I found this a quite easy puzzle from Phi, solving time 16 mins, with 4 answers in the NW corner taking the final 6 mins after I managed the rest in a very quick time indeed for me, 10 mins.
There’s a theme which I did not see until tackling those missing 4 answers, tho it did not help with those as I already had all the thematic answers. Enjoyed the Phi puzzle as always.
Six colours are located in symmetrical positions in across answers in each row apart from the top and bottom rows with the colours in the central pair of rows being part of a longer answer
* = anagram
1 LITERACY My favourite clue today with a great surface reading and definition T (time) in LIE (story) RACY (with spirit)
5 STUCCO STUC(k) (not quite fixed) CO(n) (study cut)
9 DUBLINER Just beaten by 1A as my favourite. DUB LINER referring to tradition of breaking a champagne bottle over a ship at its launch ie naming (dubbing) it
10 ORANGE First of the colours. OR (men) ANGE(r) endless passion
11 BROWN Double definition grilling = cooking
12 IN CAHOOTS HO (Home Office) in (ACTIONS)*
14 RED SANDALWOOD (WAS LOADED ON)* in RD (road)
17 RUB OF THE GREEN External effects ie getting lucky green = novice polish = rub
20 CAFETERIA ETE (summer in French – forgive absence of accents) in (AFRICA)*
21 BLACK L (line) in BACK (defender – from sport) Definition: hopeless
22 YELLOW YELL OW Definition: showing cowardice (adj)
23 STRIKE UP Definition: start S (sale’s first item ) TRIKE (cycle) UP (more expensive)
24 RESIST S (small) I (island) in REST (others) Definition: be little affected by
25 ADHERENT HER (girl’s) in A DENT (depression)
DOWN
1 LADYBIRD This refers to the wife of Lyndon Johnson, US President in the 1960s. LAD (son) Y (unknown) BIRD (woman)
2 TABLOID TAB (indent text) LOID (first letters of ‘line of important data’)
3 REIGN G (Government) in REIN (control) &lit
4 CHEMIN DE FER A game like baccarat – also means ‘railway’ in French, C (college) HEM IN (crowd) DEFER (postpone)
6 TORCH SONG Lugubrious song, fashionable esp in the 1930s TOR (high point) CH (church) SON (boy) G (disappearinG finally – last letter)
7 CONCORD CON (study) COD (fish) around R (river)
8 ODENSE Port in Denmark O (middle letter of fOg) DENSE (thick)
13 COLD-HEARTED (DECLARED HOT)*
15 ALBATROSS ROS(e) (almost all of pink) in (BASALT)*
16 SNAKE-PIT (TWIN PEAKS)* less W = women Definition: state of emotional turmoil
17 RAFFLES Double definition referring to character Raffles in books by EW Hornung including “The Amateur Cracksman” and the Raffles hotel in Singapore named after Singapore’s founder Sir Stamford Raffles. Excellent surface reading.
18 ETAGERE A piece of furniture with open shelves – hidden in ‘PlantagenET AGE REasonable’
19 SCRYER A crystal-gazer, new word to me, but easily gettable from the wordpay CRY (exclamation) in SER (almost half-serious ie 3 of the 7 letters)
21 BRINE Refers to King Cnut (Canute) showing he’d no control over the tide B (British) R (king = rex) IN E (earliest of eras- first letter) &lit
Thanks for the blog nmsindy.
Had Odessa for 8d for a bit, but it couldn’t be.
I wondered where DUB came from.
I’ve not seen SNAKE-PIT like this before. Chambers has “circumstances, characterized by disordered emotions and relationships.”
Only got 18a because it was hidden.
SCRYER was OK for me. I’ve heard of ‘the briny’ for the sea, but not BRINE.
Nothing too arduous.
17a was new to me, but not the verb ‘scry’ (as used in ‘The Charmed Ones’ :), though the definition wouldn’t be quite the same).
Another two new ones were the card game and the sad song, but they were gettable, and I didn’t know ‘Raffles’ was the name of a hotel – though I do know of a flower named after him: apparently it stinks! 😆
Thanks nms.
Another good puzzle from Phi – always a pleasure to solve.
Didn’t spot the theme.but I rarely do spot these things
I knew of CHEMIN DE FER,the card game but had never thought of the actual meaning of the words(way of iron),apparently depicting the movement of the shoe as a train moving around the table.
Strange how ETE has turned up in two or three puzzles recently.Must be the time of year.
Top clues for me 6 down and the excellent 9 across.
One other thought,if Phi has been moved from his normal Friday slot,are we in for something special tomorrow?
Well, Buffalo Bob Smith (b. 1917), American television host (Howdy Doody), died on this day in 1998, so I expect it’ll be something to do with that.
Or, maybe, there’s a divorce tomorrow …..
[ :), and please nót 🙁 (because it’s only a joke – which is “sometimes not funny anymore” according to Morrissey (and/or The Smiths), I know)
Very fast solve except NE bit until I remembered ladybird which I immediately thought I know what that is and I can’t remember the name. Thought the dub/liner clue was a good one spent a while searching for pat in memory banks.
President Johnson’s wife was called Lady Bird, so 1dn should have (4,4) rather than (8).
I think, you’re quite right, Wil.
There are a lot of ladybirds in the world, but this one’s definitely Lady Bird!
re:Dubliner
This brings to mind one of my favorite limericks:
The FACE THAT LAUNCHED a THOUSAND SHIPS
Fair Helen of Troy was insane.
Concussion had addled her brain
From bashing her skull
Against a ship’s hull.
Why waste any decent champagne?
As one who grew up a nautical mile or two from Bosham, where Cnut attempted to show his fawning counsellors that he could NOT hold back the tide, I was somewhat confused by 21D (although I know everyone thinks he succeded, he didn’t).
I got a few of these, but not enough to get the clour theme.