Friday is my Independent blogging day this week so it’s no surprise to find a Phi puzzle.
It’s always fun to try and see if Phi has a theme in the puzzle. If it’s literary, it usually goes over my head. I did though find a strong link between CAMUS and COMBAT. Albert CAMUS worked for a time at the French resistance magazine COMBAT and wrote a number of articles which have been published in a book entitled CAMUS at COMBAT. Google tells me that one of those articles includes the word SANGFROID. Whether that constitutes a theme, I have my doubts. I reckon you could type two or three words from any grid into Google and come up with some tenuous link You could also definitely link DARWINIAN and HUMANITY.
Turning to the puzzle itself, I thought this was fairly standard Phi fare with a good range of clue types.
I took a long time to get EXCHANGE TEACHER as I kept thinking about some variant on a peripatetic TEACHER.
LANCASTER also took longer than it should as I was trying fit in an anagram of ACTORS. House of DONCASTER didn’t seem quite right though.
The other clue that took me a while to crack was the one for PIGEONHOLE.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
9
|
Dutch heretic securing victory regarding evolution (9) |
D (Dutch) + (ARIAN [relating to the heretical doctrines Arius of Alexandria [died 336AD] containing [securing[ WIN [victory]) D AR (WIN) IAN |
DARWINIAN (relating to the theories of evolution set out by Charles DARWIN [1809 – 1882])
|
|
10
|
Energy of life not entirely evident in South American figure (5)
|
E (energy) + VITAL (characteristic of life) excluding the final letter (not entirely evident) L E VITA |
EVITA (reference Eva María Duarte de Perón [1919 – 1952], usually referred to simply as Eva or EVITA)
|
|
11
|
Diffusion very much set back one probing simple plant life (7)
|
SO (in a high degree; very much) reversed (set back) + (I [Roman numeral for one] contained in [probing] MOSS [an example of simple plant life]) OS< MOS (I) S |
OSMOSIS (in chemistry, diffusion of liquids through a semipermeable membrane)
|
|
12
|
Historic dome, lit spookily (3-4)
|
Anagram of (spookily) DOME LIT OLD TIME* |
OLD TIME (historic)
|
|
13
|
Basis to claim small amount half-heartedly (5)
|
TITTLE (smallest part) excluding one of the two (half) central letters (heart) T TITLE |
TITLE (basis to claim [over ownership])
|
|
14
|
Reference to history: quite a few involved in rout (4,5)
|
TENS (quite a few) contained in (involved in) PASTE (defeat utterly; rout) PAST (TENS) E |
PAST TENSE (the form of a verb used to reference something historical) |
|
16
|
Times vary in the endless career developed for travelling educator (8,7) |
(X [multiplication sign; times] + CHANGE [vary]) contained in (in) an anagram of (developed) (THE excluding the final letter [endless] and CAREER) E (X CHANGE) TEACHER* |
EXCHANGE TEACHER (a TEACHER spending some time at a school, college or university in a foreign country while one from that country attends his or her school, or alternatively a swap within the same country; a travelling educator)
|
|
19
|
Betrayed and beaten up for documents but showing composure (9)
|
SANG (turned informer; betrayed) + an anagram of (beaten up) FOR + ID (identity papers; documents) SANG FRO* ID |
SANGFROID (composure)
|
|
21
|
French writer caught with two Americans? (5)
|
C (caught) + (AM [American] + US [United States; American] giving two Americans) C AM US |
CAMUS (reference Albert CAMUS [1913 – 1960], French author and journalist)
|
|
22
|
Mercy given to Communist in Cornish town (7)
|
RED (descriptive of a communist) + RUTH (mercy) RED RUTH |
REDRUTH (town in Cornwall)
|
|
23
|
Pepper pot cracked, one lot of pieces falling inside (7)
|
(I [Roman numeral for one] + MEN [{lot of} pieces in a game of chess]) contained in (inside) an anagram of (cracked) POT P (I MEN) TO* |
PIMENTO (cayenne pepper)
|
|
24
|
Major figure‘s beat including computer work (5)
|
TAN (beat) containing (including) IT (information technology; computer work) T (IT) AN |
TITAN (a person of great intellect but not the highest inspiration; major figure)
|
|
25
|
Historic house with new actors in revolutionary material (9)
|
REAL (actually existing; material) reversed (revolutionary) containing (with … in) (N [new] + CAST [actors]) LA (N CAST) ER< |
LANCASTER (historic House of LANCASTER from which Kings Henry IV, V and VI came)
|
| Down | |||
|
1
|
Skill? No, disaster, sadly (10)
|
Anagram of (sadly) NO DISASTER ADROITNESS* |
ADROITNESS (skill)
|
|
2
|
Marked rise in river – a lot of risk about that (8)
|
DICE (risk) excluding the final letter (a lot of) E containing (about) TAMAR (river in South West England) reversed (rise in; down clue) D (RAMAT<) IC |
DRAMATIC (impressive or important; marked)
|
|
3
|
No strong material to go to court after position upheld (6)
|
SIT (have a specific position) reversed (upheld; down clue) + SUE (prosecute at law; go to court) TIS< SUE |
TISSUE (piece of soft absorbent paper; no strong material)
|
|
4 /23
|
Waste large satellite’s power during repair (8)
|
(ISS [International Space Station; large satellite] + P [power]) contained in (during) MEND (repair) M (ISS P) END |
MISS[PEND] (waste or squander)
|
|
5
|
Moving round borders of state etc, not given to stays (10)
|
Anagram of (moving) ROUND and SE (first and last letters of [borders of] STATE) and ETC UNCORSETED* |
UNCORSETED (without stays)
|
|
6
|
Old soldier about to stop cheers for feud (8)
|
(VET [veteran; old soldier] containing [about] END [stop]) + TA (thank you; cheers) V (END) ET TA |
VENDETTA (feud)
|
|
7
|
Volume is ready for penning one dream (6)
|
V (volume) + ([IS + ON {ready}] containing [penning] I [Roman numeral for one]) V IS (I) ON |
VISION (dream)
|
| 8 / 22 | Pro runs, restricted by recent wound (8) |
(ACE [professional; pro] + R [runs]) contained in (restricted by) LATE (recent) L (ACE R) ATE |
LACE[RATE] |
|
14
|
Classify version of gene pool, including one with separate source of heredity (10)
|
Anagram of (version) GENE POOL containing (including) (I [Roman numeral for one] and H [first letter of {source of} HEREDITY] in different places [separate]) P (I) GEON (H) OLE* |
PIGEONHOLE (classify)
|
|
15
|
Clear tour’s abandoned part of London (5,5)
|
Anagram of (abandoned) CLEAR TOUR’S EARL‘S COURT* |
EARL’S COURT (part of London)
|
|
17
|
A quantity of sewage, though no initial flush (8)
|
A + EFFLUENT (quantity of sewage) excluding (no) the first letter (initial) E A FFLUENT |
AFFLUENT (rich; flush)
|
|
18
|
Smell – it will be found in some people (8)
|
HUM (smell) + (IT contained in [will be found in] ANY [some]) HUM AN (IT) Y |
HUMANITY (people)
|
|
20
|
Latest song on the radio? There’s no coverage here (6)
|
NUDITY (sounds like [on the radio] NEW [latest] DITTY [song]) NUDITY |
NUDITY (the state of being without clothes)
|
|
21
|
Fighting? Doctor having one put in bed (6)
|
(MB [Bachelor of Medicine; doctor] + A [one]) contained in (put in) COT (bed) CO (MB A) T |
COMBAT (fighting)
|
| 22 | See 8 | [LACE]RATE | |
| 23 | See 4 | [MISS]PEND |
Nice one Phi-like Nu Dity.
We found this tougher than the usual Phi and struggled with several answers: DRAMATIC (can’t think why Tamar didn’t occur to us as it did in a Scorpion puzzle last March, but we didn’t think of ‘dice’ for ‘risk’ either), EXCHANGE TEACHER and UNCORSETED among them. And others we couldn’t parse when we did get them.
We thought 3dn was stretching things a bit with ‘position’ for ‘sit’. ‘Position yourself there’ for ‘sit there’ just about works but we’re not enthusiastic about it.
But there was plenty to like, including DARWINIAN, SANGFROID and PIGEONHOLE.
No theme or nina that we can see.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan
Slight error in parsing 16a. Need to drop final letter of CARRER not THE.
Meant to type CAREER not CARRER, whatever that is.
Hovis @ 3
Thanks – you’re right. I’ll leave it as is so that people undertsand your comment at 3 and 4
Hard going, today. I decided the large satellite must be IO, so invented BIOSPOND for waste, which, if it isn’t a word, certainly should be.
Thanks, Phi & Duncan
A pretty comprehensive DNF for me: I’d have got a little further had I had more time (not to mention patience) but today just took the Express to Cheat City. I enjoyed filling in the gaps with the blog. Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
I struggled to get started, with TITAN being my first entry. The SE was the next to fall, with TEACHER going in without its qualifier. That came nearer the end after AFFLUENT(SANGFROID was a big help in getting that) gave me the answer to “vary”. I also tried to fit IO into 4/23. I had the MEND and P for a while, but it was only when I discarded IO and saw ISS that the penny dropped. That led to 25a where I had also been trying to rearrange ACTORS. The L from 25a gave me 14d. I eventually popped my final entry, UNCORSETED, in just after the half hour. Some tricky stuff there. Most enjoyable. Thanks Phi and Duncan.