Phiday comes around again…..
… and we have yet another great puzzle from our regular Friday setter.
As usual, lovely surfaces and a good mix of clue types. Our last one in was 28ac – a ‘new’ composer for us.
Is there a theme? Possibly….Can we find it? …..no. But that’s not unusual – perhaps someone out there (or maybe Phi?) will elucidate.
We are in the USA at present and will be on the road most of the day, so we will not be able to respond to any comments until later in the day
LAUD (praise) in PIT (part of theatre -the orchestra pit)
TOTE (carry) MIC (microphone – ‘audio device’)
CIRCUs (‘Top show’ – circus shows typically take place in a ‘Big Top’) missing the last letter or ‘cut’ + LATE (delayed)
UNIT (‘piece of equipment’) round or ‘containing’ L (first letter or ‘minimum’ of light)
E LIT (abbreviation – ‘in brief’ – of English Literature, an ‘Arts subject’ at school) round or ‘including’ O (old)
YES (certainly) HAD (experienced) OW (expression of pain) after E (last letter of unsafe)
STOCK (conventional) I S T (first letters or ‘at the outset’ of in such things)
cOOt (missing the first and last letters or ‘uncovered’) LOG (record) Y (variable – in algebra)
SANe (reasonable) missing the last letter or ‘mostly’ round or ‘eating’ HAM (meat)
An anagram (‘rearranged’) of TIE in or ‘hosted by’ FRENCh (European people) with the ‘h’ (hearts) missing or ‘knocked out’
IT (unidentified thing) E (energy) RATION (quota)
DON (lecturer) round or ‘welcoming’ YE (old word for ‘the’)
MORoSE (glum) missing the second ‘o’ (round)
DELIUS (composer) round or ‘welcoming’ I (one) in CO (company)
FR (French) in RENEW (reinvigorate)
DEF (excellent) ALL (quite) A (first letter or ‘foremost’ in Andalusia) – we had never heard of this composer, and struggled with the wordplay, trying to figure out how ‘all’ = ‘quite’ – Chambers has it as an adverb equivalent to ‘quite’ or ‘completely’. Our LOI.
An anagram (‘struggling’) of COPTER IS A and K (last or ‘ultimate’ letter of wreck)
D (daughter) AUNT (‘another relative’)
TERSE (saying few words) round RAVe (party) missing the last letter or ‘terminating early’
THE BESt (leading) missing the last letter or ‘not quite’
TOUCH (ability) DOWN (feathers)
An anagram (‘working’) of TAILOR MADLY
CUT (injury) AWAY (on opponents’ ground’) – we had to check the definition – it relates to a shot in a film or TV happening simultaneously to the central events
An anagram (‘redesigned’) of SCENARIO and HOD
A LAB (research area) in an anagram (‘hybridised’) of KOREA
GRUNT (infantryman) LED (took charge)
W (first letter or ‘bit’ of water) in SIMMER (lightly boil)
CAST (players) round or ‘covering’ AN + A (area)
IN D (Germany) with WOW (enthusiastic comment) outside
A reversal (‘upturns’) of FACED (‘had to accept’)
Hidden (‘some’) and reversed (‘up’) in philosophicaL WOrk
Another solid Friday puzzle from Phi. I think this is the second CANASTA of the week for me, having not encountered the word in years (it feels. I am sure someone will tell me it was in a puzzle last month!) A few out-of-the-ordinary words including a Scottish town that might challenge some of our overseas solvers. Mind you, there’s a KOALA BEAR too so our Antipodean friends have no real grounds for complaint!
PLAUDIT, ELIOT, OOLOGY (which should please another setter), DOYEN, DELICIOUS, TOUCHDOWN, MALADROITLY and GRUNTLED were my faves today. Not sure about defining SHAMAN with a phrase including MAN but that is the most minor of quibbles.
Thanks Phi and the ever-globe-trotting B&J
Forgot it was Friday, but after a couple it was clear who was in charge.. DECAF made me smile through gritted teeth, as a coffee aficionado at least.. only after that could I accept the unknown Spanish composer, with similar reservations as the blog, after I could see how it worked “quite the thing/all the rage”? I had STEAMER for 18dn at first with no real def, but 22ac put me right, and SWIMMER answered all demands… about time THEBES got a mention, as the home of “a complex man” in an earlier puzzle, well, made me smile for real..
Thanks Phi n Bertandjoyce
Got to love any crossword with Gruntled as an answer
Lovely Phiday fare – not seen a theme yet.
Thanks Phi and BertandJoyce (enjoy USA)
De Falla wrote some cracking catchy tunes, which you may well have heard, best known probably The Three-Cornered Hat – worth listening out for. I had to consult a word-list for ICOSAHEDRON, which I had never previously encountered. Thanks Phi and B&J.
Phiday excellent as always. @Postmark 1 here’s an overseas solver who had no clue that the Scottish town existed, but the wordplay was sufficiently fair that I bunged it right in. Likewise with the NHO composer. Altogether made a truly enjoyable solve. Thanks to Phi, and to B&J for taking time out of their trip – enjoy our country!
Wiktionary has this quotation for 17d GRUNTLED: 1994 July 25, Jack Winter, “How I met my wife”, in The New Yorker:
It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate.
[A 30th (Pearl) anniversary – there, I’ve said something unoriginal.]
…Oed.com dates it as ‘1938–‘ with this quote from P. G. Wodehouse, Code of Woosters i. 9:
‘He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.’
[Wiktionary has the same quote, but gives the book as The Code of the Woosters. (It’s about time the OED put all the thes back in)]
PostMark @1: yes, very pleased to see the clue for OOLOGY! That’s the second name-check I’ve had from Phi in the last few weeks (see 18d from 23rd July). Particularly enjoyed GRUNTLED today – my pick of an excellent bunch. Thanks to Phi and to B&J.
I wonder how many of Phi’s and my Gruntlings will see this. (in joke)
A nice, steady solve, with DE FALLA a doubtful guess here too since DEF for excellent is a new one on me (but was sufficiently plausible) and ALL for quite took a moment of thought (all right, quite right; all correct, quite correct).
I’m frustrated to say I had to reveal CIRCULATE though – my last one, alas not in – since although it’s a fair synonym of broadcast it doesn’t come to mind as such for me, and I had a blind spot for C-R-ULATE which seems silly in hindsight! A pity, because ‘top show’ is lovely.
Fav was TOUCHDOWN I think.
Thanks all!
Oh, I also had doubts about WINDOW since surely it comes from “window of opportunity” and so isn’t obviously a synonym of opportunity. To my mind its more like an informal shortening.
BTW the piece by Jack Winter mentioned by FrankieG above is an oldy but goodie… Worth enjoying in full!
it amuses me how answers I think are well known words are often marked nho by people here. I well remember reading a Martin Gardner essay on the five Platonic solids back in the sixties and the ICOSAHEDRON has remained with me since, and I’ve long enjoyed the music of Manuel DE FALLA, especially his harpsichord concerto.