Phi is filling the last of the working week slots once again today.
I found this to be towards the easier end of the Phi difficulty spectrum and managed to complete the grid unaided, although I needed Chambers to confirm one meaning at 3 and the entries at 4 and 14. I haven’t spotted any theme at all today, but there could well be something lurking undetected still.
As for my preferred clues today, I rather liked 11 and 13, for overall construction; and 16 and 19, for smoothness of surface.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | ECONOMIC | English not serious about working and saving money
E (=English) + [ON (=working, of machine, say) in COMIC (=not serious)] |
| 06 | SLOGAN | Small advance when penning good material for advert
S (=small, of sizes) + [G (=good) in LOAN (=advance)] |
| 09 | NO PUN INTENDED | Sister accepting work needed with fiancé? It’s not really funny
[OP (=work, i.e. opus) in NUN (=sister, in convent)] + INTENDED (=fiancé) |
| 10 | ADVENTURER | Church season less defiled after dismissing priest, an opportunist
ADVENT (=church season) + <p>URER (=less defiled; “after dismissing priest (=P)” means letter “p” is dropped) |
| 12 | ALSO | A capital group of players as well
A + LSO (=a capital group of players, i.e. the London Symphony Orchestra, when London is the “capital (city)”) |
| 13 | CASTLE | Group of players heads for large, even imposing building
CAST (=group of players, i.e. actors) + L<arge> E<ven> (“heads for” means first letters only) |
| 14 | LAPIDARY | According to the inscription, large beehive houses 500
L (=large, of sizes) + [D (=500, in Roman numerals) in APIARY (=beehive)]; lapidary refers to what is inscribed in stone |
| 17 | ISOTHERM | This will show warmth? I’m suppressing most of triumphant comment
SO THER<e> (=triumphant comment; “most of” means last letter is dropped) in I’M; an isotherm shows lines of equal temperature on a weather map |
| 18 | YONDER | Unknown marvel not initially there
Y (=unknown, in algebra) + <w>ONDER (=marvel; “not initially” means first letter is dropped) |
| 19 | SOFA | Furniture item find in thousands of apartments
Hidden (“found in”) in “thousandS OF Apartments” |
| 21 | FORTISSIMO | Notes, easily picked up, favouring development of mitosis
FOR (=favouring) + *(MITOSIS); “development of” is anagram indicator; the (musical) notes are “easily picked up (=heard)” because they are so loud! |
| 22 | FRENCH CRICKET | Insect found in Bordeaux, perhaps – it targets the legs
FRENCH (=found in (city of) Bordeaux, perhaps) + CRICKET (=insect); in French cricket, the fielder aims to hit the legs of the batsman instead of the stumps |
| 24 | BRUTUS | Assassin’s track after boarding public transport
RUT (=track, furrow) in BUS (=public transport); Brutus killed Julius Caesar, hence “assassin” |
| 25 | NUTHATCH | Fan to breed bird
NUT (=fan, enthusiast) + HATCH (=breed, develop) |
| Down | ||
| 02 | CANADIANS | I brought in nothing in tins for Northern people
[I in NADA (=nothing, in slang)] in CANS (=tins) |
| 03 | NAP | Sleep // is a solid recommendation
Double definition: a nap is a short sleep, snooze AND a racing tip that professes to be a certainty, hence “solid recommendation” |
| 04 | MONOTREME | The writer supports not interrupting further rare mammal
[NOT in MORE (=further)] + ME (=the writer, i.e. Phi!); a monotreme is one of the lowest order of mammals, with a single opening for the genital and digestive organs |
| 05 | CENTRAL AMERICAN | Alter name when harassed in capital of Costa Rica? Note: in this style
*(ALTER NAME) in [C<osta> (“capital of” means first letter only) + RICA + N (=note)]; “when harassed” is anagram indicator; semi- & lit. |
| 06 | SPEAR | Blade its furthest tip slicing through wooden pole
<blad>E (“its furthest tip” means last letter only) in SPAR (=wooden pole) |
| 07 | ODDS AND ENDS | Peculiar beach accommodating complete collection of objects
END (=complete, finish) in [ODD (=peculiar) + SANDS (=beach)] |
| 08 | ANDES | Nothing missed in current access points for mountains
AN<o>DES (=current, i.e. electricity, access points; “nothing (=O, pictorially) missing” means letter “o” is dropped) |
| 11 | ESTATE AGENT | Property broker to say how old they are when admitted to hospital department
[STATE AGE (=say how old they are)] in ENT (=hospital department, i.e. Ear, Nose and Throat) |
| 15 | PHYSICIST | Scientist: “Working Si chips totally gutted”
*(SI CHIPS + T<otall>Y) ; “gutted” means middle letters are dropped from anagram, indicated by “working” |
| 16 | RHEUMATIC | Hurt, I came for treatment of joint pain?
*(HURT I CAME); “for treatment” is anagram indicator |
| 20 | OFFER | Proposal not on, about to go belly-up
OFF (=not on, of switch) + ER (RE=about, regarding; “to go belly-up” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 21 | FOCUS | Key point as we see it: King to be replaced by Catholic
FOR US (=as we see it, in our view; “King (=R, i.e. rex) to be replaced by Catholic (=C)” means letter “r” becomes “c”) |
| 23 | KEA | Parrot occupying lake area
Hidden (“occupying”) in “laKE Area” |
Thanks Phi and RR!
Brilliant surfaces. Many read like extended defs.
COTD: FOCUS
Other faves: CENTRAL AMERICAN, PHYSICISTS and RHEUMATIC.
I would add MONOTREME and ODDS AND ENDS to the podium. Thanks.
Beaten by the MONOTREME despite seeing all the elements of the solution.
Rather liked the FRENCH CRICKET. Too late to add it to the Paris Olympics?
An enjoyable puzzle after battling with P in the G and giving up.
Thanks Phi and RR.
This was a pleasant relief after the Guardian, all in and parsed, which isn’t always the case for me with Phi.
Thanks both. Came here mainly to check how CENTRAL AMERICAN relates to ‘in this style’ and regret I don’t know what semi-&lit means, so grateful for any further guidance as to whether it is simply saying anything happening in Costa Rica may be so described?
TFO@5
CENTRAL AMERICAN
I will tell you what I understand:
An & lit, you may be aware, is a type of clue in which the entire clue works as a definition and all words in the clue are utilised in the wordplay.
Semi &lit, &littish and some other descriptions are used when the whole clue works as a definition but the entire clue doesn’t participate in the wordplay. In our instance, the ‘in this style’ is left out of the wordplay. The whole clue could be read as a definition (I would rather call it an extended definition as the clue doesn’t quite define CENTRAL AMERICAN but it is more of a cryptic description of ‘a name in CENTRAL AMERICAN style’).
If I have only ended up confusing you, someone will certainly explain it better and satisfactorily. 🙂
Enjoyable crossword, French Cricket is a favourite.
Thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku
Thanks KVa. I will at least console myself I was not missing anything entirely obvious.
I’ve been doing cryptic crosswords (Indy and Guardian) for just under two months now, and this was the first one I managed to fully complete – and all parsed as it happens, except for the second definition of LAP which I’ve nho. Likewise, nho lapidary and monotreme – but the wordplay brought them out and they sounded plausible enough to dictionary-check.
Took a while to interpret LSO – I feel it could have done with a ‘perhaps’, perhaps!
Thanks Phi for the nice start to the weekend!
CENTRAL AMERICAN was semi-& lit. in the way described – you get something that is nearly there, but needs a tweak. In this case it landed as a verbal phrase when what I wanted was an adjective!
If you imagine North to be to the left you will find CANADIANS on one side and the ANDES on the other.
Always good to see someone breaking their solving duck – I recommend filing LSO away for future reference. I must have solved – and written – that clue for ALSO a score of times over the years…