It seems only appropriate that Phi should occupy his usual slot on this final Friday of 2013.
Personally speaking, I am glad to have been able to work with a printed version of today’s puzzle, having struggled between two screens when blogging last week, with the inevitable sloppy transcriptions on my part.
Overall, this was quite an easy ride after the bumper crop of jumbo and themed crosswords that have accompanied the crossword centenary and the festive season. I made swift progress through the puzzle, pausing to marvel at the entries at 2 – can there really be such a word? Are there other rivers for which a name is given to the gauges used to measure them? – and 12/21 – can there really be such a bird? Is it some sort of guillemot?
My last one in was 10, where I was misled into thinking that the entry would be an anagram of “good rinse”. My favourite was what I consider to be the & lit. at 8, although someone will doubtless jump in and say that it isn’t & lit at all. I have scoured the grid for a Nina and/or theme but have found neither.
Many thanks to Phi and his fellow setters for the solving and blogging challenges that they have set us in 2013, and looking forward to the crosswording delights that 2014 will doubtless have in store.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | PANTHER | Cat long associated with that woman
PANT (=long (for)) + HER (=that woman) |
| 05 | FASHION | Ton of chains at sea not initially carried
*(OF <c>HAINS); “not initially carried (=C)” means letter “c” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “at sea” |
| 09 | WELLS | City thoroughly heading for success
WELL (=thoroughly) + S<uccess> (“heading for” means first letter only) |
| 10 | SHOWERING | Method involved in version of good rinse?
HOW (=method) in *(G (=good) + RINSE); “version of” is anagram indicator; partially & lit. |
| 11 | EMPATHETIC | Appreciating another’s feelings is beginning to ease the impact, possibly
E<ase> (“beginning to” means first letter only) + *(THE IMPACT); “possibly” is anagram indicator |
| 12/21 | MOTMOT | Debate about wings of trim bird
T<ri>M (“wings of” means first and letter only) in MOOT (=debate, i.e. discussion); a motmot is a tropical American bird, related to rollers and kingfishers |
| 14 | INTRIGUE | Private scheme, popular and genuine, restricting one Government
IN (=popular) + [(I (=one) + G (=government)) in TRUE (=genuine)] |
| 16 | CLINCH | Secure // embrace
Double definition: to clinch/secure a deal AND a loving clinch/embrace |
| 19 | CARVER | Sculptor very enthralled by nurse
V (=very) in CARER (=nurse) |
| 20 | PILSENER | Beer making drunk reel and spin
*(REEL + SPIN); “drunk” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | LUMINARIES | Nasty email ruins important people
*(EMAIL RUINS); “nasty” is anagram indicator |
| 27 | OVEN GLOVE | Half-over, English romance is an obstruction to warmth
OV<er> (half- means only half of letters are used) + ENG (=English) + LOVE (=romance) |
| 28 | AMIGO | American vigor essentially seen in China (in Spain’s view)
AM (=American) + <v>IGO<r> (“essentially” means all middle letters are used); amigo is the Spanish for friend/mate, i.e. china in Cockney rhyming slang |
| 29 | TRAGEDY | Attempt to take in old play by Shakespeare?
AGED (=old) in TRY (=attempt) |
| 30 | NAME TAG | Identification one encountered, carried by Harry
[A (=one) + MET (=encountered)] in NAG (=harry, i.e. as verb) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | PAWN | Hand on knight, or weaker piece?
PAW (=hand) + N (=knight); a pawn is a weaker piece than a knight in chess |
| 02 | NILOMETER | Inlet more represented in river measure
*(INLET MORE); “represented” is anagram indicator; curiously, a Nilometer is a gauge for measuring the height of the River Nile |
| 03 | HOSEA | Book writer’s article supporting Tube
HOSE (=tube, i.e. pipe) + A (=article); Hosea is a prophet and book of the Old Testament, hence “book writer” |
| 04 | RUSH HOUR | Rugby embittered about its goal posts in busy period
RU (=rugby, i.e. rugby union) + [H H (=its goal posts, i.e. the shape of the two goal posts in a RU match) in SOUR (=embittered)] |
| 05 | FROST | Chilly feeling almost increased in newspaper
ROS<e> (=increased; “almost” means last letter dropped) in FT (=newspaper, i.e. Financial Times) |
| 06 | STEM CELLS | Opportunities for development stop prison components
STEM (=stop, e.g. the flow, tide) + CELLS (=prison components) |
| 07 | IDIOM | I’m absorbing most of designer’s artistic style
DIO<r> (=designer, i.e. Christian Dior; “most of” means last letter dropped) in I’M; an idiom is a characteristic mode of expression of a person, school, etc |
| 08 | NIGHTSHIRT | This thing may get tangled around sleeper’s foot?
<sleepe>R (“foot” means last letter only) in *(THIS THING); “tangled” is anagram indicator; & lit. |
| 13 | DISCOMFORT | Dance beginning to magnify castle’s uneasiness
DISCO (=dance) + M<agnify> (“beginning to” means first letter only) + FORT (=castle) |
| 15 | IDEOLOGUE | Political reactionary, one expected to go round Goole after rioting
*(GOOLE) in [I (=one) + DUE (=expected)]; “after rioting” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | NON-SEXIST | No bridge players are unaffected by gender
NO + N S (=bridge players, i.e. North and South) + EXIST (=are) |
| 18 | LINNAEAN | Policy about North American article regarding classification
[NA (=North American) in LINE (=policy)] + AN (=article); the reference is to Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who devised a system of taxonomical classification |
| 22 | THETA | Volunteers’ classic character?
THE TA (=volunteers, i.e. Territorial Army); theta is a letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet, hence “classic character” |
| 24 | MOODY | Irritable, with twist of fate unknown
MOOD (DOOM=fate; “twist of” indicates reversal) + Y (=unknown, i.e. in algebra) |
| 25 | REALM | Kingdom’s genuine money
REAL (=genuine) + M (=money) |
| 26 | LONG | Liberal working with head of group for extended period
L (=liberal) + ON (=working, i.e. at work) + G<roup> (“head of” means first letter only) |
Back from the pub mentioned in the blog to Shortfall…
I think the lure of MOTMOT might have won even without the inclusion of slightly unusual words occasioned by the Nina*. Something about the repeated syllable, and the fact that the clue numbers formed a palindrome, and the implied presence of TOMTOM…
*Yes, there is one.
Thanks to Phi for an entertaining crossword. I told Kairos yesterday that my New Year’s resolution will be to always spot a Nina. Fortunately for me, it is still 2013 as I am peering hopelessly to try and find this one.
Thanks to RR too.
I didn’t enjoy this one as much as some of Phi’s puzzles, although that might be because I’m feeling grumpy post-solve. I had CLENCH at 16ac, which as far as I can see fits the wordplay equally as well because Phi didn’t specify which meaning of “secure” was being referred to. Of the other clues SHOWERING was my LOI because I had also been looking for an anagram of “good rinse”, and it was only when I decided that there really was no such word as “soodering” that I went and made a cup of coffee and saw the right answer when I got back to the puzzle. No, I can’t spot the nina either.
Starting from the F in DISCOMFORT and proceeding diagonally upwards (more or less), I see the string FORD GOES and then WTH. And now I’m bored of looking for an elusive Nina. There may be no more posts to this thread, but I may check back later to see if anyone has put us out of our misery.
Thanks, RR. As always, a good puzzle from Phi, with no real favourites today. H for ‘rugby posts’ seems to have crept into the setters’ toolbox this year.
I can’t help with the nina – no surprise there – but unless it’s part of the theme and you need it to help solve the puzzle I tend not to get too excited by them. Give me a good daily cryptic that I can finish without recourse to aids and I’m a happy bunny.
Well there are some words based around the letter O, love, disc, a few nils, ring, theta. Otherwise I see nothing..
2013 Man Booker Prize seems to have a number of references in the completed grid
A bit more research has found the following characters appear in Eleanor Catton’s book “The Luminaries”, which was the winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize:
Moody
Wells
Carter
Frost
Long
Clinch
There may well be other references. As the book was written by a New Zealand authoress and is set in New Zealand, it is appropriate for Phi to have included this as the Nina.
The opening words of the first two clues were meant to be a pointer.
Unusually for recent Booker winners, this is rather a good book, and merits its length. For a rather unusual structural reason, the section breaks are marked by a certain Greek letter, though that didn’t actually register till I was near the end.
Surely that’s a theme, not a Nina? Cat long ton of chains? Oh, got it. Never heard of her, though.
Our solving experience seems to match yours RR! We looked for a nina before coming here, odd words led us to believe that there may be but we still hadn’t spotted one. With only 30 minutes free wi-fi access we are glad that someone else found it!
Crypticsue – we will remember your resolution!
Thanks Phi and Happy New Year!
Re. 10ac
Well, in pursuit of an anagram for “good rinse” I found the Soodering Method: US Professor Sooder’s flashcard method for promoting good salesmanship!
That’s called a ghost theme.
And especially spectral when no- one can see it!