It’s back to Phi-day again this week after Hob’s tribute to ‘Let It Be’ last Friday.
As usual with a Phi puzzle, it was a pleasure to solve, and on this occasion, not too taxing.
Also, as usual, having completed it we searched for a theme or nina, but nothing leapt out at us. As we know from the past, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one, just that we haven’t found it. Perhaps someone out there will spot it, or maybe Phi will enlighten us later on?
SWIMMING (dizzy) + an anagram of ETC and SUMO – anagrind is ‘wrestling’
F (force) in NILE (river) reversed or ‘ebbing’
dRAMATIC (exciting) with T (time) replacing the ‘d’ (daughter), round U (university)
MID (partway through) DEN (study)
I’D reversed or ‘upset’ CIA (agents) in JUL (July – month)
An anagram of REAL BIG WET- anagrind is ‘messy’
D (director) in TIE (bond) reversed or ‘returned’
pOUCH (bag) without the first letter or ‘not opened’
MAN (servant) CHEST (coffer) ER (the Queen)
COMMA (point in writing) round UN (United Nations – international body) + L (Liberal)
S (small) in COMIC (something funny)
SIDES (teams) following IRON (smooth) – we had to check this as we were not aware (or perhaps had forgotten) that the Ironsides were the Parliamentary cavalry formed by Oliver Cromwell
A RAT (scoundrel) reversed or ‘retreating’ round or ‘snatching’ I (one)
An anagram of IN GENERAL IF THE and T (last letter or ‘end’ of ‘it’) – anagrind is ‘wrong’
A (article) in STEM (block)
INDELicate (rude) with the latter half missing, round F I (first letters or ‘sources’ of ‘faith’ and ‘immortality’)
MAN (fellow) NEED (obligation) round or ‘accommodating’ R (Queen)
Cryptic definition – NOT E – the note missing from the sequence
An anagram of CLEANER CUP – anagrind is ‘possibly’
SUM (problem) MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Double definition
ESC (key – on a keyboard) ALTO (singer) round or ‘holding’ A + R (run)
S (sulphur) + an anagram of ALARMED AN – anagrind is ‘oddball’
An anagram of OIL BRANCH – anagrind is ‘freely’
ROPED (tied) reversed or ‘up’ + TEE (support)
Double definition
TIMe (tempo) without the last letter or ‘curtailed’ + PANIc (agitation) without the last letter or ‘a lot of’
NUS (National Union of Students) reversed or ‘uprising’ SET (fixed)
CLAN (family) G (last letter or ‘conclusion’ of gathering)
A (area) IS A (area) reversed or ‘elevated’
Fastest ever solve for a Phi puzzle for me. Fortunately, I remembered the “fiery monster’ meaning for SALAMANDER from a crossword a year or two ago.
When I see TIARA, I always thing of an episode of Whoops Baghdad where Frankie Howard’s character goes to the market to buy a tiara only to find they had all sold out that morning. The stall keeper says “there’s been a TIARA BOOM TODAY”. Made me laugh.
Favourite was the well-crafted anagram at 28a. Thanks to Phi and Bertandjoyce.
Likewise fast for me, though for some reason I struggled with 3D, my LOI. I usually shudder when I see clues of the 4D type (is there a name for these?) but this time it was obvious. Thanks Phi and B&J.
To Hovis@1, totally off-topic, sorry Gaufrid:
Denis Norden & Frank Muir used, just for fun, to invent telly series which they’d like to have made. One such was about a Dutch Pennsylvanian American female public prosecutor who moonlighted as a music-hall singer.
Working title: ‘Tarara Boom, D.A.’
The usual enjoyable Phi. Everything went in parsed without too much trouble though I didn’t remember IRONSIDES for Cromwell’s cavalry. After the accessible Ninas in Phi’s last couple of offerings, I couldn’t spot one here either.
Thanks to Phi and B& J
Some head-scratching moments but generally everything went in smoothly. We liked NOTE and OUCH but favourite was SALAMANDER.
Thanks, Phi and B&J.
Very quick solve for me too. 13d and 14d were both so obvious, the letters in the clues needing hardly any jumbling at all.