Phi on a Friday, no surprises there
.
I’ll now say something I’ll almost certainly regret when the comments come in. I can’t see a Nina or theme in this puzzle.
It just strikes me as a good example of a national daily crossword puzzle. Most of the words and phrase I have come across, with the exception of our Greek friend EPICTETUS at 11 across. He was my last one in along with, more surprisingly, ONSET at 8 down. I needed the final S in EPICTETUS to home in on ONSET.
There were quite a few nods to the scientific community today with wordplay involving chemical symbols for copper, iron and nitrogen. Silicon also got in on the act. There were a couple of scoundrels lurking in the clues.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Employ Republican in hurry (4)
|
R (Republican) contained in (in) HIE (hasten; hurry) HI (R) E |
HIRE (employ)
|
|
3
|
City scoundrel wrong to block Post Office – a misjudgment (10) |
(EC [post code of the City of London] + CAD [scoundrel] + ILL [harm; wrong]) contained in (block) PO (Post Office) P (EC CAD ILL) O |
PECCADILLO (small misdemeanour; misjudgment)
|
|
10
|
Show surprise about Baron, one opposing King John? (5) |
REEL (show surprise) containing (about) B (Baron) RE (B) EL |
REBEL (reference the Barons who rebelled against King John in 1215 and forced him to sign the Magna Carta)
|
|
11
|
Greek philosopher, large and fat, turning to consume last of meat (9)
|
EPIC (large) + (SUET [fat] reversed [turning] containing [to consume] T [final letter of [last] MEAT) EPIC TE (T) US< |
EPICTETUS (reference EPICTETUS [55 – 135] a Greek-speaking Stoic philosopher)
|
| 12 |
Rear of vehicle – wheels spinning about? Not in this spot (9)
|
E (last letter of [rear of] VEHICLE) + an anagram of (spinning) WHEELS + RE (with reference to; about) E LSEWHE* RE |
ELSEWHERE (in another place; not in this spot)
|
|
13
|
Head off state torture’s introduction (5)
|
AVER (state) + T (first letter of [introduction] TORTURE) AVER T |
AVERT (avert)
|
|
14
|
Cheered by the prospect of a paddle? (5,2,1,7) |
HAPPY AS A SANDBOY (cryptic definition. Presumably a BOY on the SAND will be delighted because he is close enough to the sea to have a paddle) HAPPY AS A SANDBOY |
HAPPY AS A SANDBOY (happy as Larry; completely delighted; cheered)
|
|
18
|
Tool for schoolboy, perhaps making note in his prep cleaner, possibly (6-9)
|
N (note) contained in (in) an anagram of HIS PREP CLEANER PE (N) CIL SHARPENER* Either N could be the one contained |
PENCIL SHARPENER (a tool that may be used by a schoolboy. A sharper pencil may well make his homework look neater)
|
| 21 | Broadway composer successfully enthralling one (5) |
WELL (successfully) containing (enthralling) I (one) WE (I) LL |
WEILL (reference Kurt WEILL [1900 – 1950], a German composer, active from the 1920s in |
|
22
|
Copper arresting radical scoundrel not entirely gullible (9)
|
CU (chemical symbol for copper) containing (arresting) (RED [radical in political terms]) + LOUSE (scoundrel) excluding the final letter (not entirely) E C (RED) U LOUS |
CREDULOUS (apt to believe without sufficient evidence; gullible)
|
|
24
|
Make Parisian perhaps strangely iffy about separation, abandoning women (9)
|
Anagram of (strangely) IFFY containing (about) (WRENCH [separation] excluding [abandoning] W [women]) F (RENCH) IFY* |
FRENCHIFY (make French or Frenchlike [Parisian])
|
|
25
|
Knight interrupts King greeting endless military stuff (5)
|
K (knight) contained in (interrupting) (K [king] + HAIL [greeting] excluding the final letter [endless] L) K HA (K) I |
KHAKI (dust coloured, dull brownish cloth [stuff] much favoured by military personnel)
|
|
26
|
Like a lot of nostalgia, become fixed in memory by degrees, initially (4-6)
|
(SET IN [become fixed,as in the rain has SET IN for the day] contained in (in) ROTE [mechanical memory]) + D (first letter of [initially] DEGREES) RO (SE T IN) TE D |
ROSE-TINTED (taking an optimistic and pleasant view, generally ignoring the less favourabk aspects. Often a way of looking at fond remembrance [nostalgia])
|
|
27
|
Get rid of superfluity dismissing fifty (4)
|
SLACK spare capacity; superfluity) excluding (dismissing) L (Roman numeral for 50) SACK |
SACK (fire; get rid of)
|
| Down | |||
|
1
|
Hard to block his power, flailing lash (9)
|
H (hard as in description of pencil lead) contained in (to block) an anagram of (flailing) HIS POWER HORSEW (H) IP* |
HORSEWHIP (lash)
|
|
2
|
Scottish detective drives back, wasting time (5)
|
REBUTS (drives back) excluding (wasting) T (time) REBUS |
REBUS (reference Detective Inspector John REBUS, a fictional creation of author Ian Rankin. Most of the novels are set in Edinburgh [Scottish])
|
|
4
|
Excitedly sees about bit of lunch, just …after this? (9)
|
Anagram of (excitedly) SEES containing (about) (L [first letter of {bit of} LUNCH] + EVEN [just]) E ( L EVEN) SES* |
ELEVENSES (lunchtime follows just after elevenses)
|
|
5
|
Country left in grip of leader with no little force (5)
|
L (left) contained in (in the grip of) CHIEF (leader) excluding (with no) F (force) CHI (L) E |
CHILE (Country in South America)
|
|
6
|
Assembly dismissing one shower: "Get off!" (7)
|
DIET (national, federal, or provincial assembly) excluding (dismissing) I (one) + RAIN (shower) DET RAIN |
DETRAIN (alight from a TRAIN; get off)
|
|
7
|
Young animals leading to a lot of difficulty in rubbish disposal area (6-3) |
LITTER (brood of young born to an animal) + BIND (difficulty) excluding the final letter (a lot of) D LITTER BIN |
LITTER-BIN (rubbish disposal area)
|
|
8
|
Feasible job for stylist beginning (5)
|
ON (feasible) + SET (in a hairdressing salon, a stylist may SET or arrange hair in a particular way) ON SET |
ONSET (beginning)
|
|
9
|
Fat and ruddy, tribulations unknown (6)
|
BLOWS (tribulations) + Y (letter frequently used to denote an unknown value in mathematical equations) BLOWS Y |
BLOWSY (fat and ruddy)
|
|
15
|
River’s entering farm structures, leaving you poor (9)
|
NILE’S (river’s) contained in (entering) PENS (structures on a farm for enclosing animals) PEN (NILE’S) S |
PENNILESS (poor)
|
|
16
|
Skinny bore audibly – saying how he lost this? (5,4)
|
SPARE (lean; skinny) + TYRE (sounds like [audibly] TIRE [make wearisome; bore]) SPARE TYRE |
SPARE TYRE (a skinny person may have been obese in the past and may delight in boring you with incredibly detailed information on he lost his / her fat [SPARE TYRE])
|
|
17
|
Measure work associated with courts (9)
|
In tennis [courts] the height of a singles net at the middle is three feet [one yard] and is measured with a YARD STICK) YARDSTICK |
YARDSTICK (any standard of measure
|
|
19
|
Couple seizing lines – town cut off – breaking the law (7)
|
(II [two; couple] containing [seizing] LL [lines]) + CITY (town) excluding the final letter (cut off) Y I (LL) I CIT |
ILLICIT (unlawful)
|
|
20
|
Displaying bravery and power, winning against implausible odds (6)
|
P (power) + LUCKY (winning against implausible odds) P LUCKY |
PLUCKY (displaying bravery)
|
|
21
|
Conflict about iron and silicon slice (5)
|
WAR (conflict) containing (about) FE (chemical symbol for iron) WA (FE) R |
WAFER (thin slice of silicon on which multiple electronic chips are formed)
|
|
22
|
Hill landmark beginning to calibrate atmosphere and its major component (5)
|
C (first letter of [beginning to] CALIBRATE) + AIR (atmosphere) + N (chemical symbol for nitrogen, the major component of air, 78%) C AIR N |
CAIRN (heap of stones used as a landmark on a mountain-top)
|
|
23
|
Meat turned up in middle of road in US city (5)
|
HAM (example of meat) reversed (turned up; down clue) contained in) O (central letters of [middle of] ROAD) O MAH< A |
OMAHA (city of Nebraska in the United States)
|
Really enjoyed this and found a philosopher that the Monty Python tune didnt include. maybe this one didnt drink!
I’ve given up looking for themes in Phi but he seems to have avoided them of late.
Thanks Phi and Duncan
17D is surely YARDS (courts) + TICK (work)
I had the same as Jason@2 for 17d. Failed to get Epictetus even with all the crossers (never heard of him). Thought the clue to 14a was weak but, apart from that, a good crossword.
This was right in the goldilocks zone for me (apart from the philosopher which I missed, of course). No particular fave for me today so my honours go to the enjoyment of the solve overall. Many thanks to Phi for a really engaging puzzle and to DS for the write-up.
Jason @ 3
I suspect you are right about 17 down but I’m often drawn to the quirky solution if I think I’ve find one (even if it’s wrong). When writing a blog I tend to get fixated on a way of parsing and move on to the next clue.
Thanks for blogging, Duncan.
I got EPICTETUS from the wordplay, which is always pleasing, then checked on tinternet, because I’d never heard of him. Result. And of course it wasn’t ARISTOTLE, was it? Although that was in what passes for my brain for a good while.
DETRAIN made me smile, but I really dislike that expression. It’s like our cabin crew friends across the pond saying that we are now ready to DEPLANE. How about ‘leave the train’ and ‘disembark’?
Whatevs, thanks to Phi for the puzzle and good weekend to all.
A late start on this but it all fell into place fairly well. EPICTETUS sounded highly unlikely but was confirmed from an internet search, and I had to google for 21ac as I only thought of WEILL as German so his name simply didn’t occur to me. Couldn’t parse REBUS as I was misled by ‘back’ and was trying to make something of ‘suber’.
But I can’t see a Nina or theme either.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan
Hire and sack in opposite corners was a minor pleasure. In my youth I was frequently happy as a sandboy, mainly in Bournemouth.