Independent 7262 by Tees

by

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism

A delightful and very solvable puzzle from Tees. The clues were always fair, with the only obscure phrases (27 and 14) having straightforward clues. There was no NINA that I could see but there was neat mini-theme involving 16 across.
 

Across
10/23 High heaven: Ea in (hhh given)*. Ref to the phrase “stink to high heaven”.
11 Ear Trumpet: I think this [h]eart + [c]rumpet.
12 Simmer: S[l]immer.
13 Sheraton: As< around her + ton.
14 Slouch hat: (Col[in] has hut)*. The dictionary definition doesn’t mention any Australian military connection, but the wiki article has more detail.
16 Stink: [tha]t in sink.
18/26/1/5 Up the creek without a paddle: (Duke that Poe captured while)*.
20 Badminton: B + dominant*.
24 Pasadena: (An ed ASAP)<.
25 Nectar: Near around ct.
27 Zend Avesta: Hidden in Citizen Dave’s Talmud. Sacred texts in the Zoroastrian religion.
28 Evil: I’ve< + l.
29 Confine: Con + fine.
30 Weekend: Wee ken + first letter of dangerous.
Down
2 Initial: CD (i.e leading letter of words).
3 Ho hum: Ho (offensive word for woman) + hum (stink).
4 Unearth: Une + Arth[Ur].
6 Porker: R in poke + another R beyond (i.e. at the end of the word).
7 Dumbarton: Dumb + art + on.
8 Lie Down: (Wine old)*.
9 Fresh as a Daisy: (Say Hades is far)*.
14 Sou: S[i]ou[x].
15 Unheard of: (Freud Noah)*.
17 Kin: Ink with k moved to the front. Or, as other commenters pointed out, could also be skin starting with a later letter.
19 Placebo: Place + BO (body odour = personal stink).
21 Montage: Montag[u]e (one of the families from Romeo and Juliet).
22 Oration: On about ratio.

9 comments on “Independent 7262 by Tees”

  1. Thank you, Neal, for the prompt and helpful blog. Don’t think we’ve had Tees for a while, but I remember enjoying his last one and this was no different. Took ages to get going but once I got the ‘p’ in PLACEBO then the long anagram went in and after that, it was an entertaining and interesting solve.

    I took 2dn to mean the first, or initial letter of a word, but I’m stumped for how ‘ink’ works in 17dn.

    Thought the surfaces in 12ac and 8dn were very cleverly done.

  2. Isn’t it just ‘skin’ without the first letter?!

    Very good today, some lovely definitions such as for SIMMER, enjoyed the mini-theme.

  3. Yes, this was very good, quite tricky, finally got the long phrase when I’d a few crossing letters. HIGH HEAVEN very amusing, also esp liked SIMMER, LIE-DOWN, PLACEBO, and ORATION and the ‘stink’ theme. I read KIN as in comment 2 above.

  5. Many thanks for the blog and generous comments.

    KIN was indeed SKIN ‘with (a) later start’ (as a variation on the first letter subtraction theme), and ‘Letter from the front’ was a CD, based on the idea that initals are taken from the front end of the words they represent. Collins gives the Aussie Army a mention in its def for slouch hat, fyi, and a digger is an Aussie (or Kiwi) soldier.

    Murky buckets
    Tees

  8. Tees. Sorry – I did solve this and loved it to bits, and only just realised I never left a comment.

    I thought the (s)KIN device was a top notch bit of indicatoriness and, as mentioned above, the SIMMER def was super. Keep it up old chap, you’re doing a belting job.

  9. Almost finished this.27a no idea about but should have got with letters I had. Really helped getting 18a etc as first clue.

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