Independent 11,037 by Quince (Saturday Puzzle 26 February 2022)

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I believe Quince is a relatively new setter on the Indy block, with a debut double-pangram last December…

…but nothing quite so elaborate here…in fact Quince seems to have got a bit bored while setting this and just went BLAH BLAH BLAH and YADA YADA YADA down the central columns!

There are a couple of topical references to dropping restrictions (1A) and face masks being a ‘hot issue’ (21A), given that this is the week that the pandemic has officially been declared an SEP (somebody else’s problem) by Boris. Or maybe more of a TPP (the people’s problem)? And in fact other events this week have made some other entries chillingly topical too – WARHEADS, ROCKET, OCCUPANT, SWAT TEAM, BALACLAVAS…DANSE MACABRE.

I enjoyed the quadruple definition at 9A, with a pretty smooth surface read to boot. And there were some nice, eyebrow-raising face-palming definitions – ‘handled access’ for DOOR at 22A; ‘loaded’ backup for SWAT TEAM at 24A; ‘company bonus’ for ENCORE at 8D; ‘digital opponents’ for THUMBS at 27A.

My LOI was 1A, which took a while for the definition and parsing to take shape, once I realised it probably had to be WHOOPS from the crossers…

So, all in all I thought this was a nicely clued puzzle and an enjoyable, if brief, solve. On a whim, I timed myself and had it finished in one sitting in 14 minutes – probably helped by the fact that those two central columns yielded plenty of crossers once they had been cracked, but still fairly quick for me.

Many thanks to Quince, and I hope all is clear below. (I’m not convinced on my parsing for 18A BREADBASKETS – happy to be corrected/nudged in the right direction there…)

 

Across
Clue No Solution Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/parsing
1A WHOOPS Calls from UN medics to drop restrictions at last (6)

WHO (World Health Organisation, UN medics) + OPS (last letters of ‘tO droP restrictionS’)
4A ABRASIVE Experimental variables left out, causing friction (8)

anag, i.e. experimental, of VARIAB(L)ES (L – left – out)
9A ROCKET One with booster leaves Zoom lecture (6)

quadruple definition! – a (or to) ROCKET can be: a thing with a booster; salad leaves; to zoom; and to give someone a lecture/telling off!
10A GALACTIC Function boring girl in charge of stars (8)

GAL (girl) + IC (in charge), around (bored by) ACT (function)
12A ESPY Notice James Bond, say, chasing European (4)

E (European) plus (chased by) SPY (James Bond, say)
13A JAWBREAKER Rabbit and white horse featuring in tongue-twister (10)

JAW (rabbit, talk) + BREAKER (white horse, breaking wave)
15A DANSE MACABRE A desperate man embraces a complicated, ghastly theme (5,7)

DAN (Desperate Dan, comic character) + SE MACABRE (anag, i.e. complicated, of EMBRACES A)
18A BREADBASKETS Stomachs bowls of cereal? (12)

double defn?. a BREADBASKET can be a stomach; and a BREADBASKET can be a bowl, or geographic area, where cereal crops are grown(?)
21A BALACLAVAS Face masks – hot issue dividing unruly cabals (10)

BALAC_S (anag, i.e. unruly, of CABALS) around (divided by) LAVA (hot issue!)
22A DOOR Party men handled access (4)

DO (party) + OR (Other Ranks, the men, as opposed to the officers)
24A SWAT TEAM Loaded back-up, losing good megawatts supply (4,4)

anag, i.e. supply, of ME(G)AWATTS (losing G – good)
25A BABOON Primate and bishop leading a blessing (6)

B (bishop, chess) + A + BOON (blessing)
26A DRAW AWAY Outline a method to get ahead of the pack (4,4)

DRAW (outline) + A + WAY (method)
27A THUMBS Digital opponents so transfixed by doctor (6)

THU_S (so) around (transfixed by) MB (Medicinae Baccalaureus, Bachelor of Medicine, doctor)
Down
Clue No Solution Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/parsing
1D WARHEADS New beard wash scrubbing face of baby boomers? (8)

anag, i.e. new, of (B)EARD WASH (scrubbing B – first letter, or face, of Baby)
2D OCCUPANT “Old Conservative caught riding social worker,” reveals insider (8)

O (old) + C (Conservative) + C (caught, cricket) + UP (riding) + ANT (social worker)
3D PHEW Some said that’s a relief (4)

homophone, i.e. said – FEW (some) can sound like PHEW (that’s a relief)
5D BLAH BLAH BLAH Oddly, Bella Hadid’s beginning again and again, and so on (4,4,4)

BLA (odd letters from BeLlA) + H (Hadid’s beginning), repeated again and again, so three times!
6D AMATEURISH Unprofessional team at EU? Rishi’s selection (10)

hidden word in, i.e. selection of, ‘teAM AT EU RISHi’
7D INTAKE I translated Kant with English opening (6)

I + NTAK (anag, i.e. translated, of KANT) + E (English)
8D ENCORE New firm right to split EE’s company bonus? (6)

E_E around (split by) N (new) + CO (company, or firm) + R (right)
11D YADA YADA YADA Broadcast ‘Mayday!’ out of bounds again and again, and so on (4,4,4)

YADA (anag, i.e. broadcast, of (M)AYDA(Y), without its bounding letters), repeated again and again, so three times, again!
14D TERRACOTTA Wild cat and otter inspiring artist to get clay (10)

TER_COTTA (anag, i.e. wild, of CAT and OTTER) around (inspiring) RA (Royal Academician, artist)
16D JEROBOAM At Cannes, “I, Robot” cut short a monsieur’s bottle of wine (8)

JE (I, in France, so ‘at Cannes’) + ROBO(T) (cut short) + A + M (monsieur)
17D G-STRINGS German ties underwear (1-7)

G (German) + STRINGS (ties)
19D ABUSED Exploited unlimited jabs and took drugs (6)

(J)AB(S) (jabs, without limits) + USED (took drugs)
20D CLOACA Coal scattered about sewer (6)

CLOA (anag, i.e. scattered, of COAL) + CA (circa, about)
23D GASH Profound cut ultimately derailing a small hospital (4)

G (ultimate letter of derailinG) + A + S (small) + H (hospital)

11 comments on “Independent 11,037 by Quince (Saturday Puzzle 26 February 2022)”

  1. As with this setter’s debut offering, I enjoyed most of this one but a few raised eyebrows took the gloss off it.

    The answers to both 24a & 11d are American terms. I don’t think bread in 18a is a cereal nor is a basket the same thing as a bowl. Finally in 1d, boomers are the submarines carrying warheads, not the warheads themselves.

    Honourable mentions go to WHOOPS. ROCKET (a very nice quadruple definition), BABOON, DRAW AWAY, PHEW, BLAH BLAH BLAH and ENCORE.

    CLOACA was a new word for me.

    Thanks to Quince and to mc_rapper67.

  2. An enjoyable crossword thank you Quince, even though once again I knew once again there’d be muttering in the rabbit hutch about Americanisms

    My particular favourite was the quadruple definition 9a

    Thanks also to mc_rapper67

  3. Quite enjoyed this one although I wasn’t convinced by 18a nor did I appreciate the inclusion of 11d hot on the heels of 5d.
    Favourite – with apologies to RD – was SWAT TEAM.

    Thanks to Quince and to mcr for the review.

  4. I certainly didn’t finish this in 14 minutes, but did find it relatively easy. I was another who wasn’t keen on the 5D / 11D combo as too easy and a giveaway for lots of crossers. (Not sure if people have picked up they’re a quote from Greta Thunberg at COP21, so are presumably a mini-theme)

    I particularly enjoyed 15A, 24A and 16D

  5. A steady and enjoyable solve; as mc_r says, 5dn and 11 down provided plenty of crossers so our last few acrosses went in quite easily. Favourites were DANSE MACABRE, BALACLAVAS and JEROBOAM.
    Thanks, Quince and mc_rapper67.

  6. Good stuff, all well-judged.
    I’ve tried to find some dictionary support for Rabbit Dave’s boomer = submarine but I can’t. Bad luck to him for failing to get the Americanisms.
    I took cereal bowl to be as suggested in the blog, a grain-growing area of land, but I’m not sure. Giving cereal for bread is a bit like giving clay for terracotta; I don’t think cluing something by what it’s made from quite does it but the equation in the latter case made me think it might have been meant in the former.
    Multiple def clues are becoming quite a thing, though they leave me rather cold. I liked WHOOPS, DOOR and SWAT TEAM.
    Thanks Quince and mc_rapper67

  7. James @5. According to the Wikipedia page on Ballistic missile submarine: “In US naval slang, ballistic missile submarines are called boomers. In the UK, they are known as bombers”. A third American term in the puzzle!

    BTW, I didn’t fail to solve the Americanisms; I simply don’t think they should be used in British crosswords without some sort of indication. I explained this in more detail in my comment on 27th January – puzzle 11,011 by Gila.

  9. I reckon boomers is a nominalization – things that go boom – rather than the Sub itself. Prolly just a coincidence that the US sub is called a boomer as it is only in the ODE as far as I can see.

  10. Thanks for all the comments and feedback so far – much appreciated…I have been out all day playing golf and then watching rugby, so late to the party…

    I wasn’t aware of the potential Greta quotes at 5D and 11D – YADA… and BLAH…, but that might suggest how they came to be used here together, otherwise why would a setter use them both at the same time?…

    I didn’t particularly notice the Americanisms, or rather wasn’t particularly put out by their being Americanisms. For ‘cereal bowls’, my mind was drawn to the idea of the American ‘dust bowl’ droughts in the 1930s, presumably in areas where cereals were grown…

    I also took ‘boomers’ as just ‘things that go boom’, as per James and Hello Sailor at #8 & #9.

  11. Well I thought it jolly difficult & it took me some time. Greta T occurred to me once the penny finally dropped with 5&11d & no issues with WARHEAD either but thought BREADBASKET a bit of a stretch. CLOACA new to (& soon to be forgotten by) me also. Lots of good clues – WHOOPS, ROCKET, DANSE MACABRE & BALACLAVAS the big ticks for me.
    Thanks Quince & MCR

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