Independent 12,340 by Major

I found this quite an enjoyable and sometimes challenging puzzle.

I thought 22, 26 and 16 were all excellent.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1	BACK PEDAL	Sponsor Democrat in desperate plea to change your mind (4-5)
		Back(=sponsor) + D{emocrat} in plea*
6	POP UP	Temporary work returning delivery from boxer? (3-2)
		Op< + pup(=delivery from boxer dog). The def refers to things like "pop-up" shops.
9	SANGRIA	Did Carol ventilate around alcohol in summer? (7)
		Sang(=did carol) + air<(=ventilate)
10	CHELSEA	Blue side of satchel searched (7)
		Hidden in satchel searched. Refers to the colour associated with Chelsea FC.
11	ALONGSIDE	With old age, skin deficient in potassium suffers (9)
		(Old age s[k]in)*(K=potassium symbol removed)
12	SCENE	Speak of dated setting (5)
		Hom of "seen"(=used in the sense of dating someone i.e. I've been seeing X)
13	UNALIKE	Different security group obscure leak about island (7)
		UN(=security group) + (leak* around i{sland})
15	LOOK IN	Opportunity to influence leader briefly pursuing ladies? (4-2)
		Kin[g] after loo(=ladies' toilet)
17	FAVELA	Impoverished neighbourhood preferred flat’s interior (6)
		Fave(=preferred, short for favourite) + [f]la[t]
19	INFERNO	Hellish place to arrive at negative conclusion (7)
		Infer(=to arrive at a conclusion, the proper meaning of the word until people starting thinking it meant "to imply") + no(=negative conclusion e.g. "it's a no")
21	POLKA	Revolutionary abruptly dubbed and cut Bohemian music (5)
		I think this is (AK[A](="abruptly" dubbed) + lop(=cut))<
22	OTHERWISE	Increasing number missing over week under different circumstances (9)
		(O[n] the rise)(=increasing) around w{eek}
24	HIBACHI	Grill graduate caught breaking yo-yo? (7)
		(BA(=bachelor of arts i.e. graduate) + c{aught}) in hi hi(=yo yo in the sense of two greetings e.g. George W. Bush's "Yo, Blair")
25	MUNDANE	Ordinary Greek character essentially incensing continental fellow (7)
		Mu(=Greek letter) + [ince]n[sing] + Dane(=continental fellow)
26	TWEEN	Overly cute name for 10-year-old? (5)
		Twee(=overly cute) + n{ame}. A tween is a child between 10 and 12 years old.
27	MANGETOUT	As an American, I’m extremely sceptical about vegetable! (9)
		Not entirely certain, but I think this "Man, get out", a sort of Americanism for being very sceptical.
DOWN
1	BUST A GUT	Puff a part of cigarette for Spooner to try (4,1,3)
		Spoonerism of "gust a but".
2	CONGO	Nation or third sector group supporting firm (5)
		NGO(=non-governmental organisation) after co{mpany}. Congo could refer to either of the countries The Democratic Republic of Congo or The Republic of Congo.
3	PEREGRINE FALCON	Flyer in green place for running (9,6)
		(In green place for)*
4	DIARISE	Sir arranged with aide to note appointment (7)
		(Sir aide)*
5	LACTEAL	A cold drink usually hot covered by litres of milk (7)
		((A c{old}) + tea(=usually hot drink)) in l{itre} l{itre}
6	PRESS CONFERENCE	Make pear juice possibly in publicity event (5,10)
		CD/DD. Conference is a type of pear, so press conference could be a way of making pear juice.
7	POSTERIOR	Battered troopers capturing island back (9)
		Troopers* around i{sland}
8	PLAYER	Amateur bores a competitor (6)
		Lay(=amateur, as in lay preacher) in per(=a, as in three per person or three a person).
14	AVAILABLE	Barely have trouble replacing lead from wire obtained with ease (9)
		[H]av[e] + (cable with ail(=trouble) replacing the first letter)
16	NON EVENT	Disappointment when everyone keeps their emotions in check? (3-5)
		CD/DD, the CD part being "none vent".
18	ATOMISM	Alphabet’s first half is beginning to muddle fundamental theory (7)
		(A to M)(=first half of the alphabet) + is + m[uddle]
19	INHUMAN	Unlike us, older relative installs Pong after Atari’s closure (7)
		(Nan(=older relative) around hum(=pong in the sense of smell)) after [Atar]i
20	UPSHOT	At university, son illegally acquired result (6)
		Up(=at university) + s{on} + hot(=illegally acquired i.e. stolen)
23	IMAGO	Idealised representation from setter’s past (5)
		I'm(=setter's) + ago(=past)

4 comments on “Independent 12,340 by Major”

KVa

#1 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 09:11

ALONGSIDE, OTHERWISE, PRESS CONFERENCE and NON-EVENT.

MAN GET OUT: Agree with the blogger.

Thanks Major and NealH.

E.N.Boll&

#2 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 10:24

First and foremost, and most important, I really enjoyed completing this puzzle, despite a few words that were not on my radar ( such as FAVELA, HIBACHI, ATOMISM, and in the sense it was clued, IMAGO ). All were fairly clued, so very doable.
However, I found some of the clue surfaces were a bit clunky, thereby turning into obvious cryptic devices, with little misdirection.
12(ac), I don’t see (no pun intended), viz, “dated” in the past tense, of “courted”, equating to “seen”.
27(ac) MAN, GET OUT: a bit of a stretch, though a nice idea. Don’t they say, “get out of here!” when expressing incredulity? Ditto, PRESS CONFERENCE 6(d) is a nice idea, but the clue lets it down a bit, for me.
Quibbles aside, it’s very nice job of work, and I will look forward to another battle with the Major.
Thanks NealH for the spot-on blog

Petert

#3 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 11:39

I had MANGETOUT as “Get out man” with “about” indicating the change of order. I thought “with” was a cleverly hidden definition.

Jamie

#4 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 12:23

I enjoyed this puzzle from the Major, with just 2 NHOs – FAVELA and HIBACHI

I seem to remember a similar clue a while ago for PRESS CONFERENCE – can’t remember the setter but I believe it was an Indy puzzle from last year

One little niggle that I have with this puzzle (and cryptics in general) is when a setter uses the same wordplay in more than one clue. Here we have I for island in both 13A and 7D – I would’ve preferred it if one of those islands was IS or the actual name of an island like MAN, SKYE, etc

Overall though a solid puzzle to start the week off with

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4 comments on “Independent 12,340 by Major”

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