Independent 11,053 / Bluth

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Today’s puzzle has been provided by Bluth. We have been treated to his puzzles on a regular basis during and since the pandemic.

I found this puzzle to be rather taxing, and although I think that I have completed it, I am unable to parse the entry at 11, for which I look forward to being enlightened, and I would also appreciate confirmation of my parsing of 2 and 28.

My favourite clues today were 23, for concision and smoothness of surface; and 8, for smoothness of surface and topicality. The entry at 6 was a new word for me, as was this sense of the entry at 14D.

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across  
   
01 PIN-UP Get better name to replace vacuous catwalk model

PICK UP (=get better); “name (=N) to replace vacuous catwalk, i.e. first and last letters only” means that letter “n” replaces “ck”
   
04 DISPERSAL Laid back about bad press for broadcast

*(PRESS) in DIAL (LAID; “back” indicated reversal); “bad” is anagram indicator
   
09 SUPERHERO Perhaps Miss America has drink with the Queen before her round

SUP (=drink) + ER (=the Queen, i.e. Elizabeth Regina) + HER + O (=round, i.e. pictorially); America Chavez, i.e. Miss America, is a superhero in the Marvel comics
   
10 CLEAN Guilt-free bacon, essentially without fat

<ba>C<on> (“essentially” means middle letter only) + LEAN (=without fat)
   
11 TENT PEG Ultimately confident PIN number opens security for temporary accommodation

TEN (=number) + <confiden>T (“ultimately” means last letter only) + PEG (=pin, i.e. to hold in place)
   
13 SCORPIO Small firm periodically repair old sign

S (=small, of sizes) + CO (=firm, i.e. company) + R<e>P<a>I<r> (“periodically” means alternate letters only) + O (=old, as in OT); Scorpio is a sign of the Zodiac
   
14 WATERCRESS Leaves war secrets out

*(WAR SECRETS); “out” is anagram indicator
   
16 DAWN Beginning // French for example

Double definition; the reference is to UK comedian and actress Dawn French (1957-)
   
18 LOOK Face King John first

LOO (=john, i.e. toilet) + K (=king, in cards); a face is a look, a facial expression
   
19 HITCH-HIKER After long boring hours, Swedish company’s wanting a rule for one who enjoys free movement

[ITCH (=long, yearn) in H H (=hours, i.e. 2 x h=hour)] + IKE<a> (=Swedish company, i.e. the furniture giant; “wanting a” means letter “a” is dropped) + R (=rule); a hitch-hiker “enjoys free movement” in that he doesn’t pay to travel
   
23 PRATTLE Soft toy rabbit

P (=soft, i.e. piano in music) + RATTLE (=toy)
   
24 PORTRAY Sandwich, maybe with fish for show

PORT (=Sandwich, maybe, i.e. in Kent) + RAY (=fish)
   
26 PRIOR Run current inside 24 having forgotten charger earlier

[R (=run, in cricket) + I (=current, in physics)] in POR<tray> (=entry at 24; “having forgotten charger (=tray, platter)” means letters “tray” are dropped
   
27 ENIGMATIC Mysterious comic – ace timing

*(ACE TIMING); “comic” is anagram indicator
   
29 REED ORGAN Music producer concerning journalist ahead of publication

RE- (=concerning, i.e. regarding) + ED. (=journalist, i.e. editor) + ORGAN (=publication)
   
30 NIGHT Dark endings hit occasionally

<e>N<d>I<n>G<s> H<i>T; “occasionally” means alternate letters only
   
Down  
   
01 POSIT Good artist finally securing very large advance

OS (=very large, i.e. outsize) in [PI (=good, pious) + <artis>T (“finally”) means last letters only]
   
02 NAP Drop off slate on the counter

PAN (=slate, criticize severely); “on the counter” appears to indicate a vertical reversal
   
03 PERSPIRE Sweat as some executive rips report up

Hidden (“some”) and reversed (“up”) in “executivE RIPS REPort”
   
04 DREDGER Medic on the brink with last bit of paper – it’s used to clean bottoms

DR (=medic) + EDGE (=brink) + <pape>R (“last bit of” means last letter only); dredgers are used to clean the bottoms of rivers
   
05 SPOUSES Partners found parking charges steep with Sierra

[P (=Parking, e.g. on signs) in SOUSE (=steep, soak)] + S (=Sierra, i.e. in radio telecommunications)
   
06 ESCROW Key argument for legal arrangement

ESC (=key, on computer keyboard) + ROW (=argument); an escrow is a deed in the hands of a third party, to take effect when a condition is fulfilled
   
07 SLEEPWALKER One who’s stepping out

Cryptic definition: a sleepwalker (takes) steps when he is asleep (“out”)
   
08 LANDOWNER Nan’s struggling with Wordle – getting LAIRD

*(NAN + WORDLE); “struggling” is anagram indicator
   
12 NATIONALISE Note to justify ousting leader – and bring under governmental control

N (=note, as in NB) + <r>ATIONALISE (=justify; “ousting leader” means first letter is dropped)
   
14 WALLPAPER Exam with a fifty-fifty at the start – it’s bland and unoriginal

W (=with) + A + L (=fifty) + L (=fifty) + PAPER (=exam)
   
15 EAT Knock back Venture Sea Scout’s terms

<ventur>E <se>A <scou>T; “terms” means last letters only
   
17 THEREMIN Artist following the right instrument

THE + R (=right) + EMIN (=artist, i.e. Tracy Emin); a theremin is an electronic musical instrument, patented in 1928
   
20 ICEBERG I see diver returning dangerous water feature

I + C (=see, e.g. in textspeak) + EBERG (GREBE=diver, i.e. bird; “returning” indicates reversal)
   
21 CAPTION Prisoner drinking a pint with international legend

[A + PT (pint) + I (=international)] in CON (=prisoner); a legend is a caption, heading, set of explanatory words
   
22 STEREO Pilot lowering an echo over sound system

STERE (STEER=pilot, direct; “lowering an echo (=E, in radio telecommunications)” means one letter “e” is moved to a later position in the word) + O (=over, in cricket)
   
25 YACHT In audition, why chat about craft?

Homophone (“in audition”) of “why” + *(CHAT); “about” is anagram indicator
   
28 TAG Unwrap present for dog?

<s>TAG<e> (=present, perform); to dog is to follow closely, tag
   

 

16 comments on “Independent 11,053 / Bluth”

  2. This was an enjoyable challenge with some clever definitions and clueing to be negotiated.

    I know it’s fair game for setters, but I never like the use of words for letters, with “see” being one of the worst offenders. I can’t see any use for them at all – except in cryptic crosswords! When would anyone want to write “see” when referring to the letter C?

    The meaning of charger needed to solve 26a was new to me and needed a quick look in Chambers to verify it.

    My top selections are TENT PEG, DAWN, PRATTLE & LANDOWNER.

    Many thanks to Bluth and to RR.

  4. 11ac. Maybe ultimately confiden(T) pin (PEG) number (TEN) opens (at the beginning)? Best I could do, anyway…

  6. My first Bluth. He gets a great press and there was much to enjoy (the SLEEPWALKER ‘stepping out’ was great and there were satisfying ‘aha!’ moments from SPOUSES and PORTRAY among others).

    I have an aversion to clues like PIN-UP where we are expected to solve a preliminary clue (Get better=pick up) from the ether and go from there to a complicated removal/replace indicated by the word-play – “ck”>”n” – to get pin-up. While I can reverse engineer a clue like this from the (perhaps obvious) answer I wouldn’t expect to follow this type of logical trail in the normal way. Similarly with TAG the solver is expected to come up with ‘present’=’stage’ (one synonym among many) and work from there – for me it’s a big ask and a parsing fail so chapeau to RatkojaRiku (and I think you’ve got the parsing of NAP right too – and while we’re on it WALLPAPER in that sense would I think usually refer to music (cf ‘elevator’)).

    Rant over I got a lot of enjoyment from the solve and I don’t mind being roughed up a bit by a high standard crossword. Thanks until the next time Bluth.

  7. Enjoying this so far, though only half way through (careful to jump straight down to bottom of this pae and not see any of the earlier contents 🙂 – 7down was interesting, the correct answer suggested itself very early to me but I couldnotsee why it had to be that until just now. A proverbial penny drop moment.
    I sussed 8d when I saw your Twitter teaser, Bluth. I like that a lot.
    18 seemed like a very tough ask, but it emerged from the mists. No sure how international it is.
    Fave so far must be 24 for ‘Sandwich,maybe’!

  8. Excellent. Could not solve without a little help but that’s neither here nor there. The debrief was enjoyable. Word associations new to me were ‘pi’ for good, ‘charger’ for TRAY and ‘terms’ for last letters (I associate ‘knock back’ with drinking). I realise they’re old hat in your neck of the woods. It took a while to get ‘Dawn’ for French and ‘loo’ for ‘John’. Not in my vernacular but I’ll have to do better. Favourites and last in were LOOK and ESCROW. THEREMIN sent me to YouTube for clips of ‘O Sole Mio’ on the instrument and an interview with Tracy Emin. Couldn’t parse 1a but the blog could. Thanks for the plural hours around itch in 19a. I did solve and do like both. Lovely anagrams for entry points. I liked the way the sequence for the clue was sometimes not the same as the sequence for the solution as in TENT PEG. Gushing a bit. Certainly the best grid this week and for me, for some time.

  9. Shame RR couldn’t blog till late. Cracking crossword the idea of putting PIN number to annoy the folks who bang on albeit correctly that the number bit is a tautology tickled me.

  10. Charger = tray / platter?? Can you give me a bit more, no idea what ‘s meant there. Always makes me feel bad when I don’t even understand the blog!

  11. Eric @10. One of the definitions in Chambers for “charger” is “a flat dish capable of holding a large joint of meat, a platter”.

  12. Thanks RatkojaRiku for the Souse of SPOUSES and the gang above for the ten of TENT PEG. I didn’t previously know Miss America, nor was I too confident about Wallpaper. Great to see a Grebe and good that the two artists were used differently, but I think the prize goes to very nicely hidden PERSPIRE. Second perfectly pitched challenge today with lots to smile about, thanks Bluth.

  16. Many thanks to fellow solvers for the help with 11 – the blog has been completed accordingly. Not for the first time, I had been bamboozled into thinking that “number” could only be N or a Roman numeral, even though that portion of the wordplay was simply staring me in the face all the time!!!

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