A somewhat tricky Phiday challenge, or at least I thought so.
A few unfamiliar words here, particularly 12a which is just a rather odd term, though it did ring a bell when I finally saw it. Also several old favourites: stud = boss, loon = diver, IT = SA, US city = NY, and so on. 2d was a bit disappointing (a lot of padding in the surface, and a second use of “heartless”), but I liked the almost-straight story in 20a and laughed at 15d.
Phi usually includes some sort of theme or hidden message; this time he’s making his point loud and clear in some of the unchecked rows. We agree, Phi – thanks for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PLEA |
Request place to be given to each (4)
|
| PL (abbreviation for place) + EA (abbreviation for each). | ||
| 4 | COLLATERAL |
Line subsequently adopted in fuel asset (10)
|
| L (line) + LATER (subsequently), inserted into (adopted in) COAL (fuel).
Collateral = an asset regarded as security for a loan. |
||
| 9 | MOCK-HEROIC |
Wayward Romeo, with chick, exaggerating virility? (4-6)
|
| Anagram (wayward) of ROMEO + CHICK. | ||
| 10 | KEPI |
Special headgear? Some take pictures (4)
|
| Hidden answer (some . . .) in [ta]KE PI[ctures].
A flat-topped cap, traditionally part of French police and military uniforms. |
||
| 11 | DEVOUT |
Part of England not acceptable? Not acceptable, and that’s genuine (6)
|
| DEV[on] (a county in England) without ON (acceptable, though the term is usually used in the negative as in “that’s just not on!”), then OUT (not acceptable, as in “ruled out”).
As in a devout / genuine believer. |
||
| 12 | BINNACLE |
British mountain peak not foremost place for navigational equipment (8)
|
| B (British) + [p]INNACLE (mountain peak) without its first letter (foremost).
A stand on the deck of a ship, containing the ship’s compass and sometimes other navigational instruments. |
||
| 14 | COLLARLESS |
Carol sells shifts resembling T-shirts? (10)
|
| Anagram (shifts) of CAROL SELLS. | ||
| 16 | TOOL |
Twisting spoils piece of equipment (4)
|
| LOOT (spoils, as in “the spoils of war”) reversed (twisting). | ||
| 17 | STUD |
Mostly pay attention to boss (4)
|
| STUD[y] (pay attention to), without the last letter (mostly).
Stud = boss = raised bump on a surface. |
||
| 18 | THEOLOGIAN |
Articles about old record, one produced by religious expert (10)
|
| THE + AN (definite and indefinite articles), around O (old) + LOG (record) + I (one in Roman numerals). | ||
| 20 | LINEARLY |
Story almost – almost – without digressions? (8)
|
| LI[e] (story) without the last letter (almost), then NEARLY (almost). | ||
| 21 | NUANCE |
Subtlety is absent in bore? (6)
|
| NU[is]ANCE (bore, as a noun = something annoying) with the IS absent. | ||
| 23 | UGLY |
Offensive, unfeeling, lousy, heartless (4)
|
| U[nfeelin]G + L[ous]Y without the inner letters (heartless).
As in “an ugly rumour”, perhaps. |
||
| 25 | FORTEPIANO |
Perforation, with central piece removed, ruined early keyboard instrument (10)
|
| Anagram (ruined) of PERFO[r]ATION with its central letter removed.
Early version of what became more widely known as a “pianoforte” and then shortened to “piano”. |
||
| 27 | BROADSHEET |
‘Minor highway that man included in collection’: newspaper (10)
|
| B-ROAD (minor highway, identified on UK maps with a road number preceded by B), then HE (that man) included in SET (collection). | ||
| 28 | MACE |
Millions associated with top-level club (4)
|
| M (abbreviation for millions) + ACE (top-level = excellent).
A blunt weapon for hitting people, or a ceremonial version of it. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | LOOSE |
Further appearance of 5 some heartlessly termed slack (5)
|
| LOO (5 = reference to 5 down) + S[om]E without the inner letters (heartlessly). “Further appearance” and “termed” seem to be just padding for the sake of the surface. | ||
| 3 | ACKNOWLEDGE |
Admit top missing from equipment currently on shelf (11)
|
| [t]ACK (equipment, especially for horse-riding: saddle, bridle etc) with the first letter (top) missing, then NOW (currently) + LEDGE (shelf). | ||
| 4 | CREATOR |
Carbon promoted by nuclear installation designer (7)
|
| REACTOR (nuclear installation), with the C (chemical symbol for carbon) “promoted” to the top. | ||
| 5 | LOO |
Curtailment of diver’s facilities (3)
|
| LOO[n] (US name for an aquatic bird known in the UK as a diver), without its last letter (curtailment).
Facilities, as in “can I use the facilities?” = euphemism for toilet = loo. |
||
| 6 | ASCENDS |
Mounts donkey, keeping colt to last (7)
|
| ASS (donkey), containing (keeping) C (abbreviation for colt, in horse-racing terminology) + END (last). | ||
| 7 | ESK |
Watercourse in the Skerries (3)
|
| Hidden answer (in . . .) in [th]E SK[erries].
Any one of several rivers with that name in the UK and elsewhere. |
||
| 8 | APPALOOSA |
Horse loves it, after shock (9)
|
| OO (O = zero = love in tennis scoring, so OO = loves) + SA (sex appeal = “it”), after APPAL (shock, as a verb).
An American horse breed with a spotted coat. |
||
| 12 | BREWERY |
By importing lager, finally we’re stirring drinks provider (7)
|
| BY, containing (importing) the last letter (finally) of [lage]R + an anagram (stirring) of WE’RE. | ||
| 13 | ASTIGMATISM |
A nasty blemish is found in trademark – one’s not looking one’s best with it (11)
|
| A + STIGMA (nasty blemish), then IS found in TM (abbreviation for trademark).
An eyesight defect, so someone with it doesn’t look (see) as well as they might otherwise. |
||
| 15 | OUTRIGGER |
Racing boat a stimulus for the Dark Blues? (9)
|
| Dark Blues = Oxford University sports teams, from their traditional kit colour (as opposed to the “Light Blue” of Cambridge); so a stimulus for them might be an OU TRIGGER.
In full “outrigger boat” = with one or more external floats parallel to the main hull, for increased stability. |
||
| 18 | TARIFFS |
Arguments about Arab customs (7)
|
| TIFFS (arguments) around AR (Ar = abbreviation for Arab).
Customs = tariffs payable on imported or exported goods. |
||
| 19 | LENIENT |
Note that is penned in Church season, allowing freedom? (7)
|
| N (note) + IE (i.e. = Latin id est = that is), contained (penned) in LENT (Church season leading up to Easter). | ||
| 22 | CYNIC |
Army boss, seizing US city, turning pessimistic (5)
|
| CIC (Commander-In-Chief = army boss), containing (seizing) NY (New York = US city) reversed (turning). | ||
| 24 | YEA |
Certainly English used in description of teen fiction? (3)
|
| E (abbreviation for English) in YA (Young Adult = description of fiction written for teenagers). | ||
| 26 | RUE |
Regret being harsh, expelling daughter (3)
|
| RU[d]E (harsh) without the D (abbreviation for daughter). |
Thanks both. Had limited time today so was assisted a little right at the end, notably for DEVOUT wherein I found the definition loose, and was obsessed with removing ‘ok’ from somewhere in England, which hardly narrowed the options. Of course, LOO went in unparsed – I struggle with bird names even before we start on American variants, ASTIGMATISM my favourite, a word and a condition I have known from the age of 7 which remarkably has improved since I was advised not to wear glasses to correct it
The blog’s so good, there is nothing left to say. C for colt was another one-letter substitution that I can add to the list. Thanks, both for the fun.
Agree about the trickiness today. I assumed the wording of 2d was just a tease for those who like to point out any repetition in clues.
A bit tricky in places but we had no real problems. Some entries had to wait till we got a few crossing letters – such as FORTEPIANO where our first thoughts were to rather earlier instruments such as the clavichord. Interested to see BINNACLE as we tackled a Serpent puzzle in the i recently which had ‘pinnacle’ as one entry but which we managed to get as ‘binnacle’.
We looked for a nina but failed to see it – obviously looking in the wrong place.
Thanks, Phi and Quirister
A few tricky words that needed checking in Chambers but all very fair. We looked for a NINA or theme and spotted CROSS and FUN but annoyingly we missed the rest.
Thanks Phi and Quirister – have a good weekend.
Crosswords ARE fun, and this one was. Phi just keeps doing it! A bit tricky, as Quirister says, but all fair. Had to check the horse. Thanks to both. More comments, surely?
DEVOUT stumped me, but the rest eventually yielded. ASTIGMATISM a favorite. Another tour de force by Phi, and many thanks to Quipster for the blog!