It is Friday today and Phi is occupying his usual slot.
I made steady progress through this one, which I consider to be of about average difficulty for Phi. I hesitated for a while over the inter-related clues around 5A, although once I had spotted the MND connection, the remaining fairies slotted into place. It is perhaps worth noting that two of the lesser-known fairies were given an anagram clue, helping those solvers not overly familiar with the play.
My favourite clues today were 9, for its smooth surface, and 21, for its humorous surface reading; 8 was new to me, but, again, an educated guess could be made on the basis of the anagram.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | PUMPKIN | Ask family about vegetable
PUMP (=ask, i.e. for information) + KIN (=family) |
| 05 | FAIRIES | Just line from stories featuring imaginary beings
FAIR (=just) + <l>IES (=stories; “line (=L) from” means letter “l” is dropped) |
| 09 | CATERWAUL | Sound of moggy jumping at a curlew
*(AT A CURLEW); “jumping” is anagram indicator |
| 10 | DOGMA | Follow mother’s assertion of faith
DOG (=follow) + MA (=mother) |
| 11 | ACADEMY AWARD | Bill’s elaborate daydream about American women’s success in film
AC (=bill, i.e. account) + {[A (=American) + W (=women)] in *(DAYDREAM)}; “elaborate” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | REEK | Stench from stream with source blocked
<c>REEK (=stream); “with source blocked” means first letter dropped |
| 16 | IRRITATION | Annoyance I share, when blocked by a lot of ceremony
I + [RIT<e> (=ceremony; “a lot of” means last letter dropped) in RATION (=share)] |
| 18 | TABLE D’HÔTE | Bad lot mixed up with the college’s latest range of courses
*(BAD LOT + THE <colleg>E); “latest” means last letter only; “mixed up” is anagram indicator |
| 19 | STYE | Fashion line discounted? It won’t make you look good
STY<l>E (=fashion); “line (=L) discounted” means letter “l” dropped; cryptically, a stye “won’t make you look good”, i.e. will negatively affect one’s sight |
| 21 | PEASE-BLOSSOM | One of 5 bouncy bosoms, please
*(BOSOMS PLEASE); “bouncy” is anagram indicator; the definition is “one of fairies (=entry at 5)”, i.e. from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| 24 | ALOHA | Greeting expression of surprise, repressing expression of revelation
LO (=expression of revelation, as in lo and behold) in AHA (=expression of surprise); aloha is a Hawaiian greeting |
| 25 | FORT WAYNE | Curious faery town where 6s live?
*(FAERY TOWN); “curious” is anagram indicator; Fort Wayne is a city in Indiana, hence “where Indianans (=entry at 6) live” |
| 26/23 | MUSTARDSEED | One of 5 active in mute address
*(MUTE ADDRESS); “active” is anagram indicator; the definition is “one of fairies (=entry at 5)”, i.e. from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| 27 | DEBATED | Shared opinions on speed, in fact
BAT (=speed, i.e. colloquially, cf. lick) in DEED (=fact) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | PUCK | One of 5 turned up with designer logo?
PU (UP; “turned” indicates vertical reversal) + CK (=designer logo, i.e. Calvin Klein); the definition is “one of fairies (=entry at 5)”, i.e. from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| 02 | MOTH | One of 5 books amongst 1000 hardbacks at first
OT (=books, i.e. Old Testament) in [M (=1000) + H<ardbacks> (“at first” means first letter only)]; the definition is “one of fairies (=entry at 5)”, i.e. from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| 03 | KIRSCH | Church cut school’s drink
KIR<k> (=church; “cut” means last letter dropped) + SCH (=school) |
| 04 | NEANDERTHAL | German valley in North Eastern heartland, possibly
NE (=North Eastern) + *(HEARTLAND); “possibly” is anagram indicator; Neanderthal man was first discovered at Neanderthal in Germany |
| 05 | FAL | River current disappearing in neglect
FA<i>L (=neglect); “current (=I, in physics) disappearing” means letter “i” is dropped |
| 06 | INDIANAN | Local American, one getting assistance, turning up in pub
DIANA (AN=one + AID=assistance; “turning up” indicates vertical reversal) in INN (=pub)] |
| 07 | INGRATIATE | Get favour treating sick, housing one American
[I (=one) + A (=American)] in *(TREATING); “sick” is anagram indicator |
| 08 | SLAM DANCER | Man cradles hyped-up rock fan
*(MAN CRADLES); “hyped-up” is anagram indicator; a slam dancer is a rock fan at a concert who leaps up into the air and crashes into other crowd members |
| 12 | MCINTOSH RED | Apple? Host’s very interested in a piece
MC (=host) + INTO (=very interested in) + SHRED (=a piece); a McIntosh red is a red-skinned variety of eating apple |
| 13 | PROTOPLASM | Best girl not reaching end in school dance – lively stuff
[TOP (=best) + LAS<s> (=girl; “not reaching end” means last letter dropped)] in PROM (=school dance); protoplasm is living material within a cell, hence, cryptically, “lively stuff” |
| 14 | MEMBRANOUS | Gauzy hint of moonlight or sunbeam, flickering
M<oonlight> (“hint of” means first letter only) + *(OR SUNBEAM); “flickering” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | SERENATA | Notes a consequence of sun before sun comes up
A + TAN (=consequence of sun) + ERE (=before) + S (=sun); “coming up” means (here full) vertical reversal |
| 20 | COBWEB | One of 5 books about our group overseen by company
CO (=company) + [WE (=our group) in B B (=books, i.e. 2 x B)]; the definition is “one of fairies (=entry at 5)”, i.e. from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| 22 | CYST | Item for treatment? Crusty spot’s edges
C<rust>Y S<po>T; “edges” means first and last letters only |
| 25 | FAD | Ths writer avoids renowned transient success
FA<me>D (=renowned); “this writer (=ME) avoided” means the letters “me” are dropped |
A pleasure to do this one, liked a number of interlinking clues in SW – PROTOPLASM, TABLE D’HOTE, ALOHA, SERENATA. Didn’t know off the top of my head any of the fairies except Puck, but the others were solvable thanks to the wordplay, also a chuckle at PEASEBLOSSOM clue.
Thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku.
I raced though the top half and I mistakenly thought I was in for a very fast solve. The bottom half was a lot more difficult to unlock, but, as gwep@1 pointed out, the fairies that I didn’t know were solvable from the wordplay, as were the clues for less familiar words like PROTOPLASM, TABLE D’HOTE and SERENATA. Definitely my kind of puzzle.
So great to see things done so well . A lovely, light theme, and correctl y-written clues. My favourites today were also 9 and 21, eben though BOSOMS PLEASE is not so far from PEASE BLOSSOM, so nice to chime with you, Ratkoja Riuk!!
Well done pHi, everyone have a great weekend.
Rowly.
Good stuff from Phi and a very nice blog so thank you both.
I agree the bottom half was trickier than the top. I hadn’t heard serenata before but the clueing seemed entirely fair so was still able to finish with a smile.
I didn’t help myself by solving 5 down immediately before looking at 1 down and wondering how you could have variants of The Fal. Apart from that minor idiocy it was a pleasure to solve.
Thanks Phi for a satisfying puzzle to solve over a relaxed lunch. Unusually for me I solved the gateway clue at 5a almost immediately and so made fairly rapid progress. I take some pride – perhaps misplaced – in not recognising CK as a designer logo in 1d.
A pleasure indeed – nice light theme where I just about got all the fairies after solving the gateway clue – and some generous clueing where required. Bravo Phi and thanks for blogging, RR.
Although clearly an anagram Fort wayne held me up for help in the lower half, 21a nice smile inducing – might not have got past some editors I guess.
Thanks for the fairy tales Phi and the blog RR.
Fairy nice puzzle.
Thanks RatkojaRiku, especially for the parsing of SERENATA.
I particularly liked TABLE D’HÔTE.
Thanks RR and Phi. Very enjoyable. 21 was wonderful!
I realised the Midsummer’s Night’s Dream theme of fairies after solving Moth & Pease Blossom, so it helped me a lot with the rest of the puzzle.
I liked 1a, 11a, 19a, 20d, 1d, 13d, 17d (last in).
I could not parse 12d & 25d.
New word for me was SLAM DANCER.
Thanks for the blog, RatkojaRiku.