Our regular Friday setter is here again.
As usual with Phi, we have a few less familiar words (but clearly clued) and some slightly devious definitions. I liked the nervous animal out of its usual habitat in 10a and the apparently self-contradictory 22d; my favourite was the sneaky cryptic definition of 17d, though that’s partly because it matches my own contribution to a local opera company.
Phi usually gets his construction started with some sort of theme or Nina, but I can’t see one here. Perhaps he’ll drop in to tell us. An enjoyable puzzle anyway; thanks Phi as always.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | YEW TREE |
Caught male leaving disturbed cemetery, carrying wide feature of cemeteries? (3,4)
|
| Anagram (disturbed) of [c]E[m]ETERY, without the C (abbreviation for caught, in cricket scoring) and the M (abbreviation for male), containing W (abbreviation for wide, in cricket scoring).
A traditional feature of church graveyards in the UK. |
||
| 10 | AXOLOTL |
Salamander all too unsettled around centre of Texas (7)
|
| Anagram (unsettled) of ALL TOO around the centre letter of [te]X[as]. | ||
| 11 | ANNULMENT |
Cancelling tunnel man dug up (9)
|
| Anagram (dug up) of TUNNEL MAN. | ||
| 12 | PLAIT |
Backed suggestion about the French hairstyle (5)
|
| TIP (suggestion = piece of advice), reversed (backed), around LA (feminine form of “the” in French). | ||
| 13 | EXACTNESS |
Precision in disposal of next cases (9)
|
| Anagram (disposal = putting in place) of NEXT CASES. | ||
| 15 | SUSHI |
Rice dish – mum’s invested in outfit almost completely (5)
|
| SH (mum = slang for not saying anything) in SUI[t] (outfit) without the last letter (almost completely). | ||
| 16 | BAKEWELL PUDDING |
Dessert successfully brought to couch potato after work in kitchen (8,7)
|
| WELL (as in “well done” = successfully) + PUDDING (couch potato = slang for an overweight lazy person, if we’re allowed to call them that these days), after BAKE (to cook food in an oven = work in kitchen).
An earlier version of Bakewell tart; they’re not quite the same but they both include pastry, jam and an almond filling. |
||
| 19 | NADIR |
North America, mostly dreadful, the worst place (5)
|
| NA (abbreviation for North America) + DIR[e] (dreadful) without the last letter (mostly). | ||
| 21/8 | MOONLIGHT FLITTING |
Line in second working socket possibly moving suddenly (9,8)
|
| L (abbreviation for line), inserted into MO (short for moment = second = a very brief time) + ON (working) + LIGHT FITTING (perhaps a socket for a bulb).
Leaving a place quickly and unexpectedly, especially in an attempt to avoid paying outstanding rent or other debts. |
||
| 24 | LUNAR |
Looking up naturally allows review, initially of celestial object (5)
|
| First letters (initially) of L[ooking] U[p] N[aturally] A[llows] R[eview].
Relating to the moon = of a celestial object. |
||
| 25 | ANTIVENOM |
Neutralising element redeployed on Vietnam (9)
|
| Anagram (redeployed) of ON VIETNAM.
A treatment to neutralise the effects of venom from a bite or sting. |
||
| 26 | NAMIBIA |
I’m a Nationalist repelled by a lot of prejudice in African country (7)
|
| I’M A + N (abbreviation for Nationalist), all reversed (repelled), then BIA[s] (prejudice) without the last letter (a lot of . . .). | ||
| 27 | VERMEER |
Painter’s change in direction after capturing the writer following completion of chapter (7)
|
| VEER (change in direction), containing (capturing) the last letter (completion) of [chapte]R followed by ME (the writer).
Johannes Vermeer, 17th-century Dutch painter. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BYNAME |
Particular title picked up among the many books (6)
|
| Hidden answer (among . . .), reversed (picked up = upwards in a down clue), in [th]E MANY B[ooks].
A surname or nickname. |
||
| 2 | SWAN-MARK |
Harm in boasting symbol of ownership (4-4)
|
| MAR (harm, as a verb = damage) in SWANK (boasting, as a noun).
Traditional method of marking the beaks of swans to identify their owner. |
||
| 3 | ARMLET |
Member’s decoration granted power at first (6)
|
| LET (granted = permitted), with ARM (power = authority, as in “the long arm of the law”) before it.
Like a bracelet but worn higher up the arm; member = limb = arm or leg. |
||
| 4 | CEREBELLUM |
Church dissenter leading curtailed Mass – movement co-ordinator? (10)
|
| CE (abbreviation for Church of England) + REBEL (dissenter), before LUM[p] (mass) without the last letter (curtailed).
The part of the brain that controls movement. |
||
| 5 | CAST |
Form or class? Not entirely (4)
|
| CAST[e] (social class) without the last letter (not entirely).
Cast, as a verb = to form by pouring molten metal into a mould. |
||
| 6 | COMPOSED |
Jotted down notes, being calm (8)
|
| Double definition. Wrote down musical notes to create a piece of music; or not anxious and in control of oneself. | ||
| 7 | MORASS |
Difficult situation – not quite additional example of idiocy (6)
|
| MOR[e] (additional) without the last letter (not quite), then ASS (proverbially a silly animal = example of idiocy). | ||
| 8 |
See 21 Across
|
|
| 14 | SUPPORTIVE |
Helping it to rise, very into redefined purpose (10)
|
| IT reversed (to rise = upwards in a down clue) + V (abbreviation for very), inside an anagram (redefined) of PURPOSE. | ||
| 16 | BUNDLING |
Gathering indication of flowering, including Northern heather (8)
|
| BUD (the first sign of a flower = indication of flowering) containing N (abbreviation for northern), then LING (another name for the heather plant). | ||
| 17 | WARDROBE |
Conflict over medic getting award for contribution to operating theatre? (8)
|
| WAR (conflict) + DR (abbreviation for doctor = medic) + OBE (Order of the British Empire = award).
Cryptic definition: we need to read it as “something that contributes to running a theatre production” = costumes worn on stage. |
||
| 18 | INGENUES |
Popular group to include European starlets (8)
|
| IN (popular, as in “the in crowd”) + GENUS (a group of related plants or animals), containing E (abbreviation for European).
Ingenue = starlet = a young actress, not yet well known but potentially a star of the future. |
||
| 20 | DYNAMO |
Busy person duly disheartened, old chap’s upset (6)
|
| D[ul]Y (dis-heartened = inner letters removed), then O (abbreviation for old) + MAN (chap) all reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue).
Dynamo = slang for an energetic person who runs around doing everything. |
||
| 22 | LIVERY |
Uniform but disordered? (6)
|
| Definition and cryptic definition. Uniform worn by servants in a specific house or the staff of a specific company; or another word for liverish = suffering from a disorder of the liver, or in a bad mood traditionally associated with such disorders. | ||
| 23 | TIMBRE |
Period in which British will exhibit sound tone (6)
|
| TIME (period) containing BR (abbreviation for British). | ||
| 25 | AWAY |
A deviation, swinging round in different direction (4)
|
| A, then YAW (of a ship or aircraft, deviation from a straight course) reversed (swinging round). |
It’s funny that I recently posted that I often mistakenly write “antivenom” when it should be ANTIVENIN. At the time, I checked both my dictionaries and neither listed “antivenom” as a word but I guess it must be after all. Someone will no doubt give a suitable source.
Collins (online) says
antivenom
a serum which acts against the effects of venom
Liked BAKEWELL PUDDING, MOONLIGHT FLITTING, WARDROBE and LIVERY!
Thanks Phi and Quirister!
Thanks KVa. One of my two dictionaries is a Collins (the other being the Chambers app). The predictive text on my IPad does come up with “antivenom” (which I didn’t notice previously). It seems to me to be the obvious word so I don’t know why it’s not widely listed in dictionaries.
A few unusual words (for me) in the earlier part of the solve – BYNAME, SWAN-MARK and AXOLOTL. It straightened out after that and I’d tick the same favourites as KVa and throw in INGENUES. Very nice for Phi to spot the YEW TREE potential in cemetery but the repetition of the word in the definition felt a bit ungainly.
Thanks Phi and Quirister
Thanks both. For me, a little too difficult to be entertaining. I couldn’t find SWAN MARK defined anywhere, but if it is specific to swans, perhaps that’s unsurprising. I didn’t know the expression MOONLIGHT FLITTING but it makes sense, and whilst probably not incorrect socket and light fitting feel like different electrical items. When I reflect that I struggled to get BAKEWELL PUDDING because I only know it as a tart, it probably all points to me just having a bad day.
“Swan marks in England were a variety of unique identifying notches made on the beaks of swans living and foraging at large on rivers, and elsewhere, …” according to Wikipedia. Where does Phi find them!
SWAN MARKS – part of the annual Swan-Upping ceremony, all lost in the history of the guilds and so on. A swan without a mark belongs to the King.
ANTIVENOM – yes, odd, isn’t it? Collins and ODE allow it, the latter as a variant on ANTIVENIN
No theme here – I raided my lists of interesting words to seed the grid this time.