In customary fashion, Phi brings this week’s suite of mid-week puzzles to an end.
This was one of those puzzles where you see that there is one exceedingly long entry – 01/11/20 – that will prove crucial to how quickly (or otherwise) you solve the puzzle. Alas, I had no idea what Phi was looking for here, at least not until I had all 3 crossing letters of the last 5-letter word of this entry, whereupon a memory was triggered. To be honest, however, I had forgotten that this vaguely familiar sentence was actually the title of a musical. Inevitably, once in the grid, this long entry provided a great deal of help with solving the remaining clues.
In the end, I fathomed everything out unaided bar 13, where a search of Chambers revealed only one possibility and the penny dropped about the two meanings of “flog”. This was definitely one of those clues that I would have loved to have solved without help.
In addition to 13, today’s other favourite clues were the extended definitions at 4 and 12; and in particular 17, for its inclusion of so much Marvel-related material in the wordplay.
True to form, I have spotted no particular theme today, but perhaps other solvers have?
(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01/11/20 | A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM | Musical opener for warm-up man at conference?
Cryptically, a participant at a conference (“forum”) might open a conversation with “a funny thing happened …”; the reference is to the 1962 musical by Stephen Sondheim |
| 07 | LAV | Bog in space between hills mostly retreating
VAL<e> (=space between hills; “mostly” means last letter dropped); “retreating” indicates reversal; colloquially, a bog is a lav(atory), loo |
| 09 | TWAIN | Endless yarn interrupted by a US storyteller
A in TWIN<e> (=yard, cord; “endless” means last letter dropped); the reference is to American writer and humourist Mark Twain (1835-1910) |
| 10 | MUTTERING | Indistinctly mentioning money and the production of counterfeit money
M (=money) + UTTERING (=production of counterfeit money, in law) |
| 14 | AMMONIA | Military supplies rejected a popular pungent gas
AMMO (=military supplies, i.e. ammunition) + NIA (A + IN (=popular); “rejected” indicates reversal) |
| 15 | ILLICIT | Criminal’s heart skipping a beat, ultimately, in pursuit of Channel Islands criminal
<v>ILL<a>I<n> (=criminal; “heart” means first and last letters are dropped; “skipping a” means letter “a” is dropped) + CI (=Channel Islands) + <bea>T (“ultimately” means last letter dropped) |
| 16 | ENDEMIC | Stop me backing one Conservative over all the district
END (=stop, as verb or noun) + EM (ME; “backing” indicates reversal) + I (=one) + C (=Conservative) |
| 18 | KIMONOS | I’m working in Greek island in traditional costumes
[I’M + ON (=working)] in KOS (=Greek island) |
| 22 | MARINETTI | Italian futurist represented time in art
*(TIME IN ART); “represented” is anagram indicator; the reference is to Italian poet and editor Filippo Tomasso Marinetti, founder of the Futurist movement |
| 24 | HANDY | Convenient limits to heresy
“H” AND “Y” are the first and last letters of “heresy”, hence its ‘limits” |
| 25 | NAP | Sleep is // a good tip
Double definition: a NAP is a (short) “sleep” AND “a good (racing) tip” |
| 26 | ROLLER-SKATE | Smart car towing fish is a form of wheeled transport
ROLLER (=smart car, i.e. Rolls-Royce) + SKATE (=fish) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | ARTY | Unusually expressive person losing head
<p>ARTY (=person, one involved in); “losing head” means first letter dropped |
| 02 | UNASHAMEDLY | Delays human trafficking? Absolutely
*(DELAYS HUMAN); “trafficking” is anagram indicator |
| 03 | NINE-PIN | Sporting item suggesting square leg?
NINE (=square, i.e. 3 x 3) + PIN (=leg, i.e. body part); a nine-pin is a bottle-shaped skittle |
| 04 | TEMPERANCE HOTEL | “Open the claret, me? Not so” – its landlord might say?
*(OPEN THE CLARET ME); “not so” is anagram indicator; this statement could well have been uttered by the landlord of a temperance hotel, where no alcohol is served |
| 05 | IN THE NICK OF TIME | Jailed? Old fellow gets prison sentence with moments to spare
IN THE NICK (=jailed) + O (=old) + F (=fellow) + TIME (=prison sentence) |
| 06 | GREY OWL | Response from dog after cornering the old soaring bird
EY (YE=the old, i.e. an old word for the); “soaring” indicates vertical reversal) in GROWL (=response from dog); the grey owl is the tawny owl |
| 07 | LEI | Floral tribute certain to be overlooked by the rest
LEI<sure> (=rest, free time); “certain (=sure) to be omitted” means the letters “sure” are dropped); a lei is a Hawaiian floral wreath |
| 08 | VIGNETTIST | Sketch-writer setting it unexpectedly below Vatican City
V (=Vatican City, in IVR) + *(SETTING IT); “unexpectedly” is anagram indicator |
| 12 | TECHNOMANIA | Wasted a month with Eniac – showing early form of this?
*(A MONTH + ENIAC); “wasted” is anagram indicator; Eniac is an early American electronic computer, an obsession with which would be an early form of technomania |
| 13 | SALESWOMAN | A flogger, though not necessarily a dominatrix
Cryptically, a flogger here is someone flogging, i.e. selling, something, rather than one administering a spanking in SM!! |
| 17 | MJÖLNIR | Justice League conflated with Iron Man’s première? One of Marvel’s weapons
*(JL (=Justice League) + IRON + M<an> (“première” means first letter only)); “conflated” is anagram indicator; Mjölnir is Thor’s enchanted hammer in mythology, as featured in the Marvel comics/films |
| 19 | MARCHES | Demonstrates support during endless disorder
ARCH (=support, in architecture) in MES<s> (=disorder; “endless” means last letter dropped) |
| 21 | BYTE | Time to contribute to extra quantity of information
T (=time) in BYE (=extra, in cricket) |
| 23 | REP | Theatre people seen around this?
Hidden (“seen around”) in “theatRE People”; rep is repertory theatre |
Yes, this was very dependent on a few long clues. Sadly my experience was the reverse of RatkojaRiku’s, in that for me they were all first-pass write-ins, drastically shortening my Friday Solving Experience. After that, more or less a mopping-up operation, though two unknowns (MARINETTI, which I got unaided, and MJOLNIR, which I didn’t) held me up at the end.
It’s been a week of contrasts, this one at the easier end of the spectrum for me, but all enjoyable. Thanks to RR & Phi.
I thought this was unusually devious for Phi, but no complaints. Thanks, Phi and RR.
Thanks Phi and RatkojaRiku.
I found this hard going, Marinetti and MJOLNIR were unknown. I particularly liked HANDY, LEI and MARCHES.
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer” is a short film made by Marvel Studios, Marvel One-Shots, just a coincidence?
Funnily enough, I was in the Roman forum earlier this week, and in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
For the record, the Justice League (of America) is a DC group of superheroes, not Marvel. (I was a great fan of DC comics in the early sixties.)
Not that I know much about these sorts of things but the DC/Marvel clash in MJOLNIR was intended, so I’m glad someone noticed.
Otherwise I can note that the puzzle emerged simply from noticing that HAPPENED ON THE and WAY TO THE FORUM were the same length and building a grid around a symmetrical placement thereof that also allowed me to squeeze in A FUNNY THING.