Independent 11978 / Phi

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Independent puzzles on a Friday are usually set by Phi and today is no exception.

Today’s puzzle is a standard 32-clue grid.  The entries are two letters short of a pangram as I can’t see an X or a Q.

I don’t think there is any link between the entries, they just seem to be an eclectic mix of words or phrases that will be in most solvers’ vocabulary.  I haven’t used KLEPTOCRATS, GALVANIC  or RECTILINEAR in recent conversations, but I don’t think the words are obscure.

I wondered whether a witch could be described as a wise woman, but dictionaries support the definition.

No Detail
Across  
1 22 in fairness not showing characteristic essence (5) 

JUICE (characteristic essence)

JUSTICE (fairness) excluding (not showing) ST (STREET, entry at 22 down) to form JUICE

JUICE
4 Way to put in rosy colour, regarding certain carpets? (9) 

BROADLOOM (descriptive of carpets woven on a wide loom)

ROAD (way) contained in (put in) BLOOM (a rosy colour)

B (ROAD) LOOM
9 Anger, passion, but not force (3) 

IRE (anger)

FIRE (passion) excluding (but not) F (force)

IRE
10 Dishonest managers tackle sport misguidedly (11) 

KLEPTOCRATS (politically corrupt and financially self-interested officials; dishonest managers)

Anagram of (misguidedly) TACKLE SPORT

KLEPTOCRATS*
11 Paste provided by yellow shrub – a wise woman’s accessory (10) 

BROOMSTICK (fictional accessory for a witch [wise woman])

BROOM (shrub with yellow flowers) + STICK (paste)

BROOM STICK
12 Metal: variable quantity in Cuba (4) 

ZINC (a metal)

Z (letter used to represent a variable quantity in mathematics for example) + IN + C (International Vehicle Registration for Cuba)

Z IN C
14 Additional matters are ignored by insurgents (6) 

RIDERS (clauses or corollaries added to an already complete contract or other legal document; additional matters)

RAIDERS (insurgents) excluding (ignored) A (are, a unit of measurement)

RIDERS
15 Startling volume during celebration, not entirely pleasant (8) 

GALVANIC (sudden, startling or convulsive)

(V [volume] contained in [during] GALA [festivity; celebration]) + NICE (pleasant) excluding the final letter (not entirely)

GAL (V) A NIC
18 Initially some have permits for area near the shore (8) 

SHALLOWS (sea area near the shore)

SH (first letters of [initially] each of SOME and HAVE) + ALLOWS (permits)

SH ALLOWS
20 Blue stuff? I really enjoy absorbing new source of obscenity (6) 

INDIGO (violet-blue dye; blue stuff)

([I + DIG {slang term meaning ‘to really enjoy’}] containing [absorbing] N [new]) + O (first letter of [source of] OBSCENITY

I (N) DIG O
23 Frequently our group returned to view sites (4) 

SURF (view [web]sites on the world wide web)

(FR [frequently] + US [our group]) all reversed (returned) to form SURF

(SU RF)<
24 Performers I punished and criticised (10) 

CASTIGATED (criticised)

CAST (performers in a play or musical, for example) + I + GATED (confined)

CAST I GATED
26 Soldiers misrepresented in article making things straight (11) 

RECTILINEAR (straight)

RE (Royal Engineers; soldiers) + an anagram of (misrepresented) IN ARTICLE

RE CTILINEAR* – I think ‘making things’ is just a linking phrase indicating that the wordplay leads to the answer
27 Spanish artist not unknown in part of India (3) 

GOA (State of India; part of India)

GOYA (reference Francisco GOYA [1746 – 1828], Spanish artist) excluding (not) Y (letter frequently representing an unknown value in mathematics)

GOA
28 Meander with drunk, protected from some weather (9) 

WINDTIGHT (protected from WIND [an element of weather])

WIND (meander) + TIGHT (drunk)

WIND TIGHT
29 High observation point has observer covering US state (5) 

EYRIE (high place that can serve as an excellent observation point)

EYE (observer) containing (covering) RI (Rhode Island, US State)

EY (RI) E
Down  
1 I left a small amount to be picked up and brought in by James for prisoners (9) 

JAILBIRDS (prisoners)

(I + L [left] + [DRIB {a small amount} reversed {picked up; down entry}]) contained in (brought in by) JAS (JAMES)

JA (I L BIRD<) S
2 Frosty cricketing body restricting English as before (3- 4) 

ICE-COLD (freezing; frosty)

(ICC [International Cricket Council] containing [restricting] E [English]) + OLD (as before)

IC (E) C OLD
3 More skill at sea, securing one’s first recovery from capsizing (6,4) 

ESKIMO ROLL (in canoeing or kayaking, a complete roll through 360º, enabling recovery after capsizing)

Anagram of (at sea) MORE SKILL containing (securing) O (initial letter of [‘s first] One’s)

ESKIMO R (O) LL*
4 Light wind about to pass through English city (6) 

BREATH (very slight wind)

RE (with reference to; about) contained in (to pass through) BATH (English city)

B (RE) ATH
5 Inspector of spying? Decide to participate, spies being involved (8) 

OPTICIAN (person qualified to examine the eyes and prescribe and supply spectacles and contact lenses; cryptically, an inspector of spying)

CIA (Central Intelligence Agency; spies) contained in (being involved) (OPT IN [decide to participate] )

OPT I (CIA) N
6 Part of harbour is where criminal appears (4) 

DOCK (part of a harbour)

DOCK (enclosure for the accused in a court of law; where [alleged] criminal appears)  double definition

DOCK
7 Pub abandoning new concept gets positive response (7) 

OVATION (outburst of popular applause; positive response)

INNOVATION (new concept) excluding (abandoning) INN (pub)

OVATION
8 Form of entertainment is upheld amidst a lot of rubbish (5) 

MUSIC (form of entertainment)

IS reversed (upheld; down entry) contained in (amidst) MUCK excluding the final letter K, leaving all the other letters (a lot of)

MU (SI<) C
13 A danger, with TV broadcast involving a modernist (5-5) 

AVANT-GARDE (relating to the newest ideas and techniques in the arts or other creative activity; modernist)

(Anagram of [broadcast] A DANGER and [with] TV) containing [involving] A

AVANT G (A) RDE*
16 Meteorological measure originally considered obtrusive and worthless (5,4) 

CLOUD BASE (the undersurface of a cloud or clouds; the height of this above sea level; meteorological measure)

C (first letter of [originally] CONSIDERED) + LOUD (obtrusive) + BASE (worthless)

C LOUD BASE
17 Asserting son’s something of an irritation? (8) 

SWEARING (asserting)

S (son) + WEARING (descriptive of an irritation)

S WEARING
19 A lot of grain gathered by a cool continental resident (7) 

AFRICAN (resident of the continent of AFRICA)

RICE (grain) excluding the final letter (a lot of) E contained in (gathered by) (A + FAN [cool])

A F (RIC) AN
21 Possibly two for one in Bury (7) 

INTEGER (two is an example of an INTEGER [any positive whole number, any negative whole number, or zero])

E.G. (for example; for one) contained in (in) INTER (bury)

INT (EG) ER
22 Rising river swamping 40% of Truro road (6) 

STREET (road)

TEES (river in the North of England) reversed (rising; down entry) containing (swamping) TR (2 of the 5 [40%] letters in TRURO)

S (TR) EET<
23 Raised consequences of virus for fodder? (5) 

STRAW (a type of fodder)

WARTS (small hard excrescences on the skin caused by a virus) reversed (raised; down entry)

STRAW<
25 Free up time for gossip (4) 

DIRT (spiteful gossip)

RID (free) reversed (up;down entry) + T (time)

DIR< T

17 comments on “Independent 11978 / Phi”

  1. Very accomplished setting, nothing I could raise even a mini-quibble about.
    21(d) is a clever play (INTEGER), ditto 7(d) OVATION.
    The definition for EYRIE, 29(ac) is nicely leftfield…almost poetic.
    OK… just one tiny flicker of a ?……. frequently = FR, in 23(ac): it’s new to me, but I can imagine it’s a recognised abbreviation.
    A very enjoyable puzzle to tackle.
    Thanks to Phi & duncan

  2. I found this to be at the harder end of Phi’s Friday offerings, chewy in lots of places! There was quite a lot of “cryptic misdirection” in which the common cryptic interpretation of words or surface grammar turned out to be dead ends.

    JUICE was tough, needing to interpret things as “street, in fairness, not showing”. BROOMSTICK took some thinking – and I never did fit in my “IF” for “provided”.

    I’ve never seen JAS as James before (a search confirmed that it’s a Bible thing), and I don’t think I’ve ever seen dribs used in the singular, though it didn’t hinder me since JAILBIRDS was a back-parse from checkers and my tentative J anyway. The ESKIMO ROLL anagram and AFRICAN took longer to untangle than they should have, and I haven’t thought of BASE as worthless before so my CLOUD went unpaired for a while. And I had so many different potential interpretations of the INTEGER clue that I didn’t know where to begin! Bogofs, northern soundalikes,… 😀

    None of which are grumbles by any means! I enjoyed all the tricky clues once I’d finally got there, and I think INTEGER, (the easier) OPTICIAN, and JAILBIRDS are my podium.

    Thanks to Phi for the headache and to duncanshiell for putting me out of my misery for SURF; I’ve never seen FR for “frequently” before, and although the SU seemed right I ended up bunging in SURE without a complete parsing, so alas today was a DNF.

  3. Just couldn’t get into this like I normally can with Phi. Bottom half sort of OK but I lost it with the top half. I did like the clue for INTEGER and wish I could come up with gems like that.

  5. Like AP and Tim C, I found this a trickier Phi. Hard to get into and then hard to finish with BROADLOOM, GALVANIC and ICE COLD holding out at the end. Re BROADLOOM, how are we accounting for the word ‘to’ in the clue? Is ROAD clued by ‘way to’ or does ‘to put in’ mean the same as ‘to be put in’? I can’t quite get my head around it. And ‘making things’ is certainly an odd link in RECTILINEAR. RIDERS, CLOUD BASE, OVATION, the very neat INTEGER, the fun def in OPTICIAN and the extended def in ESKIMO ROLL make up my faves.

    I see Phi is hinting at a theme but it is not something I have spotted.

    Thanks Phi and duncan.

  7. Well, both Tim Berne and Tim Buckley produced Avant-garde Music. But I see no further hints to either of them.

  10. Yes mw7000, now you mention it it’s obvious to this refo in Oz. I’ve read most of his stuff but not his latest, Juice, yet.

  12. Shallows (1984), Cloud[base]street (1991), The Riders (1994), Dirt Music (2001), Breath (2008), Eyrie (2013), Juice (2024) — any more? {I hadn’t heard of him.}

  13. Apologies all: just came off a rather boring conference call during which I had posted the above comment, thinking I was still on the G page for which it was tangentially relevant. Not so here.

    Thanks for identifying the theme; not an author with whom I had any familiarity at all but well done to Phi for fitting in a decent selection.

  14. The theme is a nho, but I’m glad I now know there’s a word for the oligarchs who put the ex-USSR’s wealth in their own pockets.

    Thanks Phi and duncan.

  15. Thanks both. Persistence paid off, and too much energy needed for the answers to try to identify the theme, which is just as well now I know it. I appear to be in the minority feeling the clue for OPTICIAN was only very slightly less cringeworthy than the joke about said professional holding up a dustbin lid and his client saying it was a ten-pence-piece.

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