Independent 11,060 by Phi

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The ever-reliable Phi provides our Friday challenge as usual.

Mostly straightforward, though there are a couple of tricky constructions, and one unfamiliar term at 4d but the wordplay is suitably clear. I liked the extended definition in 9a, the sequence-of-letters trick in 28a, and the rather improbable juxtaposition of different foods in 15d, but my favourite was 19a for the surface suggesting a decidedly unequal combat. Thanks Phi as always.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
9 SARTORIAL
A lot of skill embraced by tailors at work may be this (9)
AR[t] (skill), all but the last letter (a lot of . . .), surrounded by an anagram (at work) of TAILORS.

Extended definition: sartorial = relating to clothes, especially in the phrase “sartorial elegance”.
10 PIETY
What a shame about the end of wholesome devotion (5)
PITY (pity! = what a shame! = expression of disappointment) around the end letter of [wholesom]E.

Piety = religious devotion.
11 CYNICAL
Caught one between American locations turning pessimistic (7)
C (caught, in cricket scoring) + I (one in Roman numerals), between LA + NYC (Los Angeles and New York City = American locations), all reversed (turning).
12 MACLEAN
Spy, old woman, showing nothing incriminating (7)
MA (old woman = slang for mother) + CLEAN (slang for not showing any evidence of guilt, as in a clean driving licence = with no penalty points).

Donald Maclean, part of a group who passed British government secrets to the Soviet Union in the mid 20th century.
13 ETHER
Appliance there bottles volatile liquid (5)
Hidden answer (. . . bottles) in [applianc]E THER[e].

Organic compound formerly used as an anaesthetic.
14 GUERILLAS
Appalling ill-usage limiting second of army fighters (9)
Anagram (appalling) of ILL-USAGE, containing (limiting) the second letter of [a]R[my].
16 JUTLAND
Project to secure site of battle (7)
JUT (as in jut out = project, as a verb) + LAND (obtain by effort = secure, as in “to land a promotion”).

Peninsula in northern Europe (Denmark / Germany), near which a naval battle was fought in World War I.
19 SNIPERS
People with guns? People with scissors have less power (7)
SNIP[p]ERS (people with scissors), with one letter P (power) removed.
20 REMINISCE
Recall I’m sincere when pressured? (9)
Anagram (pressured?) of I’M SINCERE.
22 GENRE
Category of ecological interest about to be moved to the back (5)
GREEN (of ecological interest, as in “green energy”), with the RE (regarding = about) moved to the end.
25 BARISTA
Drink supplier refuses to accept expression of thanks about one (7)
BARS (as a verb = refuses to accept) + TA (colloquial expression of thanks), around I (one in Roman numerals).

Someone who makes and serves drinks in a coffee shop.
27 HAULIER
Freight expert getting gold to position within hour (7)
AU (Au = chemical symbol for gold, from Latin aurum) + LIE (position = where something lies, especially a ball on a golf course), inserted into HR (hr = abbreviation for hour).
28 ACTOR
Eighteen letters about college player (5)
A TO R (the first eighteen letters of the alphabet; in the US you’d probably say “A through R”), around C (abbreviation for college).
29 COMMANDOS
Fellow in committee with computer software for soldiers (9)
MAN (fellow), inserted into COM (abbreviation for committee) + DOS (disk operating system = computer software, in use up to the 90s).
DOWN
1 PSYCHE
Pressure, say, gutted a revolutionary spirit (6)
P (scientific symbol for pressure) + S[a]Y without the middle letter (gutted) + CHE (Che Guevara = a revolutionary).
2 FRENCH
Force and twist top off vermouth? (6)
F (scientific symbol for force), then [w]RENCH (twist) with its first letter (top, in a down clue) taken off.

Short for “French vermouth” = usually a dry version, as opposed to the sweeter Italian vermouth.
3 FOR CERTAIN
Constrain temperature during bad weather? Assuredly (3,7)
FORCE (constrain), then T (temperature) inserted into RAIN (bad weather).
4 MID-LEG
Member’s central point: Member’s not working with Government (3-3)
M (abbreviation for member, as in MP = member of partliament) + IDLE (not working) + G (abbreviation for government).

Not a familiar word, but if you ever need to say “the middle part of the leg” (member = limb) and don’t just mean “knee”, the dictionaries support this usage.
5 CLIMBERS
Mountaineers, supple, in Caucasus on vacation (8)
LIMBER (fit and able to move easily) in C[aucasu]S (on vacation = after emptying).
6 SPEC
Spot reduced description of work (4)
SPEC[k] (a tiny spot or particle) without its last letter (reduced).

Short for specification = description of work to be done.
7 REVEILLE
Minister, not well in middle of week, getting wake-up call (8)
REV (short for reverend = title for a church minister), then ILL (not well) in the middle letters of [w]EE[k].

A military bugle call used to wake troops at dawn.
8 HYPNOSIS
Bloke’s accommodating ailing pony’s sleepy state (8)
HIS (belonging to a bloke) around (accommodating) an anagram (ailing) of PONY’S.
15 ICING SUGAR
Source of food decoration using garlic improbably left unadopted (5,5)
Anagram (improbably) of USING GAR[l]IC with the L (left) not included (unadopted).

Finely-ground sugar used in decorating cakes and desserts.
16 JEROBOAM
Quantity of champagne? In France I travel, carrying one-third of bottle (8)
JE (French for “I”, so “In France I”) + ROAM (travel), containing the first two letters (one-third) of BO[ttle].

Name for a large-sized wine bottle; for champagne it’s normally the equivalent of four standard bottles. Several large sizes of wine bottle are named after Old Testament characters, usually kings.
17 TEMERITY
Impertinence, being still upset about excellence (8)
YET (still, as in “yet more to do”) reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue), around MERIT (excellence).
18 DISPATCH
Healthful water filling trench? Hurry (8)
SPA (a resort where the water is supposed to provide health benefits) inserted into DITCH (trench).
21 EXHUME
Engage in digging up river to confine smell (6)
EXE (river in SW England, after which the city of Exeter is named) containing (to confine) HUM (slang for an unpleasant smell).

Exhume = to dig up a corpse after burial.
23 NAIADS
Endlessly fix promotional material showing beautiful females (6)
NAI[l] (as a verb = fix) without its last letter (endlessly), then ADS (advertisements = promotional material).

Water-nymphs in Greek mythology.
24 EGRESS
European assembly not against exit (6)
E (abbreviation for European) + [con]GRESS (assembly) without CON (as in “pros and cons” = short for Latin contra = against).
26 SPRY
Active article expelled by aerosol (4)
SPR[a]Y (aerosol) without A (the indefinite article).

Spry = fit and active; especially used to describe older people who are more agile than might be expected.

5 comments on “Independent 11,060 by Phi”

  1. No wonder I couldnt parse WRENCH-hadnt heard of French Vermouth
    For me its the first liquid that hits the pan in a risotto before the stock starts to go in(dont care where its from)
    Otherwise good-I always enjoy Phi puzzles
    Thanks

  2. I’ve been weaning myself from paper this week and using the phone app instead. It’s not as easy to spot themes, I’m finding, and I forgot to look for one today. When I went back to recheck it seems that my answers were not saved, unfortunately! Thanks as always to Phi (as our blogger says, ever reliable) and Quirister.

  3. This is the traditional Phi puzzle following a trip to see the latest Wes Anderson film, The FRENCH DISPATCH. The culminating scene (which turns into a cartoon) involves the rescue of a kidnapped child, with the police calling in GUERILLAS (sic), SNIPERS, COMMANDOS, CLIMBERS and a wrestler called the JEROBOAM.

    All I need to do now I’ve bought a copy is find a way to get iTunes to play it instead of turning pink and green.

  4. Fantastically obscure theme. But that’s Phi for you. Enjoyed the work out and thanks to Quirister, too, for the explanations.

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