Good Friday – and also Phiday.
And we have a good Phi, with a wide range of clue types and nothing too obscure. I liked the extended definition of 11a, “observe and act” in 2d, and especially the long anagram in 1d. No obvious theme, but it’s the sort of grid where our setter presumably started with three 15-letter entries and then did a good job of fitting other words around them. Thanks Phi as always.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | SOAP DISH |
Bathroom item seen in meal on TV programme? (4,4)
|
| DISH (food prepared and served = a meal) after SOAP (short for soap opera = TV serial drama). | ||
| 9 | TIPPLE |
Upset with excuse after dropping a drink (6)
|
| TIP (upset, as a verb) + PLE[a] (excuse), dropping the A. | ||
| 10 | ATHENE |
Worried about female deity (6)
|
| ATE (worried, as in “what’s eating you?” = what’s worrying you?) around HEN (female bird). | ||
| 11 | PLATINUM |
Group with a recording turning over millions – going this? (8)
|
| UNIT (group) + A + LP (abbreviation for long-playing record), all reversed (turning over), then M (abbreviation for millions).
Extended definition: “going platinum” refers to the platinum disc that is awarded when a music recording sells a large number of copies (1,000,000 in the US; in the UK it’s 300,000 for an album or 600,000 for a single). |
||
| 12 | EGMONT |
Say second new theme’s beginning in Beethoven overture (6)
|
| EG (e.g. = for example = say) + MO (short for moment = second) + N (abbreviation for new) + beginning letter of T[heme].
Overture written by Beethoven as part of incidental music for a Goethe play. |
||
| 13 | FAN DANCE |
Enthusiast caught engaging in some European risqué entertainment (3,5)
|
| FAN (enthusiast), then C (abbreviation for caught, in cricket scoring) inserted into (engaging in) DANE (person from Denmark = some European).
Dance in which the dancer, apparently not wearing much, is mostly hidden by two strategically-placed large fans. |
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| 14 | LIMB |
Member’s upward path, dislodging leader (4)
|
| [c]LIMB (upward path), without the leading letter.
An arm or leg. |
||
| 16 | SCHWA |
School with a dull sound (5)
|
| SCH (abbreviation for school) + W (abbreviation for with) + A.
A simple vowel sound, like “uh” or the unstressed second syllable of “comma”: dull in the sense that it’s an indistinct sound produced by a relaxed mouth, without any of the physical adjustments required to produce a more specific vowel. |
||
| 18 | ETCH |
Do some artistic work – a quantity of sketching? (4)
|
| Hidden answer (a quantity of . . .) in [sk]ETCH[ing].
To make an image by removing parts of a surface (often metal or glass) using chemicals. |
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| 19 | EDUCATED |
Erudite Cockney’s attention monopolised by old coin? On the contrary (8)
|
| ‘EED (Cockney pronunciation of HEED = attention, dropping the initial H sound), containing DUCAT (old European gold coin). “On the contrary” tells us that DUCAT is contained (monopolised) by EED, instead of the other way round as the surface initially suggests. | ||
| 21 | EMPLOY |
The writer returned work containing zero engagement (6)
|
| ME (the writer, speaking personally) reversed (returned), then PLY (work, as in “to ply one’s trade”) containing O (zero).
Employ can be a noun, a variant of “employment” = engagement. |
||
| 23 | USURPERS |
They seize American person touring Biblical city (8)
|
| US (American) + PERS (pers. = abbreviation for person, in grammar, as in “1st pers. sing.” = I/me), around UR (Ur of the Chaldees, probably the best-known Biblical city in Crosswordland). | ||
| 24 | AIRILY |
Texted expression of affection after song with little substance (6)
|
| ILY (text-message abbreviation for I Love You = expression of affection) after AIR (a song).
“With little substance” looks like an adjective phrase corresponding to “airy”, but it could also be an adverb phrase: “He spoke with little substance” or “He spoke airily” = he talked vaguely without providing any real information. |
||
| 25 | CRUSOE |
Conservative trick to suppress old isolated figure (6)
|
| C (abbreviation for Conservative) + RUSE (a trick), containing O (abbreviation for old).
The fictional character Robinson Crusoe, shipwrecked on a desert island and spending some years without human contact. |
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| 26 | RECUSANT |
Dissenter to renounce belief about our group (8)
|
| RECANT (to renounce a previously-held belief) around US (our group).
Originally a term for Catholics who refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | COTTAGE INDUSTRY |
Redirected to study creating in small-scale business (7,8)
|
| Anagram (redirected) of TO STUDY CREATING.
A small business run from someone’s home, or a system of employing many people doing manufacturing work (especially sewing or similar handicrafts) in their own homes. |
||
| 2 | SPEEDO |
Observe and act, bringing in power for car part (6)
|
| SEE (observe) + DO (act), containing P (abbreviation for power).
Short for speedometer = device for measuring a vehicle’s speed. |
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| 3 | PIPETTES |
Phi, mostly, with pi and psi initially turning up in lab items? (8)
|
| SETTE[r] (Phi, our crossword setter) without the last letter (mostly), then PI and the first letter of P[si], all reversed (turning up).
Laboratory tools for transferring small volumes of liquid from one container to another. |
||
| 4 | SHIP OF THE DESERT |
Animal transport tethered if shops around (4,2,3,6)
|
| Anagram (around) of TETHERED IF SHOPS.
Metaphorical name for a camel, used to transport people and goods for long distances. |
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| 5 | ATTAIN |
Reach area, ready to accept cheers (6)
|
| A (abbreviation for area) + TIN (ready = slang terms for cash), containing (to accept) TA (cheers = slang for thank-you). | ||
| 6 | SPOILAGE |
River running through farm fodder – amount lost? (8)
|
| PO (probably the best-known river in Crosswordland, or more accurately in northern Italy) inserted into SILAGE (crops preserved for use as animal fodder).
Damage to stored food caused by bacteria or fungi, or (as here) the amount of food lost in this way. |
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| 7 | CLOUD-CUCKOO-LAND |
Obscure bag filled with bananas is wishful thinking (5-6-4)
|
| CLOUD (as a verb = obscure = to make something less visible) + LAND (as a verb = bag = to catch or otherwise achieve), containing CUCKOO (bananas = slang for crazy).
Term derived from The Birds by Aristophanes, in which the birds build a new city in the sky: something that sounds like a nice idea but is unworkable or undesirable in practice. |
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| 15 | BACKREST |
Defender leading others in support (8)
|
| BACK (a defensive player in football or similar team sports) before (leading) REST (the rest = the others). | ||
| 17 | ABEYANCE |
Inactivity? A pop star will have change of heart (8)
|
| A, then BEY[o]NCE (pop star Beyoncé), with the middle letter (heart) changed from O to A. I prefer it when the setter specifies what the replacement letter should be, but it’s easy enough to work out in this case.
In abeyance = temporarily suspended or no longer used = inactive. |
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| 20 | TEE-HEE |
Tense four terms in Sherborne suppressing Henry’s laugh (3-3)
|
| T (abbreviation for tense, in grammar), then the last letter (term = termination) of [sherborn]E four times, containing (suppressing) H (abbreviation for henry = unit of electrical inductance).
A representation of the sound of a certain kind of laugh. |
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| 22 | PERUSE |
Study essentially involving university (6)
|
| PER SE (Latin phrase meaning “by itself” or “in itself” = essentially), containing U (abbreviation for university). |
For 17d, Independent 12,015 by Wiglaf: “22a A US singer initially opted to go for a state of temporary inactivity” – Just 6 days ago.
Top faves: PLATINUM, COTTAGE INDUSTRY, SPEEDO, CLOUD-CUCKOO-LAND and PERUSE.
Enjoyable puzzle. Excellent blog.
Thanks Phi and Quirister.
There is something to find. Can’t tell you the language as that shares its name with the place itself. But it’s not Chilean.
(It gets harder to come up with something for Easter every year…)
Phi @3: now you mention it . . . a couple of rows of unchecked letters, and a seasonally-appropriate place by its original name. Well hidden.
Unfortunately, the hints above leave me none the wiser, but then that should surprise nobody on this blog. I know Phi has a predilection for Maori/Pacific island culture so guess from Quirister’s comment that it might be something to do with Easter Island?
A super puzzle, thoroughly fun to crack each clue.
I have to say, SCHWA (16ac) was a gungadin from the wordplay, which was very fair.
OK, “Beyonce” is on stage again in ABEYANCE, 17(d), but I think that setters must compile their grids well before publication, and life is a series of coincidences.
Thanks to P + Q, @ 3 and 4. AHA! ( I think ).
No spoiler here.
Lovely stuff, as expected, from both Phi and Ms. Q
Well spotted, Quirister! I know the place by a different “original” name… Nicely done, Phi.
PM – I found it by looking for the rows that looked like they might plausibly be Maori words then used an online translator
Thanks both. I was slow getting into most answers on the right of the grid, but eventually made a breakthrough. No chance with the Nina, and my further reading suggests it’s an expression in the local language meaning ‘centre of the earth’ rather than a place name.
Beaten in the SE corner by the popster and the dissenter. I thought something would be hidden in the unusual grid, but still didn’t spot anything.
For me the Easter connection is C-C-LAND.
Thanks Phi and Quirister.
Well, somebody has to blink first.
The divine Ms. Q found it.
TE PITO O TE HENUA
That took some navel- gazing.
The world’s belly button.
Easter Island.
Clever setter, clever blogger. Dumb solver.
Thank you @10. None the wiser but at least not wondering what you’re all talking about.