Independent 6,911/Virgilius

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Quite simply as oustanding an example of a themed daily cryptic as you could hope to see, made all the more special for me because 9D was the penultimate clue I solved and, up until that point, I’d been unsure on the theme! Extra plaudits for 8A too!

Across
7 AVOIDS – V,O in AIDS
8 GONADAL – GO NADAL! – Not a word you see very often (and tough to get), but a brilliant clue
10 DUCKING OUT – DUCK,IN,GOUT
11 UNIX – UNI[-t],X
12 KNOW THE ROPES – (HOPE NETWORKS)*
16 THROW IN ONES LOT – (IN SHORT NEW LOOTS)*
8 CLOVE HITCHES – L in COVE,HITCHES
21 FAIL – F[-ine],AIL
22 ORIENTATED – (NEAT EDITOR)*
24 SHINILY – IN,I,L in SHY
25 UNZIPS – U[-niveristy],NZ,I,PS
Down
1 DATUM – TU (Trade Union) in DAM
2 LOOK INTO – LOOK-IN,TO
4 FOOT – A triple defintion (I think)
5 GAZUMP – M in GAZ[-e] UP
6 RADIO SHOW – SO I rev. in (A DR WHO)*
9 NOTHING IN IT – Our theme, highlighted in red in the across answers in case, like me, you missed it
13 WASTE – W,(EAST)*
14 RUNIC – RUN,IC
15 CHA-CHA-CHA – CHA[-p] x 3
17 SCENARIO – (COINS ARE)*
19 OOLONG – 0-0,LONG
20 DEIST – Not quite sure on the wordplay here. Anyone?
22 OILY – Even letters in sOcIaLlY
23 NINE – ref. 9 on a clock face

8 comments on “Independent 6,911/Virgilius”

  2. OK, so my attempt at highlighting the relevant ‘NOTHING’ bits in red hasn’t worked, so here’s a list:

    O
    NADA
    DUCK
    NIX
    NOWT
    NONE
    LOVE
    F.A
    RIEN
    NIL
    ZIP

  4. I made the first one VOID. Extremely clever stuff, but (as is so often the case) the extra thematic component to a clue makes for quite an easy puzzle. But yes, indeed, admirably clever and enjoyable!

  7. Shame about the sub 50% checking that the theme apparently necessitated. I’m normally forgiving of this where there is some sort of theme that helps with all the underchecked answers but sadly that wasn’t the case here. 8A made me smile though.

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