Independent 12,232 by Bard

I've not done many Bard puzzles before, so it took me a while to get into the mindset. The grid was unusual with 4 longer double word clues around the perimeter.

Some of the clues were quite tricky to parse but they were all very fair. There were some good surface readings such as 1/6 and 2D.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1/6	AUTOMATIC PILOT	George’s scheme involving one chasing car (9,5)
		(Plot(=scheme) around I(=one)) after automatic(=type of car). George is a nickname for the aircraft autopilot e.g. "George is flying the plane at the moment".
6		See 1a

9	NEPAL	Plane diverted somewhere in Asia (5)
		Plane*
10	ONE AND ALL	Sacking every good person, rock station put off everybody (3,3,3)
		[St]one(=rock) + [st]and(=station) + [st]all(=put off) (all words with S{ain}t(=good person) removed)
11	SEAMLESS	Flowing waters engulf men with one going missing (8)
		Seas(=waters) around m[a]les
12	PLAY UP	Exaggerate malfunction (4,2)
		DD
14	MWAH	Luvvie going over to embrace with smoochy sound (4)
		Ham<(=luvvie i.e. an actor) around w{ith}
15	GRAND PIANO	Joanna (my Mum’s mum) paid for renovation? Over my dead body! (5,5)
		Gran(=my Mum's mum) + paid* + no(=over my dead body!)
18	REAWAKENED	Struggling, naked, are we born again? (10)
		(Naked are we)*
19	ISLE	Rum, say, is licensed exclusively at first (4)
		Is + l[icensed] e[xclusively]. Rum (properly Rùm) is an island in the Inner Hebrides.
21	BALLOT	Announce sailor from the East’s election (6)
		(Toll(=announce with a bell) + ab{le seaman))<
23	FORELIMB	Wing, maybe pro-British, inspiring return of imperial measurement (8)
		For B(=pro-B{ritish}) around mile<
26	LIVER SPOT	Transcends right and wrong reversing sign of aging (5,4)
		(Tops(=transcends) r{ight} evil(=wrong))<
27	AMIGO	Friend from Potsdam I googled (5)
		Hidden in "Potsdam I googled"
28/29	SMEAR CAMPAIGNS	Political skullduggery as small business replaced MP’s car again (5,9)
		SME(=small business, an initialism of small or medium enterprise) + (MP's car again)*
29		See 28A

DOWN
1/14	ANNUS MIRABILIS	Mass burial twice in awfully catastrophic year (5,9)
		(Mass burial + in in)*. The word "awfully" seems redundant, as the clue would work without it.
2	TOP BANANA	Big cheese beat restriction, having discovered tax not applicable (3,6)
		Top(=beat) + ban(=restriction) + [t]a[x](=tax dis-covered) + n{ot} a{pplicable}(common abbrev used in forms etc)
3	MILDLY	Mankini looked “lovely” on vacation – euphemistic to put it thus (6)
		M[ankin]i l[ooke]d l[ovel]y
4	TROUSER LEG	Unusual result, ergo, put a pin in it (7,3)
		(Result ergo)*
5	CHEW	Ruminate about shape (4)
		C{irca}(=about) + hew(=shape e.g. with an axe)
6	PENELOPE	Run off after writer – she waited a long time (8)
		Elope(=run off) after pen(=writer). The def refers to Penelope, wife of Odysseus, who awaits his return from the Trojan War.
7	LEAFY	Green field fairly empty (5)
		Lea(=field) + f[airl]y
8/24	TELEPHONE BOOKS	Directories help one to be organised, fair and ultimately scrupulous (9,5)
		(Help one to be)* + OK(=fair) = [scrupulou]s
13	ANTE MORTEM	Failing to meet man right before death (4,6)
		(To meet man r{ight})*
14		See 1D

16	ABSEILING	Aisling Bea briefly floundering – way to let people down! (9)
		(Aisling Be[a])*. Aisling Bea is an Irish comedian.
17	LABOURER	Navvy’s dog more sullen when daughter’s not around (8)
		Lab{rador}(=dog) + [d]ourer(=more sullen minus d{aughter})
20	NEVADA	State in North America welcoming drummer Grohl turning up (6)
		N{orth} A{merica} around Dave<(=Grohl, referring to the musician from the bands Nirvana and Foo Fighters)
22	LEVEE	US bank oddly lied to recruit First Lady (5)
		Odd letters of lied around Eve(=First Lady in biblical sense). The bank here refers to the dykes used in the US to hold back flooding (which famously failed in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck).
24		See 8D

25	EPIC	Very impressive bit of extreme picnicking (4)
		Hidden in "extreme picknicking"

5 comments on “Independent 12,232 by Bard”

Doofs

#1 - Mon 22nd Dec 25, 10:50

Quite enjoyed this in the end despite entering an unparsed and misspelt (it turned out!) ANNUS HORIBILIS for 1/14 which then held me up for MWAH until the penny dropped and allowed me to correct my mistake. Patted myself on the back for knowing PENELOPE.
Thanks to Bard and NealH
Flashling

#2 - Mon 22nd Dec 25, 12:34

Thanks Bard and Neal, I too started to enter horribilis before realising it didn’t fit and did wonder about the double anagram indicator which sent me down the garden path, no doubt intentional
Hovis

#3 - Mon 22nd Dec 25, 12:38

For 1/14, I took ‘awfully’ as the anagram indicator and ‘catastrophic year’ as the definition. Strangely perhaps, it means ‘miraculous year’ but often refers to an annus horribilis as it were.
sofamore

#4 - Mon 22nd Dec 25, 14:56

I think ‘year’ is the def for 1/14 as the blog suggests. If it’s not, it should be. Perhaps the setter has gone for a double anagrind in ‘awfully catastrophic’? Hovis @3 might be right, too. But if ‘awfully’ is deleted it makes for a far better surface and clue and the misdirection of ‘catastrophic’ remains. IMHO. Enjoyed the challenge otherwise. Inventive clueing. Thanks NealH for the blog and Bard for the puzzle.
Hector

#5 - Mon 22nd Dec 25, 15:22

Hovis@3: I agree. The Chambers definition suggests where Bard might have been coming from: “literally, a year of wonders, esp. applied to 1666 (year of plague and fire of London), or to other years of remarkable or catastrophic, etc event.”

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5 comments on “Independent 12,232 by Bard”

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