Phi is in his usual place in the Independent roster – Friday.
I seem to have used more colours than usual in this blog which indicates that this is a puzzle with some quite intricate wordplay.
I don’t think there is a theme in the puzzle, but Phi often has some well hidden themes, so I may well be wrong.
I liked the clue using the phrase ‘tuna melts’ as melts was an appropriate anagram indicator.
There were a couple of entries that don’t feature often (if at all) in my vocabulary – ANIMADVERSION and EQUIDIFFERENT, but the wordplay for each was quite clear. I have seen A FORTIORI and TETRA more often in barred crosswords than blocked ones, but again both were clued clearly.
‘a lot of’ and ‘over’ were used in similar fashion in the wordplay twice in the down clues
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Surprise to get uncapped wine (4)
HOCK (type of wine) SHOCK (surprise) excluding the first letter (to get uncapped) S HOCK |
| 3 | Theatre-worker‘s hour after time moving into position (5,4)
STAGE HAND (theatre-worker) (AGE [time {period}] + H [hour]) contained in (moving into) STAND (position) ST (AGE H) AND |
| 8/23 | In favour of turning in coalmine dividend (6)
PRO[FIT] (dividend) FOR (in favour of) reversed (turning) contained in (in) PIT (coalmine) P (ROF<) IT |
| 9 | Devours tuna melts, keen to try something unusual? (11)
ADVENTUROUS (ready to incur risk; keen to try something unusual) Anagram of (melts) DEVOURS TUNA ADVENTUROUS* |
| 10 | Crudely insolent about article regarding stress (9)
TENSIONAL (relating to strain; regarding stress) Anagram of (crudely) INSOLENT containing (about) A (indefinite article) TENSION (A) L* |
| 11 | Excessive documentation returned, leading to more of the same (5)
DITTO (the same thing; more of the same) (OTT [over the top; excessive] + ID [identity papers; documentation]) all reversed (returned) (DI TTO)< |
| 12 | Bread from birdhouse Mark’s brought into lounge (7,4)
COTTAGE LOAF (bread shaped as a smaller lump on the top of a bigger one) (TAG [mark] contained in [brought into] COTE [place of shelter for birds, particularly doves; birdhouse]) + LOAF (stand idly; lounge) COT (TAG) E LOAF |
| 15 | See 16
[PAN] OUT |
| 16/15 | Develop move in cinematography (3,3)
PAN [OUT] (To move [a film camera] or [of a film camera] to be moved so as to follow a moving object or obtain a panoramic effect) PAN OUT (expand on; develop) double definition PAN OUT |
| 17 | Unveils most of model after recasting statue (5,2,4)
VENUS DE MILO (ancient Greek sculpture that was created by Alexandros of Antioch during the Hellenistic period, sometime between 150 and 125 BC; statue) Anagram of (after recasting) UNVEILS and MODEL excluding the last letter (most of) L VENUS DE MILO* |
| 19 | German holding on? He’s not holding on (5)
GONER (some who has died; one who is no longer holding on) GER (German) containing (holding) ON G (ON) ER |
| 20 | The official or executive finally delivering in that case (9)
THEREFORE (for that reason; in that case) THE + REF (REFeree [official]) + OR + E (executive, as in CEO [Chief Executive Officer]) THE REF OR E |
| 22 | Leaders of troops filling suitable job (11)
APPOINTMENT (position; job) POINT MEN (soldiers at the head of a body of troops or patrol; leaders of troops) contained in (filling) APT (suitable) AP (POINT MEN) T |
| 23 | See 8
[PRO]FIT |
| 24 | Fabulous support given to finish a railway (9)
LEGENDARY (fabulous) LEG (a support) + END (finish) + A + RY (railway) LEG END A RY |
| 25 | Source of fibres, fine and loose (4)
FLAX (fibres of the plant Linum; source of fibres) F (fine) + LAX (loose) F LAX |
| Down | |
| 1 | That guy’s hopeless, ignoring article about the liver (7)
HEPATIC (relating to the liver) HE (that guy) + PATHETIC (hopeless) excluding (ignoring) THE (definite article) HE PATIC |
| 2 | Be jubilant over new expensive headgear (5)
CROWN (a circular head ornament, worn especially as a mark of honour; the diadem or state-cap of royalty; expensive headgear) CROW (be jubilant) + N (new) – this being a down entry the letters in CROW are placed over the N (new) CROW N |
| 3 | It’s no great age: still time to get noticed externally (9)
SEVENTEEN (a young age; it’s no great age) (EVEN [ calm; still] + T [time]) contained in (to get … externally) SEEN (noticed) S (EVEN T) EEN |
| 4 | Cancel regular publication, missing one source of argument (5)
ANNUL (cancel) ANNUAL (publication issued regularly [once a year]) excluding (missing) A (first letter of [source of] ARGUMENT) – there are two As in ANNUAL, so the clue asks us to exclude the relevant one ANNUL |
| 5 | English pound provided that, free to vary, not vacantly showing identical variability (13)
EQUIDIFFERENT (having equal differences; showing identical variability) E (English) + QUID (slang for a pound sterling) + IF (provided that) + an anagram of (to vary) + NT (letters remaining in NOT when the middle letter O is removed [vacantly]) E QUID IF FERE* NT |
| 6 | Air of trio playing – more sound? (1,8)
A FORTIORI (Latin for ‘with stronger reason’; more sound) Anagram of (playing) AIR OF TRIO A FORTIORI* |
| 7 | Misrepresent a lot of party upset over legal wrong (7)
DISTORT (misrepresent) DIS (three of the five letters of [a lot of] DISCO [party]) + TORT (legal term for a wrong) – another use of ‘over’ in a down entry DIS TORT |
| 9 | Start to develop interpretation after a lot of brute criticism (13)
ANIMADVERSION (censure; criticism) ANIMAL (brute) excluding the final letter (a lot of) L + D (first letter of [start to] DEVELOP) + VERSION (an interpretation) ANIMA D VERSION |
| 13 | Quantity of beer popular with doctor, say? It sets the tone (6,3)
TUNING PEG (a PEG on a musical instrument around which the end of a string is wound and by which it is TUNEd) TUN (obsolete liquid measure equivalent to 216 gallons of ale) + IN (popular) + GP (general practitioner; doctor) + E.G. (for example, say) TUN IN G P EG |
| 14 | Commotion, with lecturer interrupting worried boy rudely (9)
OBSCENELY (rudely) (SCENE [commotion] + L [lecturer]) contained in (interrupting) an anagram of (worried) BOY OB (SCENE L) Y* |
| 16 | Style of hair that’s something difficult to achieve with dog (7)
PIGTAIL (hair style where the hair of the head is plaited behind or at the side) PIG (something very difficult to achieve) + TAIL (follow; dog) PIG TAIL |
| 18 | Ask too much of public – a sign of error (7)
OVERTAX (ask too much of) OVERT (public) + A + X (a symbol indicating a mistake) OVERT A X |
| 20 | Fish – trawler disposing of contents into the drink (5)
TETRA (any of various species of tropical freshwater fish of the family Characidae) TR (letters remaining in TRAWLER when the central letters are removed [disposing of contents]) contained in (into) TEA (drink) TE (TR) A |
| 21 | Not wanting to eat anything? Not quite – tripe etc will suffice (5)
OFFAL (an edible part cut off in dressing a carcase, esp entrails, heart, liver, kidney, tongue, etc; like tripe) OFF ALL (not wanting to eat anything) excluding the final letter (not quite) L OFF AL |
In 7d, I believe DIS is SIDe<
Liked the misleading ‘PRO’ in PROFIT.
DISTORT: Parsed as Hovis did.
Thanks, Phi and duncanshiell
Hovis @ 1 and KVa @ 2
Thanks both – I obviously got the first bit of 7 down wrong. I overlooked the word ;upset ;and was looking at DIS rather than SID
Not knowing TETRA I started off with SETRA but otherwise this one sailed in most agreeably in under 25 minutes – a very good time for me.
Was pleased to work out EQUIDIFFERENT from the wordplay as it’s not something I’d come across. Presumably a statistical term?
Tx Phi and duncanshiell.
Excellent. I liked TUNING PEG. A good example of the way the clues fell into place from the parsing.
I was another who enjoyed building up EQUIDIFFERENT and TUNING PEG. As so often I tried to construct a non-existent theme. We had Venus de Milo and then the Willendorf Venus is shaped like a cottage loaf, but I couldn’t think of a Venus in pigtails.
Petert@6
I don’t know about a PIG TAIL but there’s a DOG END in column 6!
We thought the unusual grid might presage some special theme but we can’t see anything. Anyway, a pleasant solve over a pub lunch although the two 13-letter answers were unfamiliar. TUNING PEG was our favourite.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan
No theme this week. Not sure the grid would look so unusual had I managed to get 10-letter words in the first and last rows, but ‘‘twas not to be.
Thanks, Phi and duncanshiell. Some textbook unfamiliar-word-clued-really-well examples here, I thought.
I’m feeling smug that, knowing “a priori” and “a posteriori”, I deduced “a fortiori” from forte, and there it was!