Independent on Sunday 1378/Gila

Porn, Japanese cuisine and same-sex relationships seem to be the leitmotifs of this Sindy offering from Gila.  Are these things related?  I think we should be told.

 

 

 

This is his/her second outing in a daily (or in this case, weekly) cryptic.  I liked it, and could handle some more of this setter.  It was relatively easy to get going (as should be the case with an IoS puzzle), but I struggled with the last few and am not sure that I’ve got one answer right.

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

definitions are underlined

Across

1  Too many gluttons ask for seconds
ALSO
The second letters of mAny gLuttons aSk fOr.

3  Praise God in recital
LAUD
A homophone of LORD.

6  Feeling low, start to drink
MOOD
A charade of MOO for ‘low’ as in ‘the cattle are lowing, the baby awakes’ sense, and D for the first letter of ‘drink’.

11  How you may view parts of female long-distance triathlon
IRONMAN
Hmm.  Is this too tricky for a Sindy puzzle?  Any road up, it took me a while to see it.  The setter is asking you to separate out Fe for the chemical symbol for iron, and male for MAN, which would give you IRONMAN.  It’s a ‘long-distance triathlon’, apparently.  I won’t be entering one any time soon.

12  Shortened many pretty skirts – this could be one of them
CULOTTE
This is LOT[S] in CUTE.  Younger daughter insists that CULOTTES are three-quarter length trousers; dictionaries give the singular as well and define it as ‘a divided skirt’; the first three letters mean ‘arse’ in French, which is what it covers, I guess.  The insertion indicator is ‘skirts’.

13  Frequently went for shelled nuts
OFTEN
You need to ‘shell’ or take the outside letters from ‘went for’ and then make an anagram (‘nuts’).

14  Supplying alcoholics with assorted ales and gin shows a complete lack of feeling
ANALGESIA
An insertion of (ALES GIN)* in AA for ‘Alcoholic Anonymous’.  Good surface.

15  Flexible, fit American guys in the lead
AMENABLE
A charade of A, MEN and ABLE.

17  Made up a story about a newspaper getting stolen
LIFTED
An insertion of FT for the pink’un in LIED.

20  Meteor exploding far in the distance
REMOTE
(METEOR)*

21  A person who boasts about good fashion knowledge
BRAGGART
A reversal of G GARB followed by ART.  Is ART ‘knowledge’?  I suppose in phrases like ‘the art of cooking’.

23  McDonald’s start ordering more salt, resulting in confusion
MAELSTROM
A charade of M for the first letter of ‘McDonald’s’ and (MORE SALT)*  It would probably result in more high blood pressure, in fact.

26  Former amateur Italian chefs may cook with it
PASTA
A charade of PAST and A.

27  An important person lacking the first signs of any real self-worth
DIGNITY
‘The first signs of any real’ are A and R, so it’s DIGNIT[AR]Y.

28  Doctor Brown following a nurse about to deliver a baby
NEWBORN
EN is ‘enrolled nurse’.  If you reverse that (‘about’) and follow it with (BROWN)* you’ve got the wrinkly small person.

29  Japanese seaweed is flipping smooth
NORI
Never heard of it, but it couldn’t be much else.  A reversal of IRON.

30  Relatively speaking, Liam Gallagher’s least favourite part of December?
NOEL
Gila is referring to the long-running feud between brothers Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher, of Oasis fame.  They didn’t/don’t like each other much.  A dd.

31  Porridge mix
STIR
A dd.  ‘Porridge’ and STIR are both slang words for prison.

Down

1  Endlessly dry region on the easternmost tip of California?
ARIZONA
A charade of ARI[D] ZON[E] plus A for the last letter (‘easternmost’) of ‘California’.  Clever cluing, and I’m going to stick my head above the parapet and say that it’s &lit, because ARIZONA is indeed endlessly dry and is found to the east of California.

2  Temporary name given to a strong drink
SHORT-TERM
A charade of SHORT and TERM.

4  Provide a university friend with news every 12 months
ANNUALLY
The setter is inviting you to put NN for ‘news’ in A U ALLY.

5  Russian country house resembled a chateau, in part
DACHA
Hidden in resembleD A CHAteau.

7  Famous explorer ought to lead a group heading north
OATES
Plenty of first letter indications in this puzzle.  Here it’s O for the first letter of ‘ought’, A and SET reversed.  Captain OATES of Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition of 1911-12.  He is reported to have said: ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’

8  Having difficulty following the German action film
DIE HARD
DIE for one of the many words in German for ‘the’ followed by HARD, but I’m struggling to equate ‘difficulty’ or ‘having difficulty’ with HARD.

9  The last word of a Japanese soup recipe is missing
AMEN
Japanese cuisine again.  It’s [R]AMEN.

10  Sticking around and dawdling
CLOGGING  CLAGGING
I think this is a dd, but am happy to be corrected.

Edit:  Muffyword has kindly explained this one at comment no 3

16  It’s moved around in a lorry with great skill
ARTISTIC
An insertion of (ITS)* in ARTIC.

18  Time with kinky porn star is ecstasy
TRANSPORT
(T PORN STAR)*

19  British novel about the end of one chap’s relationship with another
BROMANCE
Another last letter indication: E, preceded by B, ROMAN for ‘novel’ and C for circa or ‘about’.  ROMAN is French, but I’ve seen it used in English.  BROMANCE describes an intense relationship between two men, but without the sex; it’s a comparatively recent invention, I fancy.

20  Fast hit by a karate expert
RAMADAN
Timely, since we’ve just recently had Eid, the end of the fasting period of RAMADAN.  A charade of RAM and A DAN.

22  Rocky terrain footwear
TRAINER
(TERRAIN)*

24  A big mountain – one in East Germany
EIGER
An insertion of I in E GER.  It certainly is a big mountain, although of course it’s in Switzerland and not East Germany.

25  Artist has that fabric
RAYON
A charade of RA for ‘artist’ and YON for an archaic word for ‘that’.  ‘Yon mountain is a high one.’  Related to YONDER.

26  Man listening to salacious stuff
PAWN
The (chess)man is a homophone of PORN.  That’s enough porn for this morning.

Many thanks to Gila for this Sunday’s puzzle.