Independent 11,375 / Dill

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It is two years since I last blogged a puzzle by Dill, so I was keen to get my teeth into this one.

I think that I have managed to parse everything to my satisfaction, although the entry at 31 makes me think about the whole of a 300-year period, rather than a single point in time 300 years ago.

Today is Tuesday, so one would expect a (ghost) theme. Alas, I have again drawn a blank and can see no theme here. I look forward to being enlightened later by other solvers.

My favourite clues here today are 8, for concision; 13, 14 and 22, all for smoothness of surface; and 28, for making me laugh out loud when the penny dropped.

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

Across    
     
01 SILVER WEDDING Deserving wild, drunken celebration after 25 years

*(DESERVING WILD); “drunken” is anagram indicator
     
10 ANGEL Backer of a new hair lotion?

A + N (=new) + GEL (=hair lotion); e.g. a business angel backs new entrepreneurs
     
11 PERTURBED Teaching graduate following forward and back game is confused

PERT (=forward, cheeky) + UR (RU=game, i.e. rugby union; “back” indicates reversal) + B ED (=teaching graduate, i.e. Bachelor of Education)
     
12 ECSTASY Bliss when simple starters of cherry stuffed tomatoes are consumed

C<herry> S<tuffed> T<omatoes> (“starts of” means first letters only) in EASY (=simple)
     
13 SOLDERS Joins those who fight losing independence

SOLD<i>ERS (=those who fight); “lacking independence (=I)” means letter “i” is dropped
     
14 TRIPE Rubbish journey back from France

TRIP (=journey) + <franc>E (“back from” means last letter only is used)
     
15 BUCK Resist US coffee shop with no celebs outside

<star>BUCK<s> (=US coffee shop); with no celebs (=STARS) outside” means letters “stars” at beginning and end of word are dropped; to resist a trend is to buck it
     
17 NOON Small number, about 12

NO (=number; “small” indicates abbreviation) + ON (=about, regarding)
     
20 SAGA Chronicle of sinister-looking cookers

AGAS (=cookers); “sinister-looking”, i.e. left-facing, indicates reversal
     
21 REAL Old royal domain losing millions

REAL<m> (=domain); “losing millions (=M)” means letter “m” is dropped; real is an obsolete word for royal
     
22 ALOOF Haughty ladies maybe found in the middle of Staffs

LOO (=Ladies maybe, i.e. toilets) in <st>AF<fs> (“the middle of” means the middle two letters only are used)
     
25 QUARTER Neigbourhood // cut in four

Double definition; cf. the Latin Quarter in Paris AND to be hung, drawn and quartered
     
28 BROTHEL British hotel converted into House of Congress

BR (=British) + *(HOTEL); “converted” is anagram indicator; cryptically, a brothel could be described as a “house of congress (=sexual intercourse)”!
     
29 INTENSIVE All-out event is in disarray

*(EVENT IS IN); “disarray” is anagram indicates; an all-out effort is intensive, full-on
     
30 EAGLE Hunting dog heading off to find bird

<b>EAGLE (=hunting dog); “heading off” means first letter is dropped
     
31 TRICENTENNIAL Tory oddly represented ancient line of 300 years ago

T<o>R<y> (“oddly” means odd letters only are used) + *(ANCIENT LINE); “represented” is anagram indicator
     
Down    
     
02 INGESTING Drinking, for example, expressed jokingly in government

Homophone (“expressed”) of “in jest (=jokingly)” + IN + G (=government)
     
03 VILLAGER Six litre beer for small townsman

VI (=six, in Roman numerals) + L (=litre) + LAGER (=beer)
     
04 REPAYABLE As loans as concerned with salary being accomplished

RE- (=concerned with, regarding) + PAY (=salary) + ABLE (=being accomplished)
     
05 EUROS Really regret standing up to Australian boxers?

SO (=really, very) + RUE (=regret); “standing up” indicates vertical reversal; a euro is a type of large kangaroo, hence “Australian boxers”
     
06 DOUBLE Stiff measure of Russian capital switching Republican for Democrat

ROUBLE (=Russian capital, i.e. currency); “switching Republican (=R) for Democrat (=D)” means letter “r” becomes “d”; a double e.g. whisky is a measure of a stiff drink!
     
07 NOBLE Worthy international prize relegates Spain to 5th place

NOBEL (=international prize, for e.g. peace); “relegates Spain (=E, in IVR) to 5th place” means that letter “E” drops t become the 5th letter in the word
     
08 TALENT Gift of storybooks

TALE (=story) + NT (=books, i.e. New Testament); a gift for languages is a talent for languages, say
     
09 EDISON Jedi’s only partly expert in communications

Hidden (“partly”) in “jEDI’S ONly”; the reference is to the American inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
     
16 CALABRESE Clear base whisked into a variety of greens

*(CLEAR BASE); “whisked into” is anagram indicator; calabrese is a variety of green sprouting broccoli
     
18 OMOPHAGIA Macabre food practice involves chopping up two ducks, ham and a pig

*(O (=duck, i.e. zero score in cricket) + O (=duck) + HAM + A PIG); “involves chopping up” is anagram indicator
     
19 NAPOLEON French veto letting in another European military leader

A POLE (=another European) in NON (=French veto, i.e. the French for no)
     
20 SEQUIN Inquest abroad has no time for fancy embellishment

*(INQUES<t>); “has no time (=T)” means that letter “t” is not used in anagram, indicated by “abroad”
     
23 FILLER Office clerk protects apprentice packer

L (=apprentice, i.e. learner) in FILER (=office clerk); e.g. a packer of boxes is a filler of them
     
24 ETHNIC Cultural moral code overwhelms Putin finally

<puti>N (“finally” means last letter only) in ETHIC (=moral code)
     
26 ASTER Essence of Eastern flower

Hidden (“essence of”) in “eASTERn”
     
27 REIGN Sovereign’s rule’s downfall reported

Homophone (“reported”) of “rain (=downfall)”
     

 

14 comments on “Independent 11,375 / Dill”

  1. Hi RR

    I think there’s a theme of coins: ANGEL, REAL, QUARTER, TALENT, EURO, NOBLE, NAPOLEON, CENT – and there may be more …

  2. Yes, I saw the coin / money theme pointed out by Eileen @1. There’s also an EAGLE.

    Enjoyable to work everything out though I missed the parsing of EUROS as my last in. Learnt a new word in OMOPHAGIA.

    Thanks to Dill and RR

  3. Eileen, I agree: you can add BUCK (slang for a US dollar) and EAGLE (an old US 10-dollar coin). Maybe SILVER (from 1a) too? Thanks RR and Dill.

  4. Thanks for the blog, RR – I share all your favourites, especially your reaction to BROTHEL. I also smiled at the sinister-looking cookers and the macabre food practice.

    I really enjoyed this puzzle – many thanks to Dill.

  5. A light delight with coins scattered all over the grid.

    OMOPHAGIA was a new one on me and my last one in. BROTHEL was my favourite – great surface.

    Many thanks to Dill and to RR.

  7. Missed the theme, needless to say, but I did learn a couple of new things in the shape of the large kangaroo and the macabre food practice.
    Had the same doubts as our blogger over TRICENTENNIAL but otherwise a most enjoyable and informative puzzle.
    Top clue for me was TALENT and I also liked ECSTASY & TRIPE although wouldn’t associate one with the other!

    Thanks to Dill and to RR for the review.

  8. Delighted to be able to add another themer: the DOUBLE – a coin from Guernsey worth 1/8th of a penny. Sadly neither the SAGA nor the TRIPE appear to have ever been coins (perhaps the former for payment of pensions and the latter for payment of contributors to GB News?)

    A nice gentle puzzle – apart from OMOPHAGIA – and a very nice handful of loose change lurking in the background.

    Thanks Dill and RR

  9. Thanks Dill and RR

    Interesting to consider that eaters of steak tartare or sushi are following a macabre practice!

  10. Simon S – that’s quite a take on the word. Chambers defines it as The eating of raw flesh, esp as a religious observance and most other entries I looked at referred to ancient myth and the cult worship of Dionysus. It’s fairly clear it is animal flesh/meat and almost certainly human that is the substance in question. So steak tartare might qualify on technical grounds but I suspect Dionysus’ Maenads would not look too kindly on you turning up with a takeway from Yo Sushi!

  11. Although “real” for “royal” may be obsolete, I think people still play ‘real tennis’, where it still has that meaning.

  12. PM @ 10 I checked on the Dionysus cult before posting, and while mentions that was brought offerings of raw flesh there is no assertion that it was human.

    I wouldn’t offer him anything anyway, as I’ve been veggie for nearly 40 years (maybe that skews my perspective?).

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