For my first time blogging a Phssthpok puzzle, this proved to be quite the inaugural challenge, with a pleasant mix of cryptic devices.
This grid is built around the two sesquipedalian anagrams across the middle, both of which words I happened to know, having double-majored in German and Philosophy eons ago. (I knew all that study would come in handy eventually.) I thought this was going to wind up being a pangram, but there is no J, for those of us who keep track of such things.
Probably just a coincidence, but the double letters in the grid are an anagram of “SO, PUZZLERS.”
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BANDANA |
Finally sneezed into dotty detailed handkerchief (7)
|
| Last letter of (finally) [SNEEZE]D inside (into) BANANA[S] (dotty) minus last letter (“detailed”) | ||
| 5 | HEPATIC |
Short of time, fashioned pathetic livery? (7)
|
| Anagram of (fashioned) PA[T]HETIC minus (short of) T (time) | ||
| 9 | OARED |
Without beginning to sail, flew like a rowboat (5)
|
| [S]OARED (flew) minus (without) first letter of (beginning to) S[AIL] | ||
| 10 | QUIZZICAL |
Mocking two extreme characters in charge carving cooked quail (9)
|
| {Z +Z (two extreme characters) + I/C (in charge)} inside (carving) anagram of (cooked) QUAIL | ||
| 11 | CROISSANT |
Cast iron’s smelted and baked product (9)
|
| Anagram of (smelted) CAST IRON’S | ||
| 12 | IOTAS |
Jots letters (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | WELTANSCHAUUNG |
Deconstruct critical limits when with Augustan philosophy (14)
|
| Anagram of (deconstruct) {outside letters of (limits [of] C[RITICA]L + WHEN + AUGUSTAN} | ||
| 18 | METEMPSYCHOSIS |
After destruction of ecosystem, chimps beheaded for transfer to other animals (14)
|
| Anagram of (after destruction of) {ECOSYSTEM + [C]HIMPS minus first letter (beheaded)}, referring to the transmigration of souls | ||
| 20 | LASSO |
Snare girl with love (5)
|
| LASS (girl) + O (love) | ||
| 22 | STROPPIER |
Sharpen support to be more argumentative (9)
|
| STROP (sharpen) + PIER (support) | ||
| 24 | DALAI LAMA |
Raised in Koutiala, Mali, a lady becomes a religious icon (5,4)
|
| Hidden in (in) [KOUTIAL]A MALI A LAD[Y], reversed (raised–perhaps more appropriate for a down clue?) | ||
| 25 | AXIOM |
Saw me back in France following a vote (5)
|
| A + X (vote) + MOI (me . . . in France, i.e., in French) reversed (back) | ||
| 26 | SHEBEEN |
Be inside Polish bar (7)
|
| BE inside SHEEN (polish), with a capitalization misdirection | ||
| 27 | HEARSES |
You can ride in these vehicles if you’re late (7)
|
| Cryptic definition, i.e., deceased | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BROOCH |
Pierce by ear for jewellery (6)
|
| Homophone of (by ear) BROACH (pierce) | ||
| 2 | NARROWEST |
Least open-minded brood about weapon (9)
|
| NEST (brood) around (about) ARROW (weapon) | ||
| 3 | ANDES |
Sea rising around North Dakota’s mountains (5)
|
| SEA inverted (rising) around ND (North Dakota) | ||
| 4 | ACQUAINTS |
Becomes familiar with peculiar contents of accounts (9)
|
| QUAINT (peculiar) inside (contents of) A/CS (accounts) | ||
| 5 | HEIST |
Man is getting time for theft (5)
|
| HE IS (man is) + T (time) | ||
| 6 | PIZZICATO |
Picking Italian food to eat including carpaccio starters (9)
|
| {PIZZA (Italian food) + TO} around (eat) first letters of (starters [of]) {I[NCLUDING] + C[ARPACCIO]} | ||
| 7 | TACIT |
Implicit understanding I gathered (5)
|
| I inside (gathered) TACT (understanding) | ||
| 8 | CALL SIGN |
Once film is removed, signet ring is foremost identifier (4,4)
|
| CALL (ring) + SIGN[ET] minus (once . . . is removed) E.T. (film), with “is foremost” indicating the order of the wordplay | ||
| 14 | TEMPORISE |
Procrastinate over an increase in speed? (9)
|
| Cryptically, TEMPO (speed) + RISE (increase) | ||
| 15 | COCKROACH |
Pest is found in wild rock gig tours (9)
|
| COACH (gig, i.e., a carriage) around (tours) anagram of (wild) ROCK | ||
| 16 | UTILITIES |
Water and electricity disrupt elitist user interface (9)
|
| Anagram of (disrupt) {ELITIST + |
||
| 17 | IMPLODES |
Tramp squats in house after lift collapses (8)
|
| PLOD (tramp) inside (squats in) SEMI (house) inverted (after lift) | ||
| 19 | FRAMES |
Fermat’s first theorem is missing out figures (6)
|
| Anagram of (out) FERMA[T]’S minus (is missing) first [letter of] T[HEOREM], e.g., of human bodies | ||
| 21 | SOLVE |
Crack in part of foot infected with tip of verruca (5)
|
| SOLE (part of foot) around (infected with) first letter of (tip of) V[ERRUCA] | ||
| 22 | SPAWN |
Bitten into chopped soft fruit (5)
|
| I think this parses as: P (soft) inside (bitten into) SAWN (chopped) | ||
| 23 | PLAYA |
Bed womaniser (5)
|
| Double definition, the first a dry lake bed, and the second recent slang for “player” |
16d UTILITIES needs 3 “I”s: (ELITIST+UI)*
I usually like puzzles by P? but this was not my favourite.
Let’s start with my the clues I really liked: ACQUAINTS, HEARSES, and STROPPIER
I did not have the same education as Cineraria, and I wonder whether anyone managed to solve WELTANSCHAUUNG and METEMPSYCHOSIS without an anagram tool, even with the crossers. With two clues in the running, P? seems to be making an all-out bid for the coveted worst clue of the year award.
Other issues were: my dictionary says SOLVE to mean crack is only LME, TEMPORISE is not procrastinate – it is the opposite; and as Cineraria wrote, 24 is an across clue so “raised” as reversal does not work.
I thought PLAYA was missing a homophone indicator, but thanks to Cineraria for keeping up with the latest slang. I could not find that on the internet at the time which made solving more difficult.
It was good to learn SHEBEEN.
Thanks P? and Cineraria
Martyn@2: In a murder mystery, for example, “crack the case/solve the case” mean the same thing. “Temporise” can mean “to delay; to stall for time,” which to me is synonymous with “procrastinate.”
4d ACQUAINTS is usually transitive. Oed.com’s only intransitive meaning may require a US indicator: ‘…1.c. c1350– intransitive with reflexive meaning. To become acquainted with or make the acquaintance of someone; to get to know a person as an acquaintance. Now U.S. regional. Also formerly: (of two or more people) to get to know each other as an acquaintance or intimately (obsolete).’
[I CRACKed WELTANSCHAUUNG and METEMPSYCHOSIS without an anagram tool and liked all three clues.]
Thanks Cineraria for crack / SOLVE. You explained it better than OED.
I am afraid you have not convinced me yet about TEMPORISE. In my mind that is a deliberate act, whereas procrastinate is a lack of action.
And congratulations to FrankieG. Very impressive.
Thanks again for a great blog.
The last time the 1d BROOCH BROACH homophone came up, some US SOLVErs had a problem with it:
‘British English /brəʊtʃ/ brohtch — U.S. English /broʊtʃ/ brohtch – or – /brutʃ/ brootch’
Thanks P&C
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Having studied German and a little philosophy, WELTANSCHAUUNG fell within my sphere and was most helpful.
I knew the other long entry ended in -PSYCHOSIS so it was a question of waiting for a few more crossers to snag the rest.
HEARSES made me laugh and there’s a song ‘He’s a playa’ so that was gettable.
I also liked COCKROACH, PIZZICATO, BROOCH and CALL SIGN while 24a appealed to my subversive side, not a popular chapter in my neck of the woods!
Thanks to the umpronounceable one and Cineraria.
Me@7
I meant ‘popular chap’
Playa is a terrible clue – especially as it meant I DNF
Much to enjoy otherwise.
This was quite a challenge. Thanks Cineraria for a excellent blog and for introducing me to sesquipedalian, a most appropriate adjective.
All quite stimulating with some very clever clues. We had CROISSANT yesterday.Thank you Phssthpok.
Liked WELTANSCHAUUNG, HEARSES, COCKROACH and SPAWN.
Nice puzzle and neat blog. Thanks both.
I usually enjoy these crosswords even if they are not in my native language, which is German. But I do not like it when the solutions are words that I have never heard of like 5A, 13A and 18A.
Although I solved 9A and 22A, I am not convinced that these are real words, although some of my Australian friends do use the the word “stroppy” to indicate an angry person.
Thanks to all who contributed.
I am most impressed that Frieda @12 solved this puzzle as a non-native speaker. Wow!
I would never say OARED nor would anyone else : rowed is normal. But, for me, one of the pleasures of these puzzles is to learn new words. I certainly did today. All were a mouthful.
SM@13
OARED
The def is ‘like a rowboat’ which is an adjectival phrase.
OARED (adjective, meaning ‘provided with oars’) is synonymous with the above phrase, I think.
Sorry if I have misunderstood what you said.
Enjoyed this one with a couple(ish) of exceptions:-
I agree with Moly about PLAYA and I’ve never, ever heard of 13A & 18A
KVa@14 Thank you.
You are quite right. I had misread the clue thinking oared was a verb.
Thanks for the blog, interesting puzzle and a few things to learn .
Frieda@12 , stroppy is widely used in the UK and STROPPIER is a fair word to use for comparison .
Thanks Phssthpok and Cineraria
Further to Roz@17, Collins 2023 p 1962 gives the following
stroppy adj -pier, -piest Brit and Austral informal angry or awkward [C20: changed and shortened from OBSTREPEROUS].
WELTANSCHAUUNG? METEMPSYCHOSIS? ‘Raised’ as reversal indicator in an across clue? – Sorry, Phssthpok, this didn’t float our boat.
Thanks, though, to Cineraria.
Although I had never heard of 13A or 18A I didn’t mind those clues because the solutions fell out of the anagram solver and, as a bonus, I got to learn (at least till I soon forget them) two new words. Coming from the States, PLAYA is used quite often so that was not an issue. SHEBEEN was certainly a new one for me, but it offered itself up as a possibility from the word play and was easy to confirm. I had no issue with the 1D homophone but coming from the Bronx I talk funny to start with. All in all, I found the puzzle to be a lot of fun which I completed without a lot of difficulty. Thanks Phssthpok and Cineraria.
Revealed WELTANSCHAUUNG & PLAYA – wouldn’t have cracked ‘em in a month of Sundays. Enjoyed the rest of it though found it pretty tough in places.
Thanks both
Innovative or misused cluing? Not sure. The big long answers were never going to be got by me. But I enjoyed many of the clues including HEARSES and STROPPIER
I agree with AS @22. Didn’t know there was an anagram solver – must look it up. To me PLAYA means BEACH (spanish). We have a hotel in Naples FL called La Playa and its on the beach, not a dry river bed!
Started solving this briefly last night and have just come back to it.
I didn’t waste much more time on it.
The politest thing I can say about this crossword is that the setter appears to have been rather self indulgent.