Independent 12,068 by Phi

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Phiday the 13th, but no nightmares here.

Another well-constructed puzzle from Phi, with only one or two minor niggles (noted below). Some great surface images, including an inebriated composer, ominous molten rock, and a plague of sheep. I liked the sneaky definitions in 8d and 23d, and especially the extended definition in 28d. I can’t see a theme today, but there isn’t always one to find. Thanks Phi for the fun.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 DREARISOME
Dull day’s end is sign excluding night’s beginning (10)
D (abbreviation for day) + REAR (end, as in the rear carriage of a train) + IS + OME[n] (sign), without the N which is the first letter of N[ight].

I’m not sure about the definition. According to the dictionaries, “drearisome” seems to mean “miserable” or “desolate” rather than just “dull”, though I suppose it’s possible to use it just as a long-winded variation of “dreary”, as here.
6 SULK
Be resentful and lurk once first knight’s taken (4)
S[k]ULK (lurk = to hide in the shadows) without the first K (abbreviation for knight).
10 FIGHTER
Combatant about to disembark large ship (7)
F[re]IGHTER (large cargo ship) without RE (about = on the subject of).
11 STAND BY
Fail to intervene with Bishop getting into a mess (5,2)
AND (with) + B (abbreviation for bishop), inserted into STY (an enclosure for pigs, or figuratively a messy place).
12 NEEDY
Recalled urge to take care of edition requiring attention (5)
YEN (urge, as a noun = longing) reversed (recalled), containing (to take care of . . .) ED (abbreviation for editor).
13 PERGOLESI
Italian composer thus lies drunkenly behind piano (9)
ERGO (Latin for “thus”, used in logical argument) + anagram (drunkenly) of LIES, after P (p = abbreviation for Italian piano = musical term for quiet).

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian Baroque composer.
14 TOY
Stage award offering no new trinket (3)
TO[n]Y (nickname of the Broadway theatre award named after Antoinette Perry), without the N (abbreviation for new).
15 THREATENING
Molten granite then becomes ominous (11)
Anagram (molten) of GRANITE THEN.
18 JUDGMENT DAY
Put-upon wife taking FBI agents to Irish politician – a time of reckoning (8,3)
JUDY (the put-upon wife in Punch and Judy puppet shows), containing (taking) G-MEN (slang for FBI agents, short for “Government men”) + TD (abbreviation for Teachta Dála = the Irish equivalent of a UK Member of Parliament).
19 COD
Fake male accessory with piece missing (3)
COD[piece] (a male clothing accessory in the 15th-16th centuries), without the “piece”.

Cod, as an adjective = fake, as in “cod Latin” = made-up words that sound like Latin but don’t really mean anything.
21 PANORAMIC
Alarm about old sheep covering a lot of the landscape? (9)
PANIC (alarm), around O (abbreviation for old) + RAM (a male sheep).

Descriptive of a wide scenic view or a very wide photograph.
24 HARDY
Grass on both sides of road readily tolerating poor conditions (5)
HAY (dried grass), around the outer letters (both sides) of R[oa]D.

As in hardy plants = ones that can survive cold weather.
25 TANDOOR
Highpoint of Glastonbury involves a number having party with element of Indian cuisine (7)
TOR (the hill known as Glastonbury Tor), containing (. . . involves) A (from the clue) + N (mathematical abbreviation for an unspecified number) + DO (slang for a party).

Traditional clay oven used in Indian cooking.
26 ITALIAN
Special quality applied to boxer with a name like Primo Carnera? (7)
IT (an undefinable “special quality”) + ALI (the boxer Muhammad Ali) + A + N (abbreviation for name).

Primo Carnera was a 20th-century Italian heavyweight boxer, according to Wikipedia; I didn’t know that, but I’m really not into boxing.
27 RHYL
Ends in another beach holiday – beautiful Welsh resort (4)
Last letters (ends) of [anothe]R [beac]H [holida]Y [beautifu]L.

Seaside resort in North Wales.
28 STONEHENGE
Collection of big rocks – the ones transported around England? (10)
Anagram (transported) of THE ONES, around ENG (abbreviation for England).

Perhaps an extended definition, because analysis suggests that many of the stones now standing on Salisbury Plain were brought long distances from Wales and Scotland.
DOWN
1 DEFUNCT
Mostly cut budget? Court no longer operating (7)
DEFUN[d] (to cut the budget allocated to an organisation or scheme) without the last letter (mostly), then CT (abbreviation for court, especially in streetmaps).
2 EAGLE-EYED
Keen delight in each old article presented by Duke (5-4)
GLEE (delight), in EA (abbreviation for each) + YE (an old form of “the” = definite article) + D (abbreviation for duke).

To be eagle-eyed is to have keen (good) eyesight, but I’m not sure the two are quite interchangeable in a sentence.
3 RATTY
Bad-tempered American lawyer supporting Republican (5)
ATTY (abbreviation for attorney = American lawyer) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) R (abbreviation for Republican).
4 SCRAP-IRON
Recyclable material in Fight Club? (5-4)
SCRAP (slang for a fight) + IRON (a golf club).
5 MISER
Marley regularly is shocking Scrooge? (5)
Anagram (shocking) of alternate letters (regularly) from M[a]R[l]E[y] + IS.

For example Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser from A Christmas Carol by Dickens – which also features the ghost of Jacob Marley.
7 UNDUE
Inappropriate of the French to block French article (5)
DU (“of the” in French) inserted into (to block) UNE (a form of the indefinite article in French).
8 KEY RING
Significant runs in good collection of openers (3,4)
KEY (significant, as in “key features”) + R (abbreviation for runs, in cricket scoring) + IN + G (abbreviation for good).

A collection of things that open locks.
9 CAJOLERY
Uproar about a work unit ignoring leader of union’s persuasion (8)
CRY (uproar) around A + JO[u]LE (scientific unit of work or energy), without the U which is the leading letter of U[nion].
15 TOMORROW
Lifting support around motorway dispute in the immediate future (8)
ROOT (support of a plant, or perhaps as in “root for” = express support for) reversed (lifting = upwards in a down clue), around M (abbreviation for motorway, as in M1), then ROW (argument = dispute).
16 ABDUCTION
Kidnapping case involving board and university (9)
ACTION (a legal case), containing BD (abbreviation for board = administrative body) + U (abbreviation for university).
17 INCURSION
Suffer offence, though nothing’s snatched in raid (9)
INCUR (as in “to incur a penalty” = suffer) + SIN (offence), containing (snatching) O (zero = nothing).
18 JUPITER
Mozart symphony: completed it amid half-hearted catcall (7)
UP (completed, as in “your time is up”) + IT, inserted into JE[e]R (catcall) with one of the two middle letters dropped (half-hearted).

Nickname of Mozart’s Symphony no. 41.
20 DOYENNE
Senior woman’s finished importing Asian currency (7)
DONE (finished), containing (importing) YEN (Japanese currency).
22 NANCY
A new college in American city and French city (5)
A + N (abbreviation for new) + C (abbreviation for college), in NY (abbreviation for New York = American city).

City in north-eastern France.
23 MERIT
Mega bore turning up in desert (5)
M (abbreviation for mega = prefix indicating 1 million), then TIRE (as a verb = bore = make someone lose interest) reversed (turning up = upwards in a down clue).

As in “just deserts” = something that is deserved = merit.
24 HEATH
Passion beginning to horrify rough country (5)
HEAT (passion) + first letter (beginning) of H[orrify].

Uncultivated land with poor soil and generally low-growing vegetation.

14 comments on “Independent 12,068 by Phi”

  1. In 25ac – “Internals of TANDOOR” – I believe “a” comes from the clue and “n” is shortform for number. A is hardly ever ( never ) . used for an unknown in mathematics and Phi had the option to clue numberS

  2. Solid puzzle from Phi. THREATENING, PANORAMIC, STONEHENGE all good; a very neat use of Fight Club in SCRAP IRON but COTD goes to the marvellous definition in KEY RING. I share our logger’s query about equating ‘keen’ with EAGLE-EYED.

    Thanks Phi and Quirister

  5. [Quirister – just realised I did not spot the autocorrect typo in the last sentence of my comment. Not suggesting you are a feller 😉]

  6. Liked the puzzle. Great blog.
    Thanks Phi and Quirister.

    Top faves: ITALIAN, STONEHENGE, KEY RING, MISER and MERIT.

  8. After two days of failing to finish, this went in quickly, although I wasn’t sure about the definition of MERIT. Turns out it’s in Chambers.

  9. Petert@7
    Good man. I read a lot of Hardy, ( as a young man who felt the despair of failed love). That poem, no.
    Very well spotted. I remember the previous Phi, your post, and Phi’s promise.
    I love it when a plan comes together.
    Oh…and by-the-by, a blooming good puzzle. + blog.
    Apart from Pergolesi the Obscure.
    Happy days, cheers, Phi, Ms.Q., and Petert

  10. ENB@9: One person’s obscure is another person’s doesn’t everybody know that. Having got the initial P I started going through all the Italian composers starting with that initial. Pizzetti, Puccini, then Pergolesi. Didn’t get to Palestrina.

    Pergolesi’s dubious claim to fame is that he died young and after his death many works were attributed to him that he had nothing to do with.

  11. Thanks both. I rate my chances of identifying a Phi theme equal to that of me walking on JUPITER, but at least I got the former notwithstanding classical music is not my forte…..proof being PERGOLESI which is a clue for the converted only; otherwise very tempting to add an anagram of ‘thus lies’ to the ubiquitous piano, and be quite content despite your composer’s lack of existence.

  12. Thanks Phi and Quirister. I think it’s a commonplace that Hardy’s first love was poetry, the novel-writing a mere livelihood. What a wonderful theme! Ta Petert@7 for spotting it.

  13. This puzzle was already in the queue when petert mentioned Hardy. Just the four long rhyming words. Lovely poem even if I can’t quite convince myself that Stonehenge scans. There’s a splendid tone-poem based on it by John Pickard too (might be mostly up Dormouse’s alley, that).

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