Independent 11,938/Shabbo

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A sound cryptic from Shabbo which fits the Monday slot well. Nothing to frighten the horses, and probably one I’d recommend to those solvers who are regularly managing the Quiptic, which appears in Another Place, and who want the next step up the cryptic difficulty ladder.

Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed

definitions are underlined

Across

1/5 Islander whose work was done by Friday
ROBINSON CRUSOE
A cd.

10 Maybe a recital could be rearranged
ARTICLE
(RECITAL)* with ‘could be rearranged’ as the anagrind, and referring to ‘a’ as an example of a grammatical ARTICLE (in this case, an indefinite article).

11 Elon Musk initially annoyed Islamic state
EMIRATE
A charade of EM for the initial letters of the American truth-bending narcissist and IRATE.

12 Better that wool is ordered for warmth in retirement?
HOT WATER BOTTLE
(BETTER THAT WOOL)* with ‘is ordered’ as the anagrind. A necessary addition to the retirement routine this last week.

14 Chinese native and Yankee consuming gateau – it’s Shrove Tuesday!
PANCAKE DAY
An insertion of CAKE in PANDA and Y for the phonetic alphabet ‘Yankee’.

15 Attend strike
BEAT
A dd, with the first definition requiring a separation into BE AT.

17 Call round
RING
Another dd.

19 A co-written work which is bubbly and refreshing?
TONIC WATER
(A CO WRITTEN)* with ‘work’ as the anagrind.

21 Flag designer?
PAVEMENT ARTIST
A cd.

24 Soldiers’ rent is free
RELEASE
A charade of RE for Royal Engineers and LEASE.

25 Batting well, having right means to combat hay fever?
INHALER
A charade of IN for ‘batting’ in its cricket sense, HALE, which you only ever really hear in hale and hearty, and R.

26 Stop putting unknown in Times puzzle
STYMIE
An insertion of Y for the mathematical ‘unknown’ in (TIMES)* The anagrind is ‘puzzle’ and the insertion indicator is ‘putting … in’.

27 Trendy universities working together
IN UNISON
A charade of IN, UNIS and ON.

Down

1 Raise backside
REAR
A dd.

2 Hint of change in cryptocurrency?
BITCOIN
A charade of BIT and COIN.

3 Ascot perhaps is down river
NECKWEAR
A charade of NECK and WEAR for the river next to which play the mighty Sunderland AFC.

4 Her vote cast against platform for drug trafficking
OVER THE COUNTER
A charade of (HER VOTE)* and COUNTER for ‘against’. The anagrind is ‘cast’ and ‘drug trafficking’ is referring to the supply of prescriptions.

6 Popular Greek character conceals money
RHINO
An insertion of IN in RHO. The insertion indicator is ‘conceals’.

7 City to inhabit in America? On the contrary
SEATTLE
An insertion of A in SETTLE. The insertion indicator is ‘to inhabit’.

8 He perhaps is prudent to lose weight being simple
ELEMENTARY
A charade of ELEMENT and [W]ARY. He is the symbol for element number 2 in the periodic table, Helium.

9 Rioters again out and about to produce change
REORGANISATION
A charade of (RIOTERS AGAIN)* and ON. The anagrind is ‘out’.

13 Extra roles for useless people
SPARE PARTS
A charade of SPARE and PARTS.

16 Substitute about to get going
SWITCH ON
A charade of SWITCH and ON. Twice in three clues with ‘about’ for ON.

18 Book ends in tacky gimmick
NOVELTY
A charade of NOVEL and the outside letters of ‘tacky’.

20 Trade unions less organised for fights
TUSSLES
A charade of TUS and (LESS)* with ‘organised’ as the anagrind.

22 Notes about a place in Florida
MIAMI
An insertion of A in two lots of MI, the second note of the tonic sol-fa.

23 Press club
IRON
A final dd.

Many thanks to Shabbo for the start to the Independent puzzling week.

20 comments on “Independent 11,938/Shabbo”

  1. A gentle introduction to the week but very enjoyable. Though at 4D surely drug trafficking is under rather than over the counter? I spent a while looking for a Robinson Crusoe theme but not to be – I think! Thanks Shabbo and Pierre.

  2. Thanks Shabbo and Pierre

    Beat was only slight hindrance for me – didn’t see the separation. Stuck it in with vague thoughts of where a policeman attends and got yellow tick. In terms of time for me

    G quick < Quiptic < Ind Monday < G Monday

    All perfectly judged. Will be smashing my head against Azed and Genius at elevenses so needed a warm up

    @tatrasman. I read yours and thought you are correct. Surprisingly Chambers first definition is merely to trade – second is to trade illegally. I still don’t think Boots will ever advertise themselves as drugs traffickers.

  3. Ref OVER THE COUNTER, there is a whole section of the (legitimate) drug industry actually designated as OTC on the basis that no prescription is required in order to purchase them. ‘Flag designer?’ made me laugh.

    Thanks Shabbo and Pierre

  4. Likes for ELEMENTARY, SWITCH ON, STYMIE and ‘a co-written work’. Among others. Thanks Pierre and Shabbo.

  5. Am I imagining things, or was it not once the case that the Indie started the week with its most challenging puzzle on Monday, then lightening up towards the gentle Phiday write in? This balanced well with the Grauniad’s opposite pattern.

  6. Light fun as ever from this setter with brief accurate cluing and smooth surfaces throughout.

    My repetition radar bleeped with the use of “about” = ON twice in very quick succession, and (an extremely minor point) wouldn’t 10a work just as well using “arranged” as the anagram indicator?

    PAVEMENT ARTIST was my favourite of many ticked clues.

    Many thanks to Shabbo and to Pierre.

  7. I for one loved the description of the pharmacist’s COUNTER as a platform for drug trafficking, and liked PAVEMENT ARTIST and SEATTLE. I also enjoyed searching for why RHINO came to mean money and not coming to a conclusion… some things must remain a mystery.

    As per Matthew Newell@2, only BEAT held me up, as I’m terrible at spotting separations; and Rabbit Dave@6’s repetition radar bleeped for me too.

    Thanks both

  8. IanSW3, historically the Indy Monday puzzle has always been at the easier end of the spectrum, Tuesday has been the ‘theme’ day, Wednesday was always Dac (and now Eccles), Thursday was ‘the hard one’, and Friday was Phiday. I think that’s pretty much how it is these days, too.

    The eagle-eyed will notice that I only ever blog the Monday puzzle in the Indy, whereas the other bloggers can be allocated any day according to the rotation. That’s because back in 2010, when I nervously volunteered to blog a daily Indy puzzle as well as the Quiptic, I was nervous about not being able to cope with the level of difficulty that might be encountered outside the Monday slot (Nimrod, I’m looking at you). Gaufrid obliged, and that’s still the way it is today nearly fifteen years later.

  9. Thanks, Pierre. I always had the impression that Monday was the Indie’s prize day (without paying much attention, because the prizes are generally modern dictionaries that are riddled with errors). I distinctly remember thinking (years ago) the relative difficulties of the Indie and Guardian being inversely proportional.

  10. Really enjoy this setter’s work and thought this one ticked all the boxes for a Monday puzzle. Particular favourites for me were OVER THE COUNTER, PAVEMENT ARTIST and SPARE PARTS.

    Many thanks to Shabbo and to Pierre for the review.

  11. Not too shabby, Shabbo.
    My first encounter with this setter, and, for a blind date, it’s looking good.
    Second date? Yes.
    PAVEMENT ARTIST is a solution that seems to crop up a lot: and why not? But, I will take the liberty of saying, best clue that I’ve seen for it!
    Fooled me for too long, with ” He is” as a Definition by Example, = ELEMENT. That’s nice setting, in my book.

    I loved the first date, so ” your place or mine” soon.
    salut, Shabbo et Pierre

  12. Smiled at 1/5 across, that lazy imperialist, which set the tone nicely. As for one or two others here, the separate in BEAT took me too long to see. Plus a difficulty I invented for myself, taking the clue at 27a to be “working together” to give me ” in league” ( as in Ivy League universities), soon put right by the downs. A pleasure to do, and yes, just right for Monday. Thanks to Shabbo and Pierre

  13. I thought this was pitched perfect for Monday. Although BEAT took me longer than the rest of the puzzle. I just listed every word I knew for strike that fitted the letters pelt, belt etc and opted for the right one in the end for the wrong reason. Thanks Pierre for explaining it to me.

    Favourites SEATTLE (although I parsed it slightly differently) , OVER THE COUNTER and PAVEMENT ARTIST. I didn’t know RHINO = money but it was so tightly clued it couldn’t be anything else.

    I think this was my first SHABBO hope to try them again soon.

  14. Nice puzzle to start the week. Thanks Shabbo. But could somone explain where the NECK in NECKWEAR comes from? Guessed it from the definition but still in the dark even after Pierre’s excellent blog.

  15. @14 ele: Down/neck as in drink quickly. For example “Down a beer” and “neck a beer” mean the same thing. It comes up quite a lot so it is worth committing to memory.

  16. Thanks Shabbo and Pierre

    ele @ 14 both DOWN and NECK are slang synonyms for drink (usually swiftly) as a verb.

  19. Thanks both. Very gentle as others have said. In the interest of saying something, I was slightly unsure about ‘work’ as the anagrind given its position in TONIC WATER, and I wouldn’t actually recommend an INHALER to combat hay fever as allergic rhinitis typically affects only the nasal area, but the condition is something generally to look forward to once the cold weather has abated and our seasonal rhinitis has cleared.

  20. For 7d, you identified the insertion indicator as “to inhabit”. Isn’t it just “in”? The phrase “to inhabit” charades to SETTLE.

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