Independent 11,413 / Bluth

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Bluth has produced today’s puzzle for our stimulation and delectation. There is plenty to get one’s teeth into here, including four 15-letter entries.

I found this to be a challenging and above all entertaining puzzle. I almost had to give up at 23 of all clues and on parsing 17, but I think that I got there with both in the end. That said, I do need help with 2, where I have got bogged down parsing the lengthy wordplay, I fear.

I have lots of favourite clues today: 5D, for referencing bread-making in definition and wordplay alike; 14, for making me smirk; 19A, for smoothness of surface; and 19D, for the break at “pop/record” between definition and wordplay.

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across    
     
01 COCONUT Milk producer seeing firm cow dropping behind overturned barrel

CO (=firm, i.e. company) + CO<w> (“dropping behind” means last letter is dropped) + NUT (TUN=barrel; “overturned” indicates reversal)
     
05 REGATTA Engineers finally working on the wagon – charging battery, perhaps for race meeting

RE (=engineers, i.e. Royal Engineers) + <working (“finally” means last letter only) + [TT (=on the wagon, i.e. teetotal) in AA (=battery, perhaps)]
     
09 LIFTS Student is taking paper copies

L (=student, i.e. learner) + [FT (=paper, i.e. Financial Times) in IS]; to lift is to copy from, reproduce
     
10 MULTITASK Twitter CEO penning a detailed caption about work while also doing other jobs

LTITA (A + TITL<e> (=caption; “detailed” means last letter dropped; “about” indicates reversal) in MUSK (=Twitter CEO, i.e. Elon Musk)
     
11 SHERIFF Official’s son content to then drift off when undressed

S (=son) + <t>HE<n> <d>RIF<t> <o>F<f>; “when undressed” means first and last letters of each word are dropped
     
13 ICE SHOW Perhaps a job for Dean of College – she worked in the Isle of Wight

[C (=college) + *(SHE)] in IOW (=Isle of Wight); “worked” is anagram indicator; the reference is to British ice dancer Christopher Dean of the duo Torvill and Dean
     
14 ATTORNEY GENERAL Top lawyer organised an orgy with teen later

*(AN ORGY + TEEN LATER); “organised” is anagram indicator
     
16 SUBSISTENCE CROP Best circus opens by arrangement – it’s cultivated and not really for profit

*(BEST CIRCUS OPENS); “by arrangement” is anagram indicator; subsistence crops are grown for farmers and their families to live off by eating rather than selling
     
19 PREDICT French ready to bring police unit back in for project

DIC (CID=police unit; “to bring … back” indicates reversal) in PRÊT (=French ready, i.e. the French word for ready, prepared); according to Chambers, to project is to predict or expect on the basis of past results or present trends
     
20 TENSILE Sort of strength of pain relief I like in extremis

TENS (=pain relief, i.e. transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) + I L<ik>E (“in extremis” means first and last letters only)
     
21 PROVIDENT Frugal for theatre to screen short film

VIDE<o> (=film; “short” means last letter dropped) in [PRO (=for, in favour of) + NT (=theatre, i.e. National Theatre)
     
23 BUILD Found advertised broadcast

Homophone (“broadcast”) of “billed (=advertised)”
     
24 INKBLOT A psychologist might wonder what you see in this new Tolkien book replacing introduction to Elvish

*(TOLKI<b> for <e>N); “book (=B) replacing introduction (=first letter) to Elvish” means “b” replaces “e” in anagram, indicated by “new”
     
25 DREDGER Craft of e.g. Dr Dre’s production

*(E.G. DR DRE); “production” is anagram indicator
     
Down    
     
01 COLD SNAPS Caught former Hogwarts’ professor finishing off with small, brisk spells?

C (=caught, on cricket scorecard) + OLD (=former, ex-) + SNAP<e> (Hogwarts’ professor, played by Alan Rikckman; “finishing off” means last letter dropped) + S (=small, in sizes)
     
02 COFFEE TABLE BOOK Drink tequila at first – class of seamen passed out in order – it’s bound to appear impressive?

COFFEE (=drink) + T<equila> (“at first” means first letter only) + ABLE (=class of seamen having passed out (of training)) + BOOK (=order, reserve); the “bound” of the definition refers to bookbinding
     
03 NASTIER In-laws occasionally row – getting more unpleasant

<i>N<l>A<w>S (“occasionally” means alternate letters only) + TIER (=row, line)
     
04 TOM Male parent’s upset without her

MOT<her> (=parent); “without her” means letters “her” are dropped; “upset” indicates vertical reversal
     
05 ROLLING IN IT Something a baker uses after power-cut – essentially suited having lots of dough

ROLLING <p>IN (=something a baker uses; after power (=P) cut” means letter “p” is dropped) + <su>IT<ed> (“essentially” means middle letters only)
     
06 GUINEAN Old coin found by North African

GUINEA (=old coin) + N (=north)
     
07 TEACHER TRAINING Maybe leaves pop star working out instruction for mistress-to-be?

TEA (=maybe leaves) + CHER (=pop star) + TRAINING (=working out, in gym); the mistress-to-be is a would-be schoolmistress
     
08 ASKEW Invite partners to get tipsy

ASK (=(to)invite) + E W (=partners, in bridge)
     
12 FLEET STREET Journalists settle up during free time

*(SETTLE) in [FREE + T (=time)]; “up” appears to be anagram indicator
     
15 LIP-READER One can see what you’re saying as pilot’s circling airport regularly

<a>I<r>P<o>R<t> (“regularly” means alternate letters only) in LEADER (=pilot)
     
17 INITIAL Sign current tax burden not ultimately lower

I (=current, in physics) + NI (=tax, i.e. National Insurance) + T<r>IAL (=burden, ordeal; “not ultimately lower” means last letter, i.e. “r” is dropped); to initial is to sign a document, say
     
18 ENNOBLE Raise steel bonnet components up

Hidden (“component”) and reversed (“up”) in “steEL BONNEts”; to ennoble is to raise in status to the ranks of the nobility
     
19 PEPSI Company making pop record inspired by, say, Virgin Media making a comeback

EP (=record, i.e. extended-play) in PSI (ISP=say, Virgin Media, i.e. Internet Service Provider; “making a comeback” indicates reversal); Pepsi is a company that makes pop, i.e. soft drinks!
     
22 TED Lastly, harvest rye and make hay?

<harves>T <ry>E <an>D; “lastly” means last letter only
     
     

19 comments on “Independent 11,413 / Bluth”

  2. Enjoyed very much. In 2d I had BO for Black Out and OK for ‘in order’ but I prefer your version. Otherwise I was able to solve and parse this logically and leisurely with minimal assistance which is always the goal. Favourites were TEACHER TRAINING ( a little hackneyed maybe but I liked the ‘mistress’ joke), LIFTS (liked the clue) and MULTITASK (I remembered ‘de-tailed’ from yesterday). Found about TENS online. Interesting. Thanks to both RR and Bluth.

  6. Sofamore@5
    You are right. ‘content to’ applies to the first two words and ‘when undressed’ applies to the next two words.
    Thanks.

  9. Well I have it as just ‘off’ undressed so ‘f’ after the content of the other two words otherwise there would be no point in having ‘content’ in the clue. 🙂

  10. Splendid puzzle as always and I was on Bluth’s wavelength for this one. With the exception of nho TENS for pain relief. Some very witty defs and cunning WP. Favourites include LIFTS, PREDICT, PROVIDENT, INKBLOT, COLD SNAPS, ROLLING IN IT and PEPSI.

    Thanks Bluth and RR

  13. Finished and parsed everything except: “17d Sign current tax burden not ultimately lower”
    The answer was obviously INITIAL, but I just couldn’t get past seeing “current” as IN
    and “not ultimately lower” telling me to take the last letter of “noT” and move it lower. D’oh.
    Thanks B&RR

  14. 20A had to be TENSILE but I had no idea about the abbreviation. At 12A, seems to me ‘up’ is a very weak and suspect anagrind, though often used here. Despite which, very enjoyable so thanks Bluth and RatkojaRiku.

  15. Very enjoyable as usual from Bluth, but there’s almost always one clue which I can’t parse in one of his puzzles. Today it was the difficult wordplay for COFFEE-TABLE BOOK, which I just bunged in from the def, which defeated me. For good measure, ‘Virgin media’ as an ISP at 19d was also unknown.

    Easy once solved, but it took me a while to see Dr Rorschach’s INKBLOT at 24a.

    Thanks to Bluth and RR

  17. Thanks both. I reverse-engineered the impressive COFFEE TABLE BOOK and parsed per RR and not the alternative suggestion here. INITIAL went in partially unparsed, so grateful for the enlightenment, which got me wondering why NI is dressed up as insurance when we all regard it as an additional tax….perhaps not something to dwell on

  18. Thanks RatkojaRiku & thanks all.

    KVa @1 perfectly explains my intended parsing for COFFEE TABLE BOOK.

    With SHERRIFF it was for the content of [t]HE[n] + the two words [d]RIF[t] [o]F[f] that are both stripped. I’m not convinced that “content to X Y” does mean the content to X and the content to Y – if it did I’d have taken away the ‘when stripped’.

    Tatrasaman @14. I think ‘up’ feels unsatisfactory to some largely because it has a more obvious meaning as a crossword indicator. But there are a couple of definitions for it that seem to me to be more than adequate.
    ‘In an excited state’ and ‘Amiss’ surely do the job.

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