Independent 10,834 by Rodriguez

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Just after Switzerland depart EURO 2020, a puzzle from Rodriguez. Surely not the Swiss footballer moonlighting?

Having said that it could be the English or Colombian one? Or more than likely a non-footballing one – though someone who describes Fox News quite aptly ‘A media outlet’ – a sewer would perhaps be too oblique a definition.

As to the crossword, it did feel a little different and lovely surfaces. Niffy was a word I had never encountered. I did enjoy the product placement in 13 (other chocolate spreads are available). My favourite clue was 11ac – good use of another language using a word even non French speakers should know. 18ac was the clue with the best misdirection in my opinion. Plenty of other candidates for both. Best humourous line has to be Ex tender for former money in 20ac.

Cheers Rodriguez – shame about the result last night

Key * anagram; DD double definition; Rev Reverse; underline definition

Across
1 Go with coda in novel – it’s Portrait of a Lady (8)
(go coda in)* = GIOCONDA

6 Degenerate star‘s name suppressed in awful snarl-up (6)
(snarl up – n)* = PULSAR

9 Family entertained by magic lanterns (4)
Hidden magiC LANterns = CLAN

10 Throw party ending in fornication? Sure thing! (10)
disco (party) + n (ending in fornication) + cert (sure thing) = DISCONCERT

11 Like ‘La Mer’, including A sharp (6)
briny (like La Mer) around a = BRAINY

12 Order from government not heartless (8)
Regime (government) + nt (not heartless) = REGIMENT

13 I’m leaving chocolate spread you put out for dance (10)
ta-ra (I’m leaving) + nutella(chocolate spread) – u (you) = TARENTELLA

15 Male legislator weed (4)
he (male) + mp (legislator) = HEMP

16 Generating a stink, but not initially suspicious (4)
niffy (generating a stink) – n = IFFY

18 Maybe John’s pet, nursed by vet, is sick (10)
angel(pet) in (vetis)* = EVANGELIST

20 One increasing guineas or shillings? (8)
DD EX-TENDER

22 Partner of blind men with time for hard work (6)
eff (as in eff and blind) + or (men) + t (time) = EFFORT

23 Rich source of water listed (4-6)
well (source of water) + heeled (listed) = WELL-HEELED

24 Immoral fellow one’s seen at the roulette table (4)
DD RAKE

25 Early IT system with tip for butterfly hunters (6)
DD USE-NET

26 Lesbian almost touching something precious (8)
sapphic(lesbian) – c + re (touching) = SAPPHIRE

Down
2 I’m going to light up Shakespearean setting (7)
I’ll (I’m going to) + Rev. Airy (light) = ILLYRIA

3 Frank, quick to remove top, is standing (9)
Candid (frank) + pacy(quick) – p (could also be racy) = CANDIDACY

4 Children’s character extremely noisily drinks rum (5)
ny (extremely noisily) around odd (rum) = NODDY

5 European accepts amateur line judges in sport (10,5)
Austrian(European) around a (amateur) + l(line) + rules (judges) = AUSTRALIAN RULES

6 Yard in fetid area, no good place for Kim? (9)
pongy a (fetid arear) around y (yard) + ng (no good) = PYONGYANG

7 One stands in pass, climbing with hesitation (5)
Rev. col (pass) + um (hesitation) = LOCUM

8 Ally hacking into American radar, say (7)
am (american) around crony (ally) = ACRONYM

14 Fails to enter river cooler or hotter than others (9)
dies(fails) in Trent (river) = TRENDIEST

15 Maintain most of strength, getting hard to go on (4,5)
hold (maintain) + forte (strength) – e + h (hard) = HOLD FORTH

17 Four players after puzzle in media outlet (3,4)
news (four players as in Bridge) after fox (puzzle) = FOX NEWS

19 One on the pitch who walks out (7)
DD STRIKER

21 He’s abandoned Greek lady (5)
hellene (Greey) – he = ELLEN

22 Finally become English Nationalist Party (3,2)
e(english) + n(nationalist) + DUP (PArty) = END UP

16 comments on “Independent 10,834 by Rodriguez”

  1. Another classy puzzle from a class setter.

    Didn’t know USENET but easy to guess and, as usual, have no idea what the Shakespearean reference is to in 2d.

    Small typo in 1a – should be GIOCONDA. Also “cooler or” should be underlined in 14d.

    Was saddened to see the Fox Channel cease (at least on Sky) – no idea if Fox News went with it.

  2. Lovely puzzle. A full completion though not a full parse. I was working with Sappho rather than sapphic and I took two letters from the front of whiffy to arrive at IFFY, even though I knew that was wrong. And I spent far too long playing with dog, stick, buff and other things I might associate with the blind, never twigging that it might by eff so EFFORT was a bung and shrug. I loved ILLYRIA, CANDIDACY, EVANGELIST and GIOCONDA. All splendid clues. As one who’s never had a problem with brand names appearing in either clues or solutions, I delighted in the use of Nutella and the clueing of FOX NEWS although, like our blogger, I hesitate to dignify the latter with the description ‘media outlet’. PYONGYANG takes the biscuit though: hard both to cryptically clue and to define in a non-obvious way.

    Thanks Rodriguez and twencelas (At least Federer’s still in the tennis!)

  3. Hovis @1: it’s Twelfth Night and the quote is “What Country, Friends, is this?” “This is Illyria, Lady”. Very early in the play. There was no Illyria at the time Shakespeare wrote but the Greeks knew it as part of the Adriatic coast – sort of where Yugoslavia used to be. I think.

  4. This well-constructed puzzle had nice brief cluing and clever wordplay throughout. I found it very challenging and it took me a while to finishing, and even then, like PostMark @2, I couldn’t parse SAPPHIRE having taken “lesbian” to be Sappho as a noun.

    When the penny finally dropped on the parsing of EFFORT, that got my vote as favourite although PYONGYANG ran it close.

    Many thanks to Rodriguez and to twencelas.

  5. I’ll echo Hovis’ and PostMark’s first sentences.

    I share twencelas’ admiration for 11, 13, 20 and 18ac (for the misdirection – but, for me, 10ac just beats it.) I also had ticks for PULSAR, PYONGYANG, FOX NEWS, SAPPHIRE and the rum-drinking NODDY, which made me smile.

    I’m ashamed at how long it took me to parse 14dn, stubbornly having the river as TEST, even though I live far closer to the Trent.

    I had the definition in 22dn as ‘finally become’.

    Many thanks to Rodriguez for the fun and twencelas for the blog.

  6. Thanks PostMark @3. I know from previous puzzles that Elsinore is the setting for Hamlet – maybe I’ll add this to the list (can a list have just one entry?).

    Let me add my enjoyment for clues like that for EFFORT. On first reading, with no crossers, I was completely bamboozled but it all made sense in the end.

  8. Lovely crossword. Like PostMark @2 I was too polite to think of effing and blinding, and like Eileen @5 I spent a long time trying to parse the River Test. Favourites Gioconda, Illyria, sapphire and Pyongyang. Many thanks to Rodriguez and twencelas.

  9. I’ll join the fans of this one. I’d just been watching a game of 5d on the telly so that was my first in. Also liked the ‘Maybe John(‘s)’ def and learnt ILLYRIA, entered from not too obvious wordplay, and (maybe) will now remember how to spell PYONGYANG. I agree about the initial “What the…?” response and then working out the clever parsing for EFFORT.

    I think the def for TRENDIEST is ‘cooler or hotter than others’.

    Thanks to Rodriguez and twencelas.

  10. If crosswords be the soul of wit, play on, Jolly Roger
    (I thinks the South American footballer would be known by his first name pronounced “Hahmez”

    And if anyone has a spare few quid, Giaconda probably makes the best Australian chardonnay-needs aging.

    Thanks JB and twencelas

  11. One of those rare days where the misdirection works, but you overcome it, like a plucky Swiss team playing highly-rated opposition, so a real pleasure to solve. Thanks to Rodriguez and twenceslas

  12. Thanks @Hovis, @Eileen and @WordPlodder – have corrected the blog. It was a good puzzle indeed.

  13. Glad to see that I wasn’t alone in not making the leap to ‘effing and blinding’ and I did have to use my phone-a-friend option when it came to the likes of the unknown IT system.
    Question – doesn’t seem to me that 5d is the full name of the game, has it been shortened over the years?
    Favourite without a doubt was WELL-HEELED which really made me smile.

    Thanks to Rodriguez and to twencelas for the review.

  14. Thanks, Rodriguez. A truly stellar puzzle. So many fine clues I can’t name a COD or even list the candidates. You were missed in the Guardian Prize slot this week; Brummie’s puzzle there was easy and pedestrian in comparison.

  15. geeker @ 14: Rodriguez, as Picaroon, was in the G Prize slot last Saturday. Don’t be greedy 😉

  16. Another superbly clued puzzle from a top top setter. I agree with postmark@2 that 6d is biscuit taking. Unfortunately I didn’t finish it as I had CANDIDATE for 2d and despite coming up with IFFY dismissed it! I also didn’t parse EFFORT.
    Many thanks to Rodriguez and twenceslas.

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