This enjoyable puzzle was a mix of straighforward clues and some tricky ones. It took me a while to unravel the wordplay for some of them, learning a few new words in the process.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | TRUFFLES T (temperature) RUFFLES (sends into disarray) |
| 6 | SWATCH TAWS (marbles) reversed + CH (church) |
| 9 | SUPER G S (the S after the apostrophe in “event’s”) UP (high) ERG (new word for me: an area of shifting sand dunes in the Sahara) |
| 10 | OLD FLAME OLD (aged) F (female) LAME (no longer able to walk) |
| 11 | FEET FEE (cost) T (tons). From the rhyming slang “plates of meat” |
| 12 | TAKE THE RAP TAKE (get) THERAP[y] (incomplete treatment) |
| 14 | BRETHREN dd: the first reference being to the Plymouth Brethren, an evangelical movement, and the second to brothers in a monastic order |
| 16 | THAW *(WHAT) I thought this was clever. |
| 18 | ACHE ACE (one) embracing H (husband) |
| 19 | FLAGRANT GRAN (old relative) in FLAT (residence) |
| 21 | SOFT-BOILED *(FOOLED + BITS) |
| 22 | AUTO A reverse clue; because AUTO + B (bachelor) can be anagrammed to form ABOUT |
| 24 | NECKLINE *(NICKEL) in NE (postal code for Nebraska) |
| 26 | LENDER L (left) END (close) ER (um, as in a hesitating vocalisation) |
| 27 | BADGER BAD (injured) GER (German) |
| 28 | SUNDRESS S (beginning to sweat) UNDRESS (remove) |
| Down | |
| 2 | ROUTE OUT (away) in R.E. (Royal Engineers) |
| 3 | FLEET STREET *(TRESTLE) IN *(FETE) |
| 4 | LIGATURE LIG (enjoy free party) + *(A TRUE) Another new word: to lig is to freeload, in particular to take advantage of hospitality in the entertainment industry |
| 5 | STOCKING FILLERS A triple definition! The first is “presents;” the second is “legs;” and the third is “Hungarian cash for sale”: the Hungarian equivalent of the penny is the filler, and if you have them for sale you are “stocking fillers.” |
| 6 | SEDATE dd |
| 7 | AIL A1 (top notch) L (learner) |
| 8 | COME AGAIN dd |
| 13 | ENTERTAINER ENTER (come) TAIN[t] (virtually spoil) ER (Queen) |
| 15 | ROCK OPERA COR (“Wow!”) reversed + KOP (terrace, at a football stadium) + ARE reversed. |
| 17 | MANDOLIN M (maiden) AND (with) O (old) L (line) IN. A kitchen slicing tool, more commonly spelled mandoline. |
| 20 | ROSIER R (start to read) OSIER (willow) |
| 23 | TRESS T[ig]RESS TIGRESS (big cat) minus I (one) G (starting to growl) |
| 25 | KEG K (knight) EG (for example) |
Why ligature in 4 down?
H Pettingell,
I remember this puzzle (it was a good one!) but no longer have a copy available to me. If you post the original clue I may be able to help.
Just curious — did you find the puzzle somewhere on-line or did you simply have an old September FT still in your house?