Independent 11,569 by Bluth

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Bluth provides our Thursday challenge.

A wide range of subject matter as always from Bluth, with a few old favourites (for example dog = tail = follow, NT = books, OR = men). I liked the Sylvia Plath / Ted Hughes surface which turned out to be nothing to do with either of them, the two WC references that were misleading in different ways, and the surface of 7d which seems topical on both sides of the pond at the moment. Thanks Bluth for the fun.

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

ACROSS
1/6 ACOUSTIC GUITAR
After onset of asthma, I cut cigars out when receiving treatment on which strings are attached (8,6)
First letter (onset) of A[sthma], then an anagram (when receiving treatment) of I CUT CIGARS OUT.
9 DOG’S DINNER
Follow offender around Germany, making mess (4,6)
DOG (as a verb = follow) + SINNER (offender), around D (abbreviation for Deutschland = Germany).

As in “You’ve made a real dog’s dinner of that” = slang for a mess.
10 PITY
Put mine with yours, but not ours, Ruth (4)
PIT (a coal mine) + Y[ours] without OURS.

An archaic word for pity, which survives in the negative form “ruthless” = pitiless.
11 ADORE
Love pterodactyl fragment being on the counter (5)
Hidden answer (fragment), reversed (on the counter), in [pt]ERODA[ctyl].
12 EULOGY
Praise gel you supply (6)
Anagram (supply = in a supple manner) of GEL YOU.
14 LADIES
Perhaps heads left introduction to Andi Peters out (6)
L (abbreviation for left) + first letter (introduction) of A[ndi] + DIES (peters out = fades away).

Short for a ladies’ toilet facility, which might be the “heads” = toilets on board a ship.
15 INSOLENT
Forward is popular and very fast (8)
IN (in fashion = popular) + SO (very) + LENT (fast, as a noun = period of abstention from food).

Forward = insolent = disrespectful.
17 HANGER-ON
Freeloader‘s just after hot incense for initiation (6-2)
ON (just after, as in “On hearing the news, I decided . . .”), with H (abbreviation for hot) + INCENSE (as a verb = make angry = anger) at the start (for initiation).
19 SAGEST
Finally dances rumba using the steps that most learned (6)
Last letters (finally) of [dance]S [rumb]A [usin]G [th]E [step]S [tha]T.

Sage, as an adjective = wise or learned.
20 SCRUFF
Struggle with gender reassignment – following one that doesn’t look great (6)
SCRU[m] (struggle), with the M (male) given a “gender reassignment” to F (female), then another F (abbreviation for following, in cross-references).

Scruff = someone who looks untidy or dishevelled.
22 ENEMA
Film where English must cover up Channel Islands evacuation procedure? (5)
[ci]NEMA (film, as an adjective or the name of the entertainment genre), with E (abbreviation for English) replacing the CI (abbreviation for Channel Islands).
24 BIRO
Rolling ball carrying source of ink for pen (4)
ORB (ball = sphere), reversed (rolling), carrying the first letter (source) of I[nk].

The original brand name for a ballpoint pen, with an extended definition.
25 SHOOT-EM-UPS
Go away with stepmum mostly playing computer games (5-2-3)
SHOO (shoo! = go away!) + anagram (playing) of STEPMU[m] without the last letter (mostly).

Computer games that involve shooting at moving targets.
26/27 POSTAL DISTRICT
Job with firm installing supermarket’s WC for example (6,8)
POST (job = employment position) + STRICT (firm, as an adjective = insistent on compliance with standards), containing (installing) ALDI (supermarket chain).

No, not a water closet: the West Central district of London, where the postcodes start with WC.
DOWN
2 CROW
Tail of killer whale maybe trapping bird (4)
Last letter (tail) of [kille]R, with COW (term for the female of various animals, including whales, so “whale maybe”) around (trapping) it.
3 UPSTAGING
Drawing attention from soldier getting into smack chasing highs (9)
GI (slang for a US soldier) inserted into TANG (smack = flavour), after (chasing) UPS (highs, as in “ups and downs”).

Upstage, as a verb = to draw attention to oneself and away from someone else. The original theatre meaning is slightly different: to move upstage (towards the back of the stage, which traditionally slopes downwards slightly towards the audience) so that another actor has to turn away from the audience to talk to you, which is generally considered a bad thing to do.
4 TAILORS
Tracks men inside sewers? (7)
TAILS (tail, as a verb = track = follow) with OR (military abbreviation for “other ranks” = men = ordinary soldiers as opposed to officers) inside.

People who sew (make clothes).
5 CONVENIENCE FOOD
W C Fields ordered onion dosas for starters – gets microwave meal? (11,4)
CONVENIENCE (WC = abbreviation for water closet = “public convenience”) + first letters (starters) of F[ields] O[rdered] O[nion] D[osas].
6 GARTERS
Bands‘ accommodation good for Queen (7)
[qu]ARTERS (accommodation, especially for military personnel), with G (abbreviation for good) in place of Qu (abbreviation for Queen).

Garter = a band round the leg to keep stockings up.
7 IMPEL
Goad politician caught in stupid lie (5)
MP (Member of Parliament = politician) contained in an anagram (stupid) of LIE.

Impel = goad = force someone to do something.
8 ANTAGONISE
On income support being entertained by mature, adult books – leading to bother (10)
ON + IS (abbreviation for Income Support), contained in AGE (as a verb = mature), with A (abbreviation for adult) + NT (New Testament = books) at the start (leading).

Bother, as a verb = antagonise = annoy.
13 MARASCHINO
Liqueur stain on ace cycling trousers (10)
MAR (stain, as a verb = damage) + A (ace), then CHINOS (trousers) with the final S “cycling” round to the front.
16 LEG WARMER
Dancer might have this on set – on reflection you’re getting closer (3,6)
GEL (set, as a verb = change from liquid into a jelly) reversed (on reflection), then WARMER (said to indicate “you’re getting closer to the right answer” in a guessing game).

Garment traditionally worn by dancers, to keep leg muscles warm and prevent cramp.
18 REFUSAL
No match official accepted without a uniform (7)
REF (short for referee = sports match official) + US[u]AL (accepted = conventional) without one U (Uniform in the radio alphabet).

As in “I’ll take that as a no” = a refusal.
19 SHEATHS
Covers Sylvia’s first with Ted Hughes’s last (7)
First letter of S[ylvia] + HEATH (former politician Ted Heath) + last letter of [hughe]S.
21 U-BOAT
You read aloud book on pop-art – occasionally revealing craft (1-4)
U (homophone or “read aloud” of YOU) + B (abbreviation for book) + alternate letters (occasionally) of [p]O[p]-A[r]T.

Craft = water-borne vessel.
23 EPIC
Long lead for electric current must be plugged into computer (4)
First letter (lead) of E[lectric], then I (scientific symbol for electric current) inserted into PC (personal computer).

Slang for very long or very large: “an epic journey” can mean simply a long one, not necessarily one full of historic or dramatic events.

13 comments on “Independent 11,569 by Bluth”

  1. Excellent! Good fun all the way with the usual parsing challenges from this setter to unravel.

    CONVENIENCE FOOD was my favourite selected from many ticked clues.

    Many thanks to Bluth and to Quirister.

  2. Thanks, Bluth and Quirister. Lots of fun – the best kind of toilet humour! Loved the WC Fields, Andi Peters and Sylvia & Ted trickery in particular.

  3. I’m in a bit of a rush this morning but must echo the plaudits in the blog and the above comments for another excellent puzzle from Bluth.

    Many thanks to setter and blogger.

  4. Also in a bit of a rush but enjoyed this as always. REFUSAL, TAILORS and POSTAL DISTRICT my favourites today. Agree with Widders on nice use of popular/cultural references as always.

    Thanks Bluth and Quirister

  5. Bluth is rarely easy, but he’s always entertaining. ACOUSTIC GUITAR, POSTAL DISTRICT and CONVENIENCE FOOD feel like the stars of the show, and when a toilet did genuinely appear, with LADIES, it was utterly unexpected without a WC in sight.

    Struggled to parse ENEMA and GARTERS, which says more about me than the clues. And spent a while trying to make ANTAGONISM fit 8d, having read “bother” as noun instead of verb.

    Thank you Bluth and Quirister

  7. Well, we weren’t in a rush but otherwise we concur with what everyone else has said.
    Thanks, Bluth and Quirister.

  8. The WC pair were my favourites among a good set of clues. I solved LEG WARMER by seeing “on” as LEG at first, but then I did spot the second “gel”. Thanks, both. [Fortunately I wasn’t in a rush, so I could take the time to finish the puzzle]

  9. Very enjoyable indeed! Re Aldi in POSTAL DISTRICT, I wonder how many supermarkets Bluth has managed to shoehorn into clues? I can certainly remember two (Spar and Tesco’s) appearing relatively recently, the former a superb clue. Today I particularly liked ACOUSTIC GUITAR, ENEMA, CONVENIENCE FOOD and LEG WARMER
    Many thanks Bluth and Quirister for a top puzzle and blog.

  10. Thanks both. Didn’t remember heads in that sense so LADIES went in unparsed, and really couldn’t think of a well-known Ted to populate SHEATHS – I’ll feebly offer that I knew him better as Edward, perhaps when we were all a little more polite and respectful towards the prime minister

  13. Beaten by enema, but I’ll take that! Made me smile when I read the solution. Didn’t understand WC in 26 until I read the blog, so thanks for clarifying that.

    Quite a few took a bit of parsing, but plenty of clever clues and “ah” moments. Ladies was about my favourite.

    Many thanks Bluth and Quirster:-)

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