Independent 11,656 by Gila

by

I mostly enjoyed this and there were some great surfaces.

However, I thought one or two of the clues were stretching word association a bit too far, particularly 22 and 15. Favourite clues were 9 and 24.

ACROSS
1 PASS MUSTER
Fantastic Spurs team does ultimately qualify (4,6)

(Spurs team [doe]s)*
6 DOER
Active sort of ruminant alongside river (4)

Doe(=female deer, a ruminant species) + r{iver}
9 GET KNOTTED
Snarl “Go away!” (3,7)

DD
10 I SEE
Ah, gotcha…it’s extremely, extremely expensive! (1,3)

I[t]s + e[xpensiv]e
12 MEGA
To some extent, full-time gaming is very good (4)

Hidden in full-time gaming
13 APPENDAGE
Writer in the end decided to fill a sheet for attachment (9)

(Pen(=writer) + [decide]d) in a page(=a sheet)
15 RUEFULLY
King handily dismissing son in a deplorable way (8)

R(=rex,king) + u[s]efully. I struggle a bit with ruefully as meaning "in a deplorable way", although some online thesauruses do give it as a weak synonym.
16 LATEST
News of Hollywood trial? (6)

LA(=Los Angeles, of which Hollywood is a part, necessitating the question mark) + test
18 BARBIE
Hurtful remark expressed initially about international blockbuster comedy (6)

(Barb(=hurtful remark) + e[xpressed]) around i{nternational}
20 PEEKABOO
Hold back a show of disapproval for childish game (8)

Keep<(=hold back) + a boo(=cry of disapproval)
23 ISOMETRIC
One brief moment to take in a certain type of exercise (9)

(I(=one) tric[e](=brief moment) around some(=a certain)
24 TALL
Lofty ambitions may belie frailness at heart (4)

Middle letters of the words "ambitions may belie frailness"
26 EMOS
A few withdrawn, angsty teens, perhaps (4)

Some<. I'm not totally sure what the def refers to – possibly emocore music, which is associated with angsty teens.
27 ANKLE BOOTS
Tattered blankets covering over old shoes (5,5)

Blankets* around (o{ver} o{ld}). O for over would be valid in cricket.
28 SO SO
Fair appeal leading to duck (2-2)

SOS(=appeal for salvation) + o(=duck)
29 WOODPECKER
Crooked cop worked to import drug for drummer? (10)

(Cop worked)* around E(=ecstasy drug)
DOWN
1 PUGS
Toys left out of adverts (4)

P[l]ugs(=adverts). The def refers to toy dogs, of which the pug is an example.
2 SO THERE
Take that lush present (2,5)

Sot(=lush, as in a drunkard) + here(=present)
3 MINIATURISED
When mistreated, it ruins media like microfiches? (12)

(It ruins media)*
4 SATIABLE
Rising temptation in market can be slaked (8)

Bait< in sale
5 EXEMPT
Former politician appearing in film for free (6)

Ex(=former) + (MP(=politician) in ET(=Spielberg film)).
7 ON STAGE
Single, unaccompanied guy inside making a scene, maybe (2,5)

One around stag(=unmarried man). The def would refer to making a scene in a play.
8 RE-ELECTION
Dance piece with no intro being put in again (2-8)

Reel(=dance) + [s]ection
11 UNMARKETABLE
Brand acquired by a foreign board is not fit for sale (12)

(Mark(=brand) in une(=French for "a")) + table(=board)
14 GRUBBINESS
Filthy state of food container finally made chefs cross (10)

Grub(=food) + bin(=container) + last letters of made chefs cross
17 DESCALED
Removed gunk from damaged Adele CDs (8)

(Adele CDs)
19 RIOTOUS
Carnival city – as we see it – is wild (7)

Rio(=carnival city due to its annual pre-lent carnival) + to us(=as we see it)
21 BULLOCK
Building housing oddly ugly animal (7)

Block(=building) around odd letters of ugly
22 PRONTO
Golf instructor not playing quickly (6)

Pro(=golf instructor?) + not*. I found this one the most contentious. There are pros in all sorts of sports and they don't just teach, so why specifically a golf instructor?
25 TSAR
Leaders from the Senate meeting a Republican authority figure (4)

T[he] S[enate] + a R{epublican}

12 comments on “Independent 11,656 by Gila”

  1. Thanks Gila and Neal

    I think the reference in 22 is to the fact that golf clubs generally have a pro with whom members book lessons.

  2. EMOS
    dictionary.cambridge.org says under emo
    -a type of popular punk music with words about people’s feelings and emotions
    -a young person who likes this music, wears mainly black clothes, and is often nervous, worried, and unhappy
    EMOS are angsty teens, perhaps!

    Thanks Gila and Neal

  3. No problem for me with pro for golf instructor, for the reasons Simon S gives. Deplorable can mean lamentable so I don’t have a problem with that one either, though it’s not the most obvious synonym that springs to mind.

    Emos as per KVa. I like to see more modern terms like this appearing in crosswords. Makes a nice change from Gilbert & Sullivan references.

    Very enjoyable puzzle – inventive and tricky in places but all came together nicely in the end. Thanks, Gila and NealH.

  5. This was quite challenging in places, but great fun apart from 26a, the answer to which is an ugly creation with the required meaning appearing in neither Chambers nor Collins.

    Many thanks to Gila and to Neal.

  6. I’m with RD in despising 26a but otherwise enjoyed this quite challenging puzzle. Top three places going to GET KNOTTED, LATEST & RIOTOUS with a nod to PASS MUSTER.

    Thanks to Gila and to Neal for the review.

  7. Looks like there’s a split forming over EMOS – I liked it and had no difficulty with the definition, FWIW.

    All quite nice, though I couldn’t comfortably parse ISOMETRIC and raised an eyebrow at RUEFULLY. GET KNOTTED was lovely, and GRUBBINESS, SO THERE and PASS MUSTER also very nice. LOI was DOER, which I just couldn’t see for all the different ruminants that were running through my head!

    Thanks Gila and Neal

  8. oed.com dates EMO-core to 1986 and EMO to 1988 – so not quite as modern as one might think. But a nice change from the usual suspects. I liked it, too.
    Thanks G&NH

  9. A minor point:
    ISOMETRIC
    ISOMETRICs: ‘a system of exercise’ or else it is ‘ISOMETRIC exercises’.
    Some mismatch or have I not understood it properly?

  11. Thanks both. I went awry for a while having entered instead of GRUBBINESS crustiness using crust for food, tin for the container….LOI was SATIABLE as I did not know the meaning of ‘slaked’ and could equate market to sell, but not sale.

  12. I gave up on a few of these, but still got a laugh ftom GET KNOTTED when I revealed.

    EMOS and PRO not a problem for me. An emo golf pro would be something.

    Thanks Gila and NealH.

Comments are closed.