Independent 11,548 by Stamp

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I've not seen this compiler before and I found it quite tricky in places.

Progress was slow until I spotted the theme of Walt Disney films and characters. Some of these were split over multiple answers such as Lady and the Tramp, and the Little Mermaid. Clues like 21A, where the word for an expression was not one I've seen much, came a lot more easily after spotting the theme. Part of what made it a little tricky was that there were more double definition clues than is normal and one or two of these were not particularly obvious (e.g. 19). Donald Trump's questionable hair came in for yet more stick in 23, although on this occasion he's mainly there to accompany Duck.

ACROSS
1 DEBT
What’s due is due, but that’s totally heartless (4)

D[u]e b[u]t
8 LEADING MAN
Chap’s after some roofing; bill him first? (7,3)

Man after leading(=roofing in the sense of using lead on the roof). The def refers to someone being first on a theatre bill.
9 MICKEY
Rum drink that’s taken in jest (6)

DD. Taking something in jest is "taking the mickey" and a Mickey (Finn) is spiked drink, hence rum in the sense of suspicious or dodgy.
10 FANTASIA
Cool temperature on continent producing a mixture of airs (8)

Fan(=cool) + t{emperature) + Asia. Fantasia, as well as being the Disney film, refers to a medley of different compositions.
11 OWN LABEL
‘Timeless urban stereotype’ – describing lines of shops? (3-5)

[T]own label (T{ime} removed)
14 AVERSION
Dislike navies, or being at sea? (8)

(Navies or)*
17 TRAMP
Quietly market revolutionary steamer (5)

(P(=quietly in musical notation) + mart)<. A tramp steamer was a trading vessel which did not have a fixed itinerary.
18 HOST
Received in service, something symbolic: MC perhaps (4)

DD, referring to the host used in Mass and a Master of Ceremonies.
20 LADY
Knocked over regularly by a deadly woman (4)

Alternate letters reversed of "by a deadly"
21 MOUSE
Wearing expression of discontent, son in a pet? (5)

S{on} in moue(=a sort of pouting grimace)
22 ATTENDEE
Fresh teen date might be a goer! (8)

(Teen date)*
24 RAKING UP
Gathering‘s falling apart with hundreds leaving (6,2)

[C]ra[c]king up (removing two Cs = 100 in Roman numerals)
27 PLATINUM
Element of fruit found in a can? Quite the reverse (8)

A tin(=a can) in plum(=fruit) (reversal of the order implied in the first part of the clue).
29 ORMOLU
Alloy from ammo album occasionally selected by soldiers (6)

Even letters of "ammo album" next to OR(=Ordinary Ranks). Ormolu is a fake gold alloy.
30 POSTILLION
Following misfortune, one working as coach driver’s assistant? (10)

Post(=following) + ill(=misfortune) + i on(=one working). A postillion is a person who controls a carriage by riding one of the horses, although that is often done as an alternative to having a coachman rather than to assist the coachman. The word is usually spelt with one L but the double L is given as an alternative spelling in Chambers.
31 TYRO
Initiate evacuation of learner from Alpine region (4)

Tyro[l]. Initiate here is used as a noun.
DOWN
1 DUMBO
Fool medic into twosome (5)

MB (Bachelor of medicine) in duo(=twosome)
2 BACON
Painter or philosopher – which might be rasher? (5)

Triple def, referring to the strips of cured meat, the painter Francis Bacon and philosophers Francis or Roger Bacon.
3 SLY
Smart and silly, alternately (3)

Odd letters of silly
4 EARFLAP
A bit of corn stew is letdown for deerstalker? (7)

Ear(=a bit of corn) + flap(=stew in the sense of panic/tricky situation). The def refers to the flaps on the side of a deerstalker hat.
5 MINNIE
Driver, maybe new one, entering pit (6)

Mine around n{ew} I. Minnie Driver is an actress who should have been (but sadly wasn't) cast in the remake of the Italian Job.
6 AGRA
Ancient city is fragrant, repeatedly pruning its borders (4)

[Fr]agra[nt]
7 MANIFOLDS
Bloke’s charged with providing outdated car parts (9)

Man's around(=charged with) (if(=providing) old(=outdated))
12 LITTLE
Small amount husband’s removed from the till mistakenly (6)

(T[h]e till)* (h{usband} removed)
13 BRAG
Game birds shot without resistance (4)

Bag(=birds that have been shot in a day's hunting) around r{resistance}. Brag is a card game.
15 SPLEEN
Public library’s stopping noted organ (6)

P{ublic} L{ibrary} in seen(=noted)
16 PORTALOOS
Left amateur to disconnect unfinished toilets (9)

Port(=left on a ship) + a{mateur} + loos[e](=disconnect)
19 DUCK
Steer clear of sweetheart (4)

DD. I assume the sweetheart is used a synonym here in the sense of dialect words for addressing people, as in "How are you today, sweetheart/duck?"
21 MERMAID
Admire medium uneasily? There’s something fishy about her (7)

(Admire m{edium})*
23 DONALD
Fellow needing hairpiece trimmed on top – Trump? (6)

Don(=fellow) + [b]ald (="needing hairpiece")
25 GOOFY
Stupid fly’s wings adhering to something sticky (5)

F[l]y on goo(=something sticky)
26 PLUTO
Thinker preferring university to a bitter world (5)

Plato(=thinker) with U replacing A. I assume the bitter refers to it being on the outer edge of the solar system, therefore bitterly cold. Or maybe it's bitter about no longer being considered a proper planet!
28 TOTE
Here’s betting you can carry this off (4)

DD referring to something that can be carried (toted) and the betting system (short for Totalizator) used at racecourses.
29 ONE
Example of singularity captured by Pioneer (3)

Hidden in pioneer

31 comments on “Independent 11,548 by Stamp”

  2. Welcome to the Indy Stamp.

    A fun solve and smooth surfaces throughout. We had OWN-BRAND in at first which seemed to work apart from the fact we were then stuck on the connecting down clues!

    We spotted the theme but hadn’t twigged the significance of the anniversary. Thanks flashling.

    Already waiting for the next one!

    Thanks Stamp and NealH.

  3. I thought this was an excellent Indy debut. It was light, with nice brief clueing and smooth surfaces, with a theme that even I could spot.

    Like B&J @2, I got slightly held up by putting in OWN-BRAND for 11a.

    Many thanks to Stamp. More soon please. Thanks too to Neal.

  4. Like a proud parent, delighted to see one of our own published in the Indy! (if you haven’t worked it out, the setter name is a big hint)

    It’s embarrassing how long it took me to spot the theme but it’s so obvious in hindsight. A surprisingly helpful grid in places too, with a few clues with consecutive crossers. Lots of very nicely-written surfaces too. My favourites: RAKING UP, PLATINUM and MERMAID.

    Well done “Stamp” and thanks NealH.

  5. A fine debut – welcome, Stamp!

    I initially went down the same rabbit hole as B&J (and Rabbit Dave!) at 11ac but, like them, was soon put right by the down clues. I was inexplicably bamboozled by the parsing of 20ac, which had to be LADY: all the letters were there but I just couldn’t get them to line up, although impeccably clued: a real blind spot re the ‘over’.

    I really enjoyed the puzzle and had about a dozen ticks, top favourites being 10ac FANTASIA, 30ac POSTILLION (for the ‘misfortune’ – being struck by lightning?), 2dn BACON, 16dn PORTALOOS, 23dn DONALD, 25dn GOOFY, all raising a smile, 13dn BRAG, for the succinctness and PLUTO for the construction and surface.

    Thanks to Stamp – come back soon – and NealH.

  6. Not really seeing this as anyone’s debut, as it’s far too good for that IMO. Good cluing, nice deceptive definitions. I was actually surprised, therefore, to see the across/ down convention being disregarded at 10 across (‘on’ to link the parts would be exclusively a down usage for the sticklers). I bridled at LOOSE for ‘disconnect’, but it’s listed as a transitive verb in Chambers.

    Nice non-debut!

  7. I have no idea who Stamp is but I enjoyed this perfect Monday crossword and I spotted the theme!

    Thanks to Stamp and NealH

  8. Congratulations and thanks to Stamp on a fine Indy debut. Lots of well-crafted surfaces and cunning definitions, none of which is a surprise to those of us who know him from elsewhere. My podium: PLUTO, ATTENDEE & MANIFOLDS (COTD).

  9. allan_c predicted this theme yesterday – “…Disney … Fantasia…” – spooky – There was also a PIGLET – LITTLE BACON.
    I preferred to parse BACON “Painter or philosopher” as the two FrankieBs of course.
    Thanks to S&NH
    Nice one!

  12. Can’t believe that I sailed through this without even thinking about the possibility of a theme – and it would have helped considerably with 19d, my LOI.
    Started off by putting ticks alongside favourite clues but very quickly gave up, there were just so many of them!
    An excellent Indy debut and our setter should feel justly proud of himself.

    Thanks to Stamp – a little bird suggested a name to me which the comment from Rob T would seem to confirm – and thanks also to Neal for the review.

  13. Thanks for the blog and for a fun puzzle! Things became much easier once I spotted the theme.

    Before that, I was held up in the SE having put RIDE (=steer?) for 19d, with parse RID + swEet. It was close enough that I only progressed from there once I vaguely remembered MOUE

  14. Thanks Stamp, top stuff 🙂 Nicely tricky in places with lots to enjoy, particular favourites include EARFLAP, BRAG & DONALD. Thanks also to Neal.

  15. Hello all. Setter dropping in to thank Neal for the succinct and accurate blog and all those who have commented so warmly. There are inevitably some nerves that accompany a debut: I am following in some illustrious footsteps. So I am delighted that this appears to have provided some enjoyment.

    I did wonder if the theme might have been too obvious, particularly with DUMBO, GOOFY and PLUTO, so it’s nice to learn it remained somewhat elusive, but also that it was helpful to those who spotted it. I had noted the anniversary coming up – and learned that Disney was originally Disney Brothers. Brother Roy was involved with the business throughout his career, outlived Walt and was the driving force behind the completion of Disney World.

    I saw – and smiled at – allan_c’s comment yesterday and have to acknowledge that the theme might not be up everybody’s street. At least FANTASIA gets a mention, allan 😀

    And finally, Hovis @10, it’s nice to be rumbled. If there is just one positive thing about having a Stamp puzzle, it’s that there won’t be any comments from PostMark 😉

  16. MICKEY, as well as “taking the…” and a “dodgy” drink can offensively be an !rish Catholic (mick) and is also yet another word for the membrum virile.
    In !rish slang a “mickey dodger” is a nun. Here’s the proof: Christy Moore’s Lisdoonvarna(1984) with lyrics – jump to 2:40.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE3Abhc7KYw
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Moore
    ‘2007 … named as Ireland’s greatest living musician in RTÉ’s People of the Year Awards. 2010 … Lisdoonvarna gained entry in The Penguin Book of !rish Poetry.’

  17. What a great debut! Congratulations Stamp/PM and thanks to NealH for the blog. Loved PLUTO, which together with FANTASIA and MICKEY signaled the theme to me. Failed on 11A/13D though, never having heard of OWN-LABEL.

  19. Well done on the debut, Stamp! Faves for me were LEADING MAN, HOST, RAKING UP and BRAG. And thanks for the blog, NealH.

  20. Congratulations Stamp on the debut and best wishes for hundreds to come!
    Ui Imair@6 said: Not really seeing this as anyone’s debut, as it’s far too good for that IMO.
    I fully endorse this view.

    FrankieG@18! BACONs and STAMP. Nice! 🙂

  21. Thanks both. Two of my first three clues solved were DUMBO and MICKEY so I knew where we were heading, but I’m entirely at ease when a theme is both obvious and approachable. Like all others here, more than a little Happy with the challenge, and not remotely Grumpy even for a Monday

  22. Thank you for confirming your identity, PostMark, and you didn’t need to worry in the slightest about the reception you’d receive for your Indy debut. The credentials gained in BD’s Rookie Corner were more than enough to confirm your abilities.
    Hope we see many more of your puzzles in the future.

  23. Late to the (birthday) party, but I wanted to add my congratulations on a fine debut that Disney have a single poor clue.

  24. Very enjoyable and well done to Post Mark/Stamp on a very fine first offering.
    LEADING MAN was my favourite amongst many top clues. Also liked DONALD (I seem to remember you commenting at some point that you were “follically challenged”?) Coincidentally I’ve just clued OWN-LABEL for my latest puzzle and annoyingly I think yours is better!
    Thanks to Neal too for a top blog

  25. Got stuck on the top left corner and have only just finished this. But I did finish.

    Despite having seen the news item this morning about the Lincolnshire village called Norton Disney, I totally failed to spot the theme.

  26. Great debut – congratulations to the new (but familiar) setter.

    I initially entered “dibs” at 13d. I think it fits the clue perfectly as an anagram of birds without the “r”, and is another name for the game of jacks. This isn’t in any way a criticism, I just thought it interesting that a clue could have two such completely different readings.

  29. Thanks for the blog, very late comment for technical reasons. Superb debut but I am not surprised after trying other puzzles that Rob @28 mentions. I even got the theme, late on with a succession of Down clues.
    Many clever definitions , starting with LEADING MAN , MINNIE hides the capital of Driver neatly at the front ….. many more.
    MANIFOLDS could have used Mobius bands , Klein bottles, Pseudo-Riemannians but that is just me.

    Should the setter’s pseudonym be Frank ? ( Copyright – Penfold )

  30. I doubt there will be further comments now so I’m just dipping in for completeness to thank everyone for their contributions. Roz @29: thanks for popping in – I did note there were mathematical opportunities in MANIFOLDS but I’m not going to try and clue something I don’t understand!

    I can assure you that I do have my eye on Frank (not FrankieG!) for the future!

  31. You’re incorrect Stamp @30. I’m even later to the party than Roz @29. I printed this out days ago as I read elsewhere about Stamp’s debut (known to me of course as PostMark on here and MyCrossword) and had to have a go at it. Finally did it and it’s a great debut although you won’t be surprised, PM. at me saying that the theme completely passed me by. Great surfaces and good misdirections had me going. Particular favourites were TYRO and the DONALD.

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