Independent 11,108 by Phi

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Phi is in his usual Friday role this week.

A couple of unfamiliar words here, but the wordplay was clear enough to make them guessable. I particularly liked the two long anagrams at 1a and 4d, and the “mad scientist” image of 2d.

As usual, Phi may have built this around a theme, but if so I’m struggling to find it. There’s an obvious connection between 1d, 24a and 26a, but nothing else related that I can see. Fell free to enlighten me if you know better. Thanks Phi as always.

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

ACROSS
1 MODUS OPERANDI
Way of working, possibly pseudorandom one (5,8)
Anagram (possibly) of PSEUDORANDOM + I (one in Roman numerals).
8 SPUR
Almost certain to seize power, having encouragement (4)
SUR[e] (certain) without its last letter (almost), containing (to seize) P (power).
9 LOSE THE WAY
Go off track? Soprano finally prepared to cut into song (4,3,3)
Final letter of [sopran]O + SET (prepared) + HEW (cut), all inserted into LAY (a song, typically an old ballad).
10 ABACUS
A defender short? Our team is something that counts (6)
A + BAC[k] (defending player in team sports) without the last letter (short), then US (our team).

A device used to count or perform simple calculations.
12 RABELAIS
French writer presenting a book in form of serial (8)
A + B (abbreviation for book), inserted into an anagram (form of . . .) of SERIAL.

French Renaissance writer.
13 BLESS YOU
Response to sneeze not so much unknown during endless period of illness (5,3)
LESS (not so much) + Y (mathematical symbol for an unknown quantity), inserted into BOU[t] (as in a bout of flu = period of illness) without its last letter (endless).

Traditional spoken response to someone sneezing.
15 ENGRAM
Memory trace? Recalled shock about old King (6)
MANE (slang for a “shock” of hair), reversed (recalled), around GR (abbreviation for one of the six former British kings called George).

Neuroscientist’s term for the physical representation of a piece of information stored in the brain. No, I hadn’t heard of it either, but see Wikipedia.
16 LE MANS
Inclines to invest millions in race venue (2,4)
LEANS (inclines), containing (to invest) M (millions).

French town, the location of a 24-hour driving endurance race.
18 DEBONAIR
Elegant new member of Society broadcasting (8)
DEB (short for debutante = a young girl entering formal society on reaching the age of majority) + ON AIR (broadcasting).
20 ASTONISH
A boy is hot, sustaining temperature? Wow (8)
A + SON (boy) + IS + H (hot), containing (sustaining) T (temperature).

Wow, as a verb = astonish.
21 ZITHER
Spot that woman’s stringed instrument (6)
ZIT (slang for a spot = facial skin blemish) + HER (that woman’s).
23 FOREFATHER
Ancestor’s warning: destiny involving hard year ultimately (10)
FORE (a warning call on a golf course) + FATE (destiny), containing H (hard), then the last letter (ultimately) of [yea]R.
24 LOOT
Spoils good deal, doubling content (4)
LOT (good deal = large quantity), with the middle letter (content) doubled.

Spoils, as a noun = loot = winnings or plunder.
26 X MARKS THE SPOT
Treasure instruction that’s provided by Times? (1,5,3,4)
I’m not sure whether this is intended as a single cryptic definition or a double definition. “X marks the spot” is traditionally the instruction on a pirate map showing where treasure is buried. X is also the mathematical symbol for “times” (multiplication), but I can’t see how the rest of the phrase relates to it.
DOWN
1 MAP
Moderately quiet about a plan (3)
MP (mp = short for mezzo-piano = musical notation for “moderately quiet”) around A.
2 DIRAC
British scientist: one cuts eccentric figure, on reflection (5)
I (one in Roman numerals), inserted into (cutting) CARD (an eccentric person) reversed (on reflection).

Paul Dirac, 20th-century theoretical physicist, born in Britain to a Swiss father. From what I’ve read about him, “eccentric” or perhaps “geek” would seem a fair description.
3 SPLASHY
Ostentatious agent receiving cruel punishment (7)
SPY (agent), containing (receiving) LASH (whip = cruel punishment).
4 PASS ROUND THE HAT
Request funding – spare thousand, potentially? Half of that secured (4,5,3,3)
Anagram (potentially) of SPARE THOUSAND, containing (securing) the first half of TH[at].

Literal or metaphorical phrase for requesting cash donations from everyone present.
5 RATABLE
Board supporting artist, subject to local charges (7)
TABLE (board = food set out on a table for serving) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) RA (Royal Academician = artist).

Ratable (or rateable) = subject to local taxes (rates), as in the “ratable value” of a property.
6 NEEDLE-GUN
Military rifle to annoy Rev (6-3)
NEEDLE (as a verb = annoy or provoke) + GUN (as a verb = rev = slang for “run an engine fast and noisily”).

Name for a military rifle with a needle-shaped firing pin.
7 IMAGINATIVE
I’m a US soldier encountering local resident, coming up with new ideas (11)
I’M A + GI (US soldier) + NATIVE (local resident born in the area).
11 BILLETS-DOUX
Finds place to stay for party and wife – and their correspondence? (7-4)
BILLETS (as a verb = arranges accommodation for military personnel) + DO (slang for a party) + UX (legal terminology for a wife, from Latin uxor).

Extended definition: billets-doux = French-derived term for love-letters, perhaps between a husband and wife.
14 SOAP OPERA
Hit the heights, welcoming religious leader on to a TV show? (4,5)
SOAR (hit the heights), containing POPE (religious leader), followed by (above, in a down clue = on to) A.
17 SKI MASK
Look quickly over, then enquire for winter sports item (3,4)
SKIM (read quickly but not in detail) + ASK (enquire).
19 BIZARRE
Strange vulgar business arranged with European in support (7)
BIZ (slang or “vulgar” shortening of “business”, as in “showbiz”) + ARR (abbreviation for “arranged”, as in descriptions of a piece of music arranged for different instruments/voices by someone other than the composer), with E (European) at the end (in support = at the bottom, in a down clue).
22 TULIP
Suggestion about trimmed bulb for flower (5)
TIP (a suggestion or piece of advice) around [b]UL[b] (trimmed = outer letters removed).
25 OUT
Porter dropping stone is dismissed (3)
[st]OUT (porter = strong dark beer), without the ST (abbreviation for stone = imperial unit of weight).

Dismissed = out, in cricket. Bowled, caught, stumped, run out, etc.

9 comments on “Independent 11,108 by Phi”

  1. Whilst there were a few tricky solutions – not intrinsically hard (apart from DIRAC/ENGRAM – both dnk) – but relatively uncommon in puzzles (NEEDLE GUN, X MARKS THE SPOT, RABELAIS, BILLETS DOUX) – this was a pleasure in contrast to the pig’s ear that the G delivered this morning. Highlights included the vulgar BIZ, SKI MASK, BILLETS DOUX, FOREFATHER and the aforementioned RABELAIS.

    I would anticipate Phi telling us that this was a collection of random words he decided to clue. But then it is Phi isn’t it? Who might have once had a pet gerbil called DIRAC which got OUT of its cage only to LOSE THE WAY without a MAP etc etc etc. Thinking about it, as I write that – LOOT, X MARKS THE SPOT, LOSE THE WAY and MAP all seem connected to each other but I can’t see any wider connection.

    Thanks Phi and Quirister

  2. I found my way round this without recourse to a Sat-Nav. Was the LOOT acquired by robbers wearing Ski-Masks? I found this a really pleasant mix of clues. Thanks, Phi and Quirister

  3. X MARKS THE SPOT:
    The spot marked by X (times). We can see one part as one def and the total clue as a cryptic def.

  5. Interesting that 21A occurs pretty much identically in today’s Times QC.

    Perhaps all the clues really have been written…

  6. Pleasant puzzle with ENGRAM the only one I didn’t know and the spelling of RATABLE not looking quite right, though I accept it is an alternative.

    If X MARKS THE SPOT, I still can’t find the treasure which is probably somewhere in the answers or grid.

    Thanks to Phi and Quirister

  7. Thanks Quirister as I missed the subtlety of 11d wordplay and didn’t know lay=song, and I have enjoyed the notes on various solutions.
    Dirac must have been odd, even for a brainiac mathmo/physicist, but a true giant whose work has applications well beyond the abstract world of quantum mechanics, eg insurance companies can use methods involving the “Fermi-Dirac distribution” to price risks.
    I was held up rather irrationally because I would tend towards “pass the hat round” in that order (loved the clue), SPLASHY is new to me but plausible in the sense of “splashing out”, always nice to see a ZIT (on the page), really enjoyed this overall, thanks Phi.

  8. A good while ago the Independent allowed setters to design their own grids. This was my first and I’m rather partial to it. It’s here again because my 500th design is coming up in the next few weeks.

    Even longer ago I attended one of Dirac’s last lectures (something of a guest speaker coup at a conference for wannabe astrophysicists). Farmelo’s biography, The Strangest Man, is aptly named.

  9. Thanks Phi, that was fun. As always I like the simple clues like LOOT, LE MANS, and MAP, the latter taking me way too long to get. I needed a look-up for ENGRAM; I was unaware that GR was “old king.” Thanks Quirister for the blog.

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