Firstly, let me apologise for the disgracefully late posting of this blog, owing to circumstances way beyond my control. I hope that it is a case of better late than never.
I think that this was an average Friday Phi puzzle in terms of difficulty. I managed to solve it unaided, although 9 was an educated guess at solving what was clearly an anagram that, for once, turned out to be correct; 6 was a second educated guess from the wordplay. I also enjoyed the fairly subtle theme around Australia.
As for my favourites today, I rather like 1A, for exploiting two meanings of “note” so concisely; 17, for construction; and 22, for making me smile.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS | ||
| 01 | FAME | Note or two notes
FA + ME (=two musical notes); “fame” is note, celebrity, as in a writer of note |
| 03 | RINGMASTER | MC‘s twin interrupted by staff
MAST (=staff, crook) in RINGER (=twin, as in dead-ringer) |
| 10 | EAGLE | Keen-sighted figure keen to embrace Left, not Right
L (=left) in EAGE<r> (=keen; “not Right (=R)” means letter “r” is dropped) |
| 11 | LEG-GUARDS | Pool attendants not provided, but receiving extra good protection for members
G (=good; “extra” means another letter “g” in the word) in L<if>E GUARDS (“not provided (=if)” means letters “if” are dropped) |
| 12 | SPATULA | Small woman clutching end of that kitchen utensil
S (=small, in sizes) + [<tha>T (“end of” means last letter only) in PAULA (=woman)] |
| 13 | COWPATS | Things to be avoided by feet intimidate old man on way back
COW (=intimidate) + PA (=old man) + TS (ST=way, i.e. street; “on way back” indicates reversal) |
| 14 | WALTZING MATILDA | Energy in Disney musical based on Dahl providing 24 25
ZING (=energy) in [WALT (=Disney, i.e. the US film-maker) + MATILDA (=musical based on Dahl’s book of same name)]: Waltzing Matilda is an Australian song (=entries at 24 25) |
| 16 | SOLAR PROMINENCE | Scruffy coal miner, person producing eruption from star
*(COAL MINER PERSON); “scruffy” is anagram indicator; a solar prominence is a large, bright feature extending outwards from the surface of the Sun |
| 18 | ALARMED | Worried article gets harmed when taken across river
A (=article, in grammar) + [R (=river) in LAMED (=harmed)] |
| 19 | LOBSTER | Skies opening, disgorging a crustacean
LOBS (=skies, e.g. a ball) + TE<a>R (=opening, slit; “disgorging a” means letter “a” is dropped) |
| 21 | SKINNIEST | One occupying second family home that’s least substantial
I (=one) in [S (=second) + KIN (=family) + NEST (=home)] |
| 23 | ERROL | Name of 24 actor filling another role
Hidden (“occupying”) in “anothER ROLe”; the reference is to Australian (=entry at 24)-born actor Errol Flynn (1909-59) |
| 24 | AUSTRALIAN | Articles about American trial upset someone from another country
[US (=American) + *(TRIAL)] in [A + AN (=articles, in grammar)] |
| 25 | SONG | Very much needing evacuated air
SO (=very munch) + N<eedin>G (“evacuated” means all middle letters are dropped) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | FRETSAW | Worries and a lot of fear with this sharp blade
FRETS (=worries) + AW<e> (=fear; “a lot of” means all but last letter needed) |
| 02 | MAGMA | Source of igneous rock featured in two publications (one not good)
MAG + MA<g> (=two publications, i.e. 2 x mag(azine)); “one not good (=g)” means one of them loses its letter “g” |
| 04 | ILL-MANNERED | Uncouth, upsetting me all dinner
*(ME ALL DINNER); “upsetting” is anagram indicator |
| 05 | GIG | Show – show up or show down, as it were
“up” and “down” suggest that the word is a palindrome |
| 06 | A PUB WITH NO BEER | Unsatisfactory local 24 25
Cryptically, a “pub with no beer” (to sell) could be described as an unsatisfactory local; A Pub With No Beer is a 1957 Australian (country) song (=entries at 24 25) by Slim Dusty |
| 07 | TARPAULIN | Cover for religious figure in train, possibly
PAUL (=religious figure, i.e. St Paul) in *(TRAIN); “possibly” is anagram indicator |
| 08 | ROSS SEA | Came up around ship on a cold body of water
[SS (=ship, i.e. steamship) in ROSE (=came up)] + A; the Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica |
| 09 | GEWURZTRAMINER | Accepting bit of research somehow I grew mature NZ grape variety
R<esearch> (“bit of” means first letter only) in *(I GREW MATURE NZ); “somehow” is anagram indicator; Gewürztraminer is an aromatic wine variety used to make white wine |
| 13 | CAMOMILE TEA | Roughly nothing in disastrous meal-time is herbal drink
CA (=roughly, i.e. circa) + [O (=nothing) in *(MEAL-TIME)]; “disastrous” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | LULLABIES | University dance held up in stories implying no exciting music
[U (=university) + LLAB (BALL=dance; “held up” indicates vertical reversal)] in LIES (=stories); lullabies are intended to calm, not excite, babies |
| 16 | SWANSEA | A lot of hard work to secure answer for city
ANS (=answer) in SWEA<t> (=hard work; “a lot of” means all but last letter is needed) |
| 17 | EARPLUG | Each listener catches standard British speech – though not with this!
RP (=standard British speech, i.e. Received Pronunciation) in [EA (=each) + LUG (=listener, i.e. ear)] |
| 20 | TURBO | Dry up over augmented motor
TURB (BRUT=dry, of champagne; “up” indicates vertical reversal) + O (=over, on cricket scorecard) |
| 22 | EEL | Be emotional after beheading fish
<f>EEL (=be emotional); “after beheading” means first letter is dropped |
We got it all without help but with some headscratching. RINGMASTER took a while to see till we realised what ‘staff’ represented (we eventually thought of a flagstaff as a sort of mast). Couldn’t parse LOBSTER, though.
Is there a bit of a drink theme? There’s gewurztraminer, brut, camomile tea – but no beer!
Thanks, Phi and RatkojaRiku
11A isn’t it e[xtra] g[ood] replacing “if”?
9D there is a rogue “t” inserted before the z in gewurztraminer.
Nice puzzle, appreciated by us antipodeans.
Thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku
gwep@2: That would give you too many e’s. There’s already an ‘e’ in Lifeguard.
The rogue “t” has been removed from the entry at 9 – thanks for spotting it, gwep!