It’s Friday so, unsurprisingly we have an Independent puzzle from Phi.
I struggled a bit with the intended definition for TOSSPOT (1 across). Is the clue an &Lit or is the definition one of ‘tippler’ or ‘excellent tippler’. Perhaps I am missing something obvious.
I thought for a while about the parsing of 2 down, SUBSISTENCE WAGE. The anagram of WE GET BASICS US is only 13 letters and leaves an E and an N unparsed. Within the entry we have a consecutive EN which I have treated as two of the three letters [almost] of END [limit], but I am not entirely convinced I have got that right.
Phi often gives us a theme. There may be some entries associated with TEDDY ROOSEVELT, but the links are quite tenuous. The strongest link I could find was between ROOSEVELT and the concept of a SUBSISTENCE WAGE. There are STEAMSHIPs (and submarines) named after ROOSEVELT. He wasn’t a significant tippler and he didn’t represent TENNESSEE at any time. He was a hunter, but there is no reference to him ever hunting a TASMANIAN TIGER.
There were some complex wordplays with some involving 5 component parts bringing a bit more colour than usual to the detailed blogging table.
CALENDRIC strikes me as one of those words that you only find in a dictionary and then hope that it just stays there.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Marsupial, possibly remaining as at start of today? (9,5)
TASMANIAN TIGER (a dasyure [any marsupial of the flesh-eating genus Dasyuridae]) Anagram of (possibly) REMAINING AS AT and T (first letter of [start of] TODAY) TASMANIAN TIGER* – note that this animal is nearly extinct so the clue could be read as an &Lit |
| 9 | Subject, universal form of gambling, not able to be discussed (3,6)
SUB JUDICE (under judicial consideration; before, but not yet decided by, a judge or court and therefore not able to be discussed or reported) SUBJ (subject) + U (universal) + DICE (game of chance; form of gambling) SUB J U DICE |
| 10 | Foremost character, first in expedition, probing mountain height (5)
ALEPH (first [foremost] letter of the Phoenician and Hebrew alphabets) (E [initial letter of {first in} EXPEDITION] contained in [probing] ALP) + H (height) AL (E) P H |
| 11 | Foremost in performance, tidy bit of acting (5)
PRIMA (first [foremost] often coupled with ballerina or donna to indicate leading performer) PRIM (neat; tidy) + A (acting) PRIM A |
| 12 | A lot of quality in military canteen – Frenchman’s unusual influence (9)
MESMERISM (hypnotism as expounded, with some fanciful notions, from 1775 by Friedrich Anton or Franz Mesmer [1734 – 1815], a German physician; unusual influence) (MERIT [quality] excluding the final letter [a lot of] T contained in [in] MESS [military canteen]) + M (Monsieur; Frenchman) MES (MERI) S M |
| 13 | Retaliation – keep after it, blocking pretentious stuff (3,3,3)
TIT FOR TAT (retaliation in kind) (IT + FORT [a keep]) contained in (blocking) TAT (pretentious odds and ends of little real value) T (IT FOR T) AT |
| 15 | Identify America? But this is a European river (5)
TAGUS (the longest river in the Iberian peninsula; European river) TAG (identify) + US ([United States of] America) TAG US |
| 16 | Cheerful, small and comical, showing no trace of fear (5)
SUNNY (cheerful) S (small) + FUNNY (comical) excluding (showing no) F (first letter of [trace of] FEAR) S UNNY |
| 17 | Scrawl and circle, marking dates in some way (9)
CALENDRIC (of, relating to, or like a calendar in some way; marking dates in some way) Anagram of (scrawl) AND CIRCLE CALENDRIC* |
| 19 | Second squad’s cool mode of transport (9)
STEAMSHIP (mode of transport) S (second) + TEAM’S (squad’s) + HIP (trendy; cool) S TEAMS HIP |
| 22 | Novel mentality, to some extent wooden (5)
ELMEN (made of ELM; wooden) ELMEN (hidden word [to some extent] in NOVEL MENTALITY) ELMEN |
| 23 | Satisfied, having embraced one’s intended (5)
MEANT (intended) MET (satisfied) containing (having embraced) AN (one) ME (AN) T |
| 24 | Gem displays bottom quality (9)
MOONSTONE (A gem variety of orthoclase or albite that is white and translucent with bluish reflections) MOONS (displays bottom) + TONE (quality) MOONS TONE |
| 25 | Brutally destroyed revolt, seeing off Republican former President (5,9)
TEDDY ROOSEVELT (Reference Theodore Roosevelt [1858 – 1919], former President of the United States from 1901 to 1909) Anagram of (brutally destroyed) DESTROYED REVOLT excluding (seeing off) one of the Rs (Republican) TEDDY ROOSEVELT* |
| Down | |
| 1 | Excellent tippler, on reflection (7)
TOSSPOT (drunkard – if you reflect on the definition you might think it applies to someone who tipples a lot [excellent tippler?]) (TOPS [excellent] + SOT [habitual drunkard; tippler]) all reversed (on reflection) (TOS SPOT)< |
| 2 | Minimal salary: sadly we get basics, us, receiving almost the limit (11,4)
SUBSISTENCE WAGE (a payment for work fixed at the minimum necessary to support life) Anagram of (sadly) WE GET BASICS US containing (receiving) END (the limit) excluding the final letter (almost) D SUBSIST (EN) CE WAGE* |
| 3 | Offering praise aloud, try getting excited following artist’s debut (9)
ADULATORY (praising; offering praise) A (first letter of [debut] ARTIST) + an anagram of (getting excited) ALOUD TRY A DULATORY* |
| 4 | Not wise to collar old woman regarding choice of expression (9)
IDIOMATIC (regarding choice of expression) IDIOTIC (silly; not wise) containing (to collar) MA (mother; old woman) IDIO (MA) TIC |
| 5 | Requirements observed to rise after daughter takes up residence (5)
NEEDS (requirements) D (daughter) contained in (takes up residence) SEEN (observed) reversed (to rise; down entry) NEE (D) S< |
| 6 | Raging that is seen around desert (5)
IRATE (angry; raging) IE (id est; that is) containing (seen around) RAT (to desert or change sides for unworthy motives) I (RAT) E |
| 7 | Aromatherapy source still popular with doctor, having edge on treatment of sore (7,8)
EVENING PRIMROSE (North American plant (genus Oenothera) with pale yellow flowers that open in the evening. It is the source of an essential oil used in aromatherapy) EVEN (still) + IN (popular) + GP (General Practitioner; doctor) + RIM (edge) + ROSE (an anagram of [treatment of] SORE) EVEN IN G P RIM ROSE* |
| 8 | Doubtful character, notwithstanding that large amount of service in church (6)
THOMAS (reference ‘Doubting THOMAS‘, a sceptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience – a reference to the Gospel of John’s depiction of the Apostle Thomas, who, in John’s account, refused to believe the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the ten other apostles until he could see and feel Jesus’s crucifixion wounds) THO‘ (though [poetic or American usage); notwithstanding) + MASS (religious service) excluding the final letter (large amount of) S THO MAS |
| 14 | Camera accessory starts to take every top-hole shot (9)
TELEPHOTO (abbreviated form of TELEPHOTO LENS [camera accessory]) TE (first letters of [starts to] each of TAKE and EVERY) + an anagram of (shot) TOP-HOLE T E LEPHOTO* |
| 15 | Run out of English money? Observe where you’d get dollars (9)
TENNESSEE (State in the United States of America where the currency is dollars) TENNERS (English £10 notes [money]) excluding (out of) R (run) + SEE (observe) TENNES SEE |
| 16 | Source of oil‘s identical with large force departing (6)
SESAME (plant cultivated for its seeds from which oil is produced; source of oil) SELFSAME (identical) excluding (departing) (L [large] and F [force {physics}]) SESAME |
| 18 | Dispute – it’s French, involving old religious books (7)
CONTEST (dispute) C’EST (French for ‘it is’ [it’s]) containing (involving) (O [old] + NT [New Testament {religious books}]) C (O NT) EST |
| 20 | Beset by mire, team’s first half’s quiet (5)
MUTED (silenced; quiet) TE (first 2 of 4 [first half] of the letters of TEAM) contained in (beset by) MUD (mire) MU (TE) D |
| 21 | Poet‘s a big hit (5)
HOMER (reference the Greek poet HOMER who lived in the8th century BCE) HOMER (a Home Run in baseball which results from a big hit) double definition HOMER |
Thanks, duncan, for clearing up SUBSISTENCE WAGE. It had to be that, given def and fodder but I knew I was a couple of letters short. Too many letters to juggle in my head to be able to spot the missing ones. THOMAS – last but one to fall (that honour went to MESMERISM for which I needed every crosser) and a very neat clue. ELMEN is nho and I needed to check that one in the dictionary. I did a bit of a double-take with two ‘Foremost’s in a row, wondering if that was going to be a theme but not so.
Thanks Phi and duncan
Never heard of Tasmanian Tiger but interesting to read about them on the internet. Seems they are defined as extinct but there are occasional unconfirmed “sightings”. Hence “possibly remaining”
Enjoyable solve, thanks.
Lovely Phiday puzzle. Loi, the now obvious,Thomas. Nho Elmen – and definitely not a word I shall be remembering for later use.
Usual proviso applies re Theme – I haven’t seen one but there might well be one
Technically we have eight cats, the eighth being SUNNY (a foster fail). The number creeps up to eleven because TEDDY and THOMAS decided to have us, and just turned up and ingratiated themselves into the household, while TAZ we took on when our neighbours moved to Australia and didn’t want him to test his homing instinct from Brisbane (though he’d already spent most of last summer on our deck).
Not a theme you’d spot, but I’ve now got all of them in!
Thanks for putting me out of my theme hunting misery Phi
Thanks both. A few stubborn ones here for me, not aided as for a while I had entered laudatory instead of ADULATORY, though I knew I had not fully followed the clue’s instruction. We head off early Tuesday to Sydney then NZ so I will look carefully for any of the few potentially remaining TASMANIAN TIGERs; all good timing, as I previously did not know of their existence.
Thanks for the challenge.
It’s worth pointing out that Theodore Roosevelt was president during the Philippine…not sure what the current favored term for it is, but “revolt” fits well enough. (In two sentences, the Philippines were disappointed (to put it mildly) that the Spanish-American War resulted not in their independence but in American colonialism. So they fought, and lost; it’s an episode in our history that is often glossed over like it didn’t even happen.) So you don’t need to refer to depressing current events to make that surface allusive. Depressing events from over a century ago will do!
I enjoyed this, and fairly whizzed though the bottom half… but found the top half chewier. There were quite a few NHOs for me though all were accesible thanks to tight wordplay. My only quibble is alp used to mean mountain (for the second time recently), since the word describes a high-altitude grazing pasture and not a mountain itself.
Thanks both