Independent on Sunday 1,606 by Hoskins

by

The puzzle can be found here.

 

Hello and happy Sunday. Sorry the blog is a little later than usual: real life getting in the way.

However much “real life” is happening, Hoskins is one of the few setters whose puzzles I never miss. (As in, I always do them, not that I don’t and don’t miss them!) His puzzles are clearly designed to maximise entertainment without doing anything too naughty – on the technical front, that is …

I always know I’m in for some fun and so it came as no surprise that I enjoyed this one very much too. Thanks Hoskins!

 

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

 

Across

1a    Stale wind sends American packing (4)
FLAT
FLAT[us] (wind) without (sends … packing) US (American)

3a    Tiger possibly stalking hind in the bush? (9)
BACKWOODS
WOODS (Tiger possibly) following (stalking) BACK (hind)

9a    Tea given by empty officers’ mess (5)
CHAOS
CHA (tea) next to OfficerS without the inner letters (empty …)

10a   Street of houses by railway in Arundel demolished (5,4)
DRURY LANE
RY (railway) in an anagram of (… demolished) ARUNDEL

11a   I’m so pure I must change to be tyrannical (9)
IMPERIOUS
I’M SO PURE I must be anagrammed (change) to give the answer

12a   Duck seen in English Channel going wrong way! (5)
EVADE
E (English) and DAVE (channel, TV channel) all reversed (going wrong way).  I thought this clue very cute

13a   Sport drag, perhaps, at society dance (7)
NETBALL
NET (drag, perhaps) next to (at) BALL (society dance)

14a   One who’s likely to ridicule small chest (7)
SCOFFER
S (small) + COFFER (chest)

17a   A revolutionary way to save one hurting the most? (7)
ACHIEST
A, CHE (revolutionary) and ST (way) around (to save) I (one)

19a   A naturist ultimately had lost interest in wearing clothes (7)
ATTIRED
A + the last letter of (ultimately) naturisT + TIRED (had lost interest in)

21a   Totally cool to have a couple of lines? (2,3)
IN ALL
IN (cool) + A + LL (couple of lines)

24a   Nurse and I let loose, getting dirty (9)
UNSTERILE
NURSE and I LET anagrammed (loose)

25a   A chap at home visiting artist in the country (9)
ARGENTINA
A followed by GENT (chap) and IN (at home) inside (visiting) RA (artist)

26a   I had touch of shame necking old man’s tablets (5)
IPADS
I’D (I had) and the first letter of (touch of) Shame containing (necking) PA (old man).  Other tablets are available

27a   Duke that wife will leave for another duke (9)
ELLINGTON
[w]ELLINGTON (duke) with the removal of (that … will leave) W (wife). Duke Ellington

28a   A noble look (4)
PEER
Double definition

 

Down

1d    Legal proceeding supports fine for splinter group (7)
FACTION
ACTION (legal proceeding) goes after (supports, in a down entry) F (fine)

2d    Where veggies might not grow in difficult times (1,3,5)
A BAD PATCH
Double definition

3d    Society girl rejected having sex in sleeping bag? (7)
BEDROLL
DEB (society girl) reversed (rejected) + ROLL (sex, as in a roll in the hay)

4d    One might take these at university for starters? (7)
COURSES
Double definition

5d    Sleep is one method to get fresh for the most part (5)
WAYNE
WAY (method) + all but the last letter of (… for the most part) NEw (fresh). The definition refers to Wayne Sleep

6d    Old lady chasing old boy and a former leader (5)
OBAMA
MA (old lady) following (chasing) OB (old boy) and A

7d    Has beer ruined grizzly female? (3-4)
SHE-BEAR
HAS BEER anagrammed (ruined)

8d    Junkie turned over European dude to get online identity (8)
USERNAME
USER (junkie) + the reversal of (turned over) E (European) with MAN (dude)

15d   Live hornet buzzing around First Class (2,3,3)
ON THE AIR
An anagram of (… buzzing) HORNET around AI (A1, first class)

16d   Do it and care not if given a kicking! (9)
FORNICATE
CARE NOT IF anagrammed (given a kicking).  🙂

17d   Enliven originally apathetic nurse with one Bud (7)
ANIMATE
The first letters of (originally) Apathetic Nurse with I (one) and MATE (bud)

18d   Upset teacher bitten by hawk is one likely to take a holiday! (7)
TOURIST
The reversal of (upset) SIR (teacher) inside (bitten by) TOUT (hawk)

19d   Do not cross any politicians on election day! (7)
ABSTAIN
Cryptic definition

20d   Some cadre’s Serbian chap who sorts out wounds? (7)
DRESSER
Some caDRE‘S SERbian

22d   One who invests in The Guardian? (5)
ANGEL
Double definition

23d   Old red sheets one earl switched around (5)
LENIN
LINEN (sheets) with I (one) and E (earl) swapped (switched around)

 

8 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,606 by Hoskins”

  1. Kitty, I totally agree with your overall observations: a lovely Sunday puzzle with nothing ridiculously challenging but some nice constructions to unravel.

    We often speak of being on the wavelength and, today, I was in tune with Hoskins insofar as several clues that required a particular perspective or that relied upon a misdirect resolved themselves for me on first look.  W(ELLINGTON) for example where the latter’s name was the first thing to occur on reading the first word of the clue.  Likewise Tiger had me thinking golfer, Sleep suggested ballet, Channel had me thinking media rather than La Manche and ‘Do’ was, first thought, Party and, second thought, sex.  (Not quite sure what that last phrase, taken out of context, might say about me!)

    All the above earned ticks from me, as did FLAT and BEDROLL for their surfaces and the delightful construction of TOURIST once I’d dismissed trying to parse it around and anagram of Tutor.

    I wondered whether WAYNE and, in particular, DRURY LANE, might be more obscure for some non-UK solvers?

    Thanks to Hoskins and Kitty

  2. Very enjoyable, as always with Hoskins – stop sniggering at the back please!  Just to expand on 10A, there are three theatres in Drury Lane, and as they are sometimes referred to as ‘houses’ (as in ‘front of house’) it could be described as a street of houses.  Thanks Hoskins and Kitty.

  3. Wonderfully entertaining as always for this setter. You know what you are going to get and you know it’s going to be fun.

    I’ve got far too many ticks to mention them all.

    Many thanks to Hoskins and to Kitty.

  5. Harry on good form when it comes to being naughty but nice – plenty of other setters who could learn a lot from him.

    10a gave me an ear worm concerning the Muffin Man and like RD I’ve got too many potential favourites to mention them all – perhaps if pushed I’d go for those poor veggies.

    Many thanks to Hoskins and to our feline blogger for the (quite restrained!) review.

  6. Well, I struggled with Lenin, and have never heard of a bedroll, although it was easy to work out from the clue.  Evade was brilliant and Fornicate made me laugh.  Thanks Kitty and Hoskins.

  7. Did anyone else initially think that 12a was ROUTE? [O (a duck in cricket) inside RUT (a channel) + E (English) — with ‘going wrong’ indicating that the E comes after the R(O)UT instead of before, and ‘way’ being the definition] That held me up for a little while.

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