I seem to have got off lightly after some of the toughies we’ve had on recent Saturdays, which I’ve really struggled with. This, by stark contrast, didn’t put up much of a fight at all, probably taking less time than a typical Friday Phi to complete. Still, no question over the quality of the clueing, and no danger of a late blog posting!
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 5 | PRISONER OF WAR – (ROW IF A PERSON)* + [yea]R. |
| 8 | PIED-A-TERRE – DATE in PIERRE. |
| 9 | NOOK – NO O.K. |
| 10 | BIRDBATH – BAD* in BIRTH. |
| 12 | BEDLAM – BED + LAM. |
| 13 | TASMAN – TA[li]SMAN. |
| 15 | SECOND – dd. |
| 17 | DECAMP – DEC + AMP. |
| 18 | ARTISTRY – [p]ART + IS + TRY. |
| 20 | DELI – [si]DELI[ned]. |
| 21 | ASTRINGENT – TRAINS* + GENT. |
| 23 | KAFFEEKLATSCH – F in (THE CAKE + FLASK)*. |
| Down | |
| 1 | RIND – [g]RIND. |
| 2 | PORTIA – 1 in PORTA[l]. |
| 3 | HONEYBEE – B in (H + ON EYE). |
| 4 | SWING DOORS – ROOD< in SWINGS. |
| 5 | PAIN IN THE NECK – dd. A reference to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. |
| 6 | EARTHY – HEARTY, with the initial H misplaced. |
| 7 | ROOT AND BRANCH – (CHEER BAND THAT)*. |
| 11 | DISSATISFY – (ASSIST* + F[urniture]) in DIY. |
| 14 | ALPHABET – ALP + HABET, the latter being HABIT with I removed, “in favour of” E. |
| 16 | BARTOK – ART in B[o]OK. |
| 19 | TRIBAL – B in TRIAL. |
| 22 | GIST – IS in (G + T). |
I too found this very easy and also very enjoyable. 23 across was new to me so was thankful for the anagram that was clear enough.
Good fun. I particularly liked HONEYBEE and was pleased to work out 23 across.
Nice relaxing puzzle after some earlier toughies. I wondered why we hadn’t had Phi the day before. Nevertheless one or two that ought to have been obvious actually took a while before the penny dropped.
I know 7dn was pretty obvious, but not quite that simple!
Cheer = ROOT (band)*= AND B farm = RANCH
What is kaffeeklatsch? I solved it somehow (mainly guessing) but I have no idea what it is ( possibly the equivalent of ‘coffee morning’). Is it a common phrase in Europe? Not used in Australia.
Hi Gai
Your interpretation is correct. It is apparently an informal gathering for drinking coffee and talking. The word only seems to appear in American dictionaries but its roots are from German.
I found bottom left tough.Never heard of 23a.had to use crossword solver for that.Completed most of it quickly and now I’ve seen answers to clues I didn’t get I wonder why not! Enjoyed it though!