Independent 9,002 by Phi

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The usual very pleasing crossword from Phi, which I found a bit harder than usual, although as always everything was perfectly obvious after I had finished.

No doubt (actually not no doubt, because some of Phi’s crosswords have no Nina) there is some connection with something that I can’t see and won’t even try to see, leaving this generally impossible task to those who can manage better than I. Perhaps it is the fact that the search may well be a waste of time since there is nothing to find that discourages me from even trying; as well as the difficulty even if there is something there.

Definitions underlined.

Across
1 OCTUPLE
Court’s risen, interrupting encouraging cry from eight people? (7)

o(ct up)lé — octuple is not specially appropriate for people I think, but there is a question mark and it helps the surface
5 TEMPEST
Storm encountered on the way back – a nuisance (7)

(met)rev. pest
9 FRAILTIES
Weaknesses in following transport obligations (9)

f rail ties — ‘in’ is a link-word
10 TROLL
Some steps heading off unwanted visitor to website (5)

{s}troll
11 MASCULINE ENDING
Rhyme scheme offering ‘line’ instead of ‘nine’? (9,6)

‘line’ appears at the ending of ‘masculine’, but ‘nine’ doesn’t
12 SLOVENLY
What’s not initially encompassed by ‘special’ and ‘delightful’? (8)

(s lovely) round n{ot}, &lit.
13 LEAVEN
Absence from duties, note – it’ll make a general change (6)

leave n — although I’m not sure exactly what the definition is, since as here ‘it’ll’ is a rather odd link-word; perhaps it’s just ‘general change’ with a nounal sense (is there one?) of ‘leaven’
16 MALICE
Endless whisky on the rocks reveals bitterness (6)

mal{t} ice
18 ANOREXIC
Old King in agitation, cutting off Prince for not eating properly (8)

{p}an(o rex)ic
21 OPERATING SYSTEM
What activates set progs anytime? (9,6)

(set progs anytime)*, &lit. again
24 ISSUE
Time to escape from 20 children (5)

Since 20 is TISSUE, this is {t}issue
25 SMALL-TOWN
Unambitious shops a drag in confines of Surbiton (5-4)

(mall tow) in S{urbito}n
26 MIXTURE
Team, regularly restricting routine starting line-up, backed particular combination (7)

((rut XI) in {T}e{a}m)rev. — the team is not the XI, which comes from ‘line-up’
27 SPENSER
Poet in series about writers (7)

s(pens)er.
Down
1 OXFAM
Charity‘s repute mostly resting on livestock item? On the contrary (5)

ox fam{e} — on the contrary because it is livestock item resting on repute mostly
2 TOADSTOOL
Heat around day can upset fungal growth (9)

toa(d)st (loo)rev. — loo = can
3 POLLUTE
Dirty election, with one politician getting off charge (7)

poll {1 MP}ute — charge = impute
4 ELIGIBLE
That French woman seizes one in Britain, chasing one ready for marriage (8)

el(1 G (1)B) le — does elle = that French woman? I thought elle just meant she
5 TOSSED
Drunk, going over, experienced striking head and threw up (6)

(sot)rev. {u}sed — not vomited, simply threw in the air
6 MATINEE
Showtime at cinema is a point grasped by the writer (7)

m(a tine)e
7 E COLI
Bacterium apparent in upset that is blocked by firm line (1,4)

(ie)rev. round (co l)
8 TELEGENIC
Sign of nervousness about English celebrity, not entirely good on the screen (9)

t(E legen{d})ic
12 SYMPOSIUM
Is work of the writer taken up in whole conference? (9)

(is op my)rev. in sum
14 VEXATIOUS
Very old partner – one is out to misbehave like a sort of litigant (9)

v ex a (is out)*
15 ANAGRAMS
A range of farm animals revealed in different views of letters (8)

a nag rams
17 CHATEAU
College hostility over a University building with grandeur (7)

c hate a u
19 ROYAL WE
I will have way with role, possibly (5,2)

(way role)* — semi &lit. I think, after the two complete &lits earlier
20 TISSUE
American vessel turning up in contest – absorbing stuff (6)

(USS)rev. in tie
22 ESSEX
Place at the meeting-point of tameness and excitement (5)

Hidden in tamenESS EXcitement — it seems a rather thin definition, until you see that you could read this as a bit of an &lit
23 MINOR
Less important Greek character avoiding creature of Greek legend (5)

mino{tau}r
*anagram

12 comments on “Independent 9,002 by Phi”

  2. Nice puzzle; needed the excellent blog to parse the UTE in POLLUTE.

    Elle means she but also means her, unlike il and lui.

  3. Actually this Nina was announced by a blogger on fifteensquared a few weeks ago (at which point, I should add, this puzzle was already in the hands of Eimi). Very prescient you lot can be, you know.

  6. 13a, OCED, leaven n. 1 a substance added to dough to make it ferment and rise, esp yeast… 2 a a pervasive transforming influence (cf. Matt. 13:33)…
    not sure which definition of leaven fits the clue best, but “it’ll make a general change” makes sense.

  8. Thanks Phi and John.

    Managed to do this crossword on the computer today, I do not have the complete Java script so not sure how this happened, perhaps with the recent changes it is no longer necessary?

    Really enjoyed it, but have no idea for the theme, all I can see is several of the favourites of Queen Elizabeth I (ROYAL WE), Spencer, the Earl of Essex and Shakespeare (TEMPEST), then perhaps there is Henry VIII (OCTUPLE) and the eligible women!

  9. Thanks John and Phi. An enjoyable solve – but I’m still entirely in the dark about the nina (as usual?). Anybody enlighten me?

  10. I am still in the dark, too, cannot get beyond “The Faerie Queene” of Edmund Spencer, it has castles (CHATEAUx) and most of the characters listed above @8 in other guises, as well as TROLLS and fairies (TOADSTALL), but this is all too simple for Phi.

  11. A few weeks ago I had a puzzle using Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle and I mentioned that trilogies gave just the right number of words to seed a grid. And one of you mentioned Robertson Davies. He wasn’t to know that this puzzle was already with the editor.

    Davies wrote several trilogies, by the way…you might want to bear that in mind over the next few months.

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