Independent 12,106 by Italicus

There were some great clues in this puzzle from Italicus and the surface readings were all very plausible.

16A and 21A both had excellent surfaces. 18D was a brilliant spoonerism and 17D was a good fake anagram.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1	TIDAL WAVE	Validate moves to incarcerate Welsh bore (5,4)
		Validate* around W{elsh}
6	AJAR	Open form of government originally adopted from the east (4)
		(Raj(=form of government used in India) + a[dopted])< with the reversal signalled by "from the east".
8	SNIFTERS	Disheartened marksmen receiving daily shots (8)
		Sni[p]ers(=marksmen) around FT(=Financial Times, a daily newspaper)
9	RESIGN	Periodically orders big guns to stand down (6)
		Even letters of "orders big guns"
10	GROOVE	Track fox discovered in wood (6)
		[F]o[x] in grove(=a small wood). "Discovered" here is used in the sense of dis-cover=remove the cover.
11	EXPLODED	Journalist concludes former police constable went mad (8)
		Ed{itor}(=journalist) after (ex plod(=derogatory term for a police constable)). The def is used in the sense of "the situation exploded/went mad".
12	LINKED	Associated verse about knight with Germany (6)
		(Line(=verse in some forms of poetry) around k{night}) + D{eutschland}
15	SIDE DISH	Detective’s on edge meeting Henry for food (4,4)
		(DI's(=detective inspector's) + H{enry}(=abbrev for SI unit of inductance)) after side(=edge)
16	PENDULUM	Writer exposed adult male stalking posh swinger (8)
		Pen(=writer) + (([a]dul[t] + m{ale}) around U(=posh from U/non-U))
19	SQUIRM	Show embarrassment when teacher circles question mark (6)
		(Sir(=teacher) around qu{estion}) + m{ark}
21	FLEAPITS	Circus performers welcoming suggestion about dirty movie theatres (8)
		Fleas(=performers in a flea circus) around tip<. Dirty here is used in the sense of shabby or unclean rather than pornographic.
22	CROUCH	Squat soldier’s backside fills sofa (6)
		[Soldie]r in couch(=sofa)
24	ASTERN	Seabird perched on a pole at rear of ship (6)
		Tern(=seabird) on (a S)(=south pole)
25	SPECIMEN	Sample mince pies, oddly neglecting second one (8)
		(Mince p[i]es)*
26	ESPY	Notice worries pygmies somewhat (4)
		Hidden in worries pygmies
27	EVERY INCH	First Lady regularly on vacation in Switzerland? Absolutely! (5,4)
		Eve(=first lady in literal sense) + r[egularl]y + in + ch(=country code for Switzerland)
DOWN
1	TENOR	Singer vocalising note (5)
		Hom of tenner(=note)
2	DEFROCK	Agent turned up on hard stuff? Dismiss from office! (7)
		Fed<(=agent in the FBI) + rock(=hard stuff in literal sense)
3	LIEGE	Superior, say, taken in by tall tale (5)
		E.G.(=say) in lie(=tall tale)
4	ANSWERS	Responds to article and promises to delete another (7)
		An(=indefinite article) + swe[a]rs(=promises with a, the other indefinite article, deleted)
5	EURIPIDES	Unionist pride is cruelly crushed by English dramatist (9)
		(U{nionist} pride is)* + E{nglish}. Euripides was an ancient Greek dramatist.
6	ABSCOND	Flee from sailors caught on delta (7)
		Abs(=sailors) + c{aught} + on + d{elta} (used for d in the phonetic alphabet)
7	AGGRESSOR	Silver and gold-encrusted robe daughter swapped with German invader (9)
		(Ag(=silver in periodic table) + or(=old term for gold)) around(=encrusted) (dress with d{aughter} swapped for G{erman})
13	IDEALISTS	Ladies sit awkwardly in 20s (9)
		(Ladies sit)*. Def refers to utopians in clue 20.
14	DALLIANCE	Brief affair ultimately destroyed partnership (9)
		[Destroye]d + alliance(=partnership)
17	DRAPERY	Puny rep arduously held up curtains (7)
		Hidden, reversed in "puny rep arduously".
18	MUST SEE	Spooner’s worked out setter is unmissable (4-3)
		Spoonerism of "sussed me"
20	UTOPIAN	Perfect instructor stripped most of instrument (7)
		[T]uto[r](=instructor) + pian[o]
22	CHEWY	Tough revolutionary essentially spewing poppycock (5)
		Che (Guevara) + [spe]w[ing] [popp]y[cock]
23	CZECH	Language test is oral (5)
		Hom of check

12 comments on “Independent 12,106 by Italicus”

Simon S

#1 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 09:14

Thanks Italicus and manehi

And a pangram to boot.

PostMark

#2 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 11:05

Slightly surprised to see so few comments at midday. I thought this was a super puzzle. Excellent surfaces throughout. CROUCH, EVERY INCH and FLEAPITS my faves today.

Thanks both

Petert

#3 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 14:03

I, too, liked FLEAPITS. EURIPIDES was very good, too. It’s strange how sometimes a synonym will immediately come to mind, and sometimes even a straightforward one like couch today eludes retrieval. Excellent puzzle. Thanks both.

Petert

#4 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 14:04

Did anyone else check whether ORE could be an extinct bird?

Hovis

#5 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 14:38

@Petert. I assume your comment @4 is a reference to 8d in the FT, not here.

jane

#6 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 14:44

Very enjoyable, Italicus, with EVERY INCH sitting on the top step for me, closely followed by CROUCH, SQUIRM, MUST SEE & FLEAPITS.
I was looking through some of your contributions from several years ago to another site and it was interesting to see how far you’ve progressed. I remember that your themed puzzle about cocktails met with quite a ‘mixed’ reception!

Petert

#7 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 15:01

Hovis@5 Oops! So it is. Thanks.

#8 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 15:43

This was very smooth, I thought, and all went in nicely. I’d add AGGRESSOR, GROOVE and SQUIRM to the goodies that others have mentioned. Strangely, I didn’t spot the pangram; the tricky letters all fell into place so naturally that they didn’t catch my attention, and the one that usually flashes red, the Z, was aurally hidden and so I didn’t react there either!

Thanks both

Undrell

#9 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 15:57

Good puzzle.. I solved 13d way before 20d, virtually LOI, equal word blindness with the sofa, all good in the end…
Thanks Italicus n NealH

Tony Santucci

#10 - Mon 28th Jul 25, 19:07

Thanks Italicus for an excellent crossword. For once I could solve & parse everything. There were many nicely written clues with my top picks being GROOVE, SQUIRM, CROUCH, EVERY INCH, ABSCOND, and AGGRESSOR. Thanks NealH for the blog.