My four week blogging cycle begins as ever with a Phi puzzle.
A hidden entry reversed across four separate words stood out for me in the blog today – OBSIDIAN at 17 down.
I can’t see a theme in the entries, but perhaps other people can.
It took me a while to complete this as I struggled a bit with parsing some of the entries. For instance I’m not entirely sure how we get two languages into ELFIN at 15 across as EL FIN alone is Spanish for the end. I know FIN is a French word for the end, but I don’t think EL is a French word. However, I am much happier with computer languages than foreign languages so I might be missing something. I also took a while to satisfy myself that AGONISES at 13 across fitted the definition.
I liked the surface of the clues for IVAN THE TERRIBLE and MONOTONY.
My 600th blog.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Harshness when monarch engaged in compassion (8)
|
AS (when) + (ER [Elizabeth Regina; Queen Elizabeth; monarch] contained in [engaged in] PITY [compassion]) AS P (ER) ITY |
ASPERITY (harshness)
|
|
5
|
Top politician interrupted by memory for the moment (3,3)
|
PM (Prime Minister; top politician]) containing (interrupted by) ROTE (mechanical memory, repetition or performance without regard to the meaning) P (RO TE) M |
PRO TEM (short for PRO TEMpore [for the time being])
|
| 10 | Reduced to the ranks, perhaps broken (3,2,10) |
OUT OF COMMISSION (a COMMISSIONed officer is one where the holder receives a government document confirming his / her rank. In the army, for instance, ranks from 2nd Lieutenant upwards are COMMISSIONed. Someone OUT OF COMMISSION may have returned to the lower ranks) OUT OF COMMISSION |
OUT OF COMMISSION (descriptive of a piece of equipment that is not in use, possibly because it is broken) |
|
11
|
Spiritual believer returned in a fog (7)
|
(IN A) reversed (returned) + MIST (fog) (A NI)< MIST |
ANIMIST (one who believes in GE Stahl’s theory [1720] that the soul is the vital principle and source of the phenomena of animal life; spiritual believer)
|
| 12 | Constraint on movement upset the cart (7) |
Anagram of (upset) THE CART RATCHET* |
RATCHET (a pawl and wheel with inclined teeth with which it engages to constrain movement) |
|
13
|
A long time without working is … is upsetting in the extreme (8)
|
AGES (a long time) containing (without; outside) (ON [working] + IS) AG (ON IS) ES |
AGONISES (suffers great pain; upsetting in the extreme)
|
| 15 | The end, in European languages is insubstantial (5) |
EL FIN is Spanish for ‘the end’ and FIN is French for ‘the end’, so more than European language is represented. EL FIN |
ELFIN (small, with delicate frame; insubstantial) |
| 18 | Hazy, not seeing lake covered in plant growths (5) |
BLURRY (hazy) excluding (not seeing) L (lake) BURRY |
BURRY (covered in prickly seed cases; covered in plant growths)
|
| 20 | Staff’s methodology will fix a promotional tour (8) |
(ROD’S [staff’s] + HOW [methodology]) containing (will fix) A RO (A) DS HOW |
ROADSHOW (promotional tour)
|
| 23 | Criminal harm, one financial centre cut short (7) |
ILL (harm) + I (Roman numeral for one) + CITY (financial centre) excluding the final letter (cut short) Y ILL I CIT |
ILLICIT (criminal)
|
| 25 | Nutritious stuff supporting adolescent, we hear (7) |
PRO (for; supporting) + TEIN (sounds like [we hear] TEEN [adolescent) PRO TEIN |
PROTEIN (any member of a group of complex nitrogenous substances that are an important constituent of the bodies of plants and animals; nutritious stuff)
|
| 26 | Believer in that Revolution’s first to shake tsar (4,3,8) |
Anagram of (to shake) BELIEVER IN THAT and R [first letter of [first] REVOLUTION) IVAN THE TERRIBLE* |
IVAN THE TERRIBLE (reference the tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584) |
| a)27 | Increasingly fashionable to ignore current gossip (6) |
NATTIER (increasingly smart in appearance; increasingly fashionable) excluding (to ignore) I (electric current) NATTER |
NATTER (gossip)
|
| 28 |
Battle-axe, solid article circling heads of Roman invaders (8)
|
(HARD [solid] + AN [indefinite article]) containing (circling) RI (first letters of [heads of [ROMAN and INVADERS) HAR (R I) D AN |
HARRIDAN (sharp-tongued, scolding or bullying old woman; battle-axe)
|
|
Down |
|||
| 1 | Trainspotter has an agreement about first couple of railways (6) |
AN + (OK [agreement]) containing (about) RA (first two letters of [first couple of] RAILWAYS) AN O (RA) K |
ANORAK (someone who has an obsessive interest in the statistics and trivia associated with a subject; TRAINSPOTTER can be defined similarly) |
|
2
|
Young wizard carrying in good bowl for porridge (9)
|
POTTER (reference Harry POTTER, the young wizard in J K Rowling’s series of books) containing (carrying) (IN + G [good]) POTT (IN G) ER |
POTTINGER (small bowl that could be used for porridge)
|
|
3
|
Who’d vandalise funfair? (7)
|
Anagram of (vandalise) FUNFAIR RUFFIAN* |
RUFFIAN (someone who might indulge in vandalism)
|
| 4 | Probationary period not unknown in a quintet (5) |
TRY OUT (descriptive of a probationary period) excluding (not) Y (letter frequently used to represent an unknown value in mathematical equations) TR OUT |
TROUT (reference the TROUT quintet composed by Franz Schubert)
|
| 6 | Eggs around creature’s home may be mark of success (7) |
ROE (mass of fish eggs) containing (around) SETT (badger’s burrow) RO (SETT) E |
ROSETTE (knot of radiating loops of ribbon or the like in concentric arrangement, esp worn as a badge showing affiliation, or awarded as a prize; mark of success)
|
| 7 |
Contribution to member not ultimately costing a lot (5)
|
T (last letter of [ultimately] NOT) + HIGH ([of a price] costing a lot) T HIGH |
THIGH (part of a leg [member])
|
|
8
|
Nothing’s unacceptable to break my boredom (8)
|
(O [zero; nothing] + NOT ON [not acceptable]) contained in (to break) MY M (O NOT ON) Y |
MONOTONY (boredom)
|
| 9 | Married relative in Eastern continent provides excellent food (8) |
(M [married] + BRO [brother; relative]) contained in (in) ASIA (Eastern continent) A (M BRO) SIA |
AMBROSIA (any fragrant or delicious food or beverage)
|
| 14 | Second person accepting hotel drink (8) |
S (second) + (PER [person] containing [accepting] RITZ [name of a hotel]) S P (RITZ) ER |
SPRITZER (drink of white wine and soda water)
|
| 16 | US agent restrains less advanced British plot (6,3) |
FED (US Federal Agent) containing (restraining) (LOWER [less advanced] + B [British]) F (LOWER B) ED |
FLOWER BED (garden plot)
|
| 17 | Some European aid is boxed up as result of volcanic activity (8) |
OBSIDIAN (reversed [up] hidden word [some] in EUROPEAN AID IS BOXED) OBSIDIAN< |
OBSIDIAN (vitreous acid volcanic rock resembling bottle glass; result of volcanic activity) |
| 19 | Sailor brought up island and the rocks surrounding island (7) |
CAY (low islet; island) reversed (brought up; down clue) + (an anagram of [rocks] THE containing [surrounding] I [island]) YAC< HT (I) E* |
YACHTIE (sailor)
|
| 21 | Small font I obscured has one looking hard (7) |
S (small) + COURIER (type of monospaced font – COURIER) excluding (obscured) I S COURER |
SCOURER (one who searches thoroughly; one who looks hard) |
| 22 |
Hazy sun before end of day? That’s not observed (6)
|
Anagram of (hazy) SUN + E’EN (evening; end of day) UNS* EEN |
UNSEEN (not observed)
|
| 24 | Inclined, having studied, to forget element of education? (5) |
LEARNT (studied) excluding (to forget) R (reference the 3 Rs, reading ‘riting and ‘rithmetic) LEANT |
LEANT (inclined)
|
| 25 | Animal rights group adopting one religious image (5) |
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.; animal rights group) containing (adopting) I (Roman numeral for one) P (I) ETA |
PIETA (a representation of the Virgin with the dead Christ across her knees; religious image)
|
Fairly tough for Phi, we thought. The SW corner held out the longest as we took ages to realise that ‘hotel’ in 14dn was not the H of the so-called phonetic alphabe. We were convinced, too, that the definition in 19dn had to be ‘rocks surrounding island’ and were looking in vain for a synonym for ‘reef’; we hadn’t come across YACHTIE before, but checking in Chambers we see it is ‘informal, especially Australian & NZ’ so obviously it’s familiar to Phi.
Lots to like, though, including RATCHET, PROTEIN, ROSETTE and OBSIDIAN.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan.
Anothe pleasant puzzle from the guy named after my late father’s TV production company. With the usual sting in the tail. For the life of me, I cannot understand why I tend to breeze through 31 of Phi’s clues and then get hopelessly stuck on the last one, which takes as long to solve as the rest of them put together. Every. Effing. Time.
Nicely satisfying puzzle from Phi with – for me at least – a new way to clue the old trainspotter.
Top marks here went to 10a & 6d.
Thanks to Phi and to Duncan – I do appreciate the format of your reviews, very solver friendly.
Filling the grid went more smoothly for me than usual for a Phi, but though TROUT quintet may have set a distant bell a-jangling I wouldn’t have placed it alone. For some inexplicable reason I also had trouble with my THIGH.
The hidden OBSIDIAN was indeed very smooth. I was rather taken with the RUFFIAN but MONOTONY beats him, and AGONISES too. I also found SPRITZER acceptable (though if I must have soda, please serve that separately).
Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
I have observer that when I come across a word for the first time in a crossword, it’ll turn up somewhere else soon after. Sure enough, YACHTIE appears in a letter in the Guardian Weekend magazine today.