Independent on Sunday 1,734 by Italicus

by

The puzzle is available here.

 

Hello everyone.  Due to a typo I nearly announced that Ms Thunberg was to be blogging this.  What I actually meant was it’s great to blog an Italicus puzzle for the first time.

A nice Sunday level of difficulty for me; l started apace but slowed a little towards the end, finishing in the SW.  My favourite clues are 23a WASHINGTON, 6d ARMAGEDDON and the amusing 14d CALAMITOUS.  Thanks Italicus!

Edit: we have a theme!  See below for details.

 

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    Independent youngster enthralled by Northern Ireland’s mythical creatures (6)
INCUBI
I (independent) + CUB (youngster) inside (enthralled by) NI (Northern Ireland)

4a    Stuff bachelor left in Home Counties for race (8)
SCRAMBLE
CRAM (stuff), B (bachelor) and L (left) in SE (Home Counties)

10a   Gave off about age being respected (9)
VENERATED
VENTED (gave off) around (about) ERA (age)

11a   Well-known plumber from Rhode Island employed by chairman (5)
MARIO
RI (Rhode Island) inside (employed by) MAO (chairman).
Regular Indy solvers should be familiar with the plumber after a recent Tuesday!

12a   Swim across river, getting wet (4)
DRIP
DIP (swim) around (across) R (river).
I wondered about whether the definition quite works with wet watery stuff, but that doesn’t matter because a wet can also be a drip as in a weak ineffectual person

13a   Desperately hope girl has cropped image (10)
HELIOGRAPH
An anagram of (desperately) HOPE GIRL HAs without the last letter (cropped)

15a   Engineers given stick over project’s closing stage again (2-5)
RE-ENACT
RE (engineers) + CANE (stick) reversed (over) + projecT‘s last letter (closing)

16a   Flipping stupid wife abandoned ally in battle (6)
MIDWAY
DIM (stupid) backwards (flipping …) + W (wife) + AllY without the middle letters (abandoned …)

19a   Fellow confronted about drink (6)
DECAFF
The reversal of (… about) F (fellow) and FACED (confronted)

21a   Article put online by discontented Labourite’s follower (7)
APOSTLE
A (article) + POST (put online) + LabouritE without its content (discontented …)

23a   Was National Guard involved in strike on capital? (10)
WASHINGTON
WAS + NG National Guard inside (involved in) HIT (strike) + ON

25a   Staunch Tory oddly backing European project (4)
TRUE
Odd letters of (… oddly) ToRy + reversing (backing) EU (European project)

27a   Wonderful smell engulfs drug-free party (5)
BRAVO
BO (smell) surrounds (engulfs) RAV[e] (party) without E (drug-free …)

28a   Awe-struck model blundered around islands occupied by France (9)
TERRIFIED
T (model – model T) + ERRED (blundered) around I I (islands) with F inside (occupied by France)

29a   Variable rate adding certain value (8)
TREASURE
An anagram of (variable) RATE + SURE (certain)

30a   Rubber parts of tyres aren’t rotating (6)
ERASER
The answer is embedded in (parts of) tyRES AREn’t reversed (rotating)

 

Down

1d    Awfully vain doctor’s conserving energy for 18’s opponents (8)
INVADERS
An anagram of (awfully) VAIN and DR’S (doctor’s) holding (conserving) E (energy)

2d    Bug reportedly transmitted start of interview with journalist in Peru (9)
CENTIPEDE
CENT, which sounds like (reportedly) SENT (transmitted) + the first letter (start) of Interview + ED (journalist) in PE (Peru)

3d    Composer is blacklisted on the radio (4)
BARD
BARRED (blacklisted), homophone (on the radio)

5d    Italicus stops relative supporting rogue element (7)
CADMIUM
I (Italicus) goes inside (stops) MUM (relative) underneath (supporting) CAD (rogue)

6d    Disaster movie gamer reviewed in supplement (10)
ARMAGEDDON
An anagram of (… reviewed) GAMER in ADD–ON (supplement)

7d    Grave robber cutting end off a shroud (5)
BURKA
BURKe (grave robber) removing the last letter (cutting end off) + A

8d    Times has nothing on Switzerland in records (6)
EPOCHS
O (nothing) on CH (Switzerland), all in EPS (records)

9d    Starmer regularly introduced in customary way (6)
STREET
Alternate letters of (… regularly) sTaRmEr put inside (introduced in) SET (customary)

14d   Heartlessly indifferent about morning sex? That’s tragic! (10)
CALAMITOUS
Without the middle letter (heartlessly) CALlOUS (indifferent) around (about) AM (morning) and IT (sex)

17d   A complex organic compound covering small rocks (9)
ASTEROIDS
A + STEROID (complex organic compound) on top of (covering) S (small)

18d   Guardian put off accepting outcome (8)
DEFENDER
DEFER (put off) taking in (accepting) END (outcome)

20d   Belligerent female on reformed right pressing point (7)
FIGHTER
F (female) on an anagram of (reformed) RIGHT surrounding (pressing) E (point – compass point)

21d   Seaman died, crushed by propeller on ship (6)
ABOARD
AB (seaman) + D died underneath (crushed by) OAR (propeller)

22d   Cheap American dope imports start to overwhelm Belgium (3-3)
TWO-BIT
TWIT (dope) takes in (imports) the first letter of (start to) Overwhelm and B (Belgium)

24d   Tops up electronic capacity (5)
SPACE
CAPS (tops) reversed (up) + E (electronic)

26d   Storyteller hands round essentially descriptive article (4)
LIAR
L R (hands – left and right) surrounding (round) the central letter of (essentially) descrIptive and A (article)

 

15 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,734 by Italicus”

  4. Very enjoyable and nicely challenging as always with this setter. CALAMITOUS was my favourite of many excellent clues.

    I see a couple of Americanisms have crept in (both confirmed by Collins): the required synonym for HELIOGRAPH; and the abbreviation for National Guard.

    Many thanks to Italicus and to Kitty.

  5. As one who detests and avoids video games, the theme was lost on me, despite which the puzzle was hugely enjoyable, so thanks Italicus and Kitty.

  6. I had lot of the themed computer games on my BBC micro in the 70’s – ASTEROIDS, SPACE INVADERS, MARIO, DEFENDER …

    There are also some other examples packaged in there STREET FIGHTER, TREASURE ( mountain ) …

    Definitely a theme was intended.

    Thank you Italicus and Kitty.

  7. Video games have never appealed – better things to do with my time – but I have heard of MARIO although didn’t equate him with ‘plumber’.
    Didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the puzzle though and CALAMITOUS really made me laugh.

    Thanks to Italicus and to Miss K for the review.

  8. I recognised the video games theme (I’m old enough to remember SPACE INVADERS), though couldn’t identify all the thematic references. Still, theme or not, a very enjoyable puzzle with CALAMITOUS and my last in, the tricky CENTIPEDE my favourites.

    Thanks to Italicus and Kitty

  9. Many thanks to Kitty for the blog and to everyone who commented. This was a little homage to my mispent youth in the arcades of Brighton. The themed clues were the video games SPACE INVADERS, SCRAMBLE, CENTIPEDE, STREET FIGHTER, DEFENDER and ASTEROIDS plus MIDWAY (the game company that produced many of these games) and MARIO (the now ubiquitous character of the game Donkey Kong). Glad that CALAMITOUS made people smile!

  10. Thanks Italicus. Now that I’m assured of the compete list of themers, I’ve added a highlighted grid to the blog.

  12. Thanks Italicus for entertainment much better than any video game. I started this slowly but finished quickly, missing only SPACE because I never thought to separate electronic from capacity. Often the simple ones become the hardest for me to solve. In any event I chose MIDWAY, DECAFF, and BRAVO as my favourites. Thanks Kitty for the blog.

  13. I’ve never taken much interest in video games except for a brief while many years ago playing Lemmings, but then computers got too fast. So the theme passed us by, but the puzzle was solvable, and enjoyably so, with no knowledge of the theme. Our only quibble was with BARD which to us is a poet rather than a composer – but then we suppose a poet composes poetry and we’ve just remembered that the full title of Wordworth’s famous sonnet is Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
    Thanks, Italicus and Kitty.

  14. It took me ages to get started on this and I didn’t think I’d finish, but then I had. Didn’t spot the theme, though.

  15. Finally finished this today after dipping into at bedtimes for five or ten minutes at a time, but got Medway rather than Midway. As usual, completely missed the theme.
    Like the blogger, started off fast and then slowed right down. Thanks Italicus and Kitty 🙂

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