Phi has returned to his usual Friday slot this week.
This puzzle has been set on a more unusual grid, containing as many as ten 4-letter lights out of a total of 32!
I found it to be an entertaining, medium-difficulty puzzle, with plenty to get my teeth into and with everything falling into place in the end. Phi also seems to have used the puzzle to pay tribute to a NZ-British lexicographer Eric Partridge (1894-1979) (=entries at 12, 13, 14), whose works included more than one dictionary (19) of slang (23).
I would appreciate it if fellow solvers could confirm my parsing of 24, where I am not sure if “fitted” is part of the definition or is simply being used as a bridge between the definition and the wordplay; and of 15, where I am struggling to see why “trilling” would be an anagram indicator.
My favourite clues this time were 1, 3 and 25, all for surface; and the & lit. at 27, for concision.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | UNCONVENTIONAL | International meeting, say, almost completely different …
UN CONVENTION (=international meeting, say) + AL<l> (=completely; “almost” means last letter is dropped) |
| 10 | ALPHA | … almost completely excellent, almost first-rate
AL<l> (=completely; “almost” means last letter is dropped) + PHA<t> (=excellent, of music; “almost” means last letter is dropped) |
| 11 | TIGHTWADS | They try not to meet cost of lump blocking hose
WAD (=lump, of soft substance) in TIGHTS (=(panty)hose) |
| 12 | ERIC | Chap avoiding a man on outskirts of US?
<am>ERIC<an> (=US, as adjective); “avoiding a man” means letters “aman” are dropped |
| 13 | PART | Episode setting standard with launch of telecast
PAR (=standard, as in below par) + T<elecast> (“launch of” means first letter only) |
| 14 | RIDGE | Heading away from crossing hilltop?
<b>RIDGE (=crossing); “heading away” means first letter is dropped |
| 15 | VOLT | Potential measure about to taken from rebellion
<re>VOLT (=rebellion); “about (=re, concerning) to be taken from” means letters “re” are dropped; a volt is a unit of electric potential |
| 16 | BIG SCIENCE | Major technological work? Regularly bring moral code to dismiss study
B<r>I<n>G (“regularly” means alternate letters only are used) + <con>SCIENCE (=moral code; “to dismiss study (=con)” means letters “con” are dropped); big science refers to technological advances made in western countries during and after WWII) |
| 19 | DICTIONARY | Journal covering legal case (except the start)? Lots of words here
<a>CTION (=legal case; “except the start” means first letter is dropped) in DIARY (=journal) |
| 21 | LENS | Tends to drop a glass
LE<a>NS (=tends, is inclined); “to drop a” means letter “a” is dropped |
| 23 | SLANG | Working hard to erase six words of vulgar tendencies?
SLA<vi>NG (=working hard); “to erase six (=VI, in Roman numerals)” means letters “vi” are dropped |
| 24 | SKEW | Small garden area, fitted at an angle
S (=small, of sizes) + KEW (=garden area, in London) |
| 25 | UGLY | Threatening limits to using library
U<sin>G L<ibrar>Y; “limits to” means first and last letters only are used |
| 28 | POISON PEN | Post Office is trading, welcoming new source of malicious mail
PO (=Post Office) + IS + [N (=new) in OPEN (=trading, of shop)] |
| 23 | ARIEL | Sign left for second satellite
ARIES (sign, of zodiac); “left (=L) for second (=S)” means letter “s” is replaced with “l”; Ariel is the third largest of the satellites of Uranus |
| 30 | A HARD DAY’S NIGHT | Pop film always presented in unusually high standard
AY (=always) in *(HIGH STANDARD); “unusually” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the 1964 comedy film starring the Beatles |
| DOWN | ||
| 02 | NUPTIAL | Nearly all of platinum hit is describing wedding
*(PLATINU<m>); “nearly all of” means last letter is dropped from anagram, indicated by “hit” |
| 03 | ORAL | Just heading off for exam
<m>ORAL (=just, right); “heading off” means first letter is dropped |
| 04 | VITIATION | Request, not popular, to engage one in perversion
I (=one) in <in>VITATION (=request; “not popular (=in)” means letters “in” are dropped; to vitiate is to corrupt, pervert |
| 05 | NIGHT | Piece not beginning when nocturne is expected
<k>NIGHT (=piece, in chess); “not beginning” means first letter is dropped |
| 06 | INTERMIX | I note period nine to engage in mingling
I + N (=note) + TERM (=period) + IX (=nine, in Roman numerals) |
| 07 | NEASDEN | Part of London in North needs a rebuilding
*(N (=north) + NEEDS A); “rebuilding” is anagram indicator; Neasden is a suburban district in north-west London |
| 08 | LISTENERS | Radio audience mostly staunch aboard ships
STE<m> (=staunch, e.g. flow of; “mostly” means last letter is dropped) in LINERS (=ships) |
| 09 | CAGE | Capture a navy escaping massacre
C<arn>AGE (=massacre); “a RN (=navy, i.e. Royal Navy) escaping” means letters “arn” are dropped |
| 15 | VIDE SUPRA | Diva’s pure trilling, as observed previously
*(DIVA’S PURE); “trilling”, for some reason, appears to be the anagram indicator; “vide supra” means “see above” in Latin |
| 17 | SERGEANTS | French guy, say, leading soldiers? Several such
SERGE (=French guy, say, i.e. a male forename in France) + ANTS (=soldiers) |
| 18 | RING ROAD | Telephone staff about a municipal highway?
RING (=telephone) + [A in ROD (=staff)] |
| 20 | CZARINA | Empress, last character to board vehicle in area
[Z (=last character, i.e. last letter of alphabet) in CAR (=vehicle)] + IN + A (=area) |
| 22 | ENGLISH | Single shot by Henry from European country
*(SINGLE) + H (=Henry); “shot” is anagram indicator |
| 24 | SEPIA | One brought in revolutionary copies of old photographs?
I (=one) in SEPA (APES=copies, imitates; “revolutionary” indicates vertical revision) |
| 26 | YOLK | Yellow jersey ultimately very good, worn by first in line
<ver>Y (“ultimately” means last letter only) + [L<ine> (“first in” means first letter only) in OK (=good)]; the yolk is the yellow of an egg |
| 27 | SARI | What may be seen in Amritsar (India)?
Hidden (“what may be seen”) in “AmritSAR (India)”; & lit. |
I took “fitted” as part of definition in 24a. “Trilling” to denote an anagram? I give up. It seems setters use just about any old word to me.
For 26d, I have the Y from jerseY. In 12a, I took “of US” to denote “American”.
I looked up Eric Partridge. He wrote A DICTIONARY of SLANG and UNCONVENTIONAL ENGLISH.
Thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku.
Phi on top form again. Thanks muchly.
Hovis: From what you say in today’s FT you wouldn’t want to know, but Eric Partridge also wrote a delightful (and very important) book on SHAKESPEARE’S BAWDY. It is both an Essay and a Glossary
Thanks Phi and RatkojaRiku, much enjoyed. Ditto Hovis re 24A. Trilling is a wobbly sort of singing, like a diva, so wobble the letters for an anagram – no problem! Phat is a new one on me, and I don’t think I’d like that sort of music; apparently it’s also a card game. Odd to use the same device in consecutive clues as at 1A and 10A.
It seems we had to a lot of topping and tailing today making it all feel rather samey.
23A definition is “words of vulgar tendencies”.
Didn’t spot the theme. Last two in were the crossers VITIATION and TIGHTWADS.
Don’t mind “trilling”.
Good Friday fun.
Thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku.
Probably my least favourite Phi for some time.
OK=very good???
Unusual words, clunky clues and nothing that made me smile or think “that was neat”.
Each to his own I guess but count me out of the “Partridge Family”
@7reddevil there is a sense in which OK can mean “very well”, as in nothing more than acquiescence; by extension, “very good” can have a similar meaning, though seldom used (in these days).