Financial Times 14,565 by Mudd

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Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 8, 2014

I found this puzzle decidedly more challenging than most of Mudd’s. My top clues here are 11a (FRENCH LOAF), 3d (OPTICAL ART), 16d (SOLITAIRE) and 19d (TEQUILA).

ACROSS
1 Having fostered new daughter, melted (9)
DEFROSTED – anagram of FOSTERED + D (daughter)
6 Type of dance as a taste of Spain? (5)
TAPAS – TAP (type of dance) + AS (as)
9 Power strike (5)
CLOUT – double definition
10 Make something to chew over with sheep, a TV programme (9)
DOCUDRAMA – DO (make) + CUD (something to chew over) + RAM (sheep) + A (a)
11 Tongue and brain pain? (6,4)
FRENCH LOAF – FRENCH (tongue) + LOAF (brain) with a nice cryptic definition
12 Network – homes have to carry it (4)
MESH – hidden word
14 In wood, unicorn’s heading through it (7)
POPULAR – U[nicorn] in POPLAR (wood)
15 Wet type – or types with cleaner skin? (7)
MILKSOP – ILKS (types) in MOP (cleaner). I had a hard time trying to figure out this wordplay.
17 Old lover wrongs squeezes (7)
EXTORTS – EX (old lover) + TORTS (wrongs)
19 Absolutely has to add up! (7)
TOTALLY – TO (to) + TALLY (add up)
20 Sound money for instrument (4)
LUTE – homophone (“loot”)
22 Swimmer banking wage finally, given search for remainder of payment? (6,4)
CHEQUE STUB – [wag]E + QUEST (search) together in CHUB (swimmer)
25 Revolutionary, a mean one behind leader in Germany (9)
GARIBALDI – G[ermany] + A (a) + RIBALD (mean) + I (one). Is this correct? I do not see how ‘mean’ can properly clue RIBALD. (See comment #3 below.)
26 Stand to get a pay increase (5)
ARISE – A (a) + RISE (pay increase). Note for Americans: what you would call a raise (in this sense of an increase in pay), we Brits call a rise.
27 Times featuring short little message (5)
TWEET – WEE (short) in TT (times)
28 Inclination to have sin erased, being misguided (9)
READINESS – anagram of SIN ERASED

DOWN
1 Coffee encountered, then served up (5)
DECAF – FACED (encountered) backwards
2 Cow cuts fine grass in gardener’s possession (9)
FLOWERPOT – F (fine) + LOWER (cow) + POT (grass)
3 Touring conjurors primarily partial to illusions (7,3)
OPTICAL ART – anagram of C[onjurors] PARTIAL TO
4 Little one, not even large, emptied into empty tanker (7)
TODDLER – ODD (not even) + L[arg]E together in T[anke]R
5 Failed medical bringing attack (7)
DECLAIM – anagram of MEDICAL
6 Considerable orderly (4)
TIDY – double definition
7 Smoother wood (5)
PLANE – double definition
8 Blow up, as careless (4-5)
SLAP HAPPY – SLAP (blow) + UP (happy)
13 Stars – arm carrying children over one (10)
GLITTERATI – LITTER (children) in GAT (arm) + I (one). ‘Gat’ is slang for a gun, coming originally from an abbreviation of Gattling gun.
14 One with a whistle getting into trouble before take-off (3-6)
PRE-FLIGHT – REF (one with a whistle) in PLIGHT (trouble)
16 Patience tried endlessly as oil wasted (9)
SOLITAIRE – anagram of TRIE[d] AS OIL
18 Student finds different temperatures in describing massive heater (7)
SCHOLAR – CH (different temperatures, i.e. Cold and Hot) in SOLAR (describing massive heater)
19 Quite ghastly Hollywood drink (7)
TEQUILA – anagram of QUITE + LA (Hollywood)
21 Short stories retold, not all passed over (5)
TERSE – reverse hidden word
23 Sanctify Artholomew and Oniface thus? (5)
BLESS – B-LESS (Artholomew and Oniface thus?)
24 Newspaper feature, disappointed angler’s report? (4)
OBIT – O BIT (disappointed angler’s report?)

6 comments on “Financial Times 14,565 by Mudd”

  1. I also liked 19D as well as 24D, 23D and 22A (in particular the cryptic definition).

    Thanks as always to Pete (and to Mudd)

  3. Thanks Mudd for an enjoyable crossword and Pete for the blog.

    25ac: Chambers 2011 gives ribald adj low; base, mean – and then the meanings that I would regard as more familiar, starting with licentious.

  5. We were completely thrown in the NW corner by thinking that 11a was BEACHY HEAD (tongue) = BE ACHY HEAD (brain pain), although in retrospect it doesn’t really fit geographically or linguistically.

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