Phi maintains his excellent standard as we move in to 2024.
There are a number of font names or font variants in the grid. I have highlighted the ones that Microsoft offers in Word, but I typed just about every entry followed by the word ‘font’ into Google and got a hit on about 75% of the entries. There are some really detailed font sites on the web.
There are a couple of real words in the unchecked letters in tow 2 – SOLID and row 14 – ARIA but I think that’s just coincidence although you can find solid fonts and aria fonts online. There’s also SERCO in the unchecked letters in column 10. SERCO is a company that provides many outsourcing services for Government Departments worldwide. Again. I think it’s appearance is chance, but there is a serco font!
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Expression of surprise after Catholic’s brought in a drink (5)
COCOA (a drink made from the powdered seed of the cacao or chocolate tree) (COO [expression of surprise] containing [brought in] C [Catholic]) + A CO (C) O A |
| 4 | Founding Father, fellow causing annoyance mostly (8)
FRANKLIN (reference Benjamin FRANKLIN [1706 – 1790], American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States) F (fellow) + RANKLING (causing annoyance) excluding the final letter (mostly) G F RANKLIN |
| 9 | Excellent, having moved on from other forms of tobacco? (2,2,5)
UP TO SNUFF (of a high or suitable standard) UP TO (where you are after moving on) + SNUFF (a different form of tobacco) UP TO SNUFF |
| 10 | Difficult to dismiss source of regret in a draw (5)
TYING (having equal scores; in a draw) TRYING (difficult) excluding (to dismiss) R (first letter of [source of] REGRET) TYING |
| 11 | Foster popular suggestion about cricketer (8)
INCUBATE (foster the development of) IN (popular) + (CUE [signal; suggestion] containing [about] BAT [a cricketer]) IN CU (BAT) E |
| 13 | Magician pretended to take a name (6)
SHAMAN (doctor-priest or medicine man working by magic; magician) SHAM (pretended) + A + N (name) SHAM A N |
| 15 | TV presenter from part of London blocking mature response (7)
RIPOSTE (quick response) ‘OST (Cockney [from part of London] pronunciation of HOST [TV presenter]) contained in (blocking) RIPE (mature) RIP (OST) E |
| 16 | Clamour to include lively tune in collection of one hundred (7)
CENTURY (set [collection] or series of one hundred) CRY (clamour) containing (to include) an anagram of (lively) TUNE C (ENTU*) RY |
| 18 | Working to turn around hospital drama (3)
NOH (the traditional Japanese style of drama) ON (working) reversed (turn around) + H (hospital) NO< H |
| 19 | What tailor provides: good skill around chaps (7)
GARMENT (item of clothing, some that a tailor can provide) G (good]) + (ART [skill] containing [around] MEN [chaps]) G AR (MEN) T |
| 20 | I’m collecting free iodine, uranium and another element (7)
IRIDIUM (steel-grey metallic element [atomic no 77] with very high melting-point) I’M containing (collecting) (RID [free] + I [chemical symbol for the element iodine] + U [chemical symbol for the element uranium]) I (RID I U) M |
| 22 | Do well dividing four into three? Not entirely (6)
THRIVE (do well) IV (Roman numerals for four) contained in (dividing) THREE excluding the final letter (not entirely) E THR (IV) E |
| 24 | Popular music genre’s comfortable for American artist (8)
ROCKWELL (reference Norman ROCKWELL [1894 – 1978], American painter and illustrator) ROCK (popular music genre) + WELL (comfortable) ROCK WELL |
| 26 | A delightful experience? Wrong to pen diary without content (5)
IDYLL (a story, episode, or scene of happy innocence or rustic simplicity; a delightful experience) ILL (evil; wrong) containing (to pen) DY (letters remaining in DIARY when the central letters IAR are removed [without content]) I (DY) LL |
| 27 |
Tight dress flaunted in chosen mag? (9) CHEONGSAM (tight-fitting high-necked dress with slits at the sides, as worn traditionally by Chinese women) Anagram of (flaunted in) CHOSEN MAG CHEONGSAM* |
| 29 | Spirits after cold beer befuddled the brain (8)
CEREBRUM (the front and larger part of the brain; loosely, the whole brain) C (cold) + an anagram of (befuddled) BEER + RUM (example of spirits) C EREB* RUM |
| 30 | Supporter of lines partly gutted – no line put back (5)
PYLON (structure for supporting power cables [lines]) PY (letters remaining in PARTLY after the central letters ARTL are removed [gutted]) + (NO + L [line]) reversed (put back) PY (L ON)< |
| Down | |
| 1 | Palace attendant having no time for messenger (7)
COURIER (messenger) COURTIER (someone in attendance at a court or palace) excluding (having no) T (time) COURIER |
| 2 | Dance is more attractive when carrying a hat (3,1,5)
CUT A CAPER (gambol; skip playfully; dance) CUTER (more attractive) containing (carrying) (A + CAP [hat]) CUT (A CAP) ER |
| 3 | Idiot singer missing introduction (3)
ASS (idiot) BASS (singer of the lowest parts of the musical scale) excluding the first letter (missing introduction) B ASS |
| 4 | The fortune possibly revealed in day associated with lovers? (10)
FOURTEENTH (the FOURTEENTH of February is Valentines Day [day associated with lovers]) Anagram of (possibly) THE FORTUNE FOURTEENTH* |
| 5 | Grass found in local farms (4)
ALFA (North African esparto grass) ALFA (hidden word in [found in] LOCAL FARMS) ALFA |
| 6 | Percussion section to become quieter? It’s generally kept out of everything (7,4)
KITCHEN SINK (reference the phrase everything but the KITCHEN SINK [every conceivable thing], so the KITCHEN SINK is generally the one thing kept out of everything) KITCHEN (percussion section of an orchestra) + SINK (subside; become quieter) KITCHEN SINK |
| 7 | One unclear about love language? (5)
IDIOM (language) I (Roman numeral for one) + (DIM [unclear] containing [about] O [character representing zero, the love score in tennis]) I DI (O) M |
| 8 | Account incorporating information on company’s latest operation (6)
AGENCY (operation) (AC [account] containing [incorporating] GEN [information]) + Y (last letters of [latest] COMPANY) A (GEN) C Y |
| 12 | One enjoying the sun, getting nasty about lake, threatened landowner (11)
BASKERVILLE (reference the threatened landowner, Sir Henry BASKERVILLE in the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [1859 – 1930]) BASKER (one enjoying the sun) + (VILE [nasty] containing [about] L [lake]) – either L could be the one contained BASKER VIL (L) E |
| 14 | Heroic men at sea bringing in dead marine creature (10)
ECHINODERM (radially symmetrical marine invertebrate) Anagram of (at sea) HEROIC MEN containing (bringing in) D (dead) ECHINO (D) ERM* |
| 17 | Ruins veal after cooking without exception (9)
UNIVERSAL (without exception) Anagram of (after cooking) RUINS VEAL UNIVERSAL* |
| 19 | Acquired guy from the country, not entirely romantic (6)
GOTHIC (romantic) GOT (acquired) + HICK (person from the country) excluding the final letter (not entirely) K GOT HIC |
| 21 | Drink supplier’s exploit having a lot of people running short (7)
MILKMAN (drink supplier) MILK (exploit) + MANY (a lot of people) excluding the final letter (running short) Y MILK MAN |
| 23 | Feature of many a poem? "Hard to fill lines" – the writer (5)
RHYME (many poets feature RHYMEs) (H [hard, when describing pencil lead] contained in [to fill] RY [railway; lines]) + ME (myself; the writer) R (H) Y ME |
| 25 | Panic mostly produces evidence of trauma (4)
SCAR (trace, or result of injury of moral or psychological nature; evidence of trauma) SCARE (panic) excluding the final letter (mostly) E SCAR |
| 28 | Leg up offered in hurry (3)
NIP (go quickly; hurry) PIN (leg) reversed (up; down entry) NIP< |
Pleased to finally remember the dress in 27a, after failing in several previous crosswords.
Ha. Hovis – I seem to be following you around this morning. The dress was my LOI and, like you, delighted to remember it. However, possibly even more delighted that I realised ‘flaunted’ was an anagrind. Presumably as ‘shown off’. Not encountered that before.
I was also chuffed to recall ECHINODERM and hats off to Phi for the splendid anagram and surface combo for that one which made it COTD for me. CENTURY, THRIVE and IDIOM were my other big ticks.
Thanks Phi and duncan
Thanks both. Displeased to have made a dog’s breakfast of CHEONGSAM and UP TO SNUFF was a new one to look up , although my dictionary suggests it means adequate rather than excellent, which probably describes my overall performance here, though I did enjoy taking it on.
I needed help to find BASKERVILLE, then wondered about whether it would have been easier to define it as a font and then the penny dropped. I, too, liked ECHINODERM and CHEONGSAM – the anagrams helped with the spelling.
I parsed UP TO SNUFF as where you would be having move on from other forms of tobacco – you have tried the others and then made it to snuff. A joyous first Phiday for 2024, and many thanks to him and to Duncanshiell
Another one relieved to remember CHEONGSAM in a relatively gentle-for-the-setter puzzle. Only unparsed element was the Cockney TV presenter, as that’s not how I would pronounce RIPOSTE!
Thanks Phi and duncan.
After several days of failing to complete crosswords, I was relieved that this one went in fairly quickly. Never spotted the theme.
I worked for the National Grid for many years and before that the Central Electricity Generating Board. We were told that the metal constructions used for supporting overhead power lines were not to be called pylons, they were always towers.
Arial (reversed in bottom unchecked) and honk (reversed in the middle unchecked) along with aforementioned solid and servo are all fonts.
Apparently shaman and kitchen too, at least according to dafont.com!
Typefaces, not fonts. In the days of letterpress, a font was a specific size/weight/style of a typeface, but generic all-purpose computer fonts seem to have blurred the useful distinction. Never mind, that ship has sailed.
Anyway, fun puzzle. Particularly liked the BASKERVILLE clue. Thanks, Phi and Duncan.