Independent 11,164/Hoskins

by

Hoskins starts the Indy week for us.

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 Restive Hoskins is one getting nurses’ attention
IMPATIENT
A charade of I’M and PATIENT.

6 Outside appearance involving king is total shambles
FARCE
An insertion of R in FACE.

9 Report soldiers in mess close to revolt
STATEMENT
An insertion of MEN in STATE T.

10 Short blast then bit of honk … canine?
TOOTH
A charade of TOOT and H.

11 Former PM and bishop getting MDMA, perhaps
MAYBE
A charade of MAY, B and E.

12 Comic also tries to get lady in stitches
TAILORESS
(ALSO TRIES)*

13 Hot drink yours truly had lacking flavour
INSIPID
A charade of IN, SIP and I’D.

15 Breed with nurse with ultimately toned bum
REAR END
A charade of REAR, EN and D.

18 Tory offensive about northern ‘insiders‘
CONTENT
A charade of CON and N inserted into TET.

20 Those under fire hit at front in Scottish squad
HEARTHS
An insertion of H in HEARTS.

21 The Lord will save old Queen singer
CHORISTER
An insertion of O in CHRIST followed by ER.

23 Tiger Woods is one to sack large caddy, perhaps
GOFER
GO[L]FER

25 Criminal making fellow pressure coppers
PENCE
You need to remove the F from FENCE and replace it with a P.

26 Setter in do Harry gets drunk with a sip
HAIRSPRAY
(HARRY A SIP)*

27 Game trollops taking top off for daughter
DARTS
You need to remove the T from TARTS and replace it with a D.

28 Relation huffs about possible Congressional result
STEPCHILD
A reversal of PETS followed by CHILD.

Down

1 I’m often unable to get off between the sheets
INSOMNIAC
A cd.

2 Climax with unknown character is seedy
PEAKY
A charade of PEAK and Y.

3 US tabloid once
THE PEOPLE
A dd.

4 Downhearted, having lost head and kicked out
EJECTED
[D]EJECTED

5 Row about a pair of model-types being more tawdry
TATTIER
An insertion of A and TT in TIER.

6 One well-upholstered sofa ripped around end of armrest
FATSO
An insertion of T in (SOFA)*

7 Loser messing around with vote is former president
ROOSEVELT
(LOSER VOTE)*

8 Characterful spirit English drunk served up around hotel
ETHOS
A charade of E and H inserted into SOT reversed.

14 Drink at end of day with star on barbiturate?
SUNDOWNER
A charade of SUN and DOWNER.

16 Drug a nice gal’s sorted
ANALGESIC
(A NICE GALS)*

17 Forged deeds Tory put through the shredder?
DESTROYED
(DEEDS TORY)*

19 Tall leader longs for short folk
TITCHES
A charade of T and ITCHES.

20 Woman likely to have the most lines of smack, I’m told
HEROINE
A homophone of HEROIN.

21 I make love with one in a quiver!
CUPID
A cd.

22 Not all abide asinine thoughts
IDEAS
Hidden in abIDE ASinine.

24 Those heading for airboat relay some impolite language
FARSI
The initial letters of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh words of the clue.

12 comments on “Independent 11,164/Hoskins”

  1. I loved it. It was light and typical Hoskins – great fun from start to finish. Many thanks to him and to Pierre

  2. Gosh, the Hoskins/Pierre combo is becoming almost as established a Thing as the Phi/B&J Fridays! Truly, like a horse and carriage, it seems we can’t have one without the other.

    Hoskins back to irrepressible and raunchy – which is a shock to the system on the traditionally gentle Monday morning. But great fun as always. Not too difficult; I solve in clue number order and only had to go back for three: rather pleased that I DIDN’T remember THE PEOPLE – horrible rag – and the conjoined CUPID and CHORISTER didn’t come easily first time but were a doddle with the crossers in place. Favourites – and I liked a lot – included TAILORESS (though I didn’t know they existed), REAR END and GOFER for the surfaces, FATSO – politically incorrect (as if that would concern our setter!) but with a nice misdirect and, COTD for me, the splendid ROOSEVELT with the clear topical allusion in the clue. Very nice spot.

    Thanks Hoskins and Pierre

  3. With Hoskins you anticipate fun and you know he’s elite. The clues amuse – ‘tooth’ and ‘maybe’ – and confound (me anyway) i.e. ‘The People’ and ‘content’ (last two in). Thanks Pierre for the explanations. Easy really, now. Hoskins always pokes has his nose through the grid – ‘impatient’, ‘insipid’ and ‘insomniac’ (in which he case he’s not, he’s misdirecting? Because my first thought for 1d was ‘impotence’) and he’s addicted to drugs (in clues at least, but where there’s smoke …) and he’s earthy – ‘fatso’ and ‘rear end’ today among tarts turning into darts and drunks. More! More!

  4. Hoskins in good form with a very entertaining puzzle.

    My favourites were FARCE and FARSI, the surface and def for MAYBE and the comments on recent political events on either side of the Atlantic at 7d and 17d.

    Thanks to Hoskins and Pierre

  6. All good dirty fun as we have come to expect. I briefly had S(outh)W(est)E(ast)A(irboat)R(elay) SWEAR for impolite language, but the heading was doing double duty, and the GOFER put me right.

  7. Thanks both. Got into an unnecessary mess parsing the ‘mess’ element of STATEMENT as I thought of TA for soldiers followed by the T at the end of revolt inside semen! Given our setter’s reputation, I seek forgiveness

  8. Typical Harry and enjoyable fare. CUPID raised a smile and my favourite was HEROINE.
    Thanks to Hoskins and to Pierre for the review.

  9. Many thanks to all. I’ll be back on August 9th with an easyish korma-spiced puzzle for theme day, but until then it only remains for me to say goodnight and goodluck to each and every one of you. 🙂

  10. Thanks Pierre and the H. Found and but the Cupid chorister pair trivial then got stuck for quite a while. Fun though.

  11. Great fun as Rabbit Dave@1 said and unpretentious as copmus@5 said. FATSO was my top choice. Thanks to both.

  12. Fabulous. This is the kind of puzzle that keeps me coming back for more. Many thanks to Hoskins and Pierre!

Comments are closed.