Independent 7063 by Phi

by

Phi’s usual well-constructed puzzle which all stacks up. Ranged for me from very easy in places to quite tricky. Solving time, 19 mins.

* = anagram < = reversed

ACROSS

7 BIRTHDAY H(ON)OURS

9 RADIO (Do air)* & lit

10 NOSTALGIA (Ingot alas)*

11 SE WAGE (WORK) S

13 N OD do<

14 E (UN) UC HS sh< cue<

16 SPA RRE R err<

17 TOW(n)

18 CUT AND PASTE (Updates can’t)*

21 O (R 1) FICIAL official less one f first letter of ruin: definition: of the openings (adj)

22 LIFER refil(l)<

24 PRES(s) TI (back it) DIG IT A TOR Reviews, I think, in the sense of a good or bad press. It may have helped me that I knew this word which is maybe not that familiar now.

DOWN

1 G RID

2 TH(R)ONG

3 BAR N OW LawyerS

4 CH (A S) ER My favourite clue with a great surface.

5 IN TAR SI A (a is)<

6 SUI GENE (R I)S (Seeing us)*

7 BIRD’S NEST SOUP Cryptic definition eggs in a nest

8 STANDARD ERROR (concept in statistics) flying a flag upside down would be a standard (flag) error

12 WIN (E WA I) TER awe<

15 C (Y)C LISTS

16 SI NO LOG Y is<

19 THI (RD) S From music

20 Edgar Allan PO (LIT) E

23 FETA Hidden

6 comments on “Independent 7063 by Phi”

  1. Agreed – a good puzzle as always from Phi. Probably my quickest finish in a long time, although INTARSIA was a guess and SUI GENERIS was close behind.

    I thought 24ac was excellent.

  2. Agree about 24, great to break up a big word into so many parts rather than use an anagram. Like Simon INTARSIA was a from the word play, and I initially entered SUI GENESIS before checking the anagram fully.
    I expected a theme given the strange grid but didn’t notice one

  3. Ah damn it, I’ve just realised I hastily entered WINE WRITER!

    Still, nice stuff as ever from Phi. I guessed at INTARSIA too and very much liked 24a and 4d

  4. Thanks for the post, nmsindy, and it was nice to meet you at the Setters and Bloggers meal the other week. Very enjoyable puzzle, I thought, and while I didn’t finish it, it’s nice to learn some new words (SUI GENERIS, PRESTIDIGITATOR and INTARSIA)

  5. Oh, curses. On reading Ali’s comment I realise I had WINE WRITER too, no doubt for similarly haste-related reasons. One certainly can’t blame the clueing, which is unambiguous.

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