Our regular Phiday challenge.
Phi expects us to find a few rather uncommon words today, but the clues are straightforward enough to make them guessable. I liked the surface images of the successful (if pessimistic) doctor in 15a and the holiday souvenir in 19d.
As always with this setter, there’s probably something else in this puzzle beyond the individual clues. The unchecked letters around the edge of the grid seem a good place to look, but at first glance this seems unlikely because there are no recognisable words. The key to it all is 3d, identifying Phi’s “source of inspiration” as Hector Hugh Munro (known as Saki) and his satirical short stories, two of which feature:
- FILBOID STUDGE, a very dull breakfast cereal with a clever marketing campaign.
- SREDNI VASHTAR, a pet ferret whose young owner worships it as a god.
And if you managed to work that out without any external references, well done – I didn’t. Thanks Phi for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | LIMNED |
Painted me in hat, going round Norway (6)
|
| ME inserted into LID (slang for a hat, especially a safety helmet), all around N (abbreviation for Norway).
An archaic word for “painted” in the sense of “represented in a painting”. |
||
| 8 | THANK-YOU |
Something dealing with blow received during trip mostly gets show of gratitude (5-3)
|
| HANKY (short for handkerchief = something used to blow your nose = something dealing with blow), contained in (received during) TOU[r] (trip = voyage) without its last letter (mostly). | ||
| 9 | ILL-STARRED |
Unfortunate drill with taser going wrong (3-7)
|
| Anagram (going wrong) of DRILL + TASER. | ||
| 10 | WILD |
Random poor delivery from bowler not fully capturing length (4)
|
| WID[e] (a ball bowled badly in cricket = poor delivery from bowler) without its last letter (not fully), capturing L (abbreviation for length). | ||
| 11 | FOND |
Affectionate female working with Director (4)
|
| F (abbreviation for female) + ON (working) + D (abbreviation for director). | ||
| 12 | MISLEADING |
One’s top performer in China, using false name, perhaps (10)
|
| I’S (one’s, with I = one in Roman numerals) + LEAD (top performer, for example in the cast of a play), all in MING (Chinese porcelain produced during the Ming dynasty = china). | ||
| 13 | REDDEN |
Blush regarding daughter being found in lair (6)
|
| RE (regarding = on the subject of), then D (abbreviation for daughter) inserted into DEN (lair). | ||
| 15 | MOROSE |
Gloomy doctor became prominent (6)
|
| MO (abbreviation for Medical Officer = doctor) + ROSE (as a verb = became prominent). | ||
| 18 | ALTOGETHER |
Good number led by singer completely (10)
|
| G (abbreviation for good) + ETHER (an anaesthetic = something that numbs = number), preceded (led) by ALTO (a low-pitched female singing voice, or a high-pitched male one). | ||
| 20 | ADDS |
Supplies more promotional material, doubling content (4)
|
| ADS (short for advertisements = promotional material), with the middle letter (content) doubled. | ||
| 22 | TREE |
Plane, perhaps, in small group losing height (4)
|
| T[h]REE (a small group) without the H (abbreviation for height).
For example a tree of the genus Platanus = plane tree. |
||
| 23 | ERADICATOR |
One eliminates energy caught in part of engine (10)
|
| E (abbreviation for energy), then C (abbreviation for caught, in cricket scoring) inserted into RADIATOR (a heat exchanger used as part of a motor engine). | ||
| 25 | HEPSTERS |
That woman’s collecting recordings – with time, they’re no longer trendy (8)
|
| HERS (that woman’s = belonging to her), containing (collecting) EPS (abbreviation for extended-play records) + T (abbreviation for time).
Hepster = 1930s word for someone conversant with all the latest fashions in African-American jazz culture. Later replaced by “hipster” and probably by other terms since then, so “no longer” a word for someone trendy. |
||
| 26 | PEEWEE |
Two different views of water bird (6)
|
| PEE + WEE (two different words for urine = water).
Australasian bird, otherwise known as a peewit or magpie-lark. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BILLY-O |
Can love an expression of vigour (5-1)
|
| BILLY (a metal can for boiling water over a campfire) + O (zero = love, in tennis scoring).
As in “like billy-o” = vigorously. |
||
| 2 | ONE-SIDED |
Old requirement to include special documentation meeting little opposition (3-5)
|
| O (abbreviation for old) + NEED (requirement), containing (to include) S (abbreviation for special) + ID (short for identity documents = documentation). | ||
| 3 | IDEA |
Saki penned satire, ultimately a source of inspiration (4)
|
| Last letters (ultimately) of [sak]I [penne]D [satir]E, then A. | ||
| 4 | DAYDREAMER |
Visionary American attached to Yard in challenge (10)
|
| AMER (Amer. = abbreviation for American), after YD (abbreviation for yard) inserted into DARE (challenge, as in “I dare you to do it”). | ||
| 5 | SKEWED |
Half-heartedly distribute new plants around gardens, favouring some areas? (6)
|
| SE[e]D (distribute new plants) with only one of the two Es in the centre (half of the heart), around KEW (Kew Gardens in south-west London).
Skewed = unfairly distributed = favouring some areas. |
||
| 6 | TOWLINES |
Points about predatory bird? They drag (8)
|
| TINES (the points of a fork) around OWL (a predatory bird).
Towline = a rope used to drag one boat behind another. |
||
| 8 | THRUSH |
Curtailed the run – it results in sore spots (6)
|
| TH[e] (curtailed = last letter dropped) + RUSH (run = move quickly).
An infection caused by the fungus Candida, or an unrelated baterial infection in horses. |
||
| 12 | MENDELEYEV |
Correct two-thirds of French students about the old Russian scientist (10)
|
| MEND (correct, as in “mend one’s ways”), then two-thirds of ELEV[es] (the French word for students) around YE (used as an archaic version of “the” = “the old”, though strictly it’s not a Y but an old English letter representing TH that looks a bit like Y).
Otherwise spelled Mendeleev: Russian scientist who probably wasn’t the first to come up with the idea of a periodic table of elements, but his version seems to have been the first generally accepted one. |
||
| 14 | ENLARGES |
Blows up generals in explosion (8)
|
| Anagram (in explosion) of GENERALS.
Blow up, in photography = to enlarge an image. |
||
| 16 | REAWAKEN |
Aware revamped doll has to stir interest again (8)
|
| Anagram (revamped) of AWARE, then KEN (male doll created as a boyfriend for Barbie). | ||
| 17 | SHEARS |
Tries to support small cuts (6)
|
| HEARS (tries, in a court of law) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) S (abbreviation for small). | ||
| 19 | ODESSA |
Lines found on mug picked up in city once (6)
|
| ODE (lines of poetry), before (on, in a down clue) ASS (mug = a fool) reversed (picked up, in a down clue).
Former Russian name for the city in Ukraine, now more usually given its Ukrainian spelling of Odesa, hence “city once”. The description is perhaps a little too close to the truth, after parts of it were destroyed by Russian missile attacks in the last couple of years. |
||
| 21 | DOOMED |
Ill-fated party protest possibly given wrong direction (6)
|
| DO (slang for a party), then DEMO (short for demonstration = protest possibly) reversed (given wrong direction). | ||
| 24 | IMPI |
Politician apprehended by two African soldiers (4)
|
| MP (Member of Parliament = politician), contained in (apprehended by) II (two in Roman numerals).
Word in various African languages meaning an army or a group of soldiers. |
Wouldn’t have finished this without a couple of reveals. Got totally pinned down in the SW corner, not massively helped by Phi using some funky words. Hepster… fair enough. Mendeleyev though? I guess that is one of the possible translations of that name, but I’ve rarely seen it other than “Mendeleev”.
Phew! Not Phi at his most accessible today. Some unknowns, some obscurities and a few fiendish tricks. I was undone at the very end – BILLY O is nho and I’d gone for a rather unsatisfactory TALLY O which scuppered me for LIMNED. I did check the former and discovered my mistake, at which point the latter swam out of the murky depths of memory: a pretty tough first across/down combo. And I got nowhere near spotting the nina, as Quirister correctly anticipated.
WILD, MOROSE, ERADICATOR, ONE-SIDED, SKEWED and DOOMED were my bigger ticks today.
Thanks Phi and Quirister
Having spotted (just about) pronounceable words in the perimeter I eventually worked out the theme, with some research, like our blogger. I haven’t read any Saki, but he follows Dickens and precedes Wodehouse in the ‘quirky names’ department, both of whose work I enjoy, so I’ll try to get round to him.
I went down a dead end at 12A, spending too much time trying to work in ‘mate (= China).
Very enjoyable so thanks Phi and Quirister.
Very enjoyable puzzle, thanks, Phi. LIMNED was unfamiliar but gettable from the wordplay – I have a vague feeling I’ve come across the word before so perhaps not a pure jorum.
And thanks for the blog, Quirister, especially for unravelling DAYDREAMER – couldn’t fully parse that due to being unfamiliar with AMER. as an abbreviation for American. And well done on spotting the Nina, which I would never have seen in a million years!
Tatrasman – I’ve not read any Saki since I was at school (more years ago than I care to admit) but I do remember enjoying his stories so maybe I should revisit them.
“[T]he clues are straightforward enough to make them guessable” – maybe for some, Quirister. I’m afraid I found this a slog through obscurities with little help in aid of a theme I’ve never heard of and don’t greatly care about. A theme won’t ever be of interest to everyone, but IMO it shouldn’t take precedence over creating a puzzle that’s enjoyable for its own sake.
Difficult is fine, part of the eternal balance between accessibility and challenge, and one duffer’s failure means very little. But to be honest, I just didn’t find this puzzle much fun, even in the majority of clues I eventually solved. Sorry.
Saw mend and eleve and was perplexed when Mendeleev didn’t fit. This felt like Phi disproving PostMark’s thesis that Phi’s counterpart in the G is harder. Thanks both.
We saw what might be called ‘semi-recognisable’ words around the perimeter and thought the nina might be from Tolkien or another author of fantasy novels encompassing a made-up language. But we didn’t associate it with SAKI, of whom we’ve read very little (though we can recommend The Storyteller and The Lumber Room). So the nina wasn’t any help but that didn’t matter as we got it all anyway, albeit without parsing 4dn.
Lots to like, though, but no real favourite.
Thanks, Phi and Quirister.
Thanks both .Took more of my Friday than normal, with a few stubborn ones holding out, including HEPSTERS an unknown for which the definition seems vague, and ODESSA which I originally rejected as it still exists and that spelling is still listed as in use. Also surprised that Amer in unparsed DAYDREAMER has not been seen before to my recollection. Continued my 99% record of missing Phi’s themes, but stood no chance today
I had far too many GK gaps and felt there were too many oblique definitions/wordplay for someone of my learning and ability for this to be enjoyable.
Thanks to all who cleared up what was supposed to be going on.
Well, we enjoyed this! Took us the usual hour and a half (we’re never the fastest) and we couldn’t parse daydreamer, but everything else was reasonably straight forward to work out. Wiki have Mendeleyev as one spelling and we were amused to find hepster really was a word!
Thanks Phi and Quirster