Independent 10,111 by Gila

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I found this to be one of those slightly frustrating puzzles where you fly through 90% of it, only to end up completely stumped by a couple of clues where you have all the crossing letters but it doesn’t help.

The two for me were 2 and 20.  I got them both eventually but it was a long struggle.  I thought 2 was pretty difficult because it was both an obscure word and the inclusion indicator was one of those which was phrased in a kind of back-to-front way.   For 20, I probably just wasn’t expecting a pop culture reference when the rest of the puzzle contained mostly standard words.   

There was much else to enjoy – I thought 4 was a brilliant clue and the anagram at 15 was superb.  I don’t think there is a theme, although the mention of House of Cards and a Fawlty Towers’ character makes me question if there is something there.  As an aside, I wonder how many people who watch the Amercian TV series, House of Cards, realize it was originally a British novel and TV series?

Across
1 BEEFS Workers possibly having loud arguments (5)
  Bees around f(orte)
4 ASTERISKS Outlandish skits are s***! (9)
  (Skits are s)*
9 EXCERPT Without reading, perhaps, save newspaper clipping (7)
  Except(=save used in the sense of “all of us save him”) around r(eading) (one of the 3 Rs).
10 ON A ROLL Retired councillor – a non-gambler – keeps having repeated wins (2,1,4)
  Hidden, reversed in “counciLLOR A NOn-gambler”.
11 DEMO Extremely divisive way of doing things elicits protest (4)
  D[ivisiv]e + MO
12 FATHOMABLE Bust of a meth lab is understandable (10)
  (Of a meth lab)*
15 HOUSE OF CARDS Cash used for old, decrepit building that might fall over (5,2,5)
  (Cash used for old)*
18 ASCERTAINING Learning through study is sure to stop when one starts to need guidance (12)
  Certain in (as i + n[eed] g[uidance])
21 HOARSENESS House by headland embodying a rushed, oddly rough quality (10)
  Ho(use) + ness around a + odd letters of RuShEd
22 ITCH Irritation starts to concern him after sex (4)
  Initial letters of concern him after it(=sex)
24 COULOMB Joule appears endlessly during search for physicist (7)
  [J]oul[e] in comb
25 DRACHMA Tense situation involving companion’s money at one point (7)
  Drama around CH (abbrev for Companion of Honour).
26 ILL HEALTH One tiny bit of laudanum will finally cure the unending sickness (3,6)
  I + l[audanum] [wil]l + heal(=cure) + th[e]
27 EXPOS Old props regularly used for public displays (5)
  Ex(=old) + odd letters of props
Down
1 BREADTHS Sourdough and ciabatta maybe soak up most of the spreads (8)
  Breads around th[e]
2 ENCOMIUM Praise once given out about one parent (8)
  Once* + mum around I
3 SIRE Father is around and about (4)
  Is< + re
4 ACT Do Aussie parliamentarians exert influence here? (3)
  Not sure, but I think that ACT is an abbrev of Australian Capital Territory, where Aussie parliamentarians might exert influence.
5 TOOTHPASTES After the start of treatment, osteopaths supply products containing calcium (11)
  T[reatment] + osteopaths*
6 REAL MADRID Some footballers are left to roam, crazy and free (4,6)
  (Are l(eft)* + mad + rid
7 SLOBBY Untidy front of station and waiting area (6)
  S[tation] + lobby
8 SALVER Precious metal one extracted for a plate (6)
  Silver with I replaced by A
13 ALFRED NOBEL Guy responsible for dynamite exploding near Blofeld (6,5)
  (Near Blofeld)*
14 LESS IS MORE It could be messier, so – to begin with – let’s keep it simple! (4,2,4)
  (Messier so + l[et’s])*
16 GIFT SHOP Donations bound to form part of most museums? (4,4)
  Gifts + hop
17 EGGHEADS Quiz programme essentially needs two good captains (8)
  Middle letter of needs + g(ood) g(ood) + heads.  Eggheads is a venerable BBC2 quiz programme.
19 CHI CHI Pretentious greeting omitting names (3-3)
  Chi[n] chi[n]
20 MANUEL Crew rightly reported an incompetent hotel worker (6)
  Man(=crew in verb sense) +hom of well.  The ref is of course to the Fawlty Towers waiter.
23 MACE Staff involved in producing I’m A Celebrity (4)
  Hidden in ‘I’m a celebrity’
25 DOH I’m an idiot and party hard (3)
  Do + h(ard).  Doh is an exclamation most closely associated with Homer Simpson.

*anagram

5 comments on “Independent 10,111 by Gila”

  1. Really enjoyed this. No hold ups for me (ENCOMIUM was one of my first ones in – maybe a little lucky to think of it having just the initial E). Loved ASTERISKS. Also liked ITCH. The clues for BREADTHS & ILL HEALTH were both excellent but a shame they employed similar devices for the TH.

    Didn’t know CHI-CHI but easy to guess. Parsed ACT as in the blog but was also unsure.

    Can’t escape the feeling there is some hidden nina/theme but can’t see it.

    Thanks to Gila and Neal.

  2. MANUEL was my nemesis today. I just didn’t think of Fawlty Towers and entered an unparsed ‘manual’.

    Otherwise I found this on the gentle side, with the exception of ENCOMIUM which I could only vaguely remember as a word. I took ACT as the location of the Australian (Federal) Parliament House in Canberra where ‘Aussie parliamentarians exert influence’, not just over the ACT, but the whole country of course.

    I particularly liked LESS IS MORE.

    Thanks to Gila and NealH

  3. Many good clues; I particularly enjoyed EXCERPTS, BREADTHS, ON A ROLL, ALFRED NOBEL and LESS IS MORE.

    I didn’t really understand ACT but I guess Neal is right in the blog.

    If there isn’t a theme, I’m not sure why MANUEL would be used rather than manual, except the former is easier to clue but does require GK.

    Thanks Gila and NealH.

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