Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 20, 2013
I found this puzzle easy to start with and quickly completed three quarters of it. I was then completely stuck with no answers in the top-right quadrant for a while. In retrospect it is hard to see why; it may be the hardest part of the puzzle but it’s not exceptional. My favourite clue here is 9D (TIDDLY) and I also like 14D (WHIST DRIVE). And I have some tentative reservations about 8D (NOTICE) and 24D (UPBOW).
Across
1. FEWEST – EWES (number of sheep) in FT (here)
4. PARMESAN – PAR (average) + S (seconds) in MEAN (average)
10. SIGNORINA – anagram of IRONING AS
11. SHEET – SHE (-ess) + ET (alien-)
12. WHEN – W[ine] + HEN (ladies only)
13. IDEALISTIC – anagram of ITALICISED
15. FLIGHTY – double definition
16. TANGLE – T[ongue] + ANGLE (old German)
19. UNISON – UN (league of nations) + IS (is) + ON (working)
21. STRANGE – ST (way) + RANGE (series)
23. ROUNDABOUT – double definition
25. ALTO – hidden word
27. DUBAI – homophone (“do buy”)
28. LASER-BEAM – A (a) + SERB (European) together in anagram of MALE
29. DEWBERRY – anagram of WEB in DERRY (Northern Irish location)
30. BETTER – double definition
Down
1. FISHWIFE – FISH (one in school) + WIFE (Dutch). ‘Dutch’ meaning wife is cockney slang.
2. WAGNERIAN – WA[r] + anagram of IN ANGER
3. SHOT – double definition
5. ADAMANT – ADAM (man) + ANT (hill-dweller)
6. MISSIONARY – IS (is) + SION (Jerusalem) together in MARY (holy woman)
7. SWEET – homophone (“suite”)
8. NOTICE – NOT ICE (cubes unnecessary). Clever idea perhaps but I think it works poorly.
9. TIDDLY – TIDDLY [winks] (game, but nothing flirty)
14. WHIST DRIVE – anagram of DERVISH WIT
17. LONELIEST – ONE (one) + LIES (sits) together in L[ifeboa]T
18. REFORMER – RE (theology, as in Religious Education) + FORMER (first mentioned)
20. NEBULAR – BUL[l] (score of fifty minus one fifty) in NEAR (close)
21. SQUASH – double definition
22. ERODED – E[xpedition] + RODE (traveled over) + D[rakensberg]. So ‘peak’ here means ‘first letter’? Not sure I like that.
24. UPBOW – UP (on one’s feet) + BOW (acknowledging applause). Hmm, would that not be ‘bowing’?
26. FREE – sort-of homophone (“three” in Cockney)
Yes, Pete, I share your reservations.
For 24A Mudd could have easily put “On one’s feet to acknowledge applause …..”
By the way you have an extra letter in the answer to 23A – should be “roundabout”.
Good point about 24A.
I have corrected 23A. I was thrown by the ‘A’ at the beginning when I wrote the blog.
Thanks, Ernie.
The grid was such that this was effectively four mini crosswords. I solved the NW and SW, failed miserably in the NE and had a score draw in the SE.
I managed to convince myself that 8d was something to do with dies so pencilled in d as the last letter of 4a which did not help.
I had to look at your answer for 11a several times before the penny dropped.
13a I should have got but didn’t
16a I was convinced that alt was what was meant by old German.
21a Extraordinary was obviously an anagram indicator though I couldn’t decide which additional letter to add to series or make anything .
28a This was l???r beam so had to be lunar beam not that I could explain unarb
Thanks for blog
Bamberger, Thanks for commenting.
Very interesting that you had such trouble with the NE, just as I did.
ALT for ‘old German’ was exactly what I started with too!
No sure whether Mudd’s FT colleague Alberich agrees about Wagner being ‘long and loud’ :), but apart from that I thought this was a nice crossword.
I couldn’t find & explain WHEN (12ac). Unfortunately, the latter is still the case, so perhaps someone could say a bit more about the definition which I do not get.
I am not really happy with DUBAI. Indeed a homophone of ‘do buy’, but is it the right part of speech?
On the other hand, no problems with D for the ‘peak in Drakensberg’. It is a down clue and therefore perfectly acceptable, in my opinion.
Many thanks for the blog, Pete.
Hi Sil,
The definition in 12ac is “stop pouring the drink”. I take it that this refers to an expression that may be old-fashioned but was frequently heard in my young days. When someone was pouring a drink, say a cup of tea, for you, they might utter, “Say when”. This was a request that you tell them when they have poured enough.
I think the DUBAI clue works okay and the part of speech is consistent. It is certainly not a perfect homophone but then few are.
Yes Pete I agree with you about 8dn (NOTICE) (you have 9dn in your preamble) and also about 24dn — Ernie’s suggestion is good I think. WHEN for ‘stop pouring the drink’ seems a bit loose — it’s the moment when you stop pouring the drink, but it isn’t the stopping itself.
Thanks for the blog, Pete. I agree with you and Wil @7 re: 8d — seems to me that “Cubes unnecessary” would be “No ice.” Speaking of drinks, 12a stumped me, despite having W?E?. But now that I see it, I think it’s quite clever. And to Wil @7, if you take “stop pouring the drink” as an imperative, then “WHEN” works just fine (i.e., the somewhat tongue-in-check response to “Say ‘When'” is “When.”)
Wil, Thanks for your support re 8D. I have corrected the preamble.
Thanks Pete. A bit late with my blog. We get hooked on Mudd but he really does push the bounds of reason. I will have something to say on this weekend’s 1A on that score.
Here I do not like 26D – you will note “ten” is sitting in “East End”.
I do not like 27A. I think the only way it works as a homophone and the right part of speech is “D’you buy?” I think some people may pronounce the place that way. It seems Mudd does.
I thought I would like 20D but it took me ages to see the definition simile. Then I couldn’t see the clueing. Now I see your answer I don’t like the clueing. Why say “one fifty” when you only want 50. Cincinnus would never do this. And what is the word “brackets” for. You don’t mentions it in your answer.
I did like Parmesan and Missionary.
Sorry my homophone is not quite well expressed. Better “ju buy?” running together the “d’you”.
No, I think I was right the first time. The more you think about it the better the clue becomes. So I take back my not like tag.
Actually I am going to Dubai this coming weekend for a conference, so I will listen carefully.
John,
Thank you for your comments. I am now in a dilemma over the DUBAI clue. Did Mudd mean “d’you buy” or “do buy”? I can see it being either.
I was also none too happy with 20D. For one thing, as best I can determine, ‘unclear’ is a much less clear definition for NEBULAR than it is for NEBULOUS. ‘Brackets’ however is necessary as an insertion indicator — and a clever one in this case.