Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 16, 2016
Gaff gives us another birthday puzzle with a unannounced theme of ‘park’ (the answer to 19a). It took me a long time to identify the birthday in question. Look in the centre of the completed grid and you will see “Peak District National Park” and that’s it. The park was founded on April 17th, 1951 so this weekend marks its 65th birthday. And it happens that I will be visiting it this summer!
My clue of the week is 11a (SWORDPLAY) and I also like 20d (STRATA).
| Across | ||
| 1 | TRAILER | Preview of what follows 19 (7) |
| Triple definition | ||
| 5 | ST JAMES | Court one of 12 19 (2,5) |
| Triple definition, the second referring to the 12 apostles of Jesus | ||
| 9 | EIDER | Queen keeps fish down (5) |
| IDE (fish) in ER (queen) | ||
| 10 | CREWCHIEF | He maintains US planes were chic, awfully loud (9) |
| Anagram of WERE CHIC + F (loud) | ||
| 11 | SWORDPLAY | Maybe foil usage in second part of clue (9) |
| S (second) + WORDPLAY (part of clue) | ||
| 12 | SPEAR | Mint stick (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | PEAK | Hope a knockout’s content with climax (4) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 15 | DISTRICT | Harry mother by forbidding division (8) |
| DI (Harry mother) + STRICT (forbidding). I messed myself up for a while by thinking the answer to this clue was likely to be OBSTRUCT. That would fit ‘harry’ as a definition but left me with no sensible wordplay. | ||
| 18 | NATIONAL | Subject to trust of land owners (8) |
| Cryptic definition referring to the National Trust? I think one might look at this clue in different ways. Prompted by a comment below I now prefer to see “subject” as the definition (as in British subject) but d0n’t see how “trust of land owners” serves as wordplay — perhaps more as a second definition. | ||
| 19 | PARK | Estate car storage space for gear (4) |
| Triple definition. ‘Park’ is not strictly speaking a gear (and neither is ‘drive’) but I guess it’s close enough. | ||
| 22 | THEME | Subject to setter following article 19 (5) |
| THE (article) + ME (setter) | ||
| 24 | AMUSEMENT | Enema must ruin enjoyment for 19 (9) |
| Anagram of ENEMA MUST | ||
| 26 | ASSIDUOUS | Persevering with bottom notes from French interior (9) |
| ASS (bottom) + DU (from French) in IOUS (notes) | ||
| 27 | DRIVE | Motor car storage space for gear (5) |
| Triple definition | ||
| 28 | AILMENT | It’s a condition that I get mental stimulation (7) |
| Anagram of I MENTAL | ||
| 29 | NEWNESS | Seven points for novelty (7) |
| Word made of seven points (in the sense of compass points) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | THEISM | Belief is held by other people (6) |
| IS (is) in THEM (other people) | ||
| 2 | ANDROMEDA | Stars with city lawyer (9) |
| AND (with) + ROME (city) + DA (lawyer) | ||
| 3 | LURID | Shocking cover up sport concealed (5) |
| RU (sport) backwards (up) in LID (cover) | ||
| 4 | RICH-LADEN | A children’s confection covered in fruit (4-5) |
| Anagram of A CHILDREN | ||
| 5 | SEEDY | Look at both ends of driveway or be run down (5) |
| SEE (look at) + D[rivewa]Y | ||
| 6 | JOCKSTRAP | Wherein tackler’s tackle (9) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 7 | MAIZE | Grass puts Gaff in prison (5) |
| I (Gaff) in MAZE (prison, i.e. the one in Belfast) | ||
| 8 | SAFARI | Raise one arm when 19 trip (6) |
| I (one) + RAF (arm) + AS (when) all backwards. How does ‘arm’ clue RAF? I am guessing it is one arm of the UK’s armed forces. | ||
| 14 | KNIFE-EDGE | Not the point on which decision may rest (5-4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | ST LOUISAN | US Latinos corrupted by woman from Missouri (2,7) |
| Anagram of US LATINOS | ||
| 17 | CARMELITE | Sister declared fate easy to bear (9) |
| Homophone (“karma light”) | ||
| 20 | STRATA | A bitter-sweet introduction to the top classes (6) |
| A (a) + TART (bitter) + S[weet] all backwards (to the top) | ||
| 21 | STRESS | Hank follows southern accent (6) |
| S (outhern) + TRESS (hank) | ||
| 23 | EASEL | Stand for freedom, middle England! (5) |
| EASE (freedom) + [eng]L[and] | ||
| 24 | ADOPT | Take trouble with exercise (5) |
| ADO (trouble) + PT (exercise, as in physical training) | ||
| 25 | ENDOW | Women do well at heart to invest (5) |
| Hidden word | ||
Thanks Pete and Gaff.
Not quite a “walk in the park” but gentle enough.
I had 1ac as a triple – preview, what follows (i.e. trails) and an example of a 19.
Too many dubious wordplays and associations for me to get anywhere near this one. I think that if you Pete had difficulty making sense of some of them there was little hope for lesser mortals.
Hamish, Yes, thank you, I have amended 1ac. I do however think the second and third definitions there are both weak.
The birthday meant nothing to me. I couldn’t get 19a -best guess was “pile” as in country pile =estate.No way is park a gear. Neutral, first etc but not park.Equally I don’t think “drive” is a gear.
I don’t see how confection is an anagram indicator in 4d.
Not having 19a made for me 8d ungettable.
I really don’t see how “National” =”Subject to trust”.
17d I would never have got.
I’m with Malcolm on this one.
Bamberger, I try not to be negatively critical about setters these days but I do agree very much with your comments…with one exception. You are not the only person to comment about ‘confection’; another solver did so privately to me. I differ on that however. Not only do I think ‘confection’ works as an anagram indicator but I happen to think it is a very good one. If you think of a confection as a sweetmeat then maybe it does not seem appropriate but if you look at its etymology and deeper meaning of “something made by mixing things together”, surely it suits well.
We think 18ac makes better sense if you read ‘subject’ as the definition with ‘trust of land owners’ as the word play.
We didn’t like 4d – it isn’t in Chambers and had us defeated until the very end when we had all the crossing letters.
We liked the theme and the clues for 2d and 11ac.
Thanks to Gaff and Pete.
Ah, yes, I wonder now why I did not see 18ac like that. Much better. Thanks!
I did not like 4d either.
I’m with Malcolm and Bamberger on this one! 4d the answer doesn’t even help rich Laden meaning covered in fruit doesn’t do it for me. Thank you all for the answers.
Thanks Gaff and Pete
Got to say that I enjoyed this much less than the normal puzzle by this setter. Firstly, it took inordinately longer than usual to complete because of some cleverly constructed clues (JOCKSTRAP, ST JAMES) and some that were vague and stretched the limits of definitions (SPEAR which is not a mint in its own right – spearmint is (maybe a ? would have helped) and NATIONAL (alluding to the NT presumably)).
Having said that there was a lot of excellent stuff happening as well – the multiple triples and the clever ST LOUISAN definition of the obvious anagram. Actually didn’t realise most of the triple definitions until coming here ! With the two gear clues, I had thought of an automatic car and that DRIVE and PARK were the storage spaces of the gear lever – think that the triple definition is neater.
After nearly an elapsed week on and off, I finally finished in the NE with MAIZE (had forgotten the prison), SAFARI (quite a tough construction) and my ‘unsatisfactory’ SPEAR as the last one in.
I didn’t even think that this was “gentle enough”.
Park = drive and spear = mint are both dodgy in my opinion. When are people going to realize that the word is “arse”? “Ass” is American and this should be indicated. “Rock-laden” I have never heard of. Why “woman” in 16dn?
Re#10 – Why “woman” in 16dn? It surely correctly defines about 50% of the people there so seems OK, Wil.
Wil, I also do not like spear = mint and second your statement about arse/ass.
It seems to me that Gaff is making a gratuitously feminist point at 16dn. The clue could perfectly well have said “person” and then 100% instead of 50% of the people there would have been defined.
re#13, while I can’t, obviously, speak for Gaff, it seems to me not to be a “gratuitously feminist point” but a statement of fact.
Yes Niall of course what you say is correct but you know how to write good clues. Would you have said “woman” or “person”, when one covers 50% and one covers 100%?
Re #15, I’d see no reason not to, Wil.