Independent 6860 by Phi
Posted by nmsindy on October 10th, 2008
I found this quite tough, esp SW corner. Solving time, 26 mins.
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 (t)RAP
3 ZIP (nothing) FAST ENER Rene< Archetypal Crossword Frenchman
9 B (OLd) US Should have got this more quickly than I did.
10 NO T (RE D) AME In Paris
11 SEE (DIE) R
12 MATCHES Double definition with pun on striker (football)
14 INSTRUMENT PANEL Cryptic definition referring, I think, to the dashboard of a car
16 RACING CERTAINTY (in grey Antarctic)*
19 E (S) TON IA (A1 not (S) e)<
21 HOTLINE (the lion)*
22 BE (WILDER) S(t) This was cleverly misleading (for me anyway) as it suggested an anagram of less for a long time
23 RE ELS(e)
24 PERISTALSIS (stir palsies)* Glad Phi gave us a fairly obvious anagram for this unfamiliar word
25 RU(i)N i = one
DOWN
1 ROBES PIERRE Character from French Revolutionary period. Pierre Cardin, fashion designer
2 POLLEN SAC (one calls p)* p = tip of petal (first letter)
3 (do)ZES TIER
4 PANAROMIC CAMERA A tip-top cryptic definition - well done, Phi!
5 ANTIMONARCHISTS m (money) in (his transaction)*
6 TRE (E) TOP e in (Potter)* The crossword mind suggested the Potter anagram straight away. Not personally familiar with the books - but a quick Google search shows WW appears in them.
7 NEATH Hidden
8 RU(d) E D = director
13 S (ILL Y SEAS) ON August usually - maybe the financial markets will be quiet again by then…
15 NO N (L IN) EAR mean = near in = inside
17 NO N PLU(g)S
15 ANTARES (a star one)* less o
20 TOW(s)ER Very tricky, as it looked liked first letter off the dog rather than the s = seen initially
22 B A P Phi is from Darlington originally so he’ll know all about those.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I found this mostly straightfoward but was a bit stumped by the meaning of 3 down, so thanks for explaining that. I think I got a bit hung up on the Z being something to do with Zzz and tier for seats didn’t occur to me.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
In 7dn, why is NEATH defined as ‘Other Welsh town’ and not simply as ‘Welsh town’?
Yet another appearance of NONPLUS: it was in The Times a day or so ago, and someone mentioned that it has just been in The Guardian. Extraordinary coincidence.
I thought ‘musical assessors’ was rather a vague definition of ‘instrument panel’ in 14ac, unless there’s a meaning of i.p. that I’m not aware of.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
An instrument panel is a dashboard surely.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Not deep into this but thought ‘Other Welsh town’ was because Haverfordwest was perhaps a Welsh town also. I’d also agree (after checking dicts before I posted) that ‘musical assessors’ is subsidiary indication suggesting ‘musical instruments’ and ‘judging panel’ rather than definition.