Independent 11,198 by Phi

by

To end the week we have a Phi ……. as we expected.

Phi has been theming some crosswords around the signs of the Zodiac. We have VIRGO today but we cannot find any other related items.

We are in Greece at the moment so if there are any errors we will not be able to sort them out until later.

Thanks Phi. A great way to end the week and you included one of our favourite words at 29A.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. International organisation college brought in regarding waste (3,5)
RED CROSS

C (college) ‘brought into’ RE (regarding) DROSS (waste)

6. Branch dropped in river? That’s a shame (4,2)
DEAR ME

ARM (branch) ‘dropped into’ DEE (river)

9. Pitiful character – promise falling short, taking money (4)
WORM

WORd (promise) missing last letter or ‘falling short’ and (‘taking’) M (money)

10. Crafty student producing debugger? (3,7)
FLY SWATTER

FLY (crafty) SWATTER (student) – we spent too long trying to parse FLY CATCHER

11. Somehow avoids breaking laws, issuing denials (10)
DISAVOWALS

An anagram (‘somehow’) of AVOIDS and an anagram (‘breaking’) of LAWS

13. Excellent to receive love in street (4)
ROAD

RAD (excellent) around or ‘receiving’ O (love)

14. Not favouring having sex endlessly around noon (4)
ANTI

AT It (having sex) missing last letter or ‘endlessly’ around N (noon)

15. Flight attendant reads out instructions finally after problem (10)
STEWARDESS

An anagram (‘out’) of READS and S (last or ‘final’ letter of instructions) after STEW (problem)

17. Presumed substantial line appears in E Nesbit novel (10)
OSTENSIBLE

OS (outsize – ‘substantial’) + L (line) inside an anagram (‘novel’) of E NESBIT

19. Shy about beginning to practise reproduction (4)
COPY

COY (shy) about P (the first letter or ‘beginning’ of practise)

21. Place never accommodating Welsh on reflection (4)
TOWN

A reversal (‘on reflection’) of NOT (never) around or ‘accommodating’ W (Welsh)

23. I note contest involving league is ongoing? (10)
INCOMPLETE

I N (note) COMPETE (contest) around or ‘involving’ L (league)

25. The writer backed inclination to suppress old stupid expression (10)
EMBODIMENT

ME (the writer) reversed or ‘backed’ + BENT (inclination) around or ‘suppressing’ O (old) DIM (stupid)

27. Square indicated by cube here? (4)
NINE

A mathematical clue. The clue is no 27 which is the cube of 3. The square of 3 is NINE.

28. Mean suggestion from some Londoners? The last thing you need (6)
INTEND

hINT (suggestion with the ‘h’ dropped – how some Londoners speak, especially in crosswords) END (the last thing)

29. Lacerations found around most of vulgar waterproofs (8)
GALOSHES

GASHES (lacerations) around LOw (vulgar) missing last letter or ‘most of’

DOWN
2. Member of ruling class? Elevated reputation I associated with one (7)
ETONIAN

NOTE (reputation) reversed or ‘elevated’ as it is a down clue + I AN (one)

3. Challenging search has local resident heading off (9)
COMBATIVE

COMB (search) nATIVE (local resident) missing first letter or ‘heading off’

4. Early opera providing sources of operatic recitative for every opera (5)
ORFEO

First letters or ‘sources’ of Operatic Recitative For Every Opera

5. Keep overlooking a messy area (3)
STY

STaY (keep) without or ‘overlooking’ ‘a’

6. Place for actor: unhappy male lead in Equus (9)
DOWNSTAGE

DOWN (unhappy) STAG (male) E (first letter or ‘lead’ in Equus)

7. A Roman god will receive a bit of tribute here (5)
ALTAR

A LAR (Roman god) around or ‘receiving’ T (first letter or ‘bit’ of tribute)

8. Chap notices about energy in followers of Bacchus (7)
MAENADS

MAN (chap) ADS (notices) about E (energy)

12. Excellent book in mostly expensive binding offering harsh commentary (7)
ACERBIC

ACE (excellent) + B (book) inside or ‘being bound by’ RICh (expensive) missing last letter or ‘mostly’

15. Wet and weak, is brought on board if that is desirable initially (9)
SISSIFIED

IS inside or ‘taken on board’ SS (ship) + IF IE (that is) D (‘initial’ letter of desirable)

16. Area of London cut lights (9)
DOCKLANDS

DOCK (cut) LANDS (lights)

18. Producer’s question over millions invested in sound being insufficient (7)
SHOWMAN

HOW (question) on top of or ‘over’ M (millions) ‘invested in’ SANe (sound) missing last letter or ‘insufficient’

20. Father with point about American films (7)
PATINAE

PA (father) TINE (point) about A (American)

22. Number working to get source of ectoplasm – content of empty room? (2-3)
NO-ONE

NO (number) ON (working) E (first letter or ‘source’ of ectoplasm)

24. Copper, say, taking time tucking into breakfast, perhaps … (5)
METAL

T (time) inside or ‘tucking into’ MEAL (breakfast perhaps)

26. … breakfast item for one? Good (3)
EGG

EG (for one) G (good)

 

10 comments on “Independent 11,198 by Phi”

  1. Goodness, I found Phi to be pretty COMBATIVE this morning – and, going by the Guardian site, a couple there turned up ‘having done battle with Phi’. I did need some help in the end in the W/SW with SHOWMAN (the question), INTEND (the ‘last thing you need’) and final reveal DISAVOWALS (thought it was (AVOIDS)* within something meaning laws) eluding me. But there were a few occasions I called upon the Check button too so today is a victory for the setter.

    Amongst the favourites would be DEAR ME, ANTI, OSTENSIBLE, NINE, DOWNSTAGE, ALTAR, DOCKLANDS and METAL. But this has probably taken longer than any other G/I puzzle I’ve done this week; felt like a real workout. Thing I learned – that swot can be spelled with an ‘a’: I’d always use the ‘o’ for study and ‘a’ for hit.

    Thanks Phi and B&J – what more appropriate country in which to solve a Phi?

  2. Thanks both. Everything fairly clued, so I found this a slightly easier ride than usual for a Phi, but needed to check a few of my answers once entered, as there were a number of unknowns including Lar for the Roman god, MAENADS, PATINAE – the latter still doesn’t even look like a word! There will be more to the theme, of course, but I have called off the search

  4. My favourite of the day. Sheer class.I’ve given up on spotting Phi themes so I missed my star sign(only a few days ago-maybe i didnt want to be reminded how old I am!)
    Thanks Phi and B&J for excellent setting and blogging

  5. Well done, Quizzy_Bob @3, never heard of either of them so wouldn’t have had a hope myself. Fits in nicely of course with the easier to spot VIRGO.

    Good Phi puzzle. I couldn’t work out what NINE was all about and needed to go a through a few other possibilities before getting LAR for ‘Roman god’ and MAENADS. It’s a long time since I’ve heard the word SISSIFIED; I thought it might even have died a natural by now.

    Thanks to Phi and B&J

  6. Me@3: I’ve just checked a well-known online encyclopedia, and apparently ROAD TOWN is the capital of BVI. Every Friday is a day of education thanks to Phi!

  7. Saw VIRGO, as others, but the Virgin Islands names were lost on me. Thought there might be a reference to John Virgo but not to be.

  8. Thanks Bertandjoyce and Phi.
    It was a struggle yet the completed grid looks innocent!
    Liked it.
    And saw VIRGO, too.

  9. Definitely at the tougher end of Phi’s spectrum, we thought. The SW corner caused us the most trouble and we had to resort to a wordfinder for a couple of clues, although the answers seemed so obvious once we got them.
    DISAVOWALS, COMBATIVE and MAENADS were our favourites.
    Thanks, Phi and B&J.

Comments are closed.