Independent Cryptic #12068

2025-06-13

Solve on Independent →

Across

1a

Dull day’s end is sign excluding night’s beginning (10)

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6a

Be resentful and lurk once first knight’s taken (4)

Generating...

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

S [k] ULK (lurk = to hide in the shadows) without the first K (abbreviation for knight).

10a

Combatant about to disembark large ship (7)

Generating...

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

F [re] IGHTER (large cargo ship) without RE (about = on the subject of).

11a

Fail to intervene with Bishop getting into a mess (7)

Generating...

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

AND (with) + B (abbreviation for bishop), inserted into STY (an enclosure for pigs, or figuratively a messy place).

12a

Recalled urge to take care of edition requiring attention (5)

Generating...

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

YEN (urge, as a noun = longing) reversed (recalled), containing (to take care of . . .) ED (abbreviation for editor).

13a

Italian composer thus lies drunkenly behind piano (9)

Generating...

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

ERGO (Latin for “thus”, used in logical argument) + anagram (drunkenly) of LIES , after P (p = abbreviation for Italian piano = musical term for quiet). Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian Baroque composer.

14a

Stage award offering no new trinket (3)

Generating...

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

TO [n] Y (nickname of the Broadway theatre award named after Antoinette Perry), without the N (abbreviation for new).

15a

Molten granite then becomes ominous (11)

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18a

Put-upon wife taking FBI agents to Irish politician - a time of reckoning (11)

Generating...

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

JUDY (the put-upon wife in Punch and Judy puppet shows), containing (taking) G-MEN (slang for FBI agents, short for “Government men”) + TD (abbreviation for Teachta Dála = the Irish equivalent of a UK Member of Parliament).

19a

Fake male accessory with piece missing (3)

Generating...

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

COD [piece] (a male clothing accessory in the 15th-16th centuries), without the “piece”. Cod, as an adjective = fake, as in “cod Latin” = made-up words that sound like Latin but don’t really mean anything.

21a

Alarm about old sheep covering a lot of the landscape? (9)

Generating...

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

PANIC (alarm), around O (abbreviation for old) + RAM (a male sheep). Descriptive of a wide scenic view or a very wide photograph.

24a

Grass on both sides of road readily tolerating poor conditions (5)

Generating...

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

HAY (dried grass), around the outer letters (both sides) of R [oa] D . As in hardy plants = ones that can survive cold weather.

25a

Highpoint of Glastonbury involves a number having party with element of Indian cuisine (7)

Generating...

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

TOR (the hill known as Glastonbury Tor), containing (. . . involves) A (from the clue) + N (mathematical abbreviation for an unspecified number) + DO (slang for a party). Traditional clay oven used in Indian cooking.

26a

Special quality applied to boxer with a name like Primo Carnera? (7)

Generating...

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

IT (an undefinable “special quality”) + ALI (the boxer Muhammad Ali) + A + N (abbreviation for name). Primo Carnera was a 20th-century Italian heavyweight boxer, according to Wikipedia; I didn’t know that, but I’m really not into boxing.

27a

Ends in another beach holiday - beautiful Welsh resort (4)

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28a

Collection of big rocks - the ones transported around England? (10)

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Down

1d

Mostly cut budget? Court no longer operating (7)

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2d

Keen delight in each old article presented by Duke (9)

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3d

Bad-tempered American lawyer supporting Republican (5)

Generating...

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

ATTY (abbreviation for attorney = American lawyer) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) R (abbreviation for Republican).

4d

Recyclable material in Fight Club ? (9)

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5d

Marley regularly is shocking Scrooge? (5)

Generating...

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

Anagram (shocking) of alternate letters (regularly) from M [a] R [l] E [y] + IS . For example Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser from A Christmas Carol by Dickens – which also features the ghost of Jacob Marley.

7d

Inappropriate of the French to block French article (5)

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8d

Significant runs in good collection of openers (7)

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9d

Uproar about a work unit ignoring leader of union’s persuasion (8)

Generating...

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

CRY (uproar) around A + JO [u] LE (scientific unit of work or energy), without the U which is the leading letter of U[nion].

15d

Lifting support around motorway dispute in the immediate future (8)

Generating...

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

ROOT (support of a plant, or perhaps as in “root for” = express support for) reversed (lifting = upwards in a down clue), around M (abbreviation for motorway, as in M1), then ROW (argument = dispute).

16d

Kidnapping case involving board and university (9)

Generating...

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

ACTION (a legal case), containing BD (abbreviation for board = administrative body) + U (abbreviation for university).

17d

Suffer offence though nothing’s snatched in raid (9)

Generating...

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

INCUR (as in “to incur a penalty” = suffer) + SIN (offence), containing (snatching) O (zero = nothing).

18d

Mozart symphony: completed it amid half-hearted catcall (7)

Generating...

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

UP (completed, as in “your time is up”) + IT , inserted into JE [e] R (catcall) with one of the two middle letters dropped (half-hearted). Nickname of Mozart’s Symphony no. 41.

20d

Senior woman’s finished importing Asian currency (7)

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22d

A new college in American city and French city (5)

Generating...

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

A + N (abbreviation for new) + C (abbreviation for college), in NY (abbreviation for New York = American city). City in north-eastern France.

23d

Mega bore turning up in desert (5)

Generating...

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

M (abbreviation for mega = prefix indicating 1 million), then TIRE (as a verb = bore = make someone lose interest) reversed (turning up = upwards in a down clue). As in “just deserts” = something that is deserved = merit.

24d

Passion beginning to horrify rough country (5)

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