Solving time: 10 minutes when I gave up …
… trying to work out 6D. I don’t know quite enough gods and ?A?A?A?A doesn’t help much. I guess the story is a SAGA, the Hindu god could be RAMA, and the Egyptian one could be RA, but that’s too much material it seems. So after searching a couple of god lists in vain, I surrender and wait for the name of the unknown god, or the revelation that I’ve completely misunderstood the clue. “Nice easy Phi”, thought I when I saw that this blogging slot was free. Serves me right! Part of the problem may be what an old Times champs rival of mine calls “vocalophobia” – a fear of vowels as the only checking letters, especially repeated common vowels.
And later on it turns out I got another carelessly wrong – 14D.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 9 | LAODICEAN = indifferent, referring to early Christians in Laodicea, apparently – one of those words whose meaning I can never remember. C in ((m)aid alone)* |
| 10 | ARTIE – (IT in ERA) rev. |
| 11 | NUANCED – “an, C” in nude* |
| 12 | ME,A(S)LES |
| 14 | NARRA=Arran rev.,TORS |
| 16 | ROCK OF GIBRALTAR – cryptic def., best clue in the puzzle for me |
| 19 | AP(POINT)E,E |
| 22 | (d)ROSS,IN,I |
| 23 | BI(C,Y,C)LE |
| 25 | HOI POLLOI – Attic = relating to Athens or Attica. There is an etymological link with the storage area upstairs. |
| Down | |
| 1 | PLAN,ETARIA=(area it)* – Phi likes a bit of astronomy – studied it at university, I think. |
| 2 | RO(MAN)T,I/C – another very nice clue |
| 3 | OILC=Clio rev.,AN – Clio, muse of history, is the next one to remember after the xwd favourite Erato. |
| 5 | ENUMERABLE – (me,R) in nebulae* – told you he liked astronomy |
| 6 | ?A?A?A?A – see above |
| 7 | O,TELL,O |
| 8 | NEWS – hidden. Looked at first as if there were sloppy surplus words in the ‘hiding place’, but Phi wouldn’t do that – “would be good for gossip” is the def. |
| 14 | NIGHT=”knight”,LIGHT=land – corrected from my NIGHT-NIGHT = “knight, knight” |
| 15 | SARDINE TIN = (train end is)* – brings back memories of an old Underground or BR poster about rush-hour crowds |
| 17 | O,PINIONS=wings |
| 18 | TRINCULO – L(ords) in (in court)* – jester in The Tempest. I couldn’t remember the spelling, so my initial guess of Trulcino didn’t go into the grid. |
| 20 | PAST,R(ead)Y |
| 21 | HECTOR – ((Troi)C,T) in Hero* |
| 22 | (t)RUTH – T=”opening for that”. |
| 23 | BRIE(f) – found from checking letters after trying to make edam and feta fit. |
6D is Ramayana, definition being “Story about Hindu god”. Ra + Mayan a.
Incidentally the top and bottom unchecked rows spell Proteron-Hysteron (Hysteron-proteron being a figure of speech where what would usually be first comes last I think). If this feeds back into the puzzle in any way then I haven’t spotted it!
Crikey, there’s a whole lot of Phi on here today!
I too gave up with 6D and would have guessed at something similar involving SAGA and RA. Never heard of Ramayana.
I also frustratingly missed 4D, which I can now see is TEND.
A nice puzzle for a bus journey though, and easier than yesterday!
Ali
RAMAYANA – about 80% my fault then – I should have thought of MAYAN, and one => A was elsewhere in the puzzle, so all the ingredients to make the answer were there, even if ramayana is a word I don’t remember. With the two rows of unches at top and bottom, I should have looked there too – recognise hysteron-proteron I don’t, but the sharing of -teron might have occurred to me.
Those 4As frustrated me also but I was lucky enough v near the end to see the HYSTERON PROTERON idea, and that helped me to finish the puzzle.
14D: NIGHT-NIGHT or NIGHT-LIGHT?
Isn’t it the latter? The first nine words give “NIGHT” and “Land” gives “LIGHT”. Or so it seems to me. A night-light may help anyone to sleep, but perhaps it is particularly used for children who are afraid of the dark.
14D: You’re right – NIGHT LIGHT is the answer. Sloppy solving on my part.