It’s been a while since we last saw Monk in the Indy so this was, for this solver at least, a welcome return. Just one query at 3.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | POST,P ONE – “The Independent’s leader” is page one or P ONE. |
| 6 | hidden in “sELF INdulgence” |
| 10 | O,NE(LINER)S[-t] – excellent clue with a well-disguised definition. |
| 11 | TH[-is],ROW |
| 12 | DR(E)AM |
| 13 | (MAKE DO THI[-s])* – THE MIKADO. |
| 14 | NEWS,HOUND |
| 17 | SMACK – double definition. |
| 18 | B(L)IN,I – I didn’t realise this was the plural, with blin being the singular. Anyway, they’re those tiny pancakes that taste lovely with caviar or smoked salmon and sour cream. |
| 20 | ROM<,(BECAME)* – MORECAMBE, Eric, the comedy partner of Ernie Wise. ROM is a computing acronym for Read Only Memory (as in CD-Rom) |
| 22 | RETRO,[-m]USSE[-l] – a nose that turns up at the tip. |
| 24 | RUMMY – Lummy with the L replaced by R. |
| 26 | IRON,Y |
| 27 | CAT LITTER – Great clue. Jerry is an old colloquial word for chamberpot. |
| 28 | TIT,EG (going back) – GET IT. |
| 29 | LAND,FILL |
| Down | |
| 2 | alternate letters in “Or BeEr ShE” |
| 3 | TRIUMPH – don’t understand this one: “Horse ridden by one wearing cap gains victory”. |
| 4 | [-c]OVERT |
| 5 | EAS[-t],TENDER – Bowman must mean somebody from Bow, which is in the East End of London. |
| 6 | ENT[-r]AILS |
| 7 | F(I REAL)ARM |
| 8 | (WRON[-g] KEY)* (twice) – NEW YORK NEW YORK |
| 9 | LONDON’S BURNING – “in bars” is a reference to the fact the answer is a song. |
| 15 | WAI(S,T,CO,A)T – just twigged why the definition is “non-army uniform” – a WAISTCOAT has no arms! |
| 16 | bUrNt,MUSICAL – “cats” should really be “Cats”, although my take on that is that this particular clue was easy enough for the lack of capital to be misleading but not that misleading. I expect others may disagree. |
| 19 | I,S,HO (going up),YET – tough word but the wordplay is straightforward and leads nowhere else but ISOHYET |
| 21 | CARD,I,FF |
| 23 | EATEN – sounds like “Eton”. “School report” is an excellent indicator. |
| 25 | M,ET AL |
3d I (one) in (wearing) TRUMP (cap, to outdo or surpass by following with something better, ie trump in a card game) over H (horse ridden by).
3D TRUMP (cap) around I (one) on top of H (horse)