A midweek challenge by Gila.
Some ingenious anagrams today, especially 10a and 21a with their plausible surfaces. 4d is an idea I’m sure I’ve seen before, and 6d was fairly obvious because both the case and the truck seem to crop up a lot in crosswords, but there was plenty to enjoy in other clues. 17a held me up for a while because I had the definition but couldn’t parse it, until I twigged that A didn’t need to be inserted alongside AN. Thanks Gila for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | OPERATING SYSTEM |
Windows maybe get smeary points when tampered with (9,6)
|
| Anagram (when tampered with) of GET SMEARY POINTS. | ||
| 9 | BAD |
Terrible, second-rate plug (3)
|
| B (second-rate, as in exam grades A-E) + AD (plug = slang for advertisement). | ||
| 10 | EXONERATING |
Upsetting the members of Generation X can be liberating, perhaps (11)
|
| Anagram (upsetting the members of . . . = rearranging the letters) of GENERATION X.
Exonerate = to clear someone of blame. |
||
| 11 | THEIR |
That person’s closer to that one who’s next in line (5)
|
| Closing (end) letter of [tha]T + HEIR (one who’s next in line to inherit property).
Originally plural meaning “belonging to those people”, but now often used as a non-gendered singular. |
||
| 12 | LIABILITY |
Large facility absorbing current debt (9)
|
| L (abbreviation for large) + ABILITY (as in “a facility for languages” = a natural ability), containing I (scientific symbol for electrical current). | ||
| 15 | LETTING |
Allowing the removal of vital fluid? (7)
|
| Double definition. Permitting; or as in bloodletting = old practice of draining blood for medical purposes. | ||
| 17 | CANASTA |
Card game players holding an ace (7)
|
| CAST (players in a stage performance) containing AN, then A (abbreviation for ace in playing cards). | ||
| 19 | EXECRATED |
Hated corporate VIP given an appraisal (9)
|
| EXEC (short for executive = corporate boss) + RATED (appraised). | ||
| 20 | PILES |
A lot of beer bottles break in the middle (5)
|
| PILS (otherwise known as pilsner = pale lager beer), containing (bottling) the middle letter of [br]E[ak].
Slang term for a large quantity, as in “I’ve got piles of work to do”. |
||
| 21 | SLEEPYHEADS |
Dozy people pay less heed, stupidly (11)
|
| Anagram (stupidly) of PAY LESS HEED. | ||
| 24 | RAN |
Some sexagenarians – after retirement – entered a marathon (3)
|
| Hidden answer (some . . .), reversed (after retirement), in [sexage]NAR[ians]. | ||
| 25 | EXPRESSIONISTIC |
Like a certain art style, say. It’s ionic, possibly (15)
|
| EXPRESS (as a verb = say) + anagram (possibly) of ITS IONIC. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DEAD CENTRE |
New e-car dented right in the middle (4,6)
|
| Anagram (new) of E-CAR DENTED. | ||
| 2 | CAREER |
Work, and don’t go slowly! (6)
|
| Double definition. A person’s working life; or (as a verb) to move very fast and without control. | ||
| 3 | PILOT LIGHT |
Burner phone is less operationally tricky to begin with, and not too demanding (5,5)
|
| Initial letters (to begin with) of P[hone] I[s] L[ess] O[perationally] T[ricky], then LIGHT (not too demanding, as in “light exercise”).
A small gas flame used to light a larger boiler. |
||
| 4 | OGRE |
Ill-tempered individual thus turned up (4)
|
| ERGO (Latin-derived word for “therefore” or “thus”, used in logical proofs) reversed (turned up = upwards in a down clue). | ||
| 5 | GYRATION |
Circular motion helping after the first hints of gout, yes? (8)
|
| RATION (helping, as a noun = a measured amount served) after the first letters of G[out] Y[es]. | ||
| 6 | ETUI |
Little case in one truck from Sydney, heading north (4)
|
| I (one in Roman numerals) + UTE (Australian slang shortening of “utility vehicle” = pickup truck from Sydney in Australia), all reversed (heading north = upwards in a down clue).
A word that would probably be obsolete without crossword compilers and antiques experts: a small case to hold sewing kit, personal grooming equipment, or similar small items. |
||
| 7 | SMOGGY |
Small cat bad for asthmatics, in all likelihood (6)
|
| S (abbreviation for small) + MOGGY (slang for a cat).
A smoggy atmosphere is one with severe air pollution visible as a fog, which can be a trigger for asthma attacks. |
||
| 8 | ORBITAL |
Test incorporating part of major road around a city (7)
|
| ORAL (a spoken examination = test) containing (incorporating) BIT (a part).
Another word for a ring road, especially a large one such as the M25 motorway around London. If you prefer, add “of” to the definition and take it as an adjective, as in “orbital motorway”. |
||
| 13 | ARCHDEACON |
Sly agreement mostly not favouring church dignitary (10)
|
| ARCH (sly = mischievous) + DEA[l] (agreement) without the last letter (mostly) + CON (as in “pros and cons” = an argument not in favour of something). | ||
| 14 | INSULARITY |
Doctor is truly in a state of isolation (10)
|
| Anagram (doctor, as a verb = alter, as in “doctoring the evidence”) of IS TRULY IN A. | ||
| 16 | IRRUPTED |
Burst in … burst in without an up-front excuse, ultimately (8)
|
| I[nte]RRUPTED (figuratively burst in when someone else was speaking), without the final letters (ultimately) of [a]N [upfron]T [excus]E. | ||
| 18 | ARSENIC |
As a river starts to surge, everything nearby is consumed (7)
|
| A + R[iver] + starting letters of S[urge] E[verything] N[earby] I[s] C[onsumed].
As = chemical symbol for the element arsenic. If the first word of the clue is “As”, this definition is often a good bet. |
||
| 19 | EASTER |
English flower festival (6)
|
| E (abbreviation for English) + ASTER (family of flowering plants including daisies). | ||
| 20 | PASTIS |
Alcohol from India in former times (6)
|
| I (India in the radio alphabet) in PASTS (former times).
Aniseed-flavoured French alcoholic drink. |
||
| 22 | EXPO |
Big industry event in old post office (4)
|
| EX (prefix as in ex-soldier = old) + PO (abbreviation for post office).
Short for exposition: a trade fair for companies in a particular industry. |
||
| 23 | HUSH |
Quiet section of posh US hotel (4)
|
| Hidden answer (section of . . .) in [pos]H US H[otel]. |
Some familiar friends, but none the worse for that.
Very solver-friendly…and none the worse for that!
Impressive anagrams, well-contrived definitions, no obscurities. Nothing venomous or monstrous in this Gila.
Spot-on, both setter, and inevitably, by Ms.Q
Agree with solver-friendly but enjoyable and entertaining. Thanks Quirister and Gila.
A more straight-forward puzzle today but I’m not complaining!
NHO of PASTIS, EXECRATED or IRRUPTED (though I’ve obviously heard of ERUPTED so I just assumed it was similar)
I’m sure I’ve come across the clue for EASTER before
Last one in was PILES as it took me a while to realise the def. was simply ‘A lot of’
Fave clue was ARSENIC for the sneaky def. of ‘As’ for the chemical symbol
Thanks to Q and Gila
I’m disappointed, by so few posts, for such a fine puzzle.
It seems to be the way of things, that the Indy crosswords are not the dish of the day.
For me, they are.
And this was, too.
sofamore @2, has said, what I omitted to say.
Enjoyable, entertaining.
I’ll add, darn good setting.
My cap is doffed, Gila.
Most enjoyable. We liked the various anagrams, but hadn’t encountered the As for ARSENIC device for some time so it took a moment or two for the penny to drop there. ORBITAL and GYRATION were our favourites.
Thanks, Gila and Quirister.
Good, solid puzzle by Gila as per. I must have been doing puzzles for too long – whenever I see a clue starting with As, I’m afraid I check enumeration for ARSENIC. Rather like any 5 letter word starting with I might just be INDIA. Not a criticism at all and, indeed, I am guilty of having done both. Faves for me today, EXONERATING, CANASTA, PILES, SLEEPYHEAD, DEAD CENTRE, PILOT LIGHT, SMOGGY and INSULARITY.
Thanks both
ENB @4: I guess I might be accused of self-promotion so, looking only at my esteemed colleagues, in my humble opinion the Indy has a superb range of setters and pretty much any day there will be a puzzle well worth doing. It is, indeed, a shame that there is so little crossover from the other GIFT puzzles. Apart from occasional glitches, the website generally works for me and I shift the entire thing half off the laptop page to hide the majority of the flickering ads which are a great distraction. However, I have had feedback on plenty of occasions from solvers who do not like using the software to the extent that they will not give the puzzles a go. Shame.
Enjoyed the puzzle and agree it’s sad there are so few comments on Indy puzzles. By the way, Etuis are still being made by embroiderers. Agree with Postmark@7 about hiding the distracting ads. Why do ad people think they will work! Thanks Gila and Quirister.
The ad in the other place is horrible.
A good start to the puzzling day… lots to like and nothing too obscure.. interestingly, and unsurprisingly, in French “étui” is pretty much in daily use for any case, from guitar to glasses. Some great anagrams, and I’ll not be able to read EXPO without seeing Mrs Marple entering the classic British post office/village shop. Probably, and sadly, a thing of the past?
Thanks Gila n Quirister
This went in smoothly.
I prefer printing the crossword in the morning, but usually don’t start solving early evening.