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"In Italy, he's held by chap from northern city"

?I?A?. The obvious answer would seem to be MILAN
but, if it is, I don't understand the construct. As this has been annoying me since last night, would someone come to my assistance please.

italian for he = il.
held by chap (man)=

MILAN (a northern city).

Thank you, Terry.

I'd looked at that construct [as you may have guessed] but I thought 'lui' or 'egli' was the Italian for 'he' and 'il' was 'the' in the context of, say, Il Trovatore [The Troubador].

Kind regards,

Caravaggio

hello Caravaggio,
Yes. You are right and I am wrong. Sorry about that.

Maybe I should stop digging this hole but; il can also mean "that one". Could He be that one.

Hi Terry,

Thank you for your prompt response and you'll now see why it's annoying me! We looked at the construct the same way...

Best wishes,

Caravaggio

like french (le and la) Italian nouns can be masculine or femenine. Masculine uses il. (la for femenine - I think)
not sure if that makes the answer "Milan" work or I'm barking up the wrong tree.

Hi Terry,

It would seem that we both took a break at the same time! In fact, our last posts were almost simultaneous and mine should have appeared in front of yours...

There is something bothering me but I can't work it out. Milan is also a first name. Mandaric - owner of Leicester City Football Club and Baros - former striker for Liverpool and Aston Villa - both have the first name Milan...

It will be interesting to see if anyone else comes up with any ideas!

Best wishes,

Caravaggio

I'd support MILAN being MAN + IL (admittedly French, not Italian, for 'he').

The only other thought I had was PISAN - being (a chap) from a northern Italian city. Other than that I can't relate PISAN to the clue.

Perhaps the crossword compiler got his/her european languages mixed up?

BW.
JimC

Trevor seems to have squared "he" with "il" so that explains it. er,um, doesn't it.