The original puzzle may be found here.
This may be my last Independent blog, so it's nice to finish on a high note with a very strong, although largely straightforward puzzle. Most of the clues were on the easy side but I did have to work quite hard to parse 12A and 15D. 7D also required to quite a lot of research to parse the clue completely.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | POST WAR |
Perhaps after 45 hostilities between Royal Mail and UPS? (4-3)
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CD/DD |
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| 5 | SQUEEZE |
Tighten band (7)
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CD. The second def refers to the band Squeeze, known for songs like Cool for Cats. |
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| 9 | SPECS |
Special police officers drinking last of booze in short glasses (5)
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S{pecial} + (PCs(=police constables) around [booz]e) |
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| 10 | ZOOLOGIST |
Go and see Australia from the east first like Steve Irwin! (9)
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(Go + lo(=see) + Oz(=Australia))<(=from the east) + Ist(=first) |
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| 11 | AT ANY PRICE |
Pay certain crackpot, no matter the cost (2,3,5)
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(Pay certain)* |
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| 12 | BABE |
Honey bees consume one fourth of honey (4)
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(B twice(=bee being used as word for the letter) around a(=one)) + fourth letter of [hon]e[y]. The def is in the sense of affectionate term of address for someone. |
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| 14 | ACHIEVEMENT |
Feat accomplished by one lady who came first ahead of guys in boat missing prow (11)
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(I(=one) + Eve(=lady who came first in literal sense) + men(=guys) in [y]acht(=boat) |
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| 18 | ROUGH SPOKEN |
RP’s OK. Ugh! One is upset when language is like this (5-6)
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&Lit (RP's OK Ugh One)* |
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| 21 | JOLT |
March by lieutenant, the jerk! (4)
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Jo(=Jo March from the novel LIttle Women) + l{ieutenan}t |
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| 22 | GOBSTOPPER |
A hard sweet for a hard palate maybe? (10)
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CD/DD |
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| 25 | DEUTERIUM |
Gas that’s heavier than normal extracted from inside uteri/umbilici (9)
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Hidden in "inside uteri/umbecili". Deuterium is a heavy isotope of hydrogen, so a deuterium gas would be a heavier than normal hydrogen gas. |
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| 26 | CLOSE |
Shut up! Stuffy square! (5)
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Triple def |
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| 27 | EXHIBIT |
Greeting bishop in doorway to show (7)
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(Hi(=greeting) + B{ishop}(=chess abbrev)) in exit(=doorway) |
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| 28 | CARCASS |
In vehicle Mama remains (7)
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Car + Cass, which refers to the musician Cass Elliott from the group The Mamas & the Papas who somewhat unwillingly bore the nickname Mama Cass. |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PASCAL |
Quietly losing his head scoundrel is under a degree of pressure (6)
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P{iano}(=musical direction for quietly) + [r]ascal under it. The Pascal is the SI unit of pressure. |
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| 2 | SEE SAW |
Clock now, and in the past, is something which oscillates (3-3)
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See(=clock in the sense of notice something and in the present tense) + saw(=clock in the past tense) |
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| 3 | WISHY WASHY |
With one throw, twice as weak? (5-5)
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W{ith} + I(=one) + shy(=throw) repeated but with "a" rather than "I" in the second one. |
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| 4 | RAZOR |
One increasing the bet is said to be a cut-throat (5)
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Hom of "raiser" |
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| 5 | SPOT CHECK |
A random test that a dermatologist might do (4,5)
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CD/DD, referring to spots on the skin that a dermatologist might look at. |
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| 6 | UP ON |
Knowing about voucher with one third off (2,2)
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[Co]upon |
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| 7 | EMIRATES |
What Sex Pistols were paid for 3 months in Holloway venue (8)
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CD/DD. The CD part is "EMI rates", the money Sex Pistols would have been paid during their brief contract with the recording company EMI, which was terminated after three months due to the band's appalling behaviour. The other def refers to the Emirates Stadium, which is located in Holloway. |
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| 8 | ENTREATY |
Request to dine in foyer (8)
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Eat(=dine) in entry(=foyer) |
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| 13 | REINFORCER |
It strengthens control over police, right? (10)
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Rein(=control) + force(=police) + r{ight} |
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| 15 | HYPNOTIST |
Svengali‘s first to try to suppress odd bits of psyche in regression (9)
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(T[ry] + sit on(=suppress) + odd letters of psyche)< |
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| 16 | PREJUDGE |
Under pressure, Barnaby’s admitting English justice means to try without evidence (8)
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P{ressure} + (Rudge(=Barnaby Rudge from Dickens) around E{nglish} J{ustice}) |
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| 17 | FURLOUGH |
Leave coat by Irish lake (8)
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Fur(=coat of an animal) + lough(=Irish version of loch, as in Lough Neagh). Leave here refers to absence from work, as in the furlough scheme which was brought in during Covid-19. |
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| 19 | APNOEA |
One’s open to change having a lack of inspiration (6)
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A(=one) + open* + a. Inspiration is used here in the sense of breathing, which is paused briefly during sleep apnoea. |
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| 20 | BRIEFS |
Pants made from woven fibres (6)
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Fibres* |
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| 23 | SUMAC |
French poet rejected spice (5)
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Camus<. Although better known as a novelist and philosopher, Albert Camus did write a number of prose poems. There is also a Spanish poet called Matilde Camus. |
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| 24 | HERB |
Robert Alpert‘s marijuana (4)
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Triple def. I think the first refers to the plant herb-robert, the second to the band leader Herb{ert} Alpert and the third is slang for marijuana. |
I enjoyed this. WISHY-WASHY my favourite, I think. Also BABE, ROUGH SPOKEN, BRIEFS and EMIRATES. Thanks Math and NealH for the blog
BABE took almost as long as all the rest, closely followed by CAMUS, who I’d not seen as a poet previously, nor as a backward spice… apart from that, a decent puzzle…
Thanks Math n NealH
Easy enough but some really nice devices, my favourite being ZOOLOGIST. I thought 24a would be a triple definition but didn’t know the plant herb-robert if that is what it refers to.
Thanks to NealH for the thorough blog and to others for the feedback.
I expect this will be my last published crossword after 21 years (on and off). It was a lot fun while it lasted (for me at least). I only hope that, on balance, I helped to provide just a little more entertainment than I did frustration, as that was certainly my aim (I doubt many Indy setters were in it for the rock & roll lifestyle, and certainly not for the money).
Good luck for the future to eimi and all the talented Indy gamekeepers, but, for me, it’ll be back to being a poacher from now on. So long and thanks for all the fish!
It’s sad, all the bittersweet valedictions on Indy crossword blogs these last couple weeks.
I quite enjoyed this puzzle, though I lacked the GK necessary to complete it unaided and fully parsed. EMIRATES was my last one in, as I didn’t know that the Sex Pistols were on EMI or that Emirates is a stadium in Holloway. I slso was unaware that there is a band called Squeeze. I quite liked the SEE-SAW and WISHY-WASHY pairing.
Yes, it’s sad. Thanks to Math for the crossword fun and challenge. (I had a bit of difficulty in the bottom right corner, so thank goodness for my knowledge of spices and French writers!). And for the generosity of spirit at #4. Best wishes for whatever comes next, and hope to “meet” again.