A mostly uninspiring, if competent, offering from Falcon this fine Thursday morning.
When it’s my turn to blog, I look at the puzzle and can normally tell fairly quickly if I’m going to enjoy solving it or not. I took one look at this and could see some of the answers immediately, which made me think this wouldn’t be fun, and in the most part I was right. There were one or two good clues, good because they were well constructed rather than challenging or witty, but there were also a couple where I had minor quibbles (the surface in the PERESTROIKA clue, and a possible misprint in the clue for EXCEPTIONAL).
Including writing the blog, this was all done in less than 25 minutes, so I will have to look elsewhere for my mental workout today.
With some minor adjustments, this may be a good puzzle to use to introduce cryptic crosswords to the uninitiated.
Thanks, Falcon.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SNAPSHOT | Photograph game attempt (8) |
| SNAP (“game”) + SHOT (“attempt”) | ||
| 6 | RENOWN | Fame in future? Now, now! (6) |
| Hidden in “futuRE NOW Now” | ||
| 9 | DRY RUN | Rehearsal: thirsty work (3,3) |
| DRY (“thirsty”) + RUN (“work”) | ||
| 10 | ROLY-POLY | Plump for pudding (4-4) |
| Double definition.
A roly-poly is a pudding made of a sheet of suet pastry covered with jam or fruit, formed into a roll, and steamed or baked. It used to be a staple of school dinners, but seems to have fallen out of fashion. |
||
| 11 | MESS | Confusion in canteen (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 12 | OVER THE TOP | After six deliveries the spinner’s too much (4-3-3) |
| OVER (“six deliveries” in cricket) + THE TOP (“the spinner”) | ||
| 14 | ESURIENT | Ravenous? Tureen is specially prepared (8) |
| *(tureen is) | ||
| 16 | CALL | Ring everyone after onset of chickenpox (4) |
| ALL after C(hickenpox) | ||
| 18 | YOGI | Adherent of a Hindu philosophy in Tokyo Girl (4) |
| Hidden in “tokYO GIrl” | ||
| 19 | ESCAPADE | Lark and a dove initially in flight (8) |
| A D(ove) in ESCAPE (“flight”) | ||
| 21 | SWEAT IT OUT | Wait nervously, in a stew, upset by one solicitor (5,2,3) |
| *(a stew) + 1 TOUT (“solicitor) | ||
| 22 | IFFY | Uncertain moment when heading off (4) |
| (j)IFFY | ||
| 24 | STEADY ON | Still being shown? Watch it! (6,2) |
| STEADY (“still”) + ON (“being shown”, as in “on TV”) | ||
| 26 | TANNOY | Loudspeaker tending at first to get on one’s nerves (6) |
| T(ending) + ANNOY | ||
| 27 | SHAMAN | Article on bogus witch doctor (6) |
| AN on SHAM (“bogus”) | ||
| 28 | RECKLESS | Rash king left in bay (8) |
| K L in RECESS (“bay”) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | NERVE | A sore point in cheek (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 3 | PERESTROIKA | Operate with risk new economic policy (11) |
| *(operate risk)
I don;t think this surface reads very well. |
||
| 4 | HAND OVER | Deliver diamonds in German city (4,4) |
| D(iamonds) in HANOVER (“German city”) | ||
| 5 | TURNED THE CORNER | Went round the bend, then rallied (6,3,6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 6 | RELATE | Tell about past (6) |
| RE (“about”) + LATE (“past”) | ||
| 7 | NAP | Drop off a pile (3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | WELL-OILED | Dollie and Lew, terribly drunk (4-5) |
| *(dollie lew) | ||
| 13 | EXCEPTIONAL | Saving pounds going round island of Mull is marvellous (11) |
| EXCEPT (“saving”) + L (“pounds”) “going round” IONA (“island of Mull”)
I think this clue should read island OFF Mull. |
||
| 15 | STOPWATCH | Timepiece: head wearing sample (9) |
| TOP (“head”) “wearing” SWATCH (“sample”) | ||
| 17 | ECSTATIC | English clubs still overjoyed (8) |
| E(nglish) + C(lubs) + STATIC (“still”) | ||
| 20 | LIBYAN | One from Tripoli, perhaps concealed in Tripoli by a nun (6) |
| Hidden in “TripoLI BY A Nun” | ||
| 23 | FLOSS | Eliot’s river dropping below fathom (5) |
| LOSS (“dropping”) below F(athom)
Referring to George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss |
||
| 25 | ARM | A jolly member (3) |
| A + R.M. (Royal Marine”, hence “jolly”)
“Jollies” was the original name for citizen soldiers of the Trained Bands of London in 1664, from whose ranks Marines were first formed. Later, “jolly” became Royal Navy slang for a Marine, hence Kipling’s ‘HM Jollies’. |
||
*anagram
Thanks Falcon and loonapick
Falcon is … what Falcon is – generally a straightforward and no-frills puzzle which I have recommended many times, along with Chifonie and Dante, for those folk who are wanting to ease into the world of FT crosswords. ‘Uninspiring’ is a tad harsh a description – it’s the variety in difficulty and style of setters that make both the FT and Guardian such a wonderful source of entertainment.
Agree with your minor quibbles – a comma or dash after ‘risk’ would fix the former. Editorial intervention for the latter …
It took me slightly longer to complete (sans blog) and finished in the SE corner with the three clues that I enjoyed the most – TANNOY, IFFY and FLOSS (from the only George Eliot book that I have read).