As we always get on Fridays, a nicely done crossword from Phi that is of the usual level of difficulty, contains some good clues, and doesn’t so far as I can see have any special characteristics.
That’s a challenge for Nina-hunters.
Definitions in italics.
Across
1 Comfort provided by 10? (6)
SOLACE
so lace — so = provided is there in Chambers but I can’t think of two sentences where they are interchangeable — Chantilly (10) is an example of lace
4 Duck in Fife, flying about disagreeable vapours (8)
EFFLUVIA
luv in (Fife)* a — luv = duck, a = about
10 Insect eating into raw fabric (9)
CHANTILLY
ch(ant)illy — the insect is an ant, chilly = raw
11 Failing to get laughs and forgetting lines not right (5)
DYING
d{r}ying — drying (on stage) is forgetting your lines, dying (as a stand-up comic) is failing to get laughs
12 Romeo and Juliet character not initially used in set of images (7)
MONTAGE
Montag{u}e — the u that goes is from ‘initially used’
13 Relative backing UN ahead of US central component (7)
NUCLEUS
uncle with its first two letters reversed, US
14 Comes through Queen’s fateful date (5)
RIDES
r Ides — r = queen, the Ides of March
15 Male insect found on rear of live beast (8)
BEHEMOTH
be he moth — be = live, he = male
18 Type answer into lights, after reflection (8)
SANSERIF
s(ans)erif — serif = (fires [= lights])rev. — sanserif typeface is like the type used on the London Underground: all the lines simple, with no twiddly bits at their ends — there are various spellings of this: sans-serif, san serif, etc, and sanserif doesn’t (according to Google) seem very common, but is in Chambers
20 Rambling talker not following lecturer produced thin stuff (5)
WAFER
waf{fl}er — the f that is missing comes from following, the l from lecturer
23 Lack of clarity in account swathed in love and compassion (7)
OPACITY
0 p(ac)ity — 0 = zero = love, pity = compassion
25 Conservative under siege cowered (7)
CRINGED
C ringed — C = conservative, ringed = under siege
26 Party raver’s food (5)
DONUT
do nut — do = party, nut = raver — what people of a certain age prefer to call a doughnut
27 I run up the train (4,5)
IRON HORSE
I r (on horse) — if you are on horse then you are up — an iron horse was an early name for a locomotive
28 Canadian comedian chasing idiot? It’s a gas (8)
NITROGEN
nit Rogen — nit = idiot, Rogen is Seth Rogen
29 Source of hothouse flowers rejected with extra sun doing for herb (6)
HYSSOP
h (posy)rev. with an extra s
Down
1 Tree surgery (removing heart) around increasingly (8)
SYCAMORE
s{urger}y ca more — ca = around, more = increasingly
2 Educated? Tended to absorb one-third of basic education (7)
LEARNED
lea(r)ned — the r is one of the ‘three R’s’
3 Racist has arranged ‘cleansing’ (9)
CATHARSIS
(Racist has)*
5 Oppose insect buzzing round nose – almost unsatisfactory (3,2,3,4,2)
FLY IN THE FACE OF
(fly in the face) of{f} — off = unsatisfactory — if you have a fly in the face an insect is buzzing round your nose
6 Playing aimlessly? Fortune running short around day one (5)
LUDIC
luc{k} round (d 1) — not a word I knew but easy enough wordplay and I knew that the game ludo came from the Latin word for to play
7 One in six heading home with lowest hopes (7)
VAINEST
v(a)i nest — vi = six — there are various senses of vain in Chambers and no doubt other dictionaries too, most of them revolving around conceit or futility, but I can’t find any that mean ‘with low hopes’
8 Historic ship, say, about to leave (6)
ARGOSY
I think this is an &lit.: Argo s{a}y, with Argo and argosy both historic ships
9 Rouge turning up in new brewery line? This is likely to be blanc (10,4)
ELDERBERRY WINE
(red)rev. in (brewery line)*
16 Old woman’s drunk whisky – about litre – in sentimental vein? (9)
MAWKISHLY
ma (whisky)* round l
17 Reluctantly recall daughter’s colourful outfit (with middle removed) (6,2)
DREDGE UP
d red ge{t}-up
19 Not supporting range this month (7)
AGAINST
aga inst — aga = range as in cooking, inst is this month in formal correspondence
21 Fruit treatments eliminating cold? Makes sense (7)
FIGURES
fig {c}ures
22 Romp likely initially to be disowned by religious retreat (6)
HOYDEN
ho{l}y den — the l comes from ‘likely originally’ — holy = religious, den = retreat — not ‘holy den’ as a single item, for this would need a question mark
24 Asunder, tagging along after slight upset (2,3)
IN TWO
‘in tow’ with a slight upset: the ow becomes wo
Thanks Phi for an enjoyable crossword and John for the blog. I cannot see a Nina either – Phi has gone on record as saying he only does them about half the time.
20ac: An interesting case for those of us who are fussy about removal indicators. Normally I dislike “not following” as an indicator to remove one of two Fs, but here the word “not” governs the word “lecturer” as well, so the construction becomes “not FL”, and there is only one pair of consecutive letters FL to remove.
7dn: To me, the meaning “futile” for vain is near enough.
8dn: I also read this as a complete “& lit” clue.
@1Pelham Barton – and in this case it does not matter which “f” is removed, so perhaps the construction does not need to be “not FL”; though it is neater that way. Agree about 7D, something that is futile has the lowest (or no) hopes of success.
Thanks to Phi and John.
I can’t see a nina or a theme either, but because I’m usually pretty hopeless at spotting them in Phi’s puzzles that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
I found the LHS, with the exception of 22dn, easier than the RHS, and the SE corner had holes everywhere the longest. However, 22dn was my LOI after I finally untangled the wordplay. I knew HOYDEN as a tomboy but not the alternative meaning, which Chambers confirmed for me post-solve.
Elderberry wine, in what way is it blanc?
Thanks Phi for puzzle and John for blog.
Lots of clever, funny wordplay. I really liked 17dn red get up. 27ac on horse = up eluded me completely.
Am I missing something about 9dn? I solved the anagram but my elderberry wine is always rouge if not noir. Elderflower is different.
Ah, yes, and oops. It was indeed elderflower wine I was thinking of. No Nina this time round – I may, of course, simply be husbanding resources…
I’ve no idea what colour elderberry wine is. My problem with that clue was that I misread the first word as “Rogue”. Maybe time for new glasses. 🙂
Respect to Andy B, we suspect he’s been confused by Chambers’ definition of hoyden – yes, it gives tomboy and romp,but we don’t think a hoyden can be an activity, only a person. When you look up romp you find it can be a person as well as an activity, and we think this must be intended by the clue, though we’ve never, ever heard of that meaning of romp.
Since that ship would not necessarily be ‘about to leave’, I would be more stingy and award ARGOSY the ‘extended definition’ prize.