Financial Times 15,016 by Mudd

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Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 22, 2015

I solved this in one easy sitting.  My clue of the week is 19d (SEX ORGAN) and I also especially like 6D (COPERNICUS), 12A (BAHT) and 7D (BYE).

Across
1 DINGHY
Hydrogen filling grey vessel that’s blown up? (6)

H (hydrogen) in DINGY (grey)
4 SPACE BAR
Key 1B to open box (5,3)

ACE (1) + B (B) in SPAR (box)
10 MAMMOTH
Bullets in time dropping on giant (7)

AMMO (bullets) in M[on]TH (time dropping on)
11 CYPRESS
Sound island for tree (7)

Homophome (“Cyprus”)
12 BAHT
British and Asian not entirely backing the latter’s currency? (4)

B (British) + THA[i] (Asian not entirely) backwards
13 OVERPRICED
Dear dear, trollop ends in the clutches of misguided divorcee (10)

[dea]R and [trollo]P in anagram of DIVORCEE
16 LUMBER
Leader going off to sleep in wood (6)

[s]LUMBER (leader going off to sleep)
17 HOLIDAY
Old hat wrapped in grass for Christmas, perhaps? (7)

O (old) + LID (hat) together in HAY (grass)
20 ON EARTH
In the world of Chicago, near thuggery (2,5)

Hidden words
21 SUNDAE
Afters – after Saturday, say? (6)

Homophone (“Sunday”)
24 EMASCULATE
Weaken a muscle that’s strained and eroded (10)

Anagram of A MUSCLE + ATE (eroded)
25 OSLO
Heading off, explorer tours southern capital (4)

S (southern) in [p]OLO (heading off explorer)
27 RAVIOLI
Restaurant’s beginning with starter of veal in mayonnaise, Italian food (7)

R[estaurant] + V[eal] in AIOLI (mayonnaise)
29 FLEMING
English author placing me back in cast (7)

ME backwards in FLING (cast)
30 DIZZYING
Breathing one’s last clutching unopened champagne, giddy (8)

[f]IZZ in DYING (breathing one’s last)
31 GOVERN
Run during training, overnight (6)

Hidden word
Down
1 DUMBBELL
Fool with gymnastic equipment? (8)

Double definition
2 NYMPHOMANIA
Many hip freaks around the country in spreading of free love? (11)

OMAN (country) in anagram of MANY HIP
3 HOOK
Pirate’s appealing phrase (4)

Double definition
5 PICAROON
Pirate’s image, an outstanding Australian native (8)

PIC (image) + ROO (Australian native) in AN (an)
6 COPERNICUS
Astronomer having shaken up concise rationale, originally (10)

Anagram of UP CONCISE R[ationale]
7 BYE
An extra word on parting (3)

Double definition.  An extra as in cricket.
8 RESIDE
Live with slag after university dropout? (6)

RESID[u]E (slag after university dropout))
9 SHAVE
Keep bandaging crown of head, as cut (5)

H[ead] in SAVE (keep)
14 CLANDESTINE
Enigmatic client secures chain, being private (11)

ANDES (chain) in anagram of CLIENT
15 MELANCHOLY
Saddening to see Liberal shackled by selfish Conservative, highly revered (10)

L (Liberal) in MEAN (selfish) + C (Conservative) + HOLY (highly revered)
18 STALLION
Horse of many hands in Jerusalem (8)

TALL (of many hands) in SION (Jerusalem)
19 SEX ORGAN
Member perhaps distributing oranges to secure vote (3,5)

X (vote) in anagram of ORANGES
22 SEE RED
Fly into a rage – stop the car when you do this? (3,3)

Double definition
23 STIFF
Female suits turning up starched (5)

F (female) + FITS (suits) all backwards
26 NEMO
Sign up for a Verne character (4)

OMEN (sign) backwards
28 VIZ
Seven and six, sizes each in the middle, that is to say (3)

[se]V[en] [s]I[x] [si]Z[es]
*anagram

6 comments on “Financial Times 15,016 by Mudd”

  1. Thanks Pete and Mudd.

    I always enjoy clues which raise a titter such as your clue of the week at 19dn and also the cleverly constructed 2dn.

    Of course I try not to use innuendo myself (although I do slip one in every now and then).

    Space Bar at 5ac and Dizzying at 30 were also nicely done.

    As I recall, my last one in was Melancholy (also well-built).

    Not too difficult but fun as ever so thanks for the entertainment.

  3. Thanks Mudd and Pete

    Took a while to get into this one … and found it more in line with his Guardianista-ego in both level of difficulty and schoolboy humour which I haven’t seen so much in his FT persona. Once I had got a start the rest of the puzzle fell out rather quickly.

    Finished up in the NW corner with DUMBBELL, MAMMOTH AND HOOK the last few in.

    Agree that there were a lot of cleverly constructed clues throughout and I’d call out STALLION as another one of those. A lot of fun.

    Pete, there is a slight typo with AIOLI at 27a.

  4. I didn’t like 4ac. If the space bar on a keyboard were a key, it would be called the space key and not the space bar. Also, I could find no dictionary definition of space bar which referred to it as a key…

  5. Bob, Thanks for commenting. I take your second point, especially so because my Chambers also does not define Space Bar as a key. However I must disagree about “space key” versus “space bar”. I would say that a space bar is a key that happens to be in the form of a bar. I would also note that I have an ergonomic keyboard that has a “Space” key that is not a bar.

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