Independent on Sunday 1,745/Hoskins

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Those that like Hoskins’ puzzles to be filled with drink and drug references won’t be disappointed by this one.

Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed

definitions are underlined

Across

1 Fickle girls wavering over new office bods
FILING CLERKS
An insertion of N in (FICKLE GIRLS)* The insertion indicator is ‘over’ and the anagrind is ‘wavering’.

8 One regularly beating duke’s more peculiar
DRUMMER
A charade of D and RUMMER.

9 A Catholic bishop punching drug lord?
MACBETH
An insertion of A, C and B in METH. The insertion indicator is ‘punching’.

11 Dying star by great Stratford river having a turn
SUPERNOVA
A charade of SUPER and AVON reversed.

12 Young woman from Yorkshire one will get a drink
LASSI
A charade of LASS and I.

13 Linesman worries after penalty at the death
YEATS
A charade of Y for the final letter of ‘penalty’ and EATS.

15 Heckled in pub by suffering editor
BARRACKED
A charade of BAR, RACK and ED.

17 Corsican upset without time for horse and the like
NARCOTICS
An insertion of T in (CORSICAN)* The insertion indicator is ‘without’ and the anagrind is ‘upset’.

18 Those heading to Ayr stop to experience smack
TASTE
The initial letters of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh words of the clue.

19 Drink with out-of-head friend? That’s rare!
WATER
A charade of W for ‘with’, [M]ATE and R.

21 Sack friends stealing old gems
FIRE OPALS
An insertion of O in FIRE and PALS. The insertion indicator is ‘stealing’.

24 Call up again about First Lady receiving fine
RE-EVOKE
A charade of RE and OK inserted into EVE. The insertion indicator is ‘receiving’.

25 One taking piss out of vacuously banal Serpent
BLADDER
A charade of B[ANA]L and ADDER.

26 Posterior man goes wild for drag queen, perhaps
IMPERSONATOR
(POSTERIOR MAN)*

Down

1 Dowdy woman fine with The Donald going topless
FRUMP
A charade of F and [T]RUMP.

2 Wine bar locum drunkenly entered by shop at front
LAMBRUSCO
An insertion of S for the initial letter of ‘shop’ in (BAR LOCUM)* The insertion indicator is ‘entered by’ and the anagrind is ‘drunkenly’.

3 I smuggle seventeen inside seminar conspicuously
NARCO
Hidden in semiNAR COnspicuously. ‘Seventeen’ refers to the solution to 17ac.

4 Friends from America armed cops worked over
COMPADRES
(ARMED COPS)*

5 Beat old conservative on rear to excite liberal
EXCEL
A charade of EX, C and EL for the final letters of the last two words of the clue.

6 Hold on to drinks from Japan as souvenirs
KEEPSAKES
A charade of KEEP and SAKES.

7 Unhelpful reply was rude and nasty, sadly
A DUSTY ANSWER
(WAS RUDE NASTY)*

10 People dealing with shocks for a living?
HAIRDRESSERS
A cd.

14 Ventilates squad with bit of rank trapped wind
AIRSTREAM
A charade of AIRS and R inserted into TEAM. The insertion indicator is ‘trapped’.

15 How gigolo might be at work without clients?
BRIEFLESS
A cd cum dd. When a gigolo is on the job, he’s likely to be without briefs.

16 Person in suit who looks down on almost everyone?
ASTRONAUT
A cd.

20 German banker is honourable, soldiers will hold
RHONE
An insertion of HON in RE for Royal Engineers. The insertion indicator is ‘will hold’.

22 One tweeting “men must return wine container”
ROBIN
A charade of OR for Other Ranks reversed and BIN. A chance for the obligatory Pierre bird link. Because it’s always pictured on the snow-capped shovel in Christmas Cards, some folk think it’s a winter visitor, but of course it’s here all year round.

23 Commie lawyer heading north for the summer?
ADDER
A reversal of RED and DA.

Many thanks to Hoskins for this Sunday’s puzzle.

 

24 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,745/Hoskins”

  2. @1 Bob Agree. Map show the ‘origine du rhone’ in Switzerland near the Italian border and the exit in the delta near Marseille. Might be a trick. Thanks Pierre and Hoskins.

  3. Is there something missing from the second def for briefless? Maybe it needs silk or something like that in there.

  5. 25a “One taking piss out of vacuously banal Serpent” – presumably Hoskins’s Indy colleague has a GSOH, but “vacuously banal” seems a bit harsh.

  7. Adjective – briefless (comparative more briefless, superlative most briefless – (law) Lacking briefs (clients)

  8. “I Only Want to Be with You” is the debut solo single released in 1963 – a 60-year anniversary – by British singer DUSTY Springfield.

  11. Typical Hoskins fare – though I don’t know how he gets away with defining the Rhone as German. Or Macbeth simply as ‘lord’ which strikes me as somewhat on the vague side. Or crossing ADDER with bl-ADDER in the SE. And does an ASTRONAUT look ‘down’? I guess it depends on one’s point of reference.

    That said, FILING CLERKS, BARRACKED and IMPERSONATOR made me smile.

    Pierre – a tiny point re 5d. I suspect it’s liberal = L for the final letter. Otherwise it would need to be ‘rears’ to rather than ‘rear’ wouldn’t it?

    Thanks Hoskins and Pierre

  12. nho the phrase “A DUSTY ANSWER” – Online it seems to appear only in Collins – ‘British English – an unhelpful or bad-tempered reply’ – Happy to learn it.
    https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/a-dusty-answer
    And an advanced Guardian Google search – ‘”A DUSTY ANSWER” site:www.theguardian.com’ – returns a score of instances with David Hare at the top…
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/08/david-hare-why-the-tory-project-is-bust
    …but this one is more fun…
    https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/oct/26/leibovitz-exhibition
    ‘Annie Leibovitz … is not just royal iconographer to the famous, she is the hallmark of celebrity itself. But in Britain, where we have a real monarch, she is lately better known for asking the Queen to take off her crown and getting a dusty answer in response.’

  14. FrankieG@6 🙂 I, too, thought that adder and bladder was odd, though you could say ALAN TURING makes it three adders. I think RHONE is just an error.

  15. Thanks both. RHONE sounds German so I was not hesitant over the answer. FILING CLERKS got me to thinking whether such still exist in our hi-tech world, and if so do they drink LAMBRUSCO? The thought of the ASTRONAUT looking down actually quite entertained me – we are surely overdue Major Tom featuring in another number one song

  17. Can people see my comment @12?
    It says “Your comment is awaiting moderation.” – because it contains three links.
    Does that mean it’s not there for everybody else? If so, I can split it.

  18. Loved our Hoskins as always – thanks to him and Pierre.

    In 12, I’m curious why the young lady needs to be identified as “from Yorkshire”. Chambers has “lass” as “A girl, young woman” without indicating that it is a regional term. Seems superfluous.

  19. Frankie G It’s not there yet. I tried to justify taking the first letter from drinking to give Columbard for LAMBRUSCO, but wisely abandoned the attempt.

  20. nho the phrase “A DUSTY ANSWER” – Online it seems to appear only in Collins – ‘British English – an unhelpful or bad-tempered reply’ – Happy to learn it.
    https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/a-dusty-answer
    And an advanced Guardian Google search – ‘”A DUSTY ANSWER” site:www.theguardian.com’ – returns a score of instances with David Hare at the top…
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/08/david-hare-why-the-tory-project-is-bust

  22. Haven’t previously heard of the phrase in 7d – does anyone actually use it?
    In all honesty this wasn’t my favourite puzzle from our ‘Arry, but I did brush up on my drug terminology and thought KEEPSAKES was delightful!
    Thanks to Hoskins and to Pierre for the review.

  24. Thanks Hoskins for an entertaining crossword with some of the best surfaces I’ve seen this week. I liked many of the clues including DRUMMER, MACBETH, YEATS, and IMPERSONATOR (great anagram). Thanks Pierre for the blog.

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