Hi, Doofenschmirtz here, filling in for Mike, who is – I’m sure – in some exotic location getting bronzed and fit.
I found this an approachable puzzle from Felix. There were a bunch of clues that were obviously anagrams that I left until I had some crossing letters: anagrams are not my strength. My FOI was NIGHT OWLS, LOI was MUSIC BOX. All done in 13:58, inside my personal target of 15 minutes, so I’m happy with that.
This being a Felix puzzle, I expect that there is a theme or a Nina lurking somewhere. But I can’t see it despite a good while spent staring at the filled-in grid. So if there is one it’s drawn from the part of Felix’s knowledge that doesn’t overlap with mine: I look forward to being educated by the hive mind.
Definitions underlined in italics, synonyms in round brackets, wordplay in square brackets and deletions in squiggly brackets.
| Across | |
| 8 | Not the same on earth, strangely (7) |
| ANOTHER – Anagram [strangely] of ON EARTH. | |
| 9 | One used to hang back in game so one-sided (5) |
| NOOSE – Reversed hidden [back in] “gamE SO ONe-sided”. | |
| 10 | One wearing medal on the way out? (5) |
| GOING – I (one) surrounded by [wearing] GONG (medal). | |
| 11 | Depression: it is a medical condition (7) |
| COLITIS – COL (depression) + IT IS.
A col is a pass between two peaks. So while often quite high, from the point of view of the peaks, the col is a depression. |
|
| 12 | People staying up late, close to Wales, oddly (5,4) |
| NIGHT OWLS – NIGH (close) + TO + WaLeS [Wales, oddly]. | |
| 14 | Tree from the Spanish arboretum, at the far end (3) |
| ELM – EL (the, in Spanish) + M [“far end” of “arboretuM“] | |
| 16 | Dog used for experiments? (3) |
| LAB – double definition | |
| 18 | Companions tampering with the sample (9) |
| HELPMATES – Anagram of [tampering with] THE SAMPLE.
Not a word I’m familiar with – I thought it was “helpmeets”, but the anagram indicator was pretty strong. |
|
| 21 | Sort of bread to consume, when outside (7) |
| WHEATEN – EAT (to consume), with WHEN outside.
Sometimes a clue just makes you go “d’oh” when the penny finally drops. |
|
| 22 | Football club has rushed in European currency (5) |
| FRANC – FC (as in Aston Villa FC) with RAN inside (rushed in).
I almost included a reference to Villa last week when I had to explain ASTONISHED, but refrained. |
|
| 23 | Early seventies hit some play last (5) |
| LAYLA – Hidden in [some] “pLAY LAst”.
I knew the song, of course, but couldn’t have told you whether it was from the sixties or the seventies. Famously inspired by Eric Clapton’s love for George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. In a factoid that I’ve only just discovered, apparently Harrison attended the wedding of Clapton and Boyd, 2 years after he and Boyd were divorced. Which puts a whole different slant on the entire story, I feel. |
|
| 24 | Goal net being moved: that leaves a sour taste (7) |
| TANGELO – Anagram [being moved] of GOAL NET.
A tangelo is (apparently) a cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine. The name comes from “tangerine” and “pomelo”. I think I’ve seen them at my local farmers’ market: will make a point to try one and report back. |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Alarming manoeuvres along the borders (8) |
| MARGINAL – Anagrams [manoeuvres] of ALARMING. | |
| 2 | Drills are so dull (6) |
| BORING – Double definition | |
| 3 | Time to embrace ruffian (4) |
| THUG – T for time + HUG (embrace). | |
| 4 | Black bird crossing a cape to find Polish city (6) |
| CRACOW – CROW (black bird) containing [crossing] A C.
C for Cape as seen on maps, as in “C. Horn”. |
|
| 5 | Clue man’s worked out for “America” (5,3) |
| UNCLE SAM – Anagram [worked out] of CLUE MAN’S. | |
| 6 | Greedy person at cup match producing hamper (6) |
| HOGTIE – HOG (greedy person) + TIE (cup match).
“Hamper” seems like a bit of an understatement for “hogtie”, but if you were hogtied, you’d definitely be hampered. |
|
| 7 | Place to eat hash? (4) |
| MESS – Double definition. | |
| 13 | Pacific islander volunteers to strike Scotsman perhaps (8) |
| TAHITIAN – TA (Territorial Army – the British volunteer reserve, so ‘volunteers’) + HIT (to strike) + IAN (standard Scot). | |
| 15 | Producer of notes and letters from abroad in charge of fight (5,3) |
| MUSIC BOX – MUS (slightly dodgy plural of MU, the Greek letter, so ‘letters from abroad’) + IC (in charge) + BOX (fight). | |
| 17 | Extra repeats becoming so long (3-3) |
| BYE-BYE – A bye is an extra in cricket. Repeated, gives us “bye-bye” (so long). | |
| 19 | Starts to look elsewhere, not getting the hoped-for distance (6) |
| LENGTH – First letters of [starts to] Look Elsewhere Not Getting The Hoped.
Sounds like my golf game. |
|
| 20 | Taunted, after time, relaxed (6) |
| TEASED – T for time + EASED (relaxed). | |
| 21 | Uncultivated — but you might pick up Oscar? (4) |
| WILD – Homophone [might pick up] of ‘Wilde’ (Oscar). | |
| 22 | Excellent punishment (4) |
| FINE – Double definition | |
Got all but the NE corner done in about 15 minutes, which is very fast for me. Held up for a while by COLITIS and MESS, and then admitted failure and a DNF at the hands of HOGTIE. Wasn’t an NHO for me either, just didn’t think of either HOG or TIE. Oh well. We live (usually) and learn (sometimes).
Thank you for the blog!
DNK LAYLA, but easily spotted hidden. No chance of finding theme as I never remember the titles of the L&H films – I guess the one with the piano was MUSIC BOX (a thing regularly seen on antiques programmes). TANGELO used to be found frequently on ‘Countdown’ in the Whitely days – but, like LEOTARD, not so much lately.