| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | IT in A,GATES – I wasted some time thinking that “a software giant” was A,MS (Microsoft) rather than A,(Bill) GATES. |
| 9 | ISLA – “I’ll”,A |
| 12/13 | ITCHY AND SCRATCHY – I’d like to know how non-Simpsons fans got on with this clue. It’s the show-within-a-show which usually appears as part of the Krusty the Klown show and is also a parody of violent cartoons like Tom and Jerry. |
| 15 | CATKIN – this would be difficult if you didn’t know 12/13A as you have to know that SCRATCHY is a cat. If you’ve got all the checking letters then that would help but it’s still tricky. |
| 17 | P,LUTON – had to guess this, although I had ?L?T?N so LUTON looked a fairly safe bet for “Bedfordshire location”. It’s an igneous rock, apparently. |
| 18/19 | (HATE MEAN CRITIQUE)* – THE QUIET AMERICAN. Haven’t seen it but I remember it coming out and I have read the book. Slightly forced anagram I thought. |
| 21 | S,CHA in US – last one to go in. Quite a tricky clue as “for example” is not an obvious definition. |
| 23 | UNI,T – another tricky one with “one” as the definition. |
| 24 | hidden in “fineST ONE Saw” |
| Down | |
| 2 | (LOSING MUSIC POST)* – nice anagram. |
| 3 | A in (STARTLED)* – TRADE-LAST. Another guess. With all the checking letters in it was either going to be TRADE SALT or TRADE LAST. Explained here. |
| 8 | CON,SIDE in RE,RATION – “helping” is slyly deceptive in the surface reading. |
| 16 | TOUT COURT – I’ve never heard of this before but I’ve heard other French phrases that begin TOUT so it felt like a confident guess. Wordplay is pretty straightforward too, which helped. |
| 18 | (ONES GUT)* |
| 20 | hidden in “gastRIC INfection”. |
| 21 | (MEATS)* |
3 comments on “Independent 6469/Dac”
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Well you said you’d like to know…. I’ve never seen The Simpsons, know nothing about them, and, not having a TV, don’t expect enlightenment any time soon. But the cross-checking letters in 12/13 were enough, along with the giveaway definition. Ditto 15.
Exactly the same story for me, though I think the names were in some recess of awareness. I do have a TV and have been in rooms where “The Simpsons” was turned on. Familiar with French, so knew TOUT COURT but a little surprised to see it – the wordplay was friendly which I’m sure was deliberate. Excellent from Dac, as always.
Re 8, I think support is not a container but a link word in a down clue i.e. RE RATION (to support) CON SIDE