Independent 11,428 by Gila

by

Another Bank Holiday and we have Gila making an occasional visit to our side. Seems like only yesterday I was blogging. Oh it was.

I found this mostly a gentle solve, no really issues solving or parsing. I did note a few US usages which I know raise hackles in certain places. Can’t see any themes or Ninas but if you know better then over to you.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Aroused using adult items, possibly (10)
STIMULATED

[ADULT ITEMS]* possibly

6. Whitish powder initially touted as like cocaine (4)
TALC

Initial letters of T(outed) A(s) L(ike) C(ocaine)

10. Do children worry? (5)
CHEAT

CH(ildren) & EAT – worry

11. London hospital adopting playful way to present data (3,6)
BAR CHARTS

ARCH – mischievous, playful inside London Hospital BARTS

12. Local gossip is what folk tend mostly to spread around (4,2,3,4)
TALK OF THE TOWN

[WHAT FOLK TEN(d) – mostly TO]* spread around. Could almost be considered an all in one I guess

14. Shambles in amateur club leading to the return of unrest (8)
ABATTOIR

A(mateur) & BAT – club & RIOT – unrest reversed. Maybe not the first definition that came to my mind for shambles though.

16. Bad wine is occasionally picked out for booze shops (6)
OFFIES

Off licences colloquially, OFF – bad & alternate letters of wInE iS

18. Fragment is small, of course (6)
SNATCH

S(mall) & NATCH – naturally – of course – colloquially

20. Endlessly eager romantic partner [swoon!] (4,4)
KEEL OVER

Most of KEE(n) – eager & LOVER

22. Top of pie covered with firm, fine, fantastically pleasing fruit (7,6)
COOKING APPLES

CO(mpany) – firm & OK – fine & top of P(ie) in PLEASING* fantastically

26. I’m in a country showing Rick and Morty? (9)
ANIMATION

Def by example, a somewhat strange animated cartoon, I’M in A NATION – country

27. Type of goat largely found in dry, mountainous region (5)
TIBET

Most of IBE(x) – goat in TT – dry

28. Almost, almost dark (4)
NIGH

Most of NIGH(t) – dark

29. Extremely serious chaps involved in strength test (10)
ASSESSMENT

Extremes of S(eriou)S & MEN – chaps all in ASSET – a strength

DOWN
1. Party ready to bring Conservative on board (4)
SECT

SET – ready – bringing on board C(onservative)

2. Lack of activity during trip oddly constrained by time (7)
INERTIA

IN – during & odd letters of TrIp in ERA – time

3. Before you ran out at the end, I left (5)
UNTIL

Ends of (yo)U (ra)N (ou)T & I & L(eft)

4. Siblings feeding French friend with a delicious bit of food (8)
AMBROSIA

BRO(ther)S – siblings – inside – feeding – AMI – French friend & A

5. Bird in water, gently rising up (5)
EGRET

Hidden (in) reversed (rising up) in waTER GEntly

7. Certain amount of interest surrounds carnival site, one deduced (1,6)
A PRIORI

APR – annual percentage rate – interest – around RIO – carnival site & I – one

8. Actor’s son getting mixed up with American crime syndicate (4,6)
COSA NOSTRA

A(merican) in a mixed up [ACTORS SON]*

9. Lively revolutionary given rebuke when leaving area (8)
CHEERFUL

CHE – revolutionary & A(rea) removed from E(a)RFUL – rebuke

13. Connect devices by adapting handy ASCII (5-5)
DAISY CHAIN

[HANDY ASCII]* adapted. ASCII is a now outdated way of representing characters in computing and computer peripherals could be daisy chained too.

15. Shrewd announcement of change direction, please (8)
TACTICAL

Sounds like TACK – change direction & TICKLE – please

17. Comeback from extraordinary person ends in hideous failure (8)
RESPONSE

PERSON* extraordinarily & ends of (hideou)S (failur)E

19. Making amends for so much in government (7)
ATONING

A TON – lots – so much & IN & G(overnment)

21. Nasty, smothering family member is there, obviously (7)
VISIBLE

SIB(ling) inside VILE – nasty

23. Breakfast item from good restaurants in the South, primarily (5)
GRITS

Bah, not in the UK it isn’t. Initial letters of G(ood) R(estaurants) I(n) T(he) S(outh). Again it could be seen as an all in one clue as they are predominantly seen in the Southern US.

24. Sports car frequently seen around university (5)
LOTUS

U(ni) in LOTS – frequently seen

25. Begin right away, i.e. immediately! (4)
STAT

R(ight) removed from STA(r)T.

12 comments on “Independent 11,428 by Gila”

  1. Thanks, Gila and flashling!
    Liked BAR CHARTS, TALK OF THE TOWN, SNATCH, KEEL OVER, TACTICAL and GRITS.

  2. Re 23d. It has been pointed out here in the past that Americanisms are acceptable if the clue surface suggests it. I think “in the South” does that here, albeit perhaps a little too cryptically (not the South over here).

  3. Very enjoyable. What with ” natch, sib, bros, and offies” I wonder if Gila has been down with the kids lately.
    I particularly enjoyed BAR CHARTS, ABATTOIR, SNATCH, KEEL OVER and ATONING
    Many thanks Gila (see you on the other side tomorrow) and the hard-working flashling.

  4. I shouldn’t have been so slow equating shambles and ABBATOIR as I know that’s the reason that the area in York is so-called.

    Thank you flashling and Gila.

  5. I was doing so well … and ended up stuck on the interlinked ATONING and SNATCH at the end. NATCH is a word I have seen occasionally but I’m not sure I could have defined it in the wild and it certainly didn’t occur today. And, as intended, ‘Fragment’ had me thinking of physical items. So a dnf after a reveal of that one. Nonetheless, very enjoyable and tightly clued throughout. STIMULATED, BAR CHARTS, TALK OF THE TOWN, TIBET, AMBROSIA and RESPONSE my favourites.

    Thanks Gila and flashling

  6. Good way to get the week started. Maybe our US posters can tell us if GRITS is (or is it are?) likely to be served in ‘good restaurants’ or if it’s regarded as more homely fare as I’ve always imagined. I managed to spot the informal terms alluded to above but almost came a cropper on TACTICAL, which I found quite hard.

    Favourites were ABATTOIR and BAR CHARTS.

    Thanks to Gila and flashling

  8. As crypticsue says, an enjoyable solve. We’d never heard of Rick and Morty and weren’t familiar with ‘offies’ for off-licences – but those answers were easily got from the clues.
    Thanks, Gila and flashling.

  9. Thanks both. Mostly routine until the last few, and some unknowns, which were maybe nearer uncertainties, including the spelling of COSA NOSTRA wherein I have previously swapped a couple of vowels, A PRIORI which confirms my (ancient) Italian is not too sharp, and the Barts element of BAR CHARTS which I now learn is an adopted shortening – I am in the capital very rarely, so it’s not remotely ‘general’ knowledge for me, for which I should be grateful as I have not needed its services

  10. Splendid. There’s something fresh and zingy about Gila’s style that I find very appealing. Impossible to pick a favourite from this bunch.

    Thanks, Gila and flashling

  12. Didn’t have time to look at this earlier in the day but it was well worth waiting for!
    Particularly liked STIMULATED (clever spot!), CHEAT, BAR CHARTS, KEEL OVER, TIBET & ATONING.

    Many thanks to Gila and to the hard-working flashling.

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