I believe this is Nepeta’s second Indy puzzle, after a well-regarded debut in April this year. The original puzzle is at https://puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/cryptic-crossword-independent/?puzzleDate=20260819.
Plenty to like here: I thought 7d was neat (if sadly topical, given the recent fires) and I laughed when I saw the real meaning of the small buns in 21d.
There’s been something of a trend recently for clue surfaces apparently referring to a well-known fake-tanned autocrat with a smug grin. 1a today might have more than one target among the world’s current collection of undesirable rulers, but 29a is definitely a worthy example of the genre; I liked the clue if not the mental image. Thanks Nepeta for an enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ABRAHAM LINCOLN |
God involved in aggressive act by desperately ill conman as president (7,7)
|
| RA (ancient Egyptian sun god) contained in ABH (police abbreviation for “assault occasioning actual bodily harm” = aggressive act), then an anagram (desperately) of ILL CONMAN. | ||
| 10 | NICHE |
Mediterranean resort with hotel in bay (5)
|
| NICE (resort on the Mediterranean coast of France), containing H (Hotel in the radio alphabet).
Niche = bay = a semi-enclosed space within a building. |
||
| 11 | TRIUMVIRI |
Edging around spot of unrest, runs into seven Roman rulers (9)
|
| TRIM (a decorative edging) around the first letter (spot = a small amount) of U[nrest], then R (abbreviation for runs, in cricket scoring) inserted into VII (seven in Roman numerals). Alternatively, we could read “seven Roman” as VII and “rulers” as the definition.
In ancient Rome, a group of three men ruling together, or appointed jointly to do a particular task. (I could say “three people” but the Latin word refers specifically to men.) |
||
| 12 | OVERARM |
Offer excessive backing for military service action? (7)
|
| Arm, as a verb = to provide weapons to; hence OVER-ARM could mean to provide more weapons than are needed.
The standard method of service in tennis: throwing the ball up then hitting it with the racket above head height. |
||
| 13 | SCREECH |
Check behind rocks for possible sign of distress (7)
|
| CH (abbreviation for check, in chess notation) after SCREE (loose broken rock at the base of a cliff or slope). | ||
| 14 | MOIST |
Hardline communist, not a wet (5)
|
| M[a]OIST (someone following hardline communist principles as set out by Chairman Mao) without the A. | ||
| 16 | TOWN CRIER |
Keep holding note, intermittently acerbic, for old newsreader (4,5)
|
| TOWER (keep = fortified building within a castle), containing N (abbreviation for note) + alternate letters (intermittently) from [a]C[e]R[b]I[c].
Someone employed to proclaim official announcements in public, a few hundred years ago when most people couldn’t read. |
||
| 19 | COMMANDER |
Officer‘s subordinate losing head after signal to pause (9)
|
| [u]NDER (subordinate) without the first letter (head), after COMMA (a punctuation mark indicating a pause in a sentence). | ||
| 20 | LAPEL |
50-50 about a sports jacket feature (5)
|
| L-L (two L = 50 in Roman numerals), around A (from clue text) + PE (abbreviation for physical education = sports lessons in school).
A folded-back edge at the front of a jacket. |
||
| 22 | SEA LEGS |
Ease when floating, for example, among marine mammals (3,4)
|
| EG (e.g. = abbreviation for Latin exempli gratia = for example) contained in SEALS (marine mammals).
Sea legs = familiarity with the motion of a ship, so you can keep your balance in rough seas: as in “I haven’t got my sea legs yet”. |
||
| 25 | BETWIXT |
Splitting chocolate bar to be eaten by hazard (7)
|
| TWIX (brand name of a chocolate bar, typically packaged in pairs) contained in BET (hazard, as a verb = gamble).
Archaic variant of “between”. |
||
| 27 | PRONATION |
Way of putting one’s foot down in support of country (9)
|
| PRO (prefix meaning “in support of”) + NATION (country).
Transfer of weight towards the inside edge of the foot as you walk forward. |
||
| 28 | THANE |
Lord of most of Kent region (5)
|
| THANE[t] (a local government district in Kent) without the last letter (most of . . .).
Aristocratic title in Anglo-Saxon England. |
||
| 29 | THICK AS THIEVES |
Fat fool keeping almost emaciated First Lady very close (5,2,7)
|
| THICK (fat) + ASS (slang for a fool), around THI[n] (emaciated) without the last letter (almost) + EVE (the first lady in the Bible).
Slang description of people who are close friends – with a slight implication that their loyalty to each other might be to the disadvantage of anyone else. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | BACTERIUM |
I trace criminal drilling behind cell (9)
|
| Anagram (criminal) of I TRACE, contained in (drilling) BUM (behind = slang for buttocks).
A single-celled organism. |
||
| 3 | ARENA |
Scene of conflict a long while back (5)
|
| AN ERA (a long time) reversed (back).
Extended definition: originally a venue for fights between gladiators, but now a general term for a large sports or entertainment venue with raised seating around the performance area. |
||
| 4 | ATTEMPTED |
Had a go at casual worker after attending inspirational talk (9)
|
CORRECTION: it’s TEMP inserted into AT TED (attending a TED conference talk), and the definition is “Had a go at”. Thanks to Hovis and Admin for putting me straight. |
||
| 5 | LOINS |
Private area‘s security measures no good (5)
|
| LO[g]-INS (security information needed to access a computer system) without the G (abbreviation for good).
What one might euphemistically call “private parts”. |
||
| 6 | NUMERICAL |
Damaged manicure on left of digits (9)
|
| Anagram (damaged) of MANICURE + L (abbreviation for left).
Relating to numbers. |
||
| 7 | OPINE |
Share view of deforestation’s impact? (5)
|
| The impact of deforestation might be 0 (zero) pine trees = O PINE.
Opine = to express one’s opinion. |
||
| 8 | NEITHER |
Not one in three, sadly (7)
|
| Anagram (sadly) of IN THREE.
Not one and not the other. (I think I’ve seen something similar before, but I still think it’s a good clue.) |
||
| 9 | INFORM |
Impart knowledge during class (6)
|
| IN (during) + FORM (a class in school, as in “sixth form”). | ||
| 15 | TRADEMARK |
Jazz on electronic record label (9)
|
| TRAD (short for “traditional jazz”) + E (prefix meaning electronic, as in email) + MARK (record, as a verb: “they were marked as absent”). | ||
| 17 | WORKBENCH |
Effort to get section of Commons supporting Labour platform (9)
|
| WORK (effort), with BENCH (as in “front bench”: a group of MPs identified by where they sit in the House of Commons) after it (below, in a down clue = supporting).
A surface on which to do work (labour). |
||
| 18 | IMPLICATE |
Point to pet I claim is abandoned (9)
|
| Anagram (abandoned) of PET I CLAIM.
Implicate = point to = provide evidence of someone’s involvement in a crime. |
||
| 19 | CESSPIT |
Gratuities dry up where turds gather? (7)
|
| TIPS (gratuities) + SEC (dry, as a description of wine = not sweet), all reversed (up, in a down clue). | ||
| 21 | LITTER |
Rubbish batch of small buns? (6)
|
| Double definition. Discarded waste; or a group of baby animals (for example bunny rabbits) born at the same time. | ||
| 23 | AIOLI |
Portion of filo I added, served up as garnish (5)
|
| Hidden answer (portion of . . .) in [f]ILO I A[dded].
Mediterranean garlic sauce. I’d expect “garnish” to mean a decoration added to food, but the dictionaries suggest it may also mean something added for flavouring. |
||
| 24 | SKIPS |
Doesn’t go to sleep on board ship (5)
|
| KIP (slang for sleep) inserted into SS (abbreviation for screw steamship): “on board” is a classic crossword trick for something inserted into SS.
As in a child who skips school. |
||
| 26 | TITLE |
Right winger the heart of Athletic (5)
|
| TIT (a small bird = something that flies on wings = winger) + the middle letters (heart) of [ath]LE[tic].
In legal terminology, title = the right of ownership. |
For ATTEMPTED, I took the definition as ‘Had a go at’ and took the AT to mean ‘attending’ (he was at/attending the conference).
I parsed as TEMP inside AT TED (attending TED)
Hovis, Admin – thanks, that makes more sense. I’ll update the blog.
Fairly relaxed solve, altho I pondered more complication for INFORM… parsed the president, after insertion, but was pointed that way by the partial anagram, and having “the cell” as FOI. Lots to enjoy, I mean, who doesn’t love a CESSPIT, and LOINS… BETWIXT has always been a favourite, as in “I’m betwixt and between”, I wonder if it predates “six and two threes..”? Maybe the theme was archaicisms … TRIUMVIRI, ARENA, THANE, TOWN CRIER?
Thanks, Nepeta and Quirister