Phi has provided this year’s Good Friday puzzle for our enjoyment, whether our Easter break has already begun or not.
I found this to be a medium-difficulty puzzle by Phi standards. I think that I have managed to solve and parse everything to my satisfaction, although understanding the definition at 4 and the wordplay at 12 required quite a bit of head-scratching.
My favourite clues today are 13, 14 and 18, all for smoothness of surface reading; and 19, for making me laugh out loud when the penny dropped.
I suspect that there is a theme here involving suffixing certain entries with days of the week to form special days or festivals, such as Palm (=entry at 15) Sunday, Maundy (=21) Thursday, Good (=24) Friday …
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | UNSOLICITED | Questionably sound to introduce legal English without forewarning?
[LICIT (=legal) + E (=English)] in *(SOUND); “questionably” is anagram indicator |
| 07 | FIG | Twisted website image displaying fruit
GIF (=website image); “twisted” indicates reversal; GIF (=Graphics Interchange Format) is a lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images |
| 09 | BLACK | Desperate defender covering line
L (=line) in BACK (=defender, e.g. in rugby); a black situation is hopeless, dismal, hence “desperate” |
| 10 | BRIGADIER | Officer wrong to confiscate equipment? That is right
[RIG (=equipment, kit) in BAD (=wrong)] + I.E. (=that is, id est) + R (=right) |
| 11 | ALUMNI | A student, married, amongst university students once
A + L (=student, i.e. learner) [M (=married) in UNI (=university)] |
| 12 | MARATHON | Drama with transport around afternoon returning – it’s a long-running affair
NOH (=drama, from Japan) + [A (=afternoon, in Chambers) in TRAM (=transport)]; a marathon is a long run, hence “a long running affair”! |
| 14 | SOLSTICE | Time of year closet is turned out
*(CLOSET IS); “turned out” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | PALM | Award China’s given to Malta
PAL (=China, i.e. China plate in Cockney rhyming slang) + M (=Malta, in IVR); a palm is a leaf of the palm tree carried as a token of victory, hence award, e.g. Palme d’Or |
| 18 | HOLY | Religious symbol of Christmas not bearing repetition
HOL<l>Y (=symbol of Christmas); “not bearing repetition” means the double “l” becomes a single “l”! |
| 19 | CHASTITY | Historically have to invade town? Not having it!
HAST (=historically have, i.e. obsolete form) in CITY (=town); the “it” of the definition is sex! |
| 22 | LA BOHÈME | Labour with overture to opera: that chap joined the writer to deliver opera
LAB (=Labour, in politics) + O<pera> (“overture to” means first letter only) + HE (=that chap) + ME (=the writer, i.e. Phi); the reference is to the 1895 opera by Puccini |
| 23 | UGANDA | African country also occupying centre of huge area
AND (=also) in [<h>UG<e> (“centre of” means middle letters only) + A (=area)] |
| 25 | MARCO POLO | Traveller’s company barging in to spoil game
CO (=company) in [MAR (=to spoil) + POLO (=game)]; the reference is to Italian explorer Marco Polo (1254-1324) |
| 26 | AGAIN | Australian accompanying Australian in drink, not for the first time
A (=Australian) + [A (=Australian) in GIN (=drink)] |
| 27 | SPY | See terms in policies stop trickery
<policie>S <sto>P <tricker>Y; “terms in” means last letters only |
| 28 | EXPEDIENTLY | Next I yelped, suffering appropriately
*(NEXT I YELPED); “suffering” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01 | UPBEAT | Buoyant United lead, with worry to follow
U (=United, as in Man U) + Pb (=lead, i.e. chemical symbol) + EAT (=worry) |
| 02 | STATUE OF LIBERTY | A lofty tribute’s constructed, with initiation of Eiffel – this?
E<iffel> (“initiation of” means first letter only) in *(A LOFTY TRIBUTE’S); “constructed” is anagram indicator; French engineer Gustave Eiffel designed the metallic structure of the Statue of Liberty |
| 03 | LIKENESS | Enjoy Scottish location’s photograph?
LIKE (=enjoy) + NESS (=Scottish location, i.e. Loch Ness) |
| 04 | CUBE | Prompt in securing book 8?
B (=book) in CUE (=prompt, for actor); 8 is the cube of 2, i.e. 2 x 2 x 2 = 8 |
| 05 | TRILATERAL | Covering three bodies subsequently engaged in legal action
LATER (=subsequently) in TRIAL (=legal action); e.g. trilateral negotiations involve three bodies |
| 06 | DRAMAS | Male appearing in the German plays
RAM (=male, of e.g. sheep) in DAS (=the German, i.e. a German word for the, as in das Haus) |
| 07 | FLIGHT ATTENDANT | Substantial care for soldier blocked by trivial person on plane
LIGHT (=trivial, not serious) in [FAT (=substantial, of e.g. salary) + TEND (=care for, nurse) + ANT (=soldier)] |
| 08 | GERONIMO | Apache leader brought up nothing unimportant, say
O (=nothing, pictorially) + MINOR (=unimportant) + E.G. (=say, for example); “brought up” indicates vertical reversal |
| 13 | NINCOMPOOP | Idiot with no work securing endless pay and power
[INCOM<e> (=pay; “endless” means last letter dropped) + P (=power, in physics)] in [NO + OP (=work, i.e. opus)] |
| 16 | THALAMUS | Part of brain that mostly inverted everything? Nearly everything
THA<t> (“mostly” means last letter dropped) + LAMUS (SUM (=everything, total) + AL<l> (=everything; “nearly” means last letter dropped); “inverted” indicates reversal); the thalamus is the part of the midbrain where the optic nerve emerges |
| 17 | STAGNATE | Fail to develop, having a Nationalist supporting Government in the country
[A + G (=government) + N (=Nationalist)] in STATE (=the country) |
| 20 | CHROME | Metal church where the Church holds sway?
CH (=church, i.e. abbreviation) + ROME (=where the (Roman Catholic) Church holds sway) |
| 21 | MAUNDY | Furious about French article on variable washing of feet
[UN (=French article, i.e. a French word for a) in MAD (=furious)] + Y (=variable, in algebra); maundy is the religious ceremony of washing the feet of the poor |
| 24 | GOOD | Excellent party going belly-up? Leave before that
GO (=leave) + OD (DO=party; “going belly-up” indicates vertical reversal) |
Very enjoyable. I had never heard of FIG Tuesday. A Good Friday puzzle in both senses. Thanks.
This one went in mostly without much ado but actually I ended up with a DNF after chucking in HALO for 18a. I also managed to misspell THALAMUS which left me unable to parse it. Hadn’t even attempted to see the wordplay for MARATHON so thanks to the blog for explaining it.
Tx Phi and RR.
I liked the Easter related theme for this GOOD Friday puzzle as noted by Petert @1. Thanks for explaining THALAMUS and MARATHON which I couldn’t parse properly. The THALAMUS sits just above the midbrain and you could argue the toss about whether the optic nerve actually emerges from it, rather than being an important relay point in the path of the nerve between the eye and the cerebral cortex, but that’s as much as I can remember about it these days. Always wondered what MAUNDY meant; now I know.
Thanks to Phi and RR
Yes, medium difficulty. Spotted the theme just in time to help with MAUNDY. Trying to parse MALADY wasn’t getting me anywhere
Thanks Both
Thanks Phi for a nicely crafted crossword. I found this on the easier end of Phi’s spectrum; some of my parsing occurred after I entered my answer from the crossers and definition but everything made sense in the end. Favourites were CHASTITY, UPBEAT, STATUE OF LIBERTY, and LIKENESS. Thanks RR for the blog.
Very enjoyable with some nicely constructed and clever wordplay, as a blogger and rookie setter something I always admire and appreciate.
I was only able to partially parse MARATHON, not surprised on reading the explanation.
Nothing jumped out at me as worthy of special mention, it was all consistently GOOD.
Many thanks Phi and RR for a top puzzle and blog.
Thanks, Phi. Fun but a trifle easy for Friday. Practically a write-in; there was ample subtle wordplay but I tended to overlook it, having quickly entered the solutions.
Absolutely raved through this one. Last week’s Phi we found really tough, but did this in no time, even if we couldn’t paste the LOI of Marathon. Thanks Phi & RR.