Independent Cryptic #12155

2025-09-23

Solve on Independent →

Across

6a

Locate bad smell for questionable treatment (7)

flowerflowerflower
7a

Snake around much of The Prancing Pony (6)

flowerflowerflower
8a

Umlaut’s dotty on both sides (6)

Generating...

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

Anagram (dotty = crazy) of UMLAUT .

9a

Fat duke's tearing off (8)

flowerflowerflower
10a

Quite skilfully packaging instrument on special order (10)

Generating...

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

ABLY (skilfully), containing (packaging) LUTE (a musical instrument) after SO (abbreviation for special order, according to the dictionaries). Quite = absolutely = an expression of strong agreement.

12a

A lot of men in farmyard (4)

flowerflowerflower
13a

Mixed-up loveless saddo - they have issues with women (4)

Generating...

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

Anagram (mixed-up) of SADD [o] without the O (zero = love in tennis scoring). Issues = children or later descendants, as in the legal term “died without issue”.

15a

Stories for instance going back enthralling a lot of sailors (5)

Generating...

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

SAY (for instance), reversed (going back), including (enthralling) RN (abbreviation for Royal Navy = a lot of sailors). Yarn = a long and involved story, which may not be entirely true.

17a

Split money for accommodation (4)

flowerflowerflower
18a

Young Ones dressed up as nothing short of old (4)

flowerflowerflower
20a

A problem with the wet amid spring dances (10)

flowerflowerflower
22a

Product of explosive shell part no ends missing (8)

Generating...

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

Anagram (product of explosive . . .) of SHEL [l] PAR [t] N [o], with the end letters of all three words missing. I think this is intended as a clue-as-definition, but I can’t see what “no ends missing” contributes to the definition.

24a

Half of rise added to income? - refuse to get carried away (6)

flowerflowerflower
25a

Promising a flower to border most of famous garden (6)

flowerflowerflower
26a

Sombre event’s gone wild outside one local (7)

flowerflowerflower

Down

1d

Wonderful bananas of usual breadth (8)

flowerflowerflower
2d

In Versailles I initially abhorred miserable envy (8)

Generating...

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

JE (French for “I”, as in the French palace of Versailles = “I in Versailles”) + initial letter of A [bhorred] + LOUSY (slang for very unsatisfactory = miserable). Originally envy and jealousy were slightly different concepts, but in modern usage the distinction seems to have been lost. (Envy = something belongs to you, and I want it; jealousy = something belongs to me, and I don’t want you to have it.)

3d

Benign deity full of love (4)

Generating...

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

GOD (deity) containing O (zero = love in tennis scoring).

4d

An ideal place for everyone the best current answer (6)

flowerflowerflower
5d

Urban guy wants money up front? No that’s dodgy (8)

flowerflowerflower
6d

Spot on fruit we gather (5)

flowerflowerflower
7d

Peer is with four in lavatory (5)

flowerflowerflower
11d

Sex god accepts universal currency (5)

flowerflowerflower
14d

Adjustable chair - and it might be found on the web (8)

flowerflowerflower
16d

Table tennis after two sopranos push out pianos for choral revel (8)

Generating...

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

[p] ING [p] ONG (another name for table tennis), with two S (abbreviation for soprano) instead of the two P (p = abbreviation for Italian piano = musical term for quiet). Singsong = a session of communal singing for pleasure.

17d

Star on the left with density rising far off (8)

Generating...

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

RED (slang for politically on the left), then W + D (abbreviations for with and density) reversed (rising = upwards in a down clue), then an anagram (off) of FAR . Red dwarf = a small faint star.

19d

Increased intervals between square and measured steps (6)

flowerflowerflower
20d

Liquid nitrogen stored in broken urn - ultimately leaky (5)

Generating...

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

N (chemical symbol for nitrogen) in an anagram (broken) of URN , then the last letter (ultimately) of [leak] Y . Runny = description of something liquid, especially when one might expect it to be more solid; for example “runny honey” as opposed to the thicker “set honey”.

21d

Half-hearted Gollum could become this influential individual (5)

flowerflowerflower
23d

Prison island held by the French for endless sentence (4)

flowerflowerflower