Independent 11,137 by Quince

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Slightly tricky from Quince today, but fun.

Quince is a relatively new setter, who first appeared about 6 months ago as far as I can tell. This puzzle (like Quince’s earlier ones) has some delightfully quirky definitions and well thought-out surfaces, though in a few cases these seem to require rather contorted clue constructions. 6d and 15d deserve special mention for the surfaces (though I can’t say I particularly like the mental images they conjure up), as does the “classic spinner” in 14a, but my favourite has to be the &lit at 2d. Thanks Quince for the challenge.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
7 BACKSTAB
How to make bats sell out? (8)
Reverse wordplay: you can make BATS by taking STAB and writing it in reverse (BACK).

Sell out = backstab = betray.
9 EDIBLE
Revolutionary fuel Biden reserves for consumption (6)
Hidden answer (. . . reserves = keeps), reversed (revolutionary), in [fu]EL BIDE[n].
10 IBIS
Isco’s beginning to get into trouble passing winger (4)
Beginning letter of I[sco], getting into IBS (a bowel disorder, which may or may not result in constipation = trouble passing).

Winger = something that has wings = a bird. And for the surface, if you didn’t know (I didn’t), Isco is the short name of a Spanish footballer.
11 INFIGHTING
Team rows without cox, finally fixing thing at sea (10)
Anagram (at sea) of FI[x]ING THING without the final letter of [co]X.

Infighting = disagreements between people who should be on the same side = rows within a team.
12 EGG CUP
Rest for early bird, potentially? (3,3)
Cryptic definition: an egg is potentially the early stage of a bird, though you’d hope that one resting in an eggcup is an unfertilised one.
14 EARACHES
English classic spinner unnamed by Stokes, causing complaints (8)
E (English) + ARACH[n]E (classic spinner: in Greek mythology, a woman whose skill at spinning and weaving got her into a contest with a goddess – never a good move) without the N (unnamed), then S (which Chambers says is short for “stokes”, a scientific unit of viscosity, although other reference sources seem to think the abbreviation is St).

Complaints = illnesses.
15/16 ADRIAN CHILES
Supply chain derails broadcaster (6,6)
Anagram (supply = in a supple manner = flexibly) of CHAIN DERAILS.

Of all the names that come to mind for “broadcaster”, I can’t say this one is anywhere near the top of the list, and I’m expecting grumbles from overseas solvers who’ve probably never heard of him.
19 DESCALER
Declares novel solution for deposit (8)
Anagram (novel) of DECLARES.

Descaler = a chemical used to remove limescale deposits.
21 GARLIC
Count is thrown off by some third of French switching from left to right (6)
GA[l]LIC (French), with its third letter switching from L (left) to R (right).

The Count in question is Count Dracula, who (in Bram Stoker’s novel) is a vampire and therefore repelled by garlic.
23 MAKES SENSE
What chopping karate instructor’s rear does is clear (5,5)
Chopping off the rear letter of SENSE[i] (a martial arts teacher) MAKES SENSE.
24 SOOT
Burning evidence from sergeant’s case? That takes some balls (4)
Outer letters (case) of S[ergean]T, containing (taking) OO (two letters that are round = balls?)

Evidence of burning.
25 CLOSER
Relatively thick runner-up backs Conservative (6)
LOSER (runner-up) after (backing) C (abbreviation for Conservative).

Thick, as in “thick as thieves” = closely allied.
26 LAUGHTER
Giggling child’s face falls tenfold (8)
[d]AUGHTER (female child), with the initial D (500 in Roman numerals) reduced tenfold to L (50).
DOWN
1 MANBAG
Staff gossip on the rise, leading to sack for fellow (6)
MAN (as a verb = staff, as in the command to “man the lifeboats”, though this term is generally being replaced by gender-neutral alternatives), then GAB (gossip) reversed (on the rise = upwards in a down clue).

Slang for a handbag used by men.
2 SKIS
Kit between two poles, when temperature drops (4)
KI[t] between S S (South pole, twice) without the T (temperature).

Clue-as-definition (&lit): skis are used in cold climates, and often with a ski pole held on each side.
3 ETHIOPIA
Land work on current affairs primarily, after pitching The Independent (8)
OP (op = short for Latin opus = a work of music, literature etc) + I (scientific symbol for electrical current) + first letter (primarily) of A[ffairs], all after an anagram (pitching = throwing) of THE + I (abbreviation for Independent).
4 LEDGER
Record-holder ran, turning on bit of gas (6)
LED (ran = was in control of), then RE (on = on the subject of) + first letter (a bit) of G[as], with these last two elements reversed (turning).

A book in which financial records are held.
5 RIB-TICKLER
Tease with feather, say, and gag (3-7)
RIB (as a verb = tease) + TICKLER (for example a feather).

Gag = rib-tickler = a joke.
6 BLINKERS
Lineker essentially stripped into pants, rudely flashing bits (8)
LIN[e]KER with the middle letter removed (essentially stripped), inserted into BS (short form of a somewhat rude word for “pants” in the sense of “nonsense”).

The surface refers to an infamous occasion when Gary Lineker, host of the BBC’s Match of the Day, declared that if his beloved Leicester City won the league he would present the first show of the following season wearing only his underpants. Be careful what you wish for.
8 BUFFET
Fines stopping chaotic Tube strike (6)
F F (two of the abbreviation for “fine”) inserted into (stopping) an anagram (chaotic) of TUBE.
13 CURD CHEESE
Doctor screeched about first sign of up quark, perhaps (4,6)
Anagram (doctor, as a verb = modify) of SCREECHED around the first letter of U[p].

Quark = a soft curd cheese, traditional in Germany and Eastern Europe. For the surface, an “up quark” is a subatomic particle.
15 AMENABLE
Suggestible bachelor is drenched in beer by alpha males (8)
B (bachelor, as in university degrees BA, BSc etc) inserted into ALE (beer), after A (the Greek letter Alpha) + MEN (males).
17 HIGHER-UP
Boss tripping straight over (6-2)
HIGH (tripping = intoxicated on drugs), then PURE (straight, perhaps as in alcoholic drinks without mixers) reversed (over).

Higher-up = slang for a senior manager in an organisation.
18 URINAL
Address takes in Assange, initially, giving relief to leakers (6)
URL (Uniform Resource Locator = internet address), containing IN + initial letter of A[ssange].
20 LUSTRE
Sex drive finishes off actor Charlie Sheen (6)
LUST (sex drive) + last letters (finishes) of [acto]R [charli]E.
22 IRONED
De Niro’s makeover got rid of wrinkles (6)
Anagram (makeover) of DE NIRO.
24 SOHO
Having a change of heart, get lost somewhere in London (4)
SHOO (shoo! = get lost! = a command to go away), with the middle two letters (heart) changed round.

16 comments on “Independent 11,137 by Quince”

  1. I found this very hard but after solving it I don’t really know why. Wavelengths I guess. Thanks to Quince (new to me) and Quirister

  2. Hard going with some brilliant misdirection. Lovely surfaces and everything parses perfectly…once you know what the abswer is but I needed a lot of checks to make sure I’d got things right. I look forward to more of Quince’s tricky ways.

    Thanks to both Qs

  4. Well spotted Skinny, gosh that was hard work, devious defs tricky wordplay, took me a of sessions with a lot of blanks. Thanks Q & Q.

  5. Thanks Quirister-I think “slightly tricky” is somewhat understating it.
    I found filling the Inqy grid more fun (although I am hopeless with the end game)
    So many obscurities (Stokes for one)
    And very little humour to kick it along.
    Usually when i reveal something I have a tea tray moment and a chuckle.
    But few laughs here-and I’m not taking the piss.
    Joe Bidet?

  6. Absolutely loved this. Mind you, I did need to cheat to complete the NW quadrant. Embarrassed that I didn’t think of EGG CUP and didn’t know MANBAG. Fortunately, I did know ADRIAN CHILES but only because of his appearances on Countdown. More please!

  8. Quick follow up.
    I am now doing Araucaria 23964. Like Bunthorne and Nimrod,I get the feeling that they want us to crack it and be in on the joke.
    I’ll get my coat

  9. I’ve found Quince’s previous crosswords quite tough and this was no exception. I’d never heard of the ‘broadcaster’ at 15/16, who had to go in from crossers + guesswork, didn’t know ‘quark’ as a type of CHEESE and couldn’t parse EARACHES. Still, satisfying to complete with the not exactly obvious ‘Count is thrown off by some’ def for GARLIC my favourite and last in.

    Thanks to the two Qui’s

  10. Thanks both. Like others and notably copmus@8 I took the impression early there was a lot of clever stuff at play but no huge interest in whether any/many solvers could complete unaided.; the unspecified count, the eternally unborn bird, and the unknown karate instructor serve as some of my examples

  11. A bit beyond me I have to admit but reading the review I have to admire the cleverness and wit of this with some quite brilliant misdirection
    Thanks to the two Qs

  12. I finally finished this with a lot of help and am torn between wishing I was good enough at solving to really appreciate the cleverness and thinking it was just a bit too demanding. Thanks to Quirister for the explanations and to Quince for the challenge.

  13. Thanks, Q and Q. However, we’re in the Copmus/TFO camp today. We only completed this with extensive wordfinder and anagram solver help, and not much satisfaction at the end of it all.

  14. Pleased to finish unaided, thought the clues all excellent.
    I had a look at the Araucaria one copmus was doing and found it quite enjoyable, but not more so than this one, and on the whole I prefer this sort of sharpness to the funnies. It’s a pretty pointless comparison, anyway.

  15. Well, got about half this done (the left half, as it happened) but couldn’t finish it, and didn’t have enough crossers to use a word finder.

  16. (bit late, but ..) thankyou Q & Q; I needed a few reveal-letters at the end to finish – thanks for explaining LEDGER where I thought it was referring to ‘Reg[ulo]’ , a way of referring to gas oven settings I recall from the early days of domestic gas ovens!

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