[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
I started at the end with 25dn and worked backwards through the clues, making steady progress and with the empty lights only just reaching double figures by the time I got to 1ac.
I didn’t notice so much at the time, but I did when writing this post, that there many pleasing surfaces, for example 15ac, but this is nothing new with Phi. One new word for me today, 7dn, and I doubt that I will ever meet it again, though it might come in useful when talking to or about my daughters. 🙂
I cannot see a Nina and if there is a theme it is outside my range of knowledge but perhaps it is just a vanilla Phi.
Across
1 Strange chess-piece – rook, not knight (5)
QUEER – QUEEn (chess-piece) with R (rook) replacing n (knight)
4 A full set’s laid out without a problem (9)
FAULTLESS – an anagram (laid out) of A FULL SET’S
9 Gathered fool tumbled me and ran (9)
ASSEMBLED – ASS (fool) ME reversed (tumbled) BLED (ran)
10 Increasingly accepting current style of fabric (5)
MOIRE – MORE (increasingly) around (accepting) I (current) – Chambers says “Orig watered mohair now watered silk or other fabric with a watered appearance”
11 Bloodthirsty as ray-gun in blasting? (10)
SANGUINARY – an anagram (blasting) of AS RAY-GUN IN
12 Writer‘s work recalled by SF film (4)
POET – OP (work) reversed (recalled) ET (SF film)
14 Lovely lady (not half!) between sheets? On the contrary (6)
DREAMY – REAM (sheets) in [la]DY (lady (not half!)
15 A cult is actively recruiting new crackpots (8)
LUNATICS – an anagram (actively) of A CULT IS around (recruiting) N (new)
18 Description of defence, / one employed by the Cosa Nostra? (8)
SICILIAN – double def. the first relating to chess
20 Regret restricting key salvage operation (6)
RESCUE – RUE (regret) around (restricting) ESC (key)
23 Beat reporter in penning line (4)
CLUB – CUB (reporter) around (in penning) L (line)
24 Amateur sports involving an island state (10)
MAURETANIA – an anagram (sports) of AMATEUR around (involving) AN I (island)
26 Last notes about Rome made shorter? (5)
OUTRO – [ab]OUT RO[me] (about Rome made shorter)
27 Boy’s dismay, getting blown out by female servant (5-4)
LADY’S MAID – LAD (boy) plus an anagram (getting blown out) of DISMAY
28 Article in Madrid gallery – it recalled apparently irrational situations (9)
PARADOXES – A (article) in PRADO (Madrid gallery) SEX (it) reversed (recalled)
29 Match about to occupy a long time (5)
AGREE – RE (about) in (to occupy) AGE (a long time)
Down
1 Important teams, we hear, as seen in Bristol and Plymouth? (9)
QUAYSIDES – a homophone (we hear) of ‘key’ (important) SIDES (teams)
2 Church supporting German city’s spirit (7)
ESSENCE – ESSEN (German city) CE (church)
3 This team’s manager initially not well placed after odd source of speculation (6,4)
RUMOUR MILL – RUM (odd) OUR (this team’s) M[anager] (manager initially) ILL (not well)
4 Criminals look to hide in marshes (6)
FELONS – LO (look) in (to hide in) FENS (marshes)
5 Lumberjack’s technique: crude swings, splitting a French chestnut’s root (8)
UNDERCUT – an anagram (swings) of CRUDE in (splitting) UN (a French) [chestnu]T (chestnut’s root)
6 Bird / magazine? / Issue picked up (4)
TIME – Two defs, the first relating to a spell in prison, plus EMIT (issue) reversed (picked up)
7 Pigeon I trained producing undistinguished successors (7)
EPIGONI – an anagram (trained) of PIGEON I
8 Man brought in collection of items for Halloween costume? (5)
SHEET – HE (man) in (brought in) SET (collection of items)
13 Arabs, tense, being out of place in icy water (7,3)
BARENTS SEA – an anagram (being out of place) of ARABS TENSE
16 Begged to be excused a rotten flight (9)
SKEDADDLE – [a]SKED (begged to be excused a) ADDLE (rotten)
17 Astronomical phenomenon completely captured in paragraph provided by Times (8)
PARALLAX – ALL (completely) in (captured in) PARA (paragraph) X (times)
19 Against / token / measuring device (7)
COUNTER – triple def.
21 Galloper almost making ton with one on board (7)
CENTAUR – CENTUR[y] (almost making ton) with A (one) inside (on board)
22 Very good to participate in promotion of required skills (6)
TRADES – RAD (very good) in (to participate in) a reversal of (promotion of) SET (required)
23 Winner having change of heart, coming to eat (5)
CHOMP – CHaMP (winner) with the middle letter replaced (having a change of heart, coming)
25 Some water power activated by start of December (4)
POND – P (power) ON (activated) D[ecember] (start of December)
Thanks to Phi & Gaufrid,
I found this pretty tough going and I couldn’t parse all the answers. I’d never heard of 7d either, 26a was a guess from the word play and the specific meaning of 17d in relation to astronomy was also new to me. LOI was 22d which I had parsed incorrectly as TRES (very, er… let’s forget about the good) containing (participate in) AD (promotion) with ‘required skills’ as the def. Yes, I know it’s wrong but RAD is a bit too modern for my fogeyish vocab!
A good warm up for tomorrow’s offering.
Thanks again.
It’s not vanilla either
OK, so I was out this evening and have run out of time, but this was hard going and I didn’t finish it – still half a dozen missing answers in the bottom half.
Epigoni, centaur, essence – Nietzsche, “Human, All Too Human”?
– in my day it was vanilla, neapolitan and that was your lot …
Oh dear…..no problem with the crossword but I also spotted nothing else. Pretty sure there isn’t a Nina per se. But as for this sundae’s flavouring – or (mini?)theme I can only hazard at some Greek mythology….? I only picked up and solved the puzzle this morning (regular viewers will know I save my phuzzling for Saturday morning’s coffee!) and have only now been apprised by Phi’s comment of their being more to it. Perhaps something will spring to mind – or from the subconscious – or maybe Phi will enlighten. I’ll check back later.
BTW How nice to come across a French word – “moire” – which they derived from us (from “mohair”) rather than t’other way!
Thanks Phi.
And thanks Gaufrid – you seem to be stepping up to the plate quite regularly (is there a blogger shortage?) I’d keep this one from the daughters though (a well chosen emoticon may not be sufficient unto the cause of exoneration….?!)
WordPlodder – Hate to frighten you but I think RAD is somewhat passé these days!
Hi William
“(is there a blogger shortage?)”
Only a temporary one. Three team members are away at the same time so I am covering for them. You will see even more of me during the next week or so but after that we will be back to normal.
I believe this one was deferred a couple of weeks because otherwise it came hot on the heels of a puzzle whose first two answers were GILBERT and KEITH.
Returned from a hectic weekend….
A ha! This is he whom Shaw described as “…. a man of colossal genius”. A clear gap in my education (more catholic than Catholic?!) …..so far….. He clearly had an original wit worthy of attention. I presume ‘epigone’ references his views against eugenics and the centaur features in a poem of his. Perhaps there are references to his faith-ful amateur slooth….
I am intrigued to note he broadcast 40 times a year for the BBC; they would make fascinating listening. This isn’t the first time that a Phi offering has jogged me into adding, or rather highlighting, another canon to be read (or listened to) and I’m sure I’m grateful…?! No, really – I am grateful!
(and Gaufrid… what would we do without you? I trust you’re properly insured!)