Eccles may have appeared on an unusual day this week, but Phi is here as expected on Friday.
There are a number of ‘religious’ entries in the grid – PAUL, MARTYR, REDEEMER, TERESA and LATIMER. However, unless you consider that four of those listed can be considered to be MARTYRS [including St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, rather than Mother Teresa], I can’t find another single event or link that connects them more strongly. There are a few other uses of ‘religious’ allusions in the clues. Queen Mary 1 ,referenced in the clue for MARTYR, was the Queen when LATIMER was MARTRYed. Neither DARMSTADT nor NIGER seem to have a religious event associated with them. Perhaps there is a strong theme that is passing me by. That wouldn’t be unusual.
I liked the clue for MALTREAT with its nested containments.
I was a bit unsure about the cluing of the wordplay component THIS in THIRSTY, where it seemed to be clued as ‘current’, but it might be referring to the ‘thing’ or ‘topic’ we are discussing.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Attack set back during challenge with speed (10)
VITUPERATE (attack with violently abusive criticism or disapproval) (PUT [set] reversed [back] contained in [during] VIE [contest; challenge]) + RATE (speed) VI (TUP<) E RATE |
| 6 | Friend accepting university theologian’s study? (4)
PAUL (a theologian might study the life of St Paul) PAL (friend) containing (accepting) U PA (U) L |
| 10 | Recalled popular German state (5)
NIGER (the Republic of Niger is a landlocked country [state] in West Africa) IN (popular) reversed (recalled) + GER (German) NI< GER |
| 11 | and German city: weapons a little evident in Germany today at the outset (9)
DARMSTADT (German city) (ARMS [weapons] + TAD [a little]) contained in (evident in) (D (International Vehicle Registration for Deutschland [Germany] + T [first letter of {at the outset of} Today]) D (ARMS TAD) T |
| 12 | Immoderate document not initiated by engineers (7)
EXTREME (immoderate) tEXT (book or document) excluding the first letter T [not initiated]) + REME ([Royal Electrical and Mechanical] Engineers) EXT REME |
| 13 | Gent with fake name turning and turning part of mill (4,3)
SAIL ARM (one of the arms of a windmill; part of mill) (MR [mister; gentleman] + ALIAS [assumed or fake name]) all reversed (turning) (SAIL A< RM)< |
| 14 | Works on the land, where income’s stored a long time (8)
TILLAGES (cultivations or works on the land) TILL (drawer or receptacle for money in or behind a counter where income’s stored) + AGES (a long time) TILL AGES |
| 16 | Old Queen imprisoning tense religious victim (6)
MARTYR (person who suffers for his or her beliefs; religious victim) MARY R (Mary Regina, reference Queen Mary 1 who reigned in England from 1553 to 1558; old Queen) containing (imprisoning) T (tense) MAR (T) Y R |
| 18 | Drain segment containing uranium (6)
SLUICE (drain or channel for water) SLICE (segment) containing (containing) U (chemical symbol for uranium) SL (U) ICE |
| 19 | Comic character, guy almost needing a crutch (8)
MALAPROP (reference Mrs Malaprop, a comical character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s [1751 – 1816] play, The Rivals) MALe (man; guy) excluding the final letter E (almost) + A + PROP (support; crutch) MAL A PROP |
| 22 | Article is certain to omit American responses (7)
ANSWERS (responses) AN (indefinite article) + SWEaRS (declares as true; expresses certainty) excluding (to omit) A (American) AN SWERS |
| 23 | Dry river in the current territory completely emptied (7)
THIRSTY (dry) (R [river] contained in [in] THIS [the current thing referred to {?}]) + TY (letters remaining in TerritorY when all the central letters erritor are removed [empty]) THI (R) S TY |
| 25 | Magnet in quantity and quality? (9)
LOADSTONE (alternative spelling for lodestone [form of magnetite which exhibits polarity, behaving, when freely suspended, as a magnet]) LOADS (lots of; in quantity) + TONE (quality) LOADS TONE |
| 26 | Motivate arrangement of Verdi (5)
DRIVE (motivate) Anagram of (arrangement of) VERDI DRIVE* |
| 27 | Prepare factory, but running out of time (4)
PLAN (prepare) PLANt (factory) excluding (running out of) T (time) PLAN |
| 28 | Resolution in Hamlet? (10)
SETTLEMENT (resolution) SETTLEMENT (small village, for example; hamlet) double definition SETTLEMENT |
| Down | |
| 1 | Artist, familiarly, note, engaged in immorality, not without love (7)
VINCENT (reference Vincent Van Gogh [1853 – 1890], Dutch artist, using just his first name as a familiar address) (N [note] contained in [engaged in] VICE [immorality is a vice]) + NoT excluding (without) O (character representing zero [love score in tennis]) VI (N) CE NT |
| 2 | Drunk female escaping from the dark? (5)
TIGHT (informal term for intoxicated or drunk) The nIGHT (dark time) excluding (escaping) HEN [female) T IGHT |
| 3 | Here’s spaceman, floating about, consuming European dairy product (8,6)
PARMESAN CHEESE (a dairy product) Anagram of (floating about) HERE’S SPACEMAN containing (consuming) E (European) PARMESAN CH (E) ESE* – any one of the Es, except the last one, could be the one contained. |
| 4 | One saving crimson BMW, after front’s lost (8)
REDEEMER (one saving) RED (crimson) + bEEMER (informal term for a BMW car) excluding (after … lost) the first letter (front) B RED EEMER |
| 5 | Saint in a group turning up about religious education (6)
TERESA (reference Saint Teresa. There are a number of Saints with the name Teresa, the most recent being Mother Teresa [1910 – 1997], canonised as a saint in 2016) (A + SET [group]) reversed (turning up; down entry) and containing (about) RE (religious education) TE (RE) S A< |
| 7 | A GM flower, perhaps white and soft? (9)
ALABASTER (a soft, semi-transparent massive gypsum, widely used for ornamental purposes. It is usually white in colour) A + LAB (laboratory used here to imply there is some genetic modification [GM] technique being used) + ASTER (a flower) A LAB ASTER |
| 8 | Oxford 16 the writer’s brought in subsequently (7)
LATIMER (reference Hugh Latimer [1487 – 1555], Church of England chaplain to Edward 1. He was burned at the stake on the orders of the Catholic Queen Mary 1 [used earlier in the clue for MARTYR], becoming one of the three Oxford martyrs of Anglicanism) I’M (the writer’s …) contained in (brought in) LATER (subsequently) LAT (IM) ER |
| 9 | Asia fast in dismantling scam? That’s healthy (2,3,2,1,6)
AS FIT AS A FIDDLE (description of a healthy person) Anagram of (dismantling) ASIA FAST + FIDDLE (scam) AS FIT AS A* FIDDLE |
| 15 | Distribution of USA aioli around Northern US state (9)
LOUISIANA (one of the United States of America) Anagram of (distribution of) USA AIOLI containing (around) N (northern) LOUISIA (N) A* |
| 17 | King tucking into drink, tucking into whisky, leading to harm (8)
MALTREAT (treat badly or cruelly; harm) (R [Rex; king] contained in [tucking into] TEA [a drink]) all contained in (tucking into) MALT (reference malt whisky) MAL (T (R) EA) T |
| 18 | Shellfish concession receiving visit (7)
SCALLOP (a shellfish) SOP (concession) containing (receiving) CALL (visit) S (CALL) OP |
| 20 | Unknown blokes coming in to touch for money? (7)
PAYMENT (money paid) (Y [letter frequently used to denote an unknown in equations] + MEN [blokes]) contained in (coming in to) PAT (touch) PA (Y MEN) T |
| 21 | Remains on rock, out of the ocean (6)
ASHORE (on land; out of the sea or ocean) ASH (remains) + ORE (mineral; rock) ASH ORE |
| 24 | Occupy one zone within religious district (5)
SEIZE (take a country by force, for instance; occupy) (I [Roman numeral for one] + Z [zone]) contained in (within) SEE (diocese; the circuit or extent of a bishop’s jurisdiction; religious district) SE (I Z) E |
Not a grammarian, but could “this” be the current (proximate, specific) form of “the”? Probly not, just musing …
So that’s where the second R comes from in MARTYR! That is very neat indeed and totally escaped me. I admit to thinking ‘I know R stands for ‘religious’ in RE/RI but surely Phi can’t be taking it as a standalone abbreviation …’
I, too, found THIS in THIRSTY to be slightly odd but it just about works for me. Doubt I would have got it cold/without crossers. It took REDEEMER for me to realise that I don’t think I have ever seen the BMW nickname written down! I have always assumed it was spelled with an ‘ea’ rather than an ‘ee’!
SAIL ARM, MALAPROP, REDEEMER, SCALLOP and ASHORE are my faves but, now I know how it works, MARTYR is COTD.
Thanks both
One of the definitions of ‘this’ given in Chambers is ‘(up to and including) the present time and place’. Could this be what Phi had in mind?
For 23a I think “the current” corresponds to “this”, as in “this Government” / “the current Government”.
Alabaster as a GM flower is delightful!
I’m a bit late, but I wanted to say both of the things Quirister said.
I couldn’t parse TIGHT, though I was sure ‘night’ was part of it, but I just couldn’t make ‘on’ = female and my determination to do so stopped me from seeing (the now obvious) ‘hen’.
Thanks Phi and Duncansheill.
I think ALABASTER is being used as a qualifier as in “She had ALABASTER skin” rather than as a direct reference to the mineral.
Great curve to this one. A tricky start, then gradually increasing progess and a few toughies to finish.
“This” is certainly “the current”. You see it in academic writing: “The current study will argue that…”
The spelling of lodestone was new to me. SAIL ARM was one of many great clues.
Thanks duncanshiell. Perhaps St VINCENT de PAUL contributes a bit to the religious theme, but like you I couldn’t see any larger picture emerging. (Shouldn’t that be Edward VI rather than Edward I in 8D ?)
Thanks Phi for this gem.
There is a sort of religious theme here – it’s another odd opera, very odd as the librettist is Gertrude Stein. It’s Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts, and Ms Stein covers around twenty of the beatified in both singing roles and those mentioned in what one might encouragingly call the text. Not your usual saints in many cases – Sts. Settlement, Plan, Paul Seize, for example. (Typo in grid, btw, for SEIZE.)
The one time I saw it, Dormouse was also in the audience, I believe.
I did wonder when I completed this if that opera was the theme but I couldn’t remember which saints were mentioned. There are a lot more than three saints mentioned, and the opera has four acts.
There is a science fiction story called Barrier by Anthony Boucher involving a number of time travellers and at one point, the hero pretends he can understand one of the other travellers and one of the lines he says is “Pigeons on the grass, alas.” a line from the opera.
I’ve seen this staged only once, at ENO. I might have seen you there, but it was a long time ago.
What an interesting puzzle! Of course I missed the theme – but I might also have been at the ENO back then. Failed to parse TIGHT and also have not seen that spelling of the magnet. Thanks to Phi and Duncanshiell.