Independent 10717 / Rodriguez

22 comments on “Independent 10717 / Rodriguez”

1. Superb.

2. Thanks for blogging, Duncan. For ATONEMENT, I had MEN inserted into AT ONE (when it may be lunch) and T for ‘time’. But for a long time like you I was looking to explain the T.

   We don’t see enough of Rodriguez in the Indy. I enjoyed this one, for RUBBER BAND alone.

3. Another great Rodriguez puzzle. A DNF for me: failed to get WOOLGATHERING without a word fit (I would hyphenate this) and didn’t know the German river SPREE. Parsed ATONEMENT as Kathryn’s Dad.

4. I crawled on all fours to complete this, clutching at straws and needing a little help from a word-list. I’m quite well up on rhyming slang but didn’t know scooby-doo = clue – I shall try to use it in conversation. As a committed pedestrian I resent being labelled as slow-witted! But despite all this I really enjoyed it, so thanks Rodriguez and Duncan

5. Superb indeed – as K’s D says, worth solving for 6d alone

   Thanks to Rodriguez and Duncan

6. As copmus says – Superb.

   It took me a while to get into this but, once i got started, it unravelled at a very satisfying rate. I can’t believe that the well-hidden DOSSIER was my lost one in

   I parsed ATONEMENT as K’s D and Hovis, after similar head-scratching. I think the definition in 8dn is simply ‘impetus’.

   Favourite clues today were for THEATRICAL, RUBBER BAND, PEDESTRIAN and HIPPOCRATES (a doh moment when I realised ‘boxes’ was not a containment indicator – a neat double bluff).

   Many thanks to Rodriguez for a highly entertaining puzzle and to Duncan for a fine blog.

   crypticsue just squeezed in while I was typing. 😉

7. Very enjoyable and I can’t fault Eileen’s choice of top clues.

   Many thanks to Rodriguez and to Duncan.

8. “What knockers!”
   “Sank you doctor”

9. Tatrasman @4. As is common with rhyming slang, the last word is usually omitted. So people say “I haven’t a Scooby” for example. I only recently found out that blowing a raspberry comes from the rhyming slang “raspberry tart” for – well I think you can guess. There are a few other hidden rhyming slangs but I can’t recall any at the moment.

10. Hovis 9 How about a “Jean Paul”

11. My second cracking puzzle of the day. PEDESTRIAN held out til last but it’s not the feeling I was left with at the end. Not at all. Like Eileen, I loved HIPPOCRATES and THEATRICAL and RUBBER BAND was a lol moment, as was RUBBISH. WOOLGATHERING is neatly constructed but had me staring at a full set of crossers for ages before the penny dropped. Ticks also for OVARIES and SEEMINGLY – I always seem to enjoy clues with ‘trousers’ in!

    This is the second time PSST has appeared in the Indy in a week, the third time on the site this year and it popped up twice last September. Too many more and someone will have a hissy fit.

    Thanks Rodriguez and Duncan

12. Very enjoyable even if I spent ages at the end on the NHO 1a which I couldn’t get for the life of me. I liked the CRS of SCOOBY DOO (also new to me) but like K’s D @2 and crypticsue @5, would have been happy with RUBBER BAND by itself. In it goes to the “Classic cryptic clues” file.

    Thanks to Rodriguez and to Duncan

13. copmus @10. Don’t know that one. I guess most people know “having a butchers” comes from “butcher’s hook = look”; “Bristol” for “breast” from “Bristol City”. Another I didn’t know until recently was that “cobblers” for “rubbish” comes from “cobbler’s awls = balls”.

14. Nothing to do but agree with all of the above. 8a made me laugh but COD has to be 6d. Excellent crossword and blog. Thanks to both.

15. As a Septic, it’s always nice to learn new rhyming slang. Thanks to the setter and the commenters for those.

    My favorite clue here was “in post office box” for Hippocrates.

16. This took some getting into, but once we’d got a handful of answers the rest began to flow in nicely. And with a reference to IO in 21dn a nice warm-up before we tackle IO in today’s FT.
    Thanks, Rodriguez and Duncan.

17. ‘Woolgathering again’ was frequently used by my teachers in the fifties.

18. Many thanks indeed to duncanshiell for the splendidly iridescent blog, as well as to everyone taking the trouble to comment.

    I would have wanted to bung a hyphen in woolgathering too, but I tend to go by Collins, which has a clear preference for making everything one long word. The (slightly lapsed, these days) Germanist in me approves!

    Best wishes to all.

19. 1a lay somewhere in the back of my mind but the same cannot be said for the German river or the musical direction in 9a.
    RUBBER BAND was my favourite with HIPPOCRATES a close second.

    Thanks to Rodriguez and to Duncan for the review.

20. As so often the crossword was brilliant but I was not. PostMark@11 Third time lucky with PSST for me. I am a PEDESTRIAN learner but I have learnt that one. I was going to suggest a drinking game for repeated clues clues but I’d end up PSST

21. Took me multiple attempts and a little help but really enjoyed this. I may have made a strange snorting noise at RUBBER-BAND , I SCOOBY-DOO and HIPPOCRATES were amazing.

    Postmark @11 and PeterT @20. I’ve now failed at PSST twice in quick succession, clearly not one to learn from my mistakes!

    Thanks Rodriguez for the fun and Duncan for a very descriptive blog for those of us who struggle!

22. Collins may go for woolgathering but Chambers has wool-gathering. The word occurs in Sir Walter Scott’s Guy Mannering, where it is hyphenated too.

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