It’s Phi-day again.
At times, it didn’t feel like a ‘normal’ Phi however. A few clues lack Phi’s usually excellent surfaces (7d and 21d for example) and we found a number of entries were write-ins. Having said that, we had to check 7d!
As has become the norm for us with Phi puzzles, we can’t find a theme, but we would be surprised if there isn’t one – it’s not a pangram, and there are no ninas – he must have something up his sleeve!
A LEAD (top) Y (year) round (‘throttling’) R (king)
LOUT (barbarian) round (‘suppressing’) O (old) OK (agreement)
RES (reservation) round SOUR (bad) CE (church)
ABBot (‘senior religious figure’) missing (‘not using’) ‘ot’ (Old Testament) in RI (Religious Instruction – ‘scripture lessons’)
INCH (move slowly) IE (id est – ‘that is’) F (fine)
MODE (fashion) ST (stone)
When completing a tour of holiday destinations you would be IN THE LAST RESORT
ARM (prepare for a fight) PIT (mine)
A reversal (‘recalled’) of NEWS (report) round (‘containing’) O (ordinary) LL (lines)
MAN (chap) GO (pee)
An anagram (‘various’) of DINERS with E’ER (always) inside (‘tucking in’)
An anagram (‘out’) of EATING round (‘consuming’) N (new)
We were not sure about this one: It seemed to be a reversal (‘turning’) of SEE (observe) after (‘in pursuit of’) GOAT or GO AT but we couldn’t see that ‘goat’ = ‘the very best’. AI came to the rescue at the last moment. GOAT is short for Greatest Of All Time.
A clue-as-definition: PROSE (text) + an anagram (‘working’) of COURT
SALe (trade deal) missing the last letter (‘curtailed’) + UK and I (Italy)
A reversal (‘turned up’) of NY (New York – ‘US city’) in SC (South Carolina)
C (caught) + MAT (carpet) in (‘hugged by’) LASSES (girls)
PORt (left – on a ship) missing the last letter (‘almost’) + RIDGE (high point)
A reversal (‘upset’) of MOB (gangsters) + B (British)
An anagram (‘receiving treatment’) of I START and O with I (one) inside (‘injected’)
WIG (rug) after T (last letter or ‘end’ of needlepoint)
mATTER (subject) missing the first letter (‘losing head’) in FLING (brief romance)
MOULDERED (wasted away) after S (soprano)
An anagram (‘rebuilt’) of ON SITES after S (last letter or ‘end’ of hostilities)
An anagram (‘stimulated’) of HOPE round U (university) + a reversal (‘upturn’) of AIR (attitude)
O (love) HEAR (judge) round (‘imprisoning’) D (duke)
A reversal (‘pulled up’) of GUMS (trees)
A clue-as-definition? Hidden (‘some’) in appellatioN IN Appendix – we started looking for a Nina, but then realised that this NINA is a girl’s name (‘some appellation’) – but why would it be in an Appendix?
GO (attempt) after (‘supporting’ – in a down clue) I (one) A (American)
You need to look elsewhere for a nina.