re trying to be down with the kids
9 After a switch, describing fighting for the Union? — MARITAL describing fighting = martial, and there is a little switch of the letters in that word
10 Criminal pair I found in religious group — CULPRIT cul(pr I)t
11 Food breaks rejected? It will be reviewed after the riots — SPAGHETTI (gaps)rev. (the)* (It)rev.
12 Support retreating holding a weapon — TASER a in (rest)rev.
13 Very distinctive versifier leading a saboteur into small room — CLEAR AS A BELL c(Lear a sab)ell — the versifier is Edward Lear
18 Serve alcohol in error – this is an adolescent looking for work — SCHOOL-LEAVER (Serve alcohol)*
21 Woman returned an Oriental shrub — HENNA hen [woman] (an)rev. — I didn’t know it was Oriental, but evidently it is
22 Aristocrat and European prince I omitted? It should be easy to sort out — NO-BRAINER nob Rain(I)er — the late Prince Rainier of Monaco, famous for marrying Grace Kelly
25 Part of London not totally boring, with attractive woman taking time out — DULWICH dul{l} w {t}ich — how is a tich (or an itch, or an icth, or an icht, or ich with various words for time) an attractive woman? Can’t see this I’m afraid
26 Place for student member in French school head abandoned — COLLEGE {ι)col(leg)e
27 Substantial article carried in both hands, say, to be returned — LARGE L (a) R (eg)rev, — the hands are the left and right, the article is the indefinite one
28 American breaking into huge unknown religious building — MONASTERY mon(A)ster y
Down
1 Scottish pottery our group brought on my ship — WEMYSS we my SS — Wemyss was at the very back of my mind, and indeed I was right
2 On the back foot, finally abandoning sailor after baton’s whirled — DORSAL (rod)rev. sal{t}, the t being {foo}t
3 Hot desire in couple — HITCH h itch
4 Liberal apprehended by one in the dark — UNLIT un(L)it
5 A European upset about most of pepper in Mexican dish — ENCHILADA (A Dane)rev. around chil{e}
6 Dutch produce line in skilful fight with English — DELFTWARE de(l)ft war E — Delftware is Dutch tin-glazed earthenware
7 Ranger, perhaps, in favour of development of trees — FORESTER for *(trees)
8 Bridge opponents, in boring style, overlooking some altogether — ENTIRELY EN [bridge opponents East and North] tire{some}ly
14 Toilet block’s latest leak I repaired – it seems to be the same thing again — LOOKALIKE loo {bloc}k (leak I)*
15 Mystery writer completely exhausted regular appearances of Gothic axemen — ALLINGHAM all in G{ot}h{ic} a{xe}m{en} — referring to Margery Allingham — not what you expect with ‘regular appearances of’
16 Gloomy flower? Hoped lass not wholly distressed — ASPHODEL (Hoped las{s})* — the asphodel — as I’m told by Wikipedia, ‘In Greek legend the asphodel is one of the most famous of the plants connected with the dead and the underworld, and it is mentioned by several poets in connection with the mythology of death, and by association, the afterlife’. So gloomy enough.
17 Canine trainer’s source of specialist goods — CHANDLER c [canine] handler — a chandler makes candles, oil, soap etc and can be used as a suffix as in ‘ship-chandler’
19 Cancel housing core of kennels in extension — ANNEXE a({ke}nne{ls})xe
20 Beer drunk? Inebriated, leaving court with a jaunty air — BREEZY (Beer)* {woo}zy
23 Painter foremost in British art study — BACON B a con — I’m not quite sure how art = a — if BA was British Art the a would have been in capitals [as Sil points out, it’s B{ritish} a{rt} — quite simple really]
24 Depiction of country sadly includes temperature — ATLAS a(T)las — isn’t an atlas a depiction more of countries than of country?

12 comments on “Independent 10,510 by Phi”

  1. In 23ac BA is ‘foremost of British art’ – multiple fodder device, not very Ximenean but something you see quite often nowadays.

    There is a theme: 25 + 26 – say no more.

    Many thanks to John and Phi.

  2. Yes, the theme, as pointed out by Sil above, wasn’t too obscure, at least for Phi. In addition to those scattered about the grid, I was looking for arguably the most famous name who attended the institution but couldn’t find him, hidden or not.

    i had the same queries about ‘attractive woman’ – I thought it might be WI{T}CH but couldn’t explain why – and ATLAS, though this may be of just one country I suppose.

    I was pleased to remember WEMYSS and ASPHODEL. I liked the surface for BREEZY.

    Thanks to Phi and John – hope your software problem gets fixed, or maybe even fixes itself if you’re lucky.

  3. Like WordPlodder, I had WI(T)CH. One of the definitions in Chambers is “irresistibly fascinating woman”. They are enchanting after all.

    I’m often amazed at the unexpected anagrams setters come up with. I thought 18a was a beaut.

    Thanks to Phi and John.

  4. This was my pick of the day. Well persevered John-sounds like some percussive maintenance is required with the appropriate expletives.

    And thanks Phi

  5. Like WordPlodder and Hovis I had Witch. (& the definition Hovis offers) I guess once your brain has seen the ‘with’ as giving you the W it’s hard to see it as simply meaning ‘with’!

    On ATLAS – well, in the days before SatNav I certainly bought the occasional Road Atlas of Great Britain.

    I didn’t know Asphodel and waited for the crossers to do the anagram – thanks for explaining its gloominess!

  6. This started out from the knowledge that Wodehouse and Chandler attended the same school, which has always struck me as a wonderfully improbable fact.  I dug out a few more, but I wanted to have the others not clued as ‘author’ (or similar) which slightly limited the numbers.  Indeed only C S FORESTER made it directly – but I do hope you spotted Bob Monkhouse.

    Defoe, though not an old Alleynian, does mention the place in his Journal of the Plague Year, spelling it Dullege, which feels rather as if he middle part of the grid had been concertina-ed closed.

  7. As a Plum fan I soon spotted the links.  Also a writers theme with six of them.  Thanks Phi and John.

  8. I found this the trickiest Phi I have done.  Starting with the Acrosses it took me to 18A before scoring one.  Annoyed at missing the link between Dulwich, Wodehouse and Chandler as I knew about them (indeed have a book of Wodehouse’s letters, which, I have to say, are pretty dull).

    5D is chil{i} not chil{e}.

    Thanks to Phi for the challenging entertainment and John for the blog under difficulty.

  9. We saw there were several writers but failed to make the 25 26 connection – and one of us has to confess that despite being a Hornblower aficionado (th books, not the TV series which true to foem mangled everything) we didn’t recognise him as one of the writers.  On the other hand there were others hiding in there, LEAR in 13ac, togrthger with A{cton} BELL, pseudonym of Anne Bronte, and at 9ac an indirect reference in the clue, maybe, to Roman poet Marcus Valerius Martialis, aka Martial.

    HENNA may or may not be oriental, but in the clue surely ‘oriental’ or ‘from the east’ is the reversal indicator for AN.

    A satisfying solve.  Thanks Phi and John.

  10. @9 allan_c the reversal indicator for ‘AN’ is returned, surely. Woman – HEN – returned an – NA – oriental shrub (definition)
    I had no idea that Henna was Oriental, but according to def 1 in Chambers, it is – (A small Oriental shrub of the loosestrife family, with fragrant white flowers)

  11. Bluth @10: Oops! You are perfectly correct.  I think my eye was drawn to ‘Oriental’ by the initial capital so that I didn’t really notice the ‘returned’.  And, in my original comment, for ‘him’ read FORESTER.

  12. Cracking puzzle, slow to get into but after half way things picked up. I saw authors, I saw ceramics, but the connection to 25 & 26 is new to me. As are ASPHODEL, WEMYSS and ALLINGHAM as an author. Many down parsings only partial or not quite spot on (I found out here).

    With 1a across already in, and “canine trainer” in 17d, I briefly set off looking for a homophone connection.

    @gwep – if it’s a Mexican dish, it’s chile for sure.

    Thanks Phi and John.

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