Independent 10,995 by Knut

by

The puzzle is available here.

 

Hi all.  Knut lets us have our cake and eat it today, serving up a puzzle which I found not too hard but delectable.  He also generously made it a piece of cake for me to select a favourite clue, with the SEX APPEAL of 2d.  Some lovely surfaces – too many to enumerate – were the icing on the cake.  Many thanks Knut!

 

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.  For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.

 

Across

1a    Loose cover cushions, elastic edges (8)
INSECURE
INSURE (cover) goes around (cushions) the outer letters (edges) of ElastiC

5a    I had contracted cold when accepting Oscar for Dumb & Dumber feature (6)
IDIOCY
I’D (I had, contracted) + ICY (cold) containing (when accepting) O (Oscar)

10a   9 or 11 perish touring Southern states (5)
DIXIE
IX (9) or XI (11) – take your pick – with DIE (perish) going around the outside (touring)

11a   US writer, associate of Clinton (Bill), pens 6D (4,5)
GORE VIDAL
GORE, AL (associate of Clinton, Bill) goes around (pens) VI (6) D (down)

12a   Starts to help out navy following plane crash – it’s blown up (9)
ALPENHORN
The first letters of (starts to) Help Out and RN (navy) all following an anagram (crash) of PLANE

13a   Live with depression having taken over (5)
DWELL
W (with), DELL going around the outside (having taken over)

14a   Wee man steals regularly, treacherous character (6)
WEASEL
Alternate letters of (… regularly) WeE mAn StEaLs

15a   According to Spooner, blacklisted crone Thatcher carried one (7)
HANDBAG
A spoonerism of BANNED (blacklisted) and HAG (crone)

18a   Frosty relations put elderly wife on board coach (4,3)
COLD WAR
Put OLD (elderly) and W (wife) inside (on board) CAR (coach)

20a   Following death, it’s transferred on account last thing on Friday (6)
LEGACY
LEG (on) + AC (account) + the last letter of (last thing on) FridaY

22a   The greatest Belgium international defence (5)
ALIBI
ALI (“The Greatest”) + B (Belgium) + I (international)

24a   Merkel, say, by Karlsruhe on vacation receiving cold sponge (5,4)
ANGEL CAKE
ANGELA (Merkel, say) by KarlsruhE with inner letters removed (on vacation), containing (receiving) C (cold)

25a   Endlessly refined massage turned on nameless Soviet leaders (9)
POLITBURO
Without its last letter (endlessly), POLITe (refined) + RUB (massage) reversed (turned) + O[n] without N (nameless)

26a   Skilful head of Art Department (5)
ADEPT
The first letter (head) of Art + DEPT (department)

27a   Hesitate to visit Rawalpindi therapist (6)
DITHER
The answer is inside (to visit) RawalpinDI THERapist

28a   Eminem’s debut at microphone “arresting, terrific, forceful” (8)
EMPHATIC
Eminem’s first letter (debut) + MIC (microphone) around (arresting) PHAT (terrific)

 

Down

1d    As Eddie Izzard might appear after daring transformation? (2,4)
IN DRAG
The answer is revealed after making an anagram (transformation) of DARING

2d    It chops up fresh apple (3,6)
SEX APPEAL
AXES (chops) reversed (up) + an anagram of (fresh) APPLE

3d    “Flawless Salah toying with Newcastle” – Independent claimed (5,2,1,7)
CLEAN AS A WHISTLE
SALAH anagrammed (toying) together with NEWCASTLE, with I (independent) included (claimed)

4d    A good daughter filling bap for her playmate? (3,4)
RAG DOLL
A, G (good) and D (daughter) inside (filling) ROLL (bap).  I know an actual doll is the intended playmate, but of course I can’t resist:

6d    Vital I’d had gonad treated; in this case a sling helped (5,3,7)
DAVID AND GOLIATH
VITAL I’D HAD GONAD anagrammed (treated)

7d    Senior citizen trapped in café I’d locked up (5)
OLDIE
Our answer is inside (trapped in) cafE I‘D LOcked reversed (up)

8d    Golly Sue! Amazing cakes! (4,4)
YULE LOGS
GOLLY SUE anagrammed (amazing)

9d    Geek turned on taps to make things wet (6)
DRENCH
NERD (geek) reversed (turned) + C H (taps, cold and hot)

16d   British upper-class tea break? Capital! (9)
BUCHAREST
A charade of B (British), U (upper-class), CHA (tea) and REST (break)

17d   Cancelled actor Johnny bends over (8)
SCRAPPED
DEPP (actor Johnny) and ARCS (bends) reversed (over)

19d   Do some research about American political party (4,2)
READ UP
RE (about) + A (American) + DUP (political party)

20d   Play large English bloke at wedding (7)
LEGROOM
L (large) + E (English) + GROOM (bloke at wedding)

21d   Frenzied husband on ecstasy with constant twitch (6)
HECTIC
H (husband) + E (ecstasy) + C (constant) + TIC (twitch)

23d   Skerry not available for rent? (5)
ISLET
IS LET would imply not available for rent

 

14 comments on “Independent 10,995 by Knut”

  1. Smashing creation by Knut. On another blog yesterday, I’d voiced a wish for a non-themed puzzle just for a change. Not criticising those we’ve enjoyed of late. And this was right up my street. Not at his most difficult – or I was on the wavelength – but a lovely romp through some tight clueing. Really too many contenders to single out a COTD – though I was VERY tickled by the ALPENHORN definition – horn blown UP is just brilliant. I needed our blogger’s help for the parsing of GORE VIDAL where the 6d achieved its objective and misled me into thinking it was something to do with the letters in David/Goliath. (And only yesterday in the G, someone referenced a clue by Arucaria which used Caesar, J (and Antony, M) in exactly the same way as Gore, Al but I didn’t see it here today).

    Thanks Knut and Kitty

  2. This was a joy to solve at 8am here with first cuppa
    The Thatcher clue somehow took me back to Spitting Image
    Cabinet meeting: Waiter-what would you like. Maam?
    “I’ll have the chicken”
    “And how about the vegetables?”
    “They’ll have the same?”

  3. ‘Smashing creation’, ‘joy to solve’ – oh, yes!

    I thought I wasn’t going to get anywhere with this on my first run through the clues, but they turned out to be so clever that it was just a case of doing what it said on the tin and everything started to fall into place – though it took me a few minutes to see where the R came from in ALPENHORN! (I liked the definition, too, PostMark.)

    So many good clues – my favourites were IDIOCY, GORE VIDAL, SEX APPEAL, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE and DAVID AND GOLIATH (second appearance of gonads this week and DAVID AND GOLIATH appeared in Goliath’s own puzzle just two days ago.

    (I often think about that Spitting Image thing, too, copmus.)

    Many thanks to Knut and Kitty.
    .

  5. Ho ho, PostMark @ 4.
    As has already been said, lovely surfaces, excellent clueing and a pleasure to solve. Favourites among the riches were Dixie, Gore Vidal and Clean as a whistle, but all good. Deserves more comments!
    Thanks to Knut and Kitty

  7. A very enjoyable puzzle.
    Incidentally, I see from Knut’s bio that his father’s addiction to the Skeleton crossword was partly responsible for his succumbing to the crossword bug.
    I also remember my father doing the Skeleton. It was the only reason he bought the Sunday Express every week!

  9. Agreed, most enjoyable. Like PostMark I must have been on Knut’s wavelength this morning. I liked the Rawalpindi therapist and learned a new word (skerry) without having to look it up, one of the wonderful things about cryptics.

  10. Got 1d immediately, but couldn’t work my way into the grid from there.
    Never seen PHAT before.

    Postmark@1
    Simon S mentioned T Hanks and Swanson G a few days ago.

  11. Having read PostMark’s comments yesterday, my first thought on completing this was that he would have to like this puzzle, and I was right. Perhaps it’s the FA cup third round that has brought DAVID AND GOLIATH to mind. Thanks to Knut and Kitty

  12. Came to the puzzle with a mid afternoon cup of tea. The perfect combination. Very enjoyable Knut. And thanks Kitty for the help parsing – I missed the uncomfortable truth.

  13. Thanks Knut for an excellent crossword and Kitty for the illustrated blog. Since I hit a brick wall with Gaff’s FT crossword I thought I’d change gears and try this — what a smart decision on my part — I found this easier than usual but no less enjoyable with ALIBI, SEX APPEAL, DAVID AND GOLIATH, DRENCH, and SCRAPPED as favourites. I found so many of the surfaces to be witty without being wordy — well done.

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