Independent 11,530 by Filbert

by

Another excellent puzzle with clues that were both concise and precise.

My favourite was 4D, where what looks like the most important part of the clue (scientists) turns out to be barely used and the simple word "mad" does nearly all the work. I don't know if it's been done before but 15D was a brilliant reversal clue.

ACROSS
1 SUSPENSION
Stay in South American boarding house (10)

S{outh} + US(=American) + pension(=boarding house). Def is in the sense of a stay of execution.
6 CROC
50% off dishes, one with huge chops (4)

Croc[kery]
10 ADD UP
Total brought to trial in London, one hears (3,2)

Hom of 'ad up(=Cockney version of had up)
11 ERUDITION
Dodgy uni tried pocketing Oscar’s scholarship (9)

(Uni tried)* around O(=Oscar in phonetic alphabet)
12 UNEARTH
Discover a little chateau near Thiepval (7)

Hidden in chateau near thiepval
13 EVICTOR
English player that’s successful, one getting you out? (7)

E{nglish} + victor
14 PRINCE GEORGE
Second in line wanting bananas in crepe or egg? (6,6)

(In crepe or egg)*
18 BUTTERSCOTCH
Behind queen’s bed check for sweets (12)

Butt(=behind) + ER's(=queen's) + cot(=bed) + ch{eck}(abbrev possibly used in chess)
21 IMPUGNS
Politician stops using prepared questions (7)

MP(politician) in(=stops) using*
23 ARMBAND
Marines collected by sailor with small inflatable (7)

(RM(=Royal Marines) in ab(=able seaman)) + and(=with)
24 GALLIPOLI
I see endless plundering around Turkish warzone (9)

(I lo(=see as in lo and behold) + pillag[e])<

25 AWFUL
Beheading sanctioned by legislation is shocking (5)

[L]awful
26 DUDS
Clothing belonging to Pete’s mate? (4)

DD – Dud's is a reference to Dudley Moore who formed a double act with Peter Cook.
27 GREEDY GUTS
Good guy deters criminal, one taking too much (6,4)

G{ood} + (guy deters)*
DOWN
1 SHAMUS
Suspect punched by amateur detective (6)

Sus{pect} around ham(=amateur, as in ham radio etc).
2 SODDEN
Drenched with rum, cake’s back in tin (6)

(Odd(=rum) + [cak]e) in Sn(=symbol for tin)
3 EMPEROR PENGUIN
Diver‘s rip fixed with neoprene gum (7,7)

(Rip + neoprene gum)*
4 SEE THINGS
Mad scientists ultimately hallucinate (3,6)

Mad(=seething) + [scientist]s
5 OF USE
Valuable ring to be melted (2,3)

O(=ring) + fuse(=to be melted, as in fuse together)
7 ROISTERS
Tories developed empty rationales for parties (8)

Tories* + r[ationale]s. Def is used as a verb.
8 CANARIES
Prison house in remote part of Spain (8)

Can(=prison) + Aries(=one of the so-called Zodiac houses). Def refers to the Canary Islands, which are a considerable distance from Spain, so the "remote" is part of the definition.
9 LIMITED COMPANY
Cramped guests registered concern (7,7)

Limited(=cramped) + company(=guests)
15 EVOCATIVE
Musical fellow turned to producing pictures (9)

(Evita(=musical) + cove(=fellow))<
16 ABRIDGED
Bill claims communication between banks cut (8)

Ad(=bill) around bridge(=communication between river banks)
17 STIPPLED
Rolling Stones prayed, marked with dots of paint (8)

Pits<(=stones in fruit such as cherries) + pled(=prayed)
19 MAN FLU
Someone overblowing his runny nose? (3,3)

CD, the "overblowing" referring to exaggerating the symptoms.
20 ADDLES
Goes off in leather seat with the top down (6)

Saddle with the S moved to the end.
22 SPOOR
Trail run that was a mistake, in retrospect (5)

(R{un} + Oops)<

9 comments on “Independent 11,530 by Filbert”

  1. Very enjoyable and exactly what Neal said in his preamble.
    Particularly liked SEE THINGS, LIMITED COMPANY, MAN-FLU and CROC.
    Many thanks to Filbert and NealH

  4. Super stuff as usual – CANARIES took me much longer than it should have! SPOOR, STIPPLED, and GALLIPOLI were my favourites.

    Thanks Filbert & NealH.

  5. STIPPLED – I was thinking the PLED – instead of pleaded – ” the perp pled down to murder two” – needed a US indicator. But no…
    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pled#English
    Verb – pled – (Canada, US, Scotland) – simple past and past participle of plead – 1802, The Edinburgh Magazine, v. XIX (new series), p. 70
    “When the indictment was read over, and the Jury sworn in, the prisoner pled guilty.”
    Scotland is still part of the UK – for now.

  7. On the difficulty scale we found this a Goldilocks puzzle, with plenty to enjoy, including SUSPENSION, ERUDITION and SEE THINGS.
    Thanks, Filbert and NealH.

  8. Thanks Filbert for an excellent crossword. I failed with CANARIES and MAN FLU and I couldn’t fully parse ADD UP, DUDS or EVOCATIVE (didn’t know cove=fellow) but none of that ruined my experience. My top picks were SUSPENSION, SODDEN, IMPUGN, SEE THINGS, GALLIPOLI, and SPOOR. Thanks NealH for the blog.

  9. Very late to comment today. As per, a cracking puzzle and quite a test from Filbert. NealH has rightly called out SEE THINGS as the standout clue, MAN FLU, STIPPLED, LIMITED COMPANY, SODDEN, IMPUGN and BUTTERSCOTCH were my other faves – amongst lots to like.

    Thanks Filbert and NealH

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