Independent 11,602 by Hoskins

by

I found this mostly on the easy side with a few that I struggled to get at the end.

Some of the clues were quite heavy on single character abbreviations and it was at times a little difficult to justify some of those. For 15, I had Tava as the answer for a while (T joints are used in plumbing) and unfortunately that is an island as well. This kind of confusion can occur with short words which use lots of short single letter abbrevs. My favourite clue was 11 – not difficult but I thought the anagram was beautifully concealed.

ACROSS
6 GUMBALL
American sweet fool knocked back at dance (7)

Mug< + ball(=dance)
7 UGRIC
You good with mostly wealthy Hungarian? (5)

U(=you in text speak) + g{ood} + ric[h]. The ref is a bit unclear – it may refer to the Ugric people, who were considered ancestors of modern Hungarians, or the Hungarian language, which is in a group of languages called Ugric.
9 DATA
Dope? A little bit must be brought over! (4)

(A tad)<. Dope is used a slang term for information.
10 UNBECOMING
Bouncing me around is not appropriate (10)

(Bouncing me)*
11 REDUCING
Cutting down on nice drug? Preposterous! (8)

(Nice drug)*
13 BOWLER
Dish seen with that woman from Bow is a cricketer (6)

Bowl(=dish) + 'er(=Cockney version of her).
15 JAVA
A joint rolled by viscount close to Etna Island (4)

Seems to be (a J{oint})< v{iscount} + [Etn]a. I've not found j for joint as an official abbrev, although I suppose it would be used in things like Joint Intelligence Taskforce=JIT. Likewise, I haven't found v for viscount, although it probably is allowed.
17 DYING
Longing to get mortal might one say? (5)

CD/DD
18 TALK
Dog stealthily releases bit of stinky gas (4)

[S]talk
19 ANSELM
Saint by a tree cuddling couple of Poles (6)

(A elm) around NS(=North South i.e. poles). Anselm was an archbishop of Canterbury who died in 1109.
20 TOP WHACK
Best smack will have the highest price (3,5)

DD
23 FLY BY NIGHT
Take the late red-eye that’s unreliable? (3-2-5)

DD. A red-eye flight is one which departs at night and arrives the next morning.
26 AQUA
A question and answer for water (4)

A + qu{estion} + a{nswer}
27 TEXAS
Tense son, having caught flipping chopper, is a state (5)

(T{ense} s{on}) around axe
28 BOOZE UP
Heard disgusted cries in court session (5-2)

Hom of boos + up(=in court)
DOWN
1 IMMACULATE
I’m a male cut out to get completely clean (10)

(I'm a male cut)*
2 WATUSI
African I noticed turning around Trade Union (6)

(I saw)< around T{rade} U{nion}. Watusi is an older name for the Tutsi people.
3 SLOB
Son of a bitch that’s kidnapped large layabout (4)

SOB(=US abbrev for son of a bitch) around l{arge}
4 PUNCHBAG
One given a hit by smack dealer in gym? (8)

CD
5 DRUM
One hit of drugs at first, then liquor (4)

D[rugs] + rum
6 GRAVE
Very serious stiff might be found here (5)

DD (stiff in the sense of corpse)
8 CONGEAL
Conservative setter taking in a clot (7)

Con{servative} + gel(=setter) around a
12 GRIFT
Swindle American GM primarily with opening? (5)

Initial letter of G[M] + rift(+opening)
14 WATCHMAKER
Keep an eye on God? That could be a job! (10)

Watch(=keep an eye on) + maker(=God)
16 ANNULET
Ring nun late in need of some ‘guidance’ (7)

(Nun late)*
17 DUMBNESS
Idiocy ends with bums jiggling about (8)

(Ends + bums)*
21 PYTHON
Yankee tucks into pint with honey Serpent (6)

Y{ankee}(=phonetic alphabet) in p{in}t + hon{ey}. Hon can be an abbrev for honey when it is used as a pet name for someone.
22 CHUMP
Companion sat on posh politician is a fool (5)

Ch(=Companion of Honour) + U(=posh in U/Non-U terminology) + MP(=politician)
24 BOXY
Squarish-looking lad welcomes kiss (4)

Boy around X(=kiss on postcards etc)
25 GIBE
Dig swinging German coming up on ecstasy (4)

(Bi{sexual}(=swinging) + G{erman})< + e[cstasy]. Swinging here is used in the sense of “swinging both ways” rather than the Hugh Hefner Playboy Mansion meaning.

12 comments on “Independent 11,602 by Hoskins”

  3. This pangram was mostly light and good fun all the way. I’m pleased to see the Americanisms in 6a & 12d properly indicated, so it would seem slightly churlish to say that it was a repetition!

    Perhaps Nice in 11a could have been capitalised as a relevant acronym?

    My top picks were TOP WHACK, FLY-BY-NIGHT and BOOZE-UP.

    Many thanks to Hoskins and to Neal.

  4. Simon @2. 23a is a double definition, so “unreliable” should be underlined as well as “take the late red-eye”.

  5. Lots of Hoskins fun to be had today.

    The 25d/28a combo held out for far too long.

    Hadn’t heard of St. ANSELM or the WATUSI, but the ultra clear wordplay and crossers left me with no doubts.

    As is often the case with the penny drop clues my LOI BOOZE UP was probably my favourite.

    Thanks to Hoskins and NealH

  6. wrt JAVA, Chambers has J for joint (informal) and I have to confess I have encountered it in that context so Hoskins is off the hook. Perhaps this completely condemns my lifestyle but I cannot count any viscounts among my acquaintances so am unable to support the setter on that score.

    Maybe it’s the onset of Christmas but it felt like there were quite a lot of drink references …

    Thanks Hoskins and NealH

  7. Update: Collins has V = viscount but, oddly, it is listed under American English. I’m not sure why the Americans would need an abbreviation for viscount.

  8. Like PostMark, I am afraid to say, I am more familiar with “J”s , from my misspent youth, than I am with Viscounts. I don’t know if this is one of the alternating Drunk/sober puzzles. If so, it appears to be rather high than drunk.

  10. Our ‘arry was certainly flying ‘high’ with this one – a good laugh for the festive season.
    My choice of top clues mirrors that of RD, namely TOP WHACK ,FLY-BY-NIGHT & BOOZE-UP.

    Many thanks and all the best to Hoskins and similarly to Neal.

  11. Thanks both. ANSELM was unknown, and it held out for a time, while I tried to do something with ‘by’ in the clue. For CHUMP ‘sat’ instead of ‘sitting’ seems grammatically incorrect though very much modern parlance I know

  12. loi – [s]TALK – took me longer to get than all the rest put together – the dog passing wind and blaming it on you – cotd

Comments are closed.