Independent 7,180/Virgilius
Posted by Ali on October 20th, 2009
As sometimes happens with Virgilius’ themed puzzles, I managed to get through this without fully understanding some of the connected answers. Probably me being a dunce, but I don’t quite get the links at 17A.
As always happens with Virgilius’ puzzles though, I’m in awe of the quality of his clueing.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWRY – R in (WAY)* | |
| 3 | WHERE IT’S AT – Double def. The answers to the clues at 9, 14 and 29 also refer to their relative locations in the grid | |
| 9 | SECOND ROW – Cha. of SECOND + ROW – This answer is located in the second row of the grid | |
| 11 | TOTAL – TOT + A + L | |
| 12 | EVENT – EVEN + T | |
| 13 | BIFF – Hidden in joB IF Fomenting | |
| 15 | NOUN – Double def. | |
| 17 | SELF-REFERENCE – The def. here is ‘independent testimonial’, but I’m not sure how this links to the other answers? | |
| 19 | TAKING A CHANCE – Hidden in upseT A KING, CHANCEllor | |
| 23 | MINT – Double def. | |
| 24 | UNDO – Even letters of tUrNeD fOe | |
| 25 | ALIEN – LIE in AN | |
| 27 | OMEGA – O + GA/ME with each half swapped | |
| 28 | LOUISIANA – (OIL IN USA)* | |
| 29 | BOTTOM LINE – Cha. of BOTTOM (behind) + LINE (policy) – This answer is of course on the bottom line of the grid | |
| 30 | THIS – Hidden in ancienT HIStory | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | ANSWER – I think this is a double def. | |
| 2 | RACKETS – This definitely is a double def! | |
| 4 | HARD BARGAIN – BAR in HARD GAIN | |
| 5 | RAW – Double def. | |
| 6 | INTO – Hidden in shINTOism | |
| 7 | SET DOWN – Double def. | |
| 8 | TALENTED – TALE on NT + ED | |
| 10 | NETTLING – L in NETTING | |
| 14 | FIFTH COLUMN – COLUMN supporting FIFTH (20%) – ALso describes the answer’s location | |
| 16 | FRANCIS – A in FRANCIS | |
| 18 | ATOM BOMB – A T + (MOB x 2)* | |
| 20 | KINDEST – K + N in ID EST | |
| 21 | EPITAPH – Cryptic def. | |
| 22 | IN CAPS – I guessed this from the checking letters, but can’t quite work it out | |
| 26 | FARO – FAR (much) + 0 (love) | |
| 28 | LIL – 1 in LL | |
October 20th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Thanks Ali.
I’m not 100% sure of a lot of this myself.
The def. for 17 is, I think “NOT an independent testimonial.
The answers referred to are somehow describing themselves: A noun is a noun, Francais is French, this is this, etc.
I think the “In caps” refers to the fact that everyone (I imagine?) fills in the grid with capital letters, an also contains the definition “covered above” (wearing a cap).
October 20th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
…please forgive spelling and punctuation above…
Also just wanted to say that, like today’s Guardian, this has a (sort of) double theme too.
Coincidence?….
October 20th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I thought of IN CAPS but didn’t put it in, as it seemed to me unreasonable to assume everyone uses them (I DO OF COURSE!) I liked the ‘WHERE IT’S AT’ answers a lot – SECOND ROW, BOTTOM LINE and FIFTH COLUMN, but was lass keen on 1d and 22d, which didn’t seem to give you a second route to the clue – knowing it’s self-referential leaves you guessing rather.
Anyway, I messed up by putting NEEDLING at 10d (is ‘I need’ the same as ‘I earn?’ What was I on?) so didn’t get 12ac.
October 20th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Glad to see it wasn’t just me then. I always fill my answers IN CAPS too, though I know people who don’t!
If it’s any consolation Mick, I’d convinced myelf that 10D was either NEED[L]ING or RANK[L]ING before I got the right answer!
Also, something I forgot to put in the blog, how do we feel about LL being used for 100? Don’t think I’ve ever seen roman numerals used in this way before.
October 20th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I missed IN CAPS, but I think it’s justified as that’s how solutions appear in the paper. LL might have been a bit of a stretch but I did have a penny-dropping moment when I saw it. Great puzzle as always from the master.
October 20th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Ali,
I quite liked LL.
I don’t think it would have worked had it been the end of the word (eg. ill), but I thought it was clever.
Libertarianism, but in a good way…
October 20th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Excellent puzzle again. I’m really enjoying the Independent crossword at the moment – much more so than the Guardian…
There were quite an above average number of hidden answers here (four) so I wondered whether “all the others covered above” might be a reference to that – I didn’t get IN CAPS in the end, but it’s a nice answer.
I know some people who say they find it much easier to see words from crossing letters if they write them out as “_n _a_s” instead of “_N _A_S” – I don’t find it helps much, personally.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:56 am
I agree mhl. I find the Independent to be consistently good – you never know what you’re going to get with the Guardian.