As sometimes happens with Virgilius’ themed puzzles, I managed to get through this without fully understanding some of the connected answers. Probably me being a dunce, but I don’t quite get the links at 17A.
As always happens with Virgilius’ puzzles though, I’m in awe of the quality of his clueing.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWRY – R in (WAY)* | |
| 3 | WHERE IT’S AT – Double def. The answers to the clues at 9, 14 and 29 also refer to their relative locations in the grid | |
| 9 | SECOND ROW – Cha. of SECOND + ROW – This answer is located in the second row of the grid | |
| 11 | TOTAL – TOT + A + L | |
| 12 | EVENT – EVEN + T | |
| 13 | BIFF – Hidden in joB IF Fomenting | |
| 15 | NOUN – Double def. | |
| 17 | SELF-REFERENCE – The def. here is ‘independent testimonial’, but I’m not sure how this links to the other answers? | |
| 19 | TAKING A CHANCE – Hidden in upseT A KING, CHANCEllor | |
| 23 | MINT – Double def. | |
| 24 | UNDO – Even letters of tUrNeD fOe | |
| 25 | ALIEN – LIE in AN | |
| 27 | OMEGA – O + GA/ME with each half swapped | |
| 28 | LOUISIANA – (OIL IN USA)* | |
| 29 | BOTTOM LINE – Cha. of BOTTOM (behind) + LINE (policy) – This answer is of course on the bottom line of the grid | |
| 30 | THIS – Hidden in ancienT HIStory | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | ANSWER – I think this is a double def. | |
| 2 | RACKETS – This definitely is a double def! | |
| 4 | HARD BARGAIN – BAR in HARD GAIN | |
| 5 | RAW – Double def. | |
| 6 | INTO – Hidden in shINTOism | |
| 7 | SET DOWN – Double def. | |
| 8 | TALENTED – TALE on NT + ED | |
| 10 | NETTLING – L in NETTING | |
| 14 | FIFTH COLUMN – COLUMN supporting FIFTH (20%) – ALso describes the answer’s location | |
| 16 | FRANCIS – A in FRANCIS | |
| 18 | ATOM BOMB – A T + (MOB x 2)* | |
| 20 | KINDEST – K + N in ID EST | |
| 21 | EPITAPH – Cryptic def. | |
| 22 | IN CAPS – I guessed this from the checking letters, but can’t quite work it out | |
| 26 | FARO – FAR (much) + 0 (love) | |
| 28 | LIL – 1 in LL | |
Thanks Ali.
I’m not 100% sure of a lot of this myself.
The def. for 17 is, I think “NOT an independent testimonial.
The answers referred to are somehow describing themselves: A noun is a noun, Francais is French, this is this, etc.
I think the “In caps” refers to the fact that everyone (I imagine?) fills in the grid with capital letters, an also contains the definition “covered above” (wearing a cap).
…please forgive spelling and punctuation above…
Also just wanted to say that, like today’s Guardian, this has a (sort of) double theme too.
Coincidence?….
I thought of IN CAPS but didn’t put it in, as it seemed to me unreasonable to assume everyone uses them (I DO OF COURSE!) I liked the ‘WHERE IT’S AT’ answers a lot – SECOND ROW, BOTTOM LINE and FIFTH COLUMN, but was lass keen on 1d and 22d, which didn’t seem to give you a second route to the clue – knowing it’s self-referential leaves you guessing rather.
Anyway, I messed up by putting NEEDLING at 10d (is ‘I need’ the same as ‘I earn?’ What was I on?) so didn’t get 12ac.
Glad to see it wasn’t just me then. I always fill my answers IN CAPS too, though I know people who don’t!
If it’s any consolation Mick, I’d convinced myelf that 10D was either NEED[L]ING or RANK[L]ING before I got the right answer!
Also, something I forgot to put in the blog, how do we feel about LL being used for 100? Don’t think I’ve ever seen roman numerals used in this way before.
I missed IN CAPS, but I think it’s justified as that’s how solutions appear in the paper. LL might have been a bit of a stretch but I did have a penny-dropping moment when I saw it. Great puzzle as always from the master.
Ali,
I quite liked LL.
I don’t think it would have worked had it been the end of the word (eg. ill), but I thought it was clever.
Libertarianism, but in a good way…
Excellent puzzle again. I’m really enjoying the Independent crossword at the moment – much more so than the Guardian…
There were quite an above average number of hidden answers here (four) so I wondered whether “all the others covered above” might be a reference to that – I didn’t get IN CAPS in the end, but it’s a nice answer.
I know some people who say they find it much easier to see words from crossing letters if they write them out as “_n _a_s” instead of “_N _A_S” – I don’t find it helps much, personally.
I agree mhl. I find the Independent to be consistently good – you never know what you’re going to get with the Guardian.
Hopeless at trying to solve clues referring to other clues.3a and 17a foreign language!