Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of 7 October, 2017.
A very typical Goliath puzzle especially in the case of clues such as 6dn (PARDONED) and 18dn (DESERTER). My clue of the week is the very economical 28ac (MIDNIGHT) with 28dn (THEN) a strong runner-up for its great surface.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SEARCH | In case archbishop covers up investigation . . . . (6) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 4 | RESPONSE | . . . . press “one” if worried to find the answer (8) |
| Anagram (if worried) of PRESS ONE | ||
| 9 | USEFUL | Expedient to be young with a lisp (6) |
| Homophone with lisp of “youthful” (young) | ||
| 10 | DECREASE | Drop iron? (8) |
| DE-CREASE (iron?). We have seen similar clues before, I believe. | ||
| 12 | HAUNTING | Persistently troubling relative, joint almost seized (8) |
| AUNT (relative) in (seized) HING[e] (joint almost) | ||
| 13 | HONEST | Straight in with one strike (6) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 15 | RATE | Appreciate speed (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | COLONEL | Officer found unaccompanied in pass sounds a bit of a nut (7) |
| LONE (unaccompanied) in COL (pass) -and- homophone of “kernel” (a bit of a nut) | ||
| 20 | PAPERED | Appeared without a plan and decorated (7) |
| Anagram (plan) of [a]PPEARED. Do we like ‘plan’ as an anagram indicator? I cannot say I do, especially as used here. | ||
| 21 | GENE | Spirit not one that’s inherited (4) |
| GEN[i]E (spirit not one) | ||
| 25 | ACTUAL | Pretend backing league regularly is real (6) |
| ACT (pretend) + L[e]A[g]U[e] backwards | ||
| 26 | INDECENT | Find recent leads go blue (8) |
| [f]IND [r]ECENT | ||
| 28 | MIDNIGHT | G12? (8) |
| [ni]G[ht] | ||
| 29 | CARTEL | Syndicate for clarinet not in fashion (6) |
| Anagram (fashion) of CLAR[in]ET | ||
| 30 | DROWNING | Doctor having a fatal accident (8) |
| DR (doctor) + OWNING (having) | ||
| 31 | ENERGY | Dynamism of topless 21 orgy (6) |
| [g]ENE (topless 21) + [o]RGY (topless orgy) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1, 3 | SOUTHERN COUNTY | National Trust country house, perhaps in Dorset? (8,6) |
| Anagram of NT COUNTRY HOUSE. A great anagram find! | ||
| 2 | ADEQUATE | Sufficient notice before match (8) |
| AD (notice) + EQUATE (match) | ||
| 3 | See 1 down | |
| 5 | EDEN | Prime minister’s garden (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 6 | PARDONED | Rover breaking into flat is forgiven (8) |
| R (r…) + DONE (…over) together in PAD (flat) | ||
| 7 | NEATEN | Tidy million finally polished off (6) |
| [millio]N + EATEN (polished off) | ||
| 8 | EVENTS | Things that happen in Eastenders almost never return (6) |
| There are two ways to read this clue. The one that I feel sure Goliath intended is: [ea]ST + NEVE[r] together backwards (return). The other is a simple reverse hidden word. | ||
| 11 | SNOOKER | Game corner in series first half (7) |
| NOOK (corner) in SER[ies] | ||
| 14 | DOYENNE | Senior finished pocketing money (7) |
| YEN (money) in DONE (finished). This clue led me to realize that I had only a fuzzy sense of what ‘doyenne’ means. One definition is “the most respected or prominent woman in a particular field”. I have a fond memory of the word being used in its male form, ‘doyen’, in “Round the Horne” referring to Rambling Syd Rumpo, played by Kenneth Williams and introduced as the Doyen of Folk Singers. | ||
| 17 | VACATION | Time off for what is charged by museum (8) |
| VA (museum, i.e. the Victoria and Albert) + CATION (what is charged, cf. ANION) | ||
| 18 | DESERTER | Traitor act needed to break into trade secret (8) |
| Compound anagram: DESERTER + ACT (act) is an anagram of TRADE SECRET | ||
| 19 | MENTALLY | People agree rationally (8) |
| MEN (people) + TALLY (agree) | ||
| 22 | WARMED | Having a higher temperature, compiler’s admitted to part of the hospital (6) |
| ME (compiler) in (admitted to) WARD (part of hospital) | ||
| 23 | STUDIO | Film producer made us do it (6) |
| Anagram (made) of US DO IT | ||
| 24 | REMAIN | Stay with mother in control (6) |
| MA (mother) in REIN (control) | ||
| 27 | THEN | Once upon a time in the north (4) |
| Hidden word | ||
A thoroughly satisfying puzzle. Exactly what to expect when you see Goliath is the setter.
Nice blog Pete. (Ah, Rambling Sid. On YouTube you can find Kenneth Williams doing a bit of him, next to of all people Bernard Manning! (more Aaargh than Ah.)
Oh, what a treat! Thank you.
Good, adventurous (a la Goliath) and therefore satisfying puzzle.
13ac reads Straight in with one strike – well, it was my last one in.
Fine example of a splendid hidden clue.
Pete, I am happy to accept ‘plan’ as an anagram indicator.
That said, I am less and less comfy with nounal indicators, just plumped behind the fodder to make things easier (?).
In 20d (and also in 29ac) you’ll have to do ‘something’ before taking the anagram.
Goliath just puts ‘plan’ and ‘fashion’ behind the fodder which I do not really like.
True, you can see both words as a verb (imperative) and that might work better.
A bit similar to a setter writing: “fodder” doctor, while he actually means: doctor “fodder”.
Goliath loves devices using multiple fodders.
This is what happens in 31ac (ENERGY) but some may question ‘topless’ in an Across clue.
A couple of years ago I explicitly asked Monk his opinion on that (as I respect his take on crosswords very much).
He was fine with it and gave examples that I can’t remember anymore.
Similarly, Goliath is on thin ice using ‘up’ in 1ac.
In 11d, I think “series’ first half” (with an apostrophe) is better cryptic language and suits the surface just as well.
Finally, what happens in 12ac did raise my eyebrows.
It’s about the use of the past tense for container indicators, a thing that wouldn’t have a chance in The Times.
In proper cryptic grammar the clue tells me that it’s AUNT with HING[e] going inside (being seized).
Not here though, Goliath wants us to see it as: AUNT (that) HING[e] seizes.
The past tense doesn’t work for me here.
That said, there are more setters who cannot be bothered.
And even more solvers, it seems.
Despite these technical things [I do some setting myself, that’s why I find it interesting], a very enjoyable exercise from Goliath.
Thanks Goliath and Pete
A crossword that kept me busy across quite a number of sittings to get it out. Probably with some of the tricks that Sil points out above that took a little longer than normal to fathom through. Notwithstanding, I found it a really enjoyable solve and got to say that even finding the hidden answer in 13a a lot earlier than Sil, tipped the hat to a very cunning hiding of it.
I had a lot of trouble parsing PARDONED which was my last one in – and eventually settled with PAD around an anagram of DRONE (‘rover’ breaking) – little different from the blog.
See that he was able to get his trademark subtraction anagram into the puzzle with DESERTER.
Sil, You say that you are happy to accept ‘plan’ as an anagram indicator but, as I read your comment, you do not make it clear if that acceptance extends to its use in 20ac. I would not be happy with ‘plan’ as an anagram indicator in any context.
I am not crazy about constructions like “FODDER fashion” either but am willing to pretend occasionally that I am German (or Yoda) and accept this kind of word order, that is construing the indicator as a verb.
6a
It did not occur to me before but I do very much agree with your comment about ‘up’ in 1ac.
I think ‘plan’ is OK as an anagram indicator.
It can be substituted by ‘design’, ‘arrangement’, ‘representation’ and some more (according to Chambers).
My issue with it is, that “fodder” PLAN should ideally be “fodder” ‘s PLAN or PLAN of “fodder”.
The same can be said about an indicator like ‘treatment’, if put right behind the fodder.
Yet, that has a different feel to me – dunno why.
In the end, I only wanted to flag it up.
I’m not saying that it’s wrong but I will never use it myself for the reason given.
(and I have Paul/Mudd, Neo/Tees and Monk, to name three, surely on my side)
I appreciate the discussion of the finer points of clue construction but cannot understand the objection to ‘up’ in 1 across. The hidden word does not have to be reversed; ‘covers up’, rather than simply ‘covers’, is used to suggest that the archbishop is devious as well as being the inclusion indicator.
Well, I think this is getting very picky and I am not sure that Sil sees it the same way, but my view is this. When we talk about hidden-word clues, we usually mean clues in which the answer is, one might say, hidden in plain sight. Or I like the idea of saying that the answer is in disguise. But “cover up” seems too strongly to imply that the item in question is hidden in a more serious way such that it would not be visible in any direct sense. Again, I don’t think this is a significant fault.