Independent 9894 / Phi

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A good example of a national daily crossword today with a good mix of general knowledge and a wide range of cluing.  

 

 

 

I have tossed a few of the entries into Google to see if there is a link but I can’t find one, but who knows these days as crossword setters find esoteric themes!

As ever, crosswords broaden the mind as I learnt about Saint SEBASTIAN‘s probable demise at the hands of people with arrows.  I thought that FELIS would refer to cats but confirmed it before writing the blog.

I also discovered a technical term for a graffiti artist –TAGGER

I wasn’t too sure about the definition for SUN worked and have concluded that the clue is simply saying that the SUN is almost set at some part of the day.  Feel free to suggest something better.

Across
No Clue Wordplay Entry
1 Panic as displayed by marines? (5)

À LA (in the manner of; as) + RM (Royal Marine)

A LA RM

ALARM (panic)

 
4 Regret capturing a lot of argument with supporter swearing (9)

PITY (regret) containing (capturing) (ROW [argument] excluding the final letter [a lot of] W + FAN [supporter])

P (RO FAN) ITY

PROFANITY (swearing)

 
9 Saint, upset by book in main, becoming martyr pointedly (9)

(B [book] contained in [in] SEA [main]) + an anagram of [upset] SAINT

SE (B) A STIAN*

SEBASTIAN (a saint, said to have become a martyr after being killed by arrows; martyr pointedly)

 

10

 

A soprano carrying line to other singers (5)

 

(A + S [soprano]) containing (carrying) (L [line] + TO)

A (L TO) S

ALTOS (high falsetto male voices; singers)

 
11 Emphatic charm following curtailed attempt (9)

TRY (attempt) excluding the final letter (curtailed) Y + ENCHANT (charm)

TR ENCHANT

TRENCHANT (forthright; emphatic)

 
13 Core of plant yielded source of tequila (5)

A (middle letter of [core of] PLANT) + GAVE (yielded)

A GAVE

AGAVE (tequila a Mexican alcoholic drink made from an AGAVE plant)

 

14

 

Work round it, going to a back courtyard (5)

 

(OP [opus; work] containing [round] [IT + A]) all reversed (back)

(P (A TI) O)<

PATIO (courtyard)

 
15 Went back to Edward with the bass voice (4-5)

PEED (went [to the loo]) reversed (back) + TO + NED (Edward)

DEEP< TO NED

DEEP-TONED (with a deep voice)

 

16

 

Plant, one revived with river water (5,4)

 

Anagram of (revived) ONE and R [river] and WATER

ROWAN TREE*

ROWAN TREE (TREE; plant)

 
18 Odd bits of rain and clouds offering some danger (5)

RI (letters 1 and 3 [odd bits] of RAIN) + SKY (clouds)

RI SKY

RISKY (dangerous)

 

20

 

Group of cats engaged in strife – listen (5)

 

FELIS (hidden word [engaged in] STRIFE LISTEN)

FELIS

FELIS (cat genus; group of cats)

 
21 Support for opening party far more doubtful (9)

DO (party) + an anagram of (doubtful) FAR MORE

DO OR FRAME*

DOORFRAME (support for an opening)

 
23 Asian city has to be adopted by US city (5)

HAS contained in (to be adopted by) LA (Los Angeles, United States city)

L (HAS) A

LHASA (capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China)
24 Staff mostly rage in oil industry city (9)

STAVE (staff) excluding the final letter (mostly) E + ANGER (rage)

STAV ANGER

STAVANGER (city in Norway with significant connection to the North Sea oil industry)

 
25 Reverence is adopted by head in old church (9)

(IS contained in [adopted by] BEAN [head]) all contained in (in) (O [old] + CE [Church {of England}])

O (BE (IS) AN) CE

OBEISANCE (reverence)

 

26

 

It will light up church behind hill (5)

 

TOR (hill) + CH (church)

TOR CH

TORCH (portable lamp; it will light up)

 

Down
No Clue Wordplay Entry
1 Something often considered fixed when fixed (5)

ASSET (item of property that is often large and immovable [fixed])

ASSET

ASSET (reference fixed ASSETs on a balance sheet, such as long-lived items such as plant and buildings, brands, processes, patents and financial investment)

 
2 Disposition to include one after morning in the environment (7)

AM (ante-meridiem; before noon; in the morning) + BENT (disposition) containing (to include) I (Roman numeral for one)

AM B (I) ENT

AMBIENT (air or sky; environment)

 

3

 

What you want to hear c/o some tunes and airs, possibly (5,2,4,4)

Anagram of (possibly) CO SOME TUNES and AIRS

MUSIC TO ONES EARS*

MUSIC TO ONE’S EARS (anything that you are very glad to hear)

 
4 Setter to secure wine after store ultimately fooled around (11)

PHI (pseudonym of today’s crossword setter) + LAND (capture; secure) + E (last letter of [ultimately] STORE) + RED (wine)

PHI LAND E RED

PHILANDERED (fooled around)

 

5

 

Have current name used later (3)

 

NOW (current) with the N (name) moved to the end (later)

OWN

OWN (have)

 
6 Dreadful tat affects aroma really (2,1,6,2,4)

Anagram of (dreadful) TAT AFFECTS AROMA

AS A MATTER OF FACT*

 AS A MATTER OF FACT (in reality; really)
7 Progressing on board? (2,5)

IN TRAIN (on board the train)

IN TRAIN

IN TRAIN (happening; progressing)  double definition

 
8 Certainly still upset about dietary allowance recently (9)

YES (certainly + (YET [still] reversed [upset; down clue] containing [about] RDA [recommended daily / dietary allowance])

YES TE (RDA) Y<

YESTERDAY (recently)

 

12

 

I’ve been looking everywhere, just like I said (5,3,3)

 

THERE YOU ARE (expression often used when finding someone you have been looking for over some time)

THERE YOU ARE

THERE YOU ARE (expression used to express triumph when something one predicted would occur does occur)  double definition

 
14 Having wine following stew in case (9)

PORT (fortified wine) + F (following) + OLIO (savoury dish of different sorts of meat and vegetables; stew)

PORT F OLIO

PORTFOLIO (a case or pair of boards for holding loose papers, drawings, etc)

 
17 Lecturer significantly restricted by negligible prosperity (7)

(L [lecture] + FAR [significantly]) all contained in (restricted by) WEE (negligible)

WE (L FAR) E

 WELFARE (prosperity)
19 Banksy’s penultimate source of graffiti provides surprise (7)

S (second last letter of [penultimate] BANKSY) + TAGGER (graffiti artist [defined in Collins])

S TAGGER

STAGGER (surprise)

 
22 Planet core hard to shift (5)

HEART (core) with the H (hard, on lead pencils) moved to the end (to shift)

EARTH

EARTH (planet)

 
24 It may be almost set? (3)

SUNK (set) excluding the final letter (almost) K

SUN

 SUN (at some point in the evening, the SUN may be almost set)

     

10 comments on “Independent 9894 / Phi”

  1. What would Friday be without a tussle with Phi. Some quite difficult parsing including YESTERDAY and OBEISANCE so this was no write-in. Didn’t know (or more likely had forgotten) OLIO for ‘stew’ and FELIS was also new, though easily gettable. Missed the significance of ‘martyr pointedly’ – v. good. I parsed SUN as a cryptic def. but wasn’t entirely convinced.

    STAVANGER isn’t the first ‘city’ to spring to mind, even of the ‘oil industry’ variety, and I must have wrestled with this for about 10 minutes as my last in.

    Thanks to Phi and Duncan.

  2. Just noticed a lack of comments so I’ll just chip in and say I really liked the use of “setter” in 4d.And the rest of the puzzle.

    And I’m sure I’ve been to Stavanger.

    Disappointing turnout for Phi.

    Thanks to the latter and duncanshiell.

  3. Another Friday, another Phi, another satisfying crossword.  No theme that we can see, though.

    We wondered about the parsing of SUN and thought it might be that when the sun has set it has sunk below the horizon, so ‘almost set’ could be SUN[k].

    Thanks, Phi and Duncan.

  4. Sorry Duncan – read your remark about SUN in the preamble but didn’t study the detailed analysis properly.

  6. An enjoyable Phiendish challenge.  I failed on STAVANGER, WELFARE and SUN.  [I’m now hiding in the shade until that last sets.]

    Favourite: FELIS, obviously.

    Thanks to Phi and Duncan.

    P.S. Hovis@5 – well spotted!

  7. All went in fairly smoothly.  I haven’t been to Stavanger, as to St. Sebastian, there was a famous Derek Jarman film about him, with the dialogue all in Latin.  It played at the Gate cinema in Notting Hill when I lived just round the corner in the seventies.  Never saw it, but I remembered the arrows.

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