Independent 10,195/Hoskins

I haven’t blogged a Hoskins puzzle for ages, so I was really pleased to bag this one. He’s a talented setter who has produced an excellent Indy offering here in the usual accessible Monday style.

 

 

 

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 A firm friend?
COLLEAGUE
A cd – a friend at the firm where you work would be a COLLEAGUE.

6 God, I’m satisfied after a couple of lines
ALLAH
A charade of A, LL and AH.

9 Awkward sleeping without pillows ultimately
LUMBERING
[S]LUMBERING with the removal indicator ‘without’ and the S coming from the last letter of ‘pillows’.

10 Ferocious attack overwhelms British
RABID
An insertion of B in RAID.

11 Kid Rock produced by Yes? Bit of shock initially!
SPROG
The band Yes could be described as Prog Rock, so this is S for the first letter of ‘shock’ followed by PROG.

12 Flower lies in tangles with weeds
EDELWEISS
(LIES WEEDS)* and one for The Sound of Music fans. You know who you are.

13 Welcome lecture
ADDRESS
A cd.

15 In court, judge rebuffed fat idiot
DULLARD
Judges are said to be referred to as M’LUD, so it’s a reversal of LUD followed by LARD, which is certainly a type of ‘fat’.

18 Unusual stone cooker
STRANGE
A charade of ST and RANGE.

20 Italian port oarsmen drunk
SAN REMO
(OARSMEN)*

21 Star property
PRINCIPAL
Took me a while to see this, although being a two-word clue it pretty much had to be a dd. From my Collins:

principal¹ (adj) first in importance, rank, value, etc
principal³ (noun, finance) a capital or property, as contrasted with the income derived from it

23 A place to make liquor, not bubbly
STILL
Another dd.

25 Old car bishop scrapped in fury
ANGER
[B]ANGER

26 Wasted red angrily told people where to go?
STEWARDED
(WASTED RED)*

27 Look angry if X-Factor boss misses train
SCOWL
The self-opinionated X-Factor ‘boss’ is Simon Cowell, so it’s S COW[EL]L. The removal indicator is ‘misses’ and EL is a shortened form of ‘elevated railway’ in American English, whence ‘train’.

28 One blooming cool-looking cat, I’m told!
DANDELION
A homophone of DANDY LION. I’m sure you knew this already, but DANDELION comes from the French dent de lion, ‘lion’s tooth’, because of the shape of its leaves. The French call it pis-en-lit, because of its diuretic properties.

 

Down

1 Biting Times column half-censored Dutch photos
COLD SNAPS
A charade of COL[UMN], D and SNAPS.

2 Primate upset yours truly during brief temptation
LEMUR
An insertion of ME (‘yours truly’) reversed in LUR[E] The insertion indicator is ‘during’ and the removal indicator is ‘brief’.

3 Enduringly popular queen awful revenge consumes
EVERGREEN
An insertion of ER for Brenda or Elizabeth Regina in (REVENGE)* The anagrind is ‘awful’ and the insertion indicator is ‘consumes’.

4 Pilots taking you out for bit of laugh in these?
GLIDERS
‘Pilots’ might be GUIDERS. Hoskins is asking you to remove the U (‘you’) and insert L for the first letter of ‘laugh’. An extended definition. A cad if you must.

5 Brainy type of English supervisor ferrying goods
EGGHEAD
An insertion of GG for ‘goods’ in E and HEAD. The insertion indicator is ‘ferrying’.

6 Bolt vegetable, but not drop of merlot
ARROW
[M]ARROW

7 A bit cruel recasting Grease?
LUBRICATE
(A BIT CRUEL)*

8 Conned by European soprano? That can be hell!
HADES
A charade of HAD for ‘conned’, E and S.

14 Wagner opera in German has act with heroic deeds
DERRING-DO
A charade of DER RING and DO. The first element refers to Der Ring des Nibelungen, by Wagner, often referred to in English as The Ring Cycle, or simply The Ring.

16 Possible prospect of lap dances? Fantastic!
LANDSCAPE
(LAP DANCES)*

17 Broken damned loo apt to cause grief?
DOOM-LADEN
(DAMNED LOO)*

19 Old show-off cut off at last, daughter revealed
EXPOSED
A charade of EX, POSE[R] and D.

20 Sprinkling of spices (alternatively seasoning works)
SALTERN
Hidden in spiceS ALTERNatively. A SALTERN is another word for ‘saltworks’.

21 Some fruit couples picked up
PEARS
A homophone (‘picked up’) of PAIRS.

22 Song about character kicking drug
CAROL
A charade of CA for circa or ‘about’ and ROL[E]

24 Primate and knight visiting Elba briefly?
INDRI
Plenty of primates on show this morning – in fact, plenty of lemurs, since the INDRI is a 2dn. ‘Elba’ is not the island famous for Napoleon’s exile, but the English actor Idris Elba. So it is a final insertion clue: of N for the chess ‘knight’ in IDRI[S].

Bravo, Hoskins. A fine puzzle to start the Indy week.