Another Phiday puzzle for our amusement.
This one started with a couple of obscure-ish words – I vaguely remembered 7a but had never heard of 8a – but the definitions and clueing were clear enough. It also started with the thought of “that looks like a grid where Phi would put a message round the outside”, to which I returned half-way through in case something obvious emerged. As indeed it did: Phi has helpfully labelled each corner of the grid.
I laughed at the American beauty queen in 16a when I eventually saw who she was, at the confusing vocal ranges in 24a, and at the waste disposal device in 17d (because it’s just an amusing word). Six instances of “upwards in a down clue” started to get a bit repetitive, but otherwise there’s plenty to enjoy here. Thanks Phi as always.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | REALIA |
Educational staple, and other things – no time for teaching aids (6)
|
| R (one of the “three Rs” of basic schooling = educational staple) + E[t] ALIA (“and other things”, from Latin) without the T (time).
Real objects (as opposed to models, pictures or descriptions) used as teaching aids. |
||
| 8 | MAORI HEN |
Flightless bird making Iran home? Unlikely (5,3)
|
| Anagram (unlikely) of iRAN HOME.
Otherwise known as the weka: a flightless bird from New Zealand, so unlikely to make its home in Iran. I’d never heard of it, but the anagram fodder was fairly obvious, and it probably helps to know that Phi lives in NZ. |
||
| 9 | OUTVOTED |
Oxford University set to back editor on the losing side? (8)
|
| OU (abbreviation for Oxford University) + TV (television = set) + TO reversed (back) + ED (abbreviation for editor). | ||
| 10 | PRINCE |
Cost to bring in new pop singer? Here’s one from the past (6)
|
| PRICE (cost) with N (new) brought in.
The late Prince Rogers Nelson, generally known as Prince (or briefly other names). |
||
| 11 | CONNIPTION |
Pub brought back in cold item on menu, leading to hissy fit from a Yank (10)
|
| INN (pub) reversed (brought back), in C (cold) + OPTION (item on menu).
US slang for a tantrum or hysterical outburst = hissy fit. |
||
| 13 | EWER |
Axeman taking front off storage container (4)
|
| [h]EWER (someone who hews wood with an axe), without the front letter.
A large water jug. |
||
| 14 | SIGHTS |
Expressions of pleasure surrounding tourist’s first holiday experiences (6)
|
| SIGHS (expressions of pleasure, or of regret) around the first letter of T[ourist].
As in “to see the sights”. |
||
| 16 | MISSUS |
American beauty queen is a married woman (6)
|
| The winner of a national beauty contest in America might be crowned MISS US. | ||
| 19 | ROLL |
Register part in drama on the radio (4)
|
| Homophone (on the radio) of ROLE (a part in a drama).
As in “roll call” = a list of names. |
||
| 21 | OPTIMISTIC |
Hopeful eye will accommodate one blockage to vision (10)
|
| OPTIC (“eye” as an adjective, as in “optic nerve”, or loosely a word for the eye itself), containing (accommodating) I (one in Roman numerals) + MIST (something that blocks vision). | ||
| 23 | EASILY |
Readily dismissing male, Brontë sister accepts a second (6)
|
| E[m]ILY (one of the literary Brontë sisters) without the M (abbreviation for male), including (accepting) A + S (abbreviation for second). | ||
| 24 | FALSETTO |
High voice offering confusion of tenor with soprano of late (8)
|
| Anagram (confusion) of T + S (abbreviations of tenor and soprano) + OF LATE.
A high-pitched male singing voice. |
||
| 26 | NOONTIDE |
Not keeping working with fish in the middle of the day (8)
|
| NOT containing (keeping) ON (working, as in “is the power on?”), then IDE (a freshwater fish whose main use seems to be as a filler for awkward corners in crosswords). | ||
| 27 | AUTHOR |
A foe of Superman overlooked by lead writer (6)
|
| A + [l]UTHOR (Lex Luthor, villain in the Superman comic books) without the first letter (lead). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | NEBULOUS |
Sensible attitude about blue swirling resembling astronomical phenomena (8)
|
| NOUS (common sense = sensible attitude) around an anagram (swirling) of BLUE.
Characteristic of a nebula (a cloud of dust and gas in space). |
||
| 2 | ELEVEN |
Still supporting article from 8 an hour before 26 (6)
|
| EVEN (still = smooth or undisturbed), after (supporting = below, in a down clue) EL (a form of the definite article “the” in Spanish, so in 8d MADRID).
11 am, an hour before 26a NOONTIDE. |
||
| 3 | RAFT |
Temperature very much rising? A great deal (4)
|
| T (abbreviation for temperature) + FAR (very much, as in “far better”), all reversed (rising = upwards in a down clue).
As in “the editor made a raft of changes” = a large amount. |
||
| 4 | COMPENDIUM |
Collection of games: competition’s final one meeting with hesitation (10)
|
| COMP (short for competition) + END (final) + I (one in Roman numerals) + UM (a vocal sound indicating hesitation).
A collection of different table games in a single box. |
||
| 5 | OILINESS |
Cries to gain attention about shipping companies and consequences of pollution (8)
|
| OIS (plural of “oi!” = a shout to get someone’s attention) around LINES (shipping companies). | ||
| 6 | RESCUE |
Save the others, taking hint for closure? (6)
|
| RES[t] (the rest = the others), with CUE (a hint) instead of the last letter (closure). | ||
| 8 | MADRID |
Medic enthralled by woman in European city (6)
|
| DR (abbreviation for doctor = medic) contained in = enthralled by) MAID (young woman). | ||
| 12 | PATRONYMIC |
Restaurant proprietor upset my cool, omitting last family name (10)
|
| PATRON (someone who owns and/or manages a restaurant), then MY reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue) + IC[y] (cool) without the last letter. Or it could be IC[e] as a verb = cool = use ice to reduce the temperature of something.
A father’s name used instead of a surname (as in Iceland), as part of a full name (as in Russia), or as the origin of a surname passed down the family (as in English names such as Johnson). |
||
| 15 | GALLIANO |
Old convict about to grab overturned liqueur (8)
|
| O (abbreviation for old) + LAG (slang for a convict or prison inmate), around NAIL (as a verb = grab), all reversed (overturned).
Italian herbal liqueur. |
||
| 17 | SPITTOON |
Waste disposal device promptly receiving Prime Minister’s name (8)
|
| SOON (promptly) containing (receiving) PITT (the name of two former UK Prime Ministers). | ||
| 18 | STIFLE |
Suppress word that’s an anagram of itself (6)
|
| As the clue says, an anagram of ITSELF. | ||
| 20 | ORATOR |
Speaker cheers up when welcomed by men repeatedly (6)
|
| TA (cheers = informal expression for “thank you”) reversed (up, in a down clue), contained in OR OR (abbreviation for “other ranks” = men = ordinary soldiers rather than officers, repeated). | ||
| 22 | SVELTE |
Rising against heartless top people without a lot of substance? (6)
|
| VS (abbreviation for Latin versus = against) reversed (rising = upwards in a down clue), then EL[i]TE (top people) without the middle letter (heart).
Slender = without a lot of substance. |
||
| 25 | LIAR |
Story-teller to use mocking language in revolutionary way (4)
|
| RAIL (as a verb = to mock or complain) reversed (in a revolutionary way). |
Thanks, Phi and Quirister. Thought this might be an easier alternative to Vlad but I struggled to get on Phi’s wavelength today. Agree with the assessment though – the less familiar words were fairly clued (also helped knowing who the setter was to get MAORI HEN) and there was much to enjoy here.
Defeated by the crossing 7A and 3D, so DNF. Had to crib a word list for CONNIPTION. Feeling deprived of a hidden word or two. Otherwise much enjoyed, so thanks Phi and Quirister.
Thanks, Phi and Quirister!
The blog is quite thoroughly done.
Liked REALIA, OPTIMISTIC and SVELTE.
Thank goodness for the four CORNER(s) Nina which helped in solving a few when I was beginning to get bogged down. I had come across REALIA before but doubt I would have remembered it without that helpful first letter from the Nina. Once again, a not very common word appearing here and elsewhere today; no spoilers, but it does contribute to the Nina here. I like CONNIPTION as a word but wasn’t aware it was an American term.
Favourites were the amusing surface for MISSUS (as pointed out by Quirister) and my last in, the tricky SVELTE.
Thanks to Phi and Quirister
‘Educational‘, the first word of the first clue could also describe today’s crossword with REALIA and MAORI HEN new to us, but they were clear enough from the wordplay and quickly confirmed in Chambers. The same for CONNIPTION, although once we got it we vaguely remembered encountering it before. We struggled a little with 5dn and 22dn, but the nina came to our rescue so that we weren’t corner-ed. On the other hand 23ac went in EASILY enough.
We liked the linkage of 3, 8 and 26.
Thanks, Phi and Quirister.
SPITTOON in both Vlad (Guardian) and Phi today?
Thanks Phi and Quirister.
I hated this as I made my way, finishing the bottom half first. Three new words – needed aids, but clued well. Anagram free except 18? Why? That made it harder.
With a few more to go in both top corners, saw the nina and completed.
Looking at the grid, cannot make out why this was so hard. Well…
Likes
– MAORI HEN
– SPITTOON (coincidence with Vlad’s).
Nina restored my faith in Phi. Thanks, again.
Of course, Maori Hen was an anagram too; didn’t see it, until I put the N of the corNer in.
Thanks Phi for the entertainment. This took multiple sittings over much of the day to complete but it was worth the effort. I managed to get all the solutions but I certainly could not parse everything. I saw the clever nina and it helped with a couple of answers. My top choices included OUTVOTED, CONNIPTION, SPITTOON, and STIFLE. Thanks Quirister for the blog.
I found this pretty hard (unusually for Phi) and could not get RAFT. Nevertheless, as usual, when I see it explained it’s all fine!
Thanks to Phi and Quirister!