Phi on good form as usual this Friday.
Nothing too obscure here – a few of the definitions needed a bit of thought, but were “clear enough once you see them”. I liked the two birds in 3d and 4d, and the glass-nearly-empty beer in 23d. And it’s always fun to use the Monty Python Philosophers’ Song as reference material when faced with “philosopher” in a clue. Thanks Phi as always.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | APOSTROPHE |
Rhetorical trick is perhaps too complicated (10)
|
| Anagram (complicated) of PERHAPS TOO.
In drama or public speaking, a digression from the course of a speech to address a third party. |
||
| 9 | SNOB |
Social climber’s insulting comment about name (4)
|
| SOB (abbreviation for “son of a bitch” = insulting comment) around N (abbreviation for name).
Someone who wants to be associated with a higher social class and therefore disparages anyone perceived to be lower-class. |
||
| 10 | CORNET |
Ice-cream’s central temperature brought about liquefaction at last (6)
|
| CORE (as an adjective = central) + T (abbreviation for time), around the last letter of [liquefactio]N.
Ice cream served in a cone-shaped wafer. |
||
| 11 | REPEATED |
Grass seen around boggy stuff on a regular basis (8)
|
| REED (a tall wetland grass) around PEAT (boggy stuff). | ||
| 12 | ETUI |
Case that is recalled, involving you in Calais (4)
|
| IE (i.e. = abbreviation for Latin id est = that is), reversed (recalled), around TU (“you” in French, so in Calais in northern France).
French-derived word (étui) for a small ornamental case, typically one used to hold items such as sewing needles and scissors. |
||
| 13 | CLOVERLEAF |
Caught one really liking page showing part of road network (10)
|
| C (abbreviation for caught, in cricket scoring) + LOVER (one who really likes something or someone) + LEAF (page = sheet of paper).
Cloverleaf interchange: a road junction in which one road passes above another at right angles, with a series of tightly-curved slip roads giving the shape of a four-leaf clover. |
||
| 15 | GLANCE |
Oblique impact from tip of whirling weapon (6)
|
| Last letter (tip) of [whirlin]G + LANCE (a weapon).
Perhaps more often “a glancing blow”, but the dictionaries recognise “glance” as a noun in this sense. |
||
| 17 | SHEATH |
Tight dress? Keep quiet, suppressing passion (6)
|
| SH (sh! = a command to keep quiet), containing (suppressing) HEAT (passion = intense emotion).
A close-fitting straight-cut dress. |
||
| 20 | INDIAN CLUB |
On radio, I will take point about limitations of crucial gym item (6,4)
|
| INDIA (I in the radio alphabet = “on radio I”) + NUB (point = central and most important thing, as in “the nub of the argument”), around the outer letters (limitations) of C[rucia]L.
Weighted wooden club (originally from India and/or ancient Persia) used as exercise equipment, normally in pairs. |
||
| 22 | HAJJ |
Husband leading a pair of judges in pilgrimage (4)
|
| H (abbreviation for husband) before A (from the clue text) + J J (a pair of J = abbreviation for judge).
Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. |
||
| 24 | KEYHOLES |
Security components presenting significant difficulties (8)
|
| KEY (significant or important) + HOLES (difficulties = awkward situations).
Parts of locks used for security. |
||
| 26 | UNCURL |
Straighten out relative, mostly about ancient city (6)
|
| UNCL[e] (a relative) without the last letter (mostly), around UR (city in ancient Mesopotamia, and the usual suspect for “ancient city” in crosswords). | ||
| 27 | MILL |
English philosopher’s focus of development during the Industrial Revolution? (4)
|
| Double definition. The 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill; or a mechanised factory, especially one that was developed during the Industrial Revolution. | ||
| 28 | LIVINGSTON |
Means of support not held back in Scottish town (10)
|
| LIVINGS (as in “to make a living” = means of support), then NOT reversed (held back). “Means” can be either singular or plural, but we need to read it as the plural here.
Town in West Lothian, south-eastern Scotland. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SPROUT |
Pontificate about source of rapid growth (6)
|
| SPOUT (pontificate = to talk at length) around the first letter (source) of R[apid].
A growth from a plant. |
||
| 2 | ASUNCION |
Upset South American alliance about capital of Colombia – or elsewhere? (8)
|
| S (abbreviation for south) + A (abbreviation for American), reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue), then UNION (alliance) around the first letter (capital) of C[olombia].
Extended definition: Asunción isn’t the capital of Colombia, but it is the capital of Paraguay. |
||
| 3 | ARCTIC TERN |
Bird from cold region flying for nicer tract? (6,4)
|
| Anagram (flying) of NICER TRACT. | ||
| 4 | SPARROW |
Bird appearing in fight after fight (7)
|
| ROW (fight, as a noun = argument) after SPAR (fight, as a verb = wrestle or box). | ||
| 5 | HELP |
Youngster offering no initial assistance (4)
|
| [w]HELP (a young puppy, or sometimes the young of other animals such as bears or wolves) without the initial letter. | ||
| 6 | ASSAIL |
Attack when ahead of fleet (6)
|
| AS (when, as in “I’ll deal with it as it comes”) before SAIL (collective term for a group of sailing vessels = fleet). | ||
| 7 | COVENANT |
Agreement’s peculiar language about kitchen appliance (8)
|
| CANT (language specific to a group of people, especially criminals; “peculiar” in the sense of belonging to a specific group) around OVEN (kitchen appliance). | ||
| 14 | EASTBOURNE |
Ensure boat is at sea in coastal resort (10)
|
| Anagram (at sea = confused) of ENSURE BOAT.
Seaside resort on the south coast of England. |
||
| 16 | LINGERIE |
Fish lake getting knickers etc. (8)
|
| LING (a name for various species of fish) + ERIE (one of the Great Lakes in North America). | ||
| 18 | ETHICIST |
Moral expert I see probing this when detained by alien (8)
|
| I C (text-message abbreviation for “I see”) inserted into THIS (from clue text), all contained within (detained by) ET (abbreviation for extra-terrestrial = alien). | ||
| 19 | ELUSIVE |
European and American engaged in broadcasting now may be hard to find (7)
|
| E (abbreviation for European), then US (abbreviation for United States = American) contained within LIVE (broadcasting now). | ||
| 21 | INHALE |
Take a breath, having almost bisected base of tree (6)
|
| IN HAL[f] (bisected) without the last letter (almost), then the last letter (base, reading downwards in a down clue) of [tre]E. | ||
| 23 | JARGON |
Beer almost completed in a manner of speaking? (6)
|
| JAR (slang for a glass of beer) + GON[e] (completed) without the last letter (almost).
Language used within a particular group (especially technical terms) that outsiders generally don’t understand. |
||
| 25 | LILY |
Pale lines circling one yard (4)
|
| L L (abbreviation for line, twice = lines) around I (one in Roman numerals), then Y (abbreviation for yard).
Lily, as an adjective = pale like a white lily. Perhaps as in “lily-livered” = cowardly. |
I noticed the AB CD etc at each end of successive rows about two thirds of the way through, which helped me with the final few clues.
hounddog @1: well spotted! I thought I’d checked for something like this, but completely missed it.
Another fine puzzle from Phi. I liked APOSTROPHE, REPEATED for a definition that looked like wordplay, and JARGON. Thanks to Phi for the puzzle, Quirister for the blog and hounddog for preventing me from googling Eastbourne Lingerie in search of a theme.
Apt inclusion method for 18d, given the proctological proclivities of those aliens!
Thanks to Quirister and hounddog. We looked for a theme – still waiting for Wellington burgers to appear sometime! We even looked around the unches and missed it all.
Thanks Phi – all good fun whilst eating lunch.
Thanks Phi, that was excellent. Favourites included APOSTROPHE, INDIAN CLUB, SPARROW, & HELP. I missed KEYHOLES & couldn’t parse INHALE but all else made sense. Thanks to hounddog for pointing out the alphabet sequence — I hate missing the ‘extra layer’ — and to Quirister for the blog.
Never heard of cloverleaf junctions as a phrase in UK! But otherwise all sound and we even spotted the letters at the edges, though no doubt we missed some other obscure link!
Ericw, cloverleaf interchanges are, I’m fairly sure, an American invention; used in places where two motorways (or similar divided highways) intersect. But not any more: the cloverleaf design is now deprecated by civil engineers. The main problem is that people entering the highway from a cloverleaf ramp are trying to merge into traffic at the same time as people exiting on the next ramp are trying to merge out. This cross-merge has led to many accidents. There are now safer designs that are preferred (and also, often, have a smaller footprint).
[To clarify: there absolutely are still cloverleaf interchanges here, but as roads get rebuilt, they’re getting replaced. There are many fewer than there used to be.]
Bit of a Guardian interloper here but glad I came – didn’t spot the A B C etc – very nice! Wish the online puzzle wouldn’t crash so much…
DodgyProf @10: welcome to the Indy puzzles, and I hope you continue to enjoy them.