Independent 10,270 by Hob

Hello!  Today’s puzzle is brought to you by the setter Hob and the blogger Kitty.  Whatever the season, sunny days are here in crosswordland.  After a bright start I slowed considerably and was beginning to feel like a bit of a muppet … the theme helped.  I had a very enjoyable time indeed — thanks, Hob.

 

Definitions are underlined in the clues below.  In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.

 

Across

7a    Rampant wolf worried ducks, swans and geese (8)
WILDFOWL
WILD (rampant) plus an anagram of (… worried) WOLF

8a    Key article by former PM (1,5)
A MAJOR
A (grammatical article) by MAJOR (John, former PM)

10a   Male member that’s covered up (4)
BERT
MemBER That has hidden (‘s covered up) this male, who is paired with 23d

11a   Scotsman getting together with sexually ambivalent teacher (5)
RABBI
RAB (Scotsman) next to (getting together with) BI (sexually ambivalent)

12a   Dish that a compadre’s eaten (4)
TACO
A dish which thaT A COmpadre has enveloped (‘s eaten)

13a   Primarily cornmeal or oatmeal, Kermit isn’t eating this? (6)
COOKIE
Initial letters of (primarily) Cornmeal Or Oatmeal Kermit Isn’t Eating.  Fun fact: the cookies eaten by 13a 21d are actually rice cakes.  Om nom nom!

15a   Large British territory briefly recalled (3)
BIG
GIB (Gibraltar, British territory), abbreviated (briefly) and reversed (recalled)

16a   Prison slang for “girlfriend” (4)
BIRD
A double definition

17a   Good vehicle for driving over rough terrain in Cleveland? (6)
GROVER
G (good) plus ROVER (vehicle for driving over rough terrain).  Grover Cleveland

19a   Complaint from king that hurt (6)
GROUCH
GR (Georgius Rex, king) and OUCH (that hurt)

22a   Stream US singer-songwriter? Signal’s not working (4)
BECK
Two definitions: a stream, or the name of a singer-songwriter.  BECK[on] (signal) without (not) ON (working)

24a   Bill’s partner is hip, but no Liberal (3)
COO
COO[l] (hip) without (but no) L (Liberal).  Ah, bill and coo!  No flowerpot men here

25a   Go with heart, not head (6)
WIDDLE
Go as in urinate.  W (with) + [m]IDDLE (heart) missing the first letter (not head).  What a great surface, and it’s far from being the only one in this puzzle

26a   Aware of orgy kicking off in hotel (2,2)
IN ON
The first letter of Orgy (orgy kicking off) in INN (hotel)

27a   Model no longer available for most outstanding order for a broom (5)
BESOM
T (model, model T Ford) removed from (not available for) BES[t] (most outstanding), followed by OM (Order of Merit)

28a   Begin directing action with no lead parts (4)
DAWN
The first letters (lead parts) of Directing Action With No

29a   Humble abode meant a little shed front and back (6)
DEMEAN
[Abo]DE MEAN[t] with some letters removed from either side (a little shed front and back)

30a   After tail-ender is dismissed, figure one’s … (8)
ELLIPSIS
With the last letter deleted (after tail-ender is dismissed), ELLIPS[e] (figure) + I (one) + S (from the clue), ignoring the apostrophe … but not the ellipsis!

 

Down

1d    … team has lost, with openers for once now grumbling obliquely (8)
SIDELONG
SIDE (team) is by (has) L (lost) with the first letters of (openers for) Once Now Grumbling

2d    Correct European parliament, we finally having departed (4)
EDIT
E (European) + DI[e]T (parliament), with the last letter of (… finally) wE removed (having departed)

3d    Start dressing, say (6)
SOURCE
This sounds like (… say) SAUCE (dressing)

4d    Unclothed Shakespearean 21 imprisons Jack the poor woodcutter – a top-line opener (3,4)
ALI BABA
Without its outer letters (unclothed), cALIBAn (Shakespearean 21d) contains (imprisons) AB (Jack).  The top-line bit?  For the keyword (or password) here, look at the top line of the grid.  Argh!

5d    Fake a germ, with essentially nothing up? (8)
MALINGER
Make an anagram of (fake) A GERM, with at its centre (essentially) NIL (nothing) reversed (up, in a down answer).  An &lit: the whole clue is the definition as well as wordplay

6d    Heartbroken? Certain to be lacking in imagination, just like an ostrich (10)
EARTHBOUND
An anagram (… broken) of HEART followed by BOUND (certain).  Another clue with a bonus extra definition

9d    Award of Victoria Cross: served fantastically after V-1s dropped (5)
OSCAR
[Victor][i]A CROS[s] anagrammed (served fantastically) after VICTOR (V), I (1) and S (from the clue) are removed (dropped).  Like a few of these down clues, this took me a while to parse

14d   Noticed two kings with nose upturned, a jointly held condition (5,5)
KNOCK KNEES
SEEN (noticed) + K K (two kings) with CONK (nose), all reversed (upturned, in a down answer)

18d   Former native of Havana, possibly tense, as on guard (8)
EXCUBANT
A charade of EX (former), CUBAN (native of Havana, possibly), and T (tense).  A new word for me, but signposted clearly with friendly wordplay

20d   Scripture setting out why trio left (4,4)
HOLY WRIT
An anagram of (setting out) WHY TRIO + L (left)

21d   Severely criticise expression used shortly after WW1 battle (7)
MONSTER
TERm (expression) without the last letter (used shortly) following (after) MONS (WW1 battle)

23d   Online service that is what regularly produces a number of prizewinners (5)
ERNIE
E (online), RN (Royal Navy, service), and IE (that is).  This ERNIE

25d   Common user of “Blow Me!” when surprised (6)
WOMBLE
BLOW ME, anagrammed (when surprised).  Wimbledon common user, natch.  A Womble is not a Muppet, but this still feels like a good place to find one

28d   Muppet using the same soft drug (4)
DOPE
We end with a different kind of muppet altogether.  A charade of DO (short for ditto, using the same), P (piano, soft), and E (ecstasy, drug)

 

I think I’ve identified all of the Sesame Street Muppets in the grid.  There are also signs of Hoots the OWL hiding in 7a and Benny RABBIT hopping between 11 & 12a.  I wonder too if the tWIDDLE bugs have left their mark in 25a: my guess is they nearly featured but lost grid territory to other characters.  How many did you Count?