Hup Holland! (Solution No. 3,330)

The solution to puzzle no. 3,330 is below the fold.

Now that the USA has been eliminated from the World Cup (after a more than satisfactory run), I can cheer in good conscience for The Netherlands.  I’ve visited Holland three times, one of those trips coinciding with their hosting the European championship in 2000.  The whole country turned orange, and the fans were raucous.  Crazy often, drunk sometimes, but never out of line.

I was there for a scientific conference in The Hague, and on the last day, I wore a necktie I bought at one of the local stores.  It was bright orange with a soccer player and a Dutch flag.  Perfectly versatile: it clashes with everything.  I still have the tie, and get it out every four years for the World Cup.

I also appreciate the Oranje style of play: more unscripted than the Spanish and German teams, more disciplined than the Brazilians.  And how about that use of a designated goalie for the penalty shootout against the determined Ticos?  I did the same thing in 2008 when I was coaching Sabers’ soccer team. We survived the shootout and went on to win the championship.  Can the Oranje do the same?

Solution to The Nation cryptic crossword no. 3,330

Great puzzle this week, with more twists and tricks than usual.

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/180482/puzzle-no-3330

Degree of difficulty (by standard of this weekly puzzle): hard. I got off to a quick start but then ran into some less obvious clues.

Musical/political references: 11d, 22d

Legend: “*” anagram; “~” sounds like; “<“ letters reversed; “( )” letters inserted; “_” or lower case: letters deleted; “†” explicit in the clue, “^” first or last letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters; “§” heteronym, “¶” letter bank

Across

1a	MANOR HOUSE	MANO (“in Spain, hand”) + RHO (“a letter to a Greek”) + USE (†)
6a	*THAW	*WHAT (anagram indicated by “melt”)
9a	SQUAT	Double definition This one was the last one I figured out.
10a	~INDICATOR	~IN DECATUR (“in Illinois city”, homophone indicated by “heard”) Great clue.  I like these inverted clues.  Note here we actually have two definitions as well as the wordplay: “signal” and “‘heard’ in this clue.”
12a	C OR K	C (Celsius) OR K (Kelvin) are units of temperature, which could be used instead of F (Fahrenheit) Another good clue without the usual wordplay.
13a	SECOND HAND	Double definition
15a	ISLAMABAD	I (†) + SLAM (“criticize”) + A (†) + BAD (“terrible”)
17a	<NA(K)ED<	<DEAN (“school administrator”) containing (“embezzling”) K (“$1,000”)<, reversal of the whole thing indicated by “in setback”
19a	<TUBER<	<REBUT< (“attempt to discredit,” reversal indicated by “regressive”
21a	*NORW(A_Y) RAT	^A^rm^Y^ (first and last letters indicated by “flanks”) contained in (“in”) *WAR-TORN (anagram indicated by “ravaged”)
23a	*NOEL COWARD	*WAN COLORED (anagram indicated by “distressingly”)
25a	_AVER_	c_AVER_n (“grotto,” omission of first and last letters indicated by cross-reference to 17: “NAKED”)
27a	SKINNY DIP	Double definition, cross reference to 17 again
28a	~RHONE	~ROAN (“reddish,” homophone indicated by “listen to”)
29a	<LEER<	<REEL< (“part of a movie,” reversal indicated by “rewind”)
30a	~PHARMACIST	~FARM (†) + ASSIST (“aid”, homophone of whole thing indicated by “broadcast”)

Down

1d	MA(SOCHI)ST	MAST (“pole”) containing (“going around”) SOCHI (“Russian city”)
2d	*NEUTRAL	*NATUREL (anagram indicated by “embarrassingly”)
3d	~RITE	~RIGHT (“appropriate,” homophone indicated by “spoken”)
4d	ON ICE	O (“discover”?) + “NICE (“French city”)
5d	SIDE ORDER	*DIES (anagram indicated in the answer by ORDER) Another inverted clue.
7d	§HATRACK	§HA (laugh) TRACK (“something … you might hear on a sitcom”)
8d	WOR(L)D	WORD (“brief message”) containing (“about”) ^L^ife (first letter indicated by “the origin of”)
11d	*CADEN(Z_A)S	*DANCES (anagram indicated by “wild”) containing (“circling”) ^Z^ambi^A^ (first and last letters indicated by “borders of”)
14d	*AMERI(CA)N	*AIRMEN (anagram indicated by “flying”) containing (“outside”) CA (“California”)
16d	BANDWIDTH	B AND W (“like an old TV”) + ID (“tag”) + ^TH^at (†, first two letters indicated by “half”)
18d	DETERGENT	DETER (“bar”) + GENT (“man”)
20d	BEELINE	Pun (what you might hear at a spelling bee).
22d	*RA(VIOL)I	VIOL (“Renaissance instrument”) contained in (“in”) *AIR (anagram indicated by “Baroque”)
23d	NASAL	Pun (I guess there must be a rapper who calls himself “Nas”)
24d	_ROPER_	vaque_RO PER_haps (hidden word indicated by “at heart”)
26d	AREA	ARE (“exist”) + A (†)