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It wouldn’t be Friday without Phi, would it?!
I found this one trickier than the average Phi and, indeed, I would not have finished it without searching for the last two entries – 1A and 13 – in Chambers. That said, if I had persevered with the wordplay, I could feasibly have found both (unfamiliar) words for myself and simply verified them in the dictionary.
My favourites today were 17, for its surface, and the & lit. at 6D.
I haven’t spotted any theme or Nina, but that is par for the course for me.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | CRAB CANON | Expert not entirely unknown, penning book demonstrating musical form
B (=book) in [CRAC<k> (=expert; “not entirely” means last letter dropped) in ANON (=unknown)]; a crab canon is one in which the notes of the theme are repeated in reverse order |
| 06 | DYFED | Part of Wales filled after Derby emptied
D<erb>Y (“emptied” means all but first and last letters are dropped) + FED (=filled) |
| 09 | LACTATE | Departed without undertaking to provide nourishment
ACT (=undertaking) in LATE (=departed, i.e. having passed away) |
| 10 | GHILLIE | Highland attendant in Inverness to offer fencing upland
HILL (=upland) in GIE (=in Inverness to offer, i.e. Scots dialect for give); a ghillie is a guide for those hunting and fishing in the Scottish Highlands |
| 11 | DEFER | Shelve with greater skill, taking little time
DEF<t>ER (=with greater skill); “taking little time (=T)” means letter “t” is dropped |
| 12 | LITIGIOUS | Guilt is disputed – I love getting involved, being this?
[I + O (=love, i.e. a zero score)] in *(GUILT IS); “disputed” is anagram indicator; & lit -ish |
| 13 | NOETIC | Intellectual announcement, with end moved forward
NOTIC-E (=announcement); “with end moved forward” means the last letter, here “e”, is brought forward in the word; noetic means purely intellectual |
| 14 | CALMNESS | C-charity around home, mostly, still
NES<t> (=home; “mostly” means last letter dropped) in [C + ALMS (=charity)] |
| 18 | AIRSTRIP | Transport hub: superior position before journey
AIRS (=superior position, as in airs and graces) + TRIP (=journey) |
| 20 | ANTLER | Learnt to wind horn
*(LEARNT); “to wind” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | MONOPLANE | No idea Spain is after second aircraft
MO (=second, i.e. moment) + NO + PLAN (=idea) + E (=Spain, i.e. in IVR) |
| 25 | FUTON | Not open, being engaged in happy activity in bed
TO (=not open, as in The door was to) in FUN (=happy activity) |
| 26 | BURRITO | Mexican food: it fills hole, mostly
IT in BURRO<w> (=hole; “mostly” means last letter dropped) |
| 27 | COSTUME | Dress company, with a little hesitation, brought in tailored set
CO (=company) + [UM (=a little hesitation) in *(SET)]; “tailored” is anagram indicator |
| 28 | DOWRY | Be sardonic, say, providing money for union
DO WRY (=be sardonic, say; cf. She doesn’t do sophisticated) |
| 29 | SOMNOLENT | Dozy, not solemn, after reappraisal
*(NOT SOLEMN); “after reappraisal” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01 | CALEDONIA | Account tricked one American in Scotland
CA (=account, i.e. Chartered Accountant) + LED ON (=tricked) + I (=one) + A (=American) |
| 02 | ARCH-FOE | Significant opposition for each criminal
*(FOR EACH); “criminal” is anagram indicator |
| 03 | CHAIRLIFT | Aerial transport, not entirely dangerous, passing through rocky outcrop
HAIR<y> (=dangerous; “not entirely” means last letter dropped) in CLIFT (=rocky outcrop, i.e. cliff) |
| 04 | NEEDLE | Repeatedly succeeded avoiding otiose annoyance
NEEDLE<ss> (=otiose); “repeatedly succeeded (=S) avoiding” means 2 x S are dropped |
| 05 | NIGHTCAP | Close agreement overturned – it’s the drink
NIGH (=close) + TCAP (PACT=agreement; “overturned” indicates reversal) |
| 06 | DYING | What desiccation (last of water going) implies?
D<r>YING (=desiccation); “last of <wate>R going” means letter “r” is dropped; & lit. |
| 07 | FULSOME | Obsequious orchestra? Get angry about that
LSO (=orchestra, i.e. London Symphony Orchestra) in FUME (=get angry) |
| 08 | DRESS | Conflict dispersed by prison guard’s uniform
<war>DRESS (=prison guard); “conflict (=war) dispersed” means letters “war” are dropped |
| 15 | MANIFESTO | Finest works captured in Communist political publication
*(FINEST) in MAO (=Communist, i.e. Chairman Mao of China); “works” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | STRINGENT | Racehorses docked – fellow’s very exacting
STRIN<g> (=racehorses; “docked” means last letter dropped) + GENT (=fellow) |
| 17 | BIGAMOUS | Major Biblical prophet’s written about start of union, of dubious union
U<nion> (“start of” means first letter only) in [BIG (=major) + AMOS (=Biblical prophet)] |
| 19 | RENFREW | Scottish town to make fresh start after invasion by France
FR (=France) in RENEW (=to make fresh start) |
| 21 | LETTUCE | Vegetarian food: nutty cutlet on side of plate?
*(CUTLET) + <plat>E; “nutty” is anagram indicator |
| 22 | WEBCAM | YouTube accessory – we picked up more than half a Shakespeare play
WE + BCAM (MACB<eth>=Shakespeare play; “more than half” means over half of letters are needed; “picked up” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 23 | MY BAD | Mother’s accommodated by elevated expression of apology
BY in DAM (=mother); “elevated” indicates vertical reversal; my bad is mea culpa in US slang |
| 24 | PRIVY | Toilet, one very intrusive in nose?
[I + V (=very)] in PRY (=nose, i.e. as a verb, snoop) |
I think there is a typo in 27a. ‘Costume’ for ‘company’.
I found this slightly trickier than usual for a Phi puzzle but not overly so. CRAB CANON was my LOI from the wordplay because I had never come across the expression before. NOETIC was only vaguely known and I didn’t see it until I had the first two checkers.
Also didn’t know NOETIC, and the d.t.v had the setter as Klingsor, again… so I was expecting a harder ride. No antipodean birds so maybe it wasn’t a Phi 🙂
Thanks to C.G.Rishikesh – the error has now been corrected!
And the Nina?
Alphabetical trios?
So it was Phi after all was it? Since the paper said Klingsor I just thought that today was some anniversary or something and that Klingsor had done the special crossword and was appearing twice in a row. The fact that this took far longer than most Phis didn’t cause me to change my mind. But as usual with Phi the Nina completely escapes me.
Yes, much harder than usual (or was it because I thought it was Klingsor and so thought it was going to be hard?) but still a very good crossword. Had never heard the word noetic, but was vaguely aware of the crab canon.
Yes, tougher than the usual Phiday fare. Got all but the top left corner done fairly quickly by just after lunch, and then spent the rest of the day finishing it. And now I see I got 24dn wrong. I’d misspelt 26ac when I entered it, corrected it, and then failed to read my own correction, and thought the middle letter of 24dn was a ‘t’, so guessed POTTY. Oops.
Very clever, and a nice challenge from Phi. My only passing niggle was that an antler is not a horn. I believe they are keratin and bone respectively. The answer was clear enough, though. Thanks, Phi and RR.
Do we think 8dn was a tribute clue to Arachne? 😉
Re myself @9 — of course I meant bone and keratin, not the other way round. I don’t suppose the composition of antlers and horns is how we usually distiguish between the two in everyday use, but rather their typical shapes. I can’t really think of an example in which anyone might confuse the two.
We think you have spotted it eXternal@6 – we had a good check this morning and noticed many of the across answers had double letters but weren’t really happy so came here to check.
The NW corner had us flummoxed for some while and we had to resort to an electronic search for 1a as we were fixated on ARCH for ‘expert’!
Thanks to RR for the blog and Phi – thanks for the puzzle and we hope you are enjoying the UK!
Nice one Phi! (or should I say ‘Klingsor’ – clever; almost had me fooled!)
Got the Nina, but wrong way round. Thought it was descending alphabetic triples running backwards. But it was ascending and forwards. I’m a proper crab canon! Silly me. My bad!!
Enjoy your trip….