Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 24, 2014
This puzzle has one stand-out clue, 29a (LORD OF THE FLIES), and a couple more that I think are very good, 20a (EARTH) and 6d (INJUSTICE). However it also has one clue that I cannot see any convincing solution for, 14a.
ACROSS
1 Cryptically, a figure as previously stated? (14)
AFOREMENTIONED –
10 He wrote, being tough (5)
HARDY – double definition
11 Silver one of those underpants? (4,5)
LONG JOHNS – double definition (the first referring to Long John Silver, a character in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island”)
12 Decide to do puzzle again? (7)
RESOLVE – RE-SOLVE (do puzzle again)
13 Attack a sailor verbally (7)
ASSAULT – homophone (“a salt”)
14 Round of drinks? (5)
STOUT – double definition. This strikes me as a poor clue in that STOUT is singular while ‘drinks’ is plural and also because it leaves no obvious purpose for the question mark. I wondered about the possibility of one alternative answer, SHOUT. (Some people, especially Australians I think, say “it’s my shout” meaning they are buying a round.) But that would be even less satisfactory since it fits the clue only as a non-cryptic definition.
16 British in Prague lost, being brave under the circumstances (7,2)
BEARING UP – B (British) + anagram of IN PRAGUE
19 Fellow into Abyssinian cheese (9)
CAMEMBERT – MEMBER (fellow) in CAT (Abyssinian)
20 Planet in want, lacking leadership (5)
EARTH – [d]EARTH (want, lacking leadership)
22 A month before one gets caught, is clean (7)
ASEPTIC – A (a) + SEPT (month) + I (one) + C (caught)
25 Dismiss banking officer (7)
CASHIER – double definition. I wonder about the second definition here. Surely a cashier would be thought of as a banking clerk or worker but not an officer.
27 Mysterious role beyond intrigue for Spanish gentleman (9)
CABALLERO – CABAL (intrigue) + anagram of ROLE
28 Deliver a sermon, a passage of which to remove (5)
ERASE – hidden word
29 Novel tells of horde, if dystopic (4,2,3,5)
LORD OF THE FILES – anagram of TELLS OF HORDE IF
DOWN
2 Reformist movement, a devastating thing (9)
FIRESTORM – anagram of REFORMIST
3 Place gold towards the ceiling for the Queen, say? (5)
ROYAL – LAY (place) + OR (gold) all backwards
4 Soft chap hosting party upset about atmosphere, ultimately (9)
MALLEABLE – [atmospher]E in BALL backwards in MALE (chap)
5 Spanish girl protecting Jack, agent from the east (5)
NINJA – J (Jack) in NINA (Spanish girl)
6 Juiciest melon finally going off – that’s not fair! (9)
INJUSTICE – anagram of JUICIEST [melo]N
7 Student of Gandhi, female up on sport (5)
NEHRU – HEN (female) backwards + RU (sport, i.e. Rugby Union)
8 Location of icons posted randomly around king (7)
DESKTOP – K (king) in anagram of POSTED
9 Vocal composition about God (6)
CHORUS – C (about) + HORUS (god)
15 Plant to cultivate in red (9)
TOMATILLO – TO (to) + TILL (cultivate) in MAO (red)
17 With skill, I kill plant (9)
ARTICHOKE – ART (skill) + I (I) + CHOKE (kill)
18 Shoot where a regiment’s shot (9)
GERMINATE – anagram of A REGIMENT
19 Part of church opening before end of April (7)
CHANCEL – CHANCE (opening) + [apri]L
21 Fifty among many wives in part of New York (6)
HARLEM – L (fifty) in HAREM (many wives)
23 Something dying at the end of several months? (5)
EMBER – [sept]EMBER, [nov]EMBER, [dec]EMBER
24 Space remaining under roof of caravan (5)
CLEFT – C[aravan] + LEFT (remaining)
26 Increase fine (5)
SWELL – double definition
Can’t “stout” refer to a type of beer, therefore a collective noun?
For 14A I had shout but admit that it is therefore not a very cryptic clue: shout meaning a turn to buy a round of drinks.
Thanks as always to Pete
Yank, Thanks for your comment. If my understanding is correct then ‘stout’ qualifies as a “mass noun”, not a “collective noun”. ‘Round’ in the context of “round of drinks” is a collective noun. I think the point is that one would not talk about stouts, plural, except when meaning different brands of stout. But I am being pedantic and don’t see that this distinction helps us much with the clue.
ernie, I am gratified to know that someone else thinks SHOUT could be right. Well I guess we will have to wait until the solution is published on Saturday and see.
I think STOUT is right–which is not to say that the clue is a strong one or even particularly good. I see it as a double definition: STOUT is a term for “round” (in describing a human body, for example); and STOUT is also a term applied to certain drinks, hence it is something that may be said “of drinks”. Weak, and unsatisfactory, but I think it’s the most likely solution. Do the setters ever read these posts? It’d be nice to hear from Mudd on this one.
I also didn’t like the clue on 13. “Verbally” means “in words”. Mudd could have strengthened the clue by making it “orally” or “vocally”, meaning “in speech”–which is, I’m sure, what he intended, since the cryptic is a sound-alike.
I am coming round to the view that ‘stout’ is the better answer to 14A. As I said at 2# the clue would hardly be cryptic at all if ‘shout’ was the answer.
Hi Bob, Some setters do indeed read these posts, Rosa Klebb, Bradman and Cincinnus for example. I have no indication that Mudd does so though.
I am more inclined to be accepting of 13. While “in words” is certainly the primary meaning of ‘verbally’, the Concise Oxford lists “by means of speech” as its third meaning.
Well the solution is now posted on the FT’s website and it confirms what seemed fairly certain anyway, that 14a is STOUT.