i Cryptic Crossword 4178 by Phi
June 27, 2024
Difficulty rating (out of five) ⌛⌛⌛⌛
I have felt for some time that Phi’s puzzles would be more enjoyable to solve if he didn’t compile so many, and today’s did nothing to dispel that feeling. A fairly difficult puzzle was made more so by comparative obscurities needed to fit the Nina in the outside edge unches (Unchecked letters). However, I was lucky to spot the Dickens characters when half solved; had I not done so, I might have had to resort to the word check button, especially with 12a and 15a.
I could see neither GAS in 12a as IMPRESSIVE, nor QUICK at 10a as ALLEGRETTO. where, for the latter, Grove suggests ” a little LESS fast and perhaps a little more light-hearted than Allegro”
Nevertheless, there were two or three easy clues to get one going, and moments of pleasure. When eventually solved, GETAWAY produced a good chuckle, although I had given thumbs down to the similar clue for AND HOW; I also liked HAVE IT MADE and LOLLIPOP.
My choice for Clue of the Day is refreshingly straightforward and features Phi at his best: “21d Mistake that misdirects students (4,2)
To FifteenSquared for all the wordplay and comments: https://www.fifteensquared.net/2020/08/08/independent-10553-by-phi/
Added by JonOfWales: As Fifteensquared seems to be down currently, here’s an alternative link. https://web.archive.org/web/20200808180849/https://www.fifteensquared.net/2020/08/08/independent-10553-by-phi/
Borodin
batarde
Saboteur
Denzo
flashling
jonofwales
Cornick
sprouthater
uiytjhgmj
willow1235
idothei 
Agreed.
My curiosity got the better of me once I had WEMMICK in column 15 (the RHS being the much easier half today I thought) so went looking for other Great Expectations characters on Wikipedia. Cheating really, but never mind. Completed sans aids otherwise.
Didn’t Phi tell us recently that he’s working his way through the Dickens canon? So I suppose we might have a few more like this in the pipeline.
I don’t see why it’s cheating, especially when the setter puts the more difficult clues in the Nina, as here. If the setter starts by filling the outside of the grid why should the solver not do likewise?
I couldn’t see how the GAS bit related, either. Overall, about ⌛⌛⌛ for me. A bit of Googling of a half-visible nina helped for sure.
Too much of a slog to enjoy today. DNF.
Well, that’s me back on form, because I totally failed to see the NINA or theme. Sigh. It was a slog, mind you, and I had to resort to checking possible letters electronically. Can’t say it was the most enjoyable experience as a result.
Relieved to come here and find I was not alone. Thought I was off-form. Not very satisfying.
Pretty difficult to finish, helped partially by the Nina. I could have done without one or two of the obscurities, but pleased to finish even if it needed all five of those egg-timers.
I found this a cracking good puzzle requiring all sorts of attention to detail, and GK from Myanamar politics to Papal blessings to human anatomy. Very few write-ins and a nina which exposed itself slowly but expectedly. I don’t think I ever read Great Expectations, but I have seen the film, and was reminded today of the prison hulks, mirrored by Cruella’s “solution” to the immigrant “problem”. NDY
You’re right, Phi usually gives a stern test of GK and this was certainly no exception. But if you compare the wordplay of, say, Eccles puzzle today (Friday), you will see the main reason why I, and possibly others, sometimes find other puzzles more enjoyable than Phi’s.
⌛⌛⌛⌛⌛? GET AWAY. This was all solved in one sitting and I had Great Expectations of achieving just one ⌛ helped, of course, by spotting the nina early on. I’ll settle for ⌛⌛, though. Not quite sure about ‘gas’ for ‘impressive’, although I’m happy with ALLEGRETTO for ‘quick’ – ‘fairly quick’, anyway, rather than ‘allegro furioso’.An enjoyable solve. Favourites were ESSEX MAN, HYPERBOLIC and LA BOHÈME.