Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 28, 2012
This was a fine if perhaps undistinguished Cincinnus. I especially like 2D (PARODISTS), 14D (EMPATHISED) and 6D (INORDINATE).
Across
1. TIPPET – TIPPET[t] (composer’s short). The definition, ‘cape’, was new to me. One of my correspondents put in TALLIS which also means a prayer shawl; one could believe it correct although a shawl is not exactly a cape. In my original posting of this blog I had the explanation of this clue slightly wrong as I had neglected to ascertain the correct spelling of Sir Michael Tippett’s surname.
4. PERICLES – C[risis] in anagram of REPLIES
10. HARROWING – double definition
11. OUNCE – [b]OUNCE (rebound to avoid black)
12. TIDE – homophone (“tied”)
13. NAILED DOWN – anagram of AND OLD WINE
15. ASSUMED – anagram of MEDUSAS
16. PIN-UPS – IN (at home) in PUPS (youngsters)
19. ISRAEL – IS (is) + LEAR (king) backwards
21. BY TURNS – homophone (“bite earns”). Not a perfect homophone but close enough, I think.
23. ALL THE SAME – double definition
25. OMIT – [s]OM[e] [w]IT[h]
27. REMUS – R (right) + EMUS (birds)
28. OPEN HOUSE – O (old) + PEN (swan) + H (hot) + OUSE (river)
29. STANDS TO – STAND (bear) + STO[p]
30. GOETHE – GO (travel) + E (energy) + THE (article)
Down
1. TAHITIAN – A (a) + H (hospital) together in TITIAN (artist)
2. PARODISTS – anagram of STRIP AS DO
3. EROS – SORE (offended) backwards
5. EGG FLIP – EG (say) + G (Gee!) + FLIP (lose your cool)
6. INORDINATE – I (one) + N (point) + ORDINATE (line to a mathematician). I studied mathematics to an advanced level but did not know that ‘ordinate’ refers to a line such as the graph of y=c (where ‘c’ is a constant).
7. LINGO – hidden word
8. STERNE – STERN (austere) + E (English)
9. WIZARD – double/cryptic definition
14. EMPATHISED – anagram of SHAPED ITEM
17. PARAMOUNT – PAR[is] + A (a) + MOUNT (horse)
18. AS IT WERE – anagram of WATERSI[d]E
20. LASH OUT – AS (as) + H (heroin) together in LOUT (yob)
21. BOMBER – MB (storage unit, i.e. megabyte) in BOER (South African)
22. HARRIS – HARRI[er]S (aircraft dropping queen)
24. LEMMA – L[ondon] + EMMA (girl)
26. SHOO – SHOO[t] (fire dropping temperature)
Thanks Pete.
“Fine if perhaps undistinguished Cincinnus”?
I think it’s amazing how one can set smooth puzzles like this time after time after time (Dac in the Independent is another example).
Just a couple of remarks.
In 1ac the composer is Sir Michael TIPPETT (with double-T).
So ‘Composer’s short’ is the construction, while the definition is just ‘cape’.
The ellipsis in 21/22d makes perfect sense because, together, it gives us BOMBER HARRIS (Sir Arthur Travers Harris (1892-1984), Marshal of the RAF, responsible for bombing raids against German towns during WWII).
Thank you for the blog, Pete.
The word ORDINATE seems to have different uses in Mathematics:
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/y-Axis.html
For ABSCISSA, Chambers gives ‘the intercept between a fixed point and the foot
of an ordinate: the x-coordinate in analytical geometry’.
I’m wondering about the general equation of an ordinate.
Should it not be something like “part of x=c (where c is a constant)”?
Sil, Ah, my bad for not knowing how to properly spell Sir Michael’s surname. Thank you for setting me straight. And I completely missed BOMBER HARRIS (whom I have heard of). Thank you again. I did think it slyly clever that ‘aircraft’ clues a singular word in one clue and a plural in the other.
I totally agree that it’s amazing how Cincinnus can set smooth puzzles like this time and again. I did not mean to imply otherwise by my remark.
Mike04, Thanks for your input. As I said, I studied maths to a post-grad level and yet do not recall ever hearing the word ordinate. I also studied astronomy and do not remember ever hearing it used there either. And now I look it up, I find an ever expanding mess of meanings!
Pete/Mike04
Another reason for forgetting Chambers. What nonsense!
I missed the pups reasoning – thanks Pete