Friday is once again Phi-Day.
Theoretically, this was a DNF as we had the wrong answer for 21ac which we only realised when we came to write up the blog. We struggled with a few of the entries and had to check them in Chambers. We managed to sort out the parsing for 19ac but had never come across the word which apparently means ‘of or like marble’.
Joyce googled a selection of the entries to see if there was a hidden theme. If there is one, perhaps someone else can point us in the right direction.
ECO (regarding environment) inside or ‘absorbed by’ DRUM (percussion instrument)
HEAL (improve) around or ‘retaining’ LICk (speed) missing last letter or ‘a lot of’
PIC (snap) around or ‘having received’ AN (article)
An anagram (‘in action’) of SILENT around or ‘apprehending’ an anagram (‘nasty’) of CAR
OBS (old boys – ‘former schoolmates’) TACkLE (set about) without or ‘ousting’ K (king)
A ‘reversal’ of L (Liberal) LAW (legislation)
An anagram (‘uncommonly’) of HARSH and KEEN
LOT (Biblical refugee) + a reversal (‘recalled’) of OT (Old Testament)
D (daughter) after BEAR (stockbroker) – we had to check this one. ‘To beard’ can be to oppose resolutely or with effrontery’ according to Chambers.
MAR (damage) MORAL (practical lesson) around E (earth)
cRACK (minor bit of damage) missing first letter or ‘taking out first’. We entered RICK (as in hayrick – ‘fodder supply’) without being happy with our parsing having ‘pRICK’ for minor damage. Checking in Chambers a RACK is the grating where the fodder is stored for the animals to pull down.
ELI (Priest) around or ‘hugging’ BIDEN (retiring President) all reversed or ‘in retreat’ – or maybe ‘retiring’ is also a reversal indicator?
An anagram (‘possibly’) of RARITY around or ‘accepting’ BUT (objection)
RR (Right Reverend – ‘bishop’) around U (university) inside or ‘brought in’ TO
CD (recording) E (last letter or ‘end’ of performance) around or ‘cornering’ ONCE
A homophone (‘radio broadcast’) of RUSTLE (quiet sound)
DO PE (to exercise at school?)
CON (against or ‘not for’ – as in pros and cons) SOLE (part of the foot)
ROCKY (unsteady) about an anagram (‘arranged’) of DATES
MALT (whisky) and A (fourth letter in Islay)
HARD LINEs (bad luck) missing last letter or ‘almost complete’ + R (Republican)
LInES (actor’s part) without ‘n’ (new)
LIP (rudeness) inside or ‘aboard’ CART (vehicle)
LIT (landed) + an anagram (‘out’) of LET + hOWL (cry) missing first letter or ‘shaking head’
BLOODS (swaggering dandies) around BATH (English city)
BAR (pub) I ‘found in’ a reversal (‘turning’) of CITY’S (town’s)
HUE (uproar) about MAN (island) and RAC (drivers as in Royal Automobile Club)
CAUTION (care) with C (cocaine) moving or ‘shifting’
EX (old flame) E (last letter in leave) CUTE (nicely sexual)
DR (doctor) around or ‘hiding’ RYE (whisky)
LUcRE (riches) losing ‘c’ (about)
Clue as definition – R O (first or ‘primary’ letters of register of) + L L (students as in ‘learners’)
I went astray at 14A putting ‘sheer’ instead of ‘shere’ but soon realised my error. Otherwise all went in very smoothly, so thanks Phi and B&J.
Beard the lion in his den comes to mind, no idea whence, but anyway it had to be that. Always liked the name Truro [the late mrs ginf a great Poldark fan]. Nice puzzle, ta Phi and B&J.
[18d CAUTION > AUCTION: Cf. Crosophile, just 3 days ago: “24a Wariness after colt’s moved nearer centre in public sale (7)”…
…And 24d LU[c]RE: Cf. Anto, last month: “24d Entice Charlie to abandon dodgy money (4)”]
oed.com’s latest citation for 17a BEARD:
“2000 Keith Wood’s Ireland had joyously turned back almost three decades of history by bearding the French in their own den in thrillingly emphatic fashion.
Rugby World June 146/2″
It was probably just me, but this was as difficult a Phi as I can remember. Too many hard ones to mention. Eventually all in after a long, long time though with SHERE KHAN an unknown. Lucky that MARMOREAL rang the vaguest of bells to get me going after a lengthy roadblock when I was on the point of giving up; persistence is sometimes rewarded.
Thanks to Phi and B&J
The grid is nicely put together, and apart from MARMOREAL ( 19ac), nothing too bizarro.
I felt that some clues miss their mark.
1(d), using EXERCISE in the wording, is a bit weak.
16(ac), ditto, Old Testament = OT.
22(ac) INEDIBLE, an ugly surface, and “retiring” serves no purpose.
6(d) “Actor’s part” = LINES. Why not something more apposite, “Actor’s script” say?
13(d) So “swaggering dandies” = “BLOODS”. OK
and, 8(d), “landed” = LIT. OK. Neither work for me.
In 17(ac), stockbroker is weak. The share buyers and sellers, are the “bulls” and/or “bears”, the brokers just enact the trades. Middlemen. Something like ” dubious stockman” feels stronger cryptically.
21(ac), RACK, uses a clue with more than one valid solution, and the “correct” one is not so hot.
Lots of nice stuff to solve, but I’m sorry that a lot didn’t quite tick the boxes for me.
I thought I was onto something with (Jack) Russell, Maltese and Bearded, but no more breeds turned up, though I like the idea of a sybaritic Spaniel. I thought it was Daniel that bearded the lion, but it turned out to be David.
Bert and Joyce you are not alone. I put in Rick for 21A. I regard a prick as minor damage. A crack could be major. Checking definitions of tributary it would seem that the tribute was more likely to be required rather than a gesture of appreciation.
Me too. I derived it from CRICK, and a crick in your neck would be a lot more minor than a crack. 🙂
I don’t think of a prick as damage so much as injury, whereas we have cracked but functioning cat bowls galore. I suppose that is something of a nuance between the meanings of ‘damage’ and ‘injury”. Synonyms can be a tricky thing.
That a clue may have multiple solutions is a situation only occasionally engineered by the setter – it’s usually the solving process (and the involvement of many solvers) that reveals them.
RACK, btw, along with BLOODBATHS, is part of the ghost theme.
I don’t usually approve of time-related clues in puzzles, but spotting NEDIB in a grid for the weekend he was actually retiring as President seemed too good (and precise) to pass up.
Another RICK here. Quite a few I couldn’t parse. Can’t spot the theme.
Louis MacNiece again? Prayer before Birth.
Nice spot, Petert@13 [First bit was here. last August.]
“… I am not yet born, console me.
I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me,
with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,
on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me.”
Had to resort to repeatedly throwing in letters and checking them in order to get BEARD and RACK, so I was beaten by this. I’d never heard of either word being used this way so that isn’t surprising, perhaps.