Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 22
Once again Cincinnus comes up with an impressive set of clues.
How juicy is 19A (REDSTART)? How witty 13A (NON-USAGE)! How splendid 8A (CON ARTIST), 1D (DOCUMENTARIES) and 10D (STREET THREATRE)! How nice 23D (PECAN). The bottom-right quadrant took me a while but the whole was most satisfying.
Across
1. DEMOTIC – TOME (book) in CID (police) all backwards
5. ROCOCO – R[oyal] O[pera] + COCO (company replicated)
8. CON ARTIST – anagram of ACTOR ISNT
9. LOADS – double definition. (Not LEADS as I originally posted.)
11. MAINE – MAIN (major) + [leagu]E
12. BAROMETER – O (old) + MET (opera house) together in BARER (more exposed). I take it that the location referred to is the Metropolitan Opera House (“the Met”) in New York — where I have enjoyed opera myself.
13. NON-USAGE – “pundit” with U removed!
15. PIERCE – R (right) in PIECE (composition)
17. ASSENT – homophone (“ascent”)
19. REDSTART – S[eed] in RED TART (cherry pie)
22. ICE HOCKEY – anagram of CHOICE + KEY (essential)
23. PURSE – double definition. The first meaning contract as in “to purse lips”.
24. SATAN – SAT (one day) + AN (an)
25. TRENCHANT – TRENCH (ditch) + ANT (insect)
26. SEARCH – EAR (organ) in SCH (school)
27. LUNETTE – NET (curtain material) in LUTE (instrument)
Down
1. DOCUMENTARIES – anagram of AUDIENCE STORM
2. MENTION – I (upright character) in MENTON (French resort)
3. TERSE – hidden word. I wondered about “part for” as a hidden-word indicator for a minute but decided it works well.
4. CRIBBAGE – CRIB (key) + BAG (appropriate) + E[ngland]. Is “key” a bit of a stretch for cluing CRIB? I guess there is overlap of meaning in the sense of something like a set of answers, e.g. at the back of a book of puzzles, exercises.
5. RETORT – double definition (“sally” in the sense of outburst)
6. CALUMNIES – anagram of MASCULINE
7. CHAPTER – double definition
10. STREET THEATRE – anagram of SETTER THERE AT. And such a fine cryptic definition!
14. SUNDOWNER – anagram of NOW in SUNDER (part). To sunder means to separate or part.
16. VERY WELL – double definition
18. SHEATHE – SHE (the woman) + A + THE (articles)
20. ABREAST – A (a) + R (resistance) in BEAST (brutal person)
21. SKETCH – S (singular) + KETCH (vessel)
23. PECAN – CA (about — abbreviation of CIRCA) in PEN (prison)
Yes, another good Cincinnus.
As if it doesn’t take any effort.
Last Saturday (in Derby) I had the pleasure to meet Cincinnus, but unfortunately I was not yet in a talkative mood at that time of the day.
Pete, I’m sure you mean to say that NON-USAGE is ‘pundit’ (SAGE) with the U removed. Well, you say it more or less.
In 9ac, though, we differ.
The answer must surely be LOADS (dd).
Thanks Pete.
Usual good stuff from Cincinnus.13 across – I first thought PNDIT was a misprint,very clever clue!
I also thought CRIB = KEY was perhaps pushing the boundaries but came across this definition on WordWeb –
A crib is a section of an encoded or enciphered message that can easily be rendered into plain text, thus providing a tool whereby a skilled cryptanalyst can crack the entire code or message. A famous example of a “crib” from outside the world of espionage is the Rosetta Stone, used to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics.
I think CRIB = KEY refers to a literal translation that was sometimes given to, say, Latin texts when they used to be taught in schools quite a while back.
Re 4 down: nmsindy has found the key.
The definition is cribbed from Chambers (11th edition), which has as definition no. 15 of crib: “A key or baldly literal translation, used as an aid by students, etc”.
Regards to all.
A lovely puzzle – thanks Pete and Cincinnus.
Like Sil, I had LOADS for 9a.
9A, LOADS of course. What was I thinking? Thanks, folks.
Demotic was new to me and never heard of Menton.
Got about 2/3 out .
Thanks for the explanations for the ones I couldn’t crack.
Returned from a week in the Alps to find a copy of the Good Word Guide on the doorstep courtesy of the FT. I think it was probably this one where I fell lucky but I may never know!