Independent 8278 / Phi

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Another Friday Phi puzzle to blog – we’re not complaining!

Often Phi has a hidden theme or a nina. Sometimes we’ve looked for these and missed them, sometimes we’ve hunted for one and there wasn’t one to find! This week we cannot find anything going on but maybe we can be proved wrong!

It’s strange how sometimes you can solve a clue without really reading it as a whole. It wasn’t until Joyce came to write up the blog that 13ac brought a smile to her face yet it was one of the clues that she had solved originally.

Thanks Phi, lovely clueing as usual. It’s always a pleasure to end the week with one of your puzzles.

Across
7   Final situation when we all learn to fly?
THE END OF THE ROAD We think that Phi is having fun with the idea that if we all learnt to fly there would be no need for any roads!
9   Fine backsliding corporation storing chlorine
MULCT TUM (corporation) around or ‘storing’ CL (chlorine) reversed or ‘backsliding’
10   Fake getting round sister with booze? Mysterious stuff
CONUNDRUM COD (fake) around NUN (sister) + RUM (booze)
11   Cut-down strongbox with notes about church bishops?
CHESSPIECES CHESt (strongbox) with last letter removed or ‘cut-down’ + SPIES (notes) around or ‘about’ CE (church)
13   Frontless dress gets attention
EAR gEAR (dress) with first letter removed or ‘frontless’
14   Observed before decoration?
NOTICED A play on NOT ICED (before decoration)
16   Molecule in compound beginning to mutate no more
MONOMER An anagram of M (beginning to mutate) + NO MORE (anagrind is ‘compound’)
17   Girl half incapacitated?
UNA UNAble (incapacitated) with half removed
18   Chances going round hole in beach, finding various things
ODDS AND ENDS ODDS (chances) going around DEN (hole) which is also inside or ‘in’ SAND (beach)
21   Iodine on the teeth, surrounding one canine, showing no change
IDENTICAL I (iodine) + DENTAL (on the teeth) surrounding I (one) C (canine)
22   Squealed about lecturer’s form of language
SLANG SANG (squealed) about L (lecturer)
24   Student song: a mug and I used guitar in arrangement
GAUDEAMUS IGITUR An anagram of A MUG I USED GUITAR (anagrind is ‘in arrangement’). Joyce had never heard of the song which apparently is mainly sung or performed at graduation ceremonies. More details about it can be found here. We wouldn’t necessarily recommend it but you can listen to it here.
Down
1   Keenness shown in going through maze alone
ZEAL Hidden within the clue – maZE ALone
2   Joins academic institution to education newspaper?
UNITES UNI (academic institution)  + TES (Times Educational Supplement)
3   Sponsored individual, one following surgeon into leading position
GODCHILD I (one) after or ‘following’ DCH (surgeon) inside or ‘into’ GOLD (leading position)
4   Racial rioting in the college
ETHNIC Anagram of IN THE  (anagrind is ‘rioting’’) + C (college)
5   Joint around US city’s sufficing for poet
TENNYSON TENON (joint) around NY’S (US city’s). Joyce still has The Poetical Works of Tennyson that she was given by her elderly Aunt when she was 8 years old!
6   Bloke seizing trophy upset many a hired worker
JOURNEYMAN JOE (bloke) around URN (trophy) + anagram of MANY (anagrind is ‘upset’)
7   Extended sentence? Prisoners not initially angry
TIME CONSUMING TIME (sentence) + CONS (prisoners) + fUMING (angry) with first letter removed or ‘not initially’
8   Marauders rage wrecking this plantation crop
DEMERARA SUGAR Anagram of MARAUDERS RAGE (anagrind is ‘wrecking’)
12   Sex and nature out of joint – involving love is irrelevant
EXTRANEOUS Anagram of SEX NATURE (anagrind is ‘out of joint’) around O (love)
15   Conservative Right beset by difficult situations, provoking laughs
CHORTLES C (Conservative) + RT (right) inside or ‘beset by’ HOLES (difficult situations)
16   Vegetarian diet followed by male? On the contrary
MEATLESS M (male) followed by EAT LESS (diet). The ‘on the contrary’ is needed to reverse the order.
19   Stepped up to collect money, making escape
DECAMP PACED (stepped) reversed or ‘up’ around or ‘collecting’ M (money)
20   Party fronting wise measure
DOSAGE DO (party) + SAGE (wise)
23   It’s not for me, repeatedly dodging intervening period
ANTI meANTIme (intervening period) with ME repeatedly removed or ‘dodged’

 

12 comments on “Independent 8278 / Phi”

  1. Thanks, both. Phi has become a welcome Friday fixture and as you say, a pleasing puzzle to end the week. This was just about perfect for a daily cryptic – solvable without recourse to external references, a good variety of devices, and a couple of new words for good measure.

    GAUDEAMUS IGITUR was my ‘solve it without knowing how’ clue today. Sometimes a switch in your brain just says ‘it’s that’, and it is. And THE END OF THE ROAD was a nice whimsy.

    Well done for parsing ANTI, btw.

    Good weekend to all.

  2. Ugh 24a, failed on that, sure it’s an anagram but I’ve never heard of it and unlike to guess the right answer in a million or squillion years.

    Can’t see any theme or Nina for once either.

    Thanks B&J and Phi

  3. Well.. becausre it’s an angram its ungettable if you don’t know it, so one or two sins in a very good puzzle.

    Cheers
    Rowly.

  4. Hi flashling and Joyce

    If you haven’t been put off ‘Gaudeamus’ [or if you have!] by Mario Lanza, Brahms uses it as a fine finale [last 2-3 minutes] to his Academic Festival Overture, which you can hear here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfhAZNlRa6A

    The rest of it’s worth listening to, too! – and there are some nice pictures.

    [I didn’t do the puzzle but I enjoy reading your blogs. ;-)]

  5. There were many new words that I needed to look up and check as to whether they existed or not, including MULCT, GAUDEAMUS IGITUR, MONOMER, TES (‘education newspaper’), ‘corporation’ = ‘belly’, ‘cod’ = ‘fake’, ‘tenon’ = ‘joint. However, the puzzle was very fairly clued so it made it possible for me to complete it even thought here were so many “unknowns” in it.

    My favourites were 7a, 7d, 19d, 16d, 15d.

    I was unable to parse 14a, 3d, 23d.

    Re 3d, I don’t understand why DCH = ‘surgeon’.

    Thanks for the blog, Bertandjoyce.

  8. Like a good meal, some very nice ingredients; but also some overly obscure ones (such as MULCT, and DCh = Surgeon) that were slightly unpalatable. However, the utterly obscure and indulgent GAUDEAMUS IGITUR was far too much to swallow and left an unpleasant taste. In summary, a potentially enjoyable meal to savour, but overcooked.

  9. Big Phi fan but I must repeat my usual gripe about anagrams of long non-English words or phrases being unguessable.

    I’ll be checking back later for a Nina update!

  11. I’d come across GAUDEAMUS IGITUR in a previous crossword or two, but stupidly tried to enter it from memory, didn’t check the anagram fodder properly, and typed in IGATUR. Ho hum.

  12. I didn’t think 24ac was that obscure, but I guess if you know it, it doesn’t seem obscure. Not only did I know it from the quoting by Brahms, there’s that hilarious reference to it by Tom Lehrer mentioned in the Wikipedia article.

    It was the top left corner that held me up, plus I just couldn’t see why 23dn was “anti”.

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