Independent 11,878 by Brunel

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Brunel starts the week with a relatively rare visit to weekday puzzles

Found this largely gentle with a couple that made me pause for a bit, can’t see Ninas or themes, thanks Brunel

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Not alarmed by deranged nut tossing boulder (10)
UNTROUBLED

NUT* deranged & a tossed BOULDER*

6. Flower display (4)
WEAR

Double def-ish WEAR is a UK river or flow-er

9. One putting up English clergyman (7)
ERECTOR

E(nglish) & RECTOR – clergyman

10. Undertaker, perhaps, though probably not driving a hearse? (4,3)
ROAD HOG

Cryptic def – road hogs would be unlike to travel at hearse speeds. Having said that they tend to go pretty quickly outside of the processions themselves. If there’s wordplay I can’t see it.

12. Audiovisual connector problem causing lasting sign of damage (4,6)
SCAR TISSUE

SCART – a largely obsolete cable connector type & ISSUE – problem

13. Enclosed area needing parking space (3)
PEN

P(arking) & EN – printing space the size on an “n”

15. Keep hidden blue story with position- swapping (3,3)
LIE LOW

LOW – blue & LIE – story with the words swapped

16. Harm ultimately avoided by France in Calais, their historic Channel port (8)
HARFLEUR

HAR(m) – finally avoided & F(rance) & LEUR – their in French

18. Billing daily departure (zero deduction applied) (8)
CHARGING

CHAR – cleaner, daily & O – zero – removed from G(o)ING

20. Binge, having endless pie – illness follows (3,3)
PIG OUT

Endless PI(e) & GOUT – disease

23. Show computer technology will encounter resistance? (3)
AIR

AI – artificial intelligence & R(esistance)

24. Charly’s upset, Maureen’s audibly tearful (10)
LACHRYMOSE

CHARLY* upset & MOSE – sounds like MO’S – Maureen is

26. Perhaps Nos. of consecutive notes, dispatched in reverse order (7)
DENIALS

D&E – consecutive notes & SLAIN – despatched – reversed

27. Maybe 25 vehicle‘s cabin wrecked on motorway (7)
MINICAB

MI a British motorway & a wrecked CABIN*

28. Herbivore returns to plant (4)
REED

DEER reversed

29. Ones playing the game believe in games kit (10)
SPORTSWEAR

SPORT as in he’s a good sport, he plays the game & SWEAR – believe

DOWN
1. Sovereign narrowed Zulu region only recently expanded, and that’s controversial (4)
ULEZ

A narrowed (r)ULE(r) – sovereign & Z(ulu). Took me a little while to realise it was only the Z from zulu that was required

2. Sweet, sticky liquid from maple, possibly about a centilitre (7)
TREACLE

A & CL – centilitre all in TREE – maple say

3. Expose former head of state with looming disaster overhanging a one-time country (5,8)
OUTER MONGOLIA

OUT – expose & ER – the late queen &a disastrous LOOMING* & A

4. Not only straight; into unclothed doll (6)
BARBIE

BI – sexual orientation in BARE – unclothed

5. Train user to reset a computer, finally (8)
EUROSTAR

Train service between the UK and Europe, reset [USER TO]* & A & end of (compute)R

7. Buoyed by drug, man’s record- breaking leap (7)
ECHAPPE

A ballet step, CHAP breaking into EP – record & E – drug, new to me but I was never going to be a ballet dancer

8. A green tree, blighted, to grow again (10)
REGENERATE

A blighted [A GREEN TREE]*

11. Pack member‘s naked face-off on ice (3,2,8)
ACE OF DIAMONDS

a naked (f)ACE OF(f) & DIAMONDS – ice

14. Run fails to open after boycott of comic role (10)
BLACKADDER

BLACK – boycott & (l)ADDER – run

17. Rouses and impregnates (6,2)
KNOCKS UP

Double def

19. Order a luxury car and stripped-down banger (7)
ARRANGE

A & RR – Rolls Royce & a stripped (b)ANGE(r)

21. Tool reportedly used to underpin ginormous bone (7)
OSSICLE

OS – huge & what sounds like SICKLE

22. Textbook example is 23, right? (6)
PRIMER

PRIME of which 23 is an example & R(ight)

25. More buses brought back, restricting taxi operator (4)
UBER

Hidden reversed in moRE BUses

11 comments on “Independent 11,878 by Brunel”

  1. ROAD HOG
    Undertaker, perhaps (as opposed to a law-abiding overtaker).
    This one is unlikely to drive a hearse.

    Thanks Brunel and flashling.

  2. If setters are going to insist on including random French places, perhaps they or their editors could ensure the wordplay is unambiguous to those without the general knowledge. ‘Maim’ is a synonym for ‘harm’, and makes a perfectly sensible-looking MAIFLEUR (Mayflower en francais). Harrumph.

  3. Grumpy @2: you make a perfectly reasonable request though I am struggling to find MAIFLEUR as a Channel port. Pretty much everything on the web refers to the horse of that name. Given that the alternative parse does not lead to a word that meets the definition, I’d have thought that leaves the setter on fairly solid ground?

    I needed crossers for ROAD HOG although I was fairly confident; I’d always taken the word to refer to inconsiderately taking up space on the road – typically occupying a motorway lane when others are trying to pass – rather than other forms of dangerous driving. If anything, I can imagine those other drivers undertaking to pass the road hog.

    Thanks Brunel and flash

  4. Thanks Brunel and flashling

    Took pretty much average time but felt like longer. NE corner with its French connections took as long as the rest of the puzzle. ulez might be a bit too parochial for a National newspaper with international reach. Still enjoyed a lot, minor gripes only

  5. I didn’t get ULEZ, being neither a Londoner nor a driver any more. Surely in 29a, ‘ones’ (plural) leads to SPORTS, with ‘believe’ being WEAR, one of many definitions of the word in good old Chambers. Fine puzzle, ta flashling.

  7. I would have thought that Harfleur with its Henry V associations was more than a random French place. I think overtaking on the inside lane aka undertaking is definitely ROAD HOG behaviour. OUTER MONGOLIA my favourite today. Thanks.

  8. My favourite today was OUTER MONGOLIA, and I also enjoyed ROAD HOG and A♢. As for ULEZ, zulu is z in the NATO alphabet.

    BLACKADDER took me a while; why does boycott = black?

    Thanks both

  11. Thanks both. Also failed on ULEZ which is normal for me with anything London-centric, and my geography evidently also fails in France as I only knew Henry V in a previous life, so also opted for Maifleur which at least constitutes something French. Unsure how accurately the clue describes ROAD HOG but it’s a great expression, and very cathartic if aired at the right volume.

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