When I saw that Phi was appearing on a Tuesday I expected a crossword in his slightly harder mode than usual, which we sometimes see in other places. But no, it seems his regular Friday crossword has simply been shunted to Tuesday.
Why this has happened is anyone’s guess. I won’t even think about what it might be. It’s probably the anniversary of some group’s first no. 1 or something.
As always almost everything seems to be immaculate, with the usual crop of excellent clues. The only problem is my failing to see a Nina. But that’s usual, especially with Phi.
Definitions underlined.
Across
9 National material snapped in a camera (9)
AMERICANA
(in a camera)*
10 Movable arms of sextants? Excellent couple (5)
RADII
Rad 11 — rad = radical, yoofspeak I think — rather an unusual definition of radii
11 Composure shown by artist’s first painting technique (7)
TEMPERA
temper a{rtist}
12 Set up marine area with new weapons (7)
REARMED
rear [= set up] Med[iterranean]
13 Rebellions forcing US to intervene? On the contrary (9)
UPRISINGS
U(prising)S — the contrary of US in prising
15 Secretary, mostly fastidious, exhibiting alarm (5)
PANIC
PA nic{e}
17 Sweet salad plant, untouched – the best (10,5)
PEPPERMINT CREAM
pepper [= salad plant] mint [= untouched] cream [= the best]
20 Nonconformist recalled unpleasant look about book (5)
REBEL
(le(b)er)rev.
22 Finished year occupying isolated tourist attraction (6,3)
LONDON EYE
lon(done y)e
24 Game allowed to finish early – with this sound? (7)
WHISTLE
whist le{t}
25 New opus here curtailed for classical musician (7)
ORPHEUS
(opus her{e})* — not the sense of ‘classical’ that you’d expect when linked with ‘musician’
27 Mark left, abandoning despot (5)
STAIN
Sta{l}in
28 Catastrophic vote loser: US President (9)
ROOSEVELT
(vote loser)*
Down
1 Notable meal continues with stimulating stuff (4,6)
LAST SUPPER
lasts upper — upper the stimulating drug
2 Money supporting a hair treatment (4)
PERM
per [= a, as in ‘one per day’] m
3 College blocking legal right to observe grant-holder (8)
LICENSEE
li(c)en see
4 Success capturing a Welsh knight (6)
GAWAIN
g(a W)ain
5 Tailless nag is acceptable for clockmaker (8)
HARRISON
harr{y} is on — John Harrison
6 Amateur engaged in homework, making audio device (6)
PREAMP
pre(am)p
7 Evaded crooks, accepting a bloke’s credit in part of London (4,3,3)
ADAM AND EVE
(Evaded)* round (a man) — Cockney rhyming slang for ‘believe’ — I wasn’t sure how ‘crooks’ rather than the usual ‘crook’ acts as an anagram indicator, since as an adjective, which can’t be pluralised, crook = wrong, and as a verb crook = to bend or form into a hook (Chambers), which doesn’t seem quite enough — perhaps the Indy has made a misprint and all along Phi intended ‘crook’, since the clue reads just as well that way
8 Attempt to include ‘right’ in sentence (4)
BIRD
bi(r)d — prison sentence
14 Party person regarding supplier of drinks (10)
REPUBLICAN
re publican
16 Make up for security group getting involved in fight? (10)
COMPENSATE
compe(NSA)te — NSA = National Security Agency
18 Bush bud topped – happy about that? (8)
MULBERRY
m({b}ulb)erry — I balked at this, but Chambers says that a bulb is a subterranean bud
19 Caught you finally when probing less adequate spinner? (8)
CROUPIER
c ro({yo}u)pier — a croupier may spin the wheel on a roulette table
21 Some will support literary catalogue (6)
LITANY
lit. any
23 Note one upset about company exhibiting traditional values (6)
NEOCON
co. in (n one)*
24 Mostly discreet over husband’s desire (4)
WISH
wis{e} h
26 Calm incident, not tense (4)
EVEN
even{t}
*anagram
Although I can’t see it yet Phi did announce here http://phionline.net.nz/56-2/ghost-themes that this contains a ghost theme.
I was equally surprised to see Phi on a Tuesday, and no, I can’t see the ghost theme either, although there is an American flavour to some of the answers. I found this to be slightly easier than most of Phi’s puzzles, and the LITANY/STAIN crossers were my last ones in.
Hi
Ghost theme is Harrison Birtwhistle born 15th July 1934
I can see Harrison Whistle
His works include:
Gawain
The Last Supper
Mask of Orpheus
Panic
There may well be more.
Just right for a daily cryptic. Not a giveaway, but if you kept going you’d get there in the end.
The theme? Well, it’s something to do with July 15th, and Phi’s into music and astronomy, but don’t ask me …
Thanks to S&B.
Thank you, djawhufc. We crossed, and now we know. At least I got the music bit right …
I was quite happy with ‘crooks’ as a verb – ‘evaded’ crooks around ‘a man’.
All ok for me today.
A pedant writes: Just for the record, the composer’s surname has no H (Birtwistle), but it’s good to see his birthday being marked here. I hope his fellow octogenarian Peter Maxwell Davies will be similarly honoured in September.
Do you think bird top right and whistle together are supposed to sound like
Birtwistle ?
@djawhufc yep without a dpubt, thanks John, didn’t find this too hard but even knowing there was a ghost theme didn’t help.
Thanks Phi for the workout
When I turned to the crossword this morning and saw it was a Phi, I nearly fell off the loo!
My first thought was that there was something happening on Friday requiring a different setter, but as the only thing I knew that was happening on Friday was the First Night of the Proms and I know Phi is an ex-Prommer, that didn’t work.
I returned to the crossword later in the morning. Knowing whose birthday it was today, I settled down to listen to The Triumph of Time and before starting, happened to catch the introductory remarks to this blog on the index page. Phi, Ninas, and the penny dropped. Looked at the crossword and saw I already had ORPHEUS. Quickly spotted GAWAIN. After that, it all fell into place except for 21dn/27ac, which held me up. Guessed that 21dn probably started LIT- and did a word search. (Harry doesn’t seem to have written a work with Litany in the title, but it is the sort of thing he might do.
And 5dn, he has written a work called Harrison’s Clocks, a play both on his own name and John Harrison.
So many thanks to Phi for celebrating one of my favourite composers.
Most enjoyable. Theme was over my head but didn’t need to appreciate it to finish it, thanks to the usual precision from Phi.
Blog and thread a great resource for education, as usual. Thanks.
I didn’t fall off the loo but had to check my calendar. The good thing about Phi’s themes is they don’t distract from the enjoyment if you have no idea about it, neither do they provide a series of write-ins if you do. Good stuff.
There’ll be a follow-up on the blog, though not immediately (I have to go to work! And the dentist!), which will also reveal something about the clues, and a bit more background. But I’m glad some of you spotted it.
Not unusually, Phi has served up a dish of ambivalence for me. Initially, I was a little disappointed by the simplicity of solving (my own fault, I’m sure, for being overexcited by a Tuesday appearance) But post solve (and having visited here) I am now enjoying the deft inclusion of the Birtwistle anniversary theme.
So, all in all, it’s congratulations to Phi – and thanks – for I shall now more likely explore the composer’s works further.
And thanks to John for blog and other contributors for their input.
Cheers all!
Oh yes! And I hope the dentist wasn’t too awful……
When we saw the grid and Phi’s name we thought …… NINA!
Having solved the first four down clues, we realised it was not to be. Not being up on composers generally, the ghost theme passed us by but that’s why we appreciate them. As others have said, not realising there is a theme does not detract from the pleasure and there are no ‘write-ins’.
Thanks Phi – we’ll be interested to read your follow up on the clues. Thanks to John and all the commenters for the blog and info.