Well this was a tricky Phi-day challenge.
We had to check a number of definitions along the way. Luckily there was the odd ‘easy’ solve such as 22d and 13ac but others such as 19ac and 27ac took much longer. The grid didn’t help with the NE and SW corners only linking to the rest of the puzzle with 1 clue apiece.
However, the clues were smooth as we have come to expect with Phi so we have no other complaints! Regulars will know that Phi often includes a theme. Sometimes they are so obscure that only Phi is party to the fun as he uses them to give some structure to the puzzle at the start. With some odd entries 28ac and 19ac for example, we are pretty sure that something is going on but we cannot find anything.
Having said that, we solved the puzzle so knowledge of any possible theme is not necessary – which is how we like it.
DOES (cleans) around M (last letter or ‘rear’ of room) + TICk (instant) missing the last letter or ‘less than’
I (one) GM (Grand Master – ‘leading chess player’) inside or ‘passing through’ STA (station)
I inside or ‘being enthralled by’ ARC (curve) on RAFT (vessel at sea)
MULE (stubborn character) outside or ‘brought about’ DD (couple of days)
An anagram ‘deterioration’ of THATCHING and W (with)
D (director) behind WAN (sickly)
MA (mother) KING (leader) M (married) ONE Y (year)
HOoT (comedy item) missing one of the ‘O’s or ‘half hearted’
NO (excluding) W (Welsh)
RAF (airmen) LOR’ (crikey) in an anagram (‘stretchy’) of LATEX. We had to check the definition here – extrafloral means situated outside a flower or not in a flower
Hidden (‘only some’) in parT OF Useful
ON (working) SEC (short time) inside or ‘filling’ CRATE (box)
O (old) + an anagram (‘giving it a new look’) of REVUE
EG (say) I (one) MEN (soldiers) with RT (right) outside
H (heroin) inside STICK (criticism)
N (knight) + RAN (hurried) reversed or going ‘west’ inside STAY (holiday). Another one that needed checking – The Stannaries is a tin-mining district in Cornwall. ‘Stann-‘ signifies tin apparently according to Chambers.
DIN (racket) around or ‘encompassing’ a reversal of cAR without the first letter or ‘not front’
RAG (University event) after or ‘supporting’ (in a down clue) MO (second). Do they still have Rag weeks at universities anymore?
SEER (observer) round or ‘snatching’ CRU (vintage) TIN (container)
A + MM (money twice or ‘doubled’) in INFLATION (price increases) Thanks stevo
First letters (‘at the outset’) of That Has Undertones Dwindling
GOATHERd (farm worker) missing the last letter or ‘mostly’ around or ‘concealing’ D F (first letters or ‘sources’ of Dairy Feed)
ANAL (obsessive) about EC (city) DOT (spot)
SCAN (look over) and an anagram (‘misrepresented’) of THE DEALS. Another one that needed checking!
BYE (extra as in cricket) LECTION (reading)
MO (doctor) and an anagram (‘needing treatment’) of ON TRUSS
WI-FI (network set-up) round RU (Rugby Union) inside or ‘included in’ KIT (equipment)
AA (motorists’ group) around or ‘securing’ RENt (payment) missing last letter or ‘reduced’
sENTRY (perhaps an ‘element’ of night-watch – 12ac) missing first letter or ‘not opening’
A reversal (‘rising’) of C (cold) IRE (fury). Eric obviously refers to Eric Morecambe.
Very good. Very Phi. Happy to see it was tricky for the bloggers. I thought so too. Could not parse BY-ELECTION. Thought it was cryptic def. Doing some extra reading by choice. The joys of being a greenhorn. Thanks for that. Found STANNARY in a word search and then what it meant online. My toppie is ANECDOTAL, initially thinking homonym, ‘according to reports’. 4d was easy enough to solve but passion being synonymous with inflammation put me off breakfast. Heat of a different kind. C’est la vie. Thanks for the blog and the workout.
Our Economic History course at school included the stannary towns, which were also in Devon, so I had no difficuty with that. Like Sofamore I couldn’t parse BY-ELECTION. Otherwise all slipped in very smoothly, so thanks Phi and B&J.
Thanks, Phi and B&J! Enjoyed the puzzle and the blog!
There’s a tip of the hat to a man in a hat…
Terry Pratchett novels?
MAKING MONEY
MONSTROUS REGIMENT
NIGHT WATCH
ERIC & THUD too
Excellent, FrankieG!
Able to crack the cryptic message of Phi@4?
He always wore a hat.
The first Discworld novel came out in 1983, so a 40th anniversary.
Makes a change from 50-year-old LPs. 🙂
Thanks both. Made uninhibited progress whilst needing to check a few answers e.g. STANNARY and SHTICK, and confidently entered DOMESTIC whilst being uncertain how ‘cleans’ and ‘does’ are synonyms
A perfect Phi workout on Phiday, and all is right in the world. As with my fellow solvers, couldn’t parse BY-ELECTION. Hat tip to STANNARY, which as an American I had never heard of but had sufficiently clear wordplay that I could get it – makes the puzzle more inclusive. Thanks to Phi and B&J!
TFO@11. British middle-class expression referring to someone who works as a cleaner “she does for mrs brown”.
All enjoyable and informative today. Never heard of stannary but tin being Sn I suppose that makes sense. Tough going too.
Thanks both
Stannary comes from Latin stannum = tin, from which we get the chemical symbol Sn, which sometimes crops up in wordplay.
We didn’t find this particularly tricky; in fact we breezed through it in a couple of passes, only needing to check in Chambers that EXTRAFLORAL was a word. Lots to like, too, such as SCRUTINEER, BY-ELECTION and STANNARY. Didn’t spot the theme but that’s not surprising as we’re not into Discworld.
Thanks, Phi and B&J.
Xmac@13 Many thanks. Your explanation ‘does’ for me.
Spotted the theme fairly early but still got stuck towards the end. I was a big fan of Discworld, bought the first one back in 1987 after all my friends telling me all about it.
For once I spotted the theme, but that meant 7d had to be Hogfather, which didn’t quite work. Truly, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Excellent and there was me looking for more links to John Knox.
TFO@11: The expression “A lady who does” describes a cleaner.
Pedantic point: The explanation for 4D should be A MM in INFLATION, giving INFLAMMATION
Thanks to everyone including Phi for the hints and comments. We have been walking the Norfolk Coastal Path so have been a bit out of touch after the initial posting.
Thanks stevo – we will amend the blog accordingly.
Petert@19 – have you spotted an inadvertent mini-theme? The reference to Liz in 15d might round it off!