Independent 10,023 by Punk

by

There are a few grumbles in the blog, but nothing really of any importance and Punk has as usual delivered an enjoyable crossword.

Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.

Quite a menagerie. There are animals, fish and birds all over the place, although in view of 28ac perhaps Punk would simply say that there are animals all over the place. In the answers; in the clues; and somethimes not actually animals, but just words that are sometimes used for animals (as in 14dn, where ‘bats’ has a sense nothing to do with animals). Now that I look I see that Punk has cleverly mentioned an animal in every one of the clues — even 30ac refers to 5, which is an animal; no wonder there were so many clues and occasionally such unusual (unsatisfactory?) checking.

Across
1 PLUG Seal, swallow or slug returned (4)
(gulp)rev. — both swallow and slug are synonyms of gulp
4 GRASS Rat and skunk perhaps … (5)
2 defs, the first a verb as in ‘to grass on’ and the second referring to marijuana
7 DOPE … for 5 and donkey (4)
3 definitions, one of them donkey in this clue, and two of them referring back to 4ac: grass, skunk perhaps
9 OPTION Alternative point roughly behind duck (6)
0 (point)*
10 SPINNER Top spider and mule (7)
3 defs, a spinning top, a spinner of a spider’s web, a spinning machine (as in Crompton’s mule)
11 IDLENESS One has endless nuts for sloth (8)
1 (endless)*
13 GROATS Kids possibly pocketing right money, once (6)
g(r)oats
15 SPROG Second TV show for kid (5)
s prog
16 TAMARINDS Monkey tails on redwood and cypress trees (9)
tamarin {redwoo}d {cypres}s
19 SEX KITTEN Fox the other little animal (3,6)
sex [= the other] kitten — a fox is a ‘slang, mainly US’ word for a sexually attractive woman, although whether or not that equates with a sex kitten I’m not quite sure
20 STILT Bird, small cock (5)
s tilt [= cock]
22 MAGPIE Bird, one rabbiting and yakking? (6)
One who rabbits and yaks on can be called a magpie
24 SPARROWS Bank filling boxes for birds (8)
spar(row)s
25 MOORING Tying up last in litter, noise from animal houses (7)
moo({litte}r)ing — houses a verb
27 BORING Bear hugging love, uninspired (6)
b(0)ring
28 FROG Animal, bag finally put on back (4)
fro [as in to and fro] {ba}g — a frog is I suppose an animal in the sense that an animal is a living thing
29 HERON Lion beginning to nibble bird (5)
hero n{ibble} — for lion Collins has ‘a courageous, … person’, and Chambers has something similar
30 TUSH A little flatus hurts 5 (4)
5 being ASS, this is hidden in flaTUS Hurts — but this is something I go on and on about, I’m glad to say apparently influencing some setters (actually I no doubt overestimate my influence; more likely they make the distinction anyway): the word ASS is an Americanism. the UK version is ARSE. If a UK-based crossword is going to use an Americanism shouldn’t it signpost this fact?
Down
2 LEPIDOPTERA People dart nervously around intimidating leader, getting butterflies (11)
(people dart)* around i{ntimidating} — there are some who say it should be intimidating’s leader
3 GUIDEBOOK Nothing in treatment of budgie OK for leading publication? (9)
0 in *(budgie OK) — a publication that leads, shows the way
4 GANNET Pig bird (6)
2 defs — evidently a gannet is a type of pig, although I didn’t know this and was defeated here — no it isn’t, since although Wikipedia tells me that there are hundreds of types of pig I can’t find a gannet in the list — it’s just that a gannet is famed for its appetite
5 ASS Topless girl, animal (3)
{l}ass
6 STINGRAY Smart boy getting fish (8)
sting [= smart] Ray
7 DINGO Loud noise has set off dog (5)
din go [= set off, start one’s journey, go]
8 PAR Average fish, shortened (3)
par{r}
12 SPACERS Interval markers close to riderless horses (7)
{riderles}s pacers
14 TIDDLYWINKS Game having had a few bats (11)
tiddly [= having had a few] winks [= bats, as in bats an eyelid]
17 INTERPRET Explain resistance going in to bury hamster, perhaps? (9)
inter p(R)et
18 STEEPISH Sheep sit on the rocks, quite high (8)
(Sheep sit)* — possibly but not necessarily quite high: you could have a steepish slope going up a few yards, but by the time you were at the top of it you wouldn’t be very high up
21 CARBON Nonmetal cups gobbled up by shark (6)
(bra)rev. in con [noun, = shark]
23 PRONG Beaver’s bottom surrounded by odour that’s sharp (5)
p({beave}r)ong
25 MAR Damage when sheep rolled over (3)
(ram)rev.
26 GAR Ingredient of pudding, a raw fish (3)
Hidden in puddinG A Raw

*anagram

13 comments on “Independent 10,023 by Punk”

  1. Definitely a menagerie – I firs thought that it was themed on fish, and then animals and birds turned up too

    Thanks to Punk – my particular favourite was 14d- and to John – I’d agree with you about the checking

  2. A right old hotch-potch today but enjoyed nevertheless. I got stuck on parsing TAMARINDS for the simple reason that I had the monkeys stuck in my head as also being Tamarinds, google soon corrected me.

    Certainly in my neck of the woods (Kent) as I was growing up to call someone a gannet was pretty commonplace, a touch more gentle than ‘pig’ or ‘glutton’.

    Thanks to Punk and John

  3. After the brevity of Qaos i found this quite welcome. Sort of Fauna-cation  puzzle. I couldnt decide between SPINNER (too obvious) and SKINNER

    (as in Muleskinner something)

    Not a Booker Prize winner but rather fun in the absence of real opposition

    Thanks John (John??)

  4. An achievement to refer to animals in every clue and answer. I liked your description, copmus@3 – very good.

    A few I couldn’t parse such as ‘mule’ for a spinning machine and the synonyms for ‘dope’. Although I’m familiar with a MAGPIE as a hoarder, I didn’t know it could also mean a chattering person. In the end I missed 4d for which I guessed ‘gander’.

    I parsed STEEPISH for ‘quite high’ as referring to the price of something, ie quite expensive.

    Thanks to Punk and to John.

  5. I tend to agree that Americanisms should be signposted though it does seem to be increasingly not so. Here I don’t so much object since the solution is also an Americanism. Of course, both expressions are well known this side of the pond.

    Thanks to the 2 Johns.

  6. Well, we would have got it all except for a silly mistake putting ‘iterrpret’ for 17dn which stumped us for 20ac.  Otherwise a steady and enjoyable solve as the theme was obvious from the start.  TUSH was new to us but easily got from the clue.  No real CoD for us but we liked IDLENESS, SPARROWS and CARBON.

    Thanks, Punk and John.

  8. reddevil @ 7: SKUNK is a highly potent form of home-grown marijuana, so the ellipses between 4 and 7 provide the connection.

  9. I’ve been biting my tongue, but surely John and crypticsue are confusing “animal” with “mammal”? The vast majority of animals (including frogs) aren’t mammals – most species of animals are insects, I think.

  10. Yes Muffin @9 I think you’re probably right. I don’t know the precise definition of an animal; Collins says this, but I have my doubts. Yes surely an animal is any living being, so that includes reptiles etc.

  11. John @10

    I’m astonished by Collins 1 and 2! Just wrong! Humans are animals, as are frogs, worms and jellyfish!

    Julian Huxley was once asked what he had learnt about the creator from his study of Biology. He replied “he has an inordinate fondness for beetles”.

    I particularly hate the expression “animals and birds”. It’s rather like saying “humans and Europeans”.

  13. Some of us are old enough to remember the radio programme Twenty Questions in which the participants had to deduce what a mystery ‘object’ was, given only that it was animal, vegetable or mineral (sometimes it might be abstract).  Clearly in those terms of reference any living creature – from earwig to elephant – is an animal.

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