Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 23, 2016
As usual with Alberich, I found this puzzle a little tricky but very satisfying. My clue of the seek is 13a (TIFF) and I also especially like 11a (SHRINKAGE), 17d (EGLANTINE) and 23d (TURIN).
| Across | ||
| 1 | ON A ROLL | Where you may place spread betting with continued success, say (2,1,4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | FRANTIC | Wild fellow, one caught in storm? On the contrary (7) |
| Opposite of F (fellow) + I (one) + C (caught) all caught in RANT (storm). In other words, RANT (storm) caught in F (fellow) + I (one) + C (caught). In my original posting, I did not explain this well and I am not even sure if I saw it correctly. Anyway, some commenters prompted me to do better and I have revised it. Thanks, cruciverbophile. | ||
| 9 | LAPSE | Electronic circuit’s switch causing failure (5) |
| E (electronic) LAPS (circuit’s) with order switched | ||
| 10 | BOATSWAIN | Final in African country’s brought forward, accommodating one crew member (9) |
| I (one) in BOTSWANA (African country) with final ‘A’ moved up to third place | ||
| 11 | SHRINKAGE | Doctor takes time to induce contraction (9) |
| SHRINK (doctor) + AGE (time) | ||
| 12 | ENNUI | Nurse has night in Paris, mostly leading to boredom (5) |
| EN (nurse) + NUI[t] (night in Paris mostly). I do not remember coming across EN meaning a nurse before but it apparently is an Australian term standing for Enrolled Nurse. | ||
| 13 | TIFF | Pet dog has no masters (4) |
| [mas]TIFF (dog has no masters) | ||
| 15 | INCLINES | India secures series following century? That’s likely (8) |
| IN (India) + C (century) + LINES (series) | ||
| 18 | INSOMNIA | Endlessly womanising, surprisingly, having inability to get off (8) |
| Anagram of [w]OMANISIN[g] | ||
| 19 | YELP | Bark obtained from maple years back (4) |
| Reverse hidden word | ||
| 22 | ACT UP | Misbehave in a court before judge? (3,2) |
| A (a) + CT (court) + UP (before judge) | ||
| 24 | SUEZ CANAL | Waterway network, one with American backing, around Zambia’s capital (4,5) |
| LAN (network) + Z[ambia] n ACE (one) + US (American) all backwards | ||
| 26 | DERRING-DO | Dead ringer resolved to perform heroic deeds (7-2) |
| D (dead) + anagram (resolved) of RINGER + DO (perform) | ||
| 27 | ANIMA | Brute abandons lost soul (5) |
| ANIMA[l] (brute abandons lost) | ||
| 28 | MONSTER | Keeping on bad terms is a horrible thing (7) |
| ON (on) in anagram (bad) of TERMS | ||
| 29 | EXPRESS | Common name for organ having few stops (7) |
| Double definition (with ‘organ’ used in the sense of newspaper) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | OWLISH | Sage and onion’s first large stuffing request (6) |
| O[nion] + L (large) in WISH (request) | ||
| 2 | APPORTION | Distribute half of ration after a quiet drink (9) |
| A (a) + P (quiet) + PORT (drink) + [rat]ION | ||
| 3 | OCEAN | The drink turned North American green (5) |
| NA (North American) + ECO (green) all backwards | ||
| 4 | LIBRARIAN | Some stars look up new person to look after the books (9) |
| LIBRA (some stars) + AIR (look) backwards + N (new) | ||
| 5 | FLARE | Glaringly display talent for audience (5) |
| Homophone (“flair”) | ||
| 6 | AUSTERITY | Wind’s regularly wintry, displaying harshness (9) |
| AUSTER (wind) + [w]I[n]T[r]Y | ||
| 7 | TRAIN | Can entertaining artist teach? (5) |
| RA (artist) in TIN (can) | ||
| 8 | CANDID | Applicant’s not worried to be frank (6) |
| CANDID[ate] (applicant’s not worried) | ||
| 14 | FOOTPRINT | Trainer may leave one to pay for a beer? That’s about right (9) |
| R (right) in FOOT PINT (pay for a beer) | ||
| 16 | CHAPERONE | Timeless opening of book portraying young girl’s companion? (9) |
| CHAP[t]ER ONE (timeless opening of book) | ||
| 17 | EGLANTINE | Plant producing fragrance in a gentle wind (9) |
| Anagram of IN A GENTLE | ||
| 20 | RANDOM | Led party with minute chance (6) |
| RAN (led) + DO (party) + M (minute) | ||
| 21 | ALWAYS | A street’s blocked by learner every time (6) |
| A (a) + L (learner) in WAYS (street’s) | ||
| 23 | TURIN | Go around Italy to get here? (5) |
| I (Italy) in TURN (go) | ||
| 24 | SUGAR | Flattery succeeded with guard missing daughter terribly (5) |
| S (succeeded) + anagram (terribly) of GUAR[d] (guard missing daughter). ‘S’ serves as an abbreviation for ‘succeeded’ in the genealogical sense. | ||
| 25 | CLAMP | Curse looming above motorists parking, first of all? (5) |
| C[urse] L[ooming] A[bove] M[otorists] P[arking] | ||
Thanks Pete and Alberich.
A nice steady solve for me – not too easy or hard.
I did ponder whether Oracle would work at 1dn but I couldn’t justify Race = request so luckily held back.
I think I’m missing something at 5ac. The wordplay seems to suggest that the IC should contain F RANT rather than be placed after it. Any thoughts?
Hamish, 5 ac works as the opposite/contrary of F(ellow), I C(aught) in RANT – i.e. RANT in F,IC.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Defeated by 6a, 13a and 2d. Couldn’t parse 5a or 12a.Not easy
Not so bad for me; four unsolved and one wrong. 27ac I don’t understand, Pete, why the ? after lost in your explanation. Isn’t it just abandons l (which stands for lost)? As for 8d I still don’t understand it all. Candid is frank, yes, candidate is applicant, yes, but why does “not worried” take “ate” off?
Why the ‘?’ in 27ac? Because I was wondering in what context L works as an abbreviation for ‘lost’. It is not one I am used to. Perhaps in sports reporting?
Regarding 8d, one can say, for example, that something ate at one meaning that it was a worry. I did wonder if ‘ate’ and ‘worried’ are truly interchangeable since I would tend to use ‘ate at’ rather than simply ‘ate’.
Thanks Alberich and Pete
Pete @ 5, yes L = LOST is from sport, in a table of results there will be columns W D L + WON, DRAWN, LOST.
hth
Thanks Alberich and Pete
Pete @ 5, yes L = LOST is from sport, in a table of results there will be columns W D L = WON, DRAWN, LOST.
hth
Simon, Thank you for this confirmation.
Confirming the points above in #6. #7, #8, the place you will most commonly see that is in league tables.
Thank you, nmsindy. Many years ago I starting collecting a list of single-letter indicators which I now cannot find. I just decided it is time to start another and have initiated it with these three.
Thanks Alberich and Pete
A typically fun and challenging crossword from Alberich with his usual variety of clue devices that took a few sessions over a couple of days to get out. Had a bit of trouble up at the top having plugged a not fully parsed ORACLE at 1d – found both SHRINKAGE (nice clue) and LAPSE (tricky) and the corrected OWLISH (my last one in) quite tough. Also took a while to see whether FLARE or FLAIR was the right way at 5d.
Always enjoy his puzzles and this one was no exception. (Still about 4-5 weeks of these backlog ones to get through now!)