Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 18, 2013
There were no obscure words or references in this puzzle but I found it a little challenging. It took me a while to get 17 (STOPCOCK) especially. My favourite clues are 26A (WOODLAND) and 3D (SHED).
Across
1 “Thing”, alien with piscatorial skin? (6)
FETISH – ET (alien) in FISH (piscatorial skin). How does “thing” define fetish? I can vaguely see it but wonder if I am missing something.
4 Bagging an old hag, lad set off (6,2)
SWITCH ON – WITCH (old hag) in SON (lad)
9 Island ways discussed (6)
RHODES – homophone (“roads”)
10 Tramp pays to get wood (8)
FOOTSLOG – FOOTS (pays) + LOG (wood)
12 Cash found here, so dig (4)
TILL – double definition
13 Agree about way out, such being elaborate (10)
COMPLEXITY – EXIT (way out) in COMPLY (agree)
15 One doing another in, PM sore, beaten with a rock (12)
IMPERSONATOR – anagram oF IN PM SORE + A (a) + TOR (rock)
18 Faint mention about a show of facts (12)
INFOTAINMENT – anagram of FAINT MENTION
21 Word of realisation about friend and author being unprofessional (10)
AMATEURISH – MATE (friend) + URIS (author, as in Leon) together in AH (word of realisation)
22 Little and soft, go”’boo-hoo” (4)
WEEP – WEE (little) + P (soft)
24 Returning, say, king and Islamic ruler come again (2-6)
RE-EMERGE – EG (say) + R (king) + EMEER (Islamic ruler) all backwards
25 Voice behind state bridge (6)
RIALTO – RI (state, i.e. Rhode Island) + ALTO (voice)
26 Naughty download showing scene in nature (8)
WOODLAND – anagram of DOWNLOAD
27 Fragment of cardigan or a khaki coat (6)
ANORAK – hidden word
Down
1 Serious to be squashed by tree, getting medical treatment (5,3)
FIRST AID – FIR (tree) + STAID (serious)
2 Author dipping bread in drink (8)
TROLLOPE – ROLL (bread) in TOPE (drink)
3 Drop something at the bottom of the garden? (4)
SHED – double definition
5 Work in show upset a girl – oh dear (6-1-5)
WHOOPS-A-DAISY – OP (work) in anagram of SHOW + A (a) + DAISY (girl)
6 Precise direction for tapering? (2,3,5)
TO THE POINT – double definition
7 Greatly experienced in success, don’t move an inch! (4,2)
HOLD IT – OLD (greatly experienced) in HIT (success)
8 An upstanding artist seeing eastern city (6)
NAGOYA – AN (an) backwards + GOYA (artist)
11 Old bird, male, fine taking off – continue to tease the great beast (6,6)
KOMODO DRAGON – DODO (old bird) + M (male) + OK (fine) all backwards + RAG ON (continue to tease).
So ‘taking off’ is a reversal indicator? I am not sure I like that.
14 Bit of fruit no good with sword stuck in mouth (6,4)
ORANGE PEEL – NG (no good) + EPEE (sword) together in ORAL (mouth)
16 Fit mock clasps, as dealer in brooches etc (8)
JEWELLER – WELL (fit) in JEER (mock)
17 Short pipe making highest note, lagged by something woolly (8)
STOPCOCK – TOP (highest) + C (note) together in SOCK (something woolly). A commenter brought to my attention that the definition in this clue seems wrong (see below). A stopcock is essentially a valve. It may typically be integrated into a short pipe but I cannot see how ‘short pipe’ by itself serves to define a stopcock.
19 Save line for the grave (6)
BARROW – BAR (save) + ROW (line)
20 Look over middle of arbour, as garden feature (6)
GAZEBO – GAZE (look over) + [ar]BO[ur]
23 European steering mechanism ending in desperation (4)
FINN – FIN (steering mechanism) + [desperatio]N
Thanks Pete. Like you I found this very hard. And what I don’t like is too many of the difficult clues cross and so you can’t get letters sometimes to help. Mudd uses very obscure similees e.g foots for pays and Old for greatly experienced which adds to the difficulties. Is there necessarily a connection in meaning between old and experienced?
Like you I had difficulty with STOPCOCK. Could that be because the word is wrong? Is a stopcock really a piece of pipe? I always thought it was a valve.
I agree with you about 11D.
What a dreadful word is Infotainment! It was used before quite recently, perhaps by Mudd. I hope he gives it away now.
Hi John. For me, foots for pays is difficult but not exactly obscure. One talks about “footing the bill” as an alternative to “paying the bill”, say at a restaurant. Old for greatly experienced is a greater stretch but I think may be justified. One speaks of an “old hand” for example where ‘old’ has a strong overtone of ‘experienced’.
And, yes, ‘infotainment’ is a horrible word!
I had little idea of what a stopcock was so failed to consider the validity of the definition in 17D. Now you bring it to my attention (for which thanks), I have read up a little on stopcocks, totally agree with you, and will edit the blog to point this out.
1. I think “thing” here is used in a ’60s sense, as in “leather and chains are his thing.” Not exactly a synonym for fetish, but that is one sense of the word, at least in American slang of an earlier day.
11. I don’t have a problem with taking off as a reversal indicator because this is a vertical clue, so “taking off” would mean “rising” or “going upward”–perfectly legitimate.
Thanks for doing this, Pete!
Hi Bob, Thanks for the background on “thing”. I had a sense that there was some usage like this but not clearly enough to give such an example.
And good point about taking off. I still don’t much like it but do see that it works.
I failed totally in the NW
9a Ways =roads -well ok sort of .
2d I was looking for a type of drink not verb (typo tope not trope -though to my amazement trope is a word)
I couldn’t get 24a -never come across emeer.
Glad it was you having to complete this!
Bamberger, Thanks for your input. I have fixed the “tope” typo which I presumably unconsciously made because I do know that trope is a word!
And I guess I have to retract my assertion about obscure words in regard to 24a. I think EMIR is fairly well known but the EMEER variant spelling is fairly obscure.
Re STOPCOCK (17d), Chambers gives as definition #1: “A short pipe opened and stopped by turning a key or handle”.
Many thanks Pete & Mudd
I wasn’t been able to access the FT Puzzle on-line over the weekend so I have only just obtained the solution for this.
I had entered everything correctly but I had a query on 11d KOMODO DRAGON …
Which was, of course, OK but I couldn’t fully see why.
Hi Bryan, That problem with crosswords on the FT website over the weekend affected me and, I believe, everyone.
I quickly guessed 11d after having sufficient crossing letters to see DRAGON in the lower half but it took me a while to figure out the wordplay.
Very late post I’m afraid — I just came across this crossword, which had slipped down behind some books.
14dn worries me: the clue says ‘stuck in mouth’, not ‘stuck in in mouth’. Oral means ‘in mouth’ or something like that. How does it simply mean ‘mouth’, which it would need to do for the wordplay to work and ‘in’ not to do double duty?
Wil, As often you raise a very good point that I missed. The clue may be faulty although I would prefer to think that ‘mouth’ clues ORAL rather than that ‘in’ does double duty. But in its defense I would suggest that one might talk about, say, mouth surgery instead of oral surgery.