Independent 11,944 by Skinny

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I’ve blogged Skinny puzzles before and they are always entertaining. This one was no exception.

I’m not normally a fan of homophones but 11a was very good. 1A was my last one in – I wasn’t expecting an actual make of detergent in the clue, so over-thought it a bit.

ACROSS
1 BEHOLD
Look at what’s in popular detergent (6)
Eh(=what, both used as responses to something not heard or not believed) in Bold(=type of washing detergent)
5 BUMP INTO
Come across useless type of horse (4,4)
Bum(=useless) + pinto(=type of spotted horse)
9 CRUDE OIL
Spring containing unrefined petroleum (5,3)
Coil(=spring) around rude(=unrefined)
10 JUDITH
Book a lot of combat sport, then hit deceptively (6)
Jud[o] + hit*. Judith is an Old Testament book.
11 GREY PLOVER
Bird that greatly enjoys fruit, so it’s said (4,6)
Hom of “grape lover”
12 LOLL
Ultimate in retro features in 50s lounge (4)
[Retr]o in lll(=Roman numeral 50s)
13 AMBROSIA
Divine food aromas I prepared with a pinch of basil (8)
(Aromas I + b[asil])*
16 AT EASE
Relaxed one behaving like 20D? (2,4)
DD (Delilah = a tease)
17 ASIDES
Quiet words in leading songs (6)
DD/CD. The A side was the more important song on a vinyl record.
19 REDSTART
Cherry pie stuffed with small bird (8)
(Red(=cherry) + tart(=pie)) around s{mall}
21 TORC
Actor performs, but not with a metal band (4)
([A]ctor)*
22 ABSOLUTIST
Tyrant musician going after sailor like this (10)
Lutist(=lute player, musician) after (ab(=able seaman) + so(=like this))
25 BIKINI
Starts to boost intimate relations with one’s skimpy garment (6)
B[oost] i[ntimate] + kin(=relations) + i
26 ALLERGIC
Each son of Trump admits government is hypersensitive (8)
All(=each) + (Eric(=one of Donald Trump’s sons) around g{overnment})
27 LIFE VEST
Emergency equipment beginning to look festive at sea (4,4)
L[ook] + festive*
28 HASLET
Possesses permit for meat (6)
Has(=possesses) + permit(=let).
DOWN
2 ERROR
Wrong head chopped off monster (5)
[T]error
3 ODDLY
Unusually virtuous nurses died, though not at first (5)
[G]odly(=virtuous) around d{ied}
4 DOODLES
Casually draws lots after onset of dispute (7)
Oodles(=lots) after d[ispute]
5 BOLIVIA
I throw up going through country (7)
(I lob)< + via(=going through)
6 MAJORCA
Serious about island resort (7)
Major(=serious, as in a “major illness”) + ca(=circa, about)
7 INDULGENT
Generous fellow’s after stylish flat? Not quite (9)
Gent(=fellow) after (in(=stylish) + dul[l](=flat))
8 TOTALISER
Aristotle redesigned machine for the better (9)
Aristotle*. Better here refers to someone laying bets using a Totaliser (or Tote) machine.
14 MUSSOLINI
Soul’s crushed, gathered by small 22 (9)
Souls* in mini(=small)
15 REDUCTIVE
Narrowing I have on pipe overhead (9)
I’ve(=I have) below (re(=on) + duct(=pipe))
18 SEASIDE
Disease afflicted surfers here? (7)
Disease*
19 RESTART
“Carry On Jack” shown during holiday (7)
Tar(=Jack, sailor) in holiday(=rest)
20 DELILAH
Cheered up after capturing large biblical character (7)
Hailed< around l{arge}
23 TORUS
It’s shaped like a doughnut? Sounds like bull (5)
Hom of taurus
24 SNIPE
Squeeze inside clothing for severe criticism (5)
Nip(=squeeze) in s[ever]e. Snipe is normally a verb but Chambers says it can also be used as a noun.

22 comments on “Independent 11,944 by Skinny”

  1. NealH has summed it up perfectly and, yes, GREY PLOVER is grape fun (!) So is LOLL with its 50s, ALLERGIC for the inevitable Trump reference, LIFE VEST for the fun surface, DOODLES for the nice separation between ‘draw’ and ‘lots’, TOTALISER and SEASIDE for the super anagram spots and DELILAH for the very neat reversal. A bit of a double take when I solved RESTART immediately after REDSTART with which it shares an opening letter. I did think TORC and TORUS were also quite close but discovered today that they are from different roots (for anyone who is interested, it’s twist for TORC and bulge for TORUS)

    Thanks Skinny and NealH

  2. Everything PostMark said, loved it! I was mildly aroused several times by the thought that one or more themes were developing with biblical characters (Judith and Delilah), birds (grey plover, redstart and snipe) and islands (Majorca and Bikini), but probably coincidental. Thanks Skinny and Neal.

  3. Very enjoyable, and I now know how to pronounce PLOVER! I would’ve rhymed it with ‘clover’. The nounal form of SNIPE was new to me, but fairly easily divinable.

    Thanks both.

  4. Yes, what they said, very enjoyable. I flinched a bit at 5d when my brain kept saying BULIMIA not BOLIVIA.
    Thanks S&N

  5. LOi: 24d “SNIPE, n. … 7. 1969– A long-range shot or attack from a sharp-shooter; the sound of a sniper’s bullet. Also figurative“, citing:
    “1977 Rod Stewart..has transcended two years of snipes for his romance with actress Britt Ekland. Rolling Stone 13 January 10/1″.
    [Fifteensquared needs a serif font. AL Looks Like Ai, LLL (50s) Like iii(3), LOi Like LOL, LOL Like 101.]

  6. We don’t mean to upset you NealH but we were actually hoping that Pierre was blogging today – he would have been able to include so many bird photos!

    Joking aside, thanks to you and Skinny – a good start to the week.

  7. When the clue is as amusing as the one for GREY PLOVER, you don’t really need extraneous links. And I have had a few crop up recently in Another Place, so I’m not too deprived.

    Fine puzzle from Skinny and thanks to Neal for the blog.

  8. It was the ‘birdie’ clues that got the biggest smiles here with GREY PLOVER perched on the top step above REDSTART & SNIPE. As Bert & Joyce commented, for that reason it was a shame that Pierre wasn’t in the blogging chair today! I also rather liked ASIDES & HASLET.

    Thanks to Skinny for an enjoyable puzzle and to Neal for the review.

  9. Not so much skinny, as sylphlike, for me.
    A new setter to me, and I am extremely pleased to meet them/ him/her.
    An awkward grid layout ( opening unches and a top-half , bottom-half isolation ), but it works smoothly, due to the skill in the clueing.

    When a puzzle has both BUM PINTO & GRAPE LOVER, then you surely know that it’s both clever and original.
    I would say, possibly the best puzzle I’ve tackled so far in 2025 ( out of more than 50 ).

    Thank you, setter & blogger

  11. Simon @ 10. Thanks again!
    I haven’t seen a GUMM yet, ‘though the FT cryptic is on my list.
    cheers Ian B

  13. Thanks, Hovis @ 12.
    I will try to find the puzzle, and give it a go.
    I hope it is as good as this one, which was on the mark for me.
    Rgds, Ian B

  15. Mr Flashling has the Gumm thing right. In the FT they always say “By….” – it was too good to refuse.

    Thank you to NealH and to everyone for their kind comments. I really enjoyed putting this puzzle together and there’s more on the way.

    All the best,

    Skinny

  16. What was not to like about this? Maybe the selection of grid shape.

    I think this is my first Skinny grid (unless I have encountered their alias elsewhere). So many good clues – GREY PLOVER, BUMP INTO, ASIDE plus more. I was watching the Trump inauguration and was wondering when he would make an appearance in a clue today. Good to see it used in a unique (to me) way. My general knowledge was lacking but thankfully the BBC report gave me a rather big nudge. Is Trump the new Queen when it comes to crossword clues?

    Thanks Neal and Skinny

  17. I once suggested to Skinny, in the hearing of the FT Crossword Editor, that he should letter his puzzles, not number them.

    That way his fifth would be E BY GUMM.

  18. Simon@10
    Hovis@12
    flashling@14

    And, by gum, Skinny@15

    FT 17150, duly traced, and completed.
    And yes, I loved it.
    PIGS WILL. HAIRSTYLE. ESPIED. and etc., etc.

    ( I trust that I’ve got them right! )
    “More on the way”?
    I hope so.

    Rgds all

  19. The bum pinto made me laugh out loud.

    The best-known plover here is the piping plover, because a nesting pair started taking up residence in the nature-preserve area of our local beach here a few years back, the first such pair seen in Chicago in over 60 years. They made the news! Their offspring now come annually, so we’re doing our part to revive the species. But it’s good to learn of the grape-loving grey plover now as well.

  21. Sad news that Paul Facey-Hunter aka Hob, Puck and the Wanderer died yesterday evening. He was a close, brilliant and warm friend of mine for 50 years.

    Max

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