It is Friday today, Phi’s customary slot.
I worked quite steadily through this one and, on the strength of the tight wordplay, was able to complete the puzzle fairly quickly and unaided, just using Google to confirm 4. My favourite clues today were 11 for its cheeky surface reading and 21 for its combination of anagram and & lit.
As this is a Phi puzzle and there were no entries around the perimeter, I was on the look-out for a Nina from early on, and eventually I spotted “THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL IT IS”, starting in the bottom left and reading anti-clockwise around the perimeter. This is, of course, today’s date!
*(…) indicates an anagram
| Across | ||||
| 7 | REFRAINS | RAIN (=fall, as verb) in REFS (=sports officials); the definition is “burden”, i.e. a line or phrase recurring, especially at the end of a stanza | ||
| 9 | REAGAN | RE (=soldiers, i.e. Royal Engineers) + AGA<i>N (=once more); “eliminating independence (=I)” means the letter “i” is dropped; the reference is to former US President Ronald Reagan | ||
| 10 | IDLE | L (=lecturer) in IDE<a> (=plan); “A rejected” means letter “a” is dropped | ||
| 11 | ADAM’S APPLE | *(APPALS DAME); “when waved” is anagram indicator | ||
| 12 | LEAGUE | LAEG (GAEL=Irishman possibly; “backed” indicates reversal) + UE (EU=European Union; “return of” indicates reversal) | ||
| 13 | FLANERIE | F (=following) +[ERI (IRE=passion; “back” indicates reversal) in LANE (=alley)] | ||
| 15 | SHORT-TEMPERED | *(STEPMOTHER) + RED (=showing passion); “raged” is anagram indicator | ||
| 17 | IMPEDING | IMP (=brat) + [DIN (=racket) in E.G. (=say)] | ||
| 19 | REHEAT | REH (HER=girl’s; “back” indicates reversal) + EAT (=consume) | ||
| 21 | TAILOR-MADE | *(MATERIAL DO); “what you could make” is anagram indicator; & lit. | ||
| 23 | OGEE | E (=English) + EGO (=personality); “rejected” indicates reversal; an ogee is a moulding S-shaped in section, hence “architectural feature” | ||
| 24 | IDIOMS | OM (=honour, i.e. Order of Merit) in [I (=one) + D (=duke) + IS] | ||
| 25 | THREATEN | {[A + T (=tense, i.e. in grammar)] in THREE (=trio)} + N (=note) | ||
| Down | ||||
| 1 | PEDDLE | D D (=directors, i.e. 2 x D=director) in PELÉ (=football legend, i.e. from Brazil) | ||
| 2 | ARPEGGIONE | *(AGREEING OP); “should be arranged” is anagram indicator; an arpeggione is an early 19th century bowed stringed instrument | ||
| 3 | FILAMENT | [LAME (=weakened) + <colum>N (“end of” means last letter only)] in FIT (=suitable) | ||
| 4 | ORISSA | OR + IS + SA (=it, i.e. sex appeal); Orissa is a state in India, now known at Odisha | ||
| 5 | HARP | <s>HARP (=a semitone higher, of a musical note); “abandoning intro” means first letter is dropped | ||
| 6 | TAILWIND | Homophone (“radio version”) of “tale” + WIND (=twist) | ||
| 8 | STAFF SERGEANT | STAFFS (=county, i.e. Staffordshire) + *(RE AGENT); “manoeuvring” is anagram indicator | ||
| 14 | EARTHWOMAN | [A (=one) in *(THE WORM)] + AN (=article); “mutant” is anagram indicator | ||
| 15 | SIM CARDS | [CAR (=vehicle) in MD (=doctor)] in SIS (=relative) | ||
| 16 | PARTERRE | PART (=some) + ERRE<d> (=slipped up; “reducing” means last letter dropped) | ||
| 18 | INRUSH | *(RUINS) + <beac>H (“rear of” means last letter only); “rocks” is anagram indicator | ||
| 20 | ALEXEI | ALE (=beer) + X (=kiss, i.e. on a card) + EI (I.E.=that is; “upsetting” indicates vertical reversal) | ||
| 22 | LOOT | TOOL (=gun, i.e. slang); “in hold-up” indicates vertical reversal | ||
Thanks for the blog, RatkojaRiku. (I didn’t see the nina until you pointed it out).
My favourites in this puzzle were IDLE, SHORT-TEMPERED, REHEAT & TAILWIND.
New words for me were arpeggione, ogee, flanerie and Earthwoman.
I was pleased that (finally) I could remember that ‘football legend’ is often Pele.
I struggled in the NE corner until I saw the nina. By the way, I think the nina, unless you’re Yoda, is “it is the nineteenth of April”. I knew the musical expression arpeggio, so it was a reasonable leap to ARPEGGIONE for 2 down.
It is handy if you do not know the date from the newspaper/ webpage.
Good strong clues as usual from this careful setter.
Rowly.
Fine puzzle, where I spotted the perimeter message just a couple of clues before the end and it helped me get my last one (OGEE). As Rowly says, strong clueing right across the grid.
Is it Phi’s birthday today, I wonder?
Thanks for the blog, RR.
I will say unashamedly that my favourite clue was 11A.
Given the grid, we were on the lookout for a nina. Fortunately we spotted it when we were about three- quarters through and stuck in NW corner. Having guessed correctly, we were then able to complete the puzzle more easily.
A few new words which needed checking but apart from that another good work-out from Phi.
Thanks RR and Phi.