I remeber when the Independent on Sunday puzzle was a gentle stroll after lunch- not any more! I found this quite tricky. Thanks to Anglio for an interesting puzzle.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DRAKE | Legendary bowler gets duck (5) |
| double definition – Sir Francis Drake who according to legend went bowling as the Spanish Armada approached. This made me smile – nothing to do with cricket for a change! | ||
| 4 | JITTERBUG | Lively movement in Spooner’s beer glass (9) |
| a BITTER JUG for the Reverend Spooner | ||
| 9 | RELIEF MAP | It charts the highs and lows of English film drama – gather round (6,3) |
| anagram (drama) of E (English) and FILM inside (with…round) REAP (gather) | ||
| 10 | DENIM | Material that’s hard to see in space? On the contrary (5) |
| EN (space in printing) in DIM (hard to see) | ||
| 11 | CASUAL | Money’s short, unable to be spent frequently – that’s careless (6) |
| CASh (money, short) with UnAbLe (missing every other letter, spent frequently) | ||
| 12 | PARAGUAY | Country park mostly indistinct, having no boundaries – area unknown (8) |
| PARk (mostly) vAGUe (indistinct) missing outside letters (having no boundaries) then A (area) and Y (unknown) | ||
| 14 | EXPECTANCY | Looking ahead, Essex Police cut administration, continually being decentralised (10) |
| the outside letters (being decentralised) EsseX PolicE CuT AadministrationN ContinuallY | ||
| 16 | ITCH | Character not the first to get urge (4) |
| aITCH (H, character) missing the first letter | ||
| 19 | PIPE | Leaving jacket, nipped out for a smoke? (4) |
| anagram (out) of nIPPEd missing outide letters (leaving jacket) | ||
| 20 | SKIN DIVERS | They may come across a school where truants hide in the back of cupboard (4-6) |
| SKIVERS (truants) contain (hide) IN and cupboarD (the back letter of) – they may come across a school of fish | ||
| 22 | CRETONNE | Sort of material found in corset – needing to be used regularly, having put on weight (8) |
| CoRsEt (needing to be used regularly, every other letter) with (having put on) TONNE (weight) | ||
| 23 | IGUANA | Creature‘s droppings mostly deposited in middle of aviary (6) |
| GUANo (droppings. mostly) inside avIAry (middle letters of) | ||
| 26 | ODOUR | Being old and moody, one might hit you in the nose (5) |
| O (old) and DOUR (moody) | ||
| 27 | INITIATED | Current delay is over – without it having started (9) |
| I (symbol for electric current) then DETAIN (delay) reversed (is over) containing (without) IT | ||
| 28 | POISON GAS | Soaps go in for dramatising unseen killer (6,3) |
| anagram (dramatised) of SOAPS GO IN | ||
| 29 | EARLY | First? Almost not the first (5) |
| nEARLY (not the first) – a nice reversal of 2dn AT LASt (not the last) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DIRT CHEAP | Tired chap works for peanuts (4,5) |
| anagram (works) of TIRED CHAP | ||
| 2 | ATLAS | You’ll find 12 in this, ultimately detailed? (5) |
| AT LASt (ultimately, without a tail letter) | ||
| 3 | ELEGANCE | Key Stage One accommodates new class (8) |
| E (key, music) LEG (stage) then ACE (one) contains (accomodates) N (new) | ||
| 4 | JUMP | Show surprise when Judd Trump misses middle pocket (4) |
| JUdd trMP missing central letters (middle pcoket) | ||
| 5 | TAPDANCING | Recording includes Daniel Craig’s first steps (10) |
| TAPING (recording) contains DAN (Daniel) Craig (first letter of) | ||
| 6 | ENDEAR | Tail deteriorate after losing wicket and appeal (6) |
| END (tail) and wEAR (deteriorate) missing W (wicket) | ||
| 7 | BANQUETTE | Type of seat found in bar perhaps, and in Paris, on reflection – without question (9) |
| BAN (bar, perhaps) |
||
| 8 | GAMMY | Good morning – I say, how’s your bad leg? (5) |
| G (good) AM (morning) and MY (I say!) – how a bad leg is | ||
| 13 | NAPKIN RING | Appearing at last, chicken tikka’s pink when cooked – call for a bit of service? (6,4) |
| anagram (when cooked) of chikeN tikkA (appearing at last, last letters of) and PINK followed by RING (call) – a bit of a dinner service | ||
| 15 | PEPPERONI | With vigour, I consumed Argentine food (9) |
| PEP (vigour) I contains (consumed) PERON (an Argentine) | ||
| 17 | HUSBANDRY | Extremes of Australian bush unfortunately not the best for dairy farming (9) |
| anagram (unfortunately) of AustraliaN (extreme letters of) and BUSH then |
||
| 18 | RINGSIDE | Where you’ll get seconds – doughnuts one 21 picked up (8) |
| RINGS (doughnuts) I (one) then ED (editor, journo) reversed (picked up) – seconds in boxing | ||
| 21 | JOURNO | Girl taking pot with old hack (6) |
| JO (girl’s name) and URN (pot) with O (old) | ||
| 22 | CHOMP | Piece of meat that’s medium on the inside – one needs to chew hard (5) |
| CHOP (piece of meat) contains (that has…on the inside) M (medium) | ||
| 24 | AFTER | Looking for a publication on climbing (5) |
| A FT (publication) then RE (on, regarding) reversed (climbing) | ||
| 25 | BIAS | Prejudice shown when in support of substantial cut (4) |
| AS (when) underneath (in support of) BIg (substantial, cut short) | ||
*anagram
definitions are underlined
I was wondering if the Independent On Sunday still exists in the new paperless world, or is it now just the Independent on a Sunday? Does anyone know?
Thanks, Peedee. You’re right: not the walk in the park it was, but entirely fair. Fave was EXPECTANCY: took me yonks to work out ALL those words had to be eviscerated.
How’s this for BANQUETTE: ‘and in Paris’ = ET, which you then place upon its own reflection, giving you ETTE, the whole thing being ‘without’ (outside) QU?
Oh, & ‘perhaps’ is just part of the def.
And in HUSBANDRY, I think you take the ‘A1’ (‘not the best’) out of DAIRY to give DRY.
@4Grant Baynham – you’ve got it! So the definition is simply FARMING.
I also thought that it was ET and TE in 2, with the comma indicating “then” ie ET and then TE.
Cannot think I have encountered Anglio before. Certainly some quite unusual stuff and a little difficult at times to get on the wavelength; but enjoyed doing it.
Thanks to Anglio and PeeDee.
Thanks to Grant for help tidying up the loose ends in the blog. All present and correct.