Independent 9,165 by Rodriguez

by

Another new setter before the demise of the print edition, I guess for a setter seeing your name on line doesn’t have the same cachet as seeing it in print where you’ve “made it”.

An interesting debut, a mixed of classic oldies and some clever invention, not overly hard although the meaning of DIVES was lost on me. No obvious theme or Nina – half expected a leap theme, usually the cue for the first comment – almost instantly – to correct me.  🙂

Across

1 Harm poet? This blunder might well (5,8)
MIXED METAPHOR
[HARM POET]* MIXED leads to METAPHOR. I’ve underlined the whole clue as a definition but it’s not quite the classic &lit. An intriguing start.

10 Uncovered more steps to secure home rule (9)
ORDINANCE
(m)OR(e) uncovered & IN (home) inside DANCE (steps)

11 For Wenger, a match is free (5)
UNTIE
UN (french for “a”) & TIE (match)

12 Party leader seems clever, not at all odd (5)
EMCEE
Alternate letters of sEeMs ClEvEr

13 Payments from friendly society (9)
OUTGOINGS
My last one in, not sure why I took so long to see this, the S bit was obvious. It’s OUTGOING & S(ociety)

14 Fine, entertaining line that re-starts play (5-2)
THROW-IN
THIN (fine) with ROW (line) inserted

16 US criminal law to mystify (7)
PERPLEX
PERPertrator & LEX

18 Men turning crazy like Caligula …? (7)
ROMANIC
O(ther) R(anks) reversed & MANIC (crazy)

20 … or this lady who’s wonderful company, swigging much wine back (7)
OCTAVIA
A1 (wonderful) & CO(mpany) with a VAT (lots of wine) inserted and all reversed

21 Beak’s outpouring, having seen bold criminal swallowing drug (9)
NOSEBLEED
I suspected correctly the def straight away, but misled myself expecting it to refer to regurgitated bird feed in some way so didn’t get the answer until I had a few crossers. [SEEN BOLD]* criminally with E(cstacy) inserted

23 Mathematical area returning height measurements (5)
GIRTH
TRIG(onometry) (an area of maths) reversed & H(eight). Not utterly convinced by the plural defintion

24 Getting end away, soothe love’s fire (5)
SALVO
End missing from SALV(e) & 0 (love)

25 Conservative member miserable in U-turn (5-4)
CLIMB DOWN
C(onservative) & LIMB (a member) & DOWN (miserable)

26 Reward’s collected in wagering pound with care (13)
PAINSTAKINGLY
PAY (rewards) with IN & STAKING (betting) & L (pound) all inserted

Down

2 Green parts within tattoo an unseemly thing (9)
INDECORUM
ECO (green) inside (parts) IN (within) & DRUM (tattoo)

3 Wise bird one’s taken in (5)
ERNIE
As in Eric and Ernie. 1 inside ERNE (bird)

4 Sun about to end wet period (7)
MONSOON
If it’s SUN(day evening – about to end) it’s MON(day) SOON

5 Left holding aid for driver turning tip of plane? (7)
TREETOP
Plane trees, PORT (left) with TEE (aid for golfers) inside, and all reversed (turning)

6 Dives where copper arrests lout wasted on grass (9)
PLUTOCRAT
DIVES – Middle English, from Latin, rich, rich man; misunderstood as a proper name in Luke 16:19. LOUT* wasted inside PC & RAT (a grass, nark)

7 It’s commonly like decimal (5)
OFTEN
Double definition. An old favourite this one.

8 Passing quality ball, guys on pitch cool amid chaos (13)
MOMENTARINESS
O (ball shape) & MEN (guys) & TAR (pitch) & IN (cool, hip) all inside MESS (chaos)

9 Sex maniac, due for treatment, accepting hospital’s miracle solution (4,2,7)
DEUS EX MACHINA
H(ospital) inside [SEX MANIAC DUE]* treated

15 Women have to eat blind drunk, having had buffets (9)
WINDBLOWN
Buffet as in being bashed. W(omen) & BLIND* drunk & OWN (have)

17 Reds can prefer heartless, wicked uprising (9)
LIVERPOOL
LOO (can, toilet) & P(refe)R heartless & EVIL all reversed

19 Shipping company downsized in style (4,3)
CREW CUT
Hair style at least, CREW(ship’s company) & CUT (downsized)

20 Dickens‘s Newgate? (3,4)
OLD NICK
Sort of double cryptic defs. What the DICKENS – a euphemism for the devil & Newgate is an old prison, hence OLD NICK

22 Repeated appeal about line in dance music (5)
SALSA
That crosswordese staple SA = (sex) appeal twice with L(ine) inserted

23 Keep chattering where French is spoken by Africans (5)
GABON
GAB ON

completed grid

14 comments on “Independent 9,165 by Rodriguez”

  2. A most auspicious debut. Got very little on first pass, then got going the second time. Hope it’s the first of many from Rodriguez. Particularly liked NOSEBLEED, PAINSTAKINGLY, PLUTOCRAT.

    A number of latin or latinate words/phrases/references, 18A, 20A, 2D, 6D, 9D.

    Thanks to Rodriguez and flashling.

  3. I thought 1 across was a wonderful way to in which to announce yourself. Thereafter I made quite hard work work of it but that’s down to me, not the setter. Thought 4 down was very cleverly done. Thanks Rodriguez and flashling.

  4. A nice variety of clues in this debut puzzle.

    I think 1ac is not so much an &lit as one of those clues where the answer is itself a clue, or part of the clue.
    ‘
    23ac puzzled me too, with ‘measurements’, plural. I tried to make something of ‘ht’ and ‘rig’ all reversed for a mathematical area; and I did wonder about GARTH which might very loosely mean an area, though hardly mathematical and neither ‘rig’ nor ‘rag’ can mean ‘measurement’. Maybe the plural form was just a typo.

    I particularly liked THROW-IN, PLUTOCRAT and WINDBLOWN.

    Thanks, Rodríguez and flashling.

  6. I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle and struggled mightily to get MOMENTARINESS, my last one in by some distance. Many thanks to Rodriguez and to flashling for a fine blog.

  7. After I started this puzzle I initially got nowhere at all.
    SALSA (22d) was my first entry and it took quite a while to get a follow-up, DEUS EX MACHINA (9d).
    I put the puzzle aside and tried to make more of last Saturday’s Tyrus – bad luck.
    After regaining my confidence with yesterday’s Everyman, I went back to Rodriguez (and Tyrus, too).
    All at once, for no obvious reason, the ball started rolling.

    I enjoyed it tremendously.
    This was high quality clueing, no iffiness, inventive at places.
    If Rodriguez is a new kid on the block, then I hope we will see a lot more of him.
    Whatever happens to the Indy.
    But this could easily have been a crossword by a well-known setter using a different pseudonym.
    Something that recently happened (twice!) at this place.

    Rodriguez, either old or new, a huge talent.

    Thanks Flashling for the blog.

  8. Very good I thought. So good in fact that I wonder if it is really a debut and not some established setter using another name. There seemed to be a surfeit of football references but it is the Indy so whatever else. I look forward to the day when there is a surfeit of cricket or golf references.

  9. Like Sil@7 we struggled to get started. We were glad that we persevered as we enjoyed it and felt it was a very accomplished debut puzzle – if it was!

    We particularly liked MONSOON as it raised a smile and was a joint entry – solved by Bert and parsed by Joyce.

    Thanks flashling and welcome to Rodriguez – more please.

  10. A very enjoyable debut, I thought. The boy has form, though, as he’s the James known as Picaroon in another place. It’s also a statement of intent from the Indy crossword editor: “We’re not dead yet”. And we’ll keep introducing new setters as long as there are people who want to solve their puzzles.

  12. Eimi@10 – We really hope that all the puzzles continue. We are concerned about the Inquisitor – no mention has been made anywhere yet about whether the Indy will find a way of carrying on with this great puzzle.

  13. I did this yesterday but didn’t have time to post.

    Fantastic debut – I was about to write “I bet you can’t keep this up” – then I read post #10 above (which explains it all) so probably he can.

    Many thanks to both setter and blogger.

  14. Finally got round to this one, and it was a cracker. Tougher than most of the recent Picaroons but in retrospect all quite fair. PAINSTAKINGLY was last in. Liked MIXED METAPHOR and DEUS EX MACHINA, but it seems invidious just to single out a couple

    Thanks to flashling and Rodriguez

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