Independent Cryptic #11947

2025-01-23

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Across

1a

Questionable brief moment when Juliet wanders away (4)

Generating...

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

j IFFY (brief moment) with the ‘j’ (Juliet in the phonetic alphabet) missing or ‘wandering away’

3a

Ancient corrupter of youth reacts so egregiously (8)

flowerflowerflower
10a

Pastoral fellow's worker emptied trench cooker (9)

Generating...

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

BEE (‘worker’) T renc H (missing the middle letters or ’emptied’) OVEN (Cooker)

11a
16a

(and 16 Across) Caprine outlaw? (5,3,3)

Generating...
12a

Cool Monkee detailed Tork initially being lazy (8)

Generating...

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

IN (cool – as in ‘trendy’) DOLEN z (Micky Dolenz, drummer with the Monkees) missing the last letter or ‘de-tailed’ T (first or ‘initial letter of Tork – Peter Tork was the bass guitarist and keyboard player in the Monkees)

13a

Placing a short sentry near Jack’s car (6)

Generating...

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

A GUAR d (sentry) missing the last letter or ‘short’ after or ‘near’ J (Jack – playing card)

14a
27d

(and 27 Down) "Marauder" content to thank Ken Higgs for an upset (7,4)

Generating...
16a

See 11 Across

17a

Cry from Jay, possibly about whiskey (3)

Generating...

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

CA (circa – ‘about’) W (whiskey – in the phonetic alphabet)

18a

Small piece of furniture is not wobbly (6)

Generating...

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

S (small) TABLE (piece of furniture)

20a

Relating to sequence from actor Dina Lohan (7)

flowerflowerflower
24a

Entrenched Republican suggested removing leader (6)

Generating...

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

R (Republican) m OOTED (suggested) missing the first letter or leader

25a

Emperor has snooze by old Spanish city (8)

Generating...

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

NAP (snooze) O (old) LEON (Spanish city)

28a

See 31 Across

29a

Contentious issue about a stew and the skin of tomato (3,6)

Generating...

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

HOTPOT (stew) T omat O (first and last letters or ‘skin’) round A

30a

Keeps going with bogus SAS units (8)

flowerflowerflower
31a
28a

(and 28 Across) Visionary woman and sweetheart regularly paint on flat rock (4,2,3)

Generating...

Down

1d

Giving a quality to Mev's search engine takes one third of CPU (7)

Generating...

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

I’M (Mev’s – the setter’s) BING (search engine) round or ‘taking’ U (one-third of CPU)

2d

Father due to reform complex bloke? (5)

Generating...

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

FR (father) + an anagram (‘to reform’) of DUE

4d

Non-heinous to accept extremely inhuman noise from 25 on the farm? (4)

Generating...

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

OK (‘non-heinous’) round or ‘accepting’ I nhuma N (first and last letters or ‘extremes’) – a reference to Napoleon (25ac) the pig in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’

5d

Tease avant-garde composer for symmetrical part of his structure (7)

Generating...

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

RIB (tease) CAGE (John Cage – avant-garde composer)

6d

Inform Geller (an inhabitant of Earth) (9)

Generating...

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

TELL (inform) URI (Uri Geller of spoon-bending fame) AN

7d

Dorothy's speakers (6)

Generating...

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

Double definition, the first a reference to Dorothy Sayers, the author

8d

Primarily shunning hijabs, Iranian ladies overthrow hierarchy in historic battle (6)

flowerflowerflower
9d

Seen Cave tragically fade from memory (8)

flowerflowerflower
15d

Residents' peculiar slant surrounding Scottish island (9)

Generating...

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

An anagram (‘peculiar’) of SLANT round IONA (Scottish island)

16d

Potty war involved this political system (3-5)

flowerflowerflower
19d

Italian city and French port contracted spies (7)

Generating...

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

BRES t (French port) missing the last letter or ‘contracted’ + CIA (‘spies’)

21d

Musical style reflected river and trees (3-3)

Generating...

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

A reversal (‘reflected’) of PO (river) WOOD (trees)

22d

Abraham's city (7)

Generating...

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

Double definition, the first referring to Abraham Lincoln

23d

Louise tolerates streams (6)

Generating...

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

Triple definition – we had not heard of Louise Brooks – an American film actress from the 1920s and 30s

26d

Fresher at Oxford inspires legendary poetic woman (5)

flowerflowerflower
27d

See 14 Across