Independent 11,818 by Gila

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This was on the easier end of the spectrum for Monday puzzles, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

There were lots of nice clues but 17D was probably my favourite for the misdirection.

ACROSS
1 SHOT PUTTER
Very tired club athlete (4,6)

Shot(=very tired) + putter(=golf club)
6 HAIR
Hot show becomes a musical (4)

H{ot} + air(=show as a verb)
9 SHINGLE
Individual pocketing hard, small stones (7)

Single(=individual) around h{ard}
10 PASTELS
Staples possibly used for some Cassatt works (7)

Staples*. Refers to Mary Cassatt, who painted many pastels.
12 BALENCIAGA
Fashion house manufactured a nice bag featuring a logo at the front (10)

(A nice bag)* around (a l[ogo])
13 TEA
Leaves the bar, oddly (3)

Odd letters of the bar
15 RWANDA
Central components of forward country? (6)

DD/CD – the middle letters of forward are R, W and A.
16 FELL FLAT
Accommodation on moorland proved to be a letdown (4,4)

Flat(=accommodation) after fell(=moorland)
18 PARADISE
Heaven is located within a row of shops (8)

Is in parade
20 MACRON
Big-picture, ultimately utilitarian European leader (6)

Macro(=big-picture e.g. macro-economics) + [utilitaria]n
23 GAB
Large amount of data about a talk (3)

GB(=gigabyte) around a
24 EMANATIONS
Each country’s restricting the onset of major emissions (10)

(Ea{ch) + nation's) around m[ajor]
26 NICOSIA
Capital from independent firms invested in Northern Ireland and America (7)

(I{ndependent} + Co{mpanies}) in N{orthern} I{reland} + A{merica}. Nicosia is a the capital of Cyprus.
27 TEACHER
Title mostly covering every single coaching role (7)

Ter[m](=title) around each(=every single)
28 ACAI
It contains antioxidants and saccharin occasionally (4)

Even letters of saccharin
29 LEAD ASTRAY
Corrupt metal starts to affect smartphone charger? (4,6)

Lead(=metal) + a[ffect] s[martphone] + tray, a charger being a type of tray.
DOWN
1 SESH
Casual get-together aboard cruise ship? (4)

HIdden in cruise ship. The def is a slang shortening of the word session, referring to a session in a pub etc.
2 OKINAWA
I know a smashing area somewhere in the Pacific (7)

(I know a)*. Okinawa is an area of Japan, possibly best known as the origin of karate.
3 PIG HEADEDNESS
Inflexibility of editor involved in disastrous design phase (3-10)

Ed{itor} in (design phase)*
4 TRENCH
Fish around river channel (6)

Tench around r[iver]
5 EMPHASES
Stresses seem periodically to accompany developmental stages (8)

Even letters of seem + phases(=developmental stages)
7 ABETTAL
A tablet reconfigured for helping illegal activity (7)

(A tablet)*
8 RESTARTING
Being at ease takes skill and going back to square one (10)

Resting aound art(=skill)
11 SMALL CAPITALS
Certain characters seen in San Marino and Vatican City? (5,8)

CD/DD – San Marino and Vatican City, as well as being countries in their own right, are also their own capitals.
14 PROPAGANDA
Support a government with a spread of information (10)

Prop(=support) + a g{overnment} + and(=with) + a
17 ESCALATE
Key bacteria finally found on dead mushroom (8)

Esc(=key, the Escape key) + [bacteri]a + late(=dead). Mushroom here is used as a verb e..g. to mushroom out of control.
19 REBECCA
Novel about bishop heading off for holy city (7)

Re(=about) + b[ishop] + [M]ecca(=Islamic holy city)
21 RANCHER
Was the lead singer a big stockholder? (7)

Not sure on this – seems to be ran(=was) + Cher(=lead singer)
22 LASTED
Salted nuts didn’t run out (6)

Salted*
25 ARTY
Pretentious group of people lacking power (4)

[P]arty

15 comments on “Independent 11,818 by Gila”

  1. Enjoyed this, easier on a Monday is a nice thing… cluing was fair and clear, not too much to ask , I feel… 2dn may require another “a for area” in the fodder…?
    Thanks Gila n NealH

  2. I had ‘ran’ = ‘was the lead’ and ‘Cher’ = ‘singer’. NICOSIA needs Co’s for ‘companies’ to get the S.

  3. I think I am agreeing with Undrell: OKINAWA ends with the a given by ‘area’ after the anagram of I KNOW A. I thought Gila came up with some cracking surfaces today – all very natural – to hide some good constructions. Faves inc SHOT PUTTER, SHINGLE, RWANDA, FELL FLAT, NICOSIA, TEACHER, SMALL CAPITALS, ESCALATE and LASTED.

    I agree with Hovis ref RAN CHER.

    Thanks Gila and NealH

  7. Very enjoyable puzzle for a somewhat autumnal Bank Holiday Monday. Top clues for me were BALENCIAGA, FELL FLAT, LEAD ASTRAY & ESCALATE.

    Thanks to Gila and also to Neal.

  8. Yes, this was relatively light for a Gila puzzle but it was certainly a lot of fun.

    12a perplexed me, but Mrs RD came to my rescue when I showed her the checking letters and said I was looking for a fashion house.

    I’ve said it many times before (and I expect I will need to again) but, unless I should have gone to SpecSavers, G = government is not in Collins. It is given in Chambers but only as a part of the American term G-man.

    I had plenty of ticks and LEAD ASTRAY was my favourite.

    Many thanks to Gila and to Neal.

  10. Rabbit Dave. To be fair, that isn’t what Chambers says (at least not in the app). It gives G for Government with G-man listed as an example, in a similar way to giving G for German with G-agents as an example. If these were the only examples, then I’d have to agree with you but they aren’t.

  11. Simon S @9. I don’t think it’s considered acceptable in crosswords to use part of an abbreviation. You wouldn’t use H for his or her, nor M for Majesty.

    Hovis @10. Why would Chambers choose to give an example for G = Government if it is a recognised standalone abbreviation, and especially why pick an American term?

  12. Why give G-agents? You’d have to ask Chambers. As for the H for his/her and M for Majesty, my understanding is that if a letter is used to stand for the same thing in several different initialisms then a reference source may well elevate it to a stand alone abbreviation. This can be somewhat hit-and-miss so different dictionaries often differ but I don’t think you can fault the setters on this one. Or maybe you can but I can’t 😀

  13. Thanks both. I am never one to rely on dictionary listings, so ‘g’ for government works for me because it’s been in crosswords 1000 times before, in the same way though I bemoan it that more often than not ‘film’ = ‘ET’ even thought the title has the words The Extra-Terrestrial at the end. In other news. I was pleased to guess BALENCIAGA as it strayed into my nemesis territory of ‘please keep this in English’.

  14. Lovely puzzle. Clever, fair and accessible.

    On the subject of abbreviations taken out of their usual setting, this is fair game, certainly for “Government”. A for America is found in USA, SA, NA, but not generally on its own and, even if it were, G for government is very well recognised and the example you cite is as good as any to demonstrate it.

    I know it’s irritating, if you disagree.

  15. PJ @14. I don’t think that your point about A is valid. For me, abbreviations need to be found in relevant dictionaries (e.g.: the Indy specifies Collins and the Telegraph uses Chambers). Both Chambers and Collins list A = America(n) but neither lists H = his/her (as per Simon @9’s example) and, as mentioned in 8, G = government is not in Collins so presumably shouldn’t be included in an Indy puzzle.

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