Independent 10,774 by Maize

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A puzzle from Maize. A new setter for me to blog certainly. One to do over petit-dejeuner perhaps?

Definitely a French theme today. Throughout the grid, and in the clues are a variety of French words. A very impressive number to be honest – each across one has some reference. Also around the perimeter can be read another one, an exceedingly long one ANTICONSTITUTIONNELLEMENT (or unconstitutionally). This is regarded by many as the longest French word but wikipedia has it as one of the longest. See the link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_word_in_French.

I’m not saying Wikipedia is right, but c’est possible. Merci Maize – à bientôt.

Key * anagram; Rev. Reversal; DD double definition; underline definition; Red – French connection

Across
7 Players of games put on half-length legwear (6)
pe (games) after Trou (half-length legwear) = TROUPE

8 Several gods – the acting god of nature to the fore (8)
the + on (acting) after Pan (God of nature) = PANTHEON

9 Fielding – possibly with new spinning stars (4)
n (new) + Rev. Leo (stars) = NOEL

10 Worker works with skilful movements (10)
man (worker) + oeuvres (works) = MANOEUVRES

11 Trained pear lies against the wall? (8)
(pear lies)* = ESPALIER

13 See 19
DU LAC

15 Incidents of motorway madness? They’re insubstantial (7)
MI (motorway) + rages (madness?) = MIRAGES

16 Fatigue turning into bout of fever (4-3)
(fatugue)* = AGUE FIT

19/13 Booker Prize winner in demand before university called foul (5,2,3)
hot (in demand) + (called + u)* = HOTEL DU LAC

21 Iron Duke not due to appear in high-class gathering after having gone downhill (5-3)
ai (high class) around press (iron) + duke – due = APRES-SKI

22 Progressive increase of delight about regular social appearances (10)
elation(delight) around SoCiAl = ESCALATION

24 Seven from Paris quietly going for more time in subterranean home (4)
sept (7 from Paris) changing p(quietly) to t(time) = SETT

25 Conventional way of reaching country home kept by the French? (4-4)
land (country) + in (home) in le (the French) = LANDLINE

26 Gold accepted by first person to get gold for acting great (6)
me (first person) around or (gold) + au (gold) = MOREAU

Down
1 Fletcher has designs on prison uniforms with Mackay innocently trusting him at first (10)
arrows (designs on prison uniforms) + Mackay Innocently Trusting Him at first = ARROWSMITH

2 Invalid entrance to nightclub gets jammed, not opening (4)
n (entrance to nightclub) + full(jammed) – opening = NULL

3 End sentence with period children are taught (4-4)
term (end) + time (sentence) TERM-TIME

4 Definitely where Sir should go to be loved! (6)
in + desired (loved) – sir = INDEED

5 French noblemen’s ‘à votre santé’, drinking a litre between six (10)
cheers (a votre sante) around a l (a litre) in vi (six) = CHEVALIERS

6 Slowly run out of unopened alcohol (4)
booze (alcohol) – b = OOZE

8 Need peer to crush a Parisian uprising (6)
pry(peer) around Rev. une (a Parisian) = PENURY

12 Alt-Right advantage for Left-Bankers? (5-5)
(r + advantage)* = AVANT-GARDE

14 Night-time predator pursuing insect into willow (7,3)
bat (night-time predator) after cricket (insect) = CRICKET BAT

17 Nothing trivial, perhaps, upset tribal leader (8)
Rev. o (nothing) + minor (trivial) + eg (perhaps) = GERONIMO

18 Start a Ximenean section for A to Z connoisseurs? (7)
hidden starT A XIMENean = TAXIMEN

20 Escort fuel once had this? (4,2)
DD LEAD IN

23 Take time out to obtain closure (4)
steal (take) – t (time) = SEAL

24 Paris summit proscribed synthetic dress (4)
(Paris – p)* = SARI

20 comments on “Independent 10,774 by Maize”

  1. This was fantabulous. Lots of favourites including: APRES-SKI, ARROWSMITH (with its Porridge theme), INDEED and also MANOEUVRES & ESCALATION.

  2. The clues were so excellent I forgot to pass comment. Apologies Maize. 1dn was my pick, appreciating the image of Ronnie Barker and Fulton Mackay. 18dn was great for its crossword coonnotations too. 20dn etc etc.

  3. Expertly contrived as we’ve come to expect from this setter, although I have to admit to missing the Nina so thanks to our blogger for pointing that out.
    Top three for me were MIRAGES, ARROWSMITH & TAXIMEN.

    Many thanks to Maize and to twencelas for the review.

  7. I solved rather more than usual unaided on this one. Didn’t get all the parsings, and certainly not all the French connections let alone the nina, but some great clues here. Particular favourites Arrowsmith, Chevaliers and Cricket Bat.

  8. A great puzzle and most enjoyable. Loved CRICKET BAT and the very neat SETT. Many thanks to Maize for the challenge and twencelas .

  9. Loved the theme, Nina and indeed the whole crossword. After a run of outs lately, it was also good to get back onto the positive side of the solving ledger.

    Favourite was the excellent surface for SARI – incidentally I presume you meant ‘dress’ by itself as the def. with ‘synthetic’ as the anagram indicator.

    Thanks to Maize and twencelas

  10. Tricky in places but the nina helped – once we realised that it was all one word.
    As often with themed puzzles our CoD is non-themed: ARROWSMITH.
    A minor issue with the blog – in 24dn isn’t ‘synthetic’ the anagram indicator?
    Mais c’était tout très agréable – merci, Maize et twencelas.

  11. Misled at first by the nina, expecting some kind of “antic institut” but that made 6d impossible of course! A great puzzle as usual from Maize. My personal favourite was SARI, which I found quite difficult.

  12. Thanks for the blog Twencelas, good to have you doing one of mine at last; and to commenters too.
    Is ‘Anticonstitutionnellent’ the longest word in the French language? Possibly not, but when I was a 14-year-old on my French exchange, a lot of schoolchildren in Bordeaux used to enjoy batting it back at me when I hit them with the Floccinauci’ word.

  13. My favourite long word (admittedly not found in most dictionaries but you can google it) is:

    Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

    which is a fear of long words.

  14. Many years ago I was on a TV show called CATCHWORD, hosted by Paul Coia. You had to make words containing three letters. Most folk tried to get ‘Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanocniosis’ – a word which hit the big time when Grampa Simpson uttered it. I won 4 programmes but lost the prize-winning 5th to a lady from Glasgow. Whom I met many years later in similar circumstances, I may tell you about that someday.

    Anyhoo – a terrific puzzle from Maize. When I opened the puzzle this morning I kind of knew something was going on, but it took a long, long time before it twigged, and then I saw all the rest.

    Lovely puzzle, and 13a reminded me of Shrek, obliquely.

    Thanks to Maize and Twenceslas

  16. My favourite is that place in Wales which I visited way back in the late 70s – I clearly remember what was on the station’s platform(and on many postcards):
    Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
    Do I?
    [Maize @12 cannot not even reproduce his ‘nina’ faultlessly himself … 🙂 ]
    But, talking about today’s puzzle again, very very good.
    Many thanks for the challenge, Maize.
    Thanks to twenceslas, too.
    [But agree with allan_c that ‘synthetic’ shouldn’t be underlined]

  18. Just a typo Sil. Two n’s, two l’s, the rest is easy 🙂
    I knew the Llanfair PG one once – hopefully you’ll be including it in one of yours one day!

  19. Loved all the French clues. First thought of the Nina was “institution” but there was nothing topreceded it.

    Poor Skinny. Four “books off the bookshelf” but missed out on the computer 🙁

  20. Great puzzle. Superb surface readings, and nicely witty, e.g. ESPALIER.

    Thought there might be a nina, but then didn’t. Never thought it might be in French…

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