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This is my first blog of a Phi puzzle in 2019. As ever it is a pleasant task.
I can’t see any link between any of the entries, but experience tells me that there may well be one.
One thing I did notice though, was that half the clues were a variation on the container and contens clue type.
Interesting to see that the entries at 22 and 27 defined each other without w
either of them being specifically defined in a clue. The word play for BOSS was fairly simple, which helped.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 | Planet above the horizon: it appears between start and end of June, right? (7) |
([UP {above the horizon} + IT] contained in [appears between] [J {first letter of (start of) JUNE and E {last letter of (end of) JUNE}]) + R (right) J (UP IT) E R |
JUPITER (planet) |
| 5 | Rejected support? Left involved in first-class foul-up (7) |
BED (support) reversed (rejected) + (L [left] contained in [involved in] ACE [first-class]) DEB< AC (L) E |
DEBACLE (complete failure; foul-up) |
| 9 | Some Londoners (but only some) will produce fruit (5) |
MELON (hidden word in [but only some] SOME LONDONERS) MELON |
MELON (fruit)
|
| 10 | Café supporter I placed nearer the rear (9) |
BRASSIERE (women’s garment that acts as a supporter for the breasts) with the letter I moved further towards the end of the word (nearer the rear) to form BRASSERIE BRASSERIE |
BRASSERIE (simple restaurant; cafe) |
| 11 | Easy in lust, possibly displaying this? (10) |
Anagram of (possibly) EASY IN LUST SENSUALITY* |
SENSUALITY (someone who is comfortable displaying lust may also display SENSUALITY) |
| 12 | Family ruling ultimately produces me? (4) |
KIN (family) + G (last letter of [ultimately] RULING) KIN G |
KING (male born into a ruling family who can become king in future) |
| 14 | Slovenly woman most recently opening tin (8) |
LATTER [most recently] contained in [opening] SN (chemical symbol for tin) S (LATTER) N |
SLATTERN (slovenly woman) |
| 15 | Source of information over length involved in marathon? (6) |
O (over [cricket scoring notation]) + (L [length] contained in [involved in] RACE [a marathon is an example of a RACE] O RAC (L) E |
ORACLE (person with the reputation, or an air, of infallibility or great wisdom; source of information) |
| 17 | Crazy getting married, say for the spicy stuff (6) |
NUT (crazy) + M (married) + EG (for example;say) NUT M EG |
NUTMEG (aromatic kernel of an E Indian tree (genus Myristica), much used as a seasoning in cookery; spicy stuff) |
| 19 | Old fool carrying axes? It sends mixed messages (8) |
(O [old] + MORON [fool]) containing (carrying) XY (letters denoting the axes in coordinate geometry) O (XY) MORON |
OXYMORON (figure of speech by means of which contradictory terms are combined, so as to form an expressive phrase or epithet, such as cruel kindness, falsely true, etc; it sends mixed messages) |
| 22 | 27 browses every now and then (4) |
BOSS (letters 1, 3, 5 and 7 [every now and then] of BROWSES) BOSS |
BOSS (CHIEF [27 across]) |
| 23 | Part of London Fields – go so wild here (4,2,) |
Anagram of (go wild) FIELDS GO SO ISLE OF DOGS* |
ISLE OF DOGS (geographic area of London, originally part of Docklands but now home to Canary Wharf among a mix of business and residential locations) |
| 26 | Bitter detectives entering area beginning to uncover corrupt soul (9) |
(CID [Criminal Investigation Department; detectives] contained in [entering] [A {area} + U {first letter of (beginning to) UNCOVER}]) + an anagram of (corrupt) SOUL) A (CID) U LOUS* |
ACIDULOUS (slightly sour; bitter) |
| 27 | Hurry to interrupt returning soccer club 22 (5) |
HIE (hasten; hurry) contained in (to interrupt) FC (football [soccer] club) reversed (returning) C (HIE) F< |
CHIEF (BOSS [22 across]) |
| 28 | Time to take another line, heading away from dangerous animal (7) |
T (time) + DIGRESS (depart from the main subject; take another line) excluding the first letter (heading away) D T IGRESS |
TIGRESS (example of a dangerous animal) |
| 29 | One heats up players in series (7) |
TEAM (group of players) contained in (in) SER (series) S (TEAM) ER |
STEAMER (cooking apparatus that heats things up) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | American novelist gets stuck penning English (5) |
JAMS (gets stuck) containing (penning) E (English) JAM (E) S |
JAMES (reference Henry JAMES [1843 – 1916], American novelist)
|
| 2 | Staff not heartless with a fried meal (7) |
POLE (rod; staff) + NOT (excluding the middle letter [heartless]) O + A POLE NT A |
POLENTA (Italian porridge made of maize, barley, chestnut, or other meal; can be served fried) |
| 3 | Quality surrounds good university offering no clear results? Unable to say (6-4) |
(TONE [quality] containing [surrounds] [G {good} + U {university}]) + TIED (no clear winner or loser; no clear result) TON (G U) E TIED |
TONGUE TIED (unable to speak out; or affected congenital condition in which the tongue’s mobility is impeded by an abnormally short frenum which makes it difficult to talk). |
| 4 | Architects initially linked to dull coarse humour (8) |
RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) + L (first letter of [initially] LINKED) + DRY (dull) RIBA L DRY |
RIBALDRY (coarse humour) |
| 5 | Day and year around simple vessel affected by currents around Florida (6) |
(D [day] + Y [year]) containing (surrounding) RAFT (flat structure of logs, etc for support or for conveyance on water; example of a simple vessel) D (RAFT) Y |
DRAFTY (American [Florida] spelling of DRAUGHTY [affected by currents of air]) |
| 6 | Runs from close encounter in part of shrubbery (4) |
BRUSH (close encounter) excluding (from) R (runs in cricket scoring notation) BUSH |
BUSH (something you would see in a shrubbery) |
| 7 | Rogue cuddling 12: one account of the heart (7) |
CAD containing (cuddling) R (Rex; KING [12 across]) + I (roman numeral for one) + AC (account) CA (R) D I AC |
CARDIAC (relating to [of] the heart) |
| 8 | Durable work unit about to come in still (9) |
(ERG [unit of work] + RE [with reference to; about]) contained in [to come in) EVEN (still) EV (ERG RE) EN |
EVERGREEN (unfading; never failing; durable) |
| 13 | Price arranged with Mafia regarding usable evidence (5,5) |
Anagram of (arranged with …) PRICE and MAFIA PRIMA FACIE* |
PRIMA FACIE (evidence sufficient to support the bringing of a charge) |
| 14 | Components of antimony most unlikely in work on cleaning stone (9) |
S AND B (the chemical symbol for antimony is SB so the components of that symbol are S AND B) + LAST (most unlikely) S AND B LAST |
SANDBLAST (sand blown by a blast of air or steam under pressure for glass-engraving, finishing metal surfaces or cleaning stone) |
| 16 | Writer’s beset by former partners – alimony, child support etc? (8) |
PEN’S (writer’s) contained in (beset by) EXES (former partner) EX (PENS) ES |
EXPENSES (costs incurred, which in the case of divorce creating an EX, may include alimony, child support etc) |
| 18 | Difficult police operation after half of team wiped out (7) |
TEAM excluding (wiped out) AM, the last two letters of four [half]) of TEAM + STING (trap for criminals set up by the police) TE STING |
TESTING (difficult) |
| 20 | Carrier I found cast in curious metal (7) |
(HOD [carrier] + I ) contained in (found cast in) RUM (odd; curious) R (HOD I) UM |
RHODIUM (metallic element of the platinum group)
|
| 21 | Fancily-dressed folk around street: what will aid the paparazzi? (1-5) |
FOPS (affected dandies who like to dress excessively smartly) containing (around) ST (street) F (ST) OPS |
F-STOPS (setting on a camera to show the f-number [ratio of the focal length to the true diameter of a lens]currently in use; something that helps the paparazzi get the best possible photographs) |
| 24 | Seat the ultimate in glamour till now (2,3) |
SOFA (seat) + R (last letter of [ultimate in] GLAMOUR) SO FA R |
SO FAR (until now) |
| 25 |
Nobleman expected to throttle 12 (4) |
DUE (expected) containing (to throttle) K (KING [12 across) DU (K) E |
DUKE (nobleman)
|
This was great fun although I didn’t manage to get the first letter of 21d which seems to me to require rather obscure GK.
Duncan, I think 12a is a semi all-in-one so the entire clue should be underlined as the definition.
Many thanks to Phi (and well done on indicating the American spelling in 5d!) and to Duncan, particularly for the explanation of 21d.
If anyone’s having problems accessing this puzzle (I did at first), try searching on “Evening Standard cryptic” and follow the Indy link from there. (I suspect that others are having problems, as currently I’m, unusually, the only person on the Leaderboard.)
We completed this without any real problems; most enjoyable. Favourites were OXYMORON, PRIMA FACIE and SANDBLAST. Re 10ac, beware predictive text and spellcheckers!
Re Geoff’s comment at 2, we had no problems accessing and printing the puzzle via the Indy link (under the Today’s Cryptics heading) on this site.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan.
Like RD, I didn’t have required knowledge for 21d and I also came across a new word in 26a. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by the American spelling of 5d but I was!
Thanks to Phi on Friday and to Duncan for the blog.
Pretty straightforward for a Phiday. 21d not a problem if you have written notations such as 1/125 @ f5.6 as often as I have in my lifetime!
I really liked this one. My favourites were TIGRESS, BUSH and TESTING.
Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
The seed for this one is Wes Anderson’s latest film Isle of Dogs. In the film the specific isle is in Japan, but the dogs have English names (JUPITER, ORACLE, NUTMEG, BOSS, CHIEF, KING).