Independent 8374 / Phi

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We sat for quite some while before we managed to solve the first clue, which happened to be 8d. We were becoming increasingly worried that we were never going to be able to make a start!

However, once we had solved 8d we didn’t bother to check that it was a rodent as the parsing was fairly straightforward once we had the answer! There was some lovely clueing as we’ve come to expect from Phi, our favourite was probably 10ac!

When we had completed the puzzle we started looking for hidden themes! Thankfully after having had such a slow start, Joyce was able to find it fairly quickly. It features novels by this well-known writer. We’ve both read a couple of his novels and having looked through the list on his website we’ll probably now read a few more!

Across
6   Horn, say, doing for some fortification
RAMPART A play on the fact that a PART of a RAM or RAM PART could be a horn!
8   A long time in servant’s servitude
PEONAGE EON (long time) inside PAGE (servant). We almost looked up PALTAGE and PAGEAGE in the dictionary!
10   Upset the old with cut in pension
HOTEL Anagram of THE OLd with last letter removed or ‘cut’ (anagrind is ‘upset’)
11   I forecast performer turning in almost late
TAROT CARD ACTOR (performer) reversed or ‘turning’ inside TARDy (late) with last letter removed or ‘almost’
12   Supports perch, jiggling rear end
ROOTS ROOST (perch) with last two letters changing places or ‘jiggling rear end’
13   Dinosaur dung put on after start of irrigation
IGUANODON GUANO (dung) + DON (put on) after I (start of Irrigation)
15   Cheers paramour restraining family fool? There should be discussion here
TALKING IT OVER TA (cheers) + LOVER (paramour) around or ‘restraining’ KIN (family) + GIT (fool)
18   Recipient’s to finish in a river
ADDRESSEE DRESS (to finish) inside A + DEE (river)
19   No love for dull escort
BRING BoRING (dull) with O (love) removed
21   Official’s to bring up including key point, right?
REGISTRAR REAR (to bring up) around or ‘including’ GIST (key point) + R (right)
24   Greek character keeping in money
RHINO RHO (Greek character) around or ‘keeping’ IN
25   Water swamping weak, weak light
TWINKLE TINKLE (water) around or ‘swamping’ W (weak)
26   Writing one note less about France’s European currency once
PFENNIG PENNInG (writing) with one N (note)  removed or ‘one note less’ around or ‘about’ F (France)
Down
1   A day in which King becomes King?
ARTHUR A + THUR (day) around R (King)
2   See 19d
3   Figure in reduced claim
STAT STATe (claim) with last letter removed or ‘reduced’. STAT refers to a figure as in a statistic
4   Against moving in and out in keyboard part in orchestra
CONTINUO CON (against) + anagram of IN OUT (anagrind is ‘moving’)
5   Dam river, avoiding damage repeatedly
MAMA MAr MAr (damage, repeated) with R (river)  missing or ‘avoided’ each time
7   Vague term: area in London on heading out, possibly
METROLAND Anagram of TERM   Anagram of TERM (anagrind is ‘vague’) anagram of A (area) + LONDon with ON missing or ‘heading out’ (anagrind is ‘possibly’). The answer is a vague term for an area of London! Thanks to gwep@1 for the better parsing!
8   Rodent study securing trophy, I note
PORCUPINE PORE (study) around or ‘securing’ CUP(trophy) + I + N (note)
9   Undecided, without start or finish
ENDING pENDING (undecided) without initial letter or ‘start’
13   Isle promoting alcohol problems?
INNISFREE A play on the fact that if everything in an INN IS FREE it may well cause alcohol problems for many of the customers! We had to check this one. We think it refers to THIS song rather than THIS poem! You can listen to the song HERE. Joyce couldn’t quite believe it when she read that it featured in the film E.T. until she found that it was in the soundtrack when the film The Quiet Man was on the television!
14   Food expert to finish it up? One tucks into preserve
DIETICIAN DIE (to finish) + IT (reversed or ‘up’) + I inside or ‘tucking into’ CAN (preserve)
16   Ship left off circling jagged peaks, one recalls
KEEPSAKE KEEl (ship) with L (left) removed or ‘off’ around or ‘circling’ an anagram of PEAKS (anagrind is ‘jagged’)
17   Repeat role involving only half of same?
PARROT PART (role) around or ‘involving’ ROle (half of role)
19/2   Military inventor’s wild lawless brain
BARNES WALLIS Anagram of LAWLESS BRAIN (anagrind is ‘wild’)
20   Farming monarch feeding last of waste to pig?
GEORGE E (last letter of wastE) inside or ‘feeding’ GORGE (pig). We had to look this up in wiki as we didn’t know that ‘George III was dubbed “Farmer George” by satirists, at first mocking his interest in mundane matters rather than politics but later to contrast his homely thrift with his son’s grandiosity and to portray him as a man of the people’.
22   Unpleasant filth cut down
GRIM GRIMe (filth) with last letter removed or ‘cut down’
23   Opportune complaint Government ignored
RIPE gRIPE (complaint) with G (Government) removed or ‘ignored’

 

11 comments on “Independent 8374 / Phi”

  1. I was also a bit slow off the mark, put picked up pace. Some lovely wordplay, particularly liked the whimsical INNISFREE as well as IGUANODON. I took the use of “water” in 25A to refer to making water as in having a tinkle (urinating).

    7D I think the anagram is of “TERM” only, with the A[REA] in another anagram of LOND[ON] (or even L[ON]DON* if one prefers).

    Thanks to Phi and B&J.

  2. Thanks gwep. You are probably right about the anagrams in 7D which would also give you ‘vague’ as the second anagrind. We’ll alter the blog accordingly.

    We also took TINKLE the same way!

  3. Another Phi puzzle in which the theme passed me by completely, but a very enjoyable solve nonetheless.

    CONTINUO solved from the anagram fodder, INNISFREE was amusing, and STAT was my LOI after I finally solved ARTHUR and the excellent RAMPART.

  4. Nice clues with the hidden theme that you don’t need to know about, it’s very clever, and very fair, and well done to Pih.

    I liked the joke about alcohol!!

    Rowly

  5. Thanks Phi for an enjoyable crossword and B&J for the blog. As usual, I missed the theme. The link between 19dn and 2dn compensates for the somewhat isolated corners in the grid.

    Slight blemish at 14dn: the alternative spelling DIETITIAN (which Chambers 2011 gives first) would also fit, as the last part of the wordplay could give A in TIN as easily as I in CAN.

  6. Thanks, both, for a helpful blog.

    This was the hardest Phi I’ve done for ages: several definitions I couldn’t see, one or two obscure words, some ingenious wordplay. Good puzzle though. Did I see the theme? Don’t be silly.

    Like Rowly, I liked INNISFREE, and my other favourite today was IGUANODON. METROLAND I took to be referring to John Betjeman’s documentary of that name, where he explored suburban life along the Metropolitan line as it developed in the early 20th century. And it reminded me of his poem ‘Gaily into Ruislip Gardens’.

    Gaily into Ruislip Gardens
    Runs the red electric train,
    With a thousand Ta’s and Pardon’s
    Daintily alights Elaine;
    Hurries down the concrete station
    With a frown of concentration,
    Out into the outskirt’s edges
    Where a few surviving hedges
    Keep alive our lost Elysium – rural Middlesex again.

    But it was Julian Barnes’ book after all.

    Thanks to Phi and good weekend to all.

  7. Back after a few days lurking (I’ve been catching up after not having time for solving last weekend). yes, harder than the average Phi but I got there in the ed with a little help. Missed the theme as I’m not familiar with the author or his books, but fortunately no knowledge of the theme was needed for solving.

    Too many nice clues to nominate a CoD, but I liked IGUANODON, REGISTRAR and TWINKLE, among others.

    Thanks, Phi and B&J

  8. METROLAND was also intended to hint at it being an area of London observed while you were heading out of it. I started with the project of including Barnes’ novels (his latest book Levels of Life is a small thing of wonder, by the way) and then decided to put him in, while also hiding him. I should clarify that I haven’t the faintest awareness of Innisfree in a song.

    Will now go back to taking things easy after yesterday’s 6.6 quake…

  9. Typical good crossword. As usual with Phi, slow to start but once going it rattled along. I vaguely knew that keel = ship, but it seemed odd, since it presumably isn’t the primary meaning.

  10. It wasn’t a slow start for me, I filled in the bottom right corner very quickly. But then I ground to a halt and then went out for the evening. Took a while to get restarted but got there in the end.

  11. Found this really tough but felt accordingly pleased to finish it, though had to look up peonage to check it was a real word as wasn’t in my vocabulary.

    Didn’t see the theme for torn-out hair littering the page! Great puzzle and blog.

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