Friday is Phi-day, of course, and Phi has duly served up his latest cruciverbal offering for us.
I found that I worked my way through this one at a fairly steady pace before falling foul of the NE quadrant, where I ended up with the intersecting entries at 5, 11 and 14 still be solved. In the end, I searched Chambers for 11 – not part of my active vocabulary – after which the final two answers fell into place.
For once, I have spotted a Nina in a Phi grid! The four sides of the perimeter each contain a 6-letter word made of a set of three letters used twice each time: WAH-WAH (=sound produced on brass instrument by inserting and removing the mute, imitated on an electric guitar by varying the amplification), TARTAR, TSETSE and ATLATL (=Native American throwing stick). Once I spotted this, it helped with the first/last letters of the missing three entries mentioned above.
Incidentally, there also seem to be a quite a few references to music (records, releases, recorders, …) in the clues, which can’t have happened by chance, so maybe there is a further layer to this puzzle that I haven’t yet discovered?
My clues of the day are 24, for its smooth surface, and the & lit.-clues at 19 and 25, for their concision.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 07 | AIRS | Superior attitude not initially apparent in couples
<p>AIRS (=couples); “not initially apparent” means first letter dropped |
| 08 | ACT THE GOAT | Fool about to get a cat dancing, involving husband
H (=husband) in *(TO GET A CAT); “dancing” is anagram indicator |
| 10 | TEDIUM | Plan mostly rejected in corporation as dull stuff
EDI (IDE<a>=plan; “mostly” means last letter dropped; “rejected” indicates reversal) in TUM (=corporation, i.e. belly) |
| 11 | PETECHIA | Specialist curtailed probing vegetable’s red spot
TECHI<e> (=specialist; “curtailed” means last letter dropped) in PEA (=vegetable); a petechia is a red spot on the skin, the result of a ruptured blood vessel |
| 12 | LISTENER | No time for record after record for audience member
LIST (=record) + EN<t>ER (=record; “no time (=T)” means letter “t” dropped) |
| 14 | FUN FUR | Female to open cut-down fashion item
F (=female) + UNFUR<l> (=open, e.g. flag; “cut-down” means last letter dropped) |
| 15 | DIRECT CURRENT | Urgent court summary’s internally regarding termination of Washington DC?
DIRE (=urgent) + CT (=court) + {[RE (=regarding) + <washingto>N (“termination of” means last letter only)] in CURT (=summary, short)} |
| 18 | ASIDES | Releases not meant to be heard?
A-SIDES (=releases, of music, cf. B-sides) |
| 20 | ROAD TEST | Nonsense about variety of dates supplied for trial
*(DATES) in ROT (=nonsense); “variety of” is anagram indicator |
| 22 | TREATISE | Ariette’s reinterpreted as composition
*(ARIETTE’S); “reinterpreted” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | TUNDRA | Plain doctor tucking into fish
DR (=doctor) in TUNA (=fish) |
| 25 | LEDERHOSEN | Here’s olden pants?
*(HERE’S OLDEN); “pants” is anagram indicator; & lit. |
| 26 | HOUR | Time small number denied respect
HO<no>UR (=respect); “small number (=No)” means letters “no” are dropped |
| Down | ||
| 01 | WIFE | Partner with vivacity but no trace of love
W (=with) + <l>IFE (=vivacity; “with no trace of love” means letter “l”, the first letter of “love”, is dropped) |
| 02 | ASSIST | Innocent on film managing without initial help
ASS (=innocent, i.e. fool) + <m>IST (=film; “managing without initial” means first letter dropped) |
| 03 | HARMONIC | Note: damage mostly withheld for now
HARM (=damage) + ON IC<e> (=withheld for now, i.e. in abeyance; “mostly” means last letter dropped) |
| 04 | WHAT IF | One mostly accepts cover on a hypothetical basis
HAT (=cover) in WIF<e> (=one, i.e. entry at 1; “mostly” means last letter dropped) |
| 05 | AGAÇANTE | Alluring French female with an inclination in time
[A + CANT (=inclination)] in AGE (=time) |
| 06 | HABITUATES | Conditions a little unpropitious initially in hostilities
[A BIT (=a little) + U<npropitious> (“initially” means first letter only] in HATES (=hostilities) |
| 09 | TAPE RECORDERS | Repeat various instructions about college audio equipment
C (=college) in [*(REPEAT) + ORDERS (=instructions)]; “various” is anagram indicator |
| 13 | INDISCREET | Injudicious recording (Queen) secured by one person with nothing to do?
[DISC (=recording) + R (=Queen, i.e. regina)] in [I (=one) + NEET (=person with nothing to do, i.e. Not in Education, Employment or Training)] |
| 16 | RADIATES | Put support up after sun shines
RA (=sun) + [DIATES (SET (=put) + AID (=support); “up” indicates vertical reversal] |
| 17 | REACTANT | Bill leading soldiers involved in opening chemical substance
[AC (=bill, i.e. account) + TA (=soldiers, i.e. Territorial Army)] in RENT (=opening) |
| 19 | SAITHE | What’s swimming i’ th’ sea?
*(I’ TH’ SEA); “what’s swimming” is anagram indicator; & lit. |
| 21 | TENTHS | Some canvassing starts to harass several deciles
TENT (=some “canvassing”, i.e. something made of canvas) + H<arass> S<everal> (“starts to” means first letters only) |
| 24 | ROUE | Rake path, removing last of grit
ROU<t>E (=path; “removing last of grit (=T)” means last letter is dropped) |
I really enjoyed this. I spotted the Nina, knew 11a which helped, and really loved 25a and 19d.
Thanks to Phi and RR.
I really struggled with this one, and like RR I had the most trouble in the NE and was helped by the nina. My last entries were PETECHIA, AGACANTE, HABITUATES and FUN FUR, although it also took me ages to see WIFE and WHAT IF.
I forgot to mention that it was only the possibility of the nina that made me go for SAITHE rather than “seitha” at 19dn because I had certainly never heard of it.
Also failed the NE corner, never having heard of Petechia and not linking agacante to alluring when the verb ‘agacer’ means to annoy.
Definitely hard for a Friday Phi
Some very difficult words in here, which spoiled it, as this compiler does very good clues! I expect it is the Nina which has required these unusual entries.
A similar experience to others: I enjoyed a lot of this puzzle, would not have got SAITHE without seeing the nina, but couldn’t finish it because of the crossing obscurities at 5d and 11a; knowing either would have been enough to get the other, but specialist=techie wasn’t a strong enough association for me to see it – a techie isn’t a specialist, a super-techie is a specialist!
Concur with 25a and 19d as favourites, and 4d for that doh! moment when the penny dropped re the link to 1d
Failed on the Nina yet again!
I’m a fan of Phi, but this one seemed a bit forced, and I didn’t much like it. I did spot the outer nina just before completion, but thought ‘why?’ Okay, it’s slightly clever, but what is it adding to the solver’s experience? Words like PETECHIA and SAITHE don’t really have a place in a daily cryptic, imho; and the former was not exactly clearly clued, as Cumbrian has pointed out.
And I’m sure there’s some dictionary ratification somewhere for agaçante, but as Paul A has said, it means ‘annoying’ rather than ‘alluring’, and I’ve never heard of it used this way.
Tu m’agaces avec tes questions/ Tu m’emmerdes avec tes questions. Your getting on my nerves/tits with your questions.
Chambers defines agaçant(e) as ‘provoking or alluring’. To me it suggests the ambiguity of getting under one’s skin, which can be either positive or negative.
Besides the terms RR lists, AIRS, HARMONIC and TENTHS have musical relevance (and I wouldn’t have put it past Satie to give AGAÇANTE as a performance indication).
PETECHIAe crop up in crime reports and TV programmes, and my preferred brand of cat food (for my cat, you understand) includes saithe in one of its assortments.
This was very difficult for a Phi and I only managed to finish it because the grid screamed Nina. I managed to get Petechia and Agacante from the wordplay with the help of the peripheral letters.
I have never heard of Agacante in either English or French. Chambers has it as “provoking or alluring” so Phi is OK there. My Collins Robert has “to excite or lead on” as a secondary definition of Agacer but for Agacante it only has the “irritating,aggravating, annoying” meaning. It looks as though Agacante has changed its meaning slightly as it crossed La Manche.
The intention- if that isn’t too strong a word- was to introduce people to that wonderful word ATLATL – a sort of boomerang without the saving grace of coming back if you miss. It did lead to a few odd words, though I wouldn’t include SAITHE among them, as I recall the fish being heavily promoted as an alternative from about the time cod stocks were first considered to be in trouble. You’ve probably eaten more saithe than you’ve spelled!
Extraordinarily hard for a Phi — I took over twice as long to complete (and this was with aids of various sorts as well) as yesterday’s Tees, and it’s normally the reverse — and people have in the past, in my opinion quite justifiably, complained about your daily cryptic on the train being populated with crazy words like agacante and fun fur, not to mention atlatl.
I thought I would sleep on it but still couldn’t get 5dn and 11ac this morning even though I had seen the pattern on the outside. Finally gave up and came here for enlightenment
I’m with KD at 8 here – thought some of the clues (e.g. 13 & 15) were particularly clunky and i didn’t enjoy it at all.
I still can’t work out how tum can be corporation and not having heard of 5, 11, 14 or 19 didn’t help either.
Never mind – can’t win ’em all
Thanks Phi and RR
redddevil@14 re 10ac: Chambers 2011 gives “a belly, esp a pot-belly (inf)” at the end of the list of meanings of corporation.