Independent 8513 by Punk

by

A very enjoyable puzzle with a huge amount of wit and inventiveness. 18 and 22 could perhaps be described as classic “saucy postcard” Punk clues.

Across
7. Put one’s foot down on fraud, as one taken to court? (6,6)
Squash racket Squash + racket(=fraud).
10. 1/26th of the alphabet variety, we hear? (3,4)
Pea soup CD. Hom of “P soup”, a fanciful reference to 1/26 of alphabet soup.
11. Antonym poetic? (7)
Inverse DD – “in verse”.
12. Skill of the under-twos football team? (9)
Dribbling CD referencing the footballing skill of dribbling and I suppose the fact
that small children dribble when consuming food.
14. Cutter, someone a grand in debt? (5)
Mower M(=1000) ower i.e. one who owes a 1000.
15. The certified tale in novel (8,7)
Definite article (Certified tale in)*.
17. Bulb lit, one lit (5)
Onion On + I + on.
18. I shop for food etc madly after five, that is to say (9)
Videlicet I deli + etc* after V. Videlicit is the latin term for which viz is an
abbreviation.
20. One of twelve, a US city (7)
Augusta. Not, as you might first think, apostle but August (1 of 12 months) + a.
21. One identifying opener being sent back (4,3)
Name tag (Gate man)<.
23. Tower of strength in Sun editor I gathered – that should make you laugh!(7,5)
Nitrous oxide Ox in (Sun editor I)*. Nitrous oxide, of course, is better known as
laughing gas. This was my LOI, mainly because I was completely unable to
think what a tower of strength might be.

Down
1. Media player screening very small crustacean (6)
Isopod IPOD around so.
2. Cook flaunting rice, fruitcakes around the edge? (7,6)
Lunatic fringe (Flaunting rice)*
3. European city not seldom seen, only every second! (4)
Oslo Even letters of nOt SeLdOm.
4. Time to taste role that’s written up for The Quiet Man (8)
Trappist T + (sip + part)<. Contrary to popular belief, Trappist monks do not
take a vow of silence, although idle chatter is discouraged, so I
suppose “quiet man” would be a reasonable description.
5. Book of divination great without introduction, containing prominent feature (1,5)
I Ching Chin in [b]ig.
6. Artistic genre with a lead singer? (5,5)
Heavy metal CD, lead being literally a heavy metal.
8. Man swigging last of lager tilted drink say, seeing retro food (5,8)
Prawn cocktail Pawn around [lage]r + hom of “cocked ale”. The fact that a cocktail is a
drink did somewhat confuse me for a while.
9. Body part found in river – how distressing! (4,2)
Dear me Arm in Dee.
13. Daft issue – potential trouble (6,4)
Banana skin Bananas + kin.
15. Wood outstanding conductor ultimately under Diaghilev, totally gutted for composer (6)
Dvorak Oak around [conducto]r under D[iaghile]v.
16. Dead stupid miners stealing diamonds – something more to say? (8)
Addendum (Dead)* + NUM around d.
18. Treatment provided by way of elderly relative getting end away? (6)
Viagra Via + gra[n].
19. Bouncer in row, confiscating goods (6)
Tigger G(ood) g(ood) in tier.
22. Titan, perhaps, down one’s pants (4)
Moon DD – that’s moon in the planetary sense and the sense that Rugby players
are alleged to be keen on.

7 comments on “Independent 8513 by Punk”

  1. Thanks for the blog, NealH, and Paul for a most enjoyable puzzle, with lots of smiles.

    [A bit of déjà vu at 1ac, as it’s only a couple of weeks since I blogged ‘One’s taken to court to crush illegal activity (6,6)’ in a Paul puzzle – but it’s not a complaint, as the rest was so good and it gave me a good start. 😉 ]

  2. I agree with you, Neal: wit and inventiveness were the main elements here. Bravo Punk. My favourites this morning were HEAVY METAL, VIAGRA and TIGGER. The last of these, since you haven’t explained it explicitly, is the character from Winnie-the-Pooh who you will see in action if you click the following link:

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9hjV2JYsvGg/TsBYQD5gcXI/AAAAAAAABX8/WdHWpPaQc_M/s1600/tigger_bouncy.jpg

    I always have a picture in my head of Punk being a bit Tiggerish.

  3. I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle even though I finished it quicker than I usually do a Punk puzzle. Maybe that’s why it is in the Monday slot.

    The clue for VIAGRA was particularly amusing. NITROUS OXIDE was my LOI.

  4. Thanks Punk for an enjoyable puzzle and Neal for the blog. My favourite clue was 15ac.

    4dn: Small typo in the parsing here. It should be (T + sip + part)<, not T + (sip + part)<.

  5. Some really inventive yet sometimes simple clues here (in terms of construction, not necessarily solvability). Too many to nominate a CoD, but I liked ONION, TRAPPIST, DEAR ME and DVORAK.

    Thanks, Punk and NealH

  6. Fantastic stuff … great blog NealH and of course, a very interesting grid from Punk. And to add, a very humbling experience. 🙂

  7. Our LOI was 23ac. We wondered what could be funny about an OLIVE before the penny dropped!

    An amusing start to the week. We did wonder why Punk chose an unusual entry for 5d when other more accesible words would fit.

    Thanks to Neal, Punk and K’sD for the link to the wonderful 19d!

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