Unsurprisingly Phi provides the first Friday puzzle of February.
I am defeated by the wordplay for one of the entries so look forward to being enlightened. At 12 down the entry is obviously BROAD-BASED (including a wide range of opinions, subjects, political groups) but I don’t see how the wordplay is applied. The best I can do is B or BR for British. Possibly BR for Briitsh Rail as a rail network takes us back into the mists of time, but I am struggling to see anything else in the wordplay.
Otherwise, I found this to be a typical Phi puzzle with a good mix of words and phrases forming the entries.
| No | |
| 1 |
Storm all but hurtled around prison (9) HURRICANE (storm) HURRIED (hurtled) excluding the final letter (all but) D containing (around) CAN (slang term for prison) HURRI (CAN) E |
| 6 |
Student no longer in thrall to enthusiast (5) LOVER (enthusiast) L (learner) + OVER (recovered from the effects of; no longer in thrall to) L OVER |
| 9 |
Branch of society unfavourable about Knight – here’s the evidence (7,3,5) CHAPTER AND VERSE (exact reference to, or a complete specification of, the source or sources of one’s information) CHAPTER (organized branch of a society, club or fraternity) + (ADVERSE [unfavourable] containing (about) N [knight in chess notation]) CHAPTER A (N) D VERSE |
| 10 |
Distribution of aid taking years, sadly? It wouldn’t surprise me (1,4,3) I DARE SAY (I suppose; it wouldn’t surprise me) Anagram of (distribution of) AID + an anagram of (sadly) YEARS I DA* RE SAY* |
| 11 |
Revoking barrel regulation will bear fruit (6) WALNUT (example of a dry fruit) (TUN [barrel] + LAW [regulation] all reversed (revoking) (WAL NUT)< |
| 13 |
Soldier about to enter Reading after riot (9) GRENADIER (originally a soldier trained in the use of grenades; then, a member of the first company of every battalion of foot soldiers; now used as the title (GRENADIER Guards) of part of the Guards Division of infantry) RE (with reference to; about) contained in (to enter) an anagram of (after riot) READING G (RE) NADIER* |
| 15 |
Completely eradicating foremost seasonal plant (5) HOLLY (evergreen shrub much used for Christmas decorations; seasonal plant) WHOLLY (completely) excluding (eradicating) the first letter (foremost) W HOLLY |
| 16 |
Rich husband setting limits to one’s fidelity (5) FAITH (fidelity [to promises]) (FAT [rich] + H [husband]) containing (setting limits to) I (Roman numeral for one) FA (I) T H |
| 18 |
A lot to teach boy about love (9) TRAINLOAD (The quantity of people or cargo sufficient to fill a TRAIN; a significant number) TRAIN (teach) + (LAD [boy] containing [about] O [letter representing zero or the love score in tennis]) TRAIN L (O) AD |
| 21 |
Concern expressed with a later surprised comment? That’s rich (6) CREAMY (smooth; velvety; rich) CARE (concern) with the A moved to the end (A later) + MY (gosh!; surprised comment) CREA MY |
| 22 |
A friend with a lot of regular business in Arab city (3,5) ABU DHABI (second-most populous city of the United Arab Emirates) A + BUD (buddy; friend) + HABIT (ordinary course of behaviour; regular business) excluding the final letter (a lot of) T A BU D HABI |
| 25 |
Not suffering with repeated washing, but avoiding psychological interpretation (6-9) SHRINK-RESISTANT (will not get smaller (suffer) on repeated washing) SHRINK (informal term for a psychiatrist) + RESISTANT (avoid the effects of) SHRINK RESISTANT |
| 26 |
Engineers engaged in major engineering project showing vision (5) DREAM (vision) RE ([Royal] Engineers) contained in (engaged in) DAM (construction of a DAM is a major engineering project) D (RE) AM |
| 27 |
Toy top’s initial whirling motion to endure (5,4) TEDDY BEAR (example of a toy) T (first letter of [initial] TOP) + EDDY (whirling motion) + BEAR (endure) T EDDY BEAR |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Riding a horse in short bursts? (7) HACKING (short and interrupted, when describing a broken, troublesome cough) HACKING (riding a horse kept for hire) double definiiton HACKING |
| 2 |
All are drunk with English beer (4,3) REAL ALE (beer that continues to ferment and mature in the cask after brewing) Anagram of (drunk) ALL ARE + E (English) REAL AL* E |
| 3 |
Botanist leaves, having gathered agave fibre (5) ISTLE (valuable fibre obtained from Agave, Bromelia, and other plants) ISTLE (hidden word in [gathered by] BOTANIST LEAVES) ISTLE |
| 4 |
Circus acts are unusual – one’s bringing in the top people (10) AERIALISTS (performers on the high-wire or trapeze; circus acts) Anagram of (unusual) ARE + I (Roman numeral for one) + A LISTS (most famous groups of people) AER* I A LISTS |
| 5 |
Italian poet, losing head, getting upset – a source of disturbance in Italy (4) ETNA (reference the volcano [source of disturbance] Mount ETNA on the Italian island of Sicily) DANTE (reference DANTE Aligheri [1265 – 1321], Italian poet) excluding (losing) the first letter (head) D and then reversed (upset; down entry) ETNA< |
| 6 |
Biblical tribe and Biblical prophet heading off Biblical monster (9) LEVIATHAN (In the Old Testament, LEVIATHAN appears in Psalms 74:14 as a multiheaded sea serpent. Also mentioned in Isaiah) LEVI (According to the Bible, the Tribe of LEVI is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from LEVI, son of Jacob) + NATHAN (NATHAN was a court prophet who lived in the time of King David. He is introduced in the Old Testament 2 Samuel 7:2 and 1 Chronicles 17:1 as an advisor to David) excluding (off) the first letter (heading) N LEVI ATHAN |
| 7 |
Sedative mercenary carried around Romania (7) VERONAL (barbitone, a sedative and hypnotic) VENAL (corruptly mercenary) containing (carried around) RO (International Vehicle Registration for Romania) VE (RO) NAL |
| 8 |
Begrudge losing second railway, putting in again? (2-5) RE-ENTRY (putting in again) RESENT (begrudge) excluding (losing) S (second) + RY (railway) REENT RY |
| 12 |
British overlooking rail network? It’s accommodating many (5-5) BROAD-BASED (including a wide range of opinions, subjects, political groups; accomodating many) Not sure how this works |
| 14 |
Attacking the man, representing him a demon (2,7) AD HOMINEM (dealing with an opponent by attacking their character instead of answering their argument; attacking the man as a demon perhaps) Anagram of (re-presenting) HIM A DEMON AD HOMINEM* |
| 16 |
Ball carried by soccer team employed in targeted manner (7) FOCUSED (concentrated; employed in a targeted manner) (O [letter shaped like a ball] contained in [carried by] FC [Football Club; soccer team]) + USED (employed) F (O) C USED |
| 17 |
Fierce changes involving climate, ultimately – how’s the Arctic in summer? (3-4) ICE-FREE (as a result of climate change, the Arctic is becoming ICE-FREE in summer. Some scientists suggest this will happen completely as soon as 2050) Anagram of (changes) FIERCE containing (involving) E (last letter of [ultimately] CLIMATE) IC (E) FREE* |
| 19 |
Origin of outcry supported by Times over a former acid compound (7) OXALATE (salt of oxalic acid; acid compound) O (first letter of [origin of] OUTCRY) + X (multiplication [times] symbol) + A + LATE (former) O X A LATE |
| 20 |
Opening secured by the German fishing-boat (7) DRIFTER (fishing boat using a DRIFT net) RIFT (fissure; opening) contained in (secured by) DER (one of the German forms of ‘the’, the definite article) D (RIFT) ER |
| 23 |
Dirty work that has to be done to protect Society (5) DUSTY (dirty) DUTY (work that has to be done) containing (to protect) S (society) DU (S) TY |
| 24 |
Determination to see power slipping from grasp with time (4) GRIT (determination) GRIP (grasp) excluding (slipping from) P (power) + T (time) GRI T |
Great fun – thanks Phi and duncanshiell. SHRINK RESISTANT was a LOL moment for us.
On 12dn, we took “overlooking rail network” to = “ROAD-BASED”.
Also, a minor point but, in 4dn, we took “one’s” to = IS, with the “top people” simply being the “A LIST”.
Thanks again to both
ROAD-BASED—-not rail-based or overlooking rail network.
Agree with DavidO on 12d and 4d. Mostly straightforward but struggled a little to get CREAMY and had to check Chambers for the riding a horse meaning for HACKING. ISTLE was new to me (I’ll probably say that again next time it appears and, maybe, did the last time it appeared). Favourite was the very clever LEVIATHAN.
Sorry. Hadn’t seen DavidO’s post…..
4D. Yea. I agree with DavidO’s explanation.
Thanks Phi and Duncanshiell!
fell for most of the misdirections which is all part of the fun of course… but felt particularly foolish trying to get an anagram out of CIRCUS ACTS.. the -ISTS bit was fine but all fell apart after that.. on the other hand 11ac just flowed like honey…
thanks Phi n duncanshiell
Defeated today by AERIALISTS which is a dnk I’ve almost certainly seen before! Didn’t know what I was aiming at and couldn’t make sense of the wordplay as a result. SHRINK RESISTANT was a lol. Thanks to earlier comments for explaining 12d: I’d worked out it was B rather than BR for British and was left with ROAD-BASED which I simply didn’t interpret as I should have. Doh! However, I was delighted to tentatively enter ISTLE into Google and discover it was what I hoped it would be.
I generally enjoy Phi’s Fridays and today was no exception with nice surfaces all over, some clever devices and fair clueing pretty much throughout. Really hard to pick a favourite – each clue I revisit seems excellent: ABU DHABI is elegantly constructed, LEVIATHAN is really clever, ICE-FREE is sadly topical and GRENADIER is a nice anagram.
Thanks Phi and Duncan
undrell @6: so pleased to discover I’m not the only one who tried that anagram fodder! Just too many ‘c’s in the end!
Thanks S. Krishna for explaining ‘broad-based’, which like others I failed to parse. And, like Undrell, I spent too much time trying to make an anagram of ‘circus acts’. No theme this time? I’ll bet there is! Thanks Phi and Duncan.
I was delighted by and mystified by the same clues as all above, so nothing to add but my thanks to Phi and Duncan
Thanks both. Some so nearly defeated me, not least 18 where coachload, for me, works as well as TRAINLOAD.
Thanks. We couldn’t parse broadbased and frankly that’s not a great clue is it, but we enjoyed the rest.
A steady solve for us as is often the case with Phi. No obvious theme or nina, but maybe Phi will drop by to enlighten us.
Plenty to like, including GRENADIER, SHRINK-RESISTANT, REAL ALE, AERIALISTS, LEVIATHAN (incidentally also in Job 41, v1), AD HOMINEM and OXALATE.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan.
Another one who tried at first to make an anagram of “circus acts”. Was also puzzled by broad-based. But enjoyed it overall, and especially liked “shrink-resistant” which was my last one in, despite having “-resistant”. One of those PDMs that make this hobby fun.
Creamy was the only one we didn’t quite understand this week, so came here for help with the parsing.
Shrink resistant is clue of the year so far. Brilliant!
Am I the only one who thinks broad-based is a good and pretty clever clue?
Only the small matter of 5 days late, but no DiBosco @16, you’re not the only one who thinks that BROAD-BASED was a very clever clue. It was only outdone by SHRINK RESISTANT which is one of my best clues of the year too.