Friday is Phiday and thus brings us his latest crossword to solve.
I found this to be a medium-difficulty Phi puzzle overall, one that I had to chip away at after writing in just half a dozen entries on first reading. I think that I have now parsed everything to my satisfaction, having misread 27 at my first attempt and having taken a long time to grasp what was happening at 1D.
In my opinion, there was quite a lot of more unusual vocabulary here for a daily cryptic (at 4, 5A, 10, 13, 14 (with this ending), 16, 23 (in this sense)), so I needed Chambers to confirm a good few of my solutions. I haven’t spotted any particular theme today, but other solvers (or the compiler himself!) will surely enlighten me if I have missed anything.
My favourite clues today were 3, for originality and surface; and 24, again for surface reading.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | FOLLOWS | Understands currents around old lake
[O (=old, as in OT) + L (=lake, on maps)] in FLOWS (=currents) |
| 05 | DUNNING | Daughter doing athletic event not initially asking for money
D (=daughter) + <r>UNNING (=doing athletic event; “not initially” means first letter is dropped); according to Chambers, to dun is to importune for money |
| 09 | AGONY | Struggle in US city after a success
A + GO (=success, as in to make a go of something) + NY (=US city, i.e. New York) |
| 10 | BARDOLINO | Poet loves swallowing litre in Italian wine village
BARD (=poet) + {[L (=litre) + IN] in O O (=loves, pictorially, i.e. 2 x O=love, zero score in tennis)}; the village of Bardolino in the Veneto is known for its dry red wine |
| 11 | TOILETRIES | Poet rejected experiments to create cosmetic products
TOILE (ELIOT=poet; “rejected” indicates reversal) + TRIES (=experiments) |
| 12 | HART | Hammerstein’s foremost skill as provider of lyrics for Rodgers
H<art> (“foremost” means first letter only) + ART (=skill); the reference is to US lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895-1943), half of the Broadway songwriting team Hart and Rodgers |
| 14 | RHEUMATICKY | Mickey suffering with a hurt related to joint pain
*(MICKEY + A HURT); “suffering” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | ENS | Men seem to show such content being philosophical
Hidden (“to show such content”) in “mEN Seem”; ens (plural entia) is being or existence, in philosophy |
| 18 | RAW | Harsh conflict recalled
WAR (=conflict); “recalled” indicates reversal |
| 20 | SOCIAL MEDIA | Internet connections therefore claimed various sources of internet access
SO (=therefore) + *(CLAIMED) + I<nternet> A<ccess> (“sources of” means first letter of each only); “various” is anagram indicator; the connections of the definition refer more to interactions than to technical set-ups |
| 22 | HUNT | Look for movement in rolling stock, wasting seconds
<s>HUNT (=movement for rolling stock); “wasting seconds (=S)” means letter “s” is dropped |
| 23 | APOSTROPHE | American member Henry brought into line is addressing someone else
A (=American) + POST (=member, i.e. upright member of a frame) + [H (=Henry) in ROPE (=line, cord)]; in speechmaking, an apostrophe is a sudden turning away from the ordinary course of a speech to address someone either present or absent |
| 26 | ANTIPASTO | Dish father consumed in station after travelling
PA (=father) in *(STATION); “after travelling” is anagram indicator |
| 27 | HONEY | Drink produced within Hungary’s borders is a remarkable thing
ONE (=drink, as in a quick one) in H<ungar>Y (“borders” means first and last letters only); according to Chambers, honey is a person or thing that is excellent, pleasant or delightful |
| 28 | HIPSTER | Trendy figure: seizing power, his period in office finished early
[P (=power, in physics) in HIS] + TER<m> (=period in office; “finished early” means last letter is dropped); a hipster is someone who follows the latest trends, especially those outside the cultural mainstream, cf. hip = trendy, with it |
| 29 | MEADOWS | Cries about activity in farming areas
ADO (=activity, ado) in MEWS (=cries) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | FLATTERER | One offering fake praise, before being collared by dull trustee
ERE (=before) in [FLAT (=dull) + TR (=trustee)] |
| 02 | LEONINE | Like a cat going in to occupy shelter
[ON (=going, of machine) + IN]] in LEE (=shelter) |
| 03 | OXYGEN MASK | Nothing can symbolise the contents of this life-saving apparatus
O (=nothing, i.e. pictorially) is the chemical symbol for oxygen; which the mask contains! |
| 04 | SYBARITIC | Amount of pressure I found in urban area’s elevated pleasure-seeking
[BAR (=amount of pressure) + I] in SYTIC (CITY’S=urban area’s; “elevated” indicates vertical reversal); sybaritic means devoted to luxury, hence “pleasure-seeking”, from the Greek city of Sybaris, noted for luxury |
| 05 | DIRGE | Energy supply network going belly-up producing mournful comments
E (=energy) + GRID (=supply network, as in the National Grid); “going belly up” indicates vertical reversal |
| 06 | NEON | Measure of force not weight in a gas
NE<wt>ON (=measure of force, in physics); “not weight (=WT)” means letters “wt” are dropped |
| 07 | IMITATE | One small creature nipping at parrot
I (=one) + [AT in MITE (=small creature)]; to parrot something is to repeat by rote, imitate |
| 08 | GROUT | Fine plaster, grey, not to be considered
GR (=grey) + OUT (=not to be considered, debarred) |
| 13 | DYSMORPHIA | Distorted perception: height in pyramid so wrong
H (=height) in *(PYRAMID SO); “wrong” is anagram indicator; dysmorphia is a psychological condition involving a distorted negative perception of one’s own body |
| 15 | CLASSROOM | Upland areas turned over after endless fighting – one should find a lesson here
CLAS<h> (=fighting; “endless” means last letter is dropped) + SROOM (MOORS=upland areas; “turned over” indicates reversal) |
| 17 | SNAKE EYES | Low-scoring effort almost uncovered in London area? Definitely
[NAKE<d> (=uncovered; “almost” means last letter is dropped) in SE (=London area?)] + YES (=definitely); snake eyes is a score of just two ones made when two dice are thrown, hence “low-scoring effort” |
| 19 | WING TIP | Success, being given good suggestion for part of aircraft design
WIN (=success) + G (=good) + TIP (=suggestion) |
| 21 | DIP INTO | Withdraw money from party, concealing security number in it
[PIN (=security number) in IT] in DO (=party, function) |
| 22 | HEATH | Hard core of soil removed in open country
H (=hard, as in HB) + EA<r>TH (=soil, ground; “core (…) removed” means middle letter is dropped) |
| 24 | POSER | Problem contributor to blog, first of trolls to be suspended
POS<t>ER (=contributor to blog); “first (letter) of trolls to be suspended” means letter “t” is dropped |
| 25 | SPOT | Blemish // in difficult position // to observe
Triple definition |
Thanks both. It was Phi’s puzzles which encouraged me to keep going in my early days of taking on the Indy puzzle – I was never 100% but I usually came close….fast-forward maybe 8 years, and little has changed, though all solved today, with minor queries only around HONEY both in its definition, and the contentious ‘one’ which for me is only a drink given context, and OXYGEN MASK which might also have been oxygen tank, unless I missed something (I generally do)
TFO @1. Well I confidently entered OXYGEN TANK for 3d until 14a showed my error. Glad that meaning for APOSTROPHE has appeared several times lately. Couldn’t see how post = member. That meaning for “member” is not in Chambers but Collins has the very vague ‘a component part of a building or construction’.
Not sure what ‘produced’ is doing in 27 but I enjoyed this and was pleased to finish it quite quickly – albeit needing to check the various unusual words that RR mentions.
Thanks to S&B
A testing puzzle from the ever reliable Phi with more than enough to keep us thinking. I managed to fill the grid OK and knew most of the less common words but missed that ENS was a hidden, had the wrong def and therefore wondered how ‘Honey’ could be a drink and entered the unknown SNAKE EYES from wordplay.
I’m not too keen on RHEUMATICKY as a word, but liked seeing APOSTROPHE in the given sense; I think it’s about the third time it has appeared recently as Hovis @2 points out. Favourite was the clever surface for DYSMORPHIA.
Thanks to Phi and RR
ENS rang the vaguest of bells. I think it must have appeared recently. Just the right level of challenge for me. Thanks, both.
Hovis@2
Agree with you on the ‘post=member’ bit. ‘Member’ seems to refer to one
of a building.
Columns are vertical members. Posts are vertical members too. A post, I’d say,
is a lesser type of column.
Re-member, I think it’s one of those tricky ones where the synonym is very clear in one direction – the def for POST in Chambers is almost word-for-word as our blogger gives it – but the entry for member makes no mention of POST.
DUNNING, ANTIPASTO, HIPSTER, DIRGE, IMITATE, CLASSROOM and DIP INTO were my favourites today. I struggled with HONEY, though, not spotting the one=drink or the actual def. I was about to write that the same problem applies with one as with member – but it doesn’t! There it is, at definition No 5 in Chambers, a drink as in a quick one. So no grounds for complaint there.
Thanks Phi and RR
PostMark @7. Thanks for checking the entries for ‘post’. Not the best of clues imo but it squeaks in as ok. Would prefer something along the lines of ‘American, after Henry is brought into line, …’. ‘After’ for ‘post’ is less contentious I would think. More a quibble than a disagreement.
I forwent the guess and followed the logic of the clue and got 100% on the app. Hard or easy it took me a while. Last ones in were ENS which is new and SNAKE EYES which I know well but could not see for ‘the London area’. Favourite clues – HIPSTER, RHEUMATICKY, HUNT and POSER and the references to the land – MOORS, HEATH and MEADOWS. Thanks Phi. I couldn’t fully parse APOSTROPHE (I had the ‘h’ in rope) or OXYGEN MASK (it was either ‘mask’ or ‘tank’) but it seems I was in good company. Thanks RR. .
It’s hardly surprising that you would pass on the theme today. The winners of Mastermind offer a collection of surnames right out of the dictionary and there are nine here: FOLLOWS, DUNNING, HART, HUNT, RAW, MEADOWS, HEATH, HONEY, GROUT.
I never see the theme anyway, let alone this one. I had oxygen tent, now superseded by oxygen masks andI got snake eyes from the cryptics, but it was only when I read the blog that I understood (1a past tense), similarly with APOSTROPHE and a few others.