Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 17, 2017
My clue of the week is 28a (SLUGGARD) followed by a clever hidden-worder, 15d (WITHERING). Other standouts are 12a (BELLYACHE), 24a (EERIE), and 2d (RANKLE).
ACROSS
1 Spooner’s escort approached old maid, perhaps (4,4)
CARD GAME – Spoonerizing of “guard came” (escort approached)
5 Bill, in retrospect, missed daytimes playing snooker (6)
STYMIE – anagram of [da]YTIMES
9 Wanting company to lend money, we hear (8)
LONESOME – homophone of “loan some” (lend money)
10 Social isolation of hard-up drunk (6)
PURDAH – anagram (drunk) of HARD UP
12 Whine of siren around docked vessel (9)
BELLYACHE – YACH[t] (docked vessel) in BELLE (siren)
13 Minor sources of conflict hopefully involving little disagreement (5)
CHILD – C[onflict] H[opefully] I[nvolving] L[ittle] D[isagreement]
14 Saw sassy sons all disappearing abroad (4)
AWAY – [s]AW [s]A[ss]Y
16 Argentinian red befuddled vague artist (7)
GUEVARA – anagram (befuddled) of VAGUE + RA (artist)
19 A hole in state funds (7)
CAPITAL – A (a) + PIT (hole) together in CAL (state)
21 Droppings of five hundred westbound wildebeest (4)
DUNG – D (five hundred) + GNU (wildebeest) backwards (westbound)
24 Mysterious disrobing involving more ale (5)
EERIE – BEERIER (involving more ale) with first and last letters removed (disrobing)
25 Nina’s middle-class social worker is a communicator (9)
INFORMANT – [n]IN[a] + FORM (class) + ANT (social worker)
27 Clothes, I suspect, hamper work of doctor (6)
THESIS – hidden word (hamper)
28 One exhibiting sloth, mollusc, fish and dispirited eland (8)
SLUGGARD – SLUG (mollusc) + GAR (fish) + [elan]D
29 Soup perhaps on counter (6)
POTAGE – EG (perhaps) + ATOP (on) all backwards (counter)
30 When sympathy overcomes hesitation and harshness (8)
ASPERITY – AS (when) + ER (hesitation) in PITY (sympathy)
DOWN
1 Names about eleven half-cut American cobblers (6)
CELEBS – C (about) + ELE[ven] + BS (American cobblers)
2 The French, after row, continue to cause irritation (6)
RANKLE – RANK (row) + LE (the French)
3 Verbose idiot in Grimsby on vacation (5)
GASSY – ASS (idiot) in G[rimsb]Y
4 Imitating Puccini heroine with sob (7)
MIMICRY – MIMI (Puccini heroine) + CRY (sob). Mimi is the heroine of La Bohème.
6 Chunter on angrily in officers’ club (9)
TRUNCHEON – anagram (angrily) of CHUNTER ON
7 Song from European 19 adopted by loony left (8)
MADRIGAL – MAD (loony) + RIGA (European 19, i.e. capital) + L (left)
8 Primitive layers had since disintegrated (8)
ECHIDNAS – anagram (disintegrated) of HAD SINCE
11 Banks of Boyne representing shipping hazard (4)
BERG – B[oyn]E R[epresentin]G
15 Content to outwit her, ingloriously supercilious (9)
WITHERING – hidden word (content to)
17 Closer to summit of Parnassus, second group going first (8)
SCREWTOP – S (second) + CREW (group) + TO (to) + P[arnassus]
18 Criminal trespass is most infrequent (8)
SPARSEST – anagram (criminal) of TRESPASS
20 Ex-PM scratching head in bolthole (4)
LAIR – [b]LAIR (ex-PM scratching head)
21 Passes journalist turning up with flies undone (7)
DEFILES – ED (journalist) backwards (turning up) + anagram (undone) of FLIES
22 Caesar for example returned 1 19 of Gambia (6)
DALASI – SALAD (Caesar for example) backwards (returned) + I (1). The dalasi is the currency unit of The Gambia. I can see why it might be justifiable but I am not used to a country’s currency being called its capital.
23 Hunky student entering room (6)
STUDLY – L (student, i.e. learner) in STUDY (room)
26 Goat gored by good elephant gone bad (5)
ROGUE – G (good) in ROUE (goat)
6d.You don’t spell out TRUNCHEON as the answer.
A lovely puzzle as usual. Thank you both.
Thanks Pete and Rosa.
Quite tricksy in parts with BS (Bullshit) for “COBBLERS” at 1d and goat in the sense of a roue at 26.
And of course the misdirection at 22dn – I have seen “capital” used for a currency before but with BANJUL also having 6 letters, it did take a while to get round the mental block.
Clever and enjoyable.
Thanks Rosa & Pete.
I enjoyed this puzzle although it took three days to realise that PASSES and DEFILES are nouns not verbs, and my Collins dictionary does not include STUDLY. Thanks Hamish for explaining BS in 1 down.
A couple more oversights in the blog: POTAGE is not spelled out at 29 across and 25 across is INFORMANT not INFORMER.
Oh dear, I was careless on this one! I have made the necessary corrections. Thanks, psmith.
As best I could determine, STUDLY appears in very few dictionaries. I did not check my Chambers as I usually would as I am away from home.
Thanks Rosa and Pete
This was a classy challenge that took a bit longer than the usual Saturday prize puzzle. The highlights were the misdirected and interesting definitions (‘primitive layer’, ‘Argentinian red’, ‘work of doctor’, ‘closer’), the original devices (”sons all disappearing’, and those used in 5a, 19a, 29a) and her trademark silky smooth surfaces.
Finished in the SW corner with POTAGE (that took an age to understand why), SCREWTOP (with its cleverly hidden definition) and EERIE the last one in.
This was Rosa at the top of her game.