Independent 11,486 by Phi

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It’s Phi-day again.

Another fun puzzle from Phi with a few unusual words (for us) which make us wonder if there might be one of Phi’s rather obscure themes, or maybe he is challenging himself with the two 14-letter and two 13-letter entries in a very solver-friendly grid.

We are puzzled by the reference in 2d to Bertie Wooster (surely a good subject for a theme?). We’re not familiar with the PG Wodehouse books, but a quick electronic search hasn’t revealed any connections – was his 24ac called 13ac?

We also wonder why Phi chose the rather unusual (for us) entry at 27ac when ‘plague’ would have fitted the bill? We nearly always learn something new from crosswords – along with 5d and 17ac it is one of our new words for today.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Doctor runs into study regarding recent developments (6)
MODERN

MO (medical officer – ‘doctor’) + R (runs) in DEN (study)

4. Repelled moral filth seen around American correspondence (6)
EMAILS

A reversal (‘repelled’) of SLIME (moral filth) round A (American)

10. Market’s latest annoyance: pound (5)
THUMP

T (last or ‘latest’ letter or market) + HUMP (annoyance, as in ‘have the hump’)

11. Bad behaviour represented in dive log (9)
EVILDOING

An anagram (‘represented’) of IN DIVE LOG

12. Retired and free to embrace earliest woman recalled from the past (9)
RETRIEVED

RET (retired) RID (free) round or ’embracing’ EVE (earliest woman, according to the Bible)

13. Acknowledgment of hearing I returned aboard expensive car (5)
ROGER

A reversal (‘returned’) of EGO (I) in or ‘aboard’ RR (Rolls Royce – ‘expensive car’)

14. Like many passwords that will activate a plural machine (14)
ALPHANUMERICAL

An anagram (‘that will activate’) of A PLURAL MACHINE

17. Disturbed pools and muscular carp initially offering cerebral connection (6,8)
CORPUS CALLOSUM

An anagram (‘disturbed’) of POOLS, MUSCULAR and C (first or ‘initial’ letter of carp) – we had to check this when we had all the crossing letters – a new phrase for us

21. Father avoiding wild prank (5)
ANTIC

frANTIC (wild) without or ‘avoiding’ ‘fr’ (father)

22. Like mocking humour, misinterpreted as racialist (9)
SATIRICAL

An anagram (‘misinterpreted as’) of RACIALIST

24. Driver‘s joking about Universal Europe (9)
CHAUFFEUR

CHAFF (‘joking’ – light banter) round U (universal) + EUR (Europe)

25. Minor criminal finally is appearing in court (1-4)
C-LIST

L (last or ‘final’ letter of criminal) IS appearing’ in CT (court)

26. Channel or river filled with fish? On the contrary (6)
TRENCH

‘On the contrary’ in the clue tells us that TENCH (fish) is round or ‘filled with’ R (river) instead of the other way round

27. A Government in the grip of Conservative nonsense (6)
BLAGUE

A G (government) in ‘the grip of’ BLUE (Conservative) – a new word for us

DOWN
1. Associate turned over hideaway to find stuff (8)
MATERIAL

MATE (associate) + a reversal (‘turned over’) of LAIR (hideaway)

2. Put off Duke and one of Wooster’s relatives? (5)
DAUNT

D (duke) AUNT (one of Wooster’s relatives?) – we’re not well up on the Jeeves / Bertie Wooster stories, but apparently Aunt Agatha is a recurring character in them. Why did Phi choose Wooster’s aunt for the wordplay – is this a hint at a theme?

3. Answer cut short – I caught answer just the same (7)
REPLICA

REPLy (answer) missing the last letter or ‘cut short’ + I C (caught) A (answer)

5. Wild never-ending monsoon around university city in India (7)
MADURAI

MAD (wild) RAIn (monsoon) missing the last letter or ‘never-ending’ round U (university) – we had to check this one

6. Transparent sheets of mica? I must have wrong transparent stuff (9)
ISINGLASS

I + SIN (wrong) + GLASS (transparent stuff)

7. America upset over homosexual embracing Republican? It’s sweet (6)
SUGARY

A reversal (‘upset’) of US (America) + GAY (homosexual) round or ’embracing’ R (Republican)

8. Shy, extremely shy, needing support – one’s subject to transient impulses (7,6)
NERVOUS SYSTEM

NERVOUS (shy) ShY (first and last letters or ‘extremes’) STEM (support)

9. Media-led riots, severe, around Arab regions? (6,7)
MIDDLE EASTERN

An anagram (‘riots’) of MEDIA-LED + STERN (severe)

15. Distraught at reports? Distraught (9)
PROSTRATE

An anagram (‘distraught’) of AT REPORTS – a new meaning for us

16. Breakfast item? Some rejecting seconds leading to landlord ditching recipe (8)
OMELETTE

sOME missing or ‘rejecting’ ‘s’ (seconds) + LETTEr (landlord – someone who ‘lets’ property) missing or ‘ditching’ ‘r’ (recipe)

18. Peaceful soft account, provided one’s intervening (7)
PACIFIC

P (soft) ACC (account) with IF (providing) I (one) inside or ‘intervening’

19. Like songs I start to recall in delicate line that’s elevated (7)
LYRICAL

A reversal (‘that’s elevated’) of I R (first letter or ‘start’ of recall) in LACY (delicate) L (line)

20. Symbolic item, origin of main course (6)
MASCOT

M (first letter or ‘origin’ of main) ASCOT (‘course’ – the racecourse)

23. Mountaineering? I’m beginning to bottle, slipping away? Hang on (5)
CLING

CLimbING (mountaineering?) with I’m b (first letter or beginning’ of bottle) omitted or ‘slipping away’

 

16 comments on “Independent 11,486 by Phi”

  1. Phi on good form, today, so yes one wonders if there is a theme. But I can spot no nina or anything connecting the solutions. I suspect the Wooster reference is merely a convenient way of getting [D]AUNT – Bertie was blessed with several. I did wonder if there was a theme around repetition at one point with four down clues all featuring the device.

    Ticks for me include THUMP, ANTIC, TRENCH, MATERIAL, SUGARY, PROSTRATE, OMELETTE and MASCOT. The only one I didn’t like was CORPUS CALLOSUM which, I suspect, was forced and Phi’s done the best he can with it. But, then, it will probably turn out to be the key word to a stunning hidden theme that I have totally failed to clock.

    Thanks Phi and B&J

  3. The CORPUS CALLOSUM can be severed to prevent epilepsy, but then the two hemispheres function separately.
    Sperry experimented on cats – Don’t tell Kitty.

  4. I’m reminded of this
    ‘The Man with Two Brains is a 1983 American science fiction black comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner.

  5. That bottom right corner is weird – CLIST & CLING could become CYCLIST & CYCLING
    And the double RICAL – what’s that?

  7. After Bertie’s aunt, I was expecting a Dahlia theme. I am sure Frankie G has uncovered much of the actual theme, but I think there is more to it yet. CLING was a peach of a clue.

  8. Saw the link between the CORPUS CALLOSUM and the NERVOUS SYSTEM but that was as far as I got with the theme. Interesting to see the position of MIDDLE EASTERN in the grid as well. BLAGUE and MADURAI were new to me too, but otherwise a fairly gentle offering from, at least to fill the grid correctly.

    You’re in fine form today, Petert; I prefer Freestone ones myself.

    Thanks to Phi and B&J

  11. The rather unusual grid pattern suggested something was going on but nothing came to mind as a theme – although it seems obvious once it’s pointed out. We found this a bit challenging with the long anagrams and were also held up in the NE corner as we were only familiar with ISINGLASS as a form of gelatine and had to check the mica definition in Chambers. A satisfying solve, though.
    Thanks, Phi and B&J.

  12. Petert@7 – I’ve “uncovered much of the actual theme”? – I wouldn’t be so sure. There’s probably some G&S song that rhymes SATIRICAL and LYRICAL.

  14. Thanks both. Honestly, I am a little confused by a number of the comments here, and whether there is an obvious (or otherwise) theme, but I was very happy to be reminded of The Man with Two Brains, notwithstanding that if feel like the man with half today

  15. Petert@13 – woke up with this jingle, complete with tune, as an EarWorm:
    ‘1 Cal, my pal, lets me be me | Don’t have to worry ’bout one calorie…’
    Google helped me complete it:
    ‘…One-Cal, my pal, sure changed my fun | The number one drink for number one’
    [I needed a “number one” when I woke up]
    Curiously, Wkipedia is shtum on the subject. But it does know about:
    https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Tab_(drink)
    Tab (stylized as TaB) was a diet cola soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company, introduced in 1963 and discontinued in 2020.
    I claim a 60-year anniversary

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