Independent Cryptic #12011

2025-04-08

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Across

1a

Example of rodents running back in not quite exhausted (8)

Generating...

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

MICE (rodents) reversed (running back), in SPEN [t] (exhausted) without the last letter (not quite).

6a

Jumpers served for goalposts at both ends (5)

Generating...

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

Anagram (served?) of FOR , then both end letters of G [oalpost] S . I’m not quite convinced by the anagram indicator, but the surface image of makeshift park football made me smile. Animals that jump.

9a

Warriors once stripped down tame jazz song with soprano (7)

Generating...

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

[t] AM [e] [j] AZ [z] [s] ON [g] with all the outer letters removed (stripped down), then S (abbreviation for soprano).

10a

A long time after 19 composed for member of Daisy's family (7)

Generating...

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

ERA (a long time) after an anagram (composed) of BERG (19a). Genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae (daisy) family.

11a

Most reliable religious figure imbibes drink and expires (9)

Generating...

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

ST (abbreviation for saint = religious figure), containing (imbibing) TEA (a drink) + DIES (expires).

12a

Nazareth icehouse partly illustrates principle (5)

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13a

Government dept's scooter riders (4)

Generating...

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

MOD’S (belonging to the Ministry of Defence, abbreviated to MOD). Members of a 1960s youth subculture, who typically rode motor scooters; often in conflict with rockers, who rode motorcycles and didn’t like the same music.

15a

Author unveils the criminal (5,5)

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17a

Play with striking ladies’ clothes of lovely half-silk layers (10)

Generating...

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

Outer letters (clothes) of L [ovel] Y + half of SI [lk] + STRATA (geological layers). Play by Aristophanes, in which the women of Greece try to end a war by refusing to sleep with their men until it stops.

19a

South African Hill is Lulu's writer (4)

Generating...

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

Double definition. Word for a hill or mountain in Afrikaans (one of many languages spoken in South Africa) and in other Germanic languages; or Alban Berg, Austrian composer who wrote the opera Lulu .

21a

Primarily worrisome animals spoiling picnic spreads (5)

Generating...

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

First letters (primarily) of W [orrisome] A [nimals] S [poiling] P [icnic] S [preads]. Clue-as-definition, from the well-known behaviour of these insects when food is available in the open air.

22a

Monster Of The Mind loaded on Game Boy (9)

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24a

After second cricket match, queen becomes more glum (7)

Generating...

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

MO (short for moment = second) + ODI (abbreviation for a One-Day International cricket match) + ER (the late Queen Elizabeth).

25a

Joins bafflingly silent society (7)

Generating...

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

Anagram (bafflingly) of SILENT , then S (abbreviation for society). Join = enlist = to sign up as a member of an organisation.

26a

Cars delivered by him with letter from Greek bloke (5)

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27a

Carriers crossing Thames at Chelsea (8)

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Down

2d

Calm exercise class expert (5)

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3d

Twits adopting universal digital storage networks (6)

Generating...

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

CLODS (twits = stupid people) containing U (abbreviation for universal, especially in film classifications).

4d

Person with old weapon encountered powerless lord outside Welsh town (9)

Generating...

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

MET (encountered) + [p] EER (a member of the House of Lords) without the P (abbreviation for power), around USK (town in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales).

5d

Dark ending that's oddly edited out (5)

Generating...

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

[e] N [d] I [n] G [t] H [a] T [s] with all the odd-numbered letters edited out.

6d

People growing distant on French seas (7)

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7d

Swan entering Ohio river's place of easy access (4,5)

Generating...

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

PEN (an adult female swan) inserted into OH (abbreviation for the US state of Ohio), then OUSE (name of several rivers in the UK). An event offering free access to a location not normally open to the public.

8d

Sensing a cheer erupting, they give results to surfers (6,7)

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9d

Legislators' "bylaw mess up" sign (13)

Generating...

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

Anagram (up) of BYLAW MESS , then OMEN (sign = a warning of something to come).

14d

Springfield shop closed early before autumn's fifth weather event (4,5)

Generating...

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

DUST [y] (the singer Dusty Springfield) + STOR [e] (shop), both without the last letter (closed early), then the fifth letter of [autu] M [n].

16d

International traveller initially thought reclusive (9)

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18d

Rackets raised to receive Sabalenka's opening spell (7)

Generating...

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

NOISES (rackets, as in “stop making such a racket!”) reversed (raised = upwards in a down clue), containing (to receive) the opening letter of S [abalenka]. For the surface, Aryna Sabalenka is a tennis player from Belarus. Session = spell = a period of activity.

20d

Red mark on two items of this treasure? (6)

Generating...

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

WEAL (a red mark resulting from a blunt-force injury) + first two letters of TH [is].

22d

Perhaps Martin and Robin kid upstanding police officer (5)

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23d

City rejected some abysmal US ombudsmen (5)

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