Independent 7,368/Phi
Posted by Ali on May 28th, 2010
Good stuff as ever from Phi, and we have a pangram to boot. I was frustratingly defeated by the final two clues though!
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 7 | BELLOC – (Alexander Graham) BELL + CO> rev. | |
| 9 | OVERLOUD – U(niversity) in OVERLO[-r]D | |
| 10 | FLIT – FLI[-r]T | |
| 11 | DOLLY BIRDS – (BODY DRILLS)* | |
| 12 | SLALOMED – ([g]OL[d] MEDALS)* | |
| 15 | NOGGIN – which, if half-hearted, would be NO GIN | |
| 16 | MAGNA CUM LAUDE – MAG + C(ollege) in (ALUMNA DUE)* | |
| 16 | STREAK – RE: in STAK[-e] | |
| 18 | DIGITISE – DIG 1 + S in TIE | |
| 20 | STANDPOINT – STAND (where you’ll find cab) + POINT (train) | |
| 21 | EXAM – X[-i] in [-t]EAM | |
| 23 | LOVE NEST – LO + (EVENTS)* | |
| 25 | RASHER – A SHE in RR (recipes) | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | ZEAL – ZE[-st] + AL[-l]< | |
| 2 | ACADEMIA – A C.A + AIMED rev. | |
| 3 | JOWL – J(udge) + OWL | |
| 4 | KENYAN – KEN + NAY rev. | |
| 5 | FLYING BUTTRESS – (GUSTS IN BELFY + T)* | |
| 6 | QUADRICEPS – [-s]QUAD + (PRICES)* | |
| 8 | LITTLE GREEN MEN – (LET RING ELEMENT)* | |
| 13 | LIMITATION – L(ine) + IMITATION | |
| 14 | DRUID – DR. + [-q]UID | |
| 17 | LIGATURE – A in (GUILT)* + RE: | |
| 19 | KEPLER – L[-ens] in KEEPER dropping [telescop]E | |
| 22 | IOTA – Not sure on this one – “One letter – or nine on reflection” | |
| 24 | AWED – A + DEW rev. | |
May 28th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Ali,
22d. “a” to “i” (9 letters) reversed.
After doing most of the top half, I thought this was going to be a pangram where each letter was an initial, especially as there were 26 clues, and a grid where no letter had to be used twice…
But no.
May 28th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Like most of the puzzles this week I struggled to get the last few, but it was quite satisfying when I did eventually get them. I thought noggin was very good.
May 28th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Thanks Ali, and to Ian for explaining IOTA, which I stuck in without understanding it. Wasn’t keen on Phi’s Dickens-themed puzzle last Friday, but this one entertained me well.
Slight smirk at the clue for LOVE NEST and liked EXAM for its clever surface – I suppose that short words are sometimes harder to clue cleverly than long ones because there’s less to work with, but listen, what do I know about setting clues? I just enjoy tackling them, and I enjoyed these today.
Ali, I think you’ve put two 16 acrosses which has jumbled up the clue numbers for the remainder.
May 28th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Thanks Ali.
As usual,an excellent puzzle from Phi.Some nice anagrams,particularly 5 down and the very 60′s 11 down.
Also featured Hilaire,the most famous member of the Bellocs an often mispronounced family!
May 29th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Found this strangely easy (despite the latin phrase) and breezed through Saturday’s as well. Iota was a twist on the well known clue for atom.
May 31st, 2010 at 8:27 pm
I’m rather chuffed that this is is first Indie crossword I have completed without reference works! (even though I did not understand all of the clues).
Re: Pangrams – do they have to only use each letter of the alphabet in the initial letters? I only ask because the whole grid does have all 26.
May 31st, 2010 at 8:57 pm
A pangram in a crossword is when each of the 26 letters of the alphabet appears in the completed grid.