Financial Times 14,618 by Mudd

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Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 10, 2014

I found this a good, if rather run-of-the-mill, puzzle. My top clues are 9A (BLIMEY) and 15D (BACON).

ACROSS
1 Restriction confining private citizen (6)
TOWNIE – OWN (private) in TIE (restriction)
4 Combination gone, indigo primarily, then red (8)
PASTICHE – PAST (gone) + I[ndigo] + CHE (red)
9 Oath given by hugging tree (6)
BLIMEY – LIME (tree) in BY (by)
10 Tiny figure breaking leg, very old (5-3)
STONE-AGE – ONE (tiny figure) in STAGE (leg)
12 Chap who’s unreliable as a gardener’s assistant (4)
RAKE – double definition
13 A bit about snap, not nap, as card game (5)
WHIST – S[nap] in WHIT (a bit)
14 Heads only observing girls, look essentially to leer (4)
OGLE – O[bserving] G[irls] L[ook] E[ssentially}
17 Foolish, dear? (12)
UNREASONABLE – double definition
20 Describing a party as huge, I’m worn out (5-7)
HOUSE-WARMING – anagram of AS HUGE IM WORN
23 Enthusiastic about one, not another (4)
INTO – I (one) + anagram of NOT
24 Among beasts, how bat appears, strangely (5)
ODDLY – ‘bat’ appears oddly in B[e]A[s]T[s]
25 Use a gun that’s sawn-off? Get away! (4)
SHOO – SHOO[t] (use a gun that’s sawn-off)
28 How might one kill an ant? Be quick! (4,2,2)
STEP ON IT – double definition
29 Danger time and time again, then worry (6)
THREAT – T (time) + HR (time again) + EAT (worry)
30 Cock a hen, we hear, in range (8)
HIMALAYA – homophone (“him a layer”)
31 Warming drink that’s cold, then works backwards (6)
COGNAC – C (cold) + CAN GO (works) backwards

DOWN
1 Beirut is built for an emperor (8)
TIBERIUS – anagram of BEIRUT IS
2 Hairy bottom of tippler spiking drink (8)
WHISKERY – [tipple]R in WHISKEY (drink)
3 Light bulb above head in dark environment acceptable for starters (4)
IDEA – I[n] D[ark] E[nvironment] A[cceptable]
5 Source of water in Wales later diverted (8,4)
ARTESIAN WELL – anagram of IN WALES LATER
6 War machine in defeat (4)
TANK – double definition
7 Explosive attack (6)
CHARGE – double definition
8 Footballer misssing header, opening not finished for team (6)
ELEVEN – [p]ELE (Footballer missing header) + VEN[t] (opening not finished). The extra S in “misssing” appears to be just a typo.
11 How soap moves girl – never mind (6-1-5)
WHOOPS-A-DAISY – anagram of HOW SOAP + DAISY (girl)
15 Streaky painter? (5)
BACON – cryptic definition
16 Puff pastry’s fifth? Weep about it (5)
BLURB – [past]R[y] in BLUB (weep)
18 Support in broken hinge, all holes? (8)
EIGHTEEN – TEE (support) in anagram of HINGE with a cryptic definition referring to golf
19 One doubts number will come up in a moment (shortly) (8)
AGNOSTIC – SONG (number) backwards in A TIC[k] (a moment shortly)
21 Vulgar outfits, cloth skirts (6)
KITSCH – KITS (outfits) + C[lot]H
22 Current energy about right (6)
STREAM – R (right) in STEAM (energy)
26 Flier primarily, a bird is a bird! (4)
FOWL – F[lier] + OWL (a bird)
27 I’m surprised the moon is a state (4)
OHIO – OH (I’m surprised) + IO (the moon). Would this clue not be better without its “the”?

4 comments on “Financial Times 14,618 by Mudd”

  1. I got stuck in the SW.
    21d I just couldn’t see which meant that I didn’t have the first letters for 23a & 30a.
    I didn’t see 23a as being an anagram and I doubt if i would have ever got 30a.

    22d I really don’t think that steam is energy. Sure you can get steam power but steam is just gaseous water. Would you describe coal as energy?
    24a Good clue that I couldn’t solve.
    31a At the risk of a “a pedant writes”, alcohol does not warm -see for instance myth 4 at http://www.cracked.com/article_16929_5-drinking-myths-that-can-kill-you.html

    Thanks for the blog

  2. Good comments there! Thank you. Regarding 23a, I do think ‘another’ is a poor anagram indicator. For 22d, I wondered myself about whether or not ‘energy’ can properly clue STEAM and now, given your argument, I am dubious. As for ‘warming drink’ in 31a, except for the danger of its possibly perpetuating the myth (which I am well aware to be a myth), I am inclined to be forgiving of its use in 31a.

  3. Just to support you two: it struck me that ‘another’ was a very weak anagram indicator in 23ac, unless I’m missing something. Pity, because the rest of it all seemed pretty good.

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