Unusually, Phi is occupying the Tuesday slot this week, which probably means that there is a theme in here somewhere.
This grid accommodates an unusually high number of 4-letter lights, meaning that the total number of clues is higher than average for a standard 15 x 15 daily cryptic. I made steady progress through it, solving many of the clues to the shorter entries before cracking the longer ones. In the end, I was sure that the answer to 10 was right, but I could not parse it at all. I look forward to hearing what fellow solvers came up with here – many thanks to all, blog now updated!
Once I had completed the grid, I spotted a partial-Nina around the perimeter: STUDIO GHIBLI, which Google informs me is a Japanese animation film studio, founded in 1985, and whose highest grossing releases are SPIRITED AWAY (2001, to be found at 1 10 in the grid) and HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2004, to be found at 16 20 18). Perhaps there are other films hidden in the grid somewhere?
My favourite clue today by some margin was 21, for its clever use of “disabled” in wordplay and definition alike.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 07 | SPROUT | Talk a lot about Republican growth
R (=Republican) in SPOUT (=talk a lot) |
| 08 | EPILOGUE | Last item recalled European Union attempt to mislead about power
EU (=European Union) + GO (=attempt, try) + [P (=power) in LIE (=to mislead)]; “recalled” indicates reversal |
| 09 | CROSSHATCH | Angry getting access to lower deck in shade
CROSS (=angry) + HATCH (=access to lower deck); to crosshatch is to shade in with two or more sets of parallel lines |
| 10 | AWAY | A good outcome for those visiting // on holiday?
Double definition: an AWAY is a win for the away team in football (in the pools) AND to be AWAY is to be on holiday |
| 11 | STATEHOUSE | Satisfy audience about tense gathering of legislators
T (=tense, in grammar) in [SATE (=satisfy) + HOUSE (=audience, in e.g. theatre)] |
| 14 | DEER | Game? Put off, losing heart
DE<t>ER (=put off, discourage); “losing heart” means middle letter is dropped |
| 15 | DARED | Fear shifting article forward? Took the risk
DREAD (=fear); “shifting article (=A) forward” means letter “a” moves to an earlier position in the word |
| 16 | HOWLS | Short vacation – about week? Sounds of protest
W (=week, on calendar) in HOLS (=vacation; “short” indicates abbreviation, i.e. of holidays) |
| 19 | EMMY | The writer’s backed the writer’s award
EM (ME=the writer, i.e. Phi; “backed” indicates reversal) + MY (=the writer’s, i.e. Phi’s) |
| 21 | STAIRCASES | Problems for disabled access? Assist disabled with care
*(ASSIST + CARE); “disabled” is anagram indicator |
| 22 | OVER | Completed insurance, shelling out $100
<c>OVER (=insurance); “shelling out $100 (=C, in US slang)” means letter “c” is dropped |
| 24 | OSTRICH EGG | Not the usual breakfast item – startled grocer reduced this – good
*(GROCE<r> + THIS) + G (=good); “reduced” last letter is dropped from anagram, indicated by “startled” |
| 26 | ENSCONCE | Position computer key formerly around third in line
<li>N<e> (“third in” means third letter only is used) in [ESC (=computer key) + ONCE (=formerly)] |
| 27 | MUESLI | Part of intestine repelled, having received small breakfast?
S (=small, of sizes) in MUELI (ILEUM=part of intestine; “repelled” indicates reversal) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | SPIRITED | Lively liturgy has brought about rise in baptisms
RITE (=liturgy) in SPID (DIPS=baptisms; “rise in” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 02 | TOPSY-TURVY | Confused, having thrown up Toy Story V, nothing less
*(UP TOY ST<o>RY V); “nothing (=O) less” means a letter “o” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “thrown” |
| 03 | UTAH | State University leading cover up
U (=university) + TAH (HAT=cover; “up” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 04 | DISH | Duke is first to Haydock course
D (=duke) + IS + H<aydock> (“first to” means initial letter only) |
| 05 | IOTA | First nine letters of the alphabet written up – culminating in this?
A to I (=first nine letters of the alphabet); “written up” indicates vertical reversal; “culminating in this” refers to the ninth letter “i”, hence “iota” |
| 06 | OUTAGE | Indignation, after river blocked – no power now?
OUT<r>AGE (=indignation); “after river (=R) blocked” means letter “r” is dropped |
| 08 | EAT OUT | Each solicitor will have to go for a meal?
EA (=each- + TOUT (=solicitor) |
| 12 | HADES | Underworld keeps around half of dead
DE<ad> (“half of” means 2 of 4 letters only) in HAS |
| 13 | ETHER | Anesthetic, article found in part of US hospital
THE (=article, in grammar) in ER (=part of US hospital, i.e. Emergency Room) |
| 14 | DOWN-AT-HEEL | Walking through feathers, perhaps rather shabby
Cryptically, if you were walking through feathers you could have (some) down at (your) heel! |
| 17 | SVENGALI | Controller is upset about mercenary seizing government
[G (=government) in VENAL (=mercenary)] in SI (IS; “upset” indicates vertical reversal); a Svengali is a person exercising a controlling or mesmeric influence over someone, from the 1864 novel Trilby, by George du Maurier |
| 18 | CASTLE | Actors: pair late on in Hamlet, in Elsinore?
CAST (=actors) + <ham>LE<t> (“pair late on”, i.e. two letters from latter part of word); Hamlet’s castle was located in Elsinore in Denmark |
| 20 | MOVING | Married, affectionate, though not initially poignant
M (=married) + <l>OVING (=affectionate; “not initially” means first letter is dropped) |
| 23 | RICH | First person in Germany to support King with money
R (=king, i.e. rex) + ICH (=first person in Germany, i.e. the German word for the pronoun I) |
| 24 | OMNI | Old science magazine occupying fandom nightly
Hidden (“occupying”) in “fandOM NIghtly”; Omni was a science and sci-fi magazine in the US and the UK, first published in 1978 |
| 25 | IAMB | Lot of information on computer about a foot
A in 1 MB (=lot of information on computer, i.e. one megabyte) |
Are “those visiting” the AWAY [team in a sports fixture]? That would leave good outcome=WAY? Dunno.
I wondered if WAY is equated to good outcome in the sense of “way to go” which is an exclamation acknowledging something good; a good result. Possibly abbreviated to WAY?
A typically obscure Phi theme. I wondered if EMMY might be related but can’t seen why the studio would be eligible. No other theme entries I can spot.
Thanks Phi and RR
I was also baffled by AWAY; following Mev’s suggestion, I think maybe it’s a DD: AWAY can be a noun meaning an away win (e.g. in the football pools), which is “A good outcome for those visiting,” although the superfluous indefinite article is misleading.
I couldn’t really work out AWAY either. ‘A good outcome for those visiting’ would be an AWAY WIN. I didn’t know this can be shortened just to AWAY, as per Quizzy_Bob @3. I was a bit surprised to see ETHER not clued as a ‘Number’ for once.
I liked the Nina leading to the theme. I’ve only ever seen bits and pieces of the Miyazaki films, with the exception of “Porco Rosso” which I thought was magical.
Thanks to Phi and RR
10aI think it’s a cryptic definition. If you’re on holiday in these pandemic times a good result would be to get away.
I was equally baffled by AWAY. The best I could come up with was a DD of A WAY (which you need to have to go somewhere) and AWAY, but it didn’t seem that plausible.
I parsed 14A as DEER but they both work.
Oops mistyped last sentence – should be I parsed 14A as DE F ER
I thought 10a was a triple: A good outcome (love will find a way etc.), for those visiting (away strips etc. In football), on holiday? (example of being away).
Liked the clever Nina-cum-theme.
I think AWAY means away win in betting and football pools, but I am attracted by Hovis’ suggestion. STAIRCASE was clever.
Petert @9. If I had not checked before posting we would have crossed. Indeed, back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the heyday of the football pools (do they still exist?), besides the principal game of selecting eight of the week’s matches which would end in a draw, there were other, minor games on the coupon, one of which was to predict ‘five AWAYs’. If I remember correctly, my family once won a few pounds on this, on AWAYs suggested by me in my days of short trousers and an interest in football which I can no longer muster. In addition, on football league tables, there is an ‘A’ column, short for AWAY, which enumerates the AWAY wins of the team in question. I think, therefore, as you propose, that despite the heroic attempts to come up with other more convoluted parsings, it is all to do with the footie.
Petert @9. Not sure who you meant to refer to but not me.
I wouldn’t class Studio Ghibli as an obscure theme. They’ve made loads of animations and I may possibly have seen all but the latest. I thought their film Grave of the Fireflies was a particularly daring film to make, being so different from their other works being very dark and very moving. If any of you decide to give it a watch, have the tissues at hand.
Sorry for Hovis above read Herb.
Only spotted the theme at the very end and feeling foolish as I am a huge fan. Enjoyed the whole puzzle.
This might be a first for me. I spotted the Nina fairly early, and having seen SPIRITED and HOWLS MOVING, I was able to get AWAY and CASTLE. (Couldn’t parse AWAY either.) I haven’t see all their films although FilmFour did a season a while back, but Spirited Away is very good. Not sure of the reason for the theme, doesn’t seem to be an anniversary.
Incidentally, Spooner’s catflap. I remember pools. My father had a second job as a pools collector. Each weekend, he’d get a pile of coupons from Littlewoods which he had to stamp with his collector’ number and distribute. Then. on Friday evening, he’d go round and collect the filled-in coupons.
Spotted the nina two-thirds of the way through and it helped with some of the last few. I too was looking for any other Ghibli film titles; I’m no an expert but have been to see a few when our local PictureHouse had a season of them a while ago; they are always tranquil, touching, luminous. But I could not find any other Ghibli-related Easter Eggs in the answers.
Spirited Away was released twenty years ago today. We’ve been watching a sequence of Studio Ghibli films at the local cat cafe (as you do) and Miyazaki is easily the equal of Disney. Throw in the strangeness (to Western eyes) of Japanese folklore and you have some astonishing films.
AWAY is the football pools – my Dad used to do them, and an ‘away’ was a win by the visiting team, and worth two points. Very big back in the day, with people clustered round the telly waiting for James Alexander Gordon to read out the results.
I first heard about Spirited Away when it was up for the Hugo Award in Toronto in 2003. They showed a clip at the awards ceremony. (The year of eligibility was extended due it not being released in the US till 2002.) It lost out to a film called The Two Towers, made in some out of the way country. It got a UK release not long after I got back from the convention.
Well I was looking for the Nina today and there it was.. sadly meant nothing to me but Google provided the fodder for a more rapid solve.. certainly looks interesting.. I feel I should expand my visual experience …
Thanks Phi n RatkojaRiku
I thought the explanation for AWAY must be the football pools definition in Chambers but wasn’t sure, so thanks to Phi for confirming it.
Not being cinema buffs, once we saw the nina we had to google for Studio Ghibli and seeing ‘Spirited Away’ in the results gave us 1 10 – otherwise we had no idea about AWAY except that it was about the only word it could be.
Otherwise a fairly straightforward solve. Thanks, Phi and Ratkojariku.
Originally I went for AGAS for 10a, giving SAGA backwards, but then decided it was two words.
Regarding the Pools, away wins were 1½ points; no score draws were 2 and score draws were 3. (There was a one year period where only 1-1 draws were 3 points and all other draws were 2½)