Independent 10,713 / Phi

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Today is Phiday, so here he is with his latest puzzle, rounding off another mid-week series.

I found this to be an enjoyable puzzle, about medium-difficulty for a Phi, and compiled using a less common grid, which added an extra level of enjoyment.

I needed Google to help me with the individuals at 6A and 8, and I thought that one or the other of them might offer us a theme. However, I haven’t spotted one and there doesn’t seem to be a Nina, but I could be missing something. I see that the unchecked letters down the central column spell out “tonne” ….

In any case, my favourite clues today were all downs: 5 and 17, both for smoothness of surface; 1, for the sunup device; and, above all, the brilliantly concise & lit. at 2.

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

Across    
     
06 HINDEMITH German composer, hard, one, working the mind

H (=hard) + I (=one) + *(THE MIND); “working” is anagram indicator; the reference is to German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
     
08 NOLAN No terrain curtailed Australian painter

NO + LAN<d> (=terrain; “curtailed” means last letter dropped); the reference is to Australian painter Sir Sidney Nolan (1917-92)
     
10 MASTIFF Dog in dispute involving old woman?

Cryptically, a ma (=old woman)’s tiff (=dispute) could be “a dispute involving old woman”
     
11 APROPOS A rugby forward’s larger than average, by the way

A + PROP (=rugby forward) + OS (=larger than average, i.e. outsize)
     
12 RECTO Clergyman overlooking last page

RECTO<r> (=clergyman); “overcoming last” means final letter is dropped
     
14 YOSEMITE Some getting upset with it in the old American park

[*(SOME) + IT] in YE (=the old, i.e. an old word for the); “upset” is anagram indicator
     
16 SEMITRANSPARENT Not sending through full light? Mains broken with rest requiring generator

*(MAINS + REST) + PARENT (=”generator”, i.e. children); “broken” is anagram indicator
     
19 SEMITONE See about US university working for a small interval

[MIT (=US university, i.e. Massachusetts Institute of Technology) + ON (=working)] in SEE
     
22 GAMMA Morning publication returned letter

AM (=morning) + MAG (=publication, i.e. magazine); “returned” indicates reversal
     
24 POLECAT Sort of ferret about behind mast, getting tense

POLE (=mast, e.g. on ship) + CA (=about, i.e. circa) + T (=tense, in grammar)
     
25 ICEBERG I caught seabird moving round Arctic feature

I + C (=caught, on cricket scorecard) + EBERG (GREBE=seabird; “moving round” is anagram indicator)
     
27 TENET Principle involved in first-rate networking

Hidden (“involved”) in ‘first-raTE NETworking”
     
28 DEMITASSE Missed tea being served up in cup

*(MISSED TEA); “being served up” is anagram indicator
     
Down    
     
01 ONUS Nothing before dawn, say, is a burden

O (=nothing) + NUS (= sun up, i.e. vertically reversed; dawn is sunup!)
     
02 HELIPORT Pilot here endlessly flying?

*(PILOT HER<e>); “endlessly” means last letter dropped; “flying” is anagram indicator; & lit.
     
03 LIFFEY Lough of questionable status, receiving last of sludge from river

L (=lough, loch) + [<sludg>E (“last of” means last letter only) in IFFY (=of questionable status)]; the River Liffey flows through Dublin, hence the Irish spelling of “loch”
     
04 ANTRIM Note first pair of traders coming in to target Irish location

[N (=note) + TR<aders> (“first pair of” means first two letters of)] in AIM (=target)
     
05 SLIPSTREAM Wake master roughly after error

SLIP (=error) + *(MASTER); “roughly” is anagram indicator; here, a wake is the disturbed air behind a flying body, hence slipstream
     
06 HUMORIST One who may mock pollsters during half of electioneering

MORI (=pollsters) in HUST<ings> (=electioneering; “half of” means 4 of 8 letters only)
     
07 HEARSES Tries initially expediting some late vehicles

HEARS (=tries, i.e. a case in court) + E<xpediting> S<ome> (“initially” means first letters only); “late vehicles” are those used to transport the “late”, i.e. the deceased
     
09 NOSH Boy lifting hot food

NOS (SON=boy; “lifting” indicates vertical reversal) + H (=hot, e.g. on tap)
     
13 COMPELLING Persuasive exercises given to students in future

[PE (=exercises, i.e. physical education) + LL (=students, i.e. 2 x L=learner)] in COMING (=future); a compelling argument is a persuasive one
     
15 STRAGGLE Upturn is good crafty things – leg breaks – follow on?

STRAG (G=good + ARTS=crafty things; “upturn” indicates vertical reversal) + *(LEG); “breaks” is anagram indicator; to follow on (behind) is to straggle, lag behind
     
17 ADOPTED Assumed American used drugs – time to get involved

A (=American) + [T (=time) in DOPED (=took drugs, in sport)]
     
18 AUGMENTS Boosts soldiers after a month, way up

AUG (=a month, i.e. August) + MEN (=soldiers) + TS (ST=way, i.e. street; “up” indicates vertical reversal)
     
20 INCITE Provoke enlightenment, we hear, shifting stress

Homophone of “insight (=enlightenment)”, when the stress shifts to the second syllable
     
21 ENIGMA Article Phi’s written up about grand puzzle

G (=grand, i.e. 1000 dollars) in ENIMA (A=article, in grammar + MINE=Phi’s, i.e. the setters; “written up” indicates vertical reversal)
     
23 SPOT Difficult position? Best to roll over

TOPS (=(the) best); “to roll over” indicates reversal; to be in a spot is to be in a difficult position
     
26 EAST A lot of food not originally from China?

<f>EAST (=a lot of food); “not originally” means first letter is dropped; “China” could be described as the East, the Orient
     

 

19 comments on “Independent 10,713 / Phi”

  1. I found this easier than usual for Phi, but much enjoyed anyway. As well as ‘tonne’ in the down unches, there are possibly other ninas partially in the across ones: ‘fetid’, ‘perish’ and ‘east’, and maybe also ‘pep’ in the downs. If there’s a theme to these ninas, it may only be known to Phi, and if so, perhaps he will drop in to explain. Regarding the pollster at 8D, Mori is now part of Ipsos Mori, which sounds to me as though it should mean something in Latin. Whatever, thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku.

  2. Good stuff… I had thought an Irish theme with Antrim, Liffey, n Nolan pitching up in the top half… but no… agree there was a whole splodge of down clues which were delightful …
    Thanks Phi n RatkojaRiku

  3. Lovely start to the puzzle day as per usual with Phiday
    Hindemith one of my favourites (for this puzzle -I think I have a vinyl of his-quite tuneful compared with Trump mask Replica-in fact an original antifa!)
    Grazie mille.

  4. Thanks to Phi for the entertainment, and to RatkojaRiku for blogging. Like you, we needed to confirm the existence of HINDEMITH and NOLAN. One of the pleasures of a Friday is seeing how much more highbrow Phi’s general knowledge is than mine!

    One minor point on the blog, in 25ac, I think “moving round” is indicating a reversal of GREBE, rather than an anagram.
    Wouldn’t an indirect anagram be frowned upon?

  6. Same here with 6a and 8a, both unknown to me, but I knew the other 3 proper nouns. Seen ICEBERG quite recently (Crucible last week). Two SEMIs and a DEMI are quite unusual in the same grid.

  8. An enjoyable and satisfying solve. HINDEMITH was our FOI, folowed by NOLAN although the latter was only got from wordplay and confirmed from crossing letters.
    We couldn’t see any theme or nina – the few odd words in the unches seem too random to be intentional. In fact the only one we saw was perish; btw in the row of unches above that the last letter is O so no fetid.
    Plenty to like, including POLECAT, HELIPORT and ENIGMA.
    Thanks, Phi and RatkojaRiku.

  9. I got 6a and hoped for a music/composer theme, but no such luck. Still very enjoyable and I think it must have been on the easy side of Phi because I did it in one sitting! Thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku

  10. NNI @6: we have done far worse than the Titanic and encountered a whole slew of ICEBERG’s recently (and, incidentally, the second YOSEMITE in a week). And very similarly clued:

    Phi today: I caught seabird moving round Arctic feature
    Crucible last week: One cold diver turns over chunk of glacier
    Everyman on Jan 24: I see diving bird returning to very cold water

    I also discovered today that, when icebergs disintegrate, the resulting floaters are known as growlers if they’re under 2m wide/1m high but, delightfully – and logically, as bergy bits if they’re a bit larger!

    I had such pleasure with this. Came at it late in the day and found myself to be on Phi’s wavelength for once and hardly returned to a single clue, so smooth was the solve. But that doesn’t mean read & write: rather nothing was completely impenetrable and unapproachable so I patiently explored options, spotted devices, found fodder and solutions arrived. One after the other. Hugely satisfying. In fact the only one I left unfilled and returned to was ADOPTING.

    HINDEMITH was known but NOLAN not though easier to get from the wordplay. I delighted in HUMORIST, LIFFEY, SEMITRANSPARENT, AUGMENTS and ENIGMA but COTD is the beautifully constructed HELIPORT. Sublime.

    Thanks Phi and RR

  11. NNI@6 That makes three grebes turning over an ICEBERG recently as there was one in Everyman as well. It must be global warming. Grebes are mainly freshwater birds, but can be found in marine environments, so seabird is just about ok. An enjoyable solve.

  13. Petert @11 &12: like the Titanic and its nemesis, our collision course was set! I shan’t be disagrebel about it, however.

  14. I vaguely recall this being my third ICEBERG this year in various slots (and they really don’t get this far north). I had better stop them forming for a while.

    One of the biggest news stories of 2020 was the reopening of cinemas with Christopher NOLAN’s TENET and its theme of TIME reversal – hence several words with EMIT in the across answers.

  15. I opened with ONUS and that was my COTD throughout as I thought dawn=sun-up was an amazing clue. Enjoyed this , sadly my German Composer knowledge is as weak as my Australian painter skills (but worked out the latter , I had to google the former)

    As ever needed the odd reveal letter to complete but an enjoyable pre-work challenge.

    Thanks Phi and RR (especially for the Generator/Parent parse)

  16. Phi @14: I don’t know whether you read comments that arrive after you’ve posted but I wanted to acknowledge your clever theme. Which I missed completely. My younger son (17) asked for TENET for Christmas and it’s one of the very few movies I’ve given up watching because i simply wasn’t understanding it! So both the director and the reverse time theme perhaps didn’t stand out so strongly for me but I’m enormously impressed now I kool. And I do enjoy your quirky and esoteric themes: rarely, if ever, spot them but they are satisfying to learn about afterwards!

  19. Think it would be better if comments like #5 and #7 above did not disclose answers in other puzzles from today.

    There are people who tackle more than one puzzle…

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