Independent 11,848/Twin

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I enjoyed solving and blogging this offering from Twin. Easier to solve than parse in a number of places, I would say.

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 He’s clinging to top of pear tree
MAPLE
An insertion of P for the initial letter of ‘pear’ in MALE. The insertion indicator is ‘clinging to’.

4 A brief stopping place for space traveller
SATELLITE
An insertion of A and TELL in SITE.  The insertion indicator is ‘stopping’.

9 Weird sort breaking zip’s opening below bridge
NOSTRIL
An insertion of (SORT)* in NIL. The insertion indicator is ‘breaking’ and the anagrind is ‘weird’.

10 Recording equipment in case BMW crashed
WEBCAMS
(CASE BMW)* with ‘crashed’ as the anagrind.

11 Strike briefly, like this politician
THUMP
A charade of THU[S] and MP.

12 Deadpool, possibly naked, about to recover of course
NATURALLY
A charade of UTAN reversed and RALLY. UTAN comes from [M]UTAN[T], because Deadpool in the Marvel comic series is a mutant. No, I hadn’t either.

13 Cold beach, popular with an eccentric
UNAPPROACHABLE
(BEACH POPULAR AN)* with ‘eccentric’ as the anagrind.

17 Penny replaced one percent RRP nominal fee
PEPPERCORN RENT
A charade of P (ONE PERCENT RRP)* with ‘replaced’ as the anagrind.

21 Distract party with dog
SIDETRACK
A charade of SIDE and TRACK.

24 Council secretary’s exterior show of support
SYNOD
A charade of SY for the outside letters of ‘secretary’ and NOD.

25 Liberal continuing to spend zero yen
LONGING
A charade of L and ONG[O]ING.

26 European breaking tooth, perhaps, over herb
OREGANO
A charade of E inserted into ORGAN and O. The insertion indicator is ‘breaking’.

27 Natural environment welcoming check on energy
ECOSYSTEM
A charade of E, COSY and STEM.

28 Retired businessman penning tense book
TITUS
An insertion of T in SUIT reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘penning’ and the reversal indicator is ‘retired’. TITUS is one of Paul’s three pastoral epistles in the New Testament.

Down

1 Cretan resident‘s maiden name found in letter to Greek city of old
MINOTAUR
A charade of M, an insertion of N in IOTA and UR. The insertion indicator is ‘found in’.

2 Suggest tossing out staple
POSTULATE
(OUT STAPLE)* with ‘tossing’ as the anagrind.

3 Continental style reflected French way with repeating work
EUROPOP
A charade of RUE reversed and OP twice.

4 Quiet sub getting resentful about spectacle
SPLENDOUR
An insertion of P and LEND in SOUR. The insertion indicator is ‘getting … about’

5 That is what one might do with broken-down car
TO WIT
If your vehicle broke down, you might TOW IT.

6 Country‘s mostly malign atmosphere recalled
LIBERIA
A charade of LIBE[L] and AIR reversed.

7 Summarising at length, not taking sides
IN ALL
[F]INALL[Y]

8 Aides, say, shouldn’t carry papers
ESSAYS
Hidden in AidES SAY Shouldn’t.

14 Screen upcoming Othello, say, where people go?
CLOAKROOM
A charade of CLOAK and MOOR reversed. CLOAKROOM is a rather dated, slightly upper class word for toilet.

15 Prepare to attack Sunday morning choice, perhaps spoken mass
LIE IN WAIT
A charade of LIE IN and aural wordplay (‘spoken’) of WEIGHT. Mass and WEIGHT are not the same thing. We know. But in common use, they are; and in crosswords they certainly can be.

16 Academic boss is touring Oxford University
STUDIOUS
A charade of STUD and OU inserted into IS. The insertion indicator is ‘touring’.

18 Maybe cat on railway crossing provided scare
PETRIFY
A charade of PET and IF inserted into RY. The insertion indicator is ‘crossing’.

19 Beginning and ending of Norman conquest
NASCENT
A charade of N for the final letter of ‘Norman’ and ASCENT.

20 Princess carried inside in other words
ISOLDE
An insertion of SOLD in IE for id est. The insertion indicator is ‘inside’. ‘The shop sells/carries a wide range of haberdashery items.’

22 In the end, did you policemen mean to search me?
DUNNO
The final letters of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth words of the clue.

23 French menu item missing key idiom
ARGOT
[ESC]ARGOT

Many thanks to Twin for the start to the crosswording week in the Independent.

11 comments on “Independent 11,848/Twin”

  1. Wow. Second toughie on a Monday morning. Just finished in time for work.

    A very enjoyable solve that really made me struggle in places. I had a few missing explanations but got them from blog.

    Thanks Twin and Yank

  3. Thanks both. Like Pierre, this was very much about explaining rather than getting a solution, and no wonder now I read what is here…. ISOLDE was certainly a stretch, OREGANO tells me something I didn’t know that a tooth is an organ, and the Deadpool element in NATURALLY rang no bells. If anyone uses our CLOAKROOM as a toilet, they may well require a good dentist.

  5. Thanks Pierre – we enjoyed solving the puzzle today. We needed a search for ?UTAN? as we had no idea who or what Deadpool was – you live and learn.

    Like NATURALLY, some answers went in and were only parsed afterwards but we have found that we sometimes have to do this with a Twin puzzle.

    Thanks Twin – see you in York.

  6. Excellent puzzle. High quality cluing as always from Twin. Tough to get into then everything unravelled nicely.

    Thanks Twin and Pierre

  7. What a good puzzle, with a lot of very clever surfaces too numerous to list.

    Quite a lot of reversals to contend with and I was really pleased to finish this. Had to stare at ISOLDE and SATELLITE for a long time before parsing them but as with all else they were fair enough.

  9. Thanks Pierre and Twin, tough I thought. Well done Pierre on explaining stuff like Deadpool I’d never get.

  10. Started this late last night, found it slow going and left it about two-thirds complete but when I came back to it this morning everything fell into place. I couldn’t see the parsing of 4ac and 26ac, whilst ‘Deadpool’ was totally unknown. I did know ISOLDE, although she’s not a princess who comes readily to mind.
    Thanks, Twin and Pierre.

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