Kairos is a long-standing but now occasional setter for the Independent. A pleasure to see his name crop up on my watch, because I’ve always enjoyed his puzzles.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Theatrical maiden wearing hat
CAMP
An insertion of M in CAP. The insertion indicator is ‘wearing’.
3 Program run to attract trainee
APPRENTICE
A charade of APP, R and ENTICE.
9 Victor gets award for Northumbrian castle
WINDSOR
Kairos is inviting you to replace the NE in WINNER with DSO for the Distinguished Service Order. Well if SE can be clued as ‘Kent’, SW as ‘Cornwall’, then why not NE for ‘Northumbrian’? It’s the most north-easterly county in England, and breathtakingly beautiful to boot.
11 Went over with a Yankee editor
PERUSED
A charade of PER for ‘a’, US and ED. ‘The pears are £1.50 a/per kilo.’
12 What director of Taxi may do in backwoods’ location
LOG CABIN
The director of a taxi firm might well LOG CAB IN.
13 On board facilities for leaders
HEADS
A dd. The HEAD is a term for a toilet on board a ship.
15 Presumably star in ballet and opera?
PERFORMING ARTS
A reverse anagram thingy. Using PERFORMING as an anagrind and with ‘arts’ as the anagrist, you’d end up with STAR.
17 Lots may be wrapped up in these culinary treats
FORTUNE COOKIES
I think I would describe this as a cd.
21 Type of investment account for Ishmael’s half-brother
ISAAC
A charade of ISA and AC.
22 Community of former independent island returns
SOCIETAL
A reversal of LATE, I and COS.
24 Leader of Russian fliers feels remorse
REGRETS
A charade of R and EGRETS.
25 Some bleak outcomes emerge
LEAK OUT
Hidden in bLEAK OUTcomes.
26 Players‘ money belts
BRASS BANDS
A charade of BRASS and BANDS.
27 Boss backing out of room
STUD
STUD[Y]
Down
1 Leader beginning to wear underskirts and bloomers
COWSLIPS
A charade of CO for Commanding Officer, W for the initial letter of ‘wear’ and SLIPS.
2 Naked orangeman dancing for Michael O’Neill?
MANAGER
([O]RANGEMA[N])* with ‘dancing’ as the anagrind. Michael O’Neill is currently manager of the Northern Ireland men’s football team and was presumably chosen because of the association of Orangemen with NI.
4 Train carrying post around assembly
PARLIAMENT
An insertion of MAIL reversed in PARENT. The insertion indicator is ‘carrying’.
5 Fascinated emerging from contraption
RAPT
Hidden in contRAPTion.
6 State of tipsy tailor on ranch
NORTH CAROLINA
(TAILOR ON RANCH)* with ‘tipsy’ as the anagrind.
7 Second insurance worker touring Thailand
INSTANT
An insertion of T for ‘Thailand’ in INS and ANT. The insertion indicator is ‘touring’.
8 The Spanish duke’s established to be the most senior
ELDEST
A charade of EL for one of the words for ‘the’ in Spanish, D and EST.
10 Sneakiest cost involved to obtain travel passes
SEASON TICKETS
(SNEAKIEST COST)* with ‘involved’ as the anagrind.
14 A local group overseeing education is illiterate
UNSCHOOLED
A charade of UN for one of the words in French for ‘a’, SCHOOL (as in a group of, say, sharks or porpoises) and ED.
16 India’s very happy to leave England cut off
ISOLATED
A charade of I for the NATO/phonetic alphabet ‘India’, SO and [E]LATED.
18 Longing to forget partners’ source of pain
OTALGIA
[N]O[S]TALGIA. The ‘partners’ are of the bridge variety.
19 Fashionable communist collects one piece of music
INTROIT
An insertion of I in IN TROT. The insertion indicator is ‘collects’. A piece of music sung at the beginning of a service.
20 Note medic starts to investigate blood in vein
MIDRIB
A charade of MI for the third note of the sol-fa, DR and IB for the initial letters of ‘investigate’ and ‘blood’. A vein in a leaf rather than an animal.
23 Regularly bans visas for approximately 60% of the world’s population
ASIA
The even letters of bAnS vIsAs.
Many thanks to Kairos for the first puzzle of the Indy week.
Solid Monday fare from Kairos. Not too demanding although I was not sure of the def for MIDRIB, being unaware of the leaf thing. Personally, I am not a huge fan of Kent = SE or Cornwall = SW so Northumbria = NE raised an eyebrow but that’s just me.
Pierre – a tweak needed to the blog for 15a where you have PERFORMANCE rather PERFORMING in the blog, though not in the grid.
Thanks both
Thank you, PostMark – typo corrected.
In 14d there is no indication to look for a foreign word for ‘a’, so I think I would prefer ‘un’ (dialect) = ‘one’ = ‘a’.
Thanks Kairos and Pierre.
Thanks Pierre. I struggled with this for a Monday. I though OTALGIA was good despite my dislike of game and sports terminology in clues.
To me UN is “one foreign” rather than “one local”!?
Became confused in SW… apart from that, all good…
Thanks Kairos and Pierre
‘Un’ from oop north rather than Paris is probably a better call for 14dn. Although if you come from Paris, it’s local …
I’m ok with ‘un’ to mean ‘one’ as in ‘a good un’ but can it mean ‘a’ (other than in French)?
Thanks both. I faired just fine with this is the main, however with some doubts, including the unconvincing UNSCHOOLED already discussed, alongside LOG CABIN which felt clumsy (yes, a taxi firm director, but a taxi director?) to fit the wordplay and PERFORMING ARTS in which I don’t see why we ‘presume’ it’s a reverse anagram indicator, although it is something we might consider.
Had to reveal OTALGIA but otherwise an enjoyable solve. Enjoyed the CD of FORTUNE COOKIE once the penny dropped.
Thanks Kairos and Pierre
I thought this was really solid stuff, although LOG CABIN felt like it was verging on the uunfair with both the definition and wordplay a bit out there. (Did anyone solve it without at least one checker for LOG? I needed both.) Incidentally I took it as LOG CAB, with “in” from the surface – but it changes nothing.
I had to reveal SOCIETAL near the end in order to continue progressing; I didn’t think of LATE for former, though I was looking for the reversal. Also the checkers I had didn’t spark any ideas. I do find it curious how sometimes you can stare at checkers and convince yourself nothing can possibly fit, and then kick yourself when you see the answer. That does most often happen when there’s a less usual – or less usually positioned – letter cluster, such as the central CIET here.
I was pleased to tease out the nho OTALGIA and INTROIT to finish up, as well as the likely parsing of WINDSOR despite DSO also being a nho.
Faves were COWSLIPS and REGRETS. [The latter reminded me of a piece by John Rentaul, the Indy’s head political hack and who also ran the sadly now defunct weekly Mea Culpa column in which the paper’s authoring/stylistic blunders and highlights were dissected for our erudition and entertainment. I missed the headline in question in whatever day’s paper it had appeared, but Rentaul rightly praised the subeditor who, for a piece about a sudden arrival to England of a flock of these beautiful “fliers”, had come up with Egrets? We’ve had a few.]
Thanks both!
My thanks to Pierre for the analysis and to all who have commented.