Independent Cryptic #11862

2024-10-16

Solve on Independent →

Across

1a

Picked up someone going without waterproof coat? (7)

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5a

Show how to upset collected VIPs (7)

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9a

Swimmer's jog around University (5)

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10a

Fore! some characters repeatedly snarled with no mistakes (9)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

Anagram (snarled = tangled) of FORE with the E and R characters repeated a few times.

11a

Apprehension about one flaky financial period (10)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

FEAR (apprehension), around I (one in Roman numerals) + SCALY (flaky = with the surface coming off in pieces).

12a

Supports cash cut (4)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

BRAS [s] (slang for money, especially coins = cash) without the last letter (cut). Supports for the bust.

14a

In a position to win game of darts quickly (11)

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18a

Bishop drops drinks next to queen's puzzle (11)

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21a

Couple in Madrid reportedly sleep in very basic accommodation (4)

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22a

Notice two Best Supporting Actress Oscar winners make decision (10)

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25a

Cite chart that's excited designer (9)

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26a

It is worth a point in Scrabble which is useful (5)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

In the game of Scrabble, the U TILE (like all the other tiles with vowels on) is worth one point. A word for useful, derived from Latin via French; probably obsolete in this form, but it survives in variants such as “utility”.

27a

Examine bit of pitch during cricket? (7)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

First letter (a bit) of P [itch], inserted into INSECT (of which a cricket is an example, indicated by the quesiton mark).

28a

Sanitiser is discarded on the counter important for seeing membranes (7)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

SANIT [is] ER with the letters IS discarded, reversed (on the counter). Retina = the layer at the back of the eye on which images are formed = a membrane for seeing. I’m not sure what “important” is for, unless the definition is “important-for-seeing membranes”?

Down

1d

Discharge in more ways than one (6)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

Multiple definitions, because “let off” can mean “discharge” in several ways (though some of them are probably related). To fire a gun or explosive charge; to release someone from employment or from a commitment; to release waste gases, as in “let off steam”; and I suppose if someone is charged with a criminal offence and then let off without going to trial, they could be said to be dis-charged.

2d

Pick sweets over the phone (6)

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3d

Highly reliable scan (10)

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4d

Shrill and voracious but not at first (5)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

[g] REEDY (voracious) without the first letter. Reedy (of a sound, especially a voice) = shrill = high-pitched.

5d

Friendly con-artists abandoning female - they will cause trouble (9)

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6d

Go green ringing fearsome individual (4)

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7d

Washington border troubled Cabinet (8)

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8d

Bowl a no-ball as clear record broken by Stokes (8)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

OVERT (clear = deliberate and in plain sight) + EP (abbreviation for extended-play record), containing (broken by) S (abbreviation for stokes, a scientific unit of viscosity). In cricket, the umpire calls a no-ball when the bowler oversteps a line before releasing the ball.

13d

Torque unit can vary and it can restrict flow (10)

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15d

Most stylish butt seen in Italian port briefly (9)

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16d

A friend curtailed drug problem in Arabian city (8)

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17d

Taps engaging American's bottom and robes (8)

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19d

Helping shop to stock newspaper (6)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

RAT ON (shop, as a verb = slang for betray someone to the authorities) containing (to stock) I (the newspaper known as i ). Ration = helping = an allocated portion.

20d

Tricolour's first among equals in flags (6)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

First letter of T [ricolour] inserted into PEERS (equals). The surface suggests that the definition is peter = the Blue Peter flag (flown when a ship in port is about to sail), but it may also be as in “peter out” = weaken and fade away = flag.

23d

Spread boron out say (5)

Generating...

I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:

[b] UTTER (a spread used on bread) without the B (chemical symbol for boron).

24d

Diamonds repeatedly cut into cubes (4)

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