Independent 12,152 / Coot

The blog of Coot’s latest puzzle is finally hitting the website after a day of IT issues followed by absence from home. I hope some readers will still find time to read it.

I found this to be a puzzle of mixed fortunes, in that I got off to a good start but the pace slowed considerably. In the end, I needed to search the dictionary to find 6, after which I was able to complete the puzzle. I had actually wrongly solved 5, and it was only when I thought about it longer that I realised that a much better answer was what was intended.

As for what caught my eye today, I rather liked 5, when I twigged it, for its ingenious wordplay; 9, for making me howl like a schoolboy when I parsed it; 17 and 27, both for smoothness of surface; and 28, for all the misdirection around football.

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

Across    
     
01 GERMANS Hamburgers? Hunger management only partially succeeded

Hidden (“only partially”) in “hunGER MANagement” + S (=succeeded); people from Hamburg are sometimes referred to as Hamburgers

     
05 TOWELS Must pay charges weekly for bathroom supplies

OWE (=must pay) in TLS (=(a) a weekly, i.e. The Times Literary Supplement)

     
10 ULNAE Manuel taking a beating, saving male parts

*(<m>ANUEL); “saving male (=M)” means letter “m” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “taking a beating”

     
11 DRAKE Duck hawk sex observed periodically by postdoc?

DR (=doctor, since one already has a doctorate) + <h>A<w>K <s>E<x> (“periodically” means alternative letters only are used)

     
12 POM According to Kylie, Brit is flipping idle, mostly

MOP<e> (=(to) idle; “mostly” means last letter is dropped; “is flipping” indicates reversal)

     
13 MEETS Appear withdrawn digesting tense encounters

T (=tense, in grammar) in MEES (SEEM=appear; “withdrawn” indicates reversal)

     
14 DUTY CALLS Unknown demand to be introduced by boss over formal visits

[Y (=unknown) + CALL (=demand, require)] in DUTS (STUD (=boss, knob); “over” indicates reversal)

     
15 TWO-PHASE Plug type of wheat soap less accepted abroad

*(WHEAT SO<a>P); less accepted (=a) means letter “a” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “abroad”; a two-phase electrical device is one employing two phases whose voltages are displaced from another by ninety electrical degrees

     
17 SCALES What could be major disruption to English class

*(E (=English) + CLASS); there are major and minor scales in music

     
20 WATERY Wet and cold, perhaps, one covers up at home

WINTERY (=cold, perhaps); a (=one) covers up at home (=in) means letter “a” replaces “in”

     
21 PUDDINGS Clock chimes with party retiring for sweets

PUD (DUP=Democratic Unionist Party; “retiring” indicates reversal) + DINGS (=sounds, rings)

     
24 LAW SCHOOL Learning’s trendy according to lecturer here?

Homophone (“according to”) of “lore’s (=learning’s) + cool (=trendy)”

     
26 BOOTH Express disgust with most of the stand

BOO (=express disgust) + TH<e> (most of” means last letter is dropped)

     
27 ONE Opener is short of exercise and runs single

O<pe>NE<r> (“short of exercise (=PE) and runs (=R, in cricket)

     
28 VALVE Control for Hearts against Arsenal, vulnerable on the wing

V (=against, i.e. versus) + A<rsena>L V<ulnerabl>E (“on the wing” means first and last letters only)

     
29 SABRE What might front tooth cut, say – 50% of breads?

SA<y> (“cut” means last letter is dropped) + BRE<ads> (50% of means 3 of 6 letters only are used)

     
30 FEDORA Fashion accessory agent put on singer Rita

FED (=agent, i.e. from the FBI) + ORA (=(British) singer Rita)

     
31 SILTS UP Adjusts position to pay attention when touring student blocks

L (=students, i.e. learner) in SITS UP (=adjusts position to pay attention); banks of sediments can silt up a river, say

     
Down    
     
01 GOURMET Stuffing for sturgeon prepared with drop of masala? I’ll try it!

*(<s>TURGEO<n>) + M<asala>); “drop of” means first letter only is used in

     
02 RINSED OUT Poured water over blooming angry diners earlier

*(DINERS) + OUT (=blooming, in flower); “angry” is anagram indicator

     
03 AREAS Acting heads in renewable energy and science departments

A (=acting, as in acting director) + [R<enewable> E<nergy> A<nd> S<cience>]

     
04 SIDE DISH Camp policeman’s husband is something else at dinner

SIDE (=camp, as in on my side, in my camp) + DI’s (=policeman’s) + H (=husband)

     
06 OLEIC ACID Part of fat old detective’s outfit contains lice crawling about

[*(LICE) + A] in [O (=old) + CID (=detective’s outfit, i.e. organisation)]

     
07 EXPEL Throw out old strip clearing bottom of wardrobe

EX- (=old, former) + PE<e>L (=strip, undress; “clearing bottom (=last letter) of wardrobe

     
08 SAMOSAS American uncle’s gobbling doughnut and special American pastries

[O (=doughnut, pictorially) + S (=special) + A (=American)] in SAM’s (=American uncle’s)

     
09 FARTY Causing a stink, increase volume at start of celebration?

PARTY (=celebration); “crease volume at start of” means that P (=piano, at front of word) becomes F (=fortè)”

     
16 HARDCOVER Thick skin of one published for the first time?

HARD (=thick) + COVER (=skin)

     
18 LONDON BUS It’s slow, essentially, and bound to travel in opposite directions

<s>LO<w> (“essentially” means middle letters only) + [+ *(BOUND) in [N (=north) + S (=south)]; “to travel” is the anagram indicator; “north” and “south” provide our opposite directions

     
19 BUILDERS Will called revolting southern red a sort of tea

Buill (homophone of Will, also an abbreviated form of William) + DER S (S=southern + RED; “revolting” indicates vertical reversal); builders tea tends to be black and strong, often sugared, popular in construction work

     
20 WALDORF Act up by either side of duff hotel

WAL (LAW (=act, piece of legislation; “up” indicates reversal) + D or F (“either side of duff”, i.e. first or last letter); the Waldorf (Hilton) is a famous London hotel

     
22 SCHLEPP Arduous journey in shelled Syrian city after school

SCH (=school) + <a>LEPP<o> (=Syrian city; “shelled” means front and back have gone)

     
23 FOWLS Strong birds? Turkeys and geese, to name two

F (=strong, i.e. fortè) + OWLS (=birds)

     
25 WIELD Bond takes control of international exercise

I (=international) in WELD (=bond, fuse together); to exercise e.g. power or influence is to wield

     
26 BASIL Security protecting Harris finally leaves

<harri>S (“finally” means last letter is used) in BAIL (=security, in exchange for release from custody); basic is an aromatic plant, hence “leaves”

     

 

10 comments on “Independent 12,152 / Coot”

  1. Thanks RatkojaRiku and Coot.

    Excellent, though difficult. Took forever.

    TOWELS, DUTY CALLS, ONE, LONDON BUS, WALDORF, SCHLEPP and SILTS UP are favs.

    Looking forward to their next.

  2. I think there is a theme, in which 9d plays a role? A whiff of Torquay air pervades this puzzle …

    50 years since the first episode. The first of just 12.

  3. For me, this was the better of the two themed crosswords. The number of themed solutions is exceptional. Manuel couldn’t quite sneak in at 10a. It’s nice that BOOTH, SCALES & BASIL all have other meanings.

  4. Thanks both. So that explains why I was so ecstatic to have fully identified a Phi theme!! WATERY FOWLS indeed. Well, I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it….

  5. Some of the clues were very difficult but it was a rewarding solve, apart from being unable to parse 5a. Needless to say, I didn’t like the two unindicated Americanisms in 26a & 30a.

    FOWLS was my favourite.

    Thanks to Coot and to RR.

  6. Lovely puzzle and great pdm for the theme although some of the signs were there… Cheers Coot and RR for your perseverance getting this posted.

  7. Terribly dim, did both quite happily but twigged the theme in neither! I mean, farty towels and watery fowls, not to mention Waldorf × 2, how could one possibly not? I hadn’t seen the special instruction, but still no excuse. Hey ho, thanks both anyway.

  8. Many thanks to RR for overcoming adversity to bring us such a good blog, and to everyone else for the kind comments. Fawlty Towers was aired at just the right time for me as a child of the 70s, so I couldn’t not mark its 50th anniversary.

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