Last week I blogged a puzzle by Skinny, a newbie in the daily Independent team of setters. This week I am facing an old stager in Phi.
Phi often has a theme in his puzzles. Given a couple of long entries, each across two lights, I think there may be a theme here, but I’m not clever enough to see it. Obviously there are a couple of religious references with THE TABLET and MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY. Also, NAOMI is a biblical name, but I still can’t see a link or theme.
Phi did well to resolve the two long entries into viable anagrams.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 8 | Unhappy eating feathers (4,2,3,5) |
DOWN (feathers) + IN THE MOUTH (indicative of something being eaten) DOWN IN THE MOUTH |
DOWN IN THE MOUTH (in low spirits; unhappy) |
| 9 | Clearly form of tennis involving first of two players ultimately (9) |
(DOUBLES [a form of tennis] containing [involving] T [first letter of {first of} TWO]) + S (last letter of [ultimately] PLAYERS) DOUB (T) LES S |
DOUBTLESS (indisputably; clearly) |
| 10 | Plants hint of complexity when play opens (5) |
C (first letter of [hint of] COMPLEXITY + ACT I (the first act; when the play opens) C ACT I |
CACTI (plants having thick fleshy stems that store water, and leaves reduced to spines or scales) |
| 11 | Paper determined to reel in ambassador (5) |
SET (determined) containing (to reel in) HE (His / Her Excellency, form of address to an ambassador) S (HE) ET |
SHEET (piece of paper) |
| 13 | Article by computer in religious publication (3,6) |
THE (definite article) + TABLET (handheld personal computer that is operated by touch screen or digital pen) THE TABLET |
THE TABLET (a Catholic international weekly review published in London; religious publication) |
| 14 | Don’t interfere with holiday busy person cut short (5,2) |
LEAVE (holiday) + BE LEAVE BE |
LEAVE BE (don’t disturb or interfere with) |
| 15 | Country recalled flag material, having run off 50 (7) |
TIRE (run out of energy; flag) reversed (recalled) + REA ERIT< REA |
ERITREA (country in Africa) |
| 17 | List a record involved in a cute broadcast (9) |
(A + LOG [record of performance]) contained in (involved in) an anagram of (broadcast) A CUTE CAT (A LOG) UE* |
CATALOGUE (systematic list of names, books, pictures, etc) |
| 19 | Woman, North American, to overlook losing time (5) |
NA (North American) + OMI NA OMI |
NAOMI (woman’s name) |
| 21 | Film‘s way of working with struggle (5) |
MO (modus operandi; way of working) + VIE (struggle) MO VIE |
MOVIE (film) |
| 22 | Hatred? An extreme point attendant on extremes of hostility (9) |
AN + TIP (extreme point) + AT (attending; attendant) + HY (first and last letters of [extremes of] HOSTILITY) AN TIP AT HY |
ANTIPATHY (hatred) |
| 24 | Country air? (8,6) |
NATIONAL (of the country) + ANTHEM ( song of praise or gladness; air) NATIONAL ANTHEM |
NATIONAL ANTHEM (official song or hymn of a country; country air) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Measure of capacity or very old measure of light, mostly (6) |
V (very) + O (old) + LUME V O LUME |
VOLUME (measure of cubic capacity) |
| 2 | Join King getting on donkey (4) |
K (king) + NIT (idiot; donkey) K NIT |
KNIT (join) |
| 3 | End of day, not start – let out to make trouble (8) |
UNSET TLE* |
UNSETTLE (make uncertain; cause trouble) |
| 4 | Decent hunting around end of August (6) |
CHASE (hunting) containing (around) T (last letter of [end of] AUGUST) CHAS (T) E |
CHASTE (decent and pure in taste and style) |
| 5 | The writer picked up case about one active consequence of malnutrition? (10) |
ME (the writer) reversed (picked up; down clue) + (ACTION [legal case] containing [about] [I {Roman numeral for 1} + A {active}]) EM< AC (I A) TION |
EMACIATION (condition of becoming extremely thin, possibly as a consequence of malnutrition) |
| 6/ 7 | Truly ruin a schismatic after representing vigorous response to religion (8,12) |
Anagram of (after re-presenting) TRULY RUIN A SCHISMATIC MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY* |
MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY (a vigorous combination of Christian living with devotion to athletic enjoyment) |
| 9 / 15 | Broadcast TV’s accidental impiety? It’s not something you have to deal with now (12,8) |
Anagram of (broadcast) TV’S ACCIDENTAL IMPIETY DISPLACEMENT ACTIVITY* |
DISPLACEMENT [ACTIVITY] (an activity that is [often unconsciously] substituted for another, possibly more destructive or threatening, one) Is the definition right? Surely the DISPLACEMENT ACTIVITY is the one you are doing now so you can delay attending the more difficult one? |
| 12 | Those people around box office wanting to take in pornographic picture (3,4,3) |
(THEY [those people] containing [around] BO [box office]) all containing (wanting to take in) BLUE indecent; obscene; pornographic) THE (BLUE) (BO) Y |
THE BLUE BOY (full length portrait [picture] by Thomas Gainsborough [1727 – 1788], English painter) |
| 15 | See 9 | See word play at 9 across | ACTIVITY |
| 16 | Final equally balanced? Most of this story is about United (8) |
EVEN (equally balanced) + (TAL EVEN T (U) AL |
EVENTUAL (final) |
| 18 | Leave target incomplete and veer in a different direction (2,4) |
GOA GO A WAY< |
GO AWAY (leave) |
| 20 | Dismissed poor service in store (6) |
OUT (dismissed) + LET (a service in tennis that has to be retaken; poor service) OUT LET |
OUTLET (retail store) |
| 23 | Compassion? Mine’s ending empathy (4) |
PIT (mine) + Y (last letter of [ending] EMPATHY) PIT Y |
PITY (compassion) |
We can’t see anything in the way of a theme, but we suspect there might be one simply because the first clue (8ac) was such an old chestnut. A very enjoyable puzzle, though, theme or no theme. No real CoD, but we liked ANTIPATHY, VOLUME and OUTLET.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan.
I agree that the definition at 9/15 is a bit odd. Perhaps Phi means “there’s something that you really have to deal with now, but you’re doing something else (the displacement activity) instead”.
Yes, an enjoyable puzzle. The anagrams are very clever, as you say. Thanks Phi and Duncan.