Phi has brought another series of mid-week puzzles to an end today.
I found this to be a medium-difficulty puzzle through which I made steady progress. I think that I have parsed all the solutions to my satisfaction.
My favourite clues today were 1A and 26, for smoothness of surface; and 9, for quirkiness. I have spotted no particular theme today, but there could well be something that I have overlooked.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | OPEN SECRETS | With difficulty, one respects things everyone knows
*(ONE RESPECTS); “with difficulty” is anagram indicator |
| 09 | NUTTY | Cracked liked cracknel?
Cracknel is a confection that contains “nuts”, hence “nutty”; cracked means mad, insane, hence “nutty” |
| 10 | PARSONAGE | Servant concealing crime in church building
ARSON (=crime) in PAGE (=servant) |
| 11 | HAPPINESS | Pleasure has to be taking in quiet trees
[P (=quiet, i.e. piano, in music) + PINES (=trees)] in HAS |
| 12 | ROTOR | Men going both ways holding front of this spinning device
T<his> (“front of” means first letter only) in [RO (OR=other ranks; “going both ways” means also reversed) + OR (=men, i.e. other ranks)] |
| 13 | ASKANCE | Question expert posed about neutron, sceptically
ASK (=question, as verb) + [N (=neutron) in ACE (=expert)] |
| 14 | JUPITER | Mozart symphony about to be returned after Judge finished with it
J (=judge) + UP (=finished, over) + IT + ER (RE=about, i.e. regarding; “to be returned” indicates reversal); the Jupiter Symphony is Mozart’s Symphony 41 in C major. |
| 17 | RUNAWAY | Fugitive advanced into part of airport
A (=advance, as in A level) in RUNWAY (=part of airport) |
| 19 | TOO MUCH | Excessive ability holding doctor back
OM (MO=doctor, i.e. Medical Officer; “back” indicates reversal) in TOUCH (=ability, skill) |
| 21 | LOTUS | Soporific plant left world leader losing power
L (=left) + <p>OTUS (=world leader, i.e. President of the United States; “losing power (=P, in physics)” means letter “p” is dropped); cf. the Lotus-eaters, from the Odyssey |
| 23 | MAINE COON | Cat’s important role, secondarily in economy
MAIN (=important, principal) + [<r>O<le> (“secondarily” means second letter only) in ECON (=economy)]; a Maine Coon is a large cat with a long tail |
| 24 | FALL AMONG | Be surrounded by everyone in family on arriving at last
ALL (=everyone) in [FAM (=family) + ON + <arrivin>G (“at last” means last letter only)] |
| 25 | AXIAL | A cross and diamonds removed from clock face, indicating rotation?
A + X (=cross, i.e. pictorially) + <d>IAL (=clock face; “diamonds (=D, in cards) removed” means letter “d” is dropped) |
| 26 | POLYSTYRENE | Tyres penalty moulded in synthetic material
*(TYRES PENALTY); “moulded” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01 | OUTSPOKEN | Old-fashioned part of wheel’s rotation finally very loud
OUT (=old-fashioned, not in) + SPOKE (=part of wheel) + <rotatio>N (“finally” means last letter only); outspoken is very loud, vocal, with one’s opinions |
| 02 | ELYSIAN | Unknown figure is elevated in style of heavenly regions
[Y (=unknown figure, in algebra) + SI (IS; “elevated” means vertically reversed)] in ÉLAN (=style, dash) |
| 03 | SUPREMELY | Exceedingly wily, imprisoning rebellious soldiers …
[UP (=rebellious, in mutiny) + REME (=soldiers, i.e. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers)] in SLY (=wily) |
| 04 | CORPS | … soldiers run to be caught by police
R (=run, on cricket scorecard) in COPS (=police) |
| 05 | EGO TRIP | Expression of self, one finally achieved with post-death message
<on>E (“finally” means last letters only) + GOT (=achieved, obtained) + RIP (=post-death message, i.e. Rest In Peace) |
| 06 | SCANT | Barely filled tin after inserting stone? On the contrary
CAN (=tin) in ST (=stone, i.e. weight) |
| 07 | IN THE AIR | Vaguely observed international judge going round Italy
INT (=international) + [I (=Italy, in IVR) in HEAR (=judge, try)]; according to Chambers, “in the air” means “prevalent in a vague or indefinite form”, hence “vaguely observed” |
| 08 | DEAR | Very close, though filling wide area
Hidden (“filling”) in “wiDE ARea”; a dear friend is a very close friend |
| 14 | JUTTINGLY | A lot of sackcloth offering a thrill in an obvious way?
JUT<e> (=sackcloth; “a lot of” means last letter is dropped) + TINGLY (=offering a thrill) |
| 15 | TEUTONISE | Tout Seine, after translation, to become German
*(TOUT SEINE); “after translation” is anagram indication |
| 16 | REHANDLE | Deal with again? Deal with her afresh around noon
N (=noon) in *(DEAL + HER); “afresh” is anagram indicator |
| 18 | WASSAIL | Seasonal entertainment used to be a sea voyage
WAS (=used to be) + SAIL (=a sea voyage); a wassail is a festive occasion or song, hence “seasonal entertainment” |
| 20 | OVER-AGE | Old and mean but not at first too old
O (=old, as in Old Testament) + <a>VERAGE (=mean, in statistics; “not at first” means first letter is dropped) |
| 21 | LIFE | Story about fellow would be biography
F (=fellow) in LIE (=story, untruth); e.g. A Life of Charles Dickens would be a biography |
| 22 | TULIP | Suggestion burying uncovered bulb will produce flower
<b>UL<b> (“uncovered” means first and last letters are dropped) in TIP (=suggestion, hint) |
| 23 | MOONS | Wanders over, entering site of battle
O (=over, on cricket scorecard) in MONS (=site of battle, in WW1); to moon is to wander about listlessly or gaze vacantly |
[a typo, RR: 26a POLYSTYRENE – penalty -> openly]
Didn’t know MAINE COON, and entered a completely unparsed MAIZE CORN in the hope that it would complete a pangram. I could see lots of the usual suspects which suggest one, but not to be this time.
Couldn’t find wander and moon as synonyms in any of the top of google searches but put it in anyway as it sounded about right and couldn’t think of another battle to fit round the crossing O.
Thanks Phi for the puzzle and RR for the blog which helped with the soldiers in 3d. Will have to try to remember that one.
I haven’t spotted a theme but the presence of such words as MAINE COON, AXIAL, JUTTINGLY and TEUTONISE does make me suspicious. I doubt there’s a choral or poetic work in which they all appear and Phi’s had his burger opportunity for the year. I am sure someone will come up with something soon. TULIP was particularly delightful with HAPPINESS and WASSAIL completing the podium for today.
rocket @2: the blog’s explanation for MOONS is pretty much word for word what Chambers gives as the second transitive def. But Chambers defs very rarely seem to show up on Google searches.
Thanks Phi and RR
Thanks both. MOON in the sense defined I am vaguely familiar with, but it is probably not in spoken use now owing to potential confusion with an activity which may draw unwanted attention. Needed help to complete this with intersecting NHOs TEUTONISE and MAINE COON – for the latter I got stuck with ‘main’ and ‘cat’ and felt I was looking for some principle in economics.
I found this easy in places, tough in others.
As FrankieG says, the surface was tyres openly not tyres penalty… darned autocorrect 😉
Thanks both
I, too, liked OPEN SECRETS. I imagined for a moment that the theme was Todd Solondz. HAPPINESS was there and ROTOR is a Palindrome, but got no further.
I hadn’t met the REME soldiers before. I’m now off to try to use TEUTONISE, REHANDLE and JUTTINGLY in a single sentence.
I wondered if we had names of tulips, but it appears there’s a tulip named for virtually everything/everyone on the planet and beyond.
Thanks to Phi and RR.
The theme here has become somewhat controversial between gridding and appearance in that facts have emerged about the life of the Nobel prizewinner in question since her death.
I think there’s an Alice Munro link here. The MOONS OF JUPITER, RUNAWAY?
Phi@8 There were some allegations after her death involving family members if I remember correctly?
Well, I wouldn’t have picked up that theme for love nor money.. chapeau to Scottiejan@9
This was a decent puzzle, unusual for me not to struggle more with Phi… I liked many but LOTUS stood out for the simplicity, and ASKANCE just cos I like that word… nothing unknown, apart from the theme, but haven’t had occasion to use Teutonise for some time..
Thanks Phi n Ratkojariku
Maine coon? Really? I could have entered letters all day before getting that.
Alice Munro it is: OPEN SECRETS, TOO MUCH HAPPINESS and DEAR LIFE complete the content. Yes, there were some family secrets converted to a more open state after her death.