Independent 11,588 by Phi

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Our regular Friday setter is here again.

As often with Phi, we have a few unusual words and some slightly tenuous definitions; they’re all more or less justifiable, with the possible exception of “fixed” in 10a, but it depends on your tolerance for these things. I liked 15a for the convincing surface and neat construction, and 26a for the clever anagram and groan-inducing cryptic definition.

Phi’s puzzles usually have some sort of theme or message, but sometimes it’s a private joke that only Phi himself can be expected to understand, or it’s a phrase in the Maori language (he lives in NZ). There may be something here but I have no idea what it might be; let me know if you know better. Thanks Phi as always.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 SECOND BALLOT
Support British to the maximum, dismissing Unionist? It could be decisive (6,6)
SECOND (as a verb = support = give one’s backing to) + B (abbreviation for British) + ALL O[u]T (to the maximum) without the U (abbreviation for Unionist).

A second round of voting, after eliminating the least likely candidate(s), when the first vote has failed to produce a decisive result.
9 ANTIC
Gypsy dodging extravagant caper (5)
[rom]ANTIC (extravagant?), without ROM (a gypsy; more often seen as the plural Roma).
10 SAFETY NET
Security measure fixed, containing iron, beside river (6,3)
SAT (fixed?), containing FE (chemical symbol for iron, from Latin ferrum) + TYNE (river in north-east England). I can see that “sit” can have the sense of resolutely occupying a position and refusing to be moved, but it still seems a bit of a stretch to equate “sat” with “fixed”.
11 LECHERY
Lecturer, jolly, repeated character coming to the fore being lewdness (7)
L (abbreviation for lecturer), then CHEERY (jolly) with one E (the repeated character) moved to the front.
12 SPOUSAL
1D election mostly gripping America, regarding POTUS and FLOTUS? (7)
S (abbreviation for 1d SMALL) + POL[l] (election) without the last letter (mostly), containing USA (America).

The two abbreviations are for the President / First Lady Of The United States – so “regarding a married couple” = spousal.
13 CLIFF
Face piece of film, not quiet, very loud (5)
CLI[p] (a short section taken from a longer film) without the P (p = abbreviation for Italian piano = musical term for quiet), then FF (ff = abbreviation for Italian fortissimo = very loud).

As in “the north face of the Eiger” = a near-vertical wall of rock.
15 LEYLANDII
Mystic line leading to district with two trees (9)
LEY (a straight line between land formations and/or ancient monuments, supposed by some to be significant), before LAND (district) + II (Roman numerals for two).

Fast-growing conifers; often the subject of legal disputes between neighbours, because a leylandii hedge can block a lot of sunlight from a garden.
17 COMPOSURE
Arrive to restrain exhibitionist erasing last of the calm (9)
COME (arrive), containing (to restrain) POS[e]UR (exhibitionist) without the E which is the last letter of [th]E.
18 HARRY
Badger runs and runs into grass (5)
R R (two R = abbreviation for runs, in cricket scoring) inserted into HAY (dried grass).

Badger, as a verb = harry = harass.
19 REMAINS
Stays behind regarding water supply (7)
RE (regarding = on the subject of) + MAINS (public supply of water, electricity etc).
21 FLAT CAP
Uproar about performance overturning working-class symbol (4,3)
FLAP (uproar = disturbance), containing (about) ACT (performance) reversed (overturning).
24 NOVITIATE
Never corrupt a neophyte (9)
NO (no! = never! = a denial) + VITIATE (corrupt = spoil or debase).

Novitiate = neophyte = a novice.
25 GREEN
Information that’s gathered about eco-politician (5)
GEN (slang abbreviation for “general information”) containing (that has gathered . . .) RE (about = on the subject of).

Short for a member of the Green political party.
26 LYCANTHROPIC
Given to wolfing, as it were, chewed up chicory plant (12)
Anagram (chewed up) of CHICORY PLANT.

Cryptic definition: lycanthropic = in the nature of a werewolf = given to wolfing.
DOWN
1 SMALL
Singular set of shops, of little consequence (5)
S (abbreviation for singular) + MALL (a street bordered by shops, or an indoor shopping centre).
2 CATECHISM
City’s first matches, under review, involving one set of questions (9)
First letter of C[ity], then an anagram (under review) of MATCHES, including I (one in Roman numerals).

A statement of belief expressed as a series of questions and answers.
3 NICHE
Fastidious about hospital specialisation? (5)
NICE (in its older sense of precise = fastidious) around H (abbreviation for hospital).
4 BOSSY
Dominant child imprisoning son twice (5)
BOY (child) containing (imprisoning) S S (abbreviation for son, twice).
5 LIFESTYLE
Type of magazine story about spirited student I ignored (9)
LIE (story = slang for an untrue account), around FE[i]STY (spirited) + L (abbreviation for learner, as in L-plate = student) without the letter I.
6 OSTEOPATH
Bad language about writer’s upset medical practitioner (9)
OATH (bad language), around POET’S (writer’s) reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue).
7 ONUS
Deferring onset of intelligence implies responsibility (4)
NOUS (intelligence or common sense), with the first letter (onset) moved one place towards the end (deferred).
8 STULTIFY
Ultimate proviso when entering farm building is blunt (8)
ULT (abbreviation for ultimate, though I’m not sure who would need to use it) + IF (proviso, as in “no ifs, no buts”), inserted into (entering) STY (farm building).

Stultify = blunt, as a verb = to make something ineffective.
13 CICERONE
Cake decorator brought in ice-cream for guide (8)
ICER (someone who puts icing on a cake) brought into CONE (a cone-shaped wafer filled with ice-cream).

A tour guide, especially one giving information about historical sites; named after the Roman orator Cicero.
14 FLORISTRY
Following Asian primate to test expertise in plants (9)
F (abbreviation for following) + LORIS (Asian tree-dwelling primate) + TRY (to test).

I think botanists might dispute whether florists are “experts in plants”, but it’s close enough.
15 LOUISIANA
Oil in USA distributed by American state there (9)
Anagram (distributed) of OIL IN USA, next to A (abbreviation for American).

Extended definition: the state of Lousiana in the USA.
16 DIRT CHEAP
Director’s dreadful pie chart offering minimal layout (4,5)
D (abbreviation for director) + anagram (dreadful) of PIE CHART.

Cryptic definition: layout (or more usually outlay) = money paid to obtain something.
20 MOVE
Shift millions before deliveries curtailed (4)
M (abbreviation for millions), then OVE[r] (in cricket scoring = a sequence of deliveries = balls bowled) without the last letter (curtailed).
21 FLEET
Supports putting restrictions on large navy (5)
FEET (supports, as a noun, for example short legs holding up a piece of furniture) containing (putting restrictions on) L (abbreviation for large).
22 ANGER
Christmas symbol offering no initial passion (5)
[m]ANGER (Christmas symbol) without its initial letter.
23 PANIC
Snap after receiving a new scare (5)
PIC (short for picture = snap = photograph) containing (receiving) A + N (abbreviation for new).

7 comments on “Independent 11,588 by Phi”

  2. FrankieG @1: yes, but that makes it an abbreviation of “ultimo”, not of “ultimate” which doesn’t quite mean the same thing.

  3. Maybe this then: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ult ‘
    Etymology Clipping of ultimate. Noun – ult (plural ults)
    1 (phonology) – The final (ultimate) syllable of a word.
    2 (video games, slang) – An ultimate; the most powerful ability available to a character.
    3 (South Korean idol fandom) – One’s ultimately favorite group or member, i.e. a preference which is never expected to change. ‘

  4. The third definition of “romantic” in my Chambers app is, surprisingly to me, “extravagant, wild”. “Sat” for fixed seems to work better with a Northern “He was sat there..” I found the jolly, lewd lecturer a bit disturbing, though they undoubtedly exist. Thanks, both.

  5. We struggled with this but got there eventually, though we had to confirm LYCANTHROPIC in the dictionary.
    And we thought a few clues were a bit iffy. STULTIFY has already been mentioned and we weren’t happy with NOVITIATE; unless we’ve missed something, ‘novitiate’ is the state of being a novice, not a novice itself.
    Thanks, though to Phi – and, of course, Quirister.

  6. Thanks both. Eventually gave up and sought help, which is a rarity, caused by my lack of knowledge of many of the wordplay components and answers, wherein NOVITIATE took gold medal, as I didn’t know the definition, the answer or the synonym for corrupt, which had successfully drawn me towards trying to form an anagram, the opposite problem prevailing in CATECHISM as ‘under review’ didn’t for one second tempt me to do so.

  7. allan_c @ 5

    Chambers has for NOVITIATE
    1. The state of being a novice, esp in a religious order
    2. The period of being a novice, esp in a religious order
    3. The novices’ quarters in a religious house
    4. A religious novice

    The OED has similar.

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