Rookie Corner 519 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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Rookie Corner 519

by Prolixic  

A Puzzle by Iguess

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +


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.

A review by Prolixic follows:

It is always a pleasure when a new Rookie comes up with an excellent crossword.  It makes the reviewer’s life so much easier, even where the crossword is at the tougher end of the spectrum.  There are a few minor points to note but the commentometer is a commendably low 2/33 or 6.1%.

Across

9a  Look inside sample from nude corpse (5)
DECOR: The answer is hidden (sample from) in the last two words of the clue.

10a  Devious come-on remains ultimately destructive to budget (9)
ECONOMISE: An anagram (deviously) of COMEON followed by a two-letter word meaning remains  (as in she remains/.. the leader of…) and the final letter (ultimately) of destructive.

11a  Aston drifts outside a refuelling area, turns around Italian course (9)
ANTIPASTO: An anagram (drifts) of ASTON around a reversal (turns around) of the A from the clue and a three-letter word for a refuelling area in motorspots.

12a  Record song with potential is Common People (5)
DEMOS: A four-letter word meaning record song with potential followed by the abbreviated form of is.

13a  Grime’s making a comeback with alternative unpleasant noise (7)
STRIDOR: A reversal (making a comeback) of a word meaning grime’s followed by a two-letter word for expressing an alternative.

15a  Places to check out round here occasionally for kicks (7)
THRILLS: A five-letter word for checkouts in supermarkets around the odd letters (occasionally) of here.

17a  Tense tough guys needing new subject (5)
THEME: The abbreviation for tense followed by a phrase (2-3) for tough guys without (needing) the abbreviation for new.

18a  Matching flip-flop? (3)
DUD: A three-letter palindromic word (matching flip).  You should not link the definition to the wordplay with a hyphen.

20a  Release timeless material (5)
ISSUE: A six-letter word for material without the initial T (timeless).

22a  Fake image bearing shoe model (7)
PLASTIC: A three-letter word for an image includes (bearing) the cobbler’s shoe model.

25a  Love second number one by couple (7)
SWEETIE: The abbreviation for second followed by a three-letter word meaning to urinate (number one) and a three-letter word meaning to couple or unite.

26a  Feed kitty at this place on vacation (5)
CATER: A three-letter word for a kitty followed by four-letter word meaning at this place without the outer letters (on vacation).  On vacation implies removing the inner letters, which would leave the HE to use in the solution, so the clue does not work as intended.

27a  Very poor accommodation became unusable (4,5)
FLAT BROKE: A four-letter word for a type of accommodation followed by a five-letter word meaning became unusable.

30a  “Narcissist reforming – come again?” (9)
EGOMANIAC: An anagram (reforming) of COME AGAIN.

31a  Sending back queen’s famous driver (5)
SENNA: A reversal (sending back) of the name of a former queen (maintaining the possessive form).

Down

1d  Extremely immersed extra finding purpose (4)
IDEA: The outer letters (extremely) of the second and third words of the clue.  Where the word selection indicator does not unequivocally suggest taking the outer letters from more than one word, it is better to find a better indicator, but the device is used to indicate the outer letters of more than one word.

2d  Unpunished secret of criminal (4-4)
SCOT-FREE: An anagram (criminal) of SECRET OF.

3d  Chops up slice (4)
TRAP: A reversal (up) of a four-letter word for a slice or section.

4d  Chiefly cheat death, covering up painful cut (8)
CENSORED: The first letter (chiefly) of cheat followed by a three-letter word for death around a four-letter word for painful.

5d  Excuse busy Oxford University student at last (3-3)
COP-OUT: A three-letter word for a police person (busy) followed by the abbreviation for Oxford University and the final letter (at last) of student.

6d  Bold policy to keep peace up for debate (10)
BORDERLINE: The letter used in computing to apply bold and a four-letter word for a policy around (to keep) a five-letter word for peace.

7d  Extremely bad boy upset confining ideology (6)
DISMAL: A reversal (upset) of a three-letter word for a boy includes (confining) a three-letter suffix indicating an ideology.

8d  Dirty text lacks maturity (4)
MESS: A seven-letter word for a text without (lacks) a three-letter word for maturity.

13d  Short, gentle golf shot is in retirement physical exercise (3-2)
SIT-UP: A reversal (in retirement) of a four-letter word for a gentle golf shot with the final letter removed (short) and the IS from the clue.

14d  Snitch exciting Potterhead (4,6)
DEEP THROAT: An anagram (exciting) of POTTERHEAD.

16d  Screen that is blocking goalkeeper’s heroics out of area (5)
SIEVE: The abbreviation for that is inside (blocking) a four-letter word for what a goalkeeper is supposed to do without (out of) the abbreviation for area.

19d  Reserve detective position (8)
DISTANCE: A two-letter word for a detective followed by a six-letter word for a position.

21d  Step into incredibly important sports ball (3,5)
SET POINT: An anagram (incredibly) of STEP INTO.

23d  Measures suit (6)
ACTION: Double definition, the second being a legal case.

24d  Energy-less morning brew at home – it might be needed when you’re late! (6)
COFFIN: A morning brew (not tea) with all of the letters E removed (energy-less) followed by a two-letter word meaning at home.

26d  Container contains last drop of Portuguese port in Europe (4)
CAEN: A three-letter word for a metal container includes the final letter (last drop) of Portuguese.  Try to avoid repeating wordplay indicators such as last to indicate the final letter of a word.

28d  Attempt strike to criticise party (4)
BASH: Quadruple definition.

29d  Letters from Greece due to come at these times (4)
ETAS:  Double definition.

22 comments on “Rookie Corner 519”

  1. Thanks Iguess and well done – a bit of a headscratcher for me. While I have a completed and correct grid I will have to wait for the wisdom of Prolixic to understand some of the parsings. It might just be me, but I thought that some of the surfaces, 16d for example, were somewhat confusing.

    Smiles for 13a, 20a, 27a, 6d, 28d, and 29d.

    Thanks again and thanks in advance to Prolixic.

  2. Welcome to Rookie Corner, Iguess. I found a lot of this quite tough and I needed to reveal a couple of letters in the NE corner in order to finish as I couldn’t solve the two intersecting clues 12a & 8d. However I did enjoy the solve and this was largely a promising debut.

    My specific comments are:
    12a – I am not convinced by the wordplay. Why not just “Record is Common People?
    13a – This would read much better without the apostrophe as the surface could then refer to the opera Peter Grimes.
    18a – I can’t decide whether or not this clue quite works
    26a – This doesn’t work. “Here” on vacation is HE not ER. “Feed kitty at this place essentially” would work.
    1d – One for Prolixic. I am not sure if extremely can apply to more than one word.
    8d – The definition is an adjective and the answer is a noun.
    16a – I’m not convinced that “heroics” can describe a single save.
    26a – “In Europe” is padding.

    My favourite was the excellent quadruple definition in 28d, and I also had ticks for 15a, 20a, 27a, 6d & 14d.

    Well done Iguess and thank you. Please pay heed to the various comments and Prolixic’s wise words, and do come back soon with another preferably less tricky offering. Thanks too in advance to Prolixic.

    1. Apologies, I’ve just noticed my two typos. The last two clue numbers in my list should read 16d and 26d. :oops:

    2. RD, 26d. Isn’t the “In Europe” an indicator that the port (not in Portugal) is a nebulous European port rather than a much more nebulous port that could be anywhere on Earth? I, too, wouldn’t have included “In Europe” but maybe (another ubiquitous indicator that’s annoying me at the moment) the setter is being a bit “belt and braces” with indicator usage.

      1. *I was watching an episode of Frasier whilst writing that – the one where Martin (his dad) keeps beating him at chess. Martin referred to the piece in the corner as a “castle”. Frasier replied with emphatic disdain: “It’s called a ROOK!”

        Now why did I think of you …….. :-)

    3. Re: 8d – I had the same thought but have heard people say something along the lines of ‘I know I’m going to mess up that exam’ so now I’m not sure.

      1. I think both dirty and mess work as transitive verbs as in “Don’t mess your pants”.

    4. Hi RD – for what it’s worth I think the surface of 8a as it stands works better, as well as the answer then being more accurate: not all records are demos, but demo records (are hoped to) have potential. The device in 1a is frequently used to indicate the extremes of 2, even 3 words – indeed last week from Tyjer we had “empty addle-pated diatribes” to generate ADDS, without adverse comment from Prolixic. Maybe it depends on the editor?

      26a – you’re right, but I think Jose has a good point as without some further geographic indicator the clue would be very vague indeed – and the surface is particularly good as it stands: how sad it would be were there to be no port left anywhere else in Europe – how would I replenish my supplies?!

  3. Well done on a very promising first appearance, Iguess. I enjoyed it.
    RD has covered my misgivings about 26a and 8d.
    There are a couple of very neat anagram spots at 30a and 14d.
    Top clues for me were 15a, 17a, 27a and 28d.

  4. Welcome to Rookie Corner

    At the end of the first read through, I had only written six solutions into the grid. When I had a completed left side but very little on the RH side, I decided that the only way to get on was to reveal quite a few letters.

    Thanks Iguess and, in advance, to Prolixic, not least because I need him to explain the clue I can’t parse

  5. Great to see you venture over to Rookie Corner Iguess! Well done on a good debut. As others have said, pretty tricky and the odd niggle but lots to enjoy too. My favourites were 15a, 25a, 31a, 6d, 14d (a tremendous find) and 28d.

  6. A very enjoyable puzzle, Iguess – an excellent first effort. Agree with the others about 26a. Favourite: 26d – good surface misdirection; certainly had me thinking about a container with wine in it. Not sure if “in Europe” is strictly gratuitous padding – P will let us know. Well done!

  7. We had to reveal a couple of letters to complete the puzzle and we still have problems parsing some of our answers but some clues we really enjoyed are 15a, 27a, 30a, 24d and 28d.
    We felt 8d needed a y – if we have the correct answer. Thank you Iguess and we look forward to your next one. Thanks in advance to Prolixic also.

  8. Quite a challenging debut puzzle, Iguess, but well constructed with just a small number of errors.
    My own picks would be 15&27a plus 28d and I’d have avoided the lavatorial reference in 25a but that’s no doubt personal preference.
    Look forward to your next appearance.

  9. What a wonderful debut in RC! I’d place this firmly at Toughie level, and though there are a number of rough edges (some of the surfaces, some of the phrasing) my only real criticism was as RD noted above: vacating here does not give you ER. Otherwise I thought this a very accomplished puzzle with some great cryptic clues, a lot of humour, and plenty of lateral thinking required to complete the challenge. I’m looking forward to Prolixic’s review to understand a couple of parsings, but otherwise the directions largely worked for me.

    Highlights for me: 11a, 12a, 13a, 15a, 22a, 30a; 7d, 8d, 14d (great surface), 16d (two or more heroic acts can make for one great save, I feel), 19d, 24d, 26d.

    Podium places to 27a, 5d (loud clang as the penny dropped on that busy!), 24d (big smile) and the excellent quadruple definition in COTD 28d.

    Thank you for the puzzle & I do look forward to your next grid. Thanks in advance to Prolixic

  10. Welcome, Iguess.

    As others have said, a very accomplished debut here, although with over thirty crosswords of yours appearing on MyCrossword, one would hesitate to call you a Rookie, I guess Iguess.

    Apart from the mistake arising from “on vacation” and the repetition of “last” as a final letter indicator, there wasn’t a great deal to fault technically, I would say. Having already used “timeless”, “energy-less” would probably have been better as “energy-free” in 24d. Most of the surfaces read well and there was a good balance of different clue types. My top two clues were 15a and 27a.

    I look forward with interest to your next one. Great work, Iguess.

  11. Completed the LHS after a struggle but found the right hard going. Never seemed to get on wavelength & needed a few letter reveals to finish. Favourite was the quadruple definition.
    Thanks for the challenge Iguess.

  12. Many thanks for the review, Prolixic, I do hope that Iguess can maintain this standard with his next puzzle.

  13. Many thanks to everyone for the feedback and especially Prolixic for the review. I won’t masquerade as an absolute novice in setting terms, still there were certainly some rookie errors that I’m now shaking my head at (looking at you 26a!). Some interesting discussion throughout about 28a in particular, which I had originally clued without a geographic indicator but felt in its original form was overly vague as per Mustafa and Jose’s observations. Always find it difficult to gauge the difficulty of my own puzzles, so will perhaps aim for a gentler puzzle to offer a different challenge upon a future submission. Thanks again.

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