Rookie Corner 578 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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Rookie Corner 578

by Prolixic  

A Puzzle by Snowman

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +


The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.

As usual, the setter will be delighted to receive feedback from you, the solvers. We do ask that you remember that for most setters this is a new experience, so please only offer constructive criticism.

This was a highly accomplished debut crossword from Snowman.  Other than the incorrect anagram in 4d, there was very little to fault.  The commentometer reads ad 2/28 or 7.1%

Across

7a  Saturated fat (8)
DRIPPING: Double definition, the first being saturated with water, the second a type of fat.

9a  SW island supermarket stocks caviar at last (6)
TRESCO: A five-letter name of a leading supermarket includes (stocks) the final letter (at last) of caviar.

10a  Oppose bits of America’s new trade initiative (4)
ANTI: The initial letters (bits) of the final four words of the clue.  I think that the definition in the clue needs to be opposed to rather than simply oppose.

11a  Enlist nerd to develop statistical indicators (5,5)
TREND LINES: An anagram (to develop) of ENLIST NERD.

12a  Jim and Tom both lack money after second cocktail (6)
MOJITO: Remove (both lack) the abbreviation for money from the two name and put them after a two-letter word for second.

13a  Game‘s special pool of money being reduced by the French (8)
SKITTLES: The abbreviation for special followed by a five-letter word for a pool of money with the final letter (being reduced) followed by the French plural form of “the”.

15a  Meg Ryan represented a nation (7)
GERMANY: An anagram (represented) of MEG RYAN.

17a  Weep quietly with nervous twitch creating this crossword? (7)
CRYPTIC: A three-letter word meaning weep followed by the musical abbreviation for quietly and a three-letter word for a nervous twitch.

20a  European president drinks dash of Armagnac with yours truly’s food (8)
MACARONI: The name of the current president of France includes (drinks) the first letter (dash) of Armagnac all followed by a single letter for the setter (yours truly).

22a  Be agreeable to start of periodic tenancy agreement (6)
PLEASE: The first letter (start) of periodic followed by a five-letter word for a tenancy agreement.

23a  Western‘s not expected to get Oscar for acting (10)
OCCIDENTAL: A ten-letter word meaning not expected or by mistake with the first letter A (acting) replaced by (for) an O (Oscar).

25a  Yorkshire runner regularly claiming race by unusual distance (4)
AIRE: Every third letter (regularly) of  the third to fifth words of the clue.  I would omit the “by unusual distance” as it is not strictly necessary for a regular letters clue and is probably more misleading than required.

26a  Occasionally assault French friend with sausage (6)
SALAMI: The even letters (occasionally) of the second word followed by the French word masculine singular for friend.

27a  Perhaps Boeuf Borgnine is cooked on simmer? (8)
MISNOMER: An anagram (cooked) of ON SIMMER.

Down

1d  Short work in strangely arranged musical without dialogue (5,5)
GRAND OPERA: The two-letter abbreviation for opus (short work) in and anagram (strangely) of ARRANGED.

2d  Positive outlook as Best is introduced for United (8)
OPTIMISM: A seven-letter word meaning best with the abbreviation for united replaced by (introduced for) the IS from the clue.

3d  This type of restaurant supports Iberian retro sandwiches (6)
BISTRO: The answer is hidden and reversed (retro sandwiches) in the fifth and sixth words of the clue.

4d  Walking tired dogs is more laboured (8)
STODGIER: An anagram (walking) of TIRED DOGS.  As noted, there is an extra D in the letters to be rearranged so the anagram does not work.

5d  Picture the removal of old Scot? (6)
DEPICT: Split 2-4, this might suggest removing a person from an old Scottish tribe.

6d  Long to uncover hidden stores (4)
ACHE: A six-letter word for hidden stores without the first and last letters (to uncover).

8d  Listening to country musical (6)
GREASE: A homophone (listening) of Greece (country).

14d  Spies girl inside end of terrace house (10)
EMISSARIES: A four-letter word for a girl inside the last letter (end) of terrace and a five-letter word for one of the signs of the zodiac (house).

16d  Recent notice re rubbish (8)
NEOTERIC: An anagram (rubbish) of NOTICE RE.

18d  Comically parroted Schwarzenegger film (8)
PREDATOR: An anagram (comically) of PARROTED.

19d  Two men shortly identifying dead body? (6)
VICTIM: The shortened forms of Timothy and Victor.

21d  Kournikova did a show advertising sportswear brand (6)
ADIDAS: The answer is hidden (advertising) in the first three words of the clue.

22d  European elegance (6)
POLISH: Double definition.

24d  Talk about hot fringes of art (4)
CHAT: The single letter abbreviation for about followed by the abbreviation for hot and the outer letters (fringes) of art.

14 comments on “Rookie Corner 578”

  1. Thanks Snowman and welcome to Rookie Corner although I suspect that this is not your ‘first rodeo.’

    A couple of comments, the real experts will probably have more:

    25a – I am not sure that runner is the best synonym for what you are cluing, flower would probably be better.
    4d – unless I am missing something there is an extra (unwanted) letter in the anagram material – one D too many.

    Smiles for 7a, 12a, 20a, 5d, 8d, and 22d.

    Thanks again and thanks in advance to Prolixic.

  2. Apart from the extra letter in the fodder for 4d we thought this was a very well crafted puzzle with a good level of complexity throughout the clues.
    Thanks Snowman.

  3. Welcome to Rookie Corner with what I thought was an accomplished and enjoyable puzzle. Although it is your debut here, I feel sure this was not your first ever foray into the world of cryptic crossword setting.

    Other commenters have mentioned the extra D in the anagram fodder for 4d, and in addition I don’t think “walking” is an adequate anagram indicator even though it may well appear in a list of these somewhere.

    Many solvers don’t mind the use of vague people’s names as part of the wordplay, but I think they should be avoided or else qualified in some way. You have managed to use two in 19d!

    I had a lot of ticks with 7a, 25a, 5d & 14d my top picks.

    Well done and thank you, Snowman. More like this would be very welcome. Thanks too in advance to Prolixic.

  4. Welcome to Rookie Corner Snowman with what I thought, despite the spare D in 4d, was a very accomplished crossword.

    Variations of the clue for 19d have been in existence for donkeys’ years so I don’t think the names can be called vague as it is one of those solutions that just writes itself in on first reading

    Thanks Snowman – hope to see you back here again soon – and, in advance, to Prolixic

  5. Welcome to Rookie Corner, Snowman.
    There’s lots to like here and I particularly liked 23a, 25a, 27a, 2d and 5d.
    More like this would be very welcome.

  6. Thanks for the puzzle Snowman, I enjoyed it. Favourites for me were 12a, 27a and 2d.

    In 26a, I’m not sure the link word is the right way around – you have wordplay WITH definition, but I think “with” needs to work the other way around (in the sense of making omelette WITH beaten eggs).

    Thanks again, and in advance to Prolixic.

  7. Welcome to the Corner, Snowman, with a puzzle that I found quite entertaining, despite not having previously heard the phrase used in 11a. Top entries for me were 7&12a plus 5d with a mention for 20a simply because it made me laugh. Bet you’re kicking yourself over the fodder for 4d but in all honesty I didn’t think it was one of your better clues in any case.
    Good luck with the reading on the commentometer, I doubt that it will be too unkind to you.

  8. Thank you for a very enjoyable puzzle, Snowman. We look forward to your next one. Thanks in advance to Prolixic.

  9. Welcome, Snowman.

    Like others, I thought this was an excellent puzzle, not much to fault technically and with some pretty good surfaces. It was a pity about 4d, but these things happen, believe me! My joint-favourite clues were the first two, 7a and 9a.

    Hope you’ll return with another puzzle to entertain us. Congratulations on this one. Many thanks.

  10. Thanks to all for your comments. Sorry about 4d. Yes, I am kicking myself about that. Also apologies if this turns out to be a duplicate post – the original one has disappeared.

    On the query about ‘with’ as a link word between wordplay and definition, I am under the impression that ‘with’ is effectively bidirectional. The first definition of ‘with’ in Chambers is “Denoting nearness, association or connection”. That seems to indicate equality, rather than a derivative or result, a bit like ‘and’ in 8d of last Thursday’s back pager: Female perhaps strict and distant (6). I can see that there is room for debate on this though and I recall reading that Peter Biddlecombe dislikes the use of ‘with’ as a link word in any case (although I am not aware of the rationale).

    1. Welcome to the blog and thanks once again for your puzzle.

      Your original comment did not disappear; as your first time commenting on the blog comments go into moderation as we like to make sure that we are not being ‘swamped’ with spam. So, now, you are an ‘approved’ commenter and, to avoid any confusion, I have deleted the first comment.

  11. Many thanks for the review, Prolixic. As expected from his puzzle, it looks as though Snowman is off to a good start.

Comments are closed.