It’s Friday, it’s Phi-day once again.
Needless to say that we didn’t spot the theme last week. Having not missed an Indy puzzle since they started, we should have thought about the Wellington Burger Festival which Phi uses to help fill the grid. Well, we have looked again this week. We checked out the cocktails and beers available during the Wellington on a Plate event but no luck.
Not that it matters as once again, we enjoyed the Phi-day challenge. There are a few words in the grid which make us think that something is going on so hopefully someone can spot it before Phi (hopefully) drops in.
Hopefully we will see some of you in York tomorrow.
A (area) DANCED (flickered) around or ‘introducing’ V (first letter or ‘introduction’ to vanadium)
LAS (Spanish article) inside G and S – not a composer that we are familiar with
Hidden (‘some’) and reversed or ‘backed’ inside agrARIANism
UN (International body) RAPPED (discussed) around or ‘hosting’ W (Women)
An anagram (‘after a struggle’) of E (last or ‘final’ letter of we) and GOT NATIVE
F (fine) EAR (appreciation of music)
A reversal (‘to return’) of YES (agreed) around or ‘taking control of’ CREChe (nursery) without or ‘ignoring’ he
A reversal or ‘recall’ of SLAM (a lot of tricks) IN A
StIR (time in prison) without T (time)
A CH (church) inside MALI (African nation). We’d heard the name but did not remember he was a prophet.
N (first or ‘initial’ letter of nations) inside or ‘investing in’ KIT (equipment) + TED (source of talks – online)
THe (missing last letter or ‘most of’) UnemployeD (first and last letters only or ‘missing heart’)
MAR (damage) inside or ‘encompassed by’ an anagram (‘nasty’) of BREAK + LEg (missing last letter or ‘cut’)
A reversal or ‘turning back’ of IE (that is) H (hard) + an anagram (‘sick’) of ONLY US
gROOMS (stablehands) without or ‘dismissing’ initial letter
WIGS (judges) around or ‘claiming’ N (new)
A play on the fact that a TAME SIDE would be a team or squad not showing aggression. We were not familiar with the area of Manchester but once we had some crossing letters it was easy to sort out.
DrYING (forgetting lines) without the ‘r’ (last or ‘ultimate’ letter in actor)
An anagram (‘mad’) of HATTER’S ACT
COUNT (matter) + an anagram (‘distributed’) of IS DRY and E (middle letter of field)
DrEW (depicted’) without the ‘r’ (river)
GO (shot) ALl (entirely) missing last letter or ‘falling short’
APP (program) + an anagram (‘developed’) of CARTEL
Hidden (‘some’) in praiSED A RISing
A reversal (‘overturned’) of SINK (founder) with VE (last two letters of five) inside or ‘on board’
MARK (observe) HAY (grass) in a reversal (‘piled up’) of MAYO (Irish county)
MIN (minister) SKIRTS (avoids) around or ‘grabbing’ I (one)
COLLiSION (strike) with the ‘i’ (middle letter or ‘heart’) changing to U
MATT (dull) HEW (hack)
DuRESS (pressure) without or ‘abandoning’ the ‘u’ (university) + Y (last letter or ‘end’ of May)
BOO (be derisory to) D (daughter) round L (line)
MOSeS (iconic mountain climber) without or ‘avoiding’ the ‘e’ (English)
Double definition
Where IS everyone? I have kenopsia.
A straightforward solve with nothing ADVANCED or REMARKABLE, but I FEAR I’ve not UNWRAPPED the SECRECY of the theme, assuming there is one as usual. Please can we have a hint, Phi, SIR? I’m DYING to know it.
My favourites: SECRECY, MINISKIRTS and COLLUSION.
Thanks, P and BJ!
QB @ 1!
You have kenpsi now, I guess (15x15ly speaking)!
Thanks both. Not here to help with the theme. Here to celebrate as I have recently bemoaned London or South centric answers so here’s to TAMESIDE rather than Thames-side
I’m wondering if there’s something spooky going on for Halloween? KNIVES, BLOOD, FEAR, THUD, HEINOUSLY, DYING… Wikipedia says MALACHI is a character from a Steven King story, though perhaps that’s a bit obscure.
I feel, as a relative amateur, that I can usually take on Phi’s puzzles and understand the wordplay. Not sure if they’re slightly more accessible or if me and Phi are slightly more attuned of mind. Regardless, thanks Bert, Joyce and Phi!
This is one of the more recondite themes – one for Dormouse, really. With the death of Sir Harrison Birtwistle earlier this year, I listened again to his opera The Mask of Orpheus. Its second act is set on a huge viaduct with 17 arches, each having an attribute such as KNIVES or DYING.
And so I had a readymade list of words – I managed to work nine of them into the grid. MoldyOwl has four and I can recall COUNTRYSIDE and GLASS (I think). There’s a full list on the opera’s Wikipedia page.
The point, as I reiterate, is not to be recondite, but to stave off the horror of an empty grid. That the puzzle can be solved without knowing the theme has to be part of the package.
Everything parsed except TED from “provided by source of talks”. Can someone explain this, please?
NNI@8
https://www.ted.com/talks
All solved without help over a pub lunch earlier today, although we’d never heard of SEDARIS (got from the clue alone and confirmed via Google this evening) and we failed to parse ANIMALS. We liked KNITTED for the misdirection which kept us guessing till we realised we had to lseparate ‘United Nations’. No idea about the theme, thus proving Phi’s point @7.
Thanks, Phi and B&J.
Well, I was at the first night of The Mask of Orpheus back in 1986 – I think I saw that production twice. And I was at the Royal Festival Hall performance that was released as a recording, and the more recent ENO production, which was not as good as the original staging. But I never noticed all the arches in the answers.
I was at the RFH performance too, sat in the gods, rather unexpectedly next to Mitsuko Uchida. During the interval. she spotted Alfred Brendel down in the stalls (he is rather tall) and never came back.
At the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival once, there was a film shown about Stockhausen’s Helicopter Quartet. I found myself sitting next to Björk.
Thought Tameside was a great clue 🙂