This Thursday’s Independent cryptic is set by Mev.
The grid was filled with fairly well-known words. Perhaps Mount IDA (26 down) was slightly obscure, but it is a word that crops up quite often in barred crosswords.
I didn’t see a theme, but I did see a pangram, with all 26 letters of the alphabet occurring at least once in the grid.
I liked the clues for SEQUENCING and BAAL, although the dish conjured up by the clue for the first of these words doesn’t tempt me to order it.
Mev seems to like the device of excluding outer letters of constituent parts of clues. We have ‘avoiding the edges, pared down’ and ‘removing walls’, plus one example of the opposite [twice] in the clue for SEQUENCING, where we are asked to select the outer letters of two words.
I thought that the Spoonerism in the clue for WORKER BEE was good.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | I jettison crop that’s failed one screening (13)
PROJECTIONIST (a person who screens a film at a cinema) Anagram of (that’s failed) I JETTISON CROP PROJECTIONIST* |
| 8 | Slow at thinking, displays a bit of power (4)
WATT (a derived SI unit of power; a bit of power) WATT (hidden word in (displays) sloW AT Thinking) WATT |
| 9 | How setter might contact boss on a mobile application (4,6)
TEXT EDITOR (an app that you might find on a mobile device such as a tablet or a phone) TEXT (send a message to; contact)+ EDITOR (the boss of a crossword setter on a newspaper or magazine) TEXT EDITOR |
| 10 | On air, was a show host judged against somebody else? (8)
COMPARED (judged against somebody else) COMPARED (sounds like [on air] COMPÈRED [hosted a show]) COMPARED |
| 12 | Go along with firm parliamentarian – lobby must be eviscerated (6)
COMPLY (agree or consent to; go along with) CO (company; firm) + MP (Member of Parliament; parliamentarian) + LY (letters remaining in LobbY after the central letters obb are removed [gutted; eviscerated]) CO MP LY |
| 13 | Bust rioting punk brat (8)
BANKRUPT (insolvent; bust) Anagram of (rioting) PUNK BRAT BANKRUPT* |
| 15 | Haul a weary ass regularly, or every time? (6)
ALWAYS (every time) ALWAYS (letters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 [regularly] of hAuL a WeArY aSs) A L W A Y S |
| 17 | Husband about to crash photo of speech (6)
PHONIC (relating to sounds or speech) (H [husband] + ON [with reference to, about]) contained in (to crash) PIC (picture; photo) P (H ON) IC |
| 19 | Carve manger in Xmas decoration, avoiding the edges (8)
INSCRIBE (engrave; carve) CRIB [container for animal fodder; manger] contained in (in) tINSEl (Christmas decoration) excluding the outer letters T and L (avoiding the edges) INS (CRIB) E |
| 21 | Roman street artist swallows good drug (6)
VIAGRA (proprietary name for sildenafil citrate, a drug used in treating erectile dysfunction) (VIA [Italian [Roman] word for street] + RA [Royal Academician; artist]) containing (swallows) G (good) VIA (G) RA |
| 23 | Encourage onboard medical professionals (8)
SURGEONS (medical professionals) URGE ON (encourage) contained in (onboard a ship, SS [steamship]) S (URGE ON) S |
| 25 | Ordering mashed quince in shells of Senegalese nutmeg (10)
SEQUENCING (ordering) Anagram of (mashed) QUINCE contained in (in) (SE [outer letters of {shells of} SenagalesE] + NG [outer letters of {shells of} NutmeG]) SE (QUENCI*) NG |
| 27 | Heartless, trite ancient god (4)
BAAL (a Phoenician god; ancient god) BAnAL (trite) excluding the central letter (heartless) N BAAL |
| 28 | Stan’s deaf – Tess possibly shows loyalty (13)
STEADFASTNESS (loyalty) Anagram of (possibly) STAN’S DEAF TESS STEADFASTNESS* |
| Down | |
| 1 | Epic want solo pared down on one instrument (7)
PIANOLA (a mechanical, playerless piano with keys operated by air pressure; musical instrument) PI (letters remaining in ePIc after the outer letters E and C are removed [pared down]) + AN (letters remaining in wANt after the outer letters W and T are removed [pared down]) + OL (letters remaining in sOLo after the outer letters S and O are removed [pared down]) + A (one) PI AN OL A |
| 2 | Happy to share opinions upon Stoke undergoing an earthquake (9)
OUTSPOKEN (descriptive of a person who speaks frankly and is happy to share those opinions) Anagram of (undergoing an earthquake) UPON STOKE OUTSPOKEN* |
| 3 | Record tenants removing walls (5)
ENTER (record, in a database for example) rENTERs (tenants) excluding the outer letters R and S (removing walls) ENTER |
| 4 | Fancy jacket time for everyone on social media site (3)
TUX (TUXedo; dinner jacket; fancy jacket) T (time)+ U (universal, a film classification indicating that the picture is suitable for viewing by everybody) + X (social media site) T U X |
| 5 | Finished performing Tosca in protective gear? (9)
OVERCOATS (protective gear) OVER (finished) + an anagram of (performing) TOSCA OVER COATS* |
| 6 | Buddhist chant supports old Ugandan saying (5)
IDIOM (distinctive expression or saying) IDI (reference IDI Amin Dada [1928 – 2003], former President of Uganda; old Ugandan) + OM (Buddhist chant, heard predominantly in Tibetan Buddhism) – as this is a down entry, the letters OM are below and therefore support the letters IDI in the grid. IDI OM |
| 7 | Internet troublemaker initially explains young loony’s off this? (7)
TROLLEY (reference the phrase ‘off one’s trolley’ referring to a crazy (loony) person) TROLL (person who makes a conscious attempt to provoke controversy or disagreement on the internet; internet troublemaker) + EY (first letters [initially] of each of Explains and Young) TROLL E Y |
| 11 | Small detachments of troops severely criticised about Italy’s uprising (7)
DETAILS (small detachments of troops) (SLATED [severely criticised] containing [about] I [international vehicle registration for Italy]) all reversed (uprising; down entry) DETA (I) LS< |
| 14 | Liberated a French church Diane renovated (9)
UNCHAINED (freed; liberated) UN (one of the French forms of ‘a’) + CH (church) + an anagram of (renovated) DIANE UN CH AINED* |
| 16 | Colonist‘s religious outfit – tiny according to Spooner (6,3)
WORKER BEE (a member of a colony of bees) Revered Spooner would pronounce WORKER BEE as BURKHA (garment worn by a Muslim woman; religious outfit) + WEE (tiny) WORKER BEE |
| 18 | European condition found in that woman’s cows, … (7)
HEIFERS (young cows) (E [European] + IF [{on]}condition]) contained in (found in) HER’S (that woman’s) H (E IF) ERS |
| 20 | … chickens, bats and man out of sorts (7)
BANTAMS (small chickens) Anagram of (out of sorts) BATS and MAN BANTAMS |
| 22 | Look around you for light dressing (5)
GAUZE (light surgical dressing) GAZE (look) containing (around) U (textspeak for ‘you’) GA (U) ZE |
| 24 | Correct audio for ceremony (5)
RIGHT (correct) RIGHT (sounds like RITE [ceremony]) RIGHT |
| 26 | Cretan’s height of impertinence, disregarding Athenian’s introductions (3)
IDA (the highest mountain on Crete, Mount IDA rises to 2456 metres [8058 feet]; Cretan’s height) IDA (first letter of [introductions] each of Impertinence, Disregarding and Athenian’s) IDA |
The main diagonal is appropriate here.
Hovis@1:
So it is! How on earth do you spot these things?