Independent 10,829 by Skinny

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I've not come across this compiler before but, if it's a debut, it's an excellent one.

There were loads of inventive, well-written clues with good misdirection in them (1 was probably the best example). 11, 2 and 13 were also highlights for me.

ACROSS
8 DONE DEAL
Scottish city will, it’s reported, provide an agreement that cannot be revoked (4,4)

Hom of Dundee'll
9 WHOOPS
Cries “I’ve made a mistake!” (6)

DD
10 KEELED OVER
Veg sent back by European port is passed out (6,4)

Leek< + E{uropean} Dover
11 MURK
Gloom emerges as last of dark spirit is knocked back (4)

([Dar]k + rum)<
12 DORMER
Window of gold by the sea in Cannes? (6)

French d'or + mer.
14 RASPUTIN
Russian holy man heading for Romania, like the Russian president (8)

R{omania} + as Putin
15 HEATHEN
One doesn’t believe in roast chicken? (7)

Heat hen(=roast chicken)
17 SHEBEEN
Polish drinking half of beer in booze joint (7)

Sheen around be[er]
20 MACHISMO
At the speed of sound, two seconds of manliness (8)

Mach I(=speed of sound) + S{econd} + mo{ment}
22 UNREAL
Young at heart learn about fairytale (6)

[Yo]u[ng] + learn*
24 SO SO
OK, I need help with love (2-2)

SOS + O
25 BARBED WIRE
Pub brewed, I suspect, something spiky and difficult to get through (6,4)

Bar + (brewed I)*
27 FRINGE
Unconventional iron telephone kept inside (6)

Fe(=iron) around ring(=telephone as a verb)
28 NEUTERED
With last bit of peroxide, denture could be sterilised (8)

([Peroxid]e + denture)*
DOWN
1 FOREGO
In favour of self-sacrifice (6)

For ego
2 MEAL
According to Paul Simon you can call … for dinner? (4)

Ref to Paul Simon's song "You can call me Al".
3 LEAD FREE
Edge clear with this type of fuel? (4-4)

CD/DD (edge =lead, as in he has the edge)
4 SLAVERY
Like Pavlov’s dogs in servitude (7)

DD. Pavlov's dogs were taught to salivate (i.e. slaver) in response to certain stimuli.
5 AWARDS
Pieces of publicity covering battle honours (6)

Ads around war
6 FOAM RUBBER
Element of upholstery upset mother of French-polisher? (4,6)

(Ma of)<+ rubber(=loose term for a French polisher)
7 APPRAISE
Evaluate one with extremely plump rear (8)

A + p[lum]p + raise(=rear as a verb, as in rear animals)
13 MATCH POINT
TT Champion crashes a moment before victory (5,5)

(TT Champion)*
16 ENAMOURS
Locks up unusually sour delights (8)

Mane< + sour*
18 HOUSEFUL
My set-up, practical for lots of people where I live (8)

Oh< (as in the exclamation my!) + useful
19 LOW RENT
Inferior bird captured by chance (3-4)

Wren in lot. I did think initially this was low life, which also works as owl in life(=a chance, as in you have so many lives).
21 SUBSEA
Appalling abuses beneath the waves (6)

Abuses*
23 AGREED
A sin that’s allowed (6)

A + greed
26 WEED
Little bit of dope which you can smoke to get high (4)

Wee + d[ope]

15 comments on “Independent 10,829 by Skinny”

  1. I also initially went for LOW LIFE at 19d but fortunately didn’t write it in and waited for more crossers.

    4d reminded me of Eddy Izzard once talking about Pavlov’s failed cat experiment. I think it ended with: Day 6: Cat rang bell – I ate food.

  2. This was great fun with 8a, 9a, 15a, 1d & 2d my top picks.

    Neal, this certainly isn’t Skinny’s debut, his puzzles have appeared regularly in the Independent for I think a couple of years.

    Many thanks to Skinny and to Neal.

  3. Hovis@1 Low Life is however a fine album

    I’ve seen Skinny before in puzzle form and on this thread

    I enjoyed this

  4. Most enjoyable.

    I had ticks for DONE DEAL, (my Dundonian husband would have liked that one), DORMER, HEATHEN, FOREGO, MEAL and a double one for MATCH POINT – super anagram and surface.

    Many thanks to Skinny and NealH.

  5. I meant to applaud the anagram for MATCH POINT as well. Maybe I still haven’t recovered from that belter of an anagram in Saturday’s Independent by Dalibor – if you haven’t given that a go yet, I would recommend it.

  7. Nice start to the week… altho managed to spell SHEBEEN around SHINE which certainly didn’t speed things up.. the Scots city thing was my last one in which was mildly annoying… enjoyed many… 2dn made me laugh
    Thanks Skinny n NealH

  8. Like Eileen, loved DONE DEAL and, yes, that’s exactly how it sounds to my ear. MATCH POINT also. Not mentioned by others, FOAM RUBBER also earned a big tick from me.

    Thanks Skinny and NealH

  9. Without doubt the most enjoyable of today’s puzzles that I’ve tackled. Started a ‘tick’ list but it got so long that it would be silly to mention them all – let’s just say that MEAL made me laugh out loud!

    Many thanks to Skinny for the fun and to Neal for the review.

  10. A very enjoyable puzzle. Favourites were 2dn and 4dn. 4dn always makes me think of the dog from Turner and Hooch. Yuck

  11. Thanks to all who posted, I really do appreciate your comments, and thanks to Neal for the review, it really does warm my heart to know you enjoyed it. I’ll be back before too long with more.

  12. Finally got 25ac and 19dn.

    Nice to see my real surname in 12ac.

    I presume everyone knows the story behind the title of the Paul Simon song at 2dn: he was at a party also attended by the French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, who kept on calling Simon Al. That gave Simon the title of the song.

  13. This was a lot of fun, with some really amusing surfaces. The MATCH POINT anagram deserves many ticks. I’ve seen the HEAT HEN trick before but that was still my LOI 🙁

  15. This was my first crossword by Skinny and I couldn’t be more satisfied.
    I found RASPUTIN, MACHISMO, FOREGO, MEAL, and ENAMOURS all excellent (as well as most other clues for that matter.) I will definitely look for this setter in the future. Thanks Skinny, NealH.

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