Independent 10,067 / Phi

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True to form, Phi brings another string of mid-week puzzles to a close.

I found this to be at the easier end of the Phi spectrum in terms of difficulty and solved it in one sitting. I didn’t know the composer at 4D, but I was able to work it out successfully from the wordplay. I haven’t spotted a theme around this composer or any other grid entry, but then do I ever spot a theme?!

My favourite clues today were 13, for playing on the meanings of “prompt” as a noun and as a verb; and 16, for smoothness of surface.

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across    
     
01 PRANG Crash has Queen in pain

R (=Queen, i.e. regina) in PANG (=pain)
     
04 MOUSTACHE Doctor with American article receiving account identifying facial hair

MO (=doctor, i.e. Medical Officer) + US (=American) + [AC (=account) in THE (=article)]
     
09 SIDE ISSUE Children following team isn’t a big problem

SIDE (=team) + ISSUE (=children, offspring)
     
10 INTER Bury // or an Italian soccer team?

Double definition; the reference is to the Italian football team Inter Milan
     
11 WOODSHED Director brought in to try to tempt cast in storehouse?

D (=director) in [WOO (=to try to tempt) + SHED (=cast, throw off)]
     
12 AGHAST Horrified keeps time after half of game’s over

AG (GA<me>; “half of” means 2 of 4 letters only; “over” indicates reversal) + HAS (=keeps, holds) + T (=time)
     
13 REMINDER Prompt restraint by the German retains millions

M (=millions) in [REIN (=restraint) + DER (=the German, i.e. a German word for the)]
     
15 ACETIC Expert taking sudden movement in relation to acid

ACE (=expert) + TIC (=sudden movement)
     
18 PISTOL Weapon detective backed a great deal

PI (=weapon, i.e. Private Investigator) + STOL (LOTS=a great deal; “backed” indicates reversal)
     
19 CAPSICUM Better arrangement of music – that’ll produce something like 26

CAP (=better, outdo) + *(MUSIC); “arrangement of” is anagram indicator; a chili (=entry at 26) is a kind of pungent capsicum
     
21 EXEMPT Former politician blocking alien not expected to pay

EX- (=former) + [MP (=politician) in ET (=alien, i.e. extraterrestrial)]; a tax-exempt person is not expected to pay tax
     
23 AS LONG AS Line penned by a lad – delightful stuff for the time

L (=line) in [A + SON (=lad) + GAS (=delightful stuff, colloquially)]; cf. for the time/as long as you are living under my roof, you’ll abide by my rules
     
26 CHILI Hot food institute’s given to kid, mostly

CHIL<d> (kid; “mostly” means last letter is dropped) + I (=Institute, as in MIT)
     
27 ORIGINATE Start spout, filling it with one drink

[I (=one) + GIN (=drink)] in ORATE (=spout, declaim)
     
28 SOMETHING Special quality: this writer gets most of this into tune

[ME (=this writer, i.e. Phi) + THI<s> (“most of” means last letter dropped)] in SONG (=tune); cf. She has a certain something about her
     
29 NASTY Smart, but with change of heart, becoming unpleasant

NATTY (=smart, dapper); “with change of heart” means middle letter is replaced
     
Down    
     
01 POST-WAR Staff not entirely heated since conflict

POST (=staff, pole) + WAR<m> (=heated; “not entirely” means last letter dropped)
     
02 AUDIO German car with nothing in the sound department?

AUDI (=German car) + O (=nothing, zero)
     
03 GLISSANDO Sad, losing unusual musical effect

*(SAD LOSING); “unusual” is anagram indicator
     
04 MASSENET Frenchman to agree about energy in composer

M. (=Frenchman, i.e. Monsieur) + [E (=energy) in ASSENT (=to agree)]; the reference is to French Romantic composer Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
     
05 USER One employs duster, clearing away regular bits

<d>US<t>ER; “clearing away regular bits” means 1st and 4th letters are left
     
06 TRING Hertfordshire town – boring avoiding first one

T<i>RING (=boring); “avoiding first one (=I)” means the first letter “i” is dropped
     
07 CATHARTIC Promoting release, he’s initially aboard tractor and lorry

H<e> (“initially” means first letter only) in [CAT (=tractor, i.e. caterpillar) + ARTIC (=lorry)]; the “release” of the definition refers to an emotional release
     
08 ERRATIC Dodgy scoundrel capturing American’s heart? On the contrary

RAT (=scoundrel) in <am>ERIC<an> (“heart” means central letters only); “dodgy” means “erratic” in the sense of unreliable, unstable
     
14 MESMERISM Soldier initially featured in viral item is in the Marines – an entrancing experience

[S<oldier> (“initially” means first letter only) in MEME (=viral item, i.e. on the internet)] + [IS in RM (=Royal Marines)]; mesmerism is hypnotism as expounded, with some fanciful notions, by Franz Mesmer, a German physician
     
16 CUSTODIAN One takes care of arranging a discount

*(A DISCOUNT); “arranging” is anagram indicator
     
17 HASSLING Shows broken arm, perhaps, to be annoying

HAS (a) SLING (on) (=shows broken arm)
     
18 PIERCES Stabs end of dagger into men

<dagge>R (“end of” means last letter only) in PIECES (=men, in chess)
     
20 MYSTERY Exclamation of surprise about secretive type getting beheaded in thriller

<o>YSTER (=secretive type, colloquially; “getting beheaded” means first letter is dropped) in MY! (=exclamation of surprise)
     
22 POINT Drug securing one new meaning

[I (=one) + N (=new)] in POT (=drug); cf. Did you get my point?
     
24 GLASS Drink good to be given to girl

G (=good) + LASS (=girl)
     
25 LO-FI Not very advanced selection from pool of ideas

Hidden (“selection from”) in “pooL OF Ideas”; lo-fi is applied to anything inferior, as opposed to hi-fi
     
     

 

8 comments on “Independent 10,067 / Phi”

  1. Light but fun.   I didn’t know 25d and was slightly surprised to find it in Chambers, but it was easy enough to derive.

    Many thanks to Phi and to RR.

  2. On the easier end for Phi but enjoyable as always-another French composer ALmost fit but didnt parse. I was more familiar with him but did know the correct solution.

  4. Nothing too difficult, although it took me ages to get 18dn and 26ac, even after getting19ac.  And I spent ages trying to fit MESSIAEN as the answer to 4dn.

  5. A little surprised no-one has observed the simultaneous presence of SOMETHING, NASTY and WOODSHED. I did Cold Comfort Farm years ago – this time, with some other entries, it’s a pointer to the Charlie Mortdecai novels by Kyril Bonfiglioli (with a name like that he could only be English, of course).

    Not so much the Johnny Depp film, mind…

  6. Actually, we had noticed the WOODSHED connection (but then, we would say that, wouldn’t we).  All part of an enjoyable solve, though we had a bit of trouble originally thinking 25dn was ‘so-so’, which we could just about parse, and our LOI was MESMERISM after we checked a thesaurus for ‘entrance’ and then realised what the viral item was.  We thought 1ac was, totally by coincidence, vaguely topical after HRH’s crash, though ‘worry’ is probably more appropriate than ‘pain’

    Thanks, Phi and RatkojaRiku.

  7. I noticed the crash coincidence,too, and something nasty in the woodshed although I couldn’t remember where it came from and don’t know the Bonfiglioni connection. Thanks to both.

  8. OK, I never noticed the theme.  Never read any Bonfiglioli  but I had heard of him.  Among other things, he edited some SF magazines in the sixties.  Many years ago Phi did a crossword themed on the author Christopher Priest, and I remember once hearing Priest tell an anecdote about how he managed to get Bonfiglioli to accept his first professional sale.  It was said that when a manuscript arrived in the magazine’s office, he’d throw it into a big pile and when it was time to produce an issue, he’d pull enough out of the pile to fill the issue.   Priest submitted a story and when he didn’t hear anything, he phoned Bonfiglioli up to ask about it.  “Oh yes, it’ll be in the next issue,” came the reply.  And presumably he then went to the pile and started searching for it.

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