Independent 12,121 by Amoeba

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Amoeba has been setting for the Independent fairly regularly over the last year. He usually appears on Saturdays or (as here) Thursdays.

An enjoyable puzzle, with a few tricky moments. There are some clever definitions: I particularly liked the misleading 13a and 27d and the take-it-literally 8d.

Amoeba’s previous puzzles have often included a theme, and there’s one today, although I didn’t see it until after completing the puzzle. I’m (just about) of the generation for whom 14a/16d brings to mind an Oasis song (rather than a nice name for a horribly persistent garden weed), but it took me far too long to notice that both OASIS and their Britpop rivals BLUR appear in the grid. We also have two titles (album and/or single) by each band: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, Roll With It, The Great Escape and Country House. Thanks Amoeba for the fun.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
9 TRIUMPHAL
Used to celebrate Unionist politician standing by husband amid court case (9)
U (abbreviation for Unionist) + MP (abbreviation for Member of Parliament = politician) + H (abbreviation for husband), all inside TRIAL (court case).
10 OASIS
Idiot on Love Island enters safe space (5)
ASS (idiot) added to O (zero = love in tennis scoring), with I (abbreviation for island) inserted (. . . enters).

Oasis in the metaphorical sense: somewhere peaceful in the middle of a lot of stress and noise.
11 ABHOR
Considerable violence or hate (5)
ABH (police abbreviation for “assault occasioning actual bodily harm” = a violent attack) + OR.
12 GOLF LINKS
Where you might go for a drive by the coast? (4,5)
Cryptic definition. Golf links = a golf course built on sandy coastland; drive = to hit a golf ball.
13 HOT-WIRE
When key’s missing, start boiling with rage (3-4)
HOT (boiling) + W (abbreviation for with) + IRE (rage).

Hot-wire = to start a car without the key, by connecting wires to bypass the ignition switch.
14/16 MORNING GLORY
At first, monitor out-of-control lorry going around nuclear plant (7,5)
First letter of M[onitor], then an anagram (out of control) of LORRY GOING around N (abbreviation for nuclear, according to Chambers).

Common name for various plants whose flowers open early in the day.
17 USAGE
In recession, group of countries protects energy employment (5)
EU (abbreviation for European Union = group of countries) around (protecting) GAS (energy, as in “energy bill” = a bill for domestic gas and/or electricity), all reversed (in recession).
19 TOE
Occasionally stroke little piggy (3)
Alternate letters (occasionally) of [s]T[r]O[k]E.

As in the children’s rhyme “This little piggy went to market”, describing the five toes on a foot.
21 PANTO
Show involving Post Office framing worker (5)
PO (abbreviation for Post Office) around (framing) ANT (perhaps a worker ant). The surface appears to refer to the TV series Mr Bates vs the Post Office, about the scandal in which employees were blamed for financial losses caused by errors in the Post Office’s IT system.

Abbreviation for pantomime = comic stage show.
22 ECOTYPE
Jaguar takes on firm that’s adapted to the local environment (7)
E-TYPE (model of car made by Jaguar), containing (. . . takes on) CO (abbreviation for company = firm).

A group of organisms within a species that is adapted to the environment in a particular location, and therefore slightly different from the same species elsewhere.
24 COUNTRY
O’Sullivan’s third trick shot enthrals the UK, for one (7)
Third letter of [os]U[llivan], contained in (. . . enthrals) CON (trick = deception) + TRY (shot = an attempt, as in “give it a shot”). The surface appears to refer to the snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan.
26 BOTANICAL
In lab coat, breaking down plant-based substance (9)
Anagram (breaking down) of IN LAB COAT.

As a noun, botanical = a plant-derived substance used as a flavouring or as a drug.
28 RUN-UP
Quickly make approach (3-2)
RUN UP (make quickly, especially as in a dressmaker creating a garment at short notice). Not quite a double definition because this usage doesn’t include a hyphen.

Definition as in “the run-up to the big match” = the days or hours immediately preceding it.
30 UPSET
They deliver extremely extravagant surprise (5)
UPS (a US delivery company = they deliver) + end letters (extremes) of E[xtravagan]T.

Perhaps in the sporting sense of “upset” = when a good competitor/team is beaten by one thought to be inferior.
31 POTENTIAL
Latin poet’s wasted promise (9)
Anagram (wasted = drunk or destroyed) of LATIN POET.

In the sense of “shows promise” or “shows potential” = could become much better.
DOWN
1 ETNA
Separatists no longer controlling northern Italian mountain (4)
ETA (Basque separatist group, formally disbanded in 2018, hence “no longer”), containing (controlling) N (abbreviation for northern).

Volcanic mountain in Sicily, Italy.
2 WITH-IT
Fashionable group of ladies welcome to visit every other part of state (4-2)
WI (abbreviation for Women’s Institute = group of ladies), then HI (hi! = welcome! = a greeting) inside (to visit) every other letter of [s]T[a]T[e].
3 EMBROIDERY
Weirdly morbid, eery decoration (10)
Anagram (weirdly) of MORBID EERY. (The dictionaries recognise this as a less common spelling of “eerie”.)
4/23 THE GREAT ESCAPE
Film gets a cheer, unexpectedly breaking record (3,5,6)
Anagram (unexpectedly) of GETS A CHEER, inside (breaking) TAPE (as a verb = to record on magnetic tape).
5 SLALOM
Perhaps Flanders is hosting a climbing event (6)
MOLL’S (perhaps Moll Flanders, from the Daniel Defoe novel, and possessive ‘s = is), containing (hosting) A, all reversed (climbing = upwards in a down clue).

Winter sports event.
6 ROLL
Smooth part of speech (4)
Sound-alike (. . . of speech) of ROLE = a part in a play.

For example, to smooth (flatten) a lawn by the use of a heavy roller.
7 ASUNCION
Capital cousin misguidedly invested in decentralised altcoin (8)
Anagram (misguidedly) of COUSIN, inside A[ltcoi]N with the centre letters removed (de-centralised?).

Capital city of Paraguay.
8 ASPS
Cold-blooded killers slip away, quietly heading south (4)
PASS (slip away), with the P (p = abbreviation for Italian piano = musical term for quietly) moving towards the end of the word (south, in a down clue).

Venomous snakes, which are cold-blooded creatures.
13 HOUSE
Jubilant cry heard at Mecca? (5)
Cryptic definition: Mecca here is not the Islamic holy city, but a British company that runs bingo clubs, where a player may shout “house!” to indicate a win.
15 RIP CURRENT
After temperature drops, expedition in danger amid the waves (3,7)
[t]RIP (expedition) without the T (abbreviation for temperature), then CURRENT (in = popular).

A fast-flowing offshore current among breaking waves on a beach, which is a dangerous thing to get caught in.
16
See 14 Across
18 AMORTISE
Write off American, increasingly injecting this out of hospital (8)
A (abbreviation for American), then MORE (increasingly) containing (injecting) T[h]IS without the H (abbreviation for hospital).

In accounting terms, to write off the value of a depreciating asset over a number of years.
20 ESCALATE
Rise in intensity irritated unmarried actor Paul earlier on (8)
ATE (irritated, as in “what’s eating you?”), with [m]ESCAL (Irish actor Paul Mescal) at the start, without the M (abbreviation for married, hence dropping it = unmarried).
23
See 4
25 TENNIS
Ready to ring pub about game (6)
SET (ready) around (to ring = to surround) INN (pub = drinking establishment), all reversed (about).
26 BLUR
Band‘s unexpected statement cut short (4)
BLUR[t] (as a noun = an abupt outburst = unexpected statement: Chambers says this noun form is “rare” but it’s more common as a verb), without the last letter (cut short).

Britpop band, formed in 1988.
27 NOTE
Do for one finally taken to expert coiffeuse (4)
Last letters (finally) of [take]N [t]O [exper]T [coiffeus]E.

Definition by example: “do” is the first note in the musical sol-fa scale (do, re, mi . . .).
29 PULL
Go to bed with jerk (4)
Double definition. Pull = slang for “to seduce successfully”; or jerk = to pull abruptly.

20 comments on “Independent 12,121 by Amoeba”

  1. Enjoyable puzzle. Great blog.
    Thanks Amoeba and Quirister.

    My top faves: HOT-WIRE, COUNTRY, WITH-IT, RIP CURRENT, AMORTISE and NOTE.

    I have a special liking towards clues, which have no link words between the WP and the Def.
    When the setter has avoided link words in most of the clues in the puzzles, that’s all the
    more likeable.

  2. V nice puzzle, quite tricky in places, with some excellent misdirection. Thanks Amoeba, and special thanks to Quirister for doing double duty today both here and on Brockwell.

  3. I found parts of this quite challenging but it was very enjoyable with GOLF LINKS, COUNTRY and HOUSE my top picks. I was blissfully unaware that there was a theme.

    Collins says “blurt” as a noun is American.

    Thanks to Amoeba and to Quirister.

  4. Thanks Amoeba and Quirister

    RD @ 3 The OED cites the first usage of BLURT in this sense as 1573, so if it’s American it’s emigrated.

  5. Simon S @4, in my book usage in 1573 is interesting but irrelevant. 😉 This is an English crossword set in 2025.

  6. I presume the reason for this puzzle appearing right now is that it’s exactly 30 years since the ‘Battle of Britpop’ where the two named singles (from the two named albums) vied for the UK number 1. Blur won the battle but it’s probably fair to say that Oasis won the war…

    Lovely puzzle, right in my sweet spot in terms of difficulty. Liked ETNA (always nice to see a variation on a word that pops up surprisingly often), UPSET, PANTO (for the surface) and HOUSE.

    Thanks to Amoeba and Quirisiter

  7. Fun theme, very smartly clued. OASIS. GOLF LINKS, HOT-WIRE. GOLF LINKS, COUNTRY. Etc. As Rob T says @6, Blur won what NME dubbed the British Heavyweight Championship on August 14, 1995, but Oasis were, arguably, triumphal in the end. Best thanks to Amoeba and Quirisiter.

  8. Super puzzle. Lots to like. Same faves as others – HOUSE was a belly laugh when the penny dropped.

    Given neither Chambers nor the online Collins mention American origin for BLURT which, indeed, appears to have been in use since the days of Shakespeare, that RD has managed to dig up a wholly US etymology is certainly interesting

    Thanks Amoeba and the hard-working Quirister

  10. Oh dear! I am utterly ashamed to see that I typed “it’s” @9 instead of “its”, and it’s too late now to edit it.

  11. Thanks both. Highly entertaining with a tinge of regret that I never even considered a theme, which would have been well within my grasp. In slight defence, LOI was MORNING GLORY, where I’d assumed I would not know the plant and didn’t recognise ‘n’ for ‘nuclear’. Otherwise I had progressed ‘little by little’ until delayed by having entered bingo instead of HOUSE but I’m not sure there was anything there to tell me it was wrong.

  12. Thanks Quirister & commenters. Rob T is on the money – today is the 30th anniversary of those releases.

    Blurt as a noun might be marked as American in Collins, but it’s not in Chambers, which is my usual resource (and as a Brit myself, I would use it without thinking of the US).

    TFO – come to think of it, “Though I didn’t mean what I just said” is reminiscent of the first half of Afrit’s famous injunction. Not sure Noel’s the type to settle down with a book of old Araucarias though.

  13. Thanks for explaining HOUSE. As we don’t have that chain of bingo parlors and don’t shout “house” when we have a bingo, I’m afraid none of the American solvers will get that one. After all these years, I’m still learning new things about British culture from these puzzles.

  14. Oh, and worth mentioning that I have never to my knowledge seen or heard “blurt” used as a noun. If that’s an Americanism, it must be either archaic or from a dialect I’m unfamiliar with. Or maybe Collins is just wrong.

  15. mrpenney @14, never having seen or heard “blurt” used as a noun is what caused me to look it up.

    Americans often seem to use nouns as verbs and verbs as nouns, so it came as no surprise to find Collins listing blurt as a noun as American English. I assumed that would be definitive for an Independent puzzle as I have always been led to believe that the Indy specifies Collins as its dictionary of choice, whereas the Telegraph uses Chambers.

    There are so many different dictionaries around that I make a point of limiting myself to just these two when solving UK crosswords.

  16. Thanks Amoeba. I actually got the theme (though not every aspect of it) but I was pleased nonetheless. Favs included UPSET, ASPS, RIP CURRENT, and TENNIS. I failed with ROLL & couldn’t parse HOUSE, ABHOR, or ESCALATE; thanks Quirister for the help.

  17. The fact a word is listed in Collins online’s American English dictionary doesn’t mean it is an American usage in British English. Those words are noted as being American in the British section. There are lots of British words that Collins omits – that doesn’t mean they’re not British. There may be any reason for its omission from the British section, such as its being a rare word (as indicated in Chambers).
    I don’t mean to imply support for American indicators in general. In general, they’re pointless. Does anyone have separate dictionaries in their head?
    Puzzle much enjoyed, thanks.

  18. Rabbit Dave@10: I think you can cower behind the figleaf of common/popular usage, so tis forgiven. 🙂

  20. I’m glad comments are still open. I only recently found out about Amoeba. Very much enjoying his/her crosswords. A few back issues for me to get through. This should keep me busy!

    Completely agree with #1 KVa on clues without linkwards being so much better.

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