Phi eases us into the weekend with this Friday offering
I wasn’t too sure about the word ‘bothered’ in the clue for OVERDRIVE at 26 across as OVER could simply be clued as finished [no longer], but I convinced myself that it related to the phrase ‘I’m OVER it’ [I’m not bothered by it anymore]
I liked the way that the two letters contained in ELATED to form ELEVATED at 5 down were indicated separately with their own wordplays.
Phi frequently includes a theme that goes over my head. I’ve tossed a few of the entries into Google together to see if anything gets suggested, but I haven’t found anything.
There were a lot of reversals in the clues today, more than usual, balanced by fewer anagrams (only two that I can see).
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 1 | Composer at the piano maybe making fresh arrangement of A, B, C etc (6,8) |
DVORAK (reference Antonin DVORAK [1841 – 1904] Czech composer) + KEYBOARD (a piano is an example of a KEYBOARD instrument) DVORAK KEYBOARD |
DVORAK KEYBOARD (a typewriter, etc KEYBOARD laid out so as to minimize finger movement) |
| 10 | A rootstock is linked to indicator of alternative source of roughage (5) |
OR (word used to link alternatives) + R (first letter of [source of] ROUGHAGE) + IS OR R IS |
ORRIS (dried rootstock of the Florentine or other iris) |
| 11 | English candour avoided by detective showing upright nature (9) |
E (English) + E RECTNESS |
ERECTNESS (upright nature) |
| 12 | Science taken aback after harbour overturned in equatorial region (7) |
PORT (harbour) reversed (overturned) + SCI (science) reversed (taken aback) TROP< ICS< |
TROPICS (region either side of the equator between the TROPIC of Cancer and the TROPIC of Capricorn) |
| 13 | Decline to participate in getting behind travel agents around start of summer (7) |
(ABTA [Association of British Travel Agents] containing [around] S [first letter of {start of} SUMMER]) + IN AB (S) TA IN |
ABSTAIN (decline to participate in voting or drinking for example) |
| 14 | Caught, chopped and chomped (6) |
C (caught) + HEWED (shaped with a cutting instrument; chopped) C HEWED |
CHEWED (munched; chomped) |
| 15 | What lawyer writes, accounting for storms in sheltered area (8) |
GALES (storms) contained in (in) LEE (sheltered area) LE (GALES) E |
LEGALESE (complicated jargon used by lawyers; what lawyers write) |
| 18 | Charm? Some sentimentalism anyway (8) |
TALISMAN (hidden word [some] in SENTIMENTALISM ANYWAY) TALISMAN |
TALISMAN (amulet or charm) |
| 20 | Academic taking on significant example of idiocy (6) |
DON (any member of the teaching staff of a college or university; academic) + KEY (significant) DON KEY |
DONKEY (stupid person; idiot) |
| 22 | Journalist longing to go over part of London (7) |
HACK (journalistic drudge) + YEN (longing) reversed (to go over) HACK NEY< |
HACKNEY (borough in Inner London) |
| 24 | Causes excitement in prison with drink (5,2) |
STIR (slang word for prison) + SUP (drink) STIR S UP |
STIRS UP (causes excitement) |
| 26 | No longer bothered by Verdi works showing greater activity (9) |
OVER (at an end; the relationship’s over, I’m no longer bothered [?]) + an anagram of (works) VERDI OVER DRIVE* |
OVERDRIVE (state of intense activity) |
| 27 | Cart ignoring first symbol on road sign (5) |
ARROW |
ARROW (symbol frequently seen on road signs) |
| 28 | Passage connecting successfully into barrels in Kent town (9,5) |
(BRIDGE [connecting or transitional passage in music] + WELL [successfully]) contained in (into) TUNS (barrels) TUN (BRIDGE WELL) S |
TUNBRIDGE WELLS (town in Kent) |
| Down | |||
| 2 | Long-winded poem swallows half of book (7) |
VERSE (poem) containing (swallows) BO (2 of the 4 letters [half of] of BOOK) VER (BO) SE |
VERBOSE (wordy; long-winded) |
| 3 | Rebels imprisoning family with son showing dangerous attitude (9) |
(RISES [revolts; rebels] containing [imprisoning) KIN [family]) + S (son) RIS (KIN) ES S |
RISKINESS (dangerous attitude) |
| 4 | Look for getting high, inhaling new joints … (5) |
SEEK (look for) reversed (getting high; down clue) containing (inhaling) N (new) K (N) EES< |
KNEES (joints) |
| 5 | … ecstatic, ingesting tab, getting very high (8) |
ELATED (ecstatic) containing (ingesting) E (ecstasy tablet; tab) and also containing (getting) V (very) EL (E V) ATED |
ELEVATED (high) |
| 6 | Amount of data from most of sample (5) |
BY (from) + TES BY TES |
BYTES (set of usually eight binary digits [bits] considered as a unit; amount of data) |
| 7 | Mean to claim head off court servant (7) |
AVER (allege as a fact; claim) + AVER AGE |
AVERAGE (arithmetic mean) |
| 8 | Guard retaining energy after extremes of deadly disease |
DY (first and last letters of [extremes of] DEADLY) + SENTRY (guard) containing (retaining) E (energy) DY SENT (E) RY |
DYSENTERY (infection of the intestine; disease) |
| 9 | Bill turned up around old ship (4) |
TAB (bill) reversed (turned up; down clue) containing (around) O (old) B (O) AT< |
BOAT (ship) |
| 14 | Pitiless truth represented in film (3-6) |
Anagram of (represented) TRUTH contained in (in) COAT (covering; layer; film) C (UT THR*) OAT |
CUT-THROAT (ruthless; pitiless) |
| 16 | High honour in coming in to reduce hate (9) |
(OM [Order of Merit; high honour] + IN) contained in (coming in to) ABATE (reduce) AB (OM IN) ATE |
ABOMINATE (abhor; hate) |
| 17 | Insect boy picked up beside one road (8) |
LAD + BY (beside) reversed (picked up; down clue) + I (Roman numeral for one) + RD (road) LAD YB< I RD |
LADYBIRD (an insect) |
| 19 | Desk and other things turning up in possession of the French navy (7) |
ETC (et cetera; other things) reversed (turning up; down clue) contained in (in [the] possession of) (LE [one of the French forms of ‘the’] + RN [{Royal} navy]) LE (CTE<) RN |
LECTERN (reading-desk) |
| 21 | Bird of prey picked up vegetable, strong in grip (7) |
STR (strong) contained in (in grip) LEEK (vegetable) reversed (picked up; down clue) KE (STR) EL< |
KESTREL (bird of prey) |
| 23 | Low point provides new attitude about depth (5) |
N (new) + (AIR [attitude] containing [about] D [depth]) N A (D) IR |
NADIR (lowest point of anything) |
| 24 | Angry outburst observed on the radio? (5) |
SCENE (sounds like [on the radio] SEEN [observed]) SCENE |
SCENE (unseemly display of feelings, such as an angry outburst) |
| 25 | Church features mostly cleaned up (4) |
SWEP PEWS< |
PEWS (fixed benches in a church) |
Not too tricky. I enjoyed this, particularly the linked clues at 4,5d. The use of “getting high” for “going up” in a down clue and the use of “joint” in 4d was clever. Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
Only one word (and a composer at that) fitted the crossers in 1a so there had to be a Dvorak keyboard-and lo, there was!
I enjoy my Phidays.
I couldn’t parse 5 and 6 down so thanks for the explanation. At 1A I was expecting to find the whole clue would be the composer, so a clever misdirection, and I learned that there was such as thing as a Dvorak keyboard – shame we can’t fit diacritics into the grid! Thanks Phi and Duncan.
We had never heard of the keyboard and needed a search online although it is in Chambers as we found out afterwards.
When it’s a Phi, we know that it is the end of the week. There are so few other markers to pinpoint what day it is during this lockdown.
Needless to say we looked for a theme but didn’t spot one.
Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
I missed the ‘tab getting very’ bit of the wordplay for ELEVATED, being misled into thinking ‘very high’ was the def. Otherwise all went in parsed, once I’d remembered hearing about the DVORAK KEYBOARD when I was learning how to type; I wondered if there might be a Nina related to the keyboard layout but couldn’t spot one.
Thanks to Phi and Duncan
There’s an art and skill to compiling cryptics, but there’s an additional ability to produce interesting crosswords week in, week out, which is what Phi (and a few others, to be fair) do. I’ve never felt short-changed by a Phi puzzle, and this one was an entertaining mix of clue types and subject matter. And a keyboard I’d never heard of (and I’ve been touch typing for half a century). QWERTY will do for me.
Thanks to Duncan too for the as always comprehensive blog, and good weekend to all.
By some coincidence, I was listening to some Dvorak whilst doing this. A string quarter, so no keyboard involved, but I had heard of it.
There is actually a theme here, and since I am trying to keep you informed about my progress through Dickens I should tell you we have reached Little Dorrit, and specifically the remarkable Flora Finching.
Mr Finching proposed to her seven times before she accepted: once in a PEW, once in a HACKNEY carriage, once on a DONKEY at TUNBRIDGE WELLS, three times on his KNEES, and one I’ve temporarily forgotten so you’ll have to read the book.
I read Little Dorrit about ten years ago, a year or so after the BBC version. Can’t remember Mr Flinching’s proposals at all.