It’s Good Phi-day today.
This didn’t prove too difficult today although we wrote in TOP-TIPS for 1d which we couldn’t parse. Once we realised that 11ac had to be FORTUNE, we realised our mistake. ANALGESIC went in too from the definition until we realised that it had to end in A to make the parsing work.
Thanks for the fun Phi. We can see FORTUNE TELLING in the across clues but whether that is linked to a theme we have no idea. Perhaps others can help out.
We are in London today – enjoying some exhibitions. We will receive comments but may not be able to make any amendments or alterations in the blog until later.
Happy Easter to everyone.
Across
1 Hitch with something used for hanging small picture (9)
THUMBNAIL
THUMB (hitch) NAIL (something used for hanging)
6 Crowds lifts, leaving one behind (5)
HOSTS
HOiSTS (lifts) without ‘i’ (one) or ‘leaving one behind’
9 Flat day, apart from a show of anger (5)
PADDY
PAD (flat) DaY (without or ‘apart from’ a)
10 Obsessive article is, say, backing pain relief (9)
ANALGESIA
ANAL (obsessive) and A (article) IS EG (say) all reversed or ‘backing’
11 Barrel in front? That’s a stroke of luck (7)
FORTUNE
TUN (barrel) in FORE (front)
12 Significant briefing (7)
TELLING
Double definition
13 Yank’s dawn drink will include article from Champagne region (5)
SUNUP
SUP (drink) around or ‘including’ UN (‘article’ in French – ‘from Champagne’)
15 Man taking on appropriate cut-down style of furniture (5,4)
QUEEN ANNE
QUEEN (man on a chessboard) ANNEx (appropriate) reduced by a letter or ‘cut down’
17 22 allowed back in Russian agency, something initially improper (9)
TASTELESS
E (English – 22ac) LET (allowed) reversed or ‘back’ in TASS (Russian news agency) S (first letter of something or ‘initially’)
18 Steam bath: star with one importing another one (5)
SAUNA
SUN (star) round or ‘importing’ A (one) + A (another one)
20 Unpleasant smell linked to disorderly town (7)
BOROUGH
BO (unpleasant smell) ROUGH (disorderly)
22 Priest’s seizing no-good husband from part of UK (7)
ENGLISH
ELI’S (priest’s) around or seizing’ NG (no-good) + H (husband)
24 End of game sees girl suppressing euphemism – someone from school? (9)
CLASSMATE
CheckMATE (end of game) with LASS (girl) replacing or ‘suppressing’ ‘heck’ (euphemism)
25 Shrubs I caught in time (5)
ERICA
I C (caught) in ERA (time)
26 British abandoning one in order to get alternative (5)
OTHER
brOTHER (one in order) with ‘br’ (British’) omitted or ‘abandoned’
27 Meshed legwear mostly taken by fool, we hear (5-4)
TIGHT-KNIT
TIGHTs (legwear) missing last letter or ‘mostly’+ a homophone (‘we hear’) of NIT (fool)
Down
1 Ends in accepting seedy suggestions (3-4)
TIP-OFFS
TIPS (ends) around or ‘accepting’ OFF (seedy)
2 Ridiculous bonehead returns quietly (5,4,6)
UNDER ONES BREATH
An anagram of BONEHEAD RETURNS – anagrind is ‘ridiculous’
3 Sailor upset solver in US marshland (5)
BAYOU
AB (sailor) reversed or ‘up’ YOU (solver)
4 American, live, engaged in square dancing or part of ballet (9)
ARABESQUE
A (American) + BE (live) inside or ‘engaged in’ an anagram of SQUARE – anagrind is ‘dancing’
5 Continue to conserve energy? The smallest amount (5)
LEAST
LAST (continue) around or ‘conserving’ E (energy)
6 Greeting Government workers around Loch in region of Scotland (9)
HIGHLANDS
HI (greeting) G (Government) HANDS (workers) around L (Loch)
7 Contract performer casino misuses in broadcast (7,8)
SESSION MUSICIAN
An anagram of CASINO MISUSES IN – anagrind is ‘broadcast’
8 Bridge support: good to elevate metal plate (7)
SPANGLE
SPAN (bridge) LEG (support) with G (good) moving up or ‘elevating’
14 Herald comes up again, blocking most of passage (9)
PRECURSOR
RECURS (comes up again) inside or ‘blocking’ PORe (passage) missing last letter or ‘most of’
16 Great geese endlessly flying – and not laying this! (6,3)
EASTER EGG
A play on the fact that an anagram of GREAT GEESe (missing last letter or ‘endlessly) – anagrind is ‘flying’ – would give you an egg that definitely wouldn’t be laid by a goose!
17 Book with account bound in extremely treated leaves (7)
TOBACCO
B (book) ACC (account) inside or ‘bound by’ TOO (extremely)
19 A good-time girl embodying hot women wrongly (7)
ATHWART
A TART (good-time girl) around or ’embodying’ H (hot) W (women)
21 That man’s cunning, displaying compassion (5)
HEART
HE (that man) ART (cunning)
23 Fellow capturing hearts in Belgian city (5)
GHENT
GENT (fellow) around or ‘capturing’ H (hearts)
Thanks to Phi for a pleasant start to the Bank Holiday weekend. Full marks to him for clearly indicating the Americanisms in 13a & 3d.
Thanks too to B&J for the parsing of 26a which I identified as BROTHER without the BR but couldn’t see for the life of me where BROTHER came from. I’m always happy to nominate a clue which has beaten me as my favourite so 26a gets my vote today.
Needed to check on the synonyms used in 20a & 1d along with the definition of 8d but otherwise a reasonably straightforward solve.
Thanks to Phi and to B&J for the blog. Hope you didn’t have to fight your way through too many crowds in London!
A pleasant diversion while sitting out in the sunshine this afternoon, all completed without help, although we didn’t know that meaning of SPANGLE (though the answer was obvious). We took a while to see the parsing of CLASSMATE, and we parsed PRECURSOR slightly differently, taking ‘most of passage’ to be por[t], a port being something that admits or lets out gases in an engine – but por[e] is better.
Thanks, Phi and B&J.