Another Friday, another Phi! So that’s all good then!
We thought that this was a ‘hoot’ of a puzzle. Apart from a ‘little’ problem we finished it fairly quickly and a few of the clues even had us ‘laughing’ out loud!
We hope that most of you ’spotted’ the theme before the end like we did, as it did help us with a few of the ‘barred’ letters! Regular solvers will be aware that Phi has a talont for producing this type of puzzle so we are always ‘hawk’ eyed on a Friday.
If you are ‘wiser’ than us you may be able to help us with 1ac.
| Across | ||
| 1 | Description of study – presumably one well-panelled | |
| BROWN | We were and still are, puzzled by this one. A BROWN study in Chambers is given as absent-mindedness or a reverie. Is it meant to be a link to studies in the past being wood panelled and therefore generally brown? This was our LOI but knowing the theme helped us fill in the answer! | |
| 4 | Irish sailors having access to bottle | |
| CORKSCREW | A play on CORK’S CREW | |
| 9 | Notice power’s seized by university official without emotion | |
| DEADPAN | AD (notice) + P (power) inside or ‘seized by’ DEAN (university official) | |
| 10 | Bishop in power? The man that’s wanted | |
| MR RIGHT | RR (bishop) in MIGHT (power) | |
| 11 | Dog losing head in good hole | |
| EAGLE | ||
| 12 | Student, working with engine parts, provided with enhanced auditory capacity? | |
| LONG-EARED | L (student) + ON (working) + GEARED (with engine parts) | |
| 13 | Heads balls | |
| NUTS | Double definition | |
| 14 | Solid figures upset that reader | |
| TETRAHEDRA | An anagram of THAT READER (anagrind is ‘upset’) | |
| 17 | Food dished up for swish dance | |
| SANDWICHES | Anagram of SWISH DANCE (anagrind is ‘dished up’) | |
| 19 | Farm location that’s well down the pub crawl | |
| BARN | A play on BAR N, which would come well down the list after BAR A and BAR B! | |
| 21 | Tunnelling due to appear after rough sound | |
| BURROWING | OWING (due) after BURR (rough sound) | |
| 24 | Thomas following a famous swordsman | |
| ATHOS | THOS (Thomas) following A | |
| 26 | What’s excellent about sex or perverse sexual material? | |
| EROTICA | ACE (excellent) about IT (sex) + OR all reversed or ‘perverse’ | |
| 27 | Astronomer’s endless success penning line on constellation | |
| GALILEO | GAI |
|
| 28 | Expected to succeed, agents die in calamity | |
| DESIGNATE | An anagram of AGENTS DIE (anagrind is ‘in calamity’) | |
| 29 | Description of port: Welsh name, but in Scottish river | |
| TAWNY | W (Welsh) + N (name) inside TAY (Scottish river) | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Friend, say, picked up shift | |
| BUDGE | BUD (friend) + EG (say) reversed or ‘picked up’ | |
| 2 | Ape sounded alarm, having released one outside | |
| ORANGUTAN | RANG (sounded alarm) with OUT (released) + AN (one) outside | |
| 3 | Nothing less than single expression of relief shown by relative | |
| NEPHEW | ||
| 4 | Abandon a lake – here’s narrower artificial waterway | |
| CANAL | CAN (abandon) + A + L (lake). Not sure whether we like the definition here – it seems a bit long-winded, maybe an attempt to confuse us! | |
| 5 | Borrow novel, French novel, taking year with the antique style | |
| ROMANY RYE | ROMAN (French word for novel) + YR (year) + YE (the in old or ‘antique’ style). The answer relates to a novel by George Borrow written in 1857. | |
| 6 | Loose rocks landing on church producing alarmed sound | |
| SCREECH | SCREE (loose rocks) + CH (church) | |
| 7 | Only some aware Germany boasts this composer | |
| REGER | Hidden in the clue awaRE GERmany | |
| 8 | Comedian, stressed about hospital, pulled out | |
| WITHDRAWN | WIT (comedian) + DRAWN (stressed) about H (hospital). Should we say something about TU-WHIT TU-WHOO here? No we didn’t think so! | |
| 13 | Quantity of claret thwarting assessment of bouquet? | |
| NOSEBLEED | This is a play on the fact that claret can mean blood and if you had a NOSEBLEED you would not be able to sniff the bouquet! | |
| 15 | Unexpected deal with China to produce Mexican food | |
| ENCHILADA | Anagram of DEAL and CHINA (anagrind is ‘unexpected’) | |
| 16 | Fatal assault delivered by the bad criminal (mean) | |
| DEATHBLOW | Anagram of THE BAD (anagrind is ‘criminal’) + LOW (mean). As a fan of Winnie the Pooh it would have been lovely if it had been WOL here instead of LOW, given the theme of the puzzle! | |
| 18 | State political group receiving half of your money | |
| WYOMING | WING (political group) around or ‘receiving’ YOur (half of YOUR) + M (money) | |
| 20 | Irresolute about everything, one keeps notes | |
| WALLET | WET (irresolute) about ALL (everything) | |
| 22 | Degenerates will embrace love at bottom | |
| ROOTS | ROTS (degenerates) around or ‘embracing’ O (love) | |
| 23 | It’s some dancing, I guess | |
| GIGUE | You could look at this as the whole clue relating to the definition or just ‘it’. Either way, the answer is hidden in the clue dancinG I GUEss | |
| 25 | Not like tropical weather currently in Seychelles | |
| SNOWY | NOW (currently) in SY (Seychelles) | |
Hi B&J
I think you are already there with 1ac. If the study is a brown one as in ‘Holmes was in a brown study’, presumably, as Phi says, it could well be wood panelled. Nice piece of whimsy – and my FOI btw.
Forgot to say I thought this puzzle was a hoot. I ‘owled with laughter.
I got sidetracked a bit in 11ac because ‘dingo’ was in the clue. Also I had ‘exotica’ in 26ac, but see where I went wrong now.
Thanks to Phi and bloggers. I suppose 13ac’s second meaning is ‘Nuts!’, rather than ‘nuts’.
Super theme and crossword thank you Phi. My favourite has to be 19a.
Thanks also to the blogging twosome
Yes, a very pleasant puzzle, but I somehow missed the owl theme. D’oh! I finished the RHS before the LHS and the NW was the last quadrant to be completed with the BROWN/ORANGUTAN/NUTS crossers. I agree with Sue@4 that 19ac was a delight.
Very entertaining puzzle and blog. I missed the theme, natch, which is annoying because although I’m no twitcher, I am fond of birds, especially WOL.
Some clever clueing, especially for BARN, MR RIGHT and EROTICA.
All the side-splitting puns have been used up, so I will raise the tone slightly by saying that the French for BARN OWL is une chouette. But it’s also used as an exclamation – great! Chouette! Il va faire beau demain. Great! It’s going to be fine tomorrow. Which is bizarre, nesspa?
Only got the theme when I looked at the grid again after B&J said there was one. Otherwise all I could see was ‘urea’ in the first row of unches and nothing else to make up a nina. BROWN was my first in; I was doubtful about it too, but had the advantage of Crossword Solver’s check button. Nice to see a lesser-known composer (REGER) putting in an appearance.
Thanks, Phi and B&J
Re 1a: I got it by thinking of “Study in Brown” – I still think that’s the parsing.
Lovely puzzle today – thanks to Phi, and to Bertandjoyce for the blog.
Incidentally, does anyone know what’s up with the Independent site? The crossword just doesn’t load. I was able to access it through the Crossword Solver app (yesterday that didn’t work either), but much prefer doing it on their website!
I thought the clue for 7dn was very clever. Reger is not really a very well-known composer and he was German, so it has a rather nice &littish quality to it.
Being a Phi Fan (and, incidentally, an Arachne Adorer and Anax Amazee) I often save his for my Saturday morning coffee.
Though late, I had to comment when I saw that Bert and Joyce were gracing us with a blog. Am new to 225 (discovered around Christmas time) but already feel B & J must have been overjoyed to know they had one of Phi’s to do. I bet they were suffused with satisfaction, fun and not a little expectancy on completion. Well this feedback is a big thank you, Bert and Joyce!
The puzzle itself was great – any frustration from the speed and simplicity of solving more than compensated by the lovely content and superb clues. It kept on giving….! Agree with others that 19ac possibly most “nice!” moment. Thanks – again – to Phi!
When are we going to have a change of compiler on The Saturday i? Phi seems popular with the experts,when he compiled for the Spectator in 2014 what about now 2018. Can we have a crossword that appeals to the general readership of the i.
Re above should have read Independent not the Spectator
The Tortoise VM@12 – Phi continues to be popular in 2018. He still has a slot regularly in the Independent on Fridays – so much so that it has now been called Phi-day in tbe blog.